House of Cards Chapter 1: Your Mother, a saiyuki fanfic

House of Cards
Chapter One: Your Mother

A Story for the Smoke Signals Thread

By Nekochan

Author's Note

While this story may seem pretty random when placed in context with the rest of Smoke Signals, it's an idea that's been floating around in my head for a long time now and just sort of came out after two nights of frustration this week. The most significant part to the series itself, in terms of plot-hole filler, will come in the third and final chapter.

Arigatou Minasan! (Thanks everyone!)

Nekochan

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I know you don't remember it, Jien, but we used to be a happy family – a well-respected youkai, his young principal wife, and a little boy with great promise. Every day I'd go off with the others to fish at the river, bringing home at least a dozen a day. I can still remember the first time you skinned a fish all on your own – one that you caught all by yourself – because it's one of my fondest memories.

The day you were born is another. I'd already had to dismiss two wives back to their parents – and get a return on my bridewealth (1) – because they couldn't bear me any sons. Your mother was so proud that day, too, and she had every right to be – that was the day she earned her place as my principal wife. By giving birth to you, Jien, she ensured that I would forever take care of her as a mother to my son.

Then, years after you'd become the focus of my world, some humans settled nearby – a day's walk away. Since I had more than enough fish for my family and the other youkai that I traded with in our own village, there was no reason I could see why I shouldn't trade with the humans as well, when they came looking for fresh fish. The only problem was that they traded for coins that only other humans accepted in trade for value, but that meant I could go to their town and buy their woolen blankets, rice, and fine alcohol.

I became well known in the town for my fishing prowess and my willingness to trade, since I had so much to trade with. The human town was so far away, though, that I had to fish early each morning and head straight to their town to provide fresh fish. It was nearly sunset by the time I was finished each time, so I started a two-day cycle – spending the night in the human town's tavern before bringing my traded goods home to my family the next morning.

A waitress in the tavern would show me to my room each night I stayed there and bring me breakfast each morning. Every time I came to that tavern, a bed was ready for me in the exact same room, my usual drink at the bar in my favorite spot on the corner, and I knew that she was the one who always did that for me. It was your mother's kindness that I fell in love with, Gojyo.

When I found out that she was pregnant, I made a promise to her, just as if she had been a youkai woman from my village: if she gave birth to a boy, I would cover the expenses of her raising my son. I would do this so long as she kept his lineage a secret from the village. She didn't understand why, but I was all too aware of what would happen if anyone in the village understood the significance of red hair and red eyes – traits which I knew her child would bear regardless of gender.

But she bore me a son after all and I kept my promise to provide for her, as I would have any youkai wife. Your mother was so sure that your red eyes would darken to brown like both of ours and that your red hair would turn dark auburn – a mesh of her mahogany and my jet – that I didn't bother to correct her. You were so young at the time that it was easy to hide you, Gojyo, because you really didn't need to leave your room – the room I always stayed in at the tavern.

How was I to know I'd be made the village chief not long afterwards? I had a house for my family then, with good beds and clothes and food. Your mother was never so happy, Jien, than when she was preparing to entertain her friends at our new home – even if that meant going out into the forest with you to gather fruit, a task she normally loathed.

The time I spent in the human town became less and less; I couldn't spend the night in town anymore, what with having a horse now to get me between the two villages – my old excuse of travel time no longer existed. Your mother grew sad, Gojyo, and she grew jealous; my wife was keeping closer tabs on where I was spending my money, not to mention questioning how much I spent on goods in the village versus how much made it to our doorstep. You were nearly two, Gojyo.

I guess your mother eventually figured out how important children were to me, Gojyo, because she was soon pregnant again. This time, she begged me to take her back to my village and make her my principal wife… if she bore me another son. We argued intensely about it and I came extremely close to telling her the secret about hanyou children a number of times. It was always in the attempt to dissuade her from her lofty fantasies of being the wife of a village chief as if the youkai wouldn't care that she was human.

I almost wish we'd come to a decision about it, that way your mother wouldn't have died wondering what would happen to her precious "carrot-top" boy. Of course, I never found out exactly how she died, though I expect it was complications from the birth of another hanyou child so soon. No, I had to learn about it from a mob of angry villagers claiming that a tiny demon had cast an evil spell on one of their own, for they had found it in her room sitting right on top of her. Thankfully, their own ignorance meant that they just "exorcised" the demon from the room and sent it into the forest just over a day ago. From that time on, no "demon" – as we came to be called – were welcome in that village.

Jien, I think you were the only one who was glad to meet Gojyo when I first brought him back to our village. Your mother, on the other hand, was positively furious. The only reason she calmed down was by threat of dismissal – she could not deny that Gojyo had a place in my household as one of my sons, because that was the rule of our village: sons lived with their fathers and married females went to live with their husbands. It also meant that you, Gojyo, could be the one to help her gather fruit from the forest while I trained you, Jien, in the ways of a man – namely swordsmanship. That reassured your mother, Jien, that her son was still my heir and that gave her a vested interest in helping to raise you, Gojyo.

Then, one year, something happened to the humans' fields and herd animals. Of course, that didn't affect we water youkai, being fishers, and, of course, that meant that we were to blame – in the humans' eyes – for their troubles. I can't blame them for attacking us, but I can blame them for their own stupidity.

They expected to break the morale of the village's defenders by slaying their chief and damn-it-all if it worked. No sooner had I fallen than the other youkai fled, not even bothering to take their belongings with them.

Victorious, the humans left the village, not bothering to search for survivors. It was you, Jien, who took charge like a man and hid your family well enough that the three of you managed to live another day. I couldn't be prouder of you, my eldest.

That's why, even after those cowards abandoned their own homes, I swore to always protect my village – my family – while one of my blood resided there. After all, one "ghost" keeps pesky humans away far better than any number of mortal youkai ever could.

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-to be continued-

10/15/2007

(1) Bridewealth - the money or goods given to the family of a bride by the bridegroom or his family (dictionary-dot-com). Basically, the husband pays the wife's family for taking her away from their household. In this youkai village, women who do not produce sons can be returned to their family (with the woman's daughters) in exchange for the bridewealth paid upon marriage. (Also known as "bride price"; the exact opposite of a dowry.)

The perfect song for Jien's mother – or just "Mom" as the boys call her – is "No Son of Mine" by Genesis (Turn It On Again – The Hits, Tour Version) and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Hopefully, the 'house of cards' analogy hasn't been lost on anyone. In case you didn't guess it, the speaker is indeed Gojyo and Jien's father. Take him out of the picture and… Unfortunately, I can't promise the next chapter any time soon; it all depends on how many plotkappas attack me while I attempt to study for my midterms.

I also blame a lot of material from this chapter on my Anthropology major. Somehow, their father's youkai village managed to be foragers, patrilineal, patrilocal, and even polygamous. Then there's the humans – they're agriculturalists… and that's about it. Oh, except that they're incredibly superstitious.

Nekochan