Dream of the Encounter
An: Sup! Guess who's still alive bitches! I'm back and I have a brand new story to show!
I have finally finished all three main DLC's of Nioh 2 and let me just say that I loved it! You wouldn't believe how stressing it was having to fight Nightmare Bringer, Ōtakemaru or even Hayabusa Ren solo (Died 30-44 times against them)!
Personally I liked the first DLC, The Tengū's Disciple, and I absolutely loved the boss fight with Minamoto-no-Yoshitune. Raikōu was another exciting (yet tough) fight.
Now! This story is heavily inspired by the fanfic My Shinobi, by KingLeviathan77. Now here's the twist of it, instead of the Asuka or even Yumi being the main heroines, it's Yomi! I actually had two other ideas where it was Homura and Murasaki being the main girl, but I actually grew to love the bean sprout goddess.
Anyway that's enough of the disclaimers! Hope you like the first chapter!
Long ago in Feudal Japan...
Bright yellow stones emerged from the surface of the earth, granting unimaginable power to anyone who held them. Spirit Stones, some called them miraculous, the Philosophers Stones.
Rulers and warlords of the far east saw value of the Spirit Stones, able to turn the tides of the near-constant civil war in their own favour. Power, fame, wealth, status, pleasure, anything with the aid of those magic stones.
But from the darkness humans weren't the only ones who sought the power of the Spirit Stones. Demons known as Yōkai spread across the land, slaughtering humans for sport and consuming Spirit Stones to make themselves more powerful.
Unwilling to let the yōkai roam free causing chaos, there were those would go into great lengths to eliminate every last one ...
The clan of the Sohaya.
Once they were dedicated in hunting down yōkai to the very last, until a forbidden union occurred when one of leading members fell in love with a yōkai and birthed a new species into the world, a Shiftling. The appearance of a regular human and powers of a yōkai, only little few knew of their true name, but many remember their mark left through history.
Man, monsters, demons, yōkai, spirits, giants, skeletons, soldiers, ghouls, yōma, apes, tengu, shinobi, snakes, leaders, rulers, legends, immortals, gods and even other Shiftlings. All who have been struck down by their blade. But that was until they suddenly up and vanished from the world, leaving nothing else but a memory of who they were before.
Some say of their existence to be a rumoured fairytale. A story and an inspiration to youths who inspire to become warriors. And some believed the Shiftling to be a spirit sent by the Shinto Kami to protect their home.
But there was one unmistakable truth. They have changed the course of the history by purging the darkness from the world, banished the flames of war to ever rise and uniting the lives of humans and yōkai in peace...
...But that was the story of the past...
Dark heavy clouds loomed above the skies of the slums of Tokyo, thunder rumbling all across the city. The cold rain pouring down harshly to those with very little shelter. But among them was someone who grew accustomed to such terrible weathers...
Garbed in a dirty and worn out makeshift cloak, Yomi trudge through the deep mud barefooted while carrying an equally dirty sack with whatever edibles she could salvage through the trash, may them to be moldy, rotten or not. A meal was a meal.
She grew up most of her life living in poverty after all. Born and raised on the streets, it was unforgettable not knowing when and where her next meal will be coming from. Her parents worked tirelessly day after day just so her own wellbeing stayed safe.
But growing up on the streets allowed Yomi to understand some points about certain people, like her parents nearly reaching their breaking point. She didn't know what happened, but before Yomi graduated elementary school her parents vanished without a trace.
It was only until recently Yomi discovered that they sold their lives to leave her an inheritance for her future. Yomi knew with all that money her parents left her she could have lived a steadily normal life and survived, but she wasn't going to accept any of that.
She knew there were others who were just as unfortunate as she was, especially young children like her. And she very well knew that those with plenty of wealth wouldn't even dare to breath in the same air as her.
So instead of using the inheritance on herself, Yomi gave it all away. Even if it meant scrapping through the bottom again, it was her money after all and she gets to decide what to do with it!
And Yomi was perfectly content with that.
Now twelve-years old, Yomi has grown used to her regular routine for the past few years of surviving off where and whatever she could and also help other homeless people along the way. But for now she needed to find herself some shelter quickly before all her edibles become soggy...
*Bump!*
"Oomf!" Yomi nearly fell over to her bottom as she walked into someone without looking.
"Ha...?" The blonde gave a quiet little gasp as in front of her were three grown men with rugged and dirty facials and torn clothing. The largest out of them, the one she bumped into, eyed her smaller form and spoke, "Oi, oi, little lady, you 'ought watch where you're going, otherwise you might hurt yourself."
Yomi could feel her heart slowly race, "I-I'm sorry, I will be careful next time..." She lightly bowed her head, "N-Now please excuse me..." She tried walking past the older man when suddenly his outstretched arm stopped her.
"Woah now, missy! A half-assed apology like that won't do anything good for ya. If you really want to make it up then let's make a little proposal..." Yomi stiffened when the man latched a hand onto her shoulder and bent down to her height,
"My friends and I were just lookin' for something to keep us warm for the night and you look like you'd probably wouldn't last during this cold either, eh? So how about it, little lady?" Yomi's heart stopped itself as she caught the mans vulgar looking smile sprouting from his lips. Her legs began to tremble as she noticed his friends coming from behind him.
"P-P-Please..." She whimpered, "Please j-just take whatever you want from my bag...! I-I don't...! A-Anything else but...!" Her eyes were shut, but tears began to well-up as she could feel his hand slither from her shoulder to her collarbone and reaching his fingers on her chin with the thumb close to her lips.
"Now don't be like that. We'd be only helping each other out..." His face got dangerously close to hers, she could smell his awful alcohol breath, "Besides, a pretty face like yours would surely go to waste. So how about it-!"
*Chomp!*
"Aaaaahhh!" The larger mans companions widened their eyes in shock as they heard their friend scream loudly in pain.
Yomi sank her teeth into the adults thumb. Harshly bitting into it as if she was going to tear it from the owner. Taking this chance now, the young blonde released the mans thumb from her grip and quickly bolted to the other direction of the slums as fast as she could.
The larger man cringed painfully as he tightly applied some pressure to his bleeding thumb, "Fuck...!" He then whipped his head to his companions, "Don't just stand there! Go after her now!" The two snapped out from their shock and ran towards Yomi's direction.
In her life, Yomi had never ran this harshly away from anyone. She could feel the discomforting pain in her legs and her lungs burning inside her. Her eyes glanced behind her as two of that mans goons were chasing after her, and they were coming close.
She couldn't stop now! She had to keep running even if it meant enduring the pain. Yomi rounded a turn to an alleyway and tried to find a way to cut from her pursuers, but as soon as she made her way into the alley unfortunately...
"Aaah!" A sharp pain spread on her lower foot as Yomi fell harshly into the wet mud. The blonde cringed in pain, but it wasn't as bad with the stinging sensation on her left foot. Lifting her head, Yomi had noticed she accidentally stepped on a glass shard that was sticking out from the bottom of her bare foot.
She bit down on her lower lip, trying to hold the pain. Yomi didn't even have time to remove the shard as two of her perusers finally caught up with her. She desperately tried to crawl away but was unfortunate when one of the men came up and harshly pulled her by the hair.
Yomi tried to squirm free from his grip, even if it meant tearing her own hair from her scalp it would been a lot better than staying any longer with these men! But things however got much worse for her when their leader had finally shown himself with his still bleeding thumb covered under a closed fist.
He angrily marched up towards them and harshly gripped Yomi's lower jaw to force her to look dead in his eyes, "You know that was a pretty awful way to decline someone who generously offered you some shelter! And to think little twats like you wouldn't have the gall to bite back like any other street hounds!"
*Smack!*
"Kyaa!" Yomi received a hard backhand to the cheek as she fell back to the mud. All three men surrounding her into a corner with no chance of her running away again, "Well, I believe an appropriate compensation is in hand."
One of the men pinned her arms down as two of them got to work tear her cloak apart, "N-No! Stop it! Please! I-I don't want to-!" Her pleas became deaf to them as they continued to tear away at her clothing. Yomi still defiantly tried to free herself but was ultimately weighted down to that one spot.
Feeling a sense of dread and defeat, the blonde shut her eyes tightly and waited for the terrible fate of the men about to violate her, 'Otou-san...Okaa-san...I'm so sorry...' Her parents have always told her if she were to ever give herself to anyone it should have been with someone who truly meant everything to her...
And here she was about to have her first time taken away by three grown men in a dirty alleyway, "Kami-sama...please...I..." Yomi began to plead one last time. She desperately prayed someone would hear her...
*Bam!*
"Gyaah!" Yomi's eyes snapped open as she heard one of her assaulters crying out in pain. She saw that the one who was pinning her arms down had been knocked unconscious on his back. A nasty bruise was sporting on his forehead as small trails of blood leaked out from it.
The young girl took notice that beside the mans unconscious body was a decent sized rock covered in small bits of his own blood. Yomi rolled her head around to the direction of where it was thrown and her green eyes slowly widened.
Standing in front of the entrance of the alleyway was someone of her own height, maybe even taller. They were garbed in their own raggedy old cloak with the hood covering most of their facial features.
The only visible thing Yomi could see under the hood were their eyes. And the most odd thing about it was that they were glowing in the dark...
The two men hastily got back up to their feet as Yomi took the chance to quickly huddle up to safety and retreated into a small corner, "W-Who the hell are you supposed to be?!" The leader demanded loudly but was given no answer.
The larger man quickly grew irritated of the lack of communication and marched up to the stranger, "Oi! You deaf or somethin'! I asked who-!" When he tried to grab their shoulder, the stranger took a quick step to the side and before the man even knew it, a glass bottle smashed on the back his skull forcing him to the ground with a faint thud.
His friend had a look of shook of what just happened and tried to intervene, "Y-You son of a...!" He charged at the cloak figure who fortunately moved away on time to dodge his advances.
"You little piece of...! Rrraaah!" He roared violently and tried to charge at the stranger again, but failed twice as the smaller figure moved out of the way, sticking his foot out and causing the lackey trip and land face first into the stone wall.
The cloaked stranger then proceeded to stomp their shoe harshly on the back of mans head further into the wall, making a sick crunching sound to his nose. The lackey made a painful little noise before falling unconscious.
Yomi slowly sat up while trying to cover herself with her ripped up cloak. She had an astonished look on her face that someone similar of her own height had taken out three grown men so easily. However, her eyes widened in horror when the leader had quickly recovered himself and angrily came up to the cloaked stranger with his fist ready from behind, "Watch out!" The blonde shouted in warning.
The cloaked figure had barely enough time to react as a punch struck the side of their face, forcefully sending them to the ground. The larger man then followed with a rough kick to their side, causing them to cough out some spit. He then proceeded to lift the figure by the collar of their cloak and began ranting, "Who the hell do you think you are?! Acting like some kind of hero! Heroes don't exist in this part of the city, only bums and dead men like you and me! And the way I see it, the dead one is most certainly gonna be yo-!"
*Shink!*
The leader released his hold the cloaked stranger as he dropped to his knees and screamed in pain, "Aaaahh! W-What the hell..!" He held the side of his head in pain before noticing something different. He slowly retracted his hand away from his head and saw blood on it.
"B-Blood? How...?" The man looked down and stared in horror when he found his ear laying in front of him, "M-M-My ear...T-That's...!" His breathing stopped when the cloaked figure stood right in front of him and saw they were holding a strange looking knife in their hands that was covered in his own blood.
The older man fearfully looked up to see their face, but was still covered by their hood. However, the only thing he could see was their glaring glowing blue eyes, "D-Demon...!"
*Boom!*
Thunder struck in the air and as soon as the cloaked figure had taken one step closer, the man quickly got up and cowardly ran away screaming to the opposite direction, leaving his unconscious companions behind.
Yomi made a small yelping noise as her cloaked 'saviour' turned their attention at her. She began trembling again as they approached her with the knife still on hand. She was still shaken on what almost happened to her and Yomi didn't know what this person wanted.
When they were finally close, the young blonde instinctively shut her eyes and placed her hands over her head, "P-P-Please don't hurt me! I don't want anymore trouble! J-Just please leave me alone!" She was given no answer as Yomi began fearing the worst to come.
All she heard was a shuffling noise coming from them as Yomi clutched the top of her head even tighter. What Yomi had expected to be something harmful instead to be...warm?
The blonde could no longer feel the cold rain pouring on her bare skin as she felt it bounce off of something. Openings her eyes once more, the girl found herself wearing a 'new' cloak that covered her from the rain and hid her nearly exposed decency.
Slowly lifting her head up, steely grey eyes was the first thing she laid on. A young boy around her own age, maybe even a bit older. His face was covered in dirt and grime with his own black hair being long, messy, and unkempt just like any other resident to the slums. But that had Yomi wondering, weren't his eyes blue instead of grey?
The boy knelt down and gently placed his knife to the ground as he gave Yomi a small reassuring smile that slightly put her on ease, "Who...Who are you?" She slowly asked.
The boy didn't say anything, instead his eyes darted down and pointed to Yomi's foot. Her eyes followed as she remembered a glass shard had plunged on her skin and flesh when she was being chased, "O-Oh, this? I can take care of this myself, but thank you..." She saw the boy shake his head.
"You...want to help remove it? Thank you, but it isn't that big of a problem. I can remove it myself, I just need to..." Yomi saw him shake his head again. The boy looked at her firmly and the blonde could tell that he was truly insistent to help her.
Even if he did save her from those men, Yomi was honestly still kinda suspicious around this boy. He hardly even spoke a word the entire time. But even she knew she couldn't keep that shard in her foot forever, Yomi could feel bits of the stinging sensation coming back.
She took another look at the quiet messy haired boy in front of her and gave it one last thought. Up until now he had been nothing but kind to her as to offering his own cloak to keep her dry while he remained in the pouring rain the whole time they've been sitting here.
Yomi still had no idea who he truly was or what he wanted, but just looking at his face alone made her want to trust him, "Okay...But please...be gentle."
The boy smiled and gave a light nod. He tore a piece from his own shirt and held it in his mouth as he then proceeded to gently grab Yomi's ankle, slowly lift it up and used his other hand to take hold of the glass shard with his thumb and index finger.
Yomi hissed when the grey eyed boy carefully plucked the shard from her foot and tossed it away. He then quickly tied the torn cloth around her sole to prevent any further bleeding and gently placed her ankle back down.
He offered a hand to her which she wholeheartedly took as the boy slowly helped guide Yomi to stand up. The blonde felt a shot of pain on her lower foot again when she had tried to apply some pressure on it and nearly fell over if it weren't for the boy who caught her just on time, "I'm sorry, but it looks like I won't be able to stand properly for a while. Let alone walk..."
The black haired male nodded in understanding and suddenly crouched down as he gestured the girl to climb on his back, "You want me to get on your back?" She asked as he nodded.
"Are you really sure? I do not want to be a burden on you while you're carrying me through this rain." The boy shook his head at her. He gave her a look saying he will be able to handle it, but that didn't ease the blondes worries on his current physical health.
Unfortunately, Yomi knew there would be no point in arguing any further if he was going to be this stubborn. The blonde wordlessly leaned over to the boys back as she gripped her fingers onto his shoulders. She gave a yelp when the messy haired boy hooked his hands around her legs and shot up to his feet.
The grey eyed boy took a moment to adjust Yomi onto his back and then shot her another look to see if she's comfortable. Strangely, Yomi knew exactly what he was thinking, "Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you very much..."
The black haired child nodded in understanding and quickly sprinted off to a different direction of the slums.
I didn't take very long to where the black haired child had taken Yomi, but she was thankful to be finally out of that rain. Sheltered inside a rundown little shack just outside of slums, Yomi was currently found sitting by a small wooden table with some new spare clothes the grey eyed boy had kindly given her.
Well not really 'new' as they were mostly filled with holes and tears, but Yomi wasn't going to complain so long as she stayed dried and had her body covered.
The blonde girl saw her saviour in another open room as he was rummaging through a waste bag in search of something. That gave Yomi a little ample time to look around the home.
This place had been abandoned for ages. Plants and moss grew out from the flooring and some of the wooden structures. The rest of the interior had already come apart or looked like it was about to break. Yomi wondered how long he had been living here. And with who? Maybe she could finally to the chance to ask since he's been very quiet so far.
"Myuu~!" Yomi jumped a little when she felt something brush against her arm. Turning to her side a cat was rubbing itself affectionately on her arm. The oddest thing about the cat was it had more of a round body and was slightly bigger than any other cat she has seen.
But she dismissed the thought in favour of picking it up and smothering it in return, "Aww, you're so adorable! Who's a good little kitty?" Yomi playfully rubbed on its belly as the round feline mewed in joy.
"Myuu~" Yomi smiled at the little noise it made. She could somehow honestly feel the happiness emanating from the little guy. Heck she could even feel the tensions on her own body dissipate.
Just then the boy came out from the other room with a small handful of food and snacks in his arms and setting them out on the table. They were all convenient store items found in local mini marts. But judging how they looked, they were most likely past their expiration dates. But Yomi wasn't going to complain, a meal was a meal after all.
But what really got her attention that among the small pile was bag of bean sprouts! It had been a while since she eaten any of those delectable sprouts from heaven! Wait, losing track! Need to stay focused first!
The blacked haired boy offered her a packed bun, but Yomi declined the offer and spoke, "Thank you, but there's something I wanted to ask you first." The boy blinked once but nodded.
"Why go so far to help a stranger like me? Please know that I am truly grateful for you saving me and giving me shelter, but I know something like this doesn't come without a price in return." She knew how the modern world worked and what it was like. The blonde had seen first hand that not everything comes free without a certain exchange from the other party. A perfect example would have been those men who wanted to exploit her body in exchange for giving her some shelter from the rain.
However, the boy wordlessly shook his head as an answer. That honestly surprised Yomi a little bit that he didn't want anything in return, but at the same time she was a little frustrated that she didn't get one spoken word of response, "You know it is very rude to not give someone a proper verbal reply when they are speaking with you. Up until now you have refused to say a single word the entire time we have been conversing. Why do you not want to talk?"
The boys stared at her once then eyes fell down to his lap. He blew out a breath of air as he lifted his head up and tranced his fingers on the centre of his neck.
Green eyes widened and her hand covering her mouth in horror. A thin scar ran along his throat, and judging by size of the closed gash the cut looked to be deep enough to fatally kill a person, yet instead...
Yomi's eyes shamefully looked down on her hands and bit the inside of her cheek, "I-I-I'm so sorry! It was insensitive of me to ask such a thing from you! I...!" She looked ready to stand up and leave, but she was stopped when the boy took a hold of her hand and gave her a reassuring smile and shook his head that meant he wasn't bothered by it.
Yomi looked deep into those steely grey orbs of his. She saw no signs of deceit or hate when she questioned his ability to speak. The blonde girl slowly settled herself and sat back down on her legs, "You are very kind. You were more than willing to lend me these clothes and share what little food you have with me, yet all I have done in return was to be doubtful."
She saw him shake his head again and gave her another little smile that meant he forgave her. Yomi lightly bowed her, "Thank you once more, I truly am grateful. But may I ask something else?" He nodded.
"Is there anyone else who lives here besides you?" The older boy blinked once and tilted his head a bit. He then pointed at the round plump cat laying beside her as it gave them a curiously look and mewed.
Yomi giggled in her hand, "No, I meant another human being. Someone like a mother or a father, or maybe even a sibling of some kind?" He frowned a bit and shook his head for no.
"You have been alone this whole time?" He nodded at her question, "So have I." The boy blinked as Yomi continued,
"My own parents died years ago while trying to give me an inheritance to make sure my future was secured. However, I gave all that up because I knew there were others who are just less fortunate as I was. And I have been surviving on my own ever since." The blonde suddenly felt the boy grab her hand again and gave her a comforting look.
Yomi smiled gratefully, "Thank you, but I have already made peace of what happened." That's when she suddenly realized something, "Ah! That reminds me, we have been conversing this entire time that we haven't even properly introduced ourselves have we?
She knew he couldn't speak, but Yomi bet she could use something around the home to help write his name.
Her eyes drifted back to her newly aquatinted friend and she asked, "Say, do you by chance have anything to write with...What's wrong?" She noticed the downcast look on his face. Could it be that...?
"Do you...not remember your name?" Yomi's heart sank when he shook his for no. If he didn't know what his name was, then did that also mean...
The blonde rapidly shook her head and began to mull over the thought for a minute. She hardly knew anything about her new friend, but if she were to guess the he had it far worse than she ever had encountered herself.
A brief flash of memory appeared before her as she suddenly remembered the knife he had when she first met him, "...Hide."
The black haired boy looked at Yomi as she continued, "The knife you were carrying. It had something engraved on the bottom of the blade near its hilt." The older boy pulled out the knife from his side and opened it halfway from its sheath.
The blonde pointed at the little kanji character that was engraved on the steel, "See, the character right there his written as 'Hide'. You never noticed?" She saw the boys cheeks glow in embarrassment which got Yomi to giggle at his reaction.
"Then that's what I'll call you from now on. Hide. Do you like it?" The boy, who was now named Hide, smiled brightly in an instant and nodded.
Yomi giggled and smiled in return, "My name is Yomi. Let's get along from now on, Hide!"
*Growl~!*
The moment immediately stopped when Yomi's stomach made a noise that demanded to be fed. The blonde herself hugged her gut as her face turned a little red in embarrassment, "Guess all this talking has made me very hungry, huh? Umm, can I have that bag of bean sprouts over there?" She pointed at the small bag with cheap stringy vegetables.
The blondes expression brightened when Hide gave her the bag, "Thank you very much! I absolutely love eating bean sprouts! I have studied every single detail on the nutritional facts, and the rich diet they give! Would you like hear a full explanation of its original history?!" Hide blinked twice and nodded slowly.
Yomi's smiled widely and began an excruciating long explanation on the history of how bean sprouts came to be. Well, Hide wasn't about to complain. Even if he couldn't talk, he was more than happy to listen to his new friend.
AN: First chapter is finally finished! Woooo!
For those wondering, yes Hide does not remember who or what he is and he can't speak. So it's going to be one of 'those' stories. In my defense most of the Nioh stories that I've read so far included a silent Hide, just like in the game's sequel.
And some of you are gonna tell me a certain special feature Guardian Spirits can do in Nioh, but let me just tell you this in advance that "I am not going to take the easy route" on this one.
Next chapter will be on Hide's perspective that will sorta explain what happened to him, but nothing to major (Depending if I can get off my fat ass first...).
I also want people to give me their honest opinion on how this chapter went and how it was written, because I have been gone for a very long time and I kinda feel both my literature and narrative writing skills being all "rusty" (Nothing toxic, those will go in the trash).
Thank you for reading this chapter! Hope to see you in the next one!