Vertices
Chapter I
I could not live my childhood there
because you took away our land.
(1944 - Jamala)
A/N: Short story. Coexistence and retribution. See A/N at the end. Don't own SA, just this wonky world we somehow throw characters into.
When strangers are coming,
They come to your house,
They kill you all and say,
We're not guilty.
"You shouldn't be running around without your cloak," Chihiro's mother scolded her as she caught sight of her young daughter trying to sneak out the front door of their humble abode nestled deep within the mountains. Chihiro's back straightened as she gave her mother a wavering smile, caught in the act, and slowly reached for the white cloak decorated with blue geometric patterns that had been hanging by the door. Her mother gave her a knowing look, fairly certain that her daughter would try to shed the garment as soon as she left her line of sight.
"Sorry," Chihiro replied bashfully as she fastened the heavy garment closed, the hood dangling behind her.
"You will be sorry if you get sick without it," Her mother chided her with an arched brow. "Remember to stay on the footpath—you know what happens if you don't." Chihiro pulled a stubborn face as she eyed her mother with a heady look, eventually succumbing to her mother's warning knowing that they came from somewhere. Another teen had wandered from the footpath few months prior and the whispers of the elders were growing louder and louder as the enemy forces drew closer and closer to their isolated village. They would catch occasional snatches of news from stragglers who managed to escape the cruel hands of their foes, each tale more and more grime and horrifying than previous ones. The teen's body had never been recovered, leading the village to heavily speculate on his fate.
"I will," Chihiro said reassuringly as she unlatched the two locks on the door, prying it open as a cool breeze whistled fast her frame. She shivered beneath the material of the cloak, surprised that it was this cold outside so early in autumn. Turning so that her chestnut locks billowed out behind her, she gave her mother a snappy wave as she retreated through the door and closed it behind her, the figure of her mother standing at the stove over a pot of soup fresh in her mind.
Chihiro trotted through the smattering of huts, weary eyes peering at her, but she ignored the villager's stares as she made her way towards the footpath that snaked down the mountain towards the much larger town at the foot of the massive mound. Glancing upwards at the sun, she calculated she had a few good hours of daylight left to take advantage of her time in the town and collect what she needed to collect before having to make the gruelling hike back up to the enclave of families that opted to live closer to nature. She had often scoffed her parents' insistence that growing up in conjuncture with nature was much more beneficial for her as a person, allowing her a steady appreciation of the Earth and what she provided to ensure that she became a more well rounded individual.
She, on the other hand, longed to move to the much larger village and find fulfillment amongst the libraries and artisans that seemed content with their larger colony.
Moving along the footpath as she took in the sounds of the forest, she could hear the river in the distance—strong and bubbling, a constant source of danger and life—, the calls of the magpies from the green canopies, the creaking of the trees, and the whistling of the autumn breeze that rustled the leaves. It was an ideal soundtrack to her brisk walk down the mountain, something that reminded her that she was fortunate to live in an area relatively unaffected by the conflicts in the much larger urban gatherings. She knew that there were horrific things happening in the far-off lands that marked the border between their lands and her people's but it had been out of mind, out of sight other than the idle chatter that they received from people seeking refuge in their mountain village.
It took her another hour to make it to the gate at the entrance of the village, Chihiro nodding at the two guards that waved her through—she had been a constant visitor to the point that she knew the guards and their rotations and their habits. She would occasionally bring them berry liquor that her father made or would shove some fresh bread into their hands. As she passed under the impressive wooden gates, she trained her sights on the centre of the village where there was a massive fountain fed by the river that ran under the village and cycled its waters through the elaborate stone structure. It was a meeting place for her and her friend Rumi, a native of the lower village, and they would meet at the same time on the same day to bumble about and catch up with gossip as well as drink the creamy coffee that Rumi's mother prepared.
As she made a beeline for the fountain, she realized that there was someone else waiting at the fountain, perched on the rim of the impressive structure. His hair was short and angular, seeming to reflect back a blackish green in the warm sunlight, and he was dressed in plain clothes that gave away no clues as to his origins. His eyes were half lidded as he lifted his head slightly to acknowledge her presence, a brilliant emerald green meeting her dark brown as she rounded the fountain and settled opposite him, her back rigid as she felt that stare affix upon her frame. He certainly was not someone she had seen before but she also knew that the influx of others from other lands surely brought new faces that she would not have seen prior. Her shoulders lost their tension as she realized that he had finished observing her and had turned his gaze back to staring at nothing in particular.
Chihiro felt her gaze slid to him to eye him out of her peripheral vision, still slightly unsettled by his presence: there was something grandiose and odd about this green eyed stranger that she seemed unable to comprehend. There was a sense of controlled calmness, a cold calculating nature that brewed beneath his half-lidded stare, and she felt a warning bell go off in her head that this stranger may have seen things that changed his behaviour and how he accepted the world around him. The empty stare that peered into an unseen void, the stillness of his posture as he did not move to even look at her once again—it left something coiling in her stomach that wrung and hissed angrily as she tried to move her gaze away from him but was unable to do so.
"Chihiro!" Her head darted up as she saw Rumi walking quickly towards the fountain, her hand stretched upwards in a friendly wave and Chihiro felt great relief at the fact that her friend had arrived at the opportune moment. Rumi's own cloak, white and red, cascaded around her gracefully as her friendly face peeked out from beneath the comically oversized hood, her rounded cheeks pink from the cool air in the village. Chihiro slid off the edge of the fountain, walking steadily towards her approaching friend to close the distance. Rumi intercepted Chihiro into her arms and wrapped her into a jovial hug, to which Chihiro returned it quickly as she shifted their bodies towards a smaller road that would open into an intimate plaza where they could converse in tranquil privacy.
"Who is that man there?" Chihiro mumbled so that only Rumi could hear her.
"What man?" Rumi questioned, her voice baffled as she released Chihiro from her crushing hug and peered over her friend's shoulder. "There's no one there?" Her voice was confused as something registered on her face that made Chihiro's back stiffen momentarily: Chihiro slowly turned her head, her eyes wary as she realized that the man that had been resting on the edge of the fountain was no longer there, nothing even hinting that he had occupied the space. There had been no footsteps or any perceive evidence that Chihiro had seen the man with a brilliant green stare and she felt a shiver crawl up her arms as she gave Rumi a half smile.
"You okay, Chihiro?" Rumi enquired, her head tilting. "You sure the mountain air isn't getting to your brain?" Chihiro gave her a mildly annoyed look, the teasing remarks typical from those who lived at the base of the mountain. It was true that the higher altitude could cause bizarre behaviour in the human body, especially if one was unaccustomed, but it rarely happened to those who lived in the mountain and traveled downwards. Chihiro had iron lungs, having grown up in the thin layer of oxygen, and had never once felt the effects of the change in elevation. She had seen Rumi's struggles when she occasionally climbed the mountain path to visit Chihiro; Rumi would often need a good hour or so to acclimatize and a strong brew of the tea that natives offered to their visitors to help ease the disorientation.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Chihiro muttered as she blinked dumbly, unsure as if she was imagining things or the man had slipped away undetected. Her internal argument was that, that sense of dread had not vanished along with him and she felt her guard spike up in drives. Her brown eyes were dazed as she stared at the fountain, trying to imagine the still form of the green eyed man and his lack of movement, truly perplexed by the situation. Rumi had approached her from the same direction that the man was seated, meaning that she should have at least seen him unless Rumi was blissfully unaware of her surroundings and did not take stock of what happened around her.
"You sure?"
"Yes, yes," Chihiro said dismissively as she felt her cheeks strain at the overcompensating smile she gave her friend. Rumi gave her a sceptical look, her brown eyes unimpressed with Chihiro's odd display, but she shrugged it off as she tugged her friend's hand towards her mother's home where the hot coffee would be waiting for them. The two girls skittered off, Chihiro's head unconsciously turning as she glanced back at the fountain, only to see that it was still unoccupied and there was no trace of anybody having been there.
As Chihiro and Rumi lounged comfortably on the elegant sofa that Rumi's mother had recently finished upholstering, coffee cups resting on their laps as they drank their third or fourth cup, they were both mum as they spread the blanket a bit more to cover their legs. The air was much damper at the base of the mountain and the chill was much more noticeable. Chihiro knew that her walk back up the mountain to her home would be miserable, cursing the impending winter, and it would be a brutal journey given that she knew she should have left at least a hour ago. The promise of the creamy coffee had outweighed her common sense, much to her bewildered bemusement, and she had given into Rumi and her mother's insistence that she stay for another one.
"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?" Rumi asked as her fingers wrapped around the tall mug, sipping at the warm drink as she peered at Chihiro over the rim. "It's no trouble at all."
"I agree, dear, you shouldn't be wandering back up the mountain in the dark," Rumi's mother remarked as she looked up from her sewing, giving Chihiro a maternal smile that was gentle. "We have extra bedding, you should stay. It would keep my mind at ease."
"My parents would worry if I didn't come home without any explanation," Chihiro said with a tilt of her head, an apologetic flicker on her lips. Rumi and her mother exchanged incredulous looks, unsure as if to question the young woman's logic of arriving home under the cover of inky darkness being safer than staying put in the village for an image and swallowing the verbal lashing the following morning.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure," Chihiro said reassuringly. "It's a straight shot up the mountain, it's not too bad!" Rumi's mother gave her another gawking look full of concern, but she sighed as she realized that it would be an enormous task trying to convince the young woman of the contrary. Chihiro had always been much more humble in her behaviour, which could have been mistaken for apathy or disinterest, and she was hardly one to impose herself on others. Rumi, when she had first met Chihiro, had said that she looked fairly sad and withdrawn and it had only been through forging a strong bond with her that the brown eyed girl from the mountains had become much more engaged with the world around her and started to smile and laugh more.
"In fact, I should get going," Chihiro said as she glanced out the window, the sky beginning its ceremonial retreat into darkness. The red and yellow tendrils that streaked across the canvas were signalling her that she had overstayed her welcome and that she was castigating herself to an arduous journey back up the mountain. "Thank you for the coffee."
"Of course, dear," Rumi's mother answered as she watched Chihiro shrug into her cloak, tying it securely around her tiny frame as she freed her ponytail from the tangle of the hood and let it drape over her shoulder. She noted, in grand contrast from her own daughter's behaviour, that Chihiro moved with a certain purpose and grace to her that seemed to come from having been raised in a hardier environment. Rumi was arguably pampered and lazy in many respects, whereas her friend was much more autonomous and independent in her actions. She seemed capable of handling herself in situations that required a much more critical assessment of the circumstances whilst Rumi was less likely to act out. Chihiro's arguably independent nature was hardly rebellious in nature, Rumi's mother chalked it up to the girl being much more conscious of her social behaviour and outward appearance.
"I'll see you next week, but… you're sure you don't want to stay?" Rumi's brow furrowed as Chihiro shook her head and gave her friend a soft smile. "At least take a lantern?"
Chihiro accepted Rumi's family's spare oil lantern that was brought to life with the match that was struck against the wick, the lantern glowing and reflecting in Chihiro's dark brown eyes. She held it up to inspect it, making sure it was securely fastened to its holder, before nodding tiredly at Rumi and her mother: "I'll see you in a few days then?"
As she closed the door behind her and stared towards the mountain, she felt that sense of lurking dread creep up on her once again as she glanced around her, trying to take in the narrow street where Rumi's house was located. The village was built on a grid system that had been easy to master and she knew the quickest routes to get to the access point to the foot path, ensuring that she did not waste more time than necessary. Chihiro huffed as she tried to shake off the horrid feeling that was blanketing her mind as she set a brisk gait towards the road that would spit her out onto the walking path that snaked back up the mountain.
The village was oddly quiet, normally it was quiet lively with people returning to their homes in the twilight, but there were barely any people on the street. The shops seemed to have been closed a bit earlier as well, prompting Chihiro racking her mind to see if there was any sort of occasion that would have merited such activity. There was no holiday or celebration that she was aware of and she felt uneasy as she ghosted by the bookshop that she liked to frequent with the grouchy old shopkeeper whose knowledge was infinite. There was something ominous in the air that plucked at her subconscious and she felt the first wave of regret wash over her for not accepting Rumi's offer to stay the night.
Creeping towards the last turn before she would be set off on the mountain path, she halted in her tracks as an odd smell tickled her nose, her head swivelling towards the mountain top as she squinted through the fading light. There was a burning smell, nothing to atypical for the village that burned wood to keep warm, but she knew that it was still too early in the season for fires to be lit. She knew her father had been rationing the firewood and calculating how much he would need to provide his family with warmth for the winter but he himself had been clear that it would be another fortnight before they would put their fireplace to use.
Glancing behind her at the houses that were fairly dark, she contemplated pivoting around and trotting back to Rumi's family's home and staying the night but she knew that her mother's verbal lashing would be terrible and she would probably be banned from traveling to the village for a spell. Gritting her teeth in annoyance and uncertainty with regards to what to do, Chihiro rounded the corner and started up the steep path that was darker than the village due to the lack of light from the trees blocking out the sunlight.
The path itself was intimidating at night, seeming to take on a much more nefarious personality under the cover of shadowy darkness, and she sometimes imagined creatures leering at her from the trees or the thick undergrowth. Chihiro always surprised herself by how efficiently she could scale the walking path when she let her mind wander to such thoughts, her pace picking up significantly as she covered more ground by opening her stride. Thankful for Rumi's lantern, she held it up in front of her to give her a small pool of light that illuminated the path enough to spot any obstacles that she could stumble or trip over en route to her village.
Halfway up the path, the smell grew stronger and Chihiro froze in her steps, her eyes widening as she felt the acrid smell of burning invade her nose with a force to be reckoned with. Her dark eyes peered through the darkness uneasily, her feet seeming to want to turn around and run back down the mountain and call for help, but she was unsure as to why. There was something in the air that settled poorly on her shoulders and that lingering sense of dread reared up its head once again and gnashed its teeth at her as she bit her lip nervously. Being caught alone out on the path at night was a very stern reality that was ingrained into all the villagers at the top of the mountain but she had never felt her senses go haywire prior to that very moment.
The villagers were extremely cautious with fire, knowing that they had very limited supplies of water and that help was very far away, and she found herself theorizing that someone had probably left something sitting too long on the stove and it caught fire. Still, Chihiro reckoned, it would have been taken care of immediately and the panic would have ceased. She felt her mouth frown as she squinted through the darkness beyond the puddle of muted golden light that emitted from the lantern and she could have sworn that the shadows danced a bit more maliciously as they streaked from tree to tree, avoiding her lantern's reach in an elaborate game of tag.
The smell was intensifying and as she crested one of the last hills before the path flattened significantly, she inhaled a heavy gasp as she nearly lost her grasp on the lantern. There was an eerie orange-red glow that outlined the skyline, a hazy grey cloud floating upwards towards the heavens. Chihiro's eyes narrowed as she pushed forward, despite her knee protesting slightly at the sudden increase in speed, and she sped over the grassy path as she pushed her way forward towards her small rural village tucked away in the privacy of the mountain. The sinking feeling returned seven-fold and she suspected that something had gone horribly wrong in her absence as she rushed towards the gathering of houses, her cloak flapping behind her.
It was only when she was a mere five hundred meters from the break in the trees that another scent mixed with the burning and it was a sickly sweet that made her stomach churn. To that sickly sweetness, there was a coppery undertone that seemed to permeate her nose and she nearly rejected the thin contents of her stomach into the grass as the combination of the three scents became too much. Swallowing back the acidic lump in her throat, she willed herself to draw closer to see what was going on, despite the fact her mind was hollering at her to run away and run back down the face of the mountain to the safety of the bigger village to round up some support from there before approaching her home.
Closing the last few meters of distance, she froze again in her tracks as everything came together into a grotesque image that she would have never imagined. All the rumours that were floating around from the other points of the country, all the whispers about the enemies creeping closer and closer, overthrowing and dominating their lands that had been in their people's controls for generations—all of them slammed into her with the mighty force of a storm as she fell to her knees, the lantern flying from her hands and breaking against the hard ground as the fire spilled from the glass confines and licked at the grass. She had always believed that her village would be safe, a stronghold in the unfavourable terrain, and that she would not have to worry about them intruding in what was the land that was lovingly tended to by her family and fellow villagers.
"No," She rasped as she heard the tell-tale sounds of a wooden structure crumbling to the ground, a family losing their home, their history, their memories in an act against their kind. Her eyes welled with tears from the emotional overload and the smoke that was wrapping around her and threatening to suffocate her, her hands balling into fists in the grass as she tried to steady her breathing before pushing herself to her feet and forcing her body to move forward in the hopes of finding her own family. She had heard very little from the survivors other other attacks, but she knew that many did not emerge from the raids alive or were badly injured to the point they wished death upon themselves as opposed to living with such atrocious scars and deformations.
Chihiro was mere metres from the first houses when she heard a bone-chilling scream originate from within one of them followed by what sounded like soft skin being penetrated with a sword. She nearly wretched by forced herself to look away, tearing away from the house and trying to mask herself within the smoke as best as she could to avoid being detected. She knew that the enemy that she was against was able to see through the smoke regardless of it cloaking her from their vision, them being the superior species as they slowly reclaimed everything that they thought their own. She choked as the smoke entered her fragile lungs but refused to back down as she picked her way through the structures in flames towards her own house which was towards the back of the cluster.
More screams, moans, and groans infiltrated her ears and she tried not to let her eyes drag to where it sounded they were coming from, her mind playing heavily on her heart as she knew that one of the houses had three young children that inhabited its four walls. Chihiro stumbled forward as she nearly tripped and fell into a burning pile of wood, but she managed to regain her balance as she counterbalanced and swung around the last corner of the house. She spotted her family home, coated in a fresh bath of aggressive flames, and she cried out, clasping her hands over her mouth in sheer terror as she realized that the door was completely coated in red embers and flames that saluted her and taunted her, beckoning her forward as she shuffled her feet. She ripped her head around in all directions, desperate to spot any sort of life from the less than eighty people that lived in the village, but the few that were out in the street were bleeding severely or were mere corpses withering away into ashes as the fire ripped at their clothes.
Stuttering as she coughed heavily, the smoke an obnoxious blanket on her body, she back-pedalled and retreated towards the trees where she prayed desperately that some of the villagers and her parents had escaped to once they realized that they were under siege. Their village was tiny and there were very few things left to destroy once they attacked the abodes, the invaders seeming to have moved on after leaving their wake of destruction. Chihiro blinked rapidly as she tried to not let the ash and smoke bleed into her eyes, and she curled down as she tried to see through the flames to see if there was anything or anyone left alive. She imagined that the few livestock kept in the village had, had their throats cut or had been caught within the fire and perished from smoke inhalation, something that gave her great discomfort at imagining the baby lambs and the newly born calf dropping dead on the spot.
"Mom…. Dad…" She whispered in a raspy voice, the smoke coating the inside of her throat, her hands clenching at the folds of her cloak desperately as her mind raced as she tried to think of what to do next. Her options were fairly limited: she knew that if she remained here, she could potentially be killed by the enemies that had brought her tiny village to its defenceless knees—she also knew that running down the mountain would be a futile attempt given that it would take too much time for her to rouse any help from the now slumbering village and people would panic and throw things into a frenzy. Chihiro could not determine for sure if the village at the foot of the mountain would be the next target, but she could imagine that it would be the most logical decision for the invaders. Grunting as she grit her teeth, she pushed her belly against the ground and slowly crawled away from the burning village, determined to keep low to the ground in the attempts to avoid detection if there was any danger lingering in the area.
She crept along the hard ground, staining her white cloak browns, greens, and reds as she looked pathetically over her shoulder as the reddish hue of the burning village grew brighter against the dark sky. Chihiro knew that all her possessions, her family's treasures and heirlooms, and their house were completely wiped out from the Earth. There had been small trinkets passed from generation to generation, books, papers, and ceremonial clothes and garments that were irreplaceable as they were testaments to her family's history on the lands. She felt her heart pang in sorrow at such a great loss—they were unrecoverable sentimental objects and she could almost hear her ancestors bawling in the chaos.
Deciding to creep towards the river, Chihiro changed course as she slowly made her way along the wild underbrush, her brown eyes glowering into the darkness as though to ward off any predatory creatures that were watching her with baited interested. She knew that the river was another kilometre or so away and she was determined to get there to at least devise some sort of strategy to be able to warn those in the village below or wait until the fires died out on their own before venturing back to inspect the remains and see if there was any trace of her parents. She knew it was a risky move, the river was a great source of pain and suffering for humans, but it was better to be out in the open where she could see and be seen, at least evening out that major disadvantage.
It was a harsh trail to cover and she found herself pausing at random intervals to try and catch her breath, unable to keep a steady pace as the terrain was bumpy and uneven. The only consolation was she could hear the river in the distance, its strong currents smashing against its shores and the rocks that jutted out from the bottom of the riverbed. Chihiro felt her lungs were on the verge of collapsing, her cloak snagging on prickly plants, her arms slowly becoming a topographic map of scratches, cuts, and slivers. She persisted though, only stopping when she needed, and she kept her wary guard up the entire time as she dragged herself closer and closer to the river, her belly never lifting from the ground. The adrenaline that was coursing through her veins was enough to fuel her but even she knew that it was a temporary aid that would eventually peter out and she would be truly on the edge of exhaustion.
As the river came into sight, she sighed in relief as she managed to yank herself up from the ground and stumble the last few meters, coming to fall into a pile of limbs on the banks of the shore as she felt everything give out from beneath her. The world was spinning, her mind was hazy from the fires and the charred corpses and houses that she crossed paths with, and she felt disoriented as the rush of fear, anxiety, and terror caught up with her and assaulted her brain. She felt the tears that had refused to fall in her escape well in her eyes as she curled into a ball, her eyes trained in the direction of the village that was still burning by the intensity of the reddish golden reflection in the night sky. The trees created a natural boundary between the river and the village and she prayed that it was enough to keep the invaders away from her as she tried to collect herself.
They're furious with us, you know, they say we don't belong on these lands, one of the elder's voices came to Chihiro's mind as her breathing evened out, her chest puffing at set intervals that steadied. They claim that this is their land—we've been here for centuries! They have no right to barge into our villages and force our people from them in the name of establishing equality between them and us! Equality is hardly something equated to a massacre.
Equality? Chihiro recalled thinking to herself as she busied herself with her book, pretending to be absorbed by the riveting content as opposed to tuning into the elders' conversation with the villagers in the next room.
We're far enough from the major areas of interest to really give this too much thought, don't you think? Another elder spoke up, this time a gentleman that Chihiro swore was at least ninety four years old and had seen enough to last a life time. The last survivors to pass through the village at the bottom were from far, far West. Didn't say much after that though—refused to talk about it and everything. Chihiro's brow furrowed at the elder's words but she leaned in towards the tapestry separating her from the elders.
Still, we cannot be caught off guard, A third voice spoke up.
Yes, I agree, The first elder's voice said in a gravelly tone. If their claim to our lands is made, this entire village will be brought to its knees—no doubt. We simply don't have the same resources to even make an attempt to defend ourselves. Chihiro's brown eyes slid to the side as she peered out the window, knowing that the elder was correct. Their village was less than eighty people, she was one of the youngest ones, and they had no active defence given they were so isolated and had never bothered to establish any sort of protective detail. Most of their troubles came from foxes or weasels hunting the few livestock they kept and that was easily solved.
Her recollection was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching her and she whipped her head around, rolling her body so that she was forced into a wobbly stance as she shot to her feet and glared angrily through the darkness, her defences soaring as she desperately wished for some sort of weapon to at least give the illusion that she could defend herself. Her body was a wreck and her mind was in chaos and she was unsure if she was able to handle any sort of confrontation but there was a certain hint of pride within her that refused to go down with a fight. She figured she had enough reserves in energy to attempt to scratch out the eyes of whoever was drawing in closer but she knew it was useless.
"You," She hissed as she recognized the green eyed stare as the stranger peered down at her. His garments had changed, she realized, to those of something bizarre and foreign and she felt the hair stand up on her arms as she came to the conclusion that he was most likely an invader. Chihiro felt a sense of triumph rise at the realization that she had not imagined this man but she felt her apprehension spike as she also realized that he knew her face from their brief encounter at the fountain.
"You were in the village at the foot of the mountain," He said, his voice smooth and crisp. There was an air of something wild and untamed that engulfed him and Chihiro felt her mind scream at her to try and run away or to jump into the river and let the current rush her away from him before he could sink his claws into her. "I had assumed you were from there—not… here." His head jerked to the side, gesturing towards her burning village, and she took a hesitant step backwards as she realized that he had a sword strapped to his side and it was laced with the remains of crimson ribbons of blood.
"Are you…. with them?" She managed to ask, her voice a mere whisper.
"I am one of them, yes," He answered. "I am not, however, necessarily with them."
"What?" She blurted, clamping her mouth firmly closed as she realized how aggressive she sounded and did not want to provoke this unknown creature standing before her. His green eyes reflected the burning embers of the village and she felt her nerves fray even more as he took another step towards her, his gait controlled and precise as she scrambled backwards on the slippery rocks of the riverside, falling backwards as she felt the weak grip of her shoes give out on her. Her body flailed as her limbs splayed out, her cloak ripping and her bruised and cut legs peeking out from the shreds of the garment she had left the house in that very morning.
"It is as I said," He replied firmly, his hand reaching down for the sword at his side, releasing it from the sheath as he considered her with an indifferent air about him. The metallic clinking of the sword echoed loudly in Chihiro's ears and she winced, her eyes closing as she knew that she would perhaps be executed on the spot by the invader whose dark green hair masked his face, his eyes tracing her frame as though studying an inferior specimen. She heard his hands grasp the hilt of the sword, her body tensing as she awaited for the slicing of the air before the metal would strike her and end her existence with one well aimed swipe.
"Rise," He commanded, to which Chihiro forced open her eyes to see that he was pointing the sword at her but made no movement to swing it downwards. She swallowed as she slowly rose to her feet, her body trembling terribly, and she straightened her back as much as she could, avoiding making eye contact with him. "You were not supposed to survive a siege—when they reclaim the land, they must erase all traces of humans from there in order to make it ours once again. Why are you still alive?" Chihiro was unsure if she was supposed to answer his question or not but she inhaled lightly, her chest rising and falling as she begged her body to calm itself to at least not let him scent her fear lest it send him into a frenzy.
"Fate is something that not even we ourselves are capable of tangling our fingers into her mighty threads," He said, his words perplexing to Chihiro as she felt her body sway from the confusion and fatigue. "Despite you being human and occupying lands that are not rightfully yours, fate has decided to permit you to keep living—a gift, a pittance. She is on your side, despite your destructive ways, and I am not one to go against fate's control and orders." The sound of his sword being secured back within its sheath promoted Chihiro to exhale a long breath as she sank back to her knees before the deity, somewhat humbled by the fact that even the gods themselves were incapable of going against the great unknown.
"You will perish if you continue to rest here," He remarked icily as his green eyes narrowed at her exhausted form.
"I have no where else to go," Chihiro admitted sullenly as her eyes misted over in agony. "I'm sure your people made quick work of my family and friends in the village." There was malice in her words, something that struck a chord within the deity, and he realized that she was not some meek mortal but rather one that seemed fairly willing to snap back at him. He was unimpressed with her response as he reached down and hauled her up roughly, provoking a squeak from the girl as she glowered at him angrily for roughhousing her a bit. He inspected her bruised and injured arms, her face smudged with ashes, and her dark brown eyes that seemed to swim with unrecognizable emotions. He released her arm, watching as she stumbled and grasped at her arm, glaring at him intently as she took a few steps backwards to separate them.
"If you have nowhere to go, you can come with me," He said stiffly as he crossed his arms.
"Right into the arms of the enemy? You're insane," She hissed like an angry feline.
"As I said earlier, I am one of them but I am not with them," He reminded her cooly. "If you wish to sign your own death sentence instead of coming under protective custody, that is your own decision to make. You would also be wasting the second chance at life that fate has awarded you." His green eyes were steely as he regarded her the same way Chihiro regarded unknown substances stuck to the bottom of her shoes.
"Wait, you didn't—"
"—No, I did not attack your village or any other villages," He cut her off curtly. "It's not in my interest to do so." Chihiro's eyes widened in realization and she pointed at his sword that was marked with the streaks of blood. He gave her a bewildered expression but reached down and unsheathed the sword once more, holding it out to her for her to inspect it with her own eyes.
"That's blood," Chihiro stated.
"It's not human blood," He retorted as he gestured for her to take the sword in her hands. Chihiro eyed him warily but accepted the weapon, grasping it firmly by the hilt as she held it vertically to inspect it, casting her glance back at him. The streams of blood that she saw were bright red and did not seem to be oxidized like human blood would, leaving a typical rust coloured mark. This blood was dried and retained its crimson brilliance, meaning that he was indeed being truthful with his words. She lowered the blade as she passed it back to him, waiting for his explanation as to what sort of creature's blood had stained his blade.
"This is from other deities that were encroaching on my lands," He offered by means of explanation. "There are those of us who are content with our established territories and I have no reason to participate in the massacre of humans during reclamation. I also have zero tolerance for those who try to slaughter on my lands."
"Your lands." His eyes narrowed at her repetition of his words.
"My lands, my river," He said flatly. "This river is mine—and you seem well aware that it nourishes you as well as takes away. There are prices to pay when my waters are soiled with impurity." Chihiro's eyes widened as his explanation as her eyes dragged over to the coursing waters, she herself in disbelief that it was the domain of the deity standing before her. The very river that she would frolic to and play about in, running her hands through the cool waters in the height of summer, drinking from its refreshing springs. She looked back at the deity who was watching her intently, awaiting any sort of reaction from her.
"I… I see," She managed to say, turning her head back to the village. "I'm sorry to have accused you… of… that." The smouldering embers and ashes were painting the sky a terrifying hue of purplish black and she could only hear in her mind the screams and groans that would have long since ceased. There was very little chance that her parents survived, of that she was sure of now, and she could only imagine that they clung to each other as they either burned to death within the fiery grave or were struck down by a deity and their weapon. Chihiro's shoulders shook at that thought, her brown eyes glazing over as the first waves of helplessness rocked against her. She was unsure as to why she had apologized, despite him not being directly involved: Chihiro had every right to be enraged and to be furious with his kind for destroying the very little that she had, had in this world yet she could not muster the emotions to channel that anger towards him.
"At least for this evening, come into my custody," He said neutrally. "It will give you time to rest and collect yourself."
"Custody?"
"Deities with any iota of intelligence would never dare to breach my territory," He replied huskily. "That protection extends to you as well." Chihiro gave him an agonizing look as she studied his face, seeing that he was at least somewhat more humanized than those that burned her village to the ground. She looked away from him once more, her eyes absorbing the sky painted orange, red, and yellow and bleeding into the ominous purple-black, the last traces of her village and her connection to humanity slowly rising upwards to the sky in the curls of smoke. The ashes, the singed smell of burning wood and what she now knew was flesh: that was the product of a fierce reclamation that had completely caught them off guard as they were silenced by the mighty iron fist of the deities that charged forward and took back what they believed theirs.
"I do not expect any tribute or payment from you," He suddenly said as he tried to read the expression on her rounded face. Chihiro nodded wearily, knowing that he was referring to how deities would demand payment in exchange for their services in a process that was designed to equalize their roles. Payment could range in anything from a few coins to gifting a new born baby: Chihiro had thought it to be legend, but the fact it had spilled from the mouth of a deity quickly discarded that theory. "This is an act of goodwill."
"You mean pity," She said softly as she closed her eyes and lowered her head, the shame washing over her as well as the guilt of being the only one to have escaped the siege. There was something oddly laughable about the situation: had she respected the hour and had left Rumi's house when told to, she would have surely died amongst those who perished in the flames. It was because of her selfish desire to drink one more coffee, to spend that much more time with her friend that she had scraped by with her life. It was a horrible feeling of survivor's guilt and she knew that it would haunt her until she took her last breaths on this Earth. Her parents were hardly considered older and they had, had plenty of life left in them and she could only imagine their faces as they realized that they would never say goodbye to their only daughter who had yet to return to the safety of their home.
"Follow me," He said, ignoring her correction as he whirled around and moved towards the river, Chihiro slowly trailing after him as she swayed dangerously, her body finally caving in and collapsing into a heap on the ground, her world suddenly going black.
A/N: Hello, hello! :)
This is a story that I've been forming in my head for a while, but it has been difficult to translate it onto paper. The greatest source of inspiration is the story behind the song 1944 by the Ukrainian singer, Jamala, and the history that is tied into it. The song talks about how the Crimean Tatars (yes, in that Crimea) were forcibly removed from their lands by the USSR and deported to Uzbekistan and were not allowed to return until the 1990s. Many did not make it during the process of deportation, dying on the way without ever reaching Uzbekistan.
The song has very powerful imagery and tends to drum up heavy sentimental value. The deportations are argued to have been because of the Tatars alleged collaboration with the Nazis in WWII, but most would dispute that and say it was because the USSR wanted access to the straight of Dardanelles-AKA, expanding their territory in a disputed land populated by an ethic minority. The song talks about how Jamala was unable to return to Crimea until she was an adult, being deprived of the very lands her family came from. And as we know, Crimea is still a contested area with the current occupation/annexation by Russia.
In this case, the translation to Spirited Away's characters would be the humans against the spirits/deities in conflicts over land. I always thought the struggle that combined environmentalist theory, territory divided by culture and language, and humans being a minority would be an interesting stage to work with. This argument is not only applicable to what has happened in Ukraine, even in my own country (Spain), we have these conflicts and it greats a great rift between groups of people. I want this story to explore the psyche of someone who had been uprooted by force (Chihiro) as well as someone who plays the fiddle of being the middle-ground: not committed to either cause but still pivotal and can see both ends of the argument while maintaining their own interests (Haku). This of course creates a very polarized world where two realities are coexisting.
Anyway, thanks for reading the explanation and I hope you enjoy! :D Don't forget to read and review!