Raised
Chapter four
There were plenty of productive things that Piper could have been doing with her time. Researching the pendant in order to try to figure out how to bring back Kuronue for one. Or hitting up the local town and listen around to some demons to see what had happened since Spirit World had put her into a coma. There was even all the new dominating languages of the world that she could set her mind to learning. All of those would have been a good use of the woman's time. Which meant that, of course, she hadn't touched a single one.
Ever since she had found Kuronue's pendant she had been out of sorts. Oh, Piper swore that she'd find a way to bring him back. That was never in question. It was just the fact that she had been gone so very long that everything was a bit overwhelming. When she had gone into town people spoke in dialects that she had never heard before, using forms that were quite strange and words that didn't even make sense. It was just one of the ways that the time she'd missed had been reinforced. Now that's where the whole learning the new languages should have come into place. After all, that's what Piper had been train to do. It's what she should have done. But did she? Nope. Instead, Piper just hurried out of the area feeling rather ill.
At some point on the journey back to the only home she could remember, Piper realized that it was severely lacking in supplies. Namely torches, candles, or oil lamps. There was also a lack of people to help her beat the dust out of all the fabric in the den. After sitting on it's own for the last five hundred years she was sure that there was no way she could clean any of it.
Which had led to what she'd actually been doing. It had taken a while considering that she had to find a cart and carry everything in different loads but Piper finally gathered up all the dirty-beyond-saving material. Of course nothing in her room had been touched as it had been one of the few places that she felt confident that she could clean. But pretty much everything else had been hauled away from the hideout and brought miles upon miles away. Once it was all stacked Piper lit it on fire. Her eyes went to the smoke as it drifted into the air. The scent of decay and dust as present as the memories that swirled in her mind like a dizzying roller coaster.
Once the fire burned to the point that Piper was sure it wasn't going to stop until all the fabric was gone, she headed back to the hideout. The fire raged and burned everything it touched as she walked away, feeling the heat on her back. Eventually it would stop. Most likely when it burned everything it could find. Considering that she'd lit the fire in an area with just a lot of stone and dirt, it probably wouldn't cause any damage to the area. Not to mention the fire, well smoke really, wouldn't lead anyone back to the hideout as she'd taken it miles away.
That was how much of her time was spent. By the end of all that work Piper was completely and utterly drained. The brunette sat against the a plant covered formation and let out a long, deep breath, her body pretty much collapsing in on itself. There were aches in places she sure she'd never gotten before. It wasn't surprising really; this was the most active she'd been in centuries. Then to add ontop of that there was the fact that her body was still mostly human it was no wonder that she felt so exhausted.
To make matters worse you were pretty sure that if you tried getting back down into the hideout with how tired you were, there was a chance you were going to land wrong and break something. Which would have been extremely unfortunate. Instead you settled to rest against the greenery and rock. You doubted many demons or apparitions would wonder out this far.
As the sun fell her eyes grew heavier and heavier until they closed entirely. Piper's breathing slowed and deepened and any muscle which hadn't been before completely relaxed. Sleep mixed with the night like old friends. In the comfort, or denial depending on the point of view, of the surroundings she slept peacefully. She didn't stir throughout the length of the night, not even when strong arms picked her up and carried her to her bed.
In fact, there was even a moment upon waking up that the languid behavior continued. Followed then by disorientation. Piper knew then that, with a vague sort of clarity, she had not gone to sleep in her bed. Yet she had woken up in it. The confusion bloomed into hope. Only for that hope to be pricked with fear as she realized there was no familiar warmth beside her. No feeling of a tail wrapped over her hip, nor breath upon her skin. Least of all a heartbeat, slow as it would have been.
There was, however, the sound of someone breathing. It was what pushed her foggy mind into a state of panic. The sound of a voice in the darkness of the woman's room didn't help, though it did spur her into reaching for the knife tucked away.
"I hope you do not mind that I decided to start without you," the voice called out as he sat down a cup of tea.
It was deep and confident though not at all threatening. Which probably meant that the man who spoke was more dangerous because of that. Piper knew that any person who could sound so casual had a reason to be, at least in this realm.
"You can relax. I am not here to hurt you," the man spoke out. "In fact, you could say I am here to do just the opposite."
"Who are you?" She asked instantly.
There was a weariness in her voice that she didn't care if he picked up on or not. This man was already at an advantage. He was speaking in a language and dialogue that she knew, which meant that he knew about her. Meanwhile Piper couldn't even see who he was as there were no torches or candles lit. The room was in complete darkness and she didn't have the senses of a demon, which this man definitely was. She might not be able to see him but she could still sense that much about him. He was a demon and a strong one; his energy was like a warning sign on her skin like cold silk. One wrong move and it could twist around her neck with deadly purpose.
"You do not remember?"
That question set Piper on edge. The old leather strips seemed to hiss under her grip as she held on to the hilt tighter. It was his laughter, short and filled with a sort of humor that she wasn't sure of.
"No, I do not suppose you would. It has been almost a thousand years since we saw one another."
She closed her eyes and focused. It wasn't like the woman could see anything in the dark anyways. So if he decided to attack she was going to have to evade but that was only if she knew where he was attacking from. Not to mention if he really was more than a thousand years old as he alluded to, more than likely he was faster than she could hope to be. Which was not a comforting thought. Probably ranked right up there with the fact that he seemed to be so familiar with her while Piper continued to racked her brain to try and figure out who he was.
"It will be another thousand years till I see you if we remain in this darkness," she commented back, doing her best to keep the aggravation from her voice.
"Ah how forgetful of me. Shura, come in here son."
Piper waited, quite literally on the edge of her bed, to see who or what was really being called in. It took a few minutes but soon the warm glow of fire turned around the rock corner and lead into her room. Until that happened she had no idea that the doors to her private chamber had been open the whole time. Though the chestnut haired woman wasn't sure if knowing would have helped anyways. What did help was the torch that the small person, a child she realized, brought in with them.
When she looked upon the face of this Shura, a sudden wave of deja'vu hit her. Then her eyes traveled over to the man who had been attempting to hold a conversation. With a sick, twisted feeling in her gut her mind finally plugged in who it was. Yomi certainly had grown into his own person since last she saw him. Considering that she had been asleep for five hundred years it had been a millenia for him, but half of that for Piper herself. By all that she held holy, she'd never expected to see him again. Especially with so many ears and horns!
"So you do remember me."
"How could I forget?"
Even with the torch light just barely lighting the room up, Piper could see how the smirk formed on his face. She bit her lip and held back from correcting herself - because she, in a way, had forgotten.
"In my defense, you sound a lot different than you used to," was the compromise that her tongue made between pride and the truth.
The boy said something in a way that she couldn't quite understand. It was like hearing a song underwater - knowing that she should know it yet being unable to really comprehend what was being said. Yomi responded in kind and as Piper watched the young boy's eyes widen she realized something very strange. Shura, the torch bearing child, was Yomi's son. Suddenly the weight of all those years lost to the world started to crush her again.
"You had a child? Where is his mother?"
Curiosity had always been a bit of a downfall for her. Though in this moment it seemed to amuse her 'guests' more than anything.
"Oh, he has no mother."
"Did she die?" That was the next question she lobbied at Yomi.
He shook his head, the motion no doubt exaggerated for her benefit so that she could easily see it.
"I had him created."
"...so he is not yours?"
The boy said something which, judging by the lessening of an amused expression on Yomi's face, was probably insulting. Then there was also the tone he said it with and his own facial expression.
"You will have to forgive my son. He is still very young."
"As long as you will both forgive me. I have not had time to acquaint myself with the modern languages and dialects of this...new world," she struggled to find a way to put it.
Piper knew she wasn't actually in a new world. She had just been in a coma for so long that it might as well have been. Everyone she knew and loved was gone. How that was possible she weren't entirely sure, she just knew that they were. Not only that but everything seemed to have changed. Demons and apparitions spoke in different tongues that she couldn't understand. The home in which she enjoyed for years had been left to collect dust. Now an old friend came back into the picture but he was drastically different than the one that Piper remembered. He was older, more powerful by far, and far more mature than she had ever seen him. Not to mention he was a father now.
Yomi stood up and held his hand out to the young woman. She stared at the pale flesh, tinted by the fire in Shura's hands, for a moment before grasping it. He helped her stand up despite the fact that she did not actually need the help. It wasn't like she was in a constricting formal outfit or anything.
"Then maybe we can help one another. What do you say?"
"We can try," Piper accepted.
