Loss
If I see another basket, I swear I will go crazy… Kenji thought agitatedly as he viciously stabbed the thin strip through a tangle of others that were etched together in a pattern.
It became apparent to him that weaving baskets were Milyna and her mother's business here in their village; he had discovered so earlier in the day sometime after breakfast. She had brought him his food that morning, along with his cleaned clothing; he wandered into the living room with the breakfast tray in his hands when he finished eating, and saw the teenage girl stranding wooden lengths, forming them into a bowl-type shape. The ninja inquired about what she was doing, and when he was informed of the purpose, he had offered his assistance in helping with the production. As he sat down next to her and made baskets, precious hours slipped by, occupied with his busy hands, and the constant, enthusiastic chattering of his young Indian host.
She proceeded to tell him many things about her life, but he found it hard to concentrate on what she was saying, as he constantly worried about the current condition of his friend. Time was very important in this pursuit of his, and if he did not find some way to leave soon, retrieving Uriko might become an impossible task. The mole zoanthrope wondered if Milyna knew the location of the palace belonging to the prince that he had been referred to the previous day. Throughout his brooding, his companion did not seem to notice his distraught mood, and continued to talk to him as if he were the most fascinating person that had ever graced her presence.
The dark-haired youth regarded her guest with curiosity, and crooked her head to the side slightly when she spotted a distant look in his glazed brown eyes. It was obvious to her that something distracted him, plagued his thoughts, and would not relent or release its deeply-sank claws from his mind. Kenji was certainly the handsomest boy her age that had she had ever met; his blue-shaded tress made him look unique, and an inward inquiry wondered if he was already claimed to another. His kind and generous spirit intrigued her, and the way gentleness laced his tone made her become more interested in finding out about this mysterious wanderer.
Unfortunately, he had not freely offered any information, and did not even give her a clear answer on the reason why he was in India, so far away from home. She refused to believe that the young man was vacationing, as he showed no signs of visiting any of the tourist areas, where people had usually gone to before in previous occasions. What an enigma she had stumbled upon, but the girl was determined to have him stay at her house longer, so that she could get to know him better. Mysteries always allured her attention, although this one completely hooked her, as it came with a lean and very enticing figure with part of the package.
"Excuse me, Milyna," Kenji politely interrupted her on-rush of talking just then, setting down the basket that he had just finished making to glance at the other teenager. "Would you happen to know where… a palace may be, around here? I…got information from a resident somewhere, and was directed to this village, which is supposedly the closest populated location to the palace."
The prince's palace…? She quirked a brow and pondered. Hmmm, perhaps Kenji is a tourist if he wants to go there… "Yes, I do know where it is," she answered with a nod of confirmation.
He almost leaped up from his chair with elation. "Would you mind please telling me where it is?! I…I have been wanting to venture there ever since I arrived."
A perplexed crossed her face, but she complied and gave him the directions, even writing them down on a piece of paper and handing it to him just in case he forgot a crucial part while traveling over to the location. Disappointment aligned her features when the cobalt-haired male arose from his seat and told her that he had to leave right away to go to the palace. He gave her a hesitant smile, and voiced words of gratitude, wishing she and her mother luck in their business and lives, then tipped his head in a formal motion. Milyna hid the melancholy inside her as she walked him out the entrance of her house, and did not allow her shoulders to sag in sorrow until his back turned, and his retreating figure disappeared from her sight.
Come back when you are done visiting the palace, sweet traveler… she thought wistfully, clutching her hand to her chest as she stepped into her residence and shut the door behind her.
*****
"Wake up, darling… You must be aroused from your sleep…"
Uriko moaned softly and shook her head, refusing the request, which prompted the speaker to pursue, "Your wounds are being healed as of this very moment… Soon, your energy will be fully restored, and you will feel as if nothing had changed from before."
How can I ever forget the hell that happened to me… she questioned in silent rhetoric, reluctantly sliding her eyes open partially, expecting to see nothing but blackness in her view. To her surprise, her sight revealed the shadowy aspects of a room, the source of dim light coming only from the many candles that dotted around. The vicinity was very plain and did little to attract her attention for long, with nothing but a mere seat, and a table with a slender object resting on it, lingering in the area. Her eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw that the walls were painted a strange coat of shimmering gold, and a familiar feeling irked at her senses.
Finally, she turned her head to look at the person standing just a few feet away from her, and was disappointed to spot the golden garbs that concealed his or her identity. There was a piece of cloth that hid all of the face, save for the very top of the nose, and anywhere up from that point, until the upper portion that covered part of the forehead. The narrow shape of the figure, accompanied with the gentle yellow eyes that gazed directly at her made the Kenpo student presume the gender of the other bystander to be female. But she did not know any women that would want something from her, and while she was thinking about why she had been brought to the present location, her mysterious companion spoke, and proved her assumption wrong.
The voice being emitted was deep and louder, unlike its formerly quiet state, and undoubtedly sounded masculine; he stepped foreword while talking, and presented the feline with a cup. "Drink this. The herbs mixed into the liquid will quicken your recovery."
Now that her nerves had feeling in them again, she realized that the area between her thighs was soothingly warm, and her legs lost the previous burning sensation. She did not trust the other person about the drink, certain that it would be hazardous to her health, and turned her head away from the offer, silently refusing him. He elicited a low noise of slight irritation, and nudged her mouth with the lip of the cup, trying to slip the contents down past her barrier and force her to consume them. When Uriko still resisted, he finally growled aloud and brought his free hand to her throat, making her choke and gag, while her lips flew apart in reflex.
"This is for your own good, my sweet." He insisted, and dumped the thick brown liquid into her mouth, then covered her with his palm to insure that she would not spit it out. "When you start to feel drowsy, then it means the medicine has begun to take effect; soon enough, you will return to your full strength, and no longer be hindered."
"Wh-what did you do to me…?" she whispered almost inaudibly, not wanting to waste her breath on this stranger, but she had to speak to this stranger in order to have her questions answered.
"Nothing, princess," came his soft, patient reply. "In fact, I helped you. Only purity rests inside you now. The evil seed spawned within your body has been decimated, and all remnants of his presence should be gone, you need not to be reminded of his treachery."
"You…you're not making any sense…"
"Ahh, my sweet angel," he tsked and shook his golden-covered head. "I did not realize that he manipulated your mind as well, although perhaps I should have known, since he had to bewitch you in order to take advantage you. But then again, he might have used more… forced, and painful tactics to attain what he wanted from you."
"Huh, I know you must suffer inside, my love." Eerie-colored yellow irises gazed at her intently. "If only I had been able to convince you sooner to come with me, you might not have had to endure such an act of atrocity. I knew that you should not have trusted such a scoundrel, but you, your beautiful, forgiving heart, allowed him into the secure sanctuary of your being."
"What do you mean by that…?!" the Kenpo student demanded, raising her volume up a notch in frustration. "You keep saying things about some… some person, and his wrong-doings to me… but… but I don't understand what the hell you're talking about!"
"Oh, I suppose I must use loose and vulgar terms to clearly explain to you what was going on…" There was a movement in the material that covered his face, and she presumed that he had wrinkled his nose in distaste at the statement he made. "His seed of malice spewed his evil essence within your belly, and left you with a growing child. If the situation had waited until not much later to be discovered, you would have been burdened with the remembrance of his vile being."
Her mouth fell agape at his words, and she was stunned into silence as the information was being absorbed into her frozen, dazed mind.
Barely noticing her distress, he continued, "But, fortunately, I gave you a medicine that was able to force his developing offspring out of your body with very quick results. Just hours after you consumed the necessary elixir, the seed began to crumble its shape, and every last bit of his nefarious deed slipped away into non-existence. You are cured now, darling. There is no need to waste any moments of your anxiety worrying about having to mother a bastard child come nine months from now."
I… I… The shock settled and registered in the feline's consciousness, and numerous thoughts ran through her head, with the primary topic being that there had actually been a baby growing inside her just twenty-four years before. I… was… pregnant…? Oh…my…God… And with… with Kenji's child… Our… we… we had a child together… Tears of resignation pricked at her eyes, and she shrank back, her fingers curling into loose fists as she leaned more intently into the wooden structure that pressed against her back. Oh, Kenji… just that one night… we…we didn't use protection, did we… just that one night we shared together, and… and there was… a baby…
The male bystander nodded his understanding. "It is all right, my sweet, please do not shed your precious tears over that lowly peasant, he is not worth even a morsel of your sorrow. Everything has been taken care of now, and soon, you will be swept up in the affairs of our kingdom, and forget what our horrible adversary had done to you."
"What do you mean…our…kingdom…?" She inquired weakly as a wave of fatigue washed over her nerves, making her eyes blink tiredly and perspiration form a thin sheen of sweat across her forehead.
"You are to be my queen, of course!" He told her matter-of-factly, sweeping his arm up in a graceful arc to emphasis his statement. "I have been seeking a wife to be by my side since the day my… parents had left this realm under my control," a dark shadow grazed his expression for a brief moment, then disappeared, "we will run this country together."
She shook her head feebly. "No… that's impossible, I'm too young to be married. I have school, I have friends, family to be with; my life is in Japan, I can't live here to… to run a kingdom…!" Especially not with a demented psycho like you…! The girl finished the sentence silently in her mind.
"Mmm, it is good to see you eager to absorb more knowledge. And since you only have one more year to complete your period of high school, you can do so here," he informed her with a satisfied tone in his voice.
Uriko was flabbergasted and a bit nervous at how confident he seemed, how he had found a loophole to her complaints, and that made her want to leave all the more sooner. "And what about-?!"
"College is not necessary to run this country, but if you wish, we could hire private tutors if you want to further extend the cluster of information stored in your mind." The stranger laughed smoothly. "Quite an inquisitive attitude you possess, my dear. You and I, together with our strengths, will leave nothing but the best for our children."
Our children?! Get real!! Fury inhibited the female zoanthrope, and she struggled against her binds, almost leaping at the male standing just a short distance away from her.
The sixteen-year-old wanted to claw his eyes out for making such ridiculous assumptions that she would even want to stay with him, let alone bare his children to boot. Weariness made her head start to droop, but fiery determination fueled her to full awareness, and she allowed her emotions to explode as she spat the words in his face. "Let me go!!" she screamed angrily, trying to wrench her wrists out of the ropes tied around them that held her to the wooden stand behind her. "I'll never stay here with you, ever!! I'm going home! I'm not going to give up everything just so you can be selfish and use me for your stupid plans!!"
"The herbs must be affecting your state of mind right now," he spoke calmly, shaking his head in pity, completely ignoring her ranting. "You must be growing tired by now, my sweet. Do not worry, this temporary boost will not be installed with you for long. You will be back to normal when you awaken, and then we can make plans for our future." The enigmatic figure pressed his fingers to his lips, and blew her a kiss before turning around and proceeding to exit the room. "Sleep well, princess."
"You bastard!!" She retorted to his retreating form, disregarding the pain of the coarse ropes rubbing against her wrists as she kept trying to tug herself free of the binds, and then finally hollered in frustration, "Urrrrgggghhhh!!!"
The fight escaping from her spirit, Uriko unwillingly loosened her body of its tension and energy, and her stance collapsed, leaving her hanging by just the tied cordage imprisoning her arms. Frustrated and remorseful tears filled her eyes, and she did nothing to stop them from spilling over and sliding down the smooth surface of her cheeks. Her mind became jumbled and confused, making her feel lethargic, presumably due to the effects of the healing herbs that she was forced to consume earlier. Alone in the darkly lit room, she yearned to be with Kenji, and trembled as she cried for the loss of their child, wept for the innocent life that been severed due to the insanity of the ruler that wanted her for his bride.
*****
"A-Augh…"
The ninja groaned in discomfort as a sudden jolt sliced into his nerves out of nowhere, and he had to stop from walking, and bent down near the ground to tend to his chest, which had begun to ache. His head pounded insistently, and he gritted his teeth in effort to reign control over the pain that was spreading over his body, and numbing his nerves. A silent cry sounded in his mind, and he could faintly recognize it, his initiative emotions screaming at him and claiming that it was his friend calling out in distress. He could almost feel the pain that his zoanthrope compatriot must have been enduring at that moment and the male youth instantly arose from his crouching position at the realization.
"Uriko…" he breathed quietly, closing his eyes and allowing his senses to absorb the ongoing presence of his surroundings. Just seconds ago, he had been aimlessly wandering and circling around a large, stone white palace that he reached thanks to direction from Milyna. But due to the fact that the building was so huge and he did not know which section his friend was in, he dared not venture inside until he got an inkling of where to go. And now seemed like the right opportunity had been presented to him, and he felt more confident about going into the palace and exploring in the right area. "You are near…"
There were no entrances leading into what Kenji felt was the correct place to go to, but as he looked up, he spotted a window located up high in the side of the palace. His eyebrows raised in amusement at his discovery, and he quickly glanced about the area to make sure that no one was in viewing range to witness what he was about to do. He saw guards posted around the main double doors that led into the building, and of course, he was not foolish enough to try to enter through that way. Other forces patrolled the vicinity of the palace, and he had to be careful to avoid them, using his skilled ninja techniques of stealth to hide from their watchful eyes.
Inhaling a deep breath, Kenji bent to his knees, and sprang up from them with his lean legs, his muscles straining as he pushed them to keep going until he reached the window. The wind rushed past his face, breezing through his dark blue hair as he ascended higher and higher, and when he felt his elevating edge losing, his hands extended to grab a hold of an edge somewhere to secure his hold. He grabbed onto the ledge that protruded from the window's lip, and hooked his feet into the small crooks that were embedded into the stone structure. Laying the majority of his body weight on the curve of the building, he focused on partially morphing until his claws elongated from his fingertips.
He pressed the sharp tips against the surface of the window, and scratched a hole large enough to fit his form into it before making his hands revert back to their original state. Carefully, the mole zoanthrope popped the circular shape inwardly and as it descended toward the ground inside the palace, he immediately dived after it and landed on silent feet before the object did, grabbing it in his grasp. The teenager set the round glass onto the floor, and peered at his new surroundings, whipping his head around to look for any guards that might have been roaming the halls at that moment. Seeing no one, he straightened his posture, and began to stroll about the place, quietly proceeding down the walkway, spying many doors aligned that led to other rooms.
Which one are you in, Uriko… Kenji wondered inwardly as he continued along the path, staring blankly at the numerous tall wooden structures that served as entrances. He felt slightly ridiculous wandering the vicinity timidly in his navy blue uniform, as if he were a nervous schoolboy visiting the place for the first time on some sort of class field trip. A cold air swirled around his figure, bringing him a feeling of chilly apprehension, and he turned his head, then dodged out of the way of a sword that suddenly came swinging in his direction. Growling in annoyance, the sixteen-year-old smirked when the guard overshot his assault, and stumbled a bit, then fell to the floor.
Before his attacker could stand up again and try another attack, Kenji leapt onto his body and struck at the back of his neck with his fingers, hitting a spot that he knew from his Ninjutsu training would knock the man unconscious. Sure enough, his attempt proved successful, and the figure underneath him went still; arising from his crouched position, the young fighter calmly brushed off his shoulders. Standing up, he left the guard lying on the ground, and continued venturing down the hallway, glancing at the doors while wondering which one led to his friend. He shut his eyes and allowed his other senses to become more aware, and his ears very faintly picked up the sound of something very softly rustling against the floor.
Uriko… is that you…? His eyelids springing up open, Kenji's head snapped toward one of the doors on the right that was a couple of yards away from his current location, and he gingerly headed for it. He made sure that his senses were fully alert and he gripped a fist in preparation just in case another battle awaited him behind the lengthy structure. Stiffening his shoulders, he tried to keep his body from tensing up as he kept walking over to the selected door that he had zeroed out on. Reaching his destination, he encircled the knob with his hand, and silently hoped he had found the right entrance as he pushed the wooden frame in an inward motion to reveal the room that it hid.