Airi

The Byakko Seishi Karasuki

The little girls were playing with the other children of their tribe, oblivious to everything but the games they played, what dinner was going to be, or if their father would tickle them this night or not. The chief's young daughter giggled with her friends as they ran about their lands. They were a tribal people, content with their lives and at peace with the surrounding nature. They had lived in this valley for years, part of the land and part of the stars.

The chief's eldest daughter had a wonderful life with wonderful parents and a great, but annoying little sister.

"I won the game today!" the youngest girl said.

The elder sister sniffed in annoyance. "No, you didn't, Aeikah! I won! I'm the fastest!" The little girl laughed at her sister and ran into their home, Aeikah growling after her big sister. It was becoming dark.

"Wait up, Airi ne-chan!" Aeikah called and ran after her elder sister.

Their mother, the tribe's healer and spiritual guide, set the table and the girls gathered around getting ready to eat, forgetting their little argument with the promise of food. Their father arrived home from the council and the family had dinner together. There was peace in the tribe as everyone sat down for the evening meal.

It would be the last time.

As the sun set on the distant horizon and darkness fell over the town, they suddenly arrived into the village on an escapade of torture and death. The Horde. Families were being torn out of their homes, the men slaughtered brutally, the women raped till they were dead…and even then their bodies were still used.

Screams filled the night and blood stained the sweet green grass with death.

Little Airi was huddled in her home with her parents and little sister hearing the screams of their neighbors and their friends. She trembled in fear as her little sister silently wept against her. Why, she thought, the word swirling in her mind with growing confusion and desperation. Why was this happening? What did they do?

Suddenly the door burst open and the men entered, bloody blades flashing in the moonlight, their mad evil sneers chilling the heart of the little girl. They ran in with a roar, their blades ready to hack into their skulls. Airi's father was the chief of the tribe for a reason. He dealt with them quickly, bringing them down with skill, but unfortunately his streak of success did not last. The Horde was known for its mass number of bloodthirsty madmen and more kept coming, until the chief had been brought down. They dragged him out of the house along with his wife. Her mother screamed and her father cried out to the girls, blood gurgling in his throat just as his throat was slit, telling them to hide.

"Hide Airi! Protect Aeikah! Protect Aeikah!"

Airi rushed to the back of the house holding her little sister close. She didn't want to see anymore! She didn't want to see anymore! She shut her eyes tightly, tears streaming down her filthy cheeks. Make it all go away! Please someone make it all go away!

Her father's words echoed in her head. Hide! Protect Aeikah! Airi's eyes snapped open. Her dark blue hair hung in her face and her silver eyes flashed in fear and determination. She could hear her mother's deathly scream and winced. The door of the room they were hiding in, suddenly slammed open and she saw her father struggle until they lopped off his head and sliced open his body, spilling his guts onto the floor of their home. Airi held Aeikah close to her body, protecting and sheltering the little girl as much as she could. The trembling body of her sister wracked with panicked sobs.

But Airi could no longer take her eyes off the bloody carnage being performed before her.

When the men came toward the two little girls, their intent obvious, Airi began to tremble. They'd killed her family. Her parents. And she had to protect her little sister. She knew what the men wanted. She wouldn't let them get near her sister or herself…even…even if it killed her too.

They took another step toward her. They killed Mama and Papa…they're going to kill us too… Fear, panic, need, protection, hatred, love. All these emotions coursed through her body with blinding pain. They'd taken everything away… They reached out to grab her…

Airi let out a piercing scream, holding her sister close. A blaze of power blasted from the little girl and blew away all that was around her. Her power was so great that the other men who had been about to enter the room rushed away in terror as they saw the others melt into only bones and blood beneath the power the little girl emanated. The house glowed with the light of the power of the girl, the house practically blazing. The others of the Horde stepped back in fear as those that had entered the house scrabbled out in terror.

Airi opened her eyes and found herself lying on the grass. She slowly blinked awake, her head pounding with a fierce headache. She was in a daze as she slowly got up and looked around. She was in the woods…her secret part of the woods. How'd she gotten here…? She couldn't remember… Little Airi began to make her way home, her body moving drowsily… Why can't I remember…?

But when she reached her home, the horrific events sudden came crashing back into her memory. Her eyes were wide in shock as she gazed at the bodies of the Horde… They were nothing but pools of blood…

The entire village had been annihilated. Everyone was a corpse and each one had had the flesh melted from their bodies. It wasn't just pools of blood… It was boiling blood and flesh, in a festering mesh. Her heart pounded madly in her breast. What…what…?

Suddenly she remembered. Aeikah! She rushed back to where her home had once stood… and came to a stop. She was deathly still as she looked at what remained of her little sister… a mess of blood and melting flesh.

Airi's scream in horror echoed throughout the valley.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?!?!?!

Airi closed her eyes as pain sliced through her and tears streamed down her cheeks. She collapsed on her knees, her eyes wide as she stared at the still bubbling blood. Numbness. Darkness. It stole over her soul as another scream rose out from the depths of her heart…

She ran through her silently still mutilated village into the woods beyond, not being able to see or feel or understand what was happening or what had happened. She couldn't even feel herself breathe… She was supposed to have protected her little sister… but what had happened? Her little Aeikah was dead too! Just like their mother and father…

I killed them…she thought. It was me. I destroyed the village. I killed everyone. I did it. I was the only one to live…I am safe while everyone else is dead. I did it.

What had been innocence died then. The girl disappeared with the pain of her loss and her guilt. She left her heart in that village.

Many years later, there was a vigilante that was known as Karasuki who hunted down the Horde that had destroyed countless villages and lives. She was paid handsomely for their destruction, and each gold coin she was given only made the hole in her chest deeper and wider. She was a fierce fighter with unimaginable power and many wanted her skills. But after years of hunting down killers who destroyed lives, for the chink of a coin, the emotionless, coldly sarcastic woman became a wanderer. A wanderer that wanted to make sure that what had happened to her would happen to no one. She was a loner…a wanderer…and she preferred desolate areas… She was last seen headed toward the desert country of Sairou.