~~Various author notes: Chin Iisou and clan all belong to some nice
people who live over in Japan where I am not. Chin Liu is c/o me... don't
steal her cute little visage. Tayou is c/o Kaycee Ronin, her creator! Dun
steal her either, or I'll sic the rabid Iisou dolls on you.~~
~=Coming of the Dawn=~
The night was quiet. Quiet and terrible, and only a few youkai in Hyakugan-ma-ou's castle suspected there would be blood shed under that cursed moon. In a bedroom next to the prince's chambers, the prince himself sat quietly at the edge of a child's bed, watching with worried eyes as this little girl, her sleep so peaceful and filled with pleasant dreams, lay quiet. She was the future of their clan, his daughter... little Chin Liu.
Chin Iisou stood at last when in the doorway he saw the figure of Chin Tayou appear, the wife he himself had decided upon despite all suggestions otherwise from his father. She looked worried and distressed as she walked over to him, picking up his hands in hers. "...The Black Crow clan has been obliterated, just this night."
"What?!" In one swift movement, Iisou had them both moved outside the door, making sure it was closed so as not to startle their young daughter. "That can't be possible! There's no human or youkai alive that could do such a thing!"
Tayou shook her head, not meeting her husband's eyes. "It was a man... the lover of the woman your father ordered taken. A human man. He's gone mad, and he's headed this way. He'll kill everyone here... Iisou, we have to make sure Liu is safe."
A quick shake of the head was the response she received. "Not just Liu, Tayou. You as well. I can help defend my father's castle, but you have to stay with her. In the tower... we'll move the children, elders, and mothers there. The rest of us can--.."
"No! I am and always will be just a commoner you chose as your wife, you know that. I am of the age to fight for our clan, and I will do so. You do your part... the prince has to survive to continue the clan. Take Liu to the tower with you."
For a moment, Iisou only stood and stared at her, his face somewhere between anger at what was happening and grief that he had to let his wife fight against it on her own. Finally he sighed, drawing her to him and resting his chin atop her head. "You survive this, Tayou. I will come looking for you when the castle stands in silence."
The door behind Tayou creaked, and at that noise, both of them turned to look. Liu was standing at the crack in the doorway, looking up at her parents through ruby eyes not so unlike her father's. "Momma... Daddy..."
Breaking away from her husband's embrace, Tayou reached down and lifted the tiny girl in her arms, holding her close. "Shh... Liu, Daddy is going to take you to the tower room with your friends..."
"Dun' wanna go!" retorted the child, clinging to her mother while those wide, innocent eyes stared back at her father. "Momma... you've gotta come..."
"Darling, I can't..." Tayou reluctantly gave Liu to Iisou, who cradled his child carefully as he watched the expression on Tayou's face. "Momma will be there as soon as she can... you be good for Daddy."
The girl made a distressed noise, tears welling up in her eyes. "Momma..."
Iisou shook his head, leaning his daughter back to look her in the face. "It's all right, Liu... Momma just has to go help the others for a while. She'll be all right." His eyes turned to Tayou. "Tayou..."
Tayou only shook her head, leaning foreward to give her husband a quick kiss. "I'll be safe."
"...Be careful, Tayou. Ai shiteiru..."
"Ai shiteiru, Iisou."
Finally, the two split ways, and although the child didn't want to understand or agree, she reluctantly clung to her father's shirt, watching over his shoulder as her mother headed off to battle while she was rushed to the tower to wait through the quiet night as rainclouds stormed in to herald the horrendous dawn.
*****
Hours passed. The elderly, the children, the mothers, and the young prince himself remained in the tower for the sake of safety. Iisou stood near the door the whole time even through the suggestions that he should sit down and rest, even through statements that his daughter was now sleeping peacefully and needed him there beside her. He was deaf to all but the sounds outside, the battle he heard waging. And... he was aware when the fighting stopped.
"All of you stay here. I'm going to check and see if it's safe."
Quickly, he slipped out, locking the door with the key he kept before slipping down the stairs to the main hall... what he found nearly caused him to collapse, but he managed to catch himself against the wall before he fell. The mangled corpses of youkai lay everywhere, strewn about and violently slaughtered, many of them before they had a chance to fight back. As if a madness took hold of him, he ran through the bodies to his father's chamber. There upon his thrown sat the dead body of his father... slain by the same hand. And nearby, having fallen in a futile effort to protect her king... her husband's father... lay Tayou. Hardly a noise managed to escape his throat except for a short, tortured cry as he fell to his knees beside her, lifting her body in his hands. She, of all the dead, was the least damaged by the fatal wounds. A blow to the heart had killed her nearly on impact.
"Tayou... Tayou, I told you not to do this... why you...?" Hissing, he drew the woman's body tightly against him, resting his cheek in her hair. "He'll pay for this... he'll pay!"
*****
In a dungeon, a young man sat, clenching cold steel bars in bloodstained hand, trying to keep from breaking down right there, staring at the body of the woman who had just stolen the life he had fought so hard to save... suicide... had it been her only answer...? Would it be his?
"Well, well... at least her suffering is over, isn't it? But I would wager... yours is far from it."
The man was on his feet almost instantly, spinning to glare hatefully at the youkai that now stood there, hands folded in his sleeves. "You...!"
"You? Me? What's the difference now? How many... did you kill, I wonder? Cho Gonou is your name, correct? Well... how many, Cho Gonou? How many did you slaughter? How many men whose women and children hide in the tower did you take away? How many children and mothers of the Black Crow clan did you massacre? How many people suffer from losing their families because you thought only of YOUR suffering?!"
The man, Gonou, hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at the youkai prince before him. "She didn't deserve this!"
Iisou nearly lunged, but tensed, fighting not to. "And so everyone was to blame?!"
"She... she died... because of what..."
Finally, unable to bear the pain and the words of the man before him, Iisou did lunge foreward, pressing his weight against the man to hold him against the very bars behind which his lover's body lay. "I see now... you've killed almost enough... you need just one more, the blood of ONE MORE to push you over the edge! I'm here, Cho Gonou... strike me through the heart if you wish! I swear upon the grave of my wife that I will haunt you to your death if you do... and I will see you dead."
His body lurched. He choked for a moment as he found himself spun and shoved against the bars... a hand thrust through his chest. He choked. "You're really... becoming youkai..."
A soft cough came before Gonou drew in a sharp breath. Jerking his hand back, he stared with wide eyes at the dying Iisou, hands twitching as claws seemed to sprout forth almost automatically. The man jerked in pain Iisou saw was not just from the change but also from a gaping wound that had been torn in his abdomen, then ran, as his victim slowly slid to the floor.
Long moments passed. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. He only sat. He knew he was dying. Upstairs, he knew his daughter slept. He couldn't leave her. He couldn't let this go unresolved. He drew from the pouch he carried a single mahjongg tile painted with a single word. "Regret."
His life was slipping away. He had to work quickly. In a few short words, he encanted the curse that would animate his corpse and bring back his mind and soul once he had suffered the mortal death and finally, steeling himself, he shoved it into the very wound Cho Gonou had ripped open on his chest.
His body jerked taut as the encantment took effect...
*****
In the tower room, women with their children, elders unable to fight, and the little princess of Hyakugan-ma-ou's clan sat staring up at the door.
Finally, the door opened and there Iisou stood, breathing heavily, hair dishevalled, shirt stained with blood. The girl ran foreward, arms flung out. "Daddy!!"
Sighing with relief, Iisou picked up the girl, not saying a word about his battle or the fact that he himself was no longer truly living. The women and elderly and children all just wept when he told them what had happened, and looks of pity were extended when he explained his wife had died.
He led them a back way out of the castle, although many elders did not complete the journey, the trauma of their friends and family having been slaughtered too much to handle. Outside, after making sure everyone was safely in the woods surrounding, he went back... but only long enough to retrieve the body of his wife and move her to a tomb he himsef had constructed for when they both passed on... a time that was supposed to be many years down the road.
Only one thought stirred in his mind as he returned to his daughter and watched quietly as what was left of his clan dispersed into the woods surrounding to find other homes. Revenge. He would not let those he loved die in vain.
Cho Gonou's life... would be forfeit.
~=Owari=~
~=Coming of the Dawn=~
The night was quiet. Quiet and terrible, and only a few youkai in Hyakugan-ma-ou's castle suspected there would be blood shed under that cursed moon. In a bedroom next to the prince's chambers, the prince himself sat quietly at the edge of a child's bed, watching with worried eyes as this little girl, her sleep so peaceful and filled with pleasant dreams, lay quiet. She was the future of their clan, his daughter... little Chin Liu.
Chin Iisou stood at last when in the doorway he saw the figure of Chin Tayou appear, the wife he himself had decided upon despite all suggestions otherwise from his father. She looked worried and distressed as she walked over to him, picking up his hands in hers. "...The Black Crow clan has been obliterated, just this night."
"What?!" In one swift movement, Iisou had them both moved outside the door, making sure it was closed so as not to startle their young daughter. "That can't be possible! There's no human or youkai alive that could do such a thing!"
Tayou shook her head, not meeting her husband's eyes. "It was a man... the lover of the woman your father ordered taken. A human man. He's gone mad, and he's headed this way. He'll kill everyone here... Iisou, we have to make sure Liu is safe."
A quick shake of the head was the response she received. "Not just Liu, Tayou. You as well. I can help defend my father's castle, but you have to stay with her. In the tower... we'll move the children, elders, and mothers there. The rest of us can--.."
"No! I am and always will be just a commoner you chose as your wife, you know that. I am of the age to fight for our clan, and I will do so. You do your part... the prince has to survive to continue the clan. Take Liu to the tower with you."
For a moment, Iisou only stood and stared at her, his face somewhere between anger at what was happening and grief that he had to let his wife fight against it on her own. Finally he sighed, drawing her to him and resting his chin atop her head. "You survive this, Tayou. I will come looking for you when the castle stands in silence."
The door behind Tayou creaked, and at that noise, both of them turned to look. Liu was standing at the crack in the doorway, looking up at her parents through ruby eyes not so unlike her father's. "Momma... Daddy..."
Breaking away from her husband's embrace, Tayou reached down and lifted the tiny girl in her arms, holding her close. "Shh... Liu, Daddy is going to take you to the tower room with your friends..."
"Dun' wanna go!" retorted the child, clinging to her mother while those wide, innocent eyes stared back at her father. "Momma... you've gotta come..."
"Darling, I can't..." Tayou reluctantly gave Liu to Iisou, who cradled his child carefully as he watched the expression on Tayou's face. "Momma will be there as soon as she can... you be good for Daddy."
The girl made a distressed noise, tears welling up in her eyes. "Momma..."
Iisou shook his head, leaning his daughter back to look her in the face. "It's all right, Liu... Momma just has to go help the others for a while. She'll be all right." His eyes turned to Tayou. "Tayou..."
Tayou only shook her head, leaning foreward to give her husband a quick kiss. "I'll be safe."
"...Be careful, Tayou. Ai shiteiru..."
"Ai shiteiru, Iisou."
Finally, the two split ways, and although the child didn't want to understand or agree, she reluctantly clung to her father's shirt, watching over his shoulder as her mother headed off to battle while she was rushed to the tower to wait through the quiet night as rainclouds stormed in to herald the horrendous dawn.
*****
Hours passed. The elderly, the children, the mothers, and the young prince himself remained in the tower for the sake of safety. Iisou stood near the door the whole time even through the suggestions that he should sit down and rest, even through statements that his daughter was now sleeping peacefully and needed him there beside her. He was deaf to all but the sounds outside, the battle he heard waging. And... he was aware when the fighting stopped.
"All of you stay here. I'm going to check and see if it's safe."
Quickly, he slipped out, locking the door with the key he kept before slipping down the stairs to the main hall... what he found nearly caused him to collapse, but he managed to catch himself against the wall before he fell. The mangled corpses of youkai lay everywhere, strewn about and violently slaughtered, many of them before they had a chance to fight back. As if a madness took hold of him, he ran through the bodies to his father's chamber. There upon his thrown sat the dead body of his father... slain by the same hand. And nearby, having fallen in a futile effort to protect her king... her husband's father... lay Tayou. Hardly a noise managed to escape his throat except for a short, tortured cry as he fell to his knees beside her, lifting her body in his hands. She, of all the dead, was the least damaged by the fatal wounds. A blow to the heart had killed her nearly on impact.
"Tayou... Tayou, I told you not to do this... why you...?" Hissing, he drew the woman's body tightly against him, resting his cheek in her hair. "He'll pay for this... he'll pay!"
*****
In a dungeon, a young man sat, clenching cold steel bars in bloodstained hand, trying to keep from breaking down right there, staring at the body of the woman who had just stolen the life he had fought so hard to save... suicide... had it been her only answer...? Would it be his?
"Well, well... at least her suffering is over, isn't it? But I would wager... yours is far from it."
The man was on his feet almost instantly, spinning to glare hatefully at the youkai that now stood there, hands folded in his sleeves. "You...!"
"You? Me? What's the difference now? How many... did you kill, I wonder? Cho Gonou is your name, correct? Well... how many, Cho Gonou? How many did you slaughter? How many men whose women and children hide in the tower did you take away? How many children and mothers of the Black Crow clan did you massacre? How many people suffer from losing their families because you thought only of YOUR suffering?!"
The man, Gonou, hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at the youkai prince before him. "She didn't deserve this!"
Iisou nearly lunged, but tensed, fighting not to. "And so everyone was to blame?!"
"She... she died... because of what..."
Finally, unable to bear the pain and the words of the man before him, Iisou did lunge foreward, pressing his weight against the man to hold him against the very bars behind which his lover's body lay. "I see now... you've killed almost enough... you need just one more, the blood of ONE MORE to push you over the edge! I'm here, Cho Gonou... strike me through the heart if you wish! I swear upon the grave of my wife that I will haunt you to your death if you do... and I will see you dead."
His body lurched. He choked for a moment as he found himself spun and shoved against the bars... a hand thrust through his chest. He choked. "You're really... becoming youkai..."
A soft cough came before Gonou drew in a sharp breath. Jerking his hand back, he stared with wide eyes at the dying Iisou, hands twitching as claws seemed to sprout forth almost automatically. The man jerked in pain Iisou saw was not just from the change but also from a gaping wound that had been torn in his abdomen, then ran, as his victim slowly slid to the floor.
Long moments passed. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. He only sat. He knew he was dying. Upstairs, he knew his daughter slept. He couldn't leave her. He couldn't let this go unresolved. He drew from the pouch he carried a single mahjongg tile painted with a single word. "Regret."
His life was slipping away. He had to work quickly. In a few short words, he encanted the curse that would animate his corpse and bring back his mind and soul once he had suffered the mortal death and finally, steeling himself, he shoved it into the very wound Cho Gonou had ripped open on his chest.
His body jerked taut as the encantment took effect...
*****
In the tower room, women with their children, elders unable to fight, and the little princess of Hyakugan-ma-ou's clan sat staring up at the door.
Finally, the door opened and there Iisou stood, breathing heavily, hair dishevalled, shirt stained with blood. The girl ran foreward, arms flung out. "Daddy!!"
Sighing with relief, Iisou picked up the girl, not saying a word about his battle or the fact that he himself was no longer truly living. The women and elderly and children all just wept when he told them what had happened, and looks of pity were extended when he explained his wife had died.
He led them a back way out of the castle, although many elders did not complete the journey, the trauma of their friends and family having been slaughtered too much to handle. Outside, after making sure everyone was safely in the woods surrounding, he went back... but only long enough to retrieve the body of his wife and move her to a tomb he himsef had constructed for when they both passed on... a time that was supposed to be many years down the road.
Only one thought stirred in his mind as he returned to his daughter and watched quietly as what was left of his clan dispersed into the woods surrounding to find other homes. Revenge. He would not let those he loved die in vain.
Cho Gonou's life... would be forfeit.
~=Owari=~