Chapter 2: Surprising Discovery
She saw the village guardians tramping through the forest, lifting something in the air like it was a prize deer freshly killed. But she saw a flash of blue and the smell of blood was not that of venison. For a second, pity thoughts ran through her mind, but those were quickly shaken off as she hid for cover on the other side of the bridge. The fact that the men began crossing her bridge did little to comfort her. 'Oh why did I come to the bridge to train today,' she mentally yelled at herself. 'I should have simply stayed in the garden!' She didn't want to think about what would happen if all those men found her, alone, wandering near the river in boy's clothing and carrying a sword. Of course, everyone in the village thought she was insane, the majority of the male population also had a few thoughts about her as well. She knew that her skills were not so great so that she could take on twelve men alone.
She huddled further into her bush as she watched the village guardians lift the wounded and possibly dead man they were carrying into the air and toss him over the side of the bridge. Her face froze with horror at the sight. The village guardians had become more stern and protective since the fall, but this was insanity! No outsiders allowed in the village would destroy it! Not to mention that poor traveler who, if he had been alive, would now be dead for certain. The fall from the bridge was far and the water was still icy from the mountain snow run-off. And the large rocks littering the river bed didn't kill him, then the bears that roamed this area would.
The barbaric sight sent chills to her very soul and she had to clamp a clammy hand over her mouth to keep from squeaking in fear. The men let out animalistic roars of happiness and triumph, swinging their weapons in the air and cheering. They didn't seem to notice that they just killed someone. The village guardians then paraded back to their posts on the road. Only once they were gone for a few minutes did she exit her hiding place, and once she was out, she turned and ran down the path.
"I was so lucky," she panted as she ran down the steep path that branched away from the small road. It was a small track that she made herself. It led directly into the very center of her gardens and down the garden path was her home. And that was where she was running, hopping over clumps of grass and down wooden steps easily in the men's clothing she wore instead of a normal kimono.
When she reached the small house at the end of the path, the house on a small hill that was covered in dozens of wildflowers, she froze. There was a shape moving around by the door way. Carefully, stealthily, she crept along the bush line of the garden so as not to be seen. But once she caught a good glance at the shape by the door, she let out an annoyed breath and stocked forward.
"Ryu, what are you doing here?" she called out, stalking forward. A young man swung around to face her and broke into a huge grin. His eyes were huge and brown. His short, orderly black hair fell into his face in a boyish way. He was lean but broad, suggesting an excellent warrior in him.
"There you are Akio! I was wondering..." he trailed off as he took in her appearance, and the presence of the sword in her hand. "You were doing it again, weren't you?" he asked haughtily. His hands went to his hips and he looked at her angrily. "I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to do this anymore! Dressing like a boy, running all over the forest, playing with swords. You could get hurt, Akio."
"And I thought I told you to go away! You have no right to tell me to do anything. I can do as I please Ryu Mori, now go home!" Akio walked right past him, pushing him aside with the hilt of her sword, and entering the front door of her home. Ryu followed her inside.
"Akio, listen to reason--"
"You listen to me Ryu. The women of this town learned long ago that those who don't weild swords can still die upon them. My grandmother told me to learn the sword if I wanted to. I want to, so I am. Get out of my house, you're not welcome here." Akio stormed into the small room, placing her sheath sword on a small rack on the wall, then heading into the kitchen.
"Akio, you are a woman. It's time you started acting like one, and stopped trying to be a boy." Akio bristled, but she didn't face him as he pursued her. "Akio! You live alone in this little hovel when you should live in the village."
"The village doesn't want me, they've made that abundantly clear." There was a bitter, warning tone in her words, but Ryu didn't heed the warning.
"Akio, you could stay with my family. We'd have you." She whirled on him, eyes blazing and her face set in a dark way. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him out of her kitchen and out of her entry room until they stood outside once more. Once sure he was out of her house, she walked back up and slammed the door behind him. "Akio!" he called, banging on the door.
"Ryu, go away!" she yelled.
"Fine, I'll see you at the restaurant." Akio rolled her eyes and let out a very frustrated sigh, but she looked out the window and watched the retreating figure. Then next breath from her mouth was out of relief. Threw all his annoying, bossy habits, Akio had to give credit to Ryu's persistence. No matter how many times she threw him out, he always came back. But they were no longer kids and having him hanging around her house all the time was getting irritating. Especially since he had taken up the job of ordering her life around to fit his wishes, not that she did anything he said.
"Baka," she muttered under her breath as she huffed outside again to cool down. Akio stomped down a different path through her gardens, one that led down to the river's edge. The river was her favorite place to go when she was upset or angry, the water soothed her nerves. The flashes of the village guardians throwing that poor traveler into the river was still fresh in her mind as her pace slowed to a near-crawl. "Maybe I shouldn't go down there..." she mused aloud. But then she raised her head in defiance. "Why not?"
Akio walked briskly down the path, lacing her fingers together behind her head and threw her short dark hair. She had never grown it long like the women of the village did. One summer when she was just a child, Akio had gotten into an accident with a few swordsmen-in-training hacked off a good portion of her hair. Her grandmother had cut it to her chin and since then, Akio has never kept it longer. She was a very pretty girl, if one took the time to look past the layer of dirt that was always on her. Her green eyes were exotic, a feature gained from a father she ha never known. But Akio was not your average girl from the Renko Village. She lived alone and had since she the death of her beloved grandmother. Akio dressed like a man, spoke like a man, and acted like a man. It made her feel safer in a world where women were treated poorly. In her younger days it was easy to pass for a boy. But now that she was older, and her body and face more mature, it was as plain as day she was female. Still, she never shed the habit.
Her paces slowed when she reached the end of her gravel path and feet touched down on the sandy banks of the river. The rushing water splashed and gurgled, sending an immediate calm over her as she took a few deep breaths. If there was anything in this world that she loved at all, it was the river. She was about to take a few more steps down the bank when she stopped cold, one foot partially raised in mid-stride.
Laying half on the bank of the river was what appeared to be a body. The river had washed him on to the shore, his lower half still submerged. The first thought that came to her mind was that it had to be the body of the traveler that the guardians threw from the bridge earlier.
"Poor man," she said allowed, relaxing her body as she inched closer to him. "I could dig him a grave in the cemetery today." Just as she was a few feet from him, Akio could have sworn that she saw his side move. "Trick of the light," she muttered, but then she saw it again. She rushed to his side, falling to her knees and turning him over. Akio pressed her head to his chest, and sure enough, she heard the stable tell-tale beating of his heart. She jerked back and looked at him. "You're alive!" she squeaked, but he wasn't conscious to hear her.
He looked young, no older then her. In this sleep-like state he looked as innocent as a child. His brown hair was shaggy and wet and his skin was covered in sand. Akio felt the tingling of pity, the same feelings she got when she'd find a hurt animal in the forest. Akio had a soft spot for hurt animals. Whenever she found one, she'd take it home and care for it until it was well. She began to feel the same sensation when looking at this boy who had been thrown into the river. It wasn't until inspecting him more closely that she saw the two bullet holes in his body. Souvenirs from the village guardians. Her anger rose. In that split second, Akio made a decision to take care of this young man until he was well, or until he died. Either way, she would care for him.
With cool fingers she wiped back some of his sopping hair out of his face. Green eyes troubled as she then looked down at the dangerous wound in his shoulder. That one could me bound and cleaned quickly. He'd not be able to use the arm for at least a few weeks, but he'd not die from that one. The one in his side was far more serious. She'd have to get the bullet out, and soon.
Akio got to her feet and tried to puzzle out how exactly she was going to carry a man roughly her size back up to her house, alone. She grinned suddenly as an idea struck her. "I'll be right back, don't worry," she said to the wounded stranger as she bounded up the garden path back toward her house, but when she got there, she veered to the left and kept running. She came to a small, primitively made pen that sheltered in a large sized buck.
"Takeda, come here," Akio called. The young deer looked up from his grazing and walked over to the gate of the pen. Akio had rescued the deer when he had been a fawn. His mother had been killed by hunters and he had been wounded. There was still a large scar on his left flank from where she had tried so hard to heal him. He had survived, but was unable to return to the wild because a permanent limp. It was barely noticeable, but it slowed him down just enough to where he's fall to predators. Akio constructed the pen for him and named him Takeda. The only think in the world she loved more then the river. "I have a job for you my beautiful boy," she cooed, running her hands down the deer's neck. He nuzzled her shoulder and she slipped the rope-made rein around his muzzle and neck, then led him toward the river.
Takeda was young and strong, strong enough to carry Akio on his back for limited amounts of time. She prayed he could help her get the young man to her house. When they reached his side, Akio commanded the deer to stand still as she pulled the wounded stranger up. Leaning his weight on herself, Akio got him standing, then beckoned Takeda to her side. The deer sniffed the stranger with distaste, but didn't buck as Akio laid him across the deer's back. Takeda made it very clear you Akio that he did not like having this person on him, but because he was well behaved and very loyal to the mistress he owed his life to, he consented to her wishes.
"It's ok, love," Akio assured the beloved deer. She led him by the rope leader, murmuring words of encouragement the entire way in a soothing, low voice. When they made it up to the small house, Akio even led the deer right through the front door and into the entry room and deeper into the house. Tekeda did not like this either, but the low coaxing of his mistress made him go further.
"Alright Takeda, stop right here." The deer stopped in Akio's bedroom, the small alcove-like room off to the side of the house. With the deer, slightly shaking from the weight of a rider and the anxiety of the surroundings, standing near her bed, she was able to lower the rider down. Akio stretched him out on his back so that she could easily get at the two wounds. Before she tended to her new patient, she led Takeda back to his pen and let him go. "Thank you so much Takeda, you are the most loyal and beautiful deer. The mightiest buck I've ever seen." Whether the deer understood flattery or not remained a mystery, but Akio loved to pour the words over him. But then she was drawn back to her home, and the other boy awaiting her attention.
Okay, here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it! Love and Peace!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~
She saw the village guardians tramping through the forest, lifting something in the air like it was a prize deer freshly killed. But she saw a flash of blue and the smell of blood was not that of venison. For a second, pity thoughts ran through her mind, but those were quickly shaken off as she hid for cover on the other side of the bridge. The fact that the men began crossing her bridge did little to comfort her. 'Oh why did I come to the bridge to train today,' she mentally yelled at herself. 'I should have simply stayed in the garden!' She didn't want to think about what would happen if all those men found her, alone, wandering near the river in boy's clothing and carrying a sword. Of course, everyone in the village thought she was insane, the majority of the male population also had a few thoughts about her as well. She knew that her skills were not so great so that she could take on twelve men alone.
She huddled further into her bush as she watched the village guardians lift the wounded and possibly dead man they were carrying into the air and toss him over the side of the bridge. Her face froze with horror at the sight. The village guardians had become more stern and protective since the fall, but this was insanity! No outsiders allowed in the village would destroy it! Not to mention that poor traveler who, if he had been alive, would now be dead for certain. The fall from the bridge was far and the water was still icy from the mountain snow run-off. And the large rocks littering the river bed didn't kill him, then the bears that roamed this area would.
The barbaric sight sent chills to her very soul and she had to clamp a clammy hand over her mouth to keep from squeaking in fear. The men let out animalistic roars of happiness and triumph, swinging their weapons in the air and cheering. They didn't seem to notice that they just killed someone. The village guardians then paraded back to their posts on the road. Only once they were gone for a few minutes did she exit her hiding place, and once she was out, she turned and ran down the path.
"I was so lucky," she panted as she ran down the steep path that branched away from the small road. It was a small track that she made herself. It led directly into the very center of her gardens and down the garden path was her home. And that was where she was running, hopping over clumps of grass and down wooden steps easily in the men's clothing she wore instead of a normal kimono.
When she reached the small house at the end of the path, the house on a small hill that was covered in dozens of wildflowers, she froze. There was a shape moving around by the door way. Carefully, stealthily, she crept along the bush line of the garden so as not to be seen. But once she caught a good glance at the shape by the door, she let out an annoyed breath and stocked forward.
"Ryu, what are you doing here?" she called out, stalking forward. A young man swung around to face her and broke into a huge grin. His eyes were huge and brown. His short, orderly black hair fell into his face in a boyish way. He was lean but broad, suggesting an excellent warrior in him.
"There you are Akio! I was wondering..." he trailed off as he took in her appearance, and the presence of the sword in her hand. "You were doing it again, weren't you?" he asked haughtily. His hands went to his hips and he looked at her angrily. "I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to do this anymore! Dressing like a boy, running all over the forest, playing with swords. You could get hurt, Akio."
"And I thought I told you to go away! You have no right to tell me to do anything. I can do as I please Ryu Mori, now go home!" Akio walked right past him, pushing him aside with the hilt of her sword, and entering the front door of her home. Ryu followed her inside.
"Akio, listen to reason--"
"You listen to me Ryu. The women of this town learned long ago that those who don't weild swords can still die upon them. My grandmother told me to learn the sword if I wanted to. I want to, so I am. Get out of my house, you're not welcome here." Akio stormed into the small room, placing her sheath sword on a small rack on the wall, then heading into the kitchen.
"Akio, you are a woman. It's time you started acting like one, and stopped trying to be a boy." Akio bristled, but she didn't face him as he pursued her. "Akio! You live alone in this little hovel when you should live in the village."
"The village doesn't want me, they've made that abundantly clear." There was a bitter, warning tone in her words, but Ryu didn't heed the warning.
"Akio, you could stay with my family. We'd have you." She whirled on him, eyes blazing and her face set in a dark way. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him out of her kitchen and out of her entry room until they stood outside once more. Once sure he was out of her house, she walked back up and slammed the door behind him. "Akio!" he called, banging on the door.
"Ryu, go away!" she yelled.
"Fine, I'll see you at the restaurant." Akio rolled her eyes and let out a very frustrated sigh, but she looked out the window and watched the retreating figure. Then next breath from her mouth was out of relief. Threw all his annoying, bossy habits, Akio had to give credit to Ryu's persistence. No matter how many times she threw him out, he always came back. But they were no longer kids and having him hanging around her house all the time was getting irritating. Especially since he had taken up the job of ordering her life around to fit his wishes, not that she did anything he said.
"Baka," she muttered under her breath as she huffed outside again to cool down. Akio stomped down a different path through her gardens, one that led down to the river's edge. The river was her favorite place to go when she was upset or angry, the water soothed her nerves. The flashes of the village guardians throwing that poor traveler into the river was still fresh in her mind as her pace slowed to a near-crawl. "Maybe I shouldn't go down there..." she mused aloud. But then she raised her head in defiance. "Why not?"
Akio walked briskly down the path, lacing her fingers together behind her head and threw her short dark hair. She had never grown it long like the women of the village did. One summer when she was just a child, Akio had gotten into an accident with a few swordsmen-in-training hacked off a good portion of her hair. Her grandmother had cut it to her chin and since then, Akio has never kept it longer. She was a very pretty girl, if one took the time to look past the layer of dirt that was always on her. Her green eyes were exotic, a feature gained from a father she ha never known. But Akio was not your average girl from the Renko Village. She lived alone and had since she the death of her beloved grandmother. Akio dressed like a man, spoke like a man, and acted like a man. It made her feel safer in a world where women were treated poorly. In her younger days it was easy to pass for a boy. But now that she was older, and her body and face more mature, it was as plain as day she was female. Still, she never shed the habit.
Her paces slowed when she reached the end of her gravel path and feet touched down on the sandy banks of the river. The rushing water splashed and gurgled, sending an immediate calm over her as she took a few deep breaths. If there was anything in this world that she loved at all, it was the river. She was about to take a few more steps down the bank when she stopped cold, one foot partially raised in mid-stride.
Laying half on the bank of the river was what appeared to be a body. The river had washed him on to the shore, his lower half still submerged. The first thought that came to her mind was that it had to be the body of the traveler that the guardians threw from the bridge earlier.
"Poor man," she said allowed, relaxing her body as she inched closer to him. "I could dig him a grave in the cemetery today." Just as she was a few feet from him, Akio could have sworn that she saw his side move. "Trick of the light," she muttered, but then she saw it again. She rushed to his side, falling to her knees and turning him over. Akio pressed her head to his chest, and sure enough, she heard the stable tell-tale beating of his heart. She jerked back and looked at him. "You're alive!" she squeaked, but he wasn't conscious to hear her.
He looked young, no older then her. In this sleep-like state he looked as innocent as a child. His brown hair was shaggy and wet and his skin was covered in sand. Akio felt the tingling of pity, the same feelings she got when she'd find a hurt animal in the forest. Akio had a soft spot for hurt animals. Whenever she found one, she'd take it home and care for it until it was well. She began to feel the same sensation when looking at this boy who had been thrown into the river. It wasn't until inspecting him more closely that she saw the two bullet holes in his body. Souvenirs from the village guardians. Her anger rose. In that split second, Akio made a decision to take care of this young man until he was well, or until he died. Either way, she would care for him.
With cool fingers she wiped back some of his sopping hair out of his face. Green eyes troubled as she then looked down at the dangerous wound in his shoulder. That one could me bound and cleaned quickly. He'd not be able to use the arm for at least a few weeks, but he'd not die from that one. The one in his side was far more serious. She'd have to get the bullet out, and soon.
Akio got to her feet and tried to puzzle out how exactly she was going to carry a man roughly her size back up to her house, alone. She grinned suddenly as an idea struck her. "I'll be right back, don't worry," she said to the wounded stranger as she bounded up the garden path back toward her house, but when she got there, she veered to the left and kept running. She came to a small, primitively made pen that sheltered in a large sized buck.
"Takeda, come here," Akio called. The young deer looked up from his grazing and walked over to the gate of the pen. Akio had rescued the deer when he had been a fawn. His mother had been killed by hunters and he had been wounded. There was still a large scar on his left flank from where she had tried so hard to heal him. He had survived, but was unable to return to the wild because a permanent limp. It was barely noticeable, but it slowed him down just enough to where he's fall to predators. Akio constructed the pen for him and named him Takeda. The only think in the world she loved more then the river. "I have a job for you my beautiful boy," she cooed, running her hands down the deer's neck. He nuzzled her shoulder and she slipped the rope-made rein around his muzzle and neck, then led him toward the river.
Takeda was young and strong, strong enough to carry Akio on his back for limited amounts of time. She prayed he could help her get the young man to her house. When they reached his side, Akio commanded the deer to stand still as she pulled the wounded stranger up. Leaning his weight on herself, Akio got him standing, then beckoned Takeda to her side. The deer sniffed the stranger with distaste, but didn't buck as Akio laid him across the deer's back. Takeda made it very clear you Akio that he did not like having this person on him, but because he was well behaved and very loyal to the mistress he owed his life to, he consented to her wishes.
"It's ok, love," Akio assured the beloved deer. She led him by the rope leader, murmuring words of encouragement the entire way in a soothing, low voice. When they made it up to the small house, Akio even led the deer right through the front door and into the entry room and deeper into the house. Tekeda did not like this either, but the low coaxing of his mistress made him go further.
"Alright Takeda, stop right here." The deer stopped in Akio's bedroom, the small alcove-like room off to the side of the house. With the deer, slightly shaking from the weight of a rider and the anxiety of the surroundings, standing near her bed, she was able to lower the rider down. Akio stretched him out on his back so that she could easily get at the two wounds. Before she tended to her new patient, she led Takeda back to his pen and let him go. "Thank you so much Takeda, you are the most loyal and beautiful deer. The mightiest buck I've ever seen." Whether the deer understood flattery or not remained a mystery, but Akio loved to pour the words over him. But then she was drawn back to her home, and the other boy awaiting her attention.
Okay, here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it! Love and Peace!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~