I cannot say how pleased I was to get so many reviews from the last chapter! It made my day; I was beaming little black rain cloud!
(coughs)
Noir: That was random, but an accepted rant.
Rose: Yay reviewers!!
Disclaimer: Er . . . see last chapter.
Long ago I was given to a great daimyo as a gift for his bride. She was a woman of great beauty with long ebony hair that reached well past her waist.
This hair was the envy of many a noblewoman. It was fine as spider's silk, glossy as the reflection of light upon water, and with all the liquid movement and feel of a waterfall.
Everyday the princess would sit combing her hair with me. The castle was situated high upon a mountain surrounded with lush forests and streams. During the summer the area alit with color, glowing with vibrancy of the setting sun.
In these years of turmoil and war the state stood in much distress. The beautiful princess escaped the coils of the mortal world by attending herself with me. We would go high above the world on the veranda or sometimes the castle's retaining walls, there the princess would sit meditatively and comb her locks.
Often she would speak softly, pouring her worries out to an invisible companion. She spoke of her impending marriage, fear of it and any other tidbit that came to her feminine mind.
Little did the fair lady know, but I listened to every moment of it.
The daimyo, whom imparted me to my lady's fair hand, had struck a deal with a youkai-smith to create a comb for his intended. For the daimyo had saved the demon from certain persecution amidst a battle.
The youkai-smith crafted it from the finest wood and lacquered it a rich crimson red. He said at the time that, "It was to represent the blood that the daimyo would shed if need came for his beloved." The comb was energized with youki to grant it special restorative properties for hair.
Little did they know that it was granted a consciousness as well, thus I was born.
The princess never realized this until long after the death of her intended when she was happily married to a great inu-youkai. That is when my exile from her presence occurred.
Not long after the daimyo's death in a senseless land dispute with a neighboring province the princess met the charming inu-youkai lord. They pair soon fell in love and joined their lives despite the distaste of the lord's older son.
I left the castle with the princess when she left for her new home with her mate. She was given a special wing of his palace to reside in with human servants.
The couple had a hanyou son after a short period of time.
Ah, that boy had even more fabulous hair than his mother! Hours were spent combing his hair which felt like a butterfly's gossamer wings and as silver as the moon. The child did not enjoy the ministration as his mother had and refused the attentions of his caretaker's to it. Only his parents' touch was permitted.
Soon I deprived from even that small amount of my care given to that wonderful hair.
One sunny afternoon the princess sat with the hanyou child tending to the rat nests in his mane. I fairly pulsed with joy at the touch of my fingers to his silky follicles. To my misfortune the lord noticed this. Sensing my demon aura he ripped me from his mate's hands and stole into the night with me.
I never saw my princess again.
That action of the inu-youkai began my many years in banishment.
However one day a curious minor youkai unearthed me from my prison. She was a dull thing with a hair fetish nearly doubling mine, as well as the interesting ability to manipulate the hair in her possession.
I joined with her in that body and took over her pathetic mind. We became one with one another and gathered the lovely hair from any and all who crossed us.
Our delicious partnership began and we hid our soul in my former body, the comb.
My memories faded with time, but I harbored hope that one day the son of that bastard youkai, the hanyou with the beautiful hair would cross my path.
Wow, turned out longer than I expected. A bit of a deviation from my usual more poetry driven style, but I like the way it turned out.