Chapter 7
Anastasia & Kurando
Anastasia's heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her chest and in her throat. Kurando, her brave samurai friend, and hopefully someday lover, was holding her in his strong arms and she trembled with nerves. Below on the plain of Takamagahara, her friends Karin and Yuri remained. She hoped, no fervently prayed, that they would leave together. Karin was a beautiful woman, warm, vibrant and alive. These past days and weeks had been hard on her and Yuri, insensitive clod that he was, had not done anything past his original overtures and declaration of love. Had he not, at Nihonbashi Park, admitted he loved her? And had not Karin admitted her love for him, that day at the Shrine of Sukune? How could they not be together?
The mists surrounded them and they clung to each other, hard. Kurando reacted without thinking, following some inner voice that said 'do it' without regard to the consequences. He held the young Anastasia in his arms fiercely, and as the winds of time lifted them both, he looked down at Karin and his cousin Yuri, and smiled. For the first time in ages, he smiled.
He felt the tug of the winds on him, a swirling cyclone of energy carrying them both to, he hoped, to a world they could live in together. He hoped it would be a peaceful world, a world not filled with the strife of conflicts that he had known these past few years, but mostly he hoped for a world that would not bring conflict to them as a couple.
He waited as his feet hit solid ground and the mist cleared to reveal their new location. He looked around at the pristine woods, the deep green of forests rising above him and he turned with a smile to Anastasia, his fiancé.
"Well, we're here," he said looking down at the pixie-like expression of his lover's face.
Anastasia looked around, puzzled. The mountains rose above them in a near wall of impenetrable natural majesty, clothed in lush green forests and overhead, birds flew in a clear blue sky. Below them, down slope from their current position, was a small lake, a wooden boat moored at a small pier. But looking around, Ana could find no signs of life.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Don't you recognize it?" he said with a smile.
"No, should I?"
"Well, I'll have to show you around then," he said with a grin and took her arm, leading her up the path away from the lake.
"Kurando..." the young princess exclaimed, "where are you taking me? And where are we?"
"Someplace safe – I hope. At least it will be for us," he said mysteriously and helped her over a particularly rough spot in the path. Above them Anastasia could see a bare cliff rising into the sky and she tugged free of Kurando's hand to look down again at the forested valley. The subtle slope of the mountain, the trees and the lake all reminded her of Katsuragi in Japan. But the lay of the forest, the quiet... it just didn't feel the same. She turned once more to her fiancé to demand an answer only to find him looking down at her with a grin on his face.
"You're laughing at me, Kurando," she said.
"No, I just like seeing you this way. Come on, we're almost there," he said and reached out for her hand again. They climbed up the path to just below the cliff before Kurando then took a left hand turn; narrow steps had been carved into the cliff base leading up to another path overhead and Kurando took them up those as well. After winding around the cliff, they came out onto a wide ledge, a small clearing behind them and Anastasia exclaimed at the clear wide view of the valley below.
"Kurando - I recognize this place now," Ana exclaimed.
"Yes, it's the Forest of Winds. We'll be home shortly."
"Yes, home," Ana said softly and took Kurando's hand again, letting him lead them the rest of the way through the forest to the path leading to Inugami Village. However, the path was barely there, and the village, when they arrived, was nothing more than a few huts abutted against the cave of the shrine.
"I don't understand, Kurando," the Russian princess said, looking in confusion at the small village. "What happened to Inugami Village – your home?"
"Come on," he said and the two of them walked slowly down the path to the shrine. On one side was a small field, submerged in water, with green spikes of rice growing tall and rich, while just beyond was a threshing barn with a couple of women working there. Kurando smiled, nodding his head at them, their curious gazes holding the two strangers for a moment before lowing to their tasks once more. At the small path to the cave Kurando stopped. He looked up the hill to the left, where his mother's house had been, now nothing more than grass and trees.
"I'll build you a house here," he said, indicating the bare hill. "And we'll have a family, and be safe." He looked down at Anastasia's puzzled expression and nodded. "We'll have a family, and I'll protect you and this village with my power and my sword," he declared.
"Kurando," Anastasia said, her bright green eyes taking in the small, nearly primitive village and the barren hillside. "I don't understand."
Kurando reached around her, drawing her close into his arms, her back to his chest and he put his chin onto her head, the fur of her hat tickling his cheeks.
"This is Inugami Village, or will be. The Shrine of Sukune is here, but there's not a guardian. And I will build us a home here; I will protect you and this village and this land with all my heart."
"Kurando-"
"No, let me finish," he said into her hair and tightened his grip on her slightly. "I wished for a place for you and me to live out our lives, where I can do the most good, for us and for my people. It wasn't until the mists faded that I knew where that would be."
"In Katsuragi, but... your mother?" Anastasia asked, trying to comprehend what Kurando was telling her.
"Is not here; she will not be born for a thousand years; nor Yuri, nor your family."
"Kurando!" Anastasia cried and turned in his arms looking up at the young swordsman.
"It was the only thing I could think of. Together, you and I will create our world, our family, the Inugami."
Anastasia blinked, green eyes puzzled, and then suddenly brightening at the thought of a future to build with Kurando and she smiled.
"Yes, we can do that; we can start our own clan."
Kurando nodded, knowing that some day, in the far future, his children's children's children will save their world. But in the meantime, he and Anastasia had all the time in the world to build their future.
