Natsuko jolted into a sitting position her eyes large with fear 'They have returned!'

Her first reaction was to throw her blanket over her head and hide. 'What do they want anyway? There is nothing here. The village can barely feed it self with the crops being poor for so long'

Out side she could hear screams and the sound of metal hitting each other. 'I can't just lie here. I need to do something.' Her eyes feel on the floorboard that hid the sword from her father, without thinking about she swung the blanket aside and ripped up board and grabbed the sword. 'At least I can try and defend myself and others with it' she drew the sword and dumped the sheath before looking outside. Most of the villages had gather at the town centre where there was better room for fighting. The plan was to have the adult fight the attackers while the old and the children ran to the forest to hide. 'But with a force like this they can't win, there are too many bandits' she thought and then looked at the children that were already running for the safety of the forest. Pictures flashed before her eyes of all the evenings she had been watching those children playing and laughing. A determination came over her 'I will help protect the children so they at least can get away'

With that she ran over to the adult villages, she could see in their faces that they too had realized they would not get out of this alive.

Fighting broke out. The supposed to be quite night instead resounded with screams and the clashing of metal.

Natsuko was standing at the back trying to get a hold on the sword so she could use it, but no matter how she tried it just felt wrong in her hands, like it wouldn't fit.

The man next to her suddenly fell to the ground causing her to yelp in surprise, she heard a sickening sticky sound as a sword was pulled out of his body. There was no more time to try and get a feel for the sword because after that the bandit turned towards her. She grabbed the handle of her sword in two hands and held it out toward the bandit.

He looked her over, a scrawny girl with a sword she couldn't handle and barely had enough strength to even lift. His sudden laughter over this, for him, humorous sight scared her more than his sword. 'baka baka how did you plan to do this? You are gonna end up dead. So stupid' she thought 'well it I can get them some more time to get away this way at least'

She swung the sword with all the power she could manage and missing badly, instead of hitting the man she ended up lying face down on the ground. As she opened her eyes she looked straight into the dull eyes of the man that had just been killed.

She recognized him as the village woodcarver, Toku. He had always been kind to her and the other children. Each year at oseibo he would give away some of his toys to the children, and each year he made sure that someone new got the toys so it was not always the same. He had even given Natsuko a small diabolo once. How she had enjoyed watching them play with their new toys. He had been the source of so much happiness, and now he was just lying here with his blood mixing with the earth, while his children were running for their lives. Tears ran down her cheeks before she even knew she was crying. 'These scum are to blame for this, this filth that cant even do an honest days work for their food, instead they steal it from people who works hard for scrapes just to survive' she stared back at the bandit behind her, he was still laughing with a hand on his stomach. "bakemono" she whisper. He looked down at her "what was that little girl? Did you just say something" he didn't laugh anymore just stared at her.

"I called you a bakemono" she stated and stared back in spite.

"I was finding you amusing, but I have other places I would rather be. Seems they have captured the children you were so nobly defending, some of the older girls will be passed around later and that will certainly be more fun that being called names by a skinny little girl. You aren't even good enough to play with. Just fun kill"

Natsuko's eyes went wide 'no not the children, not the children' she stared as the bandit raised his sword to finish her off, it all seemed to go in slow-motion, she raised her hand to some how stop the killing blow from hitting. Her eyes locked with his and she sawn her own death in them. She readied herself for the hit. But instead something else happened.

She felt a pulse of power come from her sword only to clash into something inside her. That released a surge of fire inside her that on its own accord moved into her arm, from there into her hand only to hit the bandit. Within seconds he had burned to a crisp.

She stared at black the body before her in chock oblivious to the danger she was in. Others had noticed what had happened and now the bandits thought that she was a miko and therefore more dangerous than the others. She had to be taken down fast for them not to loose too many men.

The sword sent out another pulse and Natsuko suddenly felt something familiar enter her body. "Mama" she whispered before everything went black.

Slowly she regained consciousness. Around her she could hear the mumblings of the villages. Familiar voices that made her feel safe. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. She was lying in front of her home. The sword next to her, like she had dropped it before she herself had passed out. 'but I don't remember going over here at all' her dazed mind realized that there were no villagers with in a 5ft radius, they all seemed to edge around her when they had to pass. She sat up slowly, but even the slow movement didn't stop her head from spinning

All voices around her stilled, nobody talked. They all just looked at her.

A creepy feeling crawled up her spine as she looked around at their faces. They all reflected one thing: fear. They were afraid of her. 'Why?' She slowly got up and walked into her small house. She looked down herself; her dress was bloody and torn. She quickly gather some things, her other dress and some cloth, she didn't notice that she had also brought the sword and it sheath.

Then she slowly walked down to the stream where the women of the village normally bathed.

The villages just looked at her as she walked past, none spoke to her. 'I must really look bad with all this blood on me. Why else would they fear me?' She did not think about the bandit she killed.

At the stream she took of her clothes and walked into the stream. Franticly she started removing the blood from her skin and hair. 'How did I get all this blood on me anyway? I just don't remember anything after that bandit' Then it suddenly hit her 'The bandit! I have no idea how or what I did to have him burned like that, but that must be what they are all afraid of me for. I just have to go back and explain that I have no idea what that was and that I wouldn't do it to any of them. I have been living with them for so long. I would never hurt them' She finished up and put on the other dress, her mothers necklace and without thinking about it she strapped her father's sword around her waist.

Then she started to walk back towards the village.

She didn't get far before she was stopped by the men and women of the village. They had their weapons ready and slowly moved toward her, like they were afraid that she might attack them.

Natsuko just stopped and stared at them "w-what is going on?" she asked meekly.

A village elder moved forward and looked at her with a mix of fear and anger on his face "we do not want your kind her, youkai"

"youkai? I am no youkai, I don't know what you are talking about. Please let me return to my home" she answered. She didn't know how to handle the situation.

The mob didn't agree "she has been poisoning our crops", "she's the reason we got attacked", "she is gonna kill us all"

The old man waited till they had yelled all the evil things they now blamed her for. The crops had been bad, some couple that couldn't get any children, the strange decease of one cow and all the sickness and deaths that had been over the years she had been living with them.

Natsuko became pale at the amount of misfortunes that was now blamed on her. "You see youkai, we will have nothing more to do with you. Your house is already burning to cleanse the ground of your foulness and curses" he stated coldly.

"My home?" tears ran down her face as she realized what he had said "but I haven't done anything"

Again the mob disagreed "you killed that bandit with foul youkai magic", "we saw how you killed the rest of them with that sword of yours. It was glowing blue and some of the bandits had ice on them".

Some of the villages spit on the ground before her; soon after the first stone hit her on the head.

Natsuko stared at the mob as a few more stones were sent her way.

"But I don't remember doing that" she whispered before she started to run to her home. She had to be sure.

Soon she could see the flames that devoured what had been her home for all her life. Her few belongings burned along with it, the toy her mother had given her the day she died; the few coins she had gathered over the years; the small shrine she had made for her mother, her whole life was being eaten away by flames.

She didn't have much time to stare at what used to be her home. Now it was a bonfire and around it the children where cheering, they were finally getting rid of the youkai that had done all that bad to them. "But I never…" Natsuko was stunned.

'What have I ever done to them' behind her she could hear the angry voices of the mob. "There she is lets kill her and rid the world of her evil" "the bakemono".

Natsuko looked back at them; they were coming at her fast some where already throwing stones and the children joined in, now throwing stones and yelling at her too.

She ran towards the forest, anything to get away from what seemed like a bad nightmare.

A large stone hit her in her back, making her fall over. As she scrambled to get on her feet she could feel several other stones hitting her back, legs and arms. She cried out in pain as one hit her in the head just before she entered the forest. She kept running, she had to get away. Away from the people she had known all her life, which were now out to kill her for something she hadn't done.

She tried to cover her ears so she didn't have to hear what they were screaming at her, but the small voices of the children stayed with her as she ran as far away from the village as she could

"bakemono!"