Chapter 10: Voices From the Past

Masashi had called Shiori stubborn and told her that he feared this madness that had gripped her. In the end though, he had left her sitting next to the unconscious samurai she had rescued.

She had no idea how much time had passed other than she had managed to cry until her tears had dried up. Now, through fuzzy vision, she stared at her sleeping guest. Her whole world was turned upside down and she had to keep reminding herself that this man was real and not a flitter of her imagination.

"Karasu," she whispered as she reached out with a delicate hand and brushed across his knitted brow and brushing back a few loose strands of hair. The warmth had returned to his skin, and she even felt a thin sheen of perspiration. She drew her hand along the side of his face, caressing his cheek.

There was comfort in such a simple act.

A silent burden that she had long bore seemed lifted. "I had grown complacent," she whispered. "I was happy in this life, the Shinku Kiba notwithstanding." Withdrawing her hand, she shifted her position and laid her hands in her lap as she continued to speak softly, "I thought the past was put to rest. I thought with our deaths, we would be free. I had become complacent." She could not remain still and gentle hands adjusted the futon cover slightly. "Yet, I am happy to see you, Karasu."

Through a veil of pain and exhaustion, Jin floated at the edge of consciousness. He had been vaguely aware of people and of being moved. He felt his wounds tended and wrapped and followed by warmth and clean dry bedding. And now, he listened to the soft voice.

Muffled words fading in and out as if echoing against the mountains. A word, here and there, came to him clearly, but the rest made little sense.

Once more, he found a kind voice to be an anchor in a raging sea.

"You two make me cry," came the memory of Fuu's gentle voice rising along the waves. "What am I supposed to do if you—either of you—die?"

I will not die.

Grasping for the familiar in his pain-dulled mind, pink filled his thoughts as faded images of Fuu and that fuzzy rodent drifted past, he even saw Momo. Just as quickly as the images had bloomed into existence, they faded, replaced by that new voice which pierced the haze. One word slipped past the fire of angry wounds.

Karasu.

Why did that woman keep calling him that, he wondered even as the last bits of his focus began to slip away as he drifted from consciousness. If he had the strength, he would have told her that she was mistaken—

"Hey, boy," a graveled voice whispered.

And Jin was again five-years-old.

With heavy eyelids, his sleepy eyes opened meet the warm glow of a lantern and the weathered face of the monk, Youhei, kneeling nearby.

"Wake up," the old man urged with a nudge to his shoulder.

Jin yawned and rolled over. It was still dark out, he thought as he drew a small arm across his face, blocking the lamplight.

"This is no time to sleep, boy."

The old man never called him by name, always just "boy".

Hands that had always looked so frail pulled the boy from the warmth of his covers with a surprising strength. He was wide awake as the old man sat him down facing him.

Knobby, arthritic fingers took up the boy's thin wrist and tied a string of turquoise beads around it. "These will protect you," was all Youhei said as he let Jin's hand fall to the tangle of covers in his lap. The old man quickly turned his attention to the ragged remains of a faded blue haori. The sleeves had been sawed off with a blade and the length forcefully shortened. He pressed it to the boy's chest, sizing it then returned to the side and sawed off more of the length.

It was still dark outside, Jin noted as he looked toward the covered window. Yet, it was not quiet. Voices yelled, screams rocked the night and other sounds filled the air like a roar of chattering birds. He strained a little, leaning toward the window to better hear the sounds, but was pulled away by a tight grip.

"Do not listen to them," Youhei said as he turned back to work. "They will not come here." After a moment, he looked up and softly added, "Not yet."

Here was a Buddhist temple that Jin had been quietly living at for weeks, since his mother took ill. His father, who had rarely been around since the spring, appeared one day and delivered him to the care of the temple with only the most basic, but undeniable instruction: Obey Youhei completely.

He had tried his best to behave, but it was difficult and he missed his home and the garden with the butterflies. He missed his mother and his father and wondered when he would get to go home again. Even with a temple filled with priests, the faithful and an extensive support staff, he was all alone. Youhei had given him a few simple lessons with a shinai and often left him to practice, or tried to instruct him in meditation, saying children were never too young to learn the value of quiet. But to the old man's frustration, the meditation lessons never lasted long.

Youhei held up the ragged haori again. "It will do. Stand up, boy."

Obeying, Jin quickly found his small frame engulfed in the still oversized jacket, but it did not matter. The monk wrapped him in it and used a long belt, wrapping it multiple times around his waist to hold it in place. Loose threads dangled from the sheared edges of the sleeves. Raising an arm, Jin looked at shredded ends.

"Do not fiddle with them," the monk ordered as he quickly checked the boy over, pausing to turn up the sleeve revealing the string of beads around the small wrist. "If anyone asks, you are my young disciple."

"Disciple," Jin repeated as he nodded.

"Better yet, don't talk."

From his robes the monk produced a folded piece of paper. "This is very important," he said, holding it up so Jin could clearly see it in the dim lamp light. "It is your future, a letter of introduction from your father to your new teacher." Tucking the letter away, Youhei added, "We have a long journey to the east ahead of us."

The words were terrifying and he did not understand. "I want to stay," he said simply.

"You cannot." The old man rose, picking up his lantern and revealed that he was dressed for travel. Slinging a pack over his shoulder, he then took the boy's hand. "We must hurry."

Just as they headed for the door, the boy loosed his hand from Youhei's grip and ran back to the head of his futon, grabbing shinai that rested on the floor.

"No!" the monk said sharply, pulling it from the small grip and tossing the practice weapon across the room as if it were on fire. "You cannot take it." And there was fear in the old man's eyes as he grabbed Jin's hand again.

Into the chill evening air, Youhei pulled the boy along the twisting pilgrimage path that led from the temple. Under the unfettered full moon, the path was ominous and littered with corpses. Carnage was everywhere, some civilian but mostly samurai in their coats of green, red or yellow, but mostly red. Some were dressed in heavy armor, their faces hidden behind masked helmets that even motionless looked frightening.

It was not the still armored figures that most held Jin's attention. It was the faces of the other samurai, their swords still in hand, and their faces locked in a variety of expressions from terror to acceptance.

"This is the price of revenge," Youhei said softly, pulling Jin along the path and around the dead.

The boy struggled to keep caught up, too busy looking at the dead, but eventually, he managed to draw his attention away. A great orange glow rose over the silhouetted trees. He slowed, but Youhei did not, nearly dragging him over the rough ground.

"Remember this," the old man said.

roterritter - Keep an eye out for Hagetaka... ODST girl058 - Well if he's not hungry, he's horney. :p Either way, it's going to get him in trouble. poornmiserable - Can't really say, but they will, eventually. dupidnavagog - Thank you so much! Gamewizard3 - Thanks and cliffhangers are an evil author's best friend. country-inugirl03 - Thanks! SilverPurity - wow, thank you so much and am glad you are enjoying it.

A/N- Thank you everyone for all your kind replied. I so appreciate them. I really had a lot of trouble with this chapter and decided that if I ever wanted to get it posted, I'd only post part of it right now. The Fuu part is next chapter...if it cooperates.

Next Chapter - Fuu gets large. No really, the Fuu chapter is coming up. ;)