An Old Tale

By: Esuna

Chapter Two: Away from the Past

I.

Kurando walked calmly into his slumbering village just as a woman stepped forward to greet him by the entrance. It was none other than his own mother. He knew it was her simply by her unique fragrance. Apparently, she had been waiting for him near the entrance ever since he darted off in pursue of that mysterious girl. The woman slowly uncrossed her arms and beckoned her son to follow her without a single word. She turned from him and headed towards the waterfall cavern. Baffled by his mother's strange behaviour, he followed after much hesitation but without any protests.

By the time he reached the site, Saki was already standing before the waterfall, facing him. Her head was tilted up just slightly and her eyes were sealed gently as if she had another one of those visions again. With her arms outstretched to her side, the cool night breeze blew gently against her face as she remained in that posture. The pool of water from behind began to dance to the rhythm of the waterfall. This lasted for a good while until everything was calm again. Only the sounds of the waterfall could be heard now.

"Mother?" Kurando finally interrupted, breaking the silence.

She opened her eyes again and slowly dipped her head down at eye level. She held her hands together now. "Kurando," the woman began, "I see you will be carrying a great burden within you."

He remained silent.

Saki placed a hand over her heart as she closed her eyes for one short moment. "…Pain…sadness…," she murmured, trailing off slowly.

Kurando could only stand there without a word. His mother's rambles sent a strange ominous feeling down his spine.

"But it can still be mended, my son. It is not too late for that."

He was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You will find your answer to the east," she said.

"Mother, I do not understand."

Saki sighed gently to herself as she walked up to her beloved son. She stood exactly one step away from him. "Fate is in your hands, Kurando. You must determine what you want and what you want to do in life. What your future holds depend on the decisions you make now. You weave your own fate, my son." With that final statement, his mother brushed past him, leaving him alone in the waterfall cavern. Even though she had left him there, he could still hear his mother's meaningful words churn in his throbbing head.

Yet, all the young man could do afterwards was walk up to the waterfall and kneel before the pool of water, gazing down at his own reflection from the moonlight. He contemplated the meaning of those significant words for a short while. A great burden. Pain. Sadness. His fate. The east. Just what did the east hold for him?

Kurando shook his head to disregard any other thoughts of this. He groaned out loud and finally stood up. He retreated from the waterfall cavern and returned to the village fields to resume his duty.

II.

Anastasia rubbed her dried burning throat. Shortly after her escape from Kurando, she had spewed some blood out from her aching chest. The pain had subdued now. However, she felt light-headed and her feet were beginning to feel rather sluggish. In fact, she was practically dragging them after such a long tiring dash away from the Forest of Wind. She looked over her shoulder one more time and said goodbye to that beautiful landscape. It also marked the last boundary which linked her to the past. Now, she took one big step away from it and to a new life. Without Kurando. The only thing that kept tormenting her was, can she do it alone?

She longed to go home. Back to mother Russia. She wanted to see her Father, Mother, her little brother, Alexei, and especially her friend, Edgar. However, she barely had any cash left in her, having left most of it in her bedroom back in the village. It never did belong to her in the first place. Sadly, the girl chuckled softly to herself: she was now a completely poor Russian princess! On the other hand, Anastasia refused to take anyone's cash for her own benefit. She would have to "earn" it herself. She would have to "earn" her pass back to her home country. The girl was on her own now. Trouble may be, where could she earn some cash? And what could she do? She, for once, did not know.

Anastasia walked on, contemplating about what she should do next. At last, the first thing that came across her mind was to check out the fares that would take her back to Russia. Then she could find a way to earn the cash and purchase the pass back home. And thus, she concluded, the first destination was to the new harbor of Mikasa. However, the girl suddenly stopped in her tracks as if a lightning bolt had just struck her right on. Just how was she going to get there? The girl was stupefied. The harbor of Mikasa was located within Yokohama, which stretched a great many distances east of Inugami Village. The girl frowned, obviously unimpressed with her bizarre idea. What to do now? After much hesitation, she chose her last resort: hitch hike...

Anastasia walked for a very long time until the sun was just climbing out of the sky. Perhaps, she had walked for many hours already considering the sky was now bright – a sign of a new day. It felt really good. What felt even better to her was that the horrible knot within her chest had not acted up at all. Strange. Nevertheless, the girl walked on with a gentle smile on her smooth lips. It was to no one in particular other than herself. Slowly, she began to wonder why she was even smiling at all. No, she thought to herself. She refused think about it. She refused to even think about "him" again. No. She had to look forward in life now.

Just then, the girl could hear the rumbling of an exhausted vehicle. Her eyes widened with excitement. Finally! A vehicle passing through this deserted road! Anastasia turned half her body to the side and peered behind her. Just as she suspected. There was a classic black automobile pouting up the road at an average speed. The girl waved both arms immediately, hoping to arouse the driver's attention and perhaps, even catch a free ride to the nearest town.

Anastasia frowned a little when she realized the vehicle did not stop for her. It pouted right by her without even slowing down at all. She lowered her arms at once with her eyes trailing after it. Without a ride, how much longer would she have to walk? More importantly, how much longer could she keep up like this without dying of hunger, dehydration, and exhaustion? God knows how long. The girl sighed dejectedly and bowed her head down in complete disappointment. She would have to gamble her luck now.

Much to Anastasia's surprise, the black vehicle stopped all of a sudden. She tilted her head up in time to see the driver poke his balding head out of the side window. It was actually an old man with a few strands of graying hair at the top of his head including a graying mustache to match it. Obviously, the man looked somewhat peeved because of the situation he just placed himself in.

"Need a ride, missy?"

Anastasia beamed with great pleasure. She scuttled up to the old man immediately. Nodding her head a few times, she replied, "Yes, sir! If that is alright with you…"

The man glowered at her slightly before asking, "Where you headed to?"

"Yokohama, sir."

He sighed in relief since it was on the way. "Hop in, missy."

After a long night of misery, this moment would truly be the happiest one for the girl. Her bright green eyes flashed with unmistakable glee. She smiled with complete gratefulness to this old man. "Oh, thank you so much! How can I ever repay you for this?"

The man's expression changed from that of a scowl to a friendly, embarrassed smile. He shook his head and said, "Nah, don't mention it."

With that, Anastasia took a seat next to the old man on the passenger's side. She learned that the old man lived just northeast of Yokohama before the Imperial Capital. Once a year, he would drive his dying vehicle for miles simply to visit his grandchildren there. The girl knew it at once considering the backseat was full of toys and other strange gizmos. The old man rambled on and on about his family and how he was unable to locate there due to his busy occupation. What kind of occupation, Anastasia did not know. She felt it was not in her place to ask anyways.

"So what's your name, missy?"

Anastasia was a little startled by that one question. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. Name? She wasn't so sure whether she should tell him her real name. Not like she mistrusted him. Only that she didn't want her identity to be revealed to anyone. However, did many people in Japan even know who a 'Princess Anastasia' was at all? She figured not. Even so, the girl decided not to reveal her name anyways. Consequently, she chose that nice Japanese name which she always wanted to be called if she was actually a pretty Japanese girl.

"Mayu, sir."

The journey to Yokohama felt like a long, torturous one. They passed by so many farm lands and forests at such a slow pace that Anastasia felt sick to the core. She was ready to hurl any second. However, the girl shut her tired eyes instead and didn't open them for a very long time. Until she felt someone nudge her softly by the shoulder. She stirred gently, opening her eyes slowly and rubbing them as well. The old man leaned his face closer to her and said, "We're here."

Perhaps it was those comforting words that brought all life and energy into the girl's body again. She sat up in her seat and gazed outside the window. Yes. She could see the Yokohama Streets, alright. Yes. They made it. Anastasia turned to the old man with tears whelming up in her eyes. The old man was a little startled when the girl threw her arms around his neck and gave him a nice warm bear hug. He smiled, patting her back comfortingly like he would with his grandchildren.

"You take care of yourself now, alright?"

Anastasia finally released him and smiled, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. "I will. Thank you so much!" She got out of the vehicle with her grey sac thus slung over her shoulder. Shutting the door, she stooped lower so she could see the old man through the window. The girl waved one final time to him.

He smiled and gave her a curt nod of appreciation before he drove off to meet his grandchildren up north. She stood there watching him until the last speck of his vehicle had disappeared from her sight. Deep down, she wished him good health and lasting happiness.

Anastasia turned to face the entrance of the settlement. Finally, she had arrived at the busy streets of Yokohama – the place where she would start her life afresh.

III.

Early that morning, Sayori was walking down the residence with clean laundry between her hands. She stopped by Anastasia's room and knocked on her slide screen door. No reply. Sayori knocked again. Still no reply. Perhaps the girl was not inside. Without further hesitation, the young woman slid the door open and stepped into the guestroom. She was correct. The girl was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, the woman approached the closet to replenish it with some more yukatas and kimonos. Upon opening it, her eyes widened slightly to find it completely empty. Strange, she thought to herself. She placed all the clean laundry into the closet and closed it.

Just as Sayori stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door silently behind her, Kurando rolled out from under the bed. While he was investigating Anastasia's room, he was caught off guard when the beautiful young woman had knocked on the door. He didn't expect her to do her chores this early in the morning. Kurando didn't want Sayori to misunderstand him if she actually caught him inside of Anastasia's bedroom so he practically dived under the bed to avoid detection.

The deserted guestroom was proof enough that the mysterious girl as of last night was indeed Anastasia. Her sudden disappearance left him feeling empty deep inside. However, he simply did not understand why. So many questions had tortured him throughout the night. Why did the girl leave so abruptly? Why didn't she reveal her identity to him? Why did she flee from him with such fear? Most importantly, why did she slap him like that? What…happened to her?

Kurando stood gazing at the bed now. The autumn kimono was folded neatly on top of the covers. He placed a hand over it to feel its smooth texture. So, Anastasia had left the kimono behind. What did that mean? A strange ominous feeling came over him. He couldn't quite explain it. Nevertheless, he disregarded that gloomy thought and stuffed the autumn kimono into the front of his traditional wear. There was something he had to do now. He had to find his mother. He wished to seek some guidance from her.

Before Kurando had turned to the door though, a glimpse of a dried pink-coloured cloth lay scattered on the basin near the mirror. He went over to it and knelt down to touch it. Lifting the cloth up to his nostrils, he inhaled it softly until he could detect a light scent of blood. Blood? Suddenly, his mind flashed back to late last night when he heard a pitiful coughing bout coming from Anastasia's room. Sudden alarm struck the young man at once. Anastasia! What was going on here?

Shoving the blood-scented cloth into his traditional wear as well, he stood up immediately. Kurando had to seek his mother for some answers at once.

Notes: I actually have Chapter Three done as well but I'm a little hesitant to post it up right now. Eh heh. Anyways, thanks for reading this fic!