I see...green.
Beautiful green around me. Surrronding me like a warm blanket.
Water trickling down tiny streams...so clear...so pure. Like the gods themself blessed them with their kisses.
Little insects, shiny and bright, buzzing all around me. A musical dance that soars through the mid-day air.
I look up and...I see something through the distant trees.
A deer...no...it's too big...too..mighty.
A horse? No.. something more.
I feel my heart grow cold and warm at the same time...it's calling me.
Ariharu.
But...why?
Ariharu...come.
Ariharu...
"Ariharu! ARIHARU"
"Huh"
"Wake up you stupid girl"
"Huh"
THUNK
The young girl opened her eyes abruptly as she felt the sting of the hard floor against her body. They had pushed her out of her hammack again"
"Nan de kore!" she groaned as she pushed herself off the ground
"Don't you "Nan de kore" me!" a voice above her fumed "You know perfectly well what's going on! You were supposed to be up at sunrise! And look at it now! It's half past"
"Thirty stupid minutes" she growled under her breath before looking her torturer in the face. It was the owner's wife, a thirty-something year old lady, with a slim figure but a scornfully face. She had already put on her tight fitting, expensive kimono, got her hair to it's most stylest and her face painted to whitest extent and her lips to the reddest. Now she was ready to exert authority.
"Well, get moving you lazy bum"
"Yes, Masanori-sama" the girl replied, putting on her own rag of a kimono. She could feel the heat of the woman's glaze burn through her with hatred she had come to be accustom to. The 4'9 14 year old girl with uncombed pitch black back-lenght hair, knew why her mistress hated her. It was because the owner...was her father. For the longest time the girl never knew. Until a week ago when one of the brothel girl's told her out of spite. Living in a brothel in the city never had been easy for the poor girl, this only made things worse. Ever since she was old enough, she was made to clean, work, serve, and help cook for the Masanori family. Her mother was there, somewhere. Usually working, she never actually took care of her child, leaving that to the other prositutes of the house. Most of the time they didn't care either. Though she wasn't totally on her own, at least when she was younger. The lady of the house, despite her hatred, took care of her a little too. Perhaps she was lonely, the girl had reasoned, since at that time she didn't have a child of her own. But as time passed, Lady Masanori failure to have childern soon turned her loneliness to even more hatred.
"That dream..." Ariharu thought to herself as she tried to get the displeasent thoughts of her mistress out of her mind "It was so...weird. What was that place"
She put on her apron and began to full a bucket up with water for the morning floor cleaning.
"I've never been outside the city...why would I think up a place like that? So many trees"
"Ariharu"
"Yes ma'am"
"After you finsh cleaning and your other chores, I need you to go to the market and get these items"
The older woman handed Ariharu and list then turned to leave.
"And tried to be quick about it, I don't want you to be outside when it gets dark"
"Yes ma'am"
Suddenly one of the prostitutes of the house entered the kitchen. She looked a bit nervous as she constantly rang her hands.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Masanori-sama"
"Good morning to you too, Ritsu-san"
"Did you hear the news"
"What news"
Ritsu took a deep breath before answering " The town next to us, Kobomushinagi, was attacked a few days ago"
"What"
Ariharu looked up from her cleaning. Her mistress' face had turned whiter than her own make-up and Ritsu began to ring her hands even harder.
"Do they know who it was"
"No, but they say that it was bandits. A whole lot of them--at least 30"
"Does my husband know"
"Well..that where I got the information from. I heard him and some other men talking about it just few minutes ago"
"Hmm is that so"
"Yes it is.
"Ariharu"
"Yes Ma'am"
"On second thought, go to the market now. Your chores can wait"
Ariharu nodded her head and got up to grab her shopping basket. The whole thing unnerved her and she wondered if their city was next.
Green again.
Dripping...I hear dripping.
Oh..it's coming from the trees. It must have just rained.
It sounds...just beautiful.
I wish.
I wish...I could stay here forever...
"Hey Chibi"
Ariharu looked up sharply at the voice.
"If you just plan on standing there all day, Chibi, I just might as well not give you this fish" the owner of the voice, a 50 something year old man, scolded lightly.
She let the last lingering moments of her daydream be swept away by the busy bustling sounds of the market place around her before answering.
"I don't see why you call me that, Kobayashi-san" she took the lined fish and put it in her basket. "I've grown taller you know. So there's no reason to call me "little"
"Ah that maybe true, to me you will always be my "Chibi"
Ariharu felt herself smile at the old man's kindness. She had known him and his wife for as long as she could remember--just like with most of the merchants in the market place--and they always made her feel so welcomed. Going to the market place was the shining light in her dark existance and brought back joyous memories of that seemingly distant time when her mistress didn't loathe her and treated her as if she was her own.
Ariharu sighed at the memory.
"Roto! Don't tell me that you're hitting on Ari-chan again!" a warm voice half laughed, half scolded.
Ariharu felt her smile grow bigger as she saw the old man's wife appear from behind the vendor.
"Oh Nikko, my dove!" he beamed
"Don't you "my dove" me!" she scoffed but turned to Ariharu and smiled "Don't mind him, Ari-chan. He just can't help himself around pretty girls, you know"
The young girl couldn't help but giggle at the old lady's comment. Frankly she didn't think that she was much of a beauty at all.
"She becoming the splitting image, Asuka, ne?" Roto smiled
Nikko frowned a bit at the mention of Ariharu's mother. Like with most prostitutes, she didn't see her in the best of light. But for Ari's sake, she smiled again and agreed.
"Yes..she is. In fact..." she added "I would say that she's even more beautiful. And becoming more and more ever day"
"Thank you, Mrs Kobayashi" Ari blushed hard, before turning away. "And thank you for the fish"
"Sweet girl..." Roto smiled before resuming his task of lining his fish.
Suddenly a rukus a few vendors down caught his attention.
"We got to get our stuff we got to go"
"Oh gods! Hurry"
"Leave it! We must run"
"What's going on?" Roto shouted to the frighten merchants
"They are coming!" A woman cried as she gathered her belongings
"Who"
"The bandits! They're here! They're going to kill us all!" she responded, running past him
"They've just been seen outside the city!" Another merchant explained, also packing his things. "We must get out of the city! They're going to slaughter us all"
"Oh Gods no..."
Meanwhile...
Ariharu had just finished getting the next item on her list when suddenly a rush a people ran by her, knocking her basket from her hand.
"Oh man!" she groaned as she tried to pick up the fallen items from the ground. But as she got some of them into her basket, more people ran by, crashing into her again.
"What is up with this!" she cried in anger. She couldn't figure out what the rush was!
"What is going on"
The panic of the people around her suddenly made her stomach clench in terror. So many fightened faces! At once she realized what was going on.
"Oh no...they're here"
Then without a moments hesitation she left her discarded items on the ground and ran for her home.
By the time she got to the brothel, news of the bandit's invasion had already arrived. Servants and prostitutes alike were rushing around like mad, trying to pack up any item that seemed useful. The house was in a frenzy!
Suddenly one of them stopped when they spotted Ariharu enter.
"Ari-chan!" she exclaimed rushing towards her
Many others also dropped what were doing and ran to the girl.
Ariharu stepped back in suprise.
"You're back!" the servant continued. Then a horrifying question erupted from her lips.
"Where is Lady Masanori"
"What do you mean"
"You mean she's not with you"
The other servants looked at each other in dismay.
Ariharu numbly shook her head.
"She went to look for you!" the servant informed her
"Yes" added another "Once we were told that those killers were here she set off to find you. We tried to stop her but"
There was a deadly silence after that. Ariharu could only gap in horror at what had transpired. The bandits were invading their city--and her mistress was out there somewhere...looking for her!
With in seconds her shock had worn off and she turned on her heels and fled out of the house. She could hear the cries of the servants and other members of the house, that had taken notice, desperately calling for her to come back. But she took no heed. The only thing on her mind at the moment was the woman that had onced loved her...and maybe still did.
She had to find her!
Within hours the city of Motoshiba was taken siege by the bandit army Tora No Chi--- Tiger's Blood. No one standing in their way was spared---no man, no woman, no child. Ariharu desperately tried to hold on to her young sanity as she franticly searched for her mistress. Through the carnage she tried not to stare as she caught glimses of familiar faces sprawled on the ground, their bodies covered with fresh blood. She ducked and hid whenever a bloodthirsty bandit came close and so far she seemed to be avoiding them, only walking in their after-path of destruction. But as time flew by and she witnessed more and more of her people's suffering, she had a frightful feeling that her mistress was among the already slaughtered citizens and herself would be next.