Chapter Four : Reflections of a Forgotten Past
As she stood there in the quiet forest, Sora thought about her life, and everything that she had gone through up to this moment. When she had given birth to her son, the ice elders had killed him; only woman could live in that world. She had found herself unable to live in a society so cruel, and had run away, going to her lover at the time for safety. When arriving at the place where his...friends...were camping, she had been told that he had died in the time that she had been preparing for the coming of her child. Her devastation had known no borders; to this day, she was still reeling from the shock of the blow. She had had nowhere to stay, no food, no water...no friends.
She had traveled for a time, praying for shelter from the cold, someone to care for her...praying for death...when she had heard a rumbling sound. It was the type of noise that one always hears in the back of their mind, and never thinks about. She decided at that moment to follow the sound of the rumbling. It had taken her into the territory of King Raizen. Asking around, she had discovered that the rumbling noise she heard was actually the sound of King Raizen stomach rumbling, as he had not eaten in almost 1000 years.
Sora had felt oddly entranced by that thought, and had asked to see him. The monks that served King Raizen had laughed in her face, but opened the door for her. She had proceeded up the steps to the top of the tower, and had entered.
King Raizen himself had been seated on the throne. He had looked at her, mildly puzzled, with an odd look of recollection.
"Who are you?" he had asked, his voice deep and full of a hidden wisdom.
"Forgive me for my rudeness," Sora had said, her voice firm and commanding respect; or so she thought, "But I was wondering if I could take shelter on your lands?"
Raizen chuckled, and looked over her critically, "You are an ice maiden, no? And yet...you have a fire burning inside you."
"I was born through non-immaculate means," Sora said bitterly, "Thus, I am a fire demon, born of ice. Or, I was. I have left that life behind me now."
Raizen nodded, "You have strength, for one so young..." he paused, "You may stay on my lands, under one condition; I will not harbor any weak persons on my territory. To stay here, you must become stronger."
"If my lord will help teach me, I will willingly learn," Sora said, rolling her eyes.
She had been shocked by her own boldness, but Raizen had seemed to enjoy it, "Truth be told, young one, I like you," was all he had said before dismissing her. By the time she had reached the bottom of the tower, the King's monks were there to begin her training.
She learned plenty under the leadership of the King, and over the time she spent with him, grew to respect and look up to him dearly. He cared for her as if she were his own child, and she found that she could help to ease some of the loneliness the King had built up over the years.
Time passed, and she became one of the King's strongest fighters. It was on this day, while out training, that she sensed in the distance an energy, so similar to her King's that she had to stop. Everyone seemed to sense it, and the whispers broke out. No one knew what to make of it.
After a time, it disappeared, but training did not resume. Confusion fell in large portions among the fighters, and many were questioning whether to inform the King of the problem or not. It was debatable; the King's hunger had taken a turn for the worse in the past few months, and his followers expected that he only had one year to live. Many did not want to bother him with something as trivial as a burst of power that seemed similar to his.
King Raizen, it seemed, had no need for anyone to inform him. He had summoned for Sora soon after that, and she had gone eagerly, always enjoying being summoned. She found the King happier than she had ever seen him, and wished to know the source of his merriment.
"My son..." King Raizen had told her, "has returned."
King Raizen explained to her that he had once fallen in love with a human woman, and she had given birth to a son, HIS son. However, the demon gene did not arise in this boy. It hibernated for 1000 years, only to arise in another human boy, who had now stumbled into demon world.
Sora was shocked, and saddened by the news. Having always thought of herself as King Raizen child, she was disappointed to discover his true heir had returned to take the throne. King Raizen told her that he would be sending for his son shortly, and the boy would be training with the rest of them. He asked her specifically for her help in the boy's training.
Sora told the King sadly that she did not think she could stay.
The King had been saddened by the news, but understood. He had grudgingly permitted her to leave his lands.
King Raizen died less than a year later, and his son had wasted no time in devising a scheme for who would take power over the demon world. At the time, it was a matter of a power struggle between two warriers, the other two kings of demon world; Mukuro and Yomi. King Raizen's son wised up the rest of demon world, informing them that he was the infamous spirit detective, and proposed that a world wide tournament would take place, with anyone (and possibly everyone) fighting...all as equals...for the crown. The winner of the tournament would then be in charge of demon world until the next tournament.
Despite her hatred for the boy, both as spirit detective and King Raizen's son, Sora had grudgingly admitted that the idea was a clever one.
She had participated in the tournament, but she had had the bad luck of being selected to fight in the preliminaries in the same group as Enki, the demon who ended up winning the tournament, and she had not made it very far. She hadn't minded too much; she had enjoyed watching the fights. She had been astounded with the power of the fighters. She had always arrogantly believed that she had amazing power, but she didn't hold a candle to some of the fighters in the tournament. It had been a nig eye opener for her...but she hadn't cared too much. She had mostly lost her motivation to train when Raizen had passed on.
When the tournament had ended, and the barrier between demon world and human world had been taken down, she had decided that the memories that tied her to demon world were too great. She decided that she would start off fresh in human world. She was told that as long as she didn't cause any trouble for the humans, it was all right for her to live there.
She awkwardly visited Raizen grave before she left, to say her goodbyes. It was a lot harder for her than she thought it would be, and she lost track of time as she stood there talking to him. She heard him answer her when she asked questions, and wondered if he could really hear her. In the end, she decided not to question it. It made her feel better to know that Raizen could hear her words.
With no other connections she needed to sever holding her back, she proceeded through the gates and into human world.
At first, she spent a lot of time trying to get used to her surroundings. This world was a lot bigger than she thought it would be. She often was teased by bullies because of her size (ice apparitions were not known for their height). Once, as she got herself out of a mess with yet another group of punks, she was approached by a young girl with very pretty brown hair.
"Hi," the girl had said nervously, "I'm Keiko. Keiko Yukimura. I just wanted to say that I think it's so cool how you took on those bullies even though they were picking on you."
Sora had been shocked; this was the first nice thing that anyone had said to her since she arrived in human world. She had blushed slightly, and responded with, "It's really no big deal. Jerks like that are usually cowards at heart. You just have to show them you aren't afraid."
"I try to do that," Keiko said brightly, "But it's hard sometimes to pretend not to be afraid when you really are."
Sora smiled at the girl's words. The innocence and naivety of this girl reminded her of her friends back home in the ice world. "The trick is to actually not be afraid of them," she teased, smiling to take the bite out of her words.
"Oh, I could never do that," Keiko said, "I'm just not very brave."
"Bravery comes in many forms," Sora had said wisely, "I would never have been brave enough to go up to a complete stranger and congratulate them for standing up for themselves."
"That's not bravery!" Keiko had argued.
"It is to me," Sora had said with a shrug. "See you around, Keiko."
"Wait!" Keiko had called out as she walked away, "What's you're name?"
Sora had paused. She liked this girl, but she knew that it was disrespectful to only give a first name; especially since Keiko had shared both names with her. Yet, Sora had never been given a last name; there had been no need for them where she had come from, as it was a small population.
And then, a thought came to her. She gave Keiko her name, and as a last name, she used the name that she would have given to her son, had she ever been given the chance to.
"Sora," she had said softly, "Sora Koyo."
Her meeting with Keiko had led to her eventual run in with Yusuke Urameshi. She had been playing video games at an arcade when he had come up behind her. His energy had reminded her very strongly of Raizen, but she didn't recognize him, and didn't make the connection until it was too late. She had never known his human name. And by the time she realized who he was, she liked him too much to hate him.
Smiling at her reminitions, and looking around the forest that she stood in, Sora had spoken to no on in particular, "It's funny," she said, "How life leads you around in a circle." Yukina leaving home had been what had sparked the idea of leaving home in her. Her life had led her back to where she had started.
'Now,' Sora thought bitterly, 'Am I happy?'
She couldn't answer.
A sudden light gust of wind picked up, blowing her short red hair around in her face. The blue streaks, hidden in the sunlight, picked up in the moon. The mark of an ice apparition. She inhaled the wind deeply, smelling the sweet smell of roses as it drifted through the night...