With Honey and Venom
"What hast thou done to me,
Girl, with the dream in thine eyes?
Brightened the sun to me,
Lightened the skies;
Made there be one to me,
One only sun to me Not in the skies.
What hast thou done to me,
Girl, with the dream in thine eyes?
Darkened the sun to me,
Blackened the skies;
Made there be none to me,
Nor star nor sun to me,
Only black skies."
-"Et Melle Et Felle," Anonymous
What prompts people to fall in love? Is there truly such an emotion so vivid as to allow two different people to come together and care for one another so deeply as to be monogamous?
In my experience, there is no such thing; lust is the only factor in any relationship, and it depends solely on the strength of it to determine whether the two are monogamous or not. So far, there has never been a monogamous couple. The man will stray eventually, seeking out other bed-partners.
Love has never existed in any relationship.
XI...Recovery
After a long swim in a seemingly neverending ocean of darkness, I awoke to the soft glow of a banked fire. At first, I thought it was another one of those weird dreams I had sometimes, but no...this one hurt.
"Yeowwwwww!" I wailed, writhing with the pain. Oh, man, I felt like crap...constipated crap warmed over dozens of times... It felt like I'd gotten tossed around a good while by thugs...which I hope wasn't the case.
"You will feel better if you do not move so much," came the soft voice of a woman from beside me. I looked up with watery eyes into the face of a brown-eyed woman that had known the harshness of life, and then some. It wouldn't surprise me, being this far back in the past.
"Uhhh," I said intelligently, but her soft words had quieted me enough to follow her directions. And, miraculously enough, the pain ebbed away. "Thanks... I guess?"
She smiled, though it seemed a tad strained, as if she didn't get a chance to smile that often, and was always stern. "You are lucky that I was passing this village when the fisherman brought you out of the water," she was saying, fiddling with something out of my line of vision. "It would have been likely you would have died if I had not seen to you quickly."
I blinked, then frowned heavily as I realized that the dream about the battle was no dream. I had fallen over a cliff...but why could I only see golden eyes instead of blue skies? Wait...crap! Desperately, I grasped at my throat, searching frantically for the sole object that linked me to the silver-haired, golden-eyed demon.
It was gone.
"Are you missing something?" The woman asked of me, but I could only shake my head miserably, feeling fresh tears come to my eyes.
Why was I crying? I should be happy that I'd lost the collar; I could speak English freely, and not have to worry about being choked half to death whenever I went against an 'order.' But, if I didn't have the collar...I wouldn't be able to see Rin, or Jaken, ever again... Over the past days I'd spent with them, I'd grown found of the little girl, and even the quick-tempered toad demon had grown on me. They were the first friends I'd had in a long time, not since David...
Thinking of David brought the tears faster, and I turned my head away from the woman, not wanting her to see me looking so weak. I hadn't cried so much in a long time, not since David.
Why was I thinking of David now, of all times? I'd had plenty of opportunities to reflect on my mistakes with the guy, but I hadn't really thought of him. He was my first...and last...love... For some reason, he'd made me hope for true love, only for that fragile hope to be dashed into oblivion, as it had done so when my father had left.
"It is alright to cry in times of pain, young one," the woman said, laying a cold hand on the side of my face, trying to comfort me. "The trauma of whatever happened to have caused you to be washed down the river... I understand if you feel the need to cry."
I looked back at her; she was the epitome of ethereal beauty and gentleness. By her garb, I took her to be a priestess, maybe one with a gift for medicine. Such perfection...and here I was, weak, half-dead, and taller than most men. I felt like an ugly worm next to a beautiful butterfly.
"Ne, it's not because of physical pain," I found myself telling her, wishing to taint that sad perfection. For all I know, she'd had a loving father who doted on her, was proud of her... I gulped down my tears, hardening my heart against the sadness and pain of my past. I shouldn't be so cruel to someone who'd helped me; life was hard enough without having sorrow weigh on your soul. 'Dammit, Adele, stop being a bitch!' I growled to myself in my mind, but said cheerfully outwardly, "But, nevermind that. How soon will I be able to move about?"
She smiled, warmer this time, not knowing of my inner struggle to keep from being bitchy. "You should be able to be up and about in four to five days, if your rate of healing continues as is."
"Really?" I queried, relieved to here that. I'm not the kind of person to lay about in bed for long periods of time, especially if I'm hurt. One time, I'd broken my collarbone, but I'd started moving around three days after the doctor told me to rest for three weeks. Hehe, what can I say? I get bored easily if I can't move around. "That's good to hear...which reminds me..." I was embarrassed to even say this in front of the woman...but it should kinda take precedence over my other injuries.
She tilted her head, waiting for me to continue.
Well, it's not like I had much dignity to begin with, so I just sucked in my embarrassment and asked, "Do you have any cloths for...ya know...monthlies." Yup; the cramps in my stomach confirmed my suspicions, if not the sticky mess at my nether regions. I was always a heavy bleeder...unfortunately.
But the woman found this a bit funny, as her tinkling laughter echoed the small hut in which I lay. A moment later, I joined in with my own husky laugh, glad someone found the humour in my situation.
"Of course, of course," said the priestess, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes. "My apologies, miss. You are right, of course, to assume that this should take precedence now. Seeing as how terrible your injuries were before, to lose any more blood now would be dangerous." She turned away, standing carefully and headed toward the door, lifting the mat cautiously. "I will return in a few minutes; just rest."
I nodded my thanks, and settled back into a comfortable position, trying to ignore the pain of my wrapped injuries...hold on... Crap, I need to learn to be more aware of myself, instead of my surroundings. How could I have not noticed that I had not even a stitch of clothing on? I was lucky to have so many injuries, because the heavy bandaging helped to save my swiftly dwindling dignity.
I'll ask the priestess just what were the extent of my injuries when she returned; in the meantime, there was a dream that was calling my name. Yawning, I closed my eyes and slipped into the comfortable darkness of the dream world, where there existed no pain, or suffering.
A drum beats in the darkness...
It was only a few days later did I learn that my old clothes had been damaged beyond repair. This included my own priestess robes and the clothes I'd worn beneath. Miraculously, and for this I was very grateful, my underwear had survived unharmed. Good. I don't care if this was the past: I'd never give up my bra and panties!
But, thankfully, one of the village women had given me an old kimono they'd worn in their youth, along with a cloth headwrap. The cloth was uncomfortable against my unprotected skin, but I thanked her nonetheless. Of course, I had to ask her how to wrap both properly around my body, to which the other women around me had laughed. They weren't mean about it, though, just amused, and they helped me anyways.
Since I was so grateful, I helped them in the rice fields when the priestess said I was healed enough to move around without fear of opening my wounds. The work was dirty and back-breaking, but at the end of the day I felt very accomplished. After living so long in a country where we didn't have to grow our own food, or hunt it, it felt kinda wondrous to learn that I was capable of fending for myself, after a fashion.
But, the priestess that had helped heal me had left by the time I'd returned later that evening on the first day. Some of her other patients told me that she was a wandering priestess, and a powerful one at that. I could tell; with that interesting sixth sense, I'd felt her warm, guiding...aura, I think it was. Whereas as demons generally had an cold, evil, death-bringing "aura," this priestess had a warm, guiding aura that was a balm to the soul.
Gag me with a spoon.
Okay, I was jealous of her calm gentleness and beauty, but who wouldn't? She was almost perfect; that just served to annoy the hell outta me.
Oh well; she continued her journey, and I continued helping the villagers who had so graciously taken me in. Several days passed, and I integrated into their small village quite well. Before long, it'd felt like I'd always lived in that quiet, peaceful town.
Until word came of a marauding demon coming this way, that is. That's when the tranquility I'd found shattered.
"What'll we do?" The villagers were panicking, gathered in the middle of the rice fields, trying to decide what to do.
I stood at the edge of the crowd, at least a head taller than everyone gathered there. However, being a common sight these days, they didn't notice me at first.
"We can't run away! Where would we go, this late in the planting season?"
The villagers made several good points against evacuating, and I couldn't help but feel somehow responsible for this. So saying, I offered, "Why don't I go see if I can turn the demon another direction?"
All eyes turned to me, and I suddenly felt foolish as my face turned a bright red with embarrassment.
"You'd be killed for sure!" Began the woman who had given me the kimono and headwrap. "We can't let you do that after all the help you've given us with the planting."
Others nodded their agreement, and I felt a warm emotion in my chest. They were so caring... I shook my head at them. "It's the least I could do for what all of you have done for me," I said in a sincere tone. "Besides, I don't think I'd die so easily!" Pointedly, I flexed an arm muscle, which had grown a little in the few days I'd been helping them with the rice fields. Of course, their muscles were much stronger than mine, but I still had my kicks.
"No, you shouldn't do that," said an elderly man. "In the short time that you've been with us, you've become like a granddaughter to me; you've become one of us. We can't just let you walk to your death to turn the demon away."
"Hey now, what's this about a demon?"
On the dirt road that led past the village stood two people, a man and woman pair. Could they be travelers? The staff the man carried was like one I'd seen a Buddhist monk carrying, so I guessed he was a monk...but that weird glint in his eye when he spied the village women was a tad disturbing.
"Ah, perhaps you are a traveling monk and a demon slayer?" The village elder asked, stepping away from the crowd to go to the two. "A marauding demon is headed toward our little village; we'd be grateful to you if you would deal with it."
Okay, they would trust a monk and a demon slayer, but not me, a veritable giant? If I wasn't sure my dignity was in the negative percentile by now, it probably would've been insulted.
"Ah, we could, but at a price," the monk said, smiling innocently.
Crap...did they have con artists way back in this time? I hope not...'cause those guys can pretty much be bastards.
"We will provide you with food and entertainment for the night if you would but destroy the demon that threatens our village," the elder smiled, looking like he was getting the better end of the deal. "If need be, we even have room for you to spend the night."
At that last part, he turned to me and waved me over. Wait, he wasn't saying... he meant the hut I'd been using to sleep in? Oh, hell no! I'm not gonna share it with some creepy monk, even if his companion looked ready to murder him!
"Adele-san, would you be so kind as to lead the monk and demon slayer to your hut?" The elder asked as I drew near.
Mentally sighing, I nodded. Oh great, what a lovely, lovely day. "This way, please," I said to the two, turning toward the hut the villagers had been letting me use. "It's not much, but it's comfortable enough."
"We would be very greatful, sir," the monk said, smiling.
I paused, twitching. 'Sir'? "For your info, monk," I glared at him from my imposing height, "I'm a woman."
Okay, seeing his reaction to that was priceless. I mean, didn't the boobs and hips give it away? Hell, even the kimono? Man, this was yet another instance where my height made trouble for all. Crap.
"Don't mind Miroku," the demon slayer said, whacking the monk on the back of the head with her giant...boomerang? That was one effin' huge boomerang. "He's a tad...strange."
"I can tell," I laughed, continuing to lead them to my house. "But you both came at the most opportune time, in any case. Everyone was starting to get scared of the demon, and they wouldn't let me try and turn it away."
"You? But, do you even know how to fight?" She asked, looking skeptical. Okay, this was getting a little rude.
I shrugged. "A little. I can hold my own against demons, though, despite my looks," I said, a tad defensively.
"Ah, but a lovely woman such as you should not endanger herself by fighting demons," the monk said, all of a sudden in front of me, holding my hands in his own. "By the way, would you consider bearing my children?"
I stared at him a moment, the silence tense by the angry aura the demon slayer had about her. Then I burst out laughing. "Honey, you ain't man enough," I chuckled, winking at him. "Besides that, I don't much care for strangers asking me to 'bear their children.'"
I think I scared the monk right then...or maybe it was the demon slayer, because he suddenly backed down, cowering a bit. Oh, boy, this is gonna be 'fun.'
End Chapter
Post Scriptum Author's Note: Okay, so we're now back to the main story. Unfortunately, I'm sick at the moment, so things might seem a little...weird, in my writing. Sorry about that. (On a sidenote, I'd been feeling like crap for the past few days, so it's not really a surprise to me that I'm sick right now. Damn cold.) Oh, and don't mind the reference to a woman's monthly. It's quite natural and normal, actually. It would've been really weird if I didn't have Adele mention something about it. Seriously. Besides, I get the feeling only Mary-Sues don't have periods. -laughs pathetically- Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the eleventh chapter! I'll try and have the next chapter typed out ASAP. Besides, if I stay sick until Monday or Tuesday, I might get more time to type out these chapters (unless my mom does a gorilla thing and orders me to bed. -laughs.
But, yea, until next time, ja ne!
