Lone Scarlet Lily, Hidden in the World of Snow: Waiting for the Spring.
Chapter 7: Clashing Views
My skin burned under the scalding summer sun, and I pressed myself further into the cool wooden walls of the house Midoriko was rummaging through. The thin shadow of said house offered little protection from the heat that clung to my skin, but it was better than nothing. The frantic waving of the fan that had resided in my obi until the summer began failed to lessen the heat of my skin. It was almost midday, so the places which offered a respite from the added warmth the sunlight contained were few and far between – the only reason there was even the slightest shadow for me to cling to was because of the narrow awning that extended from the door.
While I was still unfamiliar with the aspects of human lives, seeing as this was the only building that took up a large area of land in the center of the village, I believed that an 'shop' granted me my small respite. We had only visited one or two of them on our missions, but in both cases, they had a large space filled with items of all kinds and were in the middle of everything. Normally, we stayed outside of most villages. Midoriko could usually get the local temple to grant us a place to stay, and if that failed, the village head would offer us one of his own beds – if that village had sought the Demon Slayers services in the first place. It was only when our hunt took us farther from the village that paid us that we had to look elsewhere for shelter, setting up camp in the nearby area or finding some friendly villagers with extra space to take us in for the night.
While we could usually enter the temples without any problems, there had been a few shrines that had a barrier protecting the inside from demons. Midoriko could disable part of the barrier and allow me to pass through without alerting those inside. It was a skill I had yet to learn from her, as I could only shatter barriers instead of peeling back only a small portion. It wasn't too difficult to learn (at first, Midoriko had not realized why I wanted her to create some barriers for me), as the technique I founded 'Shatter' on was Icicle Burst. Specifically, how I could create an imbalance in my own energy to cause my ice creations to rupture into a shower of shards. Pairing the ability to create an imbalance in energy with my ability to sneak my energy into that of another being's (as I did in Energy Healing), I eventually found that I could disrupt and destroy barriers.
Midoriko didn't exactly know what to think of the skill at first, but eventually she warmed up to the idea of trying to teach me how to disable barriers temporarily instead – something that hadn't quite worked out so far. Her unease at first was understandable, I guess, as it takes a lot of concentration to put up a barrier and so having it shatter suddenly could be very disorienting. I think it took a while for her to understand that I wouldn't be going around to all the shrines and breaking down barriers on a whim, which was the deciding factor in helping me train further – so that I would be the only demon entering the previously protected area before the priestesses or priests could erect another to keep the others out.
Whether we managed to get shelter in a temple or in a village, we managed to pass on through without too much trouble. Aside from the curious looks my unusually coloured eyes – humans tended to have darker coloured eyes, it seems – none really questioned if I was anything other than a human travelling alongside the priestess. The pointed ears weren't a problem, either, if hidden correctly. My tendency to alert them to my heritage as a way of entertaining myself had been the only problem we had encountered – but Midoriko would easily play it off as a bad joke since I had a 'weird sense of humour'. Which was true, as the shocked look on the faces of the humans that had agreed to take us in for the night was something that had me grinning for hours. But what kept me chuckling for days was the look on Midoriko's face when I did so.
Unfortunately, now that it was summer, we were camping in the forest more often than not. While the shade found nestled deep between the trees was heavenly and offered a break from human houses which trapped the heat and humidity inside, I did miss amusing myself with the humans that took us in.
Even when we decided to seek out an actual bed instead of one made from twigs and leaves (on Midoriko's request), I was usually far too uncomfortable in the heat to have any real fun with our human hosts, much to the priestess's relief.
"Are you finished yet, Midoriko? I'd like to find some food in one of these houses before I burst into flames, if possible!" I called out to her through the open window, turning my head slightly before seeing her stop rummaging through the cupboards and side rooms in favour of sticking her head out through the door to stare me down fiercely.
"You've been saying that for a while, Nozomi, and I'm still waiting for it happen!" She paused, having dealt with my last (and mostly) humorous comment before dealing with the others, "Finished yet? What do you think I'm trying to do?"
"I don't know, 'innocently' torture me for one reason or another?" I kicked a pebble idly as I wrinkled my nose at the disgustingly fresh scent that permeated the village. It would only get worse as the summer got hotter.
Her eyes widened at me, and she revealed her armoured figure as she held up a tool of some sort. It had a long handle, with a broad and flat wooden piece fastened atop the staff. A short piece of rounded wood was used as a grip, I presumed.
At my blank stare, she shook the tool again, "This... is a shovel. And we're going to bury the dead." She gestured to the inside of the 'shop', "I've only found one so far, so I'm looking for a second."
"Wait, what?" I raised a brow as I looked at the 'shovel', "Why are we going to bury them? They're already dead, we can't do anything for them."
"Why?!" She looked at me incredulously, as if I'd grown a second head, "Because leaving them out in is incredibly disrespectful! We need to bury them to put their souls at rest!"
"What kind of rule is that?" I folded my arms as I returned her look, "They're corpses now, their 'souls' should get over it." Their souls had already departed for the Netherworld, whatever 'souls' Midoriko rattled on about were just a figment of human fantasy – or these 'souls' were a figure of speech for humans making their own peace with the deaths of the villagers...
"How can you say that?!"
"What do you mean?! Why should I care if these guys," I gestured to the carcasses of the villagers that were strewn over the entire village, cut down one by one and leaving no survivors, "are eaten by animals or demons or whatever comes across them first? Why do you care? You don't know them, and they didn't know you! Leaving them out is better than having them slowly rot underground – nature will clean up its own just fine without your help!"
She blinked, as if she couldn't believe the words that came from my mouth, "I can't believe…" She stopped, took a breath, and started again, "How did your village deal with the dead, then?"
I took a second to think back to my life in Kitabayashi before answering, noting that the two seasons that I had spent with Midoriko seemed to have enough memories to stretch over years as well, "Most Kitabayashi warriors died during raids, so the bodies were left there for the humans to do with as they willed. If possible, the armour and weaponry were recovered from the body before the raiding party returned home." I paused, remembering Master Katashi's stories about his own mentor, "There were a few cases where the older demons had reached the end of their lifespans and died in the village. When this happened, the kin of the deceased would take the body out into the forest and dump it there."
Midoriko looked like she didn't know what to say, and so she stayed silent.
It wasn't surprising: human customs and beliefs were vastly different from demon ones. Sure, I never really clued her into the differences on the demon side of things whenever they came up, but she never really seemed interested in them either. Whatever questions she did ask often pertained to the 'healer' role of Kitabayashi in particular. Other questions were few and far between, and the only other notable one that came to mind was the life expectancy of demons – an enlightening conversation for her, as she discovered the existence of 'Great Demons' (the Demon Slayers hadn't yet put a name on the immensely more powerful Great Demons compared to the weaker regular demons) and their distinct markings.
The lifespans of regular demons were hard to estimate, as they often varied from type to type. Most of demons died before they reached 'old age' (which was a stage that lasted several years in a human's life), and from what Master Katashi said, it only lasted around the last year of a demon's life. It was a lot different than a human's old age, or so Midoriko said, as while demons do get weaker in their last year most of them are more powerful than most (you had to be to even get to your last year), and so they'd still retain enough power to be physically stronger than most humans in their prime.
The lifespan of a Great Demon was even vaguer. Master Katashi hadn't come across anyone in his life that knew of a Great Demon that passed from a natural end of their lifespan: battle had been the only end to their long lives that Master Katashi heard of.
Speaking of which, Master Katashi was probably getting old. Judging from the last time he spoke of his age, which had been a long time ago, and taking him at his word… Master Katashi would be around six hundred years old, give or take a decade or so. What an old man.
"Feel free to start digging on your own, Midoriko. I'm not about to start lugging bodies and throwing them in holes." I stepped out from the only shade that I'd find outside for a while, promising my overheated body I'd escape indoors soon, "I'm going to check the bodies for anything useful before seeing if they had any food prepared before…" I gestured to the corpses, "…this all happened."
Midoriko was fuming, "You'd desecrate their bodies so easily?! They should be left untouched, and so should their belongings!" She waved her hands towards the dead bodies, "This… all of this, you're unfazed by it? Do you feel no grief for them at all? All of the villagers were slain! Men, women, the elderly! CHILDREN! There are dead CHILDREN lying on the ground, Nozomi! I hope we catch the monsters that did this, if only to avenge the death of all these innocents!" Her voice quivered as her eyes watered as I gave no response to her anger, "Fine."
She sniffed, brushing past me and gingerly making her way over the bodies that lined the dirt streets.
"I just hope you feel even the slightest sliver of sorrow over these lost lives when we slay whatever demons did this!"
"…Okay, then. You do whatever you need to do to these carcasses to make yourself feel better." I snapped the folding fan shut as I spat out the words under my breath, making sure that Midoriko didn't hear them as she disappeared around the corner of the shop.
With the lack of fan-generated wind, the stench of death seemed to only worsen as the scent stagnated. At least the wind the fan created wasn't really that cool – it was impossible to escape the clinging heat, even for the air itself. I crouched down in front of the body of a villager, pressing the folded fan against the still-warm flesh of a man's shoulder until he limply rolled onto his back. Deep gashes covered the man's front, and as whatever made them also tore apart the kimono he was wearing, I could clearly see a thick red coat concealed the man's skin from his stomach up to the start of his neck. Judging by this, he had been cut down and then his skin was dyed in his own pool of blood.
From closer examination, the gashes weren't from the claws of demons – the lines were far too clean for that, and there was far too much of him still intact. So, the only other thing that could've caused the deaths of these villagers were weapons. Weapons could be used by both humans and demons, so the fact didn't do much to narrow the field of potential murderers. I took a deep, begrudging, breath and wrinkled my nose at the scent of human blood, but also noted that there was no demon scent lingering underneath it. While not as efficient at deciphering scents as other demons, at this proximity, I should have no problems sniffing out scents underlying the blood… If humans had done this, it would be the first time that I would see Midoriko deal with wrongdoers of her own species.
I glanced in the direction Midoriko had disappeared, wondering if this thought had crossed her mind yet and if those 'monsters' that did this included humans in her mind.
Now that I figured out the likely guilty party, I decided to investigate the motives behind the slaughter as well – Midoriko might not be willing to believe me otherwise. Entertainment, while Midoriko refused to believe it was an actual reason for murder, was a possibility. Could be bandits, or a blood feud between two villages… Could even be possessed humans! Humans always made murder more complicated than what it needed to be, with all their secretive reasonings and whatnot: the list of what it could be was endless. So, I had to start with figuring out what it couldn't be.
With a sigh, I searched the body of the man for any sort of valuables, and finding none, I moved onto the next body on the street. The process continued the entire length of the road – at least five bodies that had no valuable possessions on them. While Midoriko told me not every human carries a weapon of some sort, surely at least a few might've carried a sword or something…
I sighed once more, opening my fan and idly circulating air again as I stepped inside a nearby building at the end of the street, ignoring the other bodies that covered every dirt path that the small village had. The inside of the house had been visibly ransacked, the furniture upturned, the rice paper walls ripped and… the pantry was empty, save for a bundle of rice that had split apart and scattered the grains across the floor.
Someone had obviously rummaged through the house, and quickly grabbed all the food they could.
With my interest in playing detective already waning in the heat as it failed to entertain me enough to push the thought of the burning sun out of my mind, I decided that I had finished investigating. I certainly wasn't about to go through all the houses and search all the bodies for the sake of finding out the reason the village had been effectively wiped out. So far, it looked like human bandits had ransacked the village and just forgot to burn it down after they came through.
If Midoriko wanted a better reason, she could look through each and every house at her own leisure as she collected the bodies of the dead.
So, instead of spending more time on what probably wouldn't result in a different answer, I stepped back into the sunlight and headed towards the nearby forest. It would probably just be best to let Midoriko spend some time alone, and the shadows of the trees beckoned me closer. I would take my time looking for some prey to cook for supper, and let Midoriko have the afternoon to cool off.
With that in mind, I left the village behind, hearing the echoes of a tool digging into the earth as I entered the shaded woods.
The sound of running water hastened my steps over the tangled roots of the forest floor. The canopy of leaves above shaded me from the sun's rays, but the thought of ridding my skin of the heat that clung to it ushered me into an inhuman pace when the sound grew closer. Sunlight filtered through the trees as the forest thinned to reveal a wide river that wound its way through the woods.
I came to a slow stop, eyes searching for anything that could pose a threat that could be lurking behind the tree trunks, just out of sight. My body stilled, and I listened intently for the snapping of twigs or the rustling of clothing. After a few long moments of silence, I placed my half-empty quiver and Katashi's bow on the riverbank. Untying my haramaki, I gently slid the fabric down my figure until it pooled at my feet. Folding the haramaki neatly and placing it next to Katashi's bow, I also slipped off my sandals and lined them up in beneath the arched roots of a tree which slanted against the steep decline into the stream. With happy, but cautious steps, I waded into the water.
While the water was warmer than I would've hoped, I still shivered pleasantly when the fabric of my kimono clung to my thighs as I relished in the fact that my body temperature was slowly decreasing into a comfortable range. Within a few leisurely steps, the riverbed dipped steeply, and I folded my body into a crouch to submerge my shoulders and neck. Shivers wracked my body as I slowly searched for an even deeper part of the river. Unfortunately, while it was a very wide river (wide enough for the long reaching limbs of the trees to not completely block out the sun over the water) it wasn't all too deep: at the deepest point, the water only pooled around my waist.
With a relaxed sigh, I stretched out on my back, keeping myself afloat while leisurely paddling against the current so I didn't get pushed downstream. My kimono quickly absorbed the water that flowed by, slightly weighing me down, clinging to my every curve as I rotated my arms to not only prevent me from floating downstream but also prevent my head from dipping beneath the calm-looking surface of the river. After a moment, the sound of my arms pushing against the running water as the appendages left my side and the slow but firm force behind the open palms that came back to my thighs was the only thing I could hear. With a new cycle of time established as my body ebbed and flowed with the river, I slipped my eyes closed and ducked my head underwater.
The suffocating heat left my skin as I hovered just below the surface of the water, relieving the stress and irritation that had been building up since the start of summer.
Summer had always irritated me, a snow-demoness, to a certain extent. But leaving the mostly cooler summer temperatures* of the northern Kitabayashi village (which was on a decently sized hill and shaded by the forest that surrounded the settlement) behind for the warmer summers south of the village had made a bigger impact than I previously thought. The fact that this summer was a particularly hot one (according to Midoriko) didn't ease my transition.
Thinking back on the argument with Midoriko, it was probably one of the reasons I didn't comply to her wishes to bury the dead: in late spring and throughout summer I had to do everything I could to conserve my energy. The hotter it got, the more energy my body consumed automatically to keep my temperature from going dangerously high. Any action that hadn't revolved around slaying demons had been shirked until nighttime or done in an area with plenty of shade. Anything else that couldn't wait that long was avoided completely.
Now that my body had cooled considerably, it was easy to see where my discomfort had warranted a less than lenient response with these new human rituals involving burying a body.
But, it was also easy to see where Midoriko had been far too distraught at my lack of understanding.
The questions Midoriko had tentatively asked slowly trickled to a halt after the start of spring: the mutual interest during winter disappeared seemingly over the thawing days. What had started to look like the beginning of a friendship faded into a relationship between associates almost overnight. The sudden shift had stung, but I was content to cover frustration with a lighthearted atmosphere that made the new rift seem smaller.
That rift had grown large underneath the surface and now brought forth all the concerns that had been plaguing my mind since spring.
Was Midoriko not able to see where I was coming from? Did she even consider that I might not agree with the customs she grew up by? Did she even care? Would she care? Could she see that I had been compromising and experimenting to understand her human view in effort to protect an unlikely friendship that, most likely, never even existed? Had I been sending her a hesitant signal? Had I been too forward in wanting to form a friendship with her? Had I been too quick to try human traditions? Had I done something wrong? Did she realize she didn't want a demoness as a friend? Did she even want a friendship?
The last question had always been in the back of my mind since she started pulling away from recognizing the differences between us. She had never truly claimed to be looking for a friendship, and neither had I. But we had gotten close enough that I had thought we sparked what should've resembled something like the start of one. Of course, I was perfectly fine with having a more 'business' type of relationship with Midoriko – as long as she could satisfy my curiosity any kind of interaction was fine – but the sort of murky relationship we had currently was far too ill-defined to actually be of any practical use.
Perhaps the line between demon and human cultures was too defined for us to become anything more than unlikely demon slaying partners... and perhaps she had realized that.
My head broke the surface of the water, and I took in big gulps of air as I placed my feet back on the slippery riverbed. Standing up, the water drained from my body, rejoining the running water as it flowed through the forest on its journey to lower lands on its search of the sea. It was cooler now: the wind had lost much of its heat as it contacted my soaked skin.
I waded through the water slowly, not wanting to leave the river just yet but as I noticed the sun steadily declining in its arc through the sky, I decided to press onwards. As the water lapped against my ankles, I paused briefly to let more water drain from my figure before I bent down to line up my sandals on the bank. Stepping out of the water, I slipped one foot after another back into my sandals without allowing them to touch the forest floor and potentially pick up a twig or rock that might uncomfortably cling to the fabric of my socks. As both sandal straps found their place between my toes without mishap, I sent a flash of energy through my body to quickly dry my sodden clothes* so that the fabric wouldn't have the chance to become a warm and moist mess clinging to my figure.
Pulling the black pleated fabric of my hakama over my blue-tinted kimono once again and tying it firmly just above the start of my obi, I then attached the quiver to hang by my side. After picking up Katashi's bow, I made my way back through the forest. Grasping the feathered end of a wooden arrow, I propped the sharpened point against the curve of the bow while repositioning my fingers around the bowstring. Pulling the arrow back slowly, I felt the bow flex easily underneath my guiding hand. With my weapon now at the ready, I walked silently over the twisting roots and leafy greens, attentively waiting for something to catch my eye.
After one quiet step followed another, the arrow flew loose from Katashi's bow. The sound of a crying bird fell abruptly silent, and I swiftly bent the bowstring behind another feathered arrow. As the body of the bird thudded into the shrubs, the life that was hidden from sight scurried to leave the once quiet area. With another arrow released from Katashi's bow, the point plunged into the hind of a rabbit that turned abruptly and luckily avoided the arrow from piercing its heart.
The rabbit hobbled away, its movement impaired by my arrow, and disappeared into the shrubbery. With a slight scowl appearing on my face, I collected the fallen bird, plucking some feathers loose as I removed the arrow from its heart and followed the scent of the rabbit's blood through the shrubs it disappeared into. Nocking a fresh arrow to the bow, I tracked the slowing animal as it continued its fleeing path towards the thinning trees at the edge of the forest. The rabbit was losing a lot of blood from its frantic movements, creating an easy scent to follow, and before long I found my prey desperately trying to scamper over large tree roots but not having the energy to reach over the twisting tendrils.
My arrow found its target easily this time, and put the hunt to an end.
Removing the two arrows from the rabbit's hide, I noticed an unfocused brown gaze staring up at me from the other side of the roots that my arrow had pinned the rabbit to. With both the rabbit and bird in hand, I cautiously stepped over the root in order to get a closer look at the deceased human girl.
Her body rested perpendicular to the root her head was turned to look over, one of her eyes were covered by her tangled hair that had leaves and twigs knotted in the brown strands. Slight freckles dotted her face, and like the other villagers in the village just outside of the forest, clean cuts had been made through the once light-yellow fabric of the back of her kimono. The fabric was soaked in blood, and from the looks of the trail of dried blood that painted the forest floor, she had been cut down a while back and crawled her way to her current position.
The young girl had probably run into the forest when the village was attacked, but wasn't fast enough to escape the bandits that chased her.
The pallbearers of the Netherworld had already collected the girl's spirit, and upon further inspection, the carcass had been soulless for a while. As I lingered near the body, hesitating to leave it as the argument with Midoriko resurfaced in my mind, I wondered if I had shot down the idea of human burial too quickly.
I, just like Master Katashi as well as the other Kitabayashi demons, believed that the souls of beings departed for the Netherworld quickly after death, collected and delivered by intangible pallbearers. Contrary to Midoriko's belief, I did hold some inkling of empathy for those who had life still in them – all things had a right to struggle to survive in this world. But when that life left them, when their souls had been brought to the Netherworld, the corpses they left behind would be better suited to helping the struggle of another being instead. Burying and hiding away what could be useful for another's survival seemed wasteful.
Those that could no longer do anything, could at the very least help those that still lived.
The human belief that the dead should be buried to put their 'souls' at rest – souls that had already departed for the Netherworld and no longer held any presence in the world they lived in… That seemed like it was only a ploy to help those that still carried souls to deal with the deaths of their kin and loved ones. To prevent nature from thriving off the passing of another…
To me, it seemed like a selfish ritual.
I took a few steps away from the body, every fibre of my being telling me to leave it there to provide sustenance for the weaker creatures that could benefit from the child's death. Nothing could be done: the child was dead, the weak were hungry, and the body would return to the earth – burial or not. Before I could get far from the body, I turned back towards the brown-haired girl, looking over her small form briefly as I thought about the human that once controlled it. The human that once brought life to that now lifeless body…
Then, I thought of the look of disgust that had crossed Midoriko's face when I suggested leaving the bodies of the villagers out in the open.
With a sigh, I picked up the limp body of the dead child, and made my way back to the village.
The sky flared to life with an array of red and orange hues as the sun began setting on the village. I stood in the hole that I had taken my time with digging, sizing up the mound of dirt that I expelled from the earth and the brown-haired girl that was lined up next to the previously undisturbed soil. I clutched the wooden shovel I leaned on for support as I considered whether I should dig a little more before attempting to move the carcass into the hole.
It had taken a while to dig the hole, as I took frequent breaks to avoid the heat of the sun before the brief swim in the river could beckon me away from the burial and back into the cool water. But with the setting sun, I found my actions not to be based on preserving energy, but rather, to end the pointless task I had started solely out of a desire to understand my human companion better.
I hadn't seen Midoriko since I returned: I placed the bird and rabbit inside the house next to the shop she had found her shovel in. After I found another tool to use for my own uses, I made it a point to not seek her out. Not until the girl had been buried by my hand and I could properly reject this aspect of human death for its complete lack of soothing the spirit that 'lingered' in this world. And to also reject the fact that she expected me to agree with her human customs so effortlessly.
Which was why the girl had the terrible luck of being buried just outside of the village: just out of sight. Away from her kin and neighbours and any others that had lived in the village alongside her.
But, at least she was lucky enough to be getting a burial at all. Her 'spirit' should be pleased.
Shrugging, I decided that the hole was big enough and threw the shovel by the mound of dirt while I grabbed the girl by her shoulders and gently tried to lower her into the ground. Her feet slipped down the artificial slope, nearly discarding her lone sandal from her foot, before her back found the bottom of the hole. Pulling her a little further, trying to get the carcass positioned in the middle of the hole, I then released my grip on the cold body.
I reached for the shovel again, halfway out of the ground already, before I turned around and looked down at the body. Her kimono was dishevelled, her hair was the same as it was when I had found her – tangled, and her unseeing eyes still gazed up at me.
After another moment of hesitation, I slipped back into the hole beside her.
Kneeling beside her body, I refastened her kimono and straightened out the wrinkles in the light-yellow fabric. I then ran my fingers through the brown strands of hair that reached half-way down her back, removing any twigs or leaves that I came across until the tangled mess became smooth and my fingers went unhindered as they slipped through the strands. Tucking her hair neatly behind her head, although some strands were too short and simply fell against her neck and shoulders, I then moved onto how to deal with her eyes.
Leaving the eyes open felt like a worse idea than closing them. After all, I was about to shovel the dirt I had wasted my energy on digging up back onto her body… As Midoriko sounded her opinion on 'desecrating' the dead, I figured that leaving the eyes open for dirt to fall on them probably wouldn't adhere to how humans wanted to send off the dead. But at this point, I was trying to string together whatever scraps of information I could without having to ask Midoriko for help. Right now, that was something I couldn't do if I wanted her to take this time to think about where my beliefs could be coming from, just as I was taking the time to try and understand where her beliefs came from. If I made it apparent that I was open to such human rituals not only would the need for her to think about the demon perspective on death disappear, but she would probably also rope me into burying all the other dead humans we came across – something I certainly did not want to do. So, closing the eyes were my best bet.
I ignored the doubt in that statement and how my mind automatically thought of reasons why humans would leave the eyes open as they buried them in favour of not giving into my growing desire to gouge the girl's eyes out in order to stop worrying about which was better.
Gouging out a human's eyes in order to bury them was definitely not better than closing the eyelids or leaving the eyes open.
Probably.
With another muted shrug, I decided to close the eyelids of the girl and move onto the actual burial. As I suspected when I first started digging the hole: filling it back up was a lot easier. Before the sun could creep much closer to the horizon, the grave was filled and I had yet another dilemma on my hands: what to do with the excess dirt.
The girl, now buried underneath the earth, took up the space of the remaining dirt that had been dug up. Was the dirt stacked on top of the grave? Was it taken elsewhere to be used for something else? Did it really matter where the soil went if I still believed this whole ritual was pointless?
"Well, the cub's STILL dead, and now I'M exhausted…" Mumbling to myself as I ran my fingers through my bangs, coming up with a decision after a few minutes of contemplation, "Ah well, that's good enough. I hope your 'spirit' is happy in the Netherworld knowing the amount of trouble your dead body put me through." Smoothing out the pile of dirt, I then stuck the shovel into the ground, marking the place of the girl – at least until someone else needed a shovel.
With one final look at the girl's resting place, I slunk back into the village and returned to the prey that still needed to be prepared for supper.
I had returned a later than I thought I would, and while I wasn't sure if the bird and rabbit would be counted as a late-lunch or early-supper, it didn't matter much to me. If Midoriko had gotten hungry before I returned, she was quite capable of taking care of her needs by herself. After all, meals for humans were much more important than meals were for demons.
During our time travelling together it quickly came to my attention that Midoriko needed a lot of food each day (and by extension, all humans), whereas demons didn't really rely on sustenance that much. Demons had a much longer period they could go without food – even once a month or so would be more than enough to last us (or at least, based on snow-demoness and white-tiger demon diets). While I was now used to sharing in Midoriko's frequent meals, slipping back into my previous lifestyle wouldn't be all too hard: the only reason I had changed it at all was because Midoriko seemed to expect me to eat with her.
Perhaps humans got lonely when eating alone?
The sound of the door opening and closing swiftly drew my focus to the human woman rather than mulling over my thoughts, but I wasn't going to acknowledge her presence first. I continued busying my hands and removing the feathers from the decently-sized bird (which I would probably use to craft more wooden arrows to last me through the summer) as I waited for her to break the silence.
She didn't, though.
With heavy-footed steps that indicated she was still upset, she silently walked up towards the half-ransacked kitchen I was making use of and started cleaning the rabbit as I continued working on the bird. We worked silently for a while, and as I moved on from de-feathering to gutting the bird, I admitted that while this type of relationship could work (a partnership) I'd much rather have the friendship that had just started to blossom forth before wilting away abruptly.
With that thought in mind, I decided to break the silence first, "How's-?"
"Fine." Midoriko cut me off, slicing more fiercely than necessary into the rabbit as she accentuated her following words through clenched teeth, "Everything's fine, Nozomi."
Well, that probably could've gone a little better.
I nodded slowly at her terse words, rocking my head back and forth as a way to stall for time while trying to think of a polite way to bring up what was obviously still pissing her off, but as the seconds dragged on into minutes, I gave up trying to be polite – it was never my strongest area.
"You're still pissed off about earlier, aren't you?" The pointed tone could probably have been withheld, if I hadn't swept politeness off the table and said the first thing that came to mind.
The sound of cutting through flesh stalled for a second before it quickened. While I thought that the conversation had ended there, after a few moments Midoriko threw her knife down onto the table and glowered at me as she raised her hands in anger.
"You have no morals!" Her breath came in quick and fiery bursts as she angrily turned towards me, and I failed to stop the look of unexpected amusement as I removed my hands from cleaning the prey, only adding to her irritation.
"No," I folded my arms and turned my body towards hers as I leaned my hip against the counter, "I don't share your human morals." I watched her face closely as I corrected her, and upon seeing a crinkle of surprise appear on her forehead, I questioned her, "…Did you truly expect me to?"
"You…" She faltered as she processed my question, but her anger seemed to swell once more and she brushed the thought aside for the sake of yet another accusation, "You have absolutely no regard for human life!"
"I made you aware of that when we first decided to join forces. You're the one who has no regard for life-!" Midoriko opened her mouth to counter my words before I finished them, but I refused to let her talk over me, "-Demon life!"
She fell silent at that; her eyes grew wide as her mouth opened to refute me before the words died on her tongue and her lips closed wordlessly.
It was clear to me that she had never given much thought towards demon life. Her brown eyes glistened with surprise, and her wordlessness only added to the fact that she had never considered the fact that the demons we killed even had a life worth living (to her beliefs, in any case). Sure, I didn't really care for human lives either – live or die, it meant little to me.
But at least I recognized that they at least had lives worth thinking about for even the slightest of seconds.
Anger boiled deep within my being, my frustrations and worries over whether or not Midoriko would ever come to understand where I stood and what I believed and how I lived… it all felt answered in that moment as I looked into her eyes.
Wide brown eyes that reflected the thought: 'why should I care about the lives of demons?'
Did she even recognise that I was a demon, one that was standing right before her eyes?
Sure, I was more open-minded about humans than the other demons we hunted down were. And, to be honest, it didn't matter to me whether or not Midoriko cared for the lives of demons. What I couldn't tolerate was the way she considered me a human, and how because of her own selective view of my actions, if I failed to act in a way she thought was right this kind of floodgate would open.
Even if I was the weakest demon scum there was, preying on humans and other weak and defenseless humans… Never in a million years would I ever want to be regarded as a human by her.
How dare she get angry with me with not understanding human culture when she's never even attempted to understand demon culture? When she thinks that I'm a human simply because I'm not as lowly as the demons that we hunt down on a regular basis?!
How DARE she wipe away my heritage like that!
"I'm a demon, Midoriko! Not a human! How can you expect me to have the same values?!" The blank look on her face made it clear that she hadn't considered me as a demon in a long time, and even as I grew angrier at this, I decided to let her know where I stood, "I don't know what you think this is, Midoriko. And I don't really care, either. I'm with you until whatever end. No matter what it comes to. I would've hoped that you would at least see me as what I am instead of what you want me to be..."
I sighed heavily as I walked to the door, collecting Master Katashi's bow that I had placed against the wall when I had re-entered the village, "But I think you need some time to think about exactly what you expect from me, and what you should expect from me. Maybe you should take the time to do so now, while you're digging your graves."
With one final look at her, I opened the door and cemented my resolve to leave the dead village.
"I'll wait in the forest. For... whatever you decide."
And then I left for home, alone.
*PLEASE NOTE*
*Seasons: Unfortunately, I live in Canada and the story happens in Japan (as most anime do). So, while I am planning on incorporating as much of Japan's natural seasonal changes (and the months they take place in – as well as the different school year) as possible, I will probably miss a lot of detail with my rudimentary research.
This, of course, doesn't mean I'm not open to any sort of insight or criticisms some of you could probably provide, but it is giving you a little disclaimer – I know practically nothing of Japanese culture/history other than the basic research I've done. So most of this fanfic (involving seasons and whatnot) will have a LOT of influence from my own experiences~
(and as we don't exactly know where the Demon Slayer village is, or how far they would travel to get payments, my idea of how different the climate can be from 'scene' to 'scene' might be a little skewed).
I'll ask that you forgive any small transgressions!
*Clothes: in this fanfic, a burst of demonic energy will rid clothes of any sort of grime, blood, water, etc. as well as repair the fabric. This only works if they are reasonably attached to the garment, and humans still have to repair and clean things manually. This is so that I can kind of explain the way that InuYasha's clothes (as well as the clothes of Sesshomaru, Jaken, etc.) seem to come back perfectly and retains any abilities (like the fireproof fire rat robe) the fabric has after a battle where its been damaged. I could literally not think of a better way to make this seem more 'real', so there you go!
O
-Disclaimer-
I do not own the InuYasha movies, manga, or anime. The only thing I own are my characters and the fanfic!
O Reviews O
RikkiBlake777: Hopefully, this chapter will still get marked 'good' in your books, even if you didn't have to wait as long!
I'm so glad to hear that you were waiting to see what happened with the situation Nozomi got herself tangled up in. While Midoriko and Nozomi might understand each other, they sometimes forget the most basic things (like we see in this chapter) and that can lead to a lot of problems by itself! Hopefully they can reconcile soon!
'Play' is an apt description for what Nozomi likes to do with humans. We'll see several more instances in the near, near, future where we'll see her 'Playing' potential at its fullest.
Backstory certainly is an important part in my opinion, too! It sets the stage for everything that comes along, and provides readers with the early aspects of an OC's life and powers that they can see change and develop as time goes on. Just for a little hint, to my current calculations we are about... almost done with Nozo's backstory! Keep in mind, though! This IS told from Nozo's point of view. And as the little trickster she is, there might be lots more happening under the surface than what she might lead you to believe.
I believe you can call Sesshomaru 'human-hating', at least, at his introduction he is. Their personalities and views will certainly not line up perfectly, and their pride might make them butt heads at first... but as long as they can both see where each other are coming from, they should reconcile fairly quickly if they both stop being stubborn (but who knows how long that'll take). Right now, I'm looking at Sesshy's appearance coming in around... chapter 12, give or take a chapter depending on what other plot points I can slip in.
As for jealousy between Sesshomaru and Midoriko... well, you'll just have to wait and see on that one! :P
Ha, you've just earned some brownie points with a supernaturals reference. Congratulations! I hope you liked the drama in this chap (and anticipate how it's gonna play out in the next one!)
Your comparison... is actually something that I hadn't even thought of! Nozo's definitely got a lot of similarities with grouchy Inuyasha and not really wanting to admit that he can rely on his friends, or even that he wants to. And while Nozo seems to have restrained herself with not upsetting Midoriko over spring and the beginning of summer, with how things went down in this chapter, I have to wonder is she should've been so lenient with trying to adhere to Midoriko's will...
Anyway, just a little food for thought until the next update (which I promise I'm trying to keep somewhat consistent, I just end up going on a whole writing marathon for one fanfic and kinda putting my other active ones on the back burner for a while until I burn out and change gears)
Thanks for continuing to follow Nozomi's adventure!
O
And so, with the free time I got by getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed, I have finished off another chapter whilst I recover! Yaaaaaaay me!
Anywayyyy...
Next time on the LSL, an Inuyasha fanfic...
Nozo and Midoriko are already fraying?!
I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL FRIENDS HERE!
Is a betrayal coming?! If so, who will it come from?!
Kirara might make an appearance soon?!
Nozomi deals with a major weakness?!
Hmm is Sesshomaru truly going to come in around chapter 12...? (Who knows at this point?)
You'll have to tune in next chapter to maybe find out... :3
Thanks for reading, Fireflies!
-Love, Ember ;3
