A Lost Hope, The Tattered Red, and Green Ribbon: Chapter 3

Authors notes at the bottom.

It was maddening, almost as much as sifting through the stacks of papers that her advisers like to bring her just when she thought that she had caught up on it all.

"I didn't realize that villages kept such extensive records," she mused to herself leaning against the wall glancing over one of the scrolls to date the pile she had started working on. It was almost midday since she had arrived in the village of Amesa in search of her history, well at least the beginning of it. The records from the last 30 or so years were meticulous, even though they were in disarray.

"It may take me much longer to confirm this information then I thought," she murmured reaching for a scroll in a much smaller pile. The markings on the parchment of the scroll showed that it was during a time before there was an official ruler. Most of these records were the deaths that were recorded for that year. Glancing over the names she found that even now it still seemed a bit foreign to her, the characters similar but different enough from kanji.

She was silent as she read over the list of names, people that had died. Each of them had a family, friends, someone that cared for them. Youko sighed softly setting the scroll aside and picking up the next one looking for the one name, that single name that was written on the slip of paper she had taken with her from the palace.

Gyokii, there is was, she saw it. She felt her heart skip a beat than another. Gyokii, Raki - Soldier, Rike Leader. Those simple words seemed to leap out of the scroll at her, glaring into her soul. The characters on the page seemed to be hastily written, she had almost missed it amongst the other names. There was a small report written under the other names of men that had died on the same day as him.

"The party returning with food from the capital was attacked by a number of lesser youma, the previous names were the ones that were taken from this world," she murmured to herself. Youko felt her heart sink a bit reading the simple report. The first name, the one that she supposed that was her father. He had died it seemed to her, if she got the dating right, before she had even been born in Japan.

Rolling up the scroll she placed it back into the small pile. She needed time to think, think over what she had learned even such a small detail. Youko stood up and stretched taking a moment to put in her mind where she had been sitting so she could return then after her stretch. She hesitated for a moment as if she knew that she was forgetting something, then she remembered.

Suiguuto, her sword, in its cloth wrapping she had placed it on the table. It was second nature for her to carry it so, during her troublesome time leading up to taking the throne to carry it with her at all times. Even now after 15 years still carried it in such a away, it was almost like an extension of her. Settling the cloth wrapped sword against her back she moved from the records hall back out into the main area of the rike.

O.o.O

"This... this cannot be," Sina whispered as she read the official degree from Kinpa Palace. It has to be a joke, the Queen could not truly want to remove all the women from the kingdom. According to the degree, they had 2 days to leave the kingdom if they were over 14 years of age.

"I... I cannot leave the Rike the children will have no one to look after them. Most of the citizens have not returned yet. There is unrest..." She said her thin fingers trembled as she let the parchment fall to the simple table of her house. She had not moved in the 15 years from her husband dying, she didn't have the heart to move from the first place they called home.

Sina slowly stood up, her body ached from the work they had put in that morning and afternoon getting the soil ready for planting the next couple of days. Many of the children were able to help in the garden this year so she had expanded it to almost 3 times normal size. Her mind raced as she thought of what she could do to keep some kind of sanity in her rike.

She furrowed her brow as she tried to come up with a plan, out of habit she tucked her hands into the inner folds of her wrap around outer coat. In a small pocket on the inside of the coat, she pulled out the small tattered ribbon that she always kept on her. It was slightly frayed now and was losing some of its colors but still, she kept it. It was too dear to her to let it go, just the thought of that created a deep ache in her heart.

With a soft sigh, she rubbed the ribbon gently remembering the times with her late husband fondly. Then an idea came to her it seemed so simple almost too simple but it was her only option. Sina moved quickly over to the small table that held her work and cooking items and she pulled a pair of scissors out from a basket.

Without another thought, she snipped her hair off hacking at it to make it shorter. There was no way that she would be able to leave the kingdom, the children would need her more in the future than they had ever. Sina snipped her hair away and felt a part of herself falling away with the long strands of dark red hair. She would dye it later, making a mental note to dye it later.

Sina needed to go that part of her needed to leave. After cleaning up her cut off hair Sina sat down at her desk to pen a letter. She would make it seem like she had fled along with the other women that she knew were going to leave in the coming hours when the news spread.

O.o.O

It was mid day when Youko stepped out of the small records hall the sun felt nice on her skin. She stretched the aches out of her body as she walked along the main street. The city was bustling now, many travelers were moving through going to Gyouten for the celebration in just 4 days time.

There was an energy in the kingdom, something that had just happened in the last couple of years. After she had squashed a rebillion just 6 months after assuming the throne she had quickly replaced some of the members of her staff with those that she trused most. It was a bold move, one that some didn't agree with but over the years Youko had learned that she could not please everyone. Kei was what was the most important, those people that she was around now were the life of the kingdom and that is what she wanted to protect the most.

Youko moved towards the outskirts of the town to where the cemetery was located. She wondered if she would be able to locate the grave of that man, the one from the report, Gyokii Raki. Somewhere deep inside of her she knew, just knew that he was one of those parents that had tied a ribbon for her. A parent that wished with all their heart to have a child blessed to them.

The rike and attached town was quite boisterous but that all died away when she reached the cemetery. She walked silently through it until she found an older section. Looking at the dates on some of the gravemarkers she found around the time period she was looking for. This part of the cemetery was not as well kept as the rest of it. Frowning as she walked along the path worn in the dirt she looked for that one name once more.

It seemed to take hours but finally under a large tree shaded from the sun she saw it, the familiar name. The headstone was small but well kept, there were flowers planted around it that reminded her of the gardens in Kinpa palace. Slowly she knelt next to the grave marker and let her fingers move over the name carved in the stone.

"I.. wonder if he would have been proud of me," she mused to herself as she moved to sit against the tree that shaded this part of the cemetery. Youko shifted the sword off her back as she sat back, resting it against one of her legs. This place was peaceful, one that she felt that would be comforting to one that lost a dear member of their family.

Family, it seemed almost like a foreign word to her. True she had a mother and father back in Japan but the relationship was strained through forced formalities. Even now though at the time she did miss the few times that she remembered that were good with her parents. Sometimes she wondered in passing if they still missed her, she had yet to travel to Japan to see how things were but someday she thought that she would.

"Good afternoon Youshi," she heard the pleasant voice call to her. Youko looked towards the path and saw Raika walking down the path holding a basket ladened with many things. "I have some extra lunch if you are interested," she said softly.

Youko smiled at Raika as she moved closer to the tree and she sat down next to her with a bit of a gruff sound. Her body was getting older and it was harder to move around like she used to. "I don't want to be to much trouble," Youko said about the offered lunch.

"Oh, it is no trouble I always seem to make to much," Raika said as she started to unpack the basket. There was a variety of buns and smoked meats and cheeses. "Please take what you want," she said. Youko took a bun and split it in half, after which she put some of the meat and cheese into it to create a rough kind of sandwich.

Raika watched her in utter fascination as the younger woman started to eat her concoction. Youko noticed Raika staring at her as she ate she seemed confused by her fascination. "Is something wrong?" Youko asked her.

"I just have never seen anyone eat it like that," Raika said as she looked at the bun and other food as if she was considering trying it herself.

"Oh it is fairly common where I grew up," Youko remarked without really thinking about what she was saying. She quickly finished her sandwich the food was good. "Thank you for the food it was very tasty."

"You are quite welcome," Raika said as she broke off a piece of cheese and nibbled on it. "So were you able to find what you were looking for in the record hall?"

Youko was silent for a long moment as she seemed to try to put her thoughts into words. "I believe so, but I have some more scrolls to go through until I am sure," she said.

"Do you need some help?" Raika asked her taking a bun from the basket and biting into it. Youko shook her head as she took another bun herself eating it plain this time.

"I appreciate the offer but this is something I need to do for myself," She said. Raika nodded her head slowly and the two women just enjoyed each others company as the day wore on.

O.o.O

Authors Note: Well that was fun to write all in one go as well. Hopefully more to come soon. :)