A/N: Yeah… uh… yeah….
Disclaimer: You are the type of people that would beat hippies with a stick.
"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" Reseph said, sounding every bit as old as he actually was.
"No. Kato, come here." Yurika sat down on her usual spot of the shelf below the fireplace.
"Yes, Miss Yurika." He sat next to her on the fireplace ledge.
She looked at him. "Kato, a long time ago, after I left my village, I had a… an acquaintance. I trusted him, so I gave him my secret, so that if anything ever happened to me, he would take on my duties. Today apparently, he died." She delivered the news in her normal monotone.
"I am sorry, Miss Yurika." Kato said sorrowfully.
"Don't be. You are not the one to kill him and he was one who sought death." Yurika sighed and rubbed her temples. "There is not a way I can tell you the whole truth without a problem, so I shall tell you everything I can and what I can't may you never learn." Kato nodded. Yurika sighed again. This child is too understanding for his own good… or mine for that matter. "Get me one of my swords and a new roll of bandages, Kato." Yurika ordered.
Kato did as she said and she accepted them. Sighing, she slit the bandages on her arm. They fell away, to the floor. She heard Kato gasp and gave a bitter humorless laugh.
"So this is what you see." She said. "Already it throbs, warning to go no further into my tale, but you a curious, right?" The young boy nodded dumbly.
"Yurika, perhaps you shouldn't…." Reseph tried to warn her, but she waved him off.
"No, Reseph. I have chosen and I have chosen well. Kato, you are brave, loyal, and you will be strong." Kato beamed at her compliments, for this is the most affection that had ever received from his keeper. "I have no doubt in my mind that one day you will be able to take over my duties."
"What are your duties, Miss Yurika?" Kato asked eagerly. It was painfully obvious to Yurika that his little heart burned with the desire to fulfill her wishes.
"In time, Kato. First I must tell you of the story of four daughters and the Mountain and the Valley of Kusabana."
Centuries ago, the Maki was in a time of turmoil. Evil demons ate at the land and all that grew from it. There was but one place that stayed peaceful and happy. It was the Valley of Kusabana and her surrounding mountains.
A village sat at the base of the mountains, close to the forest where berries and mushrooms grew. Nothing but the great wolf packs, the young fox families and the elk that the village and the wolves hunted thrived in the forest. A great river ran through the mountains, through the very center of the village, and into the valley's heart. The lake was strictly the wolves' territory where they frolicked in the shallows and drank when they could. None but the very swift and the very foolish in the village had seen it, as an unspoken rule, and no wolf dare tread upon the village borders.
The demons there chose a simpler life, farming and marketing within themselves. They grew, hunted, or scavenged their own food and soon became a strong village. Yet as all strong groups of people need, they need a leader, someone to go to for help or for decisions no one else dare make.
Therefore, the Isei family was chosen. They were excellent hunters, masters of the sword and bow. They also all had midnight black hair and yellow eyes. Their clan had many people, but many secrets. Not the least of which was their relation to the Great Wolf Pack. The wolf pack was made up of wolf demons that had been born in their animalistic form. Their secrets would be their downfall, but this story starts long before that.
With Isei family as head of the village, everything went great. For a couple of decades, at least. Finally, the Great Lord Enma was fed up with the darkness and demons. There was not one place in the world that he could send them where they would all stay and be content with staying. He rounded them up and gave them a choice; go to on place in the Maki to live out their days or be eaten by him.
Demons, by nature take care of themselves above all others and the decision was unanimous. The demons by that time had touched each corner of the world, so they choose the one and only place that they could never touch before. The Valley of Kusabana.
The Great Lord Enma agreed, much to the dismay of the villagers. The mountains and valleys were overtaken and darkness was felt for the first time by the people and the creatures of the forest. The fox tribes were all but wiped out and the wolves seemed to move into the darkness of the caves in the northern areas. The village lost half their inhabitants.
All seemed lost to the villagers, for they were being picked off faster than they could grow. Then one day, Miridako Isei, the first child and heir to the Isei's fell in love with an outsider demon. She was driven out from the village by her own family, her brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and mother and father. She sought help from her love. He did help for a time, but soon things changed.
The Great Wolf Pack of the valley had heard of Miridako's exile. Their eyes ran red with anger, but Miridako was a gentle creature, far too gentle. She would not allow her clan's murder for it would mean the end of the entire village. Instead, the wolves moved from the North to the mountains close to the village. It was there they took in Miridako and her lover and there they stayed.
Then one day, Miridako's love was slaughtered by the other demons of the mountains. The wolves were away and none could stop Miridako's greif from turning to external violence. Luckily, or possibly not, Miridako was left just sane enough not to hurt someone else, just herself.
She took a black pup from his sleeping mother and slit her wrist. She took the pup's paw and slit it as well, though not nearly as deep as hers. She put her wrist to his. The cub loved Miridako very much, and did nothing to stop her. Soon, the there was more of Miridako's blood in him than his own.
The wolves returned to find Miridako dead and pup lapping up the last of her blood. They, being much more clever than normal wolves, worried for the dangers that they knew lay ahead.
The pup grew. And grew. And grew. When he reached adulthood, his shoulder could have bumped that of a man's and his fangs could kill an elk with one bite. He was named by his pack, Hito, for Miridako had passed on a special trait. He could turn into a two-legger, a man.
He heard the tale of Miridako and her love and of his part in her death, anger ran through veins. When the bloodwrath touched the eyes of this wolf, none was there to stop him.
He ran from his den and into the forest. He killed everything living before him. Many a day did his rampage continue, with many a bloody battle. Soon he collapsed with exhaustion. He was not ready to die, and he cursed the moon for his ill luck. Finally, a demon maiden came through the forest. She heard his cursing and came to him.
"What makes you think you should live?" She asked.
"I am not ready to die. My quest is not over." He replied.
"And what quest is that?" She asked, by this time interested. In those mountains, when senseless murder and overzealous pillaging was common, demon with quests were not.
"I will kill my family, who shunned my mother." He answered, eyes glazing over.
"And who are they?" She asked, starting to walk away, picking flowers from a nearby cluster.
"The Isei clan."
It was here that the maiden's blood ran cold. The Isei family, though the wolf did not know it, were no longer what they once were. They had many houses and many weapons, and they were looking to expand their village, since they had taken the lake. They made deals with the outsider demons and did sneaky things. That included killing off the entire raven demon family.
"If I help you on this quest of yours, what shall you do for me?" The maiden inquired.
"Anything." Panted Hito.
"Then you are healed." She said. She pressed the flowers she had been gathering to his wound and he was lost into darkness for a time.
When Hito awoke, he found that his angel of healing was more like an angel of death. Black wings that he had not seen before were spread behind her, and she held two swords studded with rubies and emeralds. Even so, she was beautiful. Hito shook his head and got up.
Together, they ran from the mountain and through the forests. Over the course of a few days, the two became friends and the raven fell in love. They stole through the sleepy village and entered the Isei compound. They picked off each and every one of the demons that had put Miridako through so much pain.
When they were done, Hito looked at the bloodstained walls and laughed. The home of the ones he hated was now his by inheritance. He owned the place his second mother grew up in and was exiled from. He asked the raven demon what she wanted.
"I have gotten what I wanted, wolf. I have destroyed the Iseis." The raven said, but the wolf could smell her apprehension.
"Not all of them." He said. "I am an Isei. My second mother gave me her blood and I am the head of the clan."
The raven stood still a moment, and then bowed her head. "I cannot fight you, for I will surely loose and die by your hand. Even if I were the better, I could not."
"And why is that, raven?" Hito asked, still reveling in his glory.
"It is because I have fallen in love with you."
A silence enveloped them. Suddenly, Hito crossed the room and took the raven's face. He kissed her gently, barely a brushing of lips. "I said I would give you anything you wanted if you were to heal me, and I shall keep my promise." He said, for he too, loved the raven.
They went back to the den of his family, and were greeted with mixed emotions. Love between one of the air and one of the forest was strictly taboo, more so than even love between an Isei and outsider, but the demons were better than the Iseis. The two would be allowed together.
But a den is no place for a raven, neither then or now, so they left. Hito wished to go back to the village. It was obvious that even the day they were gone the village could not function on its own, so he would take over the Isei's family place. And he did. Raven and Hito would take care of not only the Valley, but all the mountains. It was not long before they gained the names, the Guardian of the Valley and the Guardian of the Mountains. Raven would fly over the mountains and Hiton would keep the valley at peace. The lake went back to the wolves and the villagers took up the rule again. None but the very foolish or the very fast would go to the lake.
The raven demon and Hito had three children. One had black wings, the other had yellow eyes and could turn into a wolf, and the last seemed normal. Until the day she turned one hundred. She grew wings out of her back and her eyes turned red.
Unfortunately, Hito and raven had both died by this time, in each other's arms, by another demon. The woman, named Okanan, was decided to be a 'witch woman' and driven out just like her grandmother. But this time, none was there to take her in. The wolves had retreated back into the darkness of the caves in the north and had no idea that one of their daughters was being slowly devoured by her hate.
She decided she would not take her revenge on the village until she had produced an heir for her magnificent gifts. But she did not count on love. She was washing by a stream that fed to the river when she saw a magnificent demon, or at least by her thoughts. She followed him, and he caught her. He was the leader of a band of famous bandits, how could her not?
He seemed kind enough, though she was not one to be wary anyway. She gave herself to him and thinking she was in love, she followed him to the ends of the Earth. Well, what seemed the ends of the Earth to her. He was leaving the mountains, and she was nine months pregnant.
Okanan gave birth, and made it through the birth, both her and the baby, with little help. A month after the baby's birth, Okanan found her husband with another demon. When she flapped her wings and flashed her red eyes, he laughed and threw a sword at her. It hit her, in the chest, though not deep enough to kill her. But he might as well have. For one to never had love and to have lived alone, first love might as well be the last.
She ran through the forest, bloody and hurt. And angry. An awful change overcame her. She left the baby at the village gates. The villagers found her and Okanan disappeared into the black forest. The daughter had a pendant with her name on it, though they needn't have looked. Her abundant black hair and golden eyes were enough.
She was the Isei heir and was raised as one. By the time she was a couple hundred years old, her aunt and uncle and cousins had fully accepted that she would lead the clan and the village one day.
The girl had a wild streak in her. She loved adventure and loved to go to the lake. She was neither very fast or very foolish, but the wolves daren't go near her unless she bid them to do so, which she did often.
One day, she was in her home, alone, and she heard a noise. She went to investigate and looked into the main room. A demon was reaching for the family jewels. She entered the room without a noise and reached up. The demon jumped away. She stood on her tiptoes and grabbed the jewels. She held them out to him.
"You want these, don't you?" she asked.
The demon looked at her warily and took them. There was a noise and she could hear her family coming. She grabbed his arm and pulled him through the house, and out of the village. She hid him behind rock, tree, and house. Finally, she stopped him by the lake in the valley and started to laugh. The demon thought her to be quite mad.
"Why did you help me?" he asked.
She shrugged and continued grinning at the sleepy village, still unknowing to what they had done. "Those jewels were pretentious and snobby. They are better served to someone who would make use of them."
The demon still thought her as mad, but he was a thief, and why not steal from a family with help? He left her there and went off on his own.
The next time he came to the village, he found her in the valley as he was making his getaway. She smiled at him and nodded as if she had known he would come, though it was five years later.
"What have you taken this time?" she asked.
The demon looked at her suspiciously before flashing some gold jewelry and precious glass blocks. She laughed and commended him on a job well done. He left again. The next time he came back, a year later, he sent a hawk to her. It asked what he should steal. She wrote back, and said she would bring something to the valley.
They met and she handed him a hand mirror, brush, and bottles of perfume all made of silver and very valuable. When she smiled and told him to make haste, he grew angry and pinned her to the ground.
"Why is it that you do this for me?"
She shrugged as well as she could with his hands on her shoulders and smiled. "Guess I'm bored. So why not? Besides it's not stealing for me. They are practically my things and anyway, if someone caught me I wouldn't be killed."
He got off her and proceeded to argue. "But to do this for someone you don't know isn't logical."
"Ah! So you want to talk logistics!"
They spent the day arguing with each other and both enjoyed it. He came back a few months later, and a few months after that. They would argue or debate and just talk. It was fun to the woman and the demon never complained. After awhile he stopped accepting things from her, which just lead to another argument. It was one of the only ones he actually won.
Well, a couple of decades passed and the woman turned two hundred. She was sitting by the lake one day, just sitting. A terrible scent hit her nose. One of rot. Then… a monster came out and grabbed her. It was a demon. A wolf and a raven with a human's head. It bit her with fang and scratched with talon. It was bleeding out of nose, ear, and mouth and the blood between the two mixed. The demon screamed unintelligible words. The demon disappeared with the barking of wolves.
The girl, meanwhile, went back to her village. He family saw the mark and turned her away. They yelled and threw rocks at her. She ran into the forest, careful of the sickly sweet smell of rot. She snuck back into the house at night and used the skills the demon taught her. She took the last heirloom of her family. The twin swords studded with emeralds and rubies.
Her mark hurt terribly, agonizingly whenever she felt something. If she felt happy or mad too much, it burned and tortured her. If she felt sad or depressed, it whispered things in her head to make her resentful. She wanted to leave the mountains badly, for they held memories for her, each and every rock. But she couldn't. Or wouldn't. She was waiting for someone.
He came one day. She attacked him and sent him running… for his own good. The mark grew stronger each day... but that was an excuse. When she saw him she felt something and the mark hurt even more than anything. She needed him gone for her own sanity. So she made him go.
A/N: Took awhile, but this is my longest chapter yet… probably longest chapter ever. Be thankful damn it! Oh and just to annoy you, any guesses you made on this are probably right, but there's a lot more to the story.