The Serpent's Tale

Chapter 2: The Beginning

OC's note: This is a disclaimer. ReinaBlaka does not own Warriors Orochi. She only owns me. Oh, but she also owns all other OCs here as well. WO goes to KOEI.

"I was born a long time ago," said Kiyo. "I don't know how long ago, but still a long time ago…probably a few centuries."

"I see," said Lu Xun, barely surprised (as he knew well how long demons lived). "Who were your parents?"

"I know nothing about my father. He could've been a powerful demon warrior, but I have never met him in my life. But I do know my mother…her name was Hakuja." Kiyo flicked her tongue. "It means 'White Snake', you know."

"Go on."

To Lu Xun's surprise, though, Kiyo suddenly stopped and gulped. Hard.

What's wrong?" he asked.

"I-I think you'd better be prepared for what I say next."
"Why?"

"Because I'm going to tell you that…" Kiyo made her voice a whisper, "…that my mother Hakuja was Orochi's sister."

…

"Really?" Lu Xun's eyes widened to the extreme. "You…you are related to Orochi? You're his…niece?"

"Yes. I am."

Lu Xun's jaw hit the ground. Kiyo was Orochi's niece? He couldn't believe it!

Kiyo saw his thunderstruck expression. She sighed: "I was right to have prepared you for this."

Lu Xun remained silent.

"…But just please forgive me for that, will you…?"

Lu Xun recovered from his surprise. "I'm sorry."

"No need for that. Let me continue." Kiyo resumed her storytelling.

"Hakuja was my mother, and Orochi was her brother, right? Well, let me tell you first about how I came to be.

"Before I was born, Orochi was still in his heyday. He wasn't just the Serpent King at that time—he was the ruler of almost half of the known world."

"—Wait," interrupted Lu Xun. "Orochi was ruler of half of the known world?"

"This was at least several centuries ago, maybe even a millennia," Kiyo scowled. "Do you think your race would've been so superior back then?"

"Oh, sorry. Please continue."

"…Well, almost half of it, though." Kiyo went back to telling her story. "But Orochi was also at the height of his power, and his territory was flourishing under his rule. He also had some of the greatest demons in the land as his loyal followers, and even the Mystics at that time knew to respect him. So, of course, he was very proud. But he knew he was missing a very important thing."

"A heir?"

"Correct. A heir!" Kiyo gave Lu Xun another of her you-are-so-smart looks. "A heir to succeed him after his death, to keep his land flourishing, to keep his power and keep the name of his clan alive. That was the very thing he needed to make his life absolutely perfect. If he didn't have a heir, then all his efforts in raising his clan and maintaining its prestige would go to waste. So he set out on a quest to produce a child who would become the greatest ruler of the Serpent clan after him.

"But it appeared that Orochi did not have a wife. He could not marry one, either, due to an ancient curse invoked on him by the Mystics to prevent him from becoming too powerful. So he turned to his younger sister, Hakuja, and placed his hopes for producing an heir on her shoulders. However, Hakuja almost never gave birth for some strange reason. Several years had passed since she married my father, and she was still not expecting any children. For this reason, Orochi got into a boiling rage and banished her from his territory. But it was in her exile that she finally gave birth to her first child, and that child was me."

Lu Xun nodded in understanding. "Family feuds, right?"

"Yeah…" Kiyo continued:

"When she gave birth to me, my mother Hakuja had thought about raising me on her own and forgetting about her experiences with Orochi, but since she still loved her brother and could not bear the sight of his mighty empire crumbling to ruin, she arranged for me to be sent to my uncle's side.

"Orochi rejoiced when he saw me, seeing that he had his heir at last. He did not care for the fact that I was a girl and had a monstrous size; he only wanted me to become a future ruler. So he named me princess and began to raise me like his own daughter. He never saw me as his niece."

At this point, Lu Xun couldn't resist smiling. Hearing that Orochi was once a caring father was no doubt making this story an interesting anecdote…

Ignoring his grin, Kiyo talked on. "…So the years went by, and I grew from a hatchling to a girl, and from a girl to a teenager. As I matured, even Orochi was surprised at how beautiful I was. My looks were perfect in every way, my tail was spectacular, and my hair was extravagant. Not to mention that I was also very smart, too, and knew how to fight and quote literature. So, naturally, I became the target for many of Orochi's followers…well, actually, all of them. From the normal Serpent soldier to the most feared of demon generals. Who would miss a princess who's both beautiful and intelligent? I was besieged, day after day, by my likely suitors, and Orochi began to treasure me more and more. Soon, however, he had gotten so proud and worried about me that he made the decision to lock me up. He said that it was to 'keep me safe from unwanted eyes', but in fact he was leading me into the most boring and miserable stage of my life. My life in prison."

"Prison? You didn't do anything wrong—"

"Yes. I didn't do anything save for being beautiful, but I consider that part of my past life as my 'Imprisonment'. I was led to a luxurious wing of Koshi Castle, and then all the doors were sealed and I was not allowed one time to be outside. See? Pure house arrest! Even if I had to open the windows for a little air, I had to cover my face. The small courtyard in my wing of castle had walls so high that no-one can climb up and see me. My meals were brought in for me and Orochi visited me, remarking how I was his most valued possession and how I was bound to succeed his throne, and whatnot. All in all, it was torture."

"…You must've been lonely, weren't you?"

"…Yeah…" Kiyo looked to the ground. "…That part. Loneliness was the worst thing that nagged at me that time, more so than boredom. I didn't have any friend to talk to, really, and everyday I spoke to myself in my mirror to quell some of it. But it didn't help much. So pretty much I was a lonely snake for that part of my life, but all that changed with the coming of one day.

"That day was a sunny one…I remember it. I was in that small, walled courtyard, daydreaming about what was beyond it and thinking about the freedom I had before Orochi chose to lock me up, when I heard something like a chisel against stone coming from one of the walls. Curious, I cautiously edged towards it, and I was surprised to find a hole in its stone bricks. Not a large one, but big enough to see half of a human face, and that was exactly what I saw through it.

"It seemed to be a male with his mouth and nose covered with a cloth. I jumped, realizing what I was seeing—a thief. A human thief, trying to chisel his way through my wall! I knew about them, humans who made a living taking things that did not belong to them—but one of them trying to steal from Koshi Castle, the abode of the feared Serpent King? Unbelievable. Either he was very bold, or was completely crazy. "Part of me wanted to slither as fast as I could to the door that led to my castle wing and scream that there was a thief trying to infiltrate the place, and part of me wanted to do nothing but watch and stare. At first I acted upon the latter, but then just when I was about to switch and act on the former, the thief noticed me. Just…looked at me, saw me looking at him through his hole. He stopped his chiseling, and I expected him to flee for his life like most of his kind would do, but he didn't. He just started to stare at me, just as I was staring at him.

"The seconds slipped by, then minutes, as an uneasy silence came to power over us. I kept expecting for him to run away, to take to his feet and run as far away from me as possible, but he just remained there, seemingly spellbound by my presence. Another few minutes passed before he finally broke the silence ahead of me.

"'Need help?' he said, his voice muffled by his mask.

"I found myself on the brink of laughing once I heard him say that. Help? Of course I needed help! But why would you say that to me? How did you know?

"'Come on, I know who you are. You're that pretty snake girl that the Serpent King has been putting his hands all over for the past few months?' The thief went on. 'I know you're lonely. I know you are left out, but I can offer you a chance to get out of this.'

"'W-What?' I blurted out, speaking out for the first time in the conversation. 'Who in the world are you?'

"'Relax, girl, relax. I'm not going to harm you or anything. I'm just Hiro the thief, passing by,' replied the thief, whose name was obviously Hiro.

"'Just passing by? Y-You're trying to break into the castle!' I screamed.

"'Shh! Keep your voice down, girl. Relax.' Hiro closed his eyes and shook his head. 'The last thing I want is to be heard around here. Just calm down, ok?' He turned around to look behind him, and then turned back to me, sighing with relief. 'Right. We're safe. You should be princess Kiyohime, no?'

"'Of course! But I prefer being called Kiyo. Just who are you? And what were you called? Hero?'

"' Hiro,' Hiro corrected. 'Now, onto the topic. I am a thief and I steal stuff, and today I just decided that I would take an adventure and break into Koshi to get at some real nice treasures. Your dad has a lot of them, right? My mates thought I was crazy, they tried to hold me back, but I came here anyway and now I've found you. Is that enough for an explanation?'

"'I know you're a thief and whatnot, but why are you deciding on stealing my father's treasures? You know that you'll be dead if you're found! And what were you saying about giving me a chance?'

"I think I saw him smile behind his mask. 'You're typical,' he said. 'Wanting to know everything about me. But if you know me, you'll know that that's just the way us thieves are. Crazy and thinking up more and more ways of getting treasure and money.' He winked. 'And you were asking about me giving you a chance?'

"'Yes.'

"'Well, here it is. I have heard of you, your name has gone far enough and wide enough for me to hear it and I have been told that your dad has officially forbidden everyone from seeing you, because too many guys are going after you. Is that correct?'

"'Yeah. It's torture.'

"'Right, then, I'm talking about this. You're alone, you're uncomfortable, and you're longing for some fresh air, no? Then I guess I can help you with it. I can get you outta this crap, and then you have as much freedom as you've ever had.'

"'W…What did you say?'

"'I said that I can get you out of this crappy place, and then you'll be free.'

…

"'…REALLY?'

"'Yes, I can! I can help you escape this place. Really. I can.'

"'Y-You are sure…?'

"'I'm sure of it 100%. Come on, now, I'm a thief, I can do anything. Everything. You can trust me.'

"I simply couldn't believe my ears. Here I was, peering through a hole in the wall, talking to a thief named Hiro who's offering the very thing I have craved for in the past few months. But I didn't know whether I should accept it or not. If I accepted, I'd get my freedom back. I would be able to see everything as they were before my imprisonment, but I would be taking an immense risk if I did so—Orochi would certainly kill me if he ever caught me doing it. But if I denied Hiro's offer, then he might not come back and I might be trapped here forever. Which was worst, getting caught or losing my freedom? I really couldn't decide. I was torn.

"Hiro seemed to notice my uncertainty. 'You ok, Kiyo? Any problems?'

"'Uh…I think I'm not so sure if I can do this…' I stammered, caught between whether to decline or accept.

"To my surprise, Hiro laughed, a muffled laugh from behind his mask.

"'I knew you would say that,' he chuckled. 'Of course it would be hard to decide, with your dad being that protective of you. Well, I can give you time to think, Kiyo. How about…one moon? I suppose that is enough. You can tell me if you're prepared to do this escape operation with me then.'

"So that was the ending of my first meeting with Hiro the thief, and in the following days, while the sun rose and set and the moon became bigger and smaller, I began to think over the offer and what it could lead to."

"One moon passed in a flash, and soon I found myself back in the courtyard, staring at the hole in the wall, when I noticed Hiro looking at me through the cavity. Again.

"'So, Princess Kiyo, we meet again,' he said, grinning under his mask. 'You've made up your mind?'

"I took a deep breath, edging as close to the hole as possible, as if I wanted to make sure nobody was there to hear me.

"'…Right,' I whispered. '…I think…I'll do it.'

"Hiro's eyes lit up with surprise and delight. 'Really? You positive?'

"'…Yes.'

"'…Great!' I actually saw him punch the air in triumph through the hole. 'I knew you'd agree. I knew it! Things like this are too easy to decide—you could've made your decision in less than one moon!'

"I watched him do a sort of victory dance until he realized that he had been making a lot of noise, upon which he quickly took a look behind him, then looked back at me, relieved.

"'Phew. Nobody's around…ok, back on topic. You've agreed, right? Good. That's good…'

"'…And what are going to do now?' I asked.

"Hiro gave me a sharp look through the hole. 'What else can we do now? It's going to be sunset soon, and I've got everything ready. We are going to do this thing now.'

"The word 'now' pierced through me as I stifled a gasp. 'Now?'

"'Yes. Now, as in right now.'

"'B-but why now? My fa-

"'Oh, don't be so worried about everything, Kiyo, this operation's not gonna be found out by anybody! Your dad's not going to come here and find you gone, he won't notice a thing. He'll just think that those walls have done their job. Come on, we'll have to do this now. It's now or never."

"I stiffened as if I had been hit by a big rock. Now or never. The words cut through me like a knife.

"The way Hiro spoke to me through that hole, his tone, his expression—to my horror, they all pointed to one thing: the desire to get me through this wall to freedom, not anytime soon or tomorrow, but now. Right now, now or never. It was as if this was his only chance to get me out—no, it was as if this was my only chance to win back my liberty. I looked back at him through the cavity. His eyes were full of expectation, anticipation towards my answer, and—to my surprise, desperation.

"Slight dread began to well up in my heart. A thought occurred to me, nagging at the back of my mind, but I couldn't put my finger on it. But then the various emotions mixed in Hiro's eyes, the only thing I could see of his face, somehow convinced me to take the risk. Whether it was because I was starting to pity him, or that he was so persistent, I don't know. But I slithered forward one more inch, took a much deeper breath than before, then said, 'Yes, now.'"

"Hiro's eyes lit up once more, this time even more intense. 'You agree?'

"'Yes. I do.'

"'Triumph flooded Hiro's expression, almost overcoming him. 'Yesssss! See? You agreed, Kiyo. You actually agreed!'

"He did another victory dance, which made me blush a little. Then he refocused on me, this time with a serious look.

"'Right, Kiyo, we'll do this now. Right now. I'll start with the chiseling. You just stay back and make sure no-one hears us from the inside. Clear?'

"'Clear.'

"Hiro lowered his head…and set to work."

Kiyo suddenly stopped. Now that she had told a part of her story, she seemed more relaxed. But what was a bit off was the fact that she was grinning devilishly, showing her inch-long fangs.

Lu Xun shook his head vigorously as he came out of the story-trance. He looked up at Kiyo, at her grin, and furrowed his brow.

"What?" he said.

"What do you think?" Kiyo grinned even wider. "It's not over yet, but I guess it's time I took a little break. Telling the rest of this is something I'll have to prepare for."

"…Huh?"

Kiyo let a sly glint creep into her eyes. "Intermission."

"Intermission?" Dismay blasted Lu Xun in the face. Kiyo was just getting to the most important part, and she was calling an intermission? He had hardly gotten into half of the tale—

But then, he reasoned, if Kiyo is choosing to call a break for this second part, then this next part could be particularly important or traumatic to her. She wants to prepare herself for it.

Oh well, He thought, lying back down to rest a bit, then that also means it'll be more exciting. I'll just have to wait patiently, then.