Fire. Screaming. The smell of blood. The woman carried me though the snow, oblivious to the cold numbing her legs, too busy concentrating on getting away from the madness in the village.

"Look! There's one now!"

"And she's carrying a child! We'll be paid double!"

The woman whipped around, long brown hair blowing gently in the wind, eyes reflecting burning with unspoken hatred. Teeth ground in absolute fury. I pressed my face into my mother's shoulder, desperate to drown everything out.

"You think you're so high and mighty. You're nothing but worthless scum! Tell me, how many have died at your hands hunters?"

"Save your breath woman, it's about to be your last."

A blond man spat at her, leveling his gun at her chest.

She grinned. "Fat chance."

And with that, she unfurled her lovely brown wings and sailed off into the night. The curses of the men followed her, but they did nothing, knowing she was too high to be reached. Finally, when she and I were a ways away from the hunters, we touched ground. The woman knelt down on the ground before me.

"Yuki, I know how shocking this must be for you, but you must run away, you are no longer safe. None of us are."

I stared at her.

"M-mother, how can I? And father? What about him?"

Her eyes filled with tears. She clasped me tightly

"Yuki…. I'm so sorry, but he's been killed. He was run down and shot"

The words pierced my like an arrow. Wounding me in ways weapons never could. Father dead? How? Why?

Finally, mother let go of me. I could see a long gash on her left arm that was just beginning to heal. She draped her wings around me in an effort to comfort me, in turn, I wrapped by black ones around her shoulders. She looked at me again, her tears had dried, and in place of the sudden sadness, was a cold determination.

"Yuki, it is dangerous for you to continue

to go on living your current life. You must start over. From now on you'll be human, instead of angel, okay? It's the only way for you to be safe from those wretched heathens."

"But what about you? Where will you go mother?"

"I won't go anywhere Yuki, I'll always be by your side."

Suddenly, they heard shouts, angry masculine shouts that were getting nearer.

My mother grabbed my shoulders tightly.

"Are you ready Yuki?"

I nodded. She closed her eyes and I did the same. I was instantly filled with an agonizing heat. Every single fiber of my being was alive, screaming in pure torture, engulfed by an internal inferno. Soon, the heat began to subside, and a cool, comforting darkness began to wash over me. I heard my mother's voice from what seemed like very far away, weak, and whispy.

"However, once you wake up, your memory will be entirely erased."

Then there was utter blackness.

I awoke with a start. Yori opened her eyes, and looked at me quizzically.

"Yuki? Are you okay?"

I looked over at her. I was still so wrapped up in my dream, I didn't recognize her for a second.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

Yori gave me another look, before rolling over. I waited until her breathing began to deepen. No. That was no nightmare. That had been a memory, that had been my past.