CHAPTER TWO

Ayame

Sakura and I were awakened at dawn by the village children for breakfast. It was an extravagant meal.

"We wanted to show our appreciation for your help!" One of the little boys explained.

The summer sun was sitting just above the horizon in the east, warming the earth with its rays. The ground looked dry and I made a mental note to moisten the gardens before we left. Right now I wanted some food into my system so I would be energized for today's journey.

"And you couldn't have showed it any other way!" Sakura smiled widely at the boy as he pulled her hands and sat her down at the head of the table in the large shrine we built for them the previous day. It wasn't finished but the village men assured us that they could handle what was left. But the section that was finished made perfectly for a place to have outdoor meals.

I pulled my kimono a little above my ankles and took a seat next to Sakura who wasted no time in stuffing her face with steamed rice, tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) and broiled salmon and mackerel. She was slow to finish her miso soup, wanting to save that for last.

"You two don't look like demons at all. Why, you're so beautiful. So human-like."

I looked at the man adjacent to the left of me, recognizing him from yesterday. "Thank you. All demons don't have to be ugly." I laughed. "We choose to display our human forms to not scare anyone away." I explained.

"Hey," Sakura interjected. "How did you know if we would even be able to help you in the first place?"

"A priestess was passing by when the monster came. We asked for her help but she said there was nothing she could do. She was too weak. She said help was coming in the form of human women and described you perfectly."

"A priestess?"

"Yes, an elderly woman."

I looked at Sakura and she was already looking at me. "Did she carry sacred arrows with her?" I asked the man.

He nodded. "Yes. I asked her about them but she said they would be of no use for battle."

"So, it was Kaede." Sakura mumbled.

I bowed to the man and stood to leave. "Thank you for your kindness and information. We have to get going now." Knowing that Kaede had passed through the village meant Sakura and I had to go pay her a visit.

"Take this with you." The seamstress held up two sacks with containers in them. "Food for your travels."

I smiled and took them, handing one to Sakura. These people were so nice and helpful. "Thanks."

"Oh, wait!"

We were stopped once again by the little boy who was sitting beside Sakura whose name we learned to be Toka.

"If you don't mind," he fidgeted with his fingers. "Can we see what you really look like? We won't be scared. I bet it's pretty cool!"

He looked at us with hope in his eyes as well as the other kids. The adults in the room looked curious as well. I didn't see any harm in showing my true self.

I shrugged, closing my eyes for all of three seconds and opening them again to see everyone staring at me and Sakura.

"Whoa," Toka stretched his word and his eyes. If anything, he didn't even look scared, just as he said. He was intrigued.

Sakura knelt down in front of Toka and wiggled the cat-like ears sitting on top of her head that each had a solid white horizontal stripe near the tips. Her large brown pupils were now red, her fangs were visible and her nails were long. My transformation was the same, except my black eyes turned dark green. But we both sported markings on the inside of our right wrists that read "Okurimono" (Gift) in Japanese characters that weren't visible when we were in our human form.

"Do you think this is cool?" Sakura asked Toka. Her warm smile assured me that she was now fully comfortable. She loved being in her original form. She only covered up her true identity for the sake of avoiding rumors or being ashamed of herself in the eye of others, when in all actuality, she wanted to always show the world what she was.

I on the other hand didn't care. Of course it bothered me when someone would call us names or give us disgusted looks, but not like it did Sakura. If I heard anyone talking about what we were and seeing it get to her, I was quick to put them in their place. This was the only time my sister wasn't as outspoken as she should have been.

"Yeah!" He responded.

The kids all ran up to us and tried to get a better look, asking tons of questions.

"You're dogs?" A girl asked.

I looked to Sakura and she motioned me to answer. "Our mother was a cat and our father was a dog." I looked to my left to see some of the smaller kids tugging at Sakura's ears and opening her mouth to get a better look at her fangs. I laughed at the scene and shook my head. The unfortunate things were always happening to her.

"So…you two are the legendary cross-species breed?" The seamstress' eyes grew wide as if she couldn't believe she was actually standing within arms length of Sakura and I. "But…I thought that whole story was just a myth…How is that possible to go against the rules of Mother Nature in such a fashion?"

I shrugged and gave a sideways smile. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe we'll share our story when we come back one day. But, right now, we have to leave." I said, deciding to finally save Sakura from the torment of awed children.

"We'll miss you." Toka spoke up.

"We'll miss you, too, kid." I'll write you letters and try to come back and visit often!" Sakura hugged him, giving him hope. I know she meant every word. She was already starting to get attached.

Before leaving the village, I stopped by the gardens. I looked over the crops and knelt down, placing a hand on top of the soil. "Tochi o yashinau." (feed the land). I said. In the blink of an eye, the light brown soil turned a shade darker, moist with water. Sakura and I waved at the villagers and went on our way.

"I wonder how long Kaede's known about us being in this time." Sakura walked beside me along a path through a forest. "I wonder how she's doing. That man did say she was hurt." She thought aloud, shaping a handful of thin broken off tree branches into arrows.

I wondered too. It's been years since we've spoken to Kaede. She was our caretaker for a long while after our parents were killed. Being good friends with them, she felt it was only natural to do so. She helped us train and awaken powers that we never understood.

My mother's parents shared stories with her about our nature demon ancestors and how they came to develop their powers. As far as my parents mating with one another, it was pure confusion and love. Neither cared for what other people thought of their decision and they didn't care of the outcome. They were in love and Sakura and I were the product of it. To say it was experimental would say the least because they both without a doubt wanted children with one another. They tried and they succeeded. To those who didn't agree or understand, they called Sakura and I "abominations of the world" because our species were unheard of. Of course they weren't. Canines and felines weren't ever supposed to mate. They were opposites. They hated each other. They couldn't be "one". But, my parents proved them all wrong...twice.

Some say Mother Nature would never forgive them and my sister and I would never be accepted into the world and our nature demon ancestors would turn over in their graves for all eternity at what my parents created. This was the cause of Sakura's insecurity with who she really was. When she was younger, she could care less about what people said. But as we got older, she thought about the horrible things people said of us and resorted to only showing herself in human form. When my father learned of this and became more aware, he marked us with the word gift as we slept one night.

"Daddy, why are we so different? Why did you mark us? So people can know who we are as soon as they look at us? Why would you do this?" Sakura asked with tears violently falling from her eyes and she hit him with her small, ten-year-old fists. "They'll only talk about us more!"

Daddy hugged her and pulled me into his large body as well. "That is exactly why I did it, Sakura. Never be ashamed of who you are. Never. The only thing that matters is your mother and I's endless love for the both of you." I inhaled and smelled the familiar scent of the canine in him. "When people see those marks, they will know that you are our children. If they talk bad about you, ignore it and tell either I or your mother. It will be taken care of."

"We love you girls." Had it not been for the fierce ears of the mix of both canine and feline in our blood, neither one of us would have known that my mother was near. "We created you. And for that, we just ask you to live your lives without worrying what others say." She picked me up and purred as her face rubbed against mine.

I'll never forget that day. Our parents gave us more confidence than ever and that helped out big time when it came to tuning our negative energy to our training to develop our powers. The stories my mother shared with us were also known by Kaede, from word-of-mouth and thankfully, Kaede was wise and was able to help with the development of our powers.

I was more in tune with nature while Sakura was more in tune with strength and energy. The energy powers came from meditation and becoming one with nature in order to be able to share energy between us- ourselves and nature that is. with each new generation to come, we are able to practice this power and try to perfect it the best we can. Me excelling with my nature powers and Sakura with energy, we cross-trained one another.

As far as time travel, I can't exactly remember how our family came to even conquer something such as that. I never got the full story. But, Sakura and I each wear necklaces that connect to each others like a puzzle piece. When we chant a spell and say where we want to go, we're there.

I know what you're thinking: if we can time travel, how come we can't go back to the time our parents were killed and try to prevent it from happening? Well, going against what we've been told, we still tried. We're not allowed by the rules of the universe to travel to a place were something traumatic happens. I guess it would effect who we are now. So, when we were older, we traveled to what would be known to Feudal Japan as present Japan. We stayed there for some time until we both decided it was time to avenge our parents' death and kill the demon known as Naraku.

"Maybe she was in battle with something." I said, looking up into the clear blue sky. Just thinking about my ancestors and these special powers my sister and I had made my head spin. It was all too much. It didn't seem real at all.

"Eh," Sakura put the arrows she made into her backpack and threw her hands behind her head. "Kaede is way too old to be battling with anyone."

"Well, you don't have to be such an asshole about it."

"It's true! She's probably like one hundred years old now."

"Sakura!" I yelled at her. it was hard to believe she had a heart of gold because she always had something to say.

"Fine, fine. Let's get some scattered clouds, though. I love the sun but it's burning me alive." She looked to the sky and shielded her eyes.

I sighed and gave my right index finger a little twirl and light clouds slowly came into view, blocking the sun.

"Mm, that's better. How about a breeze?" She put her arms back behind her head and closed her eyes in satisfaction.

I glared at her and swung my left arm hard in her direction. The wind I produced knocked her off of her feet and into the bushes to her right. I laughed as she held her sack of food in the air which was now untied from the bottom of her backpack.

"Hey, your speed is faster. Great job." I complimented.

"What the hell was that for?!" She sat up with twigs and leaves decorating her dark red and brown hair.

"Next time ask, or at least request more politely. Serves you right."

"Ugh!"

"Now, come on. Kaede's village is up ahead." I waited for her to climb out of the bushes to continue walking.

"What if she's mad at us?" Sakura brushed off her kimono and carried her food in front of her.

"Why would she be mad?"

"She didn't stop for help at the village back there and she didn't stay behind to meet up with us."

I kept my gaze ahead and Kaede's village came into clear view from the forest. "She probably just wanted to hurry home. Don't over-think the situation." Truth-be-told, i was also a little nervous. We haven't been in contact with Kaede in a while. No messages, letters, visits, nothing. All I could hope for was for her to be understanding as to Sakura and I wanting to get away and prepare for what was to come with the mission we bestowed on ourselves. There's no way she could be mad at that.

We reached Kaede's village and her house quicker than I anticipated. We were in our human form so uncomfortable stares wouldn't make my hands sweat any more than they already were.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the wooden beam of Kaede's hut. "Kaede?"

"Ye may enter." She responded.

I looked at Sakura and went inside first with her following.

"H-hey, Kaede." I gave a small wave just as she turned around from her potion mixes to face us.

Kaede had definitely aged. Last we saw her, her skin was tighter, her hair was black and she had a strong posture. Standing before us now, her skin was slowly wrinkling, her hair had grayed up and she had a curve in her spine causing her to slump over a little when she walked.

She looked at us with a wide eye that wasn't hidden behind an eye patch. "Ay, I knew ye had aged but I didn't imagine you so youthful and beautiful. Ye are still children, of course-"

"We're grown now, Kaede." Sakura cut her off with narrowed eyes. She was such a hot head.

"Ye will always be children to me, Sakura."

"So, like, you aren't one hundred years old yet?" Sakura pointed a finger and asked her the question she mentioned to me earlier about how old Kaede had gotten from the time we haven't seen her.

"My age is none of your concern." Kaede challenged back.

"Thanks for the compliment, Kaede." I nudged Sakura and she huffed. "We have food."

"Nice of ye to offer." Kaede wiped her hands on a wet cloth and then on a dry one after she put her potions away.

Sakura put her food down and sat her backpack in a corner. She extended a hand towards the wood under the large kettle full of water. Her eyes glowed red as she said 'hi o tsukeru'(light a fire) and flames danced at her command.

"Ah, still cross-training? How is that going?" Kaede asked, taking a seat in front of Sakura and I as we laid out food. Sakura lit another fire and set the fish above it to be heat up. She heat the rest of the food with energy through her hands while holding the containers so we wouldn't have to depend on just one fire.

"Pretty darn good, as you can see." Sakura boasted. "Ayame is the best teacher ever." She stopped short at the last of her sentence. "No offence. You're pretty great too, Kaede. Heheheh."

"None taken, child."

Sakura's eyes narrowed again and her cheeks got puffy. "Stop calling me that." she said through gritted teeth.

"So, you're not mad at us, are you Kaede?" I asked, handing her a pair of chopsticks.

Kaede shook her head and gave a small smile. "Not at all, child. I am excited of your return. Please, tell me of your travels."