"Hey! Look over here!" an echo? More sounds. What were they? She didn't know. She tried to see but all was dark. "Are they alive?" the voice was frightened now. She could hear it more clearly now. Definitely a little boy's voice… but where was it coming from? She tried harder to see, but to no avail. "I'm not sure..." a different voice. There were two people. But who were these people? She tried to speak, but no words came to her lips. "Check her pulse!" the firs voice cried.
Then she felt movement then. They felt like fingers... on her neck? She tried to move, but it had no different effect than the other things she had tried. So she was still and silent. Is this death? She worried. But then again, why would death ask of confirmation of the dead? The desire to know what was going on was eating away at her. What's going on? Then she began to see. It was a light at the end of her vision, a creamy orange yellow color, like a sweet dream. Slowly, she blinked to awareness. It was a cool afternoon. She became aware that she was wet… and naked? She stirred.
"Hello?" she heard her voice, which sounded dry, tired, and confused. A gasp followed, and she heard someone fall backwards. She turned her head to see a boy looking at her in shock. His brown hair fell over his dark eyes. He pointed a shaking finger at her.
"W-who are you? And why are you naked?" he yelled, face turning red. She blinked. "Hey look brother!" the little boy said. She turned to look at him, and he seemed to be a chubby, smaller version of the first boy. He pointed to her head. "She has horns!" She reached her hands up to her head, and sure enough, she felt the horns.
Suddenly, images flashed through her head. There was blood, and death, the full moon; her body shook as they flew through her mind. She clutched her head with her hands and the older boy looked worried. "Are you ok?" she didn't hear. She saw the girls then, one crying and the other laughing as they fell… and she gasped.
"Where are my sisters?" she yelled. He tumbled over again, startled. "What?" he said. "My sisters!" she tried to stand but she fell over. The smaller boy caught her hand so she didn't fall. The older one stood and helped her to her feet. "Don't worry; I'm sure they're around here somewhere." He looked at her. "What's your name?" she looked at him, dazed. For a moment, she was unsure. Then words came to her lips.
"Trina…" she said quietly. "Trina? What an odd name." the boy said. "My name is Kiba Harate. And this one is my brother Tohru." The little boy looked over at her shyly. Kiba smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you two but I have to find my sister's…" Kiba placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, we'll find them." Trina saw Kiba turn to Tohru. "Tohru, take Trina to grandpa's. Get her dried and some clothes to wear."
"But my sisters!" Trina cried. Kiba let go of his hold on her as Tohru took her hand. "I will look for your sister's. Please go with Tohru, before you catch a cold." Trina looked at him, mouth open unable to think of what to say and Kiba smiled. Before she knew it Tohru was tugging her hand and leading her along a dirt path. Trina suddenly noticed she was cold. She crossed her arms around her chest, shivering. She followed closely behind little Tohru, looking at where they were going. It seemed the dirt road was pretty well traveled, sets of footprints embedded in the dust. Trees lined the road, and on either side, green forests stretched out. Crickets chirped in the distance, and the wind gently rustled the leaves. She could not help but feel at ease. She gave a slight sigh, which caused Tohru to look at her. She looked back at him, and there were questions in his eyes. For some reason, he managed to hold his tongue. He looked back forward and continued to lead her to… where were they going anyway?
"Where am I?" she asked quietly. Tohru kept walking. "You're in Hanakaze village." He said. "Most people don't know about it. It's hidden inside of a thick forest and we don't have any other towns close by. We only have a population of about two thousand five hundred." Trina listened interested while watching a strange looking creature with bright wings flutter off into the forest to her right. She figured from the information given to her that a village was like an area where people lived. She thought she heard a mention of them somewhere else before, but she couldn't remember.
"So where are we going?" she asked. "To grandpa's house. He lives nearby, outside of town. He will take you in. I bet your parents are worried though. A house must be a living quarters, she would assume. But…" "Parents? What are those?" Trina asked confused. Tohru stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at her in amazement.
"You don't know what parents are?" he asked, mouth once again agape. Trina shook her head shyly, feeling awkward that she didn't know something that this smaller boy knew and clearly thought everyone should know about. Why would someone other than my sisters worry about me? She wondered. She saw the boy move his mouth once more, about to ask more questions she guessed, but then thought better of it. He turned and started walking again.
"We're not far now. Don't worry, when we get there, we'll get you clothed and something to eat too." As if on cue, her stomach started to rumble. The boy glanced behind her and smiled. Trina could not help but smile back. "Thank you." She said.
They only walked a little further, when she say an oddly built structure on the side of the road in a clearing of forest. It lay on a patch of smooth green grass; with the dirt trail they walked on separating and leading to a door on the outside wall. It was rather small, and made of wood, but she could see inside of a little hole in the wall covered in glass that there was a warm glow. It seemed almost... friendly.
"There it is!" the boy said proudly. "Grandpa's house." Trina nodded. "It's nice." She said. She had learned before that people always liked complements… where had she learned that again? She saw the boy's chest puff out, very delighted that she had said that. She smiled once again. They followed the dirt path up to the front door. Tohru then opened the door and walked inside, Trina following.
She gasped. It was so strange inside! When they first came in, the ground in front of them was level, but then she saw that a wood paneling floor rose above it, a few inches off the ground. She saw little Tohru take of the battered shoes he had on and placed them against the wall of the wood paneling in the little dip at the first part of the entrance. Maybe it's some sort of custom… She had learned about those somewhere. Once the boy had removed his shoes, he stepped onto the wood paneling, Trina then did the same.
Inside this house, there was a table in the corner with pillows around it. She assumed that's where you sat. She looked in the other corner to see a very large and stretched out cloth chair with a smaller table in front of it. Two other normal cloth chairs stood next to it and there was a piece of strange colored cloth on the floor, right underneath the smaller table. Straight in front of her she saw a dark hallway. Trina then got the strangest feeling of what she later found out was called déjà vu…
"Grandpa?" she heard the boy call. "Grandpa where are you?" And answer met the boy's question. "Over here my boy." It said. The voice was deep, and it sounded tired. It definitely belonged to an older man. Tohru walked briskly to the corner on their right, the one with the strange chair and piece of cloth on the floor. She turned to see that in a corner of that little area, there had been another chair that she hadn't noticed. In that chair, sat a man, holding a gray piece of paper with words on it.
His face seemed gentle, and there were slight crevices in his face where skin folded over, distinguishable but not over powering; just slight. She thought she remembered hearing that those were called "wrinkles". This, she remembered, signified an older man, but she didn't have to look at the wrinkles to know. Atop his head was wispy white hair, almost feathery in appearance but still hid the skin on his head as well as Tohru's did. His dark eyes seemed to match his voice; tired, and deep. And they were now focused intently on Tohru.
"What is it Tohru?" he inquired. Tohru shuffled a little awkwardly, and suddenly became very interested in the cloth beneath his feet. "Well you see…" he began. Trina spoke up then, coming into the old man's sight by stepping behind Tohru.
"Are you 'grandpa? You have beautiful house." She said, trying to start on good ground with this man as she had with Tohru. She saw the man's eyes widen and his mouth drop slightly, and the familiar look of shock crossed over his face. She saw Tohru's back stiffen, and he seemed very uncomfortable. Trina faltered, aware of the possibility that she had done something wrong. She also became very interested in the cloth beneath her, and looked down. It was silent for a few moments, and then she heard the old man speak up.
"Tohru who is this? And what became of her clothes?" a bit of laughter had entered his voice with the last question. Tohru and Trina both looked up to see him smiling. "Grandpa I found her!" Tohru said, suddenly confident in himself. She saw the man's eye brows meet. "You found her?" he repeated. Tohru nodded, "Yes sir, in the river. She was naked and asleep. She said she had sisters, Kiba is down there looking for them right now." Grandpa pondered over all of this. "I see…" He turned to her then and smiled. "Tohru will lead you to the laundry room for some clothes." On cue, Tohru walked quickly off into the hallway. Dazed, Trina followed.
When they first approached the hall, Tohru touched a little white pad on the wall. It made a clicking sound, and suddenly, the hallway filled with light. Trina blinked as her eyes adjusted. When she looked again, she saw the hall was filled with doors. There were six in total, three on one side and three on the other. The end of the hall way was a blank wall. She followed Tohru into the first door on the right. He step inside and she followed.
The room was white and pretty dull. There was a sink and some clothes hanging around in different baskets. He bent down to one and searched through it. "Here we go." He said. He handed her some clothes. "Put these on." He said. She saw a white piece of cloth with three holes. She put it over her head, assuming it went on her torso. Then she saw a smaller blue piece of cloth that had two holes. She stuck her legs through the holes and pulled it up. It covered most of her lower body, but her legs were left bare. She assumed that was presentable enough. Tohru looked at her and nodded.
They left the room then and entered back into the main room. Trina saw that grandpa had gotten up. He was wearing a long dark gray robe, and he was in a small little area she hadn't seen that was attached to the place on her left when she had first come in, the one with the pillows. He turned to them when he heard Tohru shut the door to the "laundry room". He was holding a silvery metal ball in his hand.
"So rude of me not to ask, but what is your name miss?" he asked. "Trina." She said. "Trina... what a beautiful name." he said smiling. She felt warm inside. "Come Trina, I have this for you to eat." He must have made the same inference that Tohru had about the last time she had eaten. She walked over to grandpa slowly, and stood in front of him. He handed her the metal ball, which was much lighter than she had expected. \She looked down at it confused than back up at grandpa. "I don't eat metal sir…" she said, wondering what other strange "customs" these people had.
Tohru shot her a look but grandpa only laughed. "That's just the foil." He said, still laughing. He bent his hands down to the metal ball, and with his fingers, pulled the metal back. Trina's eyes widened at the marvel she had just seen, for when the metal bent back, there was a white substance inside of it. "It's a rice ball." He explained. "You hold it in the palm of your hand and take a bite out of it." Trina sniffed the "rice ball". Then she slowly took a bite. It tasted good! She hounded into it then, feeling how hungry she was. She took huge bites and swallowed. When she had finished, which was seconds later, she felt satisfied. She looked to see Tohru with his strange curious expression and grandpa's warm smile. "I'm glad you liked it." He said, very much amused. Trina blushed and handed him what was left of the scrap metal. "Thank you for that rice ball. It was delicious." "You're welcome." He said. He took the metal in his hands and rolled it up into a smaller ball, then threw it into a small bin lying against a wall. Trina felt a long yawn come to her lips.
"You're tired." Said grandpa. "I'll show her where the guest room is!" Tohru said immediately. Grandpa nodded. "You should get some sleep Trina. We all should." Trina nodded as well. "I suppose you're right…" then she remembered something. "But what about Kiba! I haven't seen him in a long time, isn't he going to sleep?" Grandpa smiled once again. "Once Kiba sets his mind on something, not much can interfere with it, and his mind is now set on finding your sisters. We'll probably see him in the morning. "But what if something ha-"grandpa waved aside her worries. "Trust in the boy. He knows what he's doing." Trina felt Tohru tugging on her hand. "Come on, time for bed." He said, with authority. Trina turned to say something to grandpa but his kind smile silenced her. Dumbly, she followed Tohru back into the hallway.
This time, they entered the door farthest away on the right side. He opened the door and she once again, followed him in. There was a cushioned frame in one corner, and another piece of cloth on the floor. She looked at the strange furniture. It looked like that long chair she had seen in the first room, but it had some sort of sheet on it, and a pillow. "Is that where I sleep?" she said, pointing at it. "Of course!" Tohru exclaimed. "You aren't going to sleep on the floor." She looked at it, walking to it. Carefully, she sat on the sheet. It was very comfortable. She laid back on it, her head on the pillow. Also very comfortable "You're supposed to get under the covers." Tohru told her. Blushing, Trina did so. Even more comfortable. Tohru nodded his approval. "Good." He turned to leave.
"Tohru…?" she said. He stopped and looked over at her. "Yea Trina?" She smiled. "Thank you." He smiled back. "Goodnight." He went out into the hall way, and no sooner than when he shut the door did Trina drift into sleep.