Past Life

Written by Justine JBV / Chibi Botan

Chapter Three: Promises


IV

"Caught you!" Keitaro happily tagged his sister. They were having so much fun, playing tag outside their hut.

"Oh, wait... I'm so tired!" Botan laughed at herself as she leaned an arm to the cherry tree beside them. She tried to catch her breath.

Keitaro grinned and clasped his hands together. Botan's eyes suddenly widened as she saw a red scratch on Keitaro's right arm. She rushed to him but gently took his arm. Keitaro had just noticed his bruise. He smiled when he saw her worry. "Onee chan, don't worry. It doesn't hurt a bit. See?" He grinned for her. "I'm a big boy. I can take small scratches."

"But, you have a bruise..." Botan bit her lip. "Uh, wait!" she ran towards their hut.

Keitaro watched as Botan rushed home, and emerged again with a few items, salve and all, to tend to his wound. His sister had always been a worrier. She watched out for everyone, and made sure everyone's alright. She was always there for him, caring for him when he's sick, and healing every small wound he incurs.

"There." Botan smiled and let him look at his hand. She smiled and then sighed contently. "You're OK?" Keitaro nodded. "Good. Because I promised Mother that I will always take care of you...." Her voice faltered a bit... just for a short while. And then she was smiling again, as she mused, "Besides, I hate it when I see you cry."

The little boy's eyes widened. "What? I didn't cry!" he protested. Botan merrily ran off, as Keitaro ran after her. "I'll catch you again!" And off they went, not knowing... that something bad is about to happen. That was the last time they were with each other.

V

One moment they were having fun. He and his sister had collapsed on the grass laughing their hearts out.

The next thing he remembered, he heard a loud noise, and then the hush of running feet. He opened an eye to peek.

In a split second, his father grabbed him forcefully, then carried him away from where he was lying.

He heard his sister's voice, she was shouting for him. Rinji tried to make Botan stop shouting.

His father, carrying him, while he tried to push his father's arm to see his sister. She had been dragged by Rinji.

What was happening? He tried to shout, but his father anticipated it, and covered his mouth.

He wiggled away to see Rinji and Botan running back to the back of the hut. They were heading to the forest, and he could see that Ren was headed there too.

But where was his father taking him? He tried once again to free himself.

He didn't need to. The demons knocked his father out and took him.

VI

Back to present.

Botan silently followed the Guru towards the Dark Temple. It looks so different inside, Botan thought. It doesn't seem... dark.

As they were about to enter the door, Botan stopped and looked at the floor. The Guru instantly realized what the girl was thinking. For a few days now, the girl travelled, and somewhere along the way her slippers were lost.

Looks like she had a rough time, the Guru thought. The cloak she was wearing were mildly torn at the hems. Her hair was kept in a not so neat band on her back. For a traveller, she carried no satchel with her. the Guru felt a pang of pity for the girl.

She's too young, she lamented silently. She's too young for everything I foresee that will happen to her... She sighed mentally as she remembered how speechless the girl had been since she called her by her name. Did she think she can fool me? But she knew herself that Botan had not meant to fool her. She introduced herself as Naya to everyone because she had to protect herself. She had to hide.

"Yumi." the guru summoned her granddaughter. Seemingly out of nowhere, Yumi emerged. She was wearing a uniform identical to the ones being worn in the dojo. She looked about the same as Botan's age. Her hair was neatly braided and dark brown. "Lend Botan some clothing and a pair of slippers. Be fast." With that, she left Botan to Yumi.

VII

"So, where are you from? Are you going to train with Guru, too?" Yumi's voice was friendly and kind. As she walked to and from in her spacious room, she dropped a few things from her closet to Botan's hand. She didn't wait for Botan's answer, and shoved her to dress up. In a few minutes, Botan was dressed up in dojo uniform and red tatami sandals. She had fixed her hair too.

Then, they headed back. Yumi noticed Botan's silence. "Don't worry. She dislikes to be called Grandma, and could be grumpy at times... but she's nice. She let you in, didn't she?" She stared at her for a moment. "She just knows danger when she senses it. And she's trying to keep you off from hurting yourself."

Botan stopped. "How could you know something like that? Are you a... fortune-teller?"

Yumi smiled a little before she answered. "No, not like that. Let's just say, I'm the Guru's granddaughter and I know what she's thinking." They stopped in front of a room. She opened the sliding door and they entered.

On the floor, the Guru was seated. A short table was set in front of her. She motioned Botan to sit on the other side, which she promptly did. "You should eat," she told her, as Yumi left the room. Botan was about to say she wasn't hungry at all, though she really was, but Guru stared at her in a way she wouldn't dare but obey. She tried to eat, but she found that all her worries made her hunger fade away. Finally the Guru accepted that, and asked what she needed. (Though she already knew it…)

"I… came here to seek your help." She started to explain. "My brother… the Sorcerer took him."

The Guru closed her eyes. "And you want him back. But it is not that easy. The Sorcerer is powerful. His strength is beyond any fighter in this land. Do you know that he uses power that no one has ever seen before? This world has seen so many creatures from everywhere, but none were as feared as the Sorcerer."

"I know. But I promised to keep my brother safe… And what does he need with my brother? He's only a child."

"He is not just any child. He is Kino's heir."

Heir. What heir? They were a poor family. The only thing they owned was a patch of land their home once stood. But that, too, was not theirs anymore.

Botan refrained herself from asking. The Guru knew too much. She probably knew a lot more than Botan and Ren knew about their lives. Their past. She knew she had no right to ask questions... Just as she never asked her father why they were running, and who were they running from in the first place? She felt it. Ren and Keitaro felt it too.

From the time they left their hometown, they have been in hiding. Rinji definitely knew why, but his only explanation was that they had to get away from the war. Maybe it was one of the reasons, she didn't care. The war was just another war started by two officials fighting to take over their rich homeland.

That didn't matter to Botan.

Her brother was taken away from them. And from the looks of it, the only person who seemed to be capable of helping her was only trying to scare her off, trying to make her decide not to go on with her journey.

To be continued… Thank you for reading!