I do introduce a couple of characters here I made up. But the majority of the main cast I have to credit to Stan Sakai. I make no money from this, so please do not pay me and simply enjoy for free.
WARNING! Allusion to plan on giving up on life on behalf of oneself and another presented in this chapter.
Usagi stared wide-eyed. His mouth didn't close all the way as he waited to see if his cry would have any effect. The figure standing on the rock near the edge of the waterfall turned her face to him.
He was shocked and further distressed to see its youth. And then, it got worse. He heard another sound even over the waterfall's churning. HIs gaze edged downward to see a baby. A baby was beginning to wail in her arms. He looked back up into her face. The skin was pale and drawn, and her eyes … they were wet, deep, and despairing.
Usagi raised his arms and voice again. "Miss, please! Do not jump!"
Her voice could barely be heard over the water's running and falling. "Why do you say this to me? There is no hope for us even if there is some for you. Who are you to tell me not to do this?"
Usagi's mind clamored for something to say. Words flew out of his mouth. "Because! Because … We are going to an orphanage! With rice! Maybe you and your baby can be cared for there!"
The woman's brows furrowed. Her lips pressed together. She glanced down at the baby in her arms still crying. Usagi could see by her stance how firmly her feet were set, she wasn't convinced yet. More words sprang from his mouth. "Maybe you are hungry? You and your baby both! We have food! Rice plenty of rice! Come and eat with us! Please!"
He let his arms fall and watched. He could feel the glares aimed at him from behind, but he didn't acknowledge them. He just wanted the woman away from the edge of the waterfall with her baby. Gen would get over it, and the servants would not say anything … till they got back to Tomoe Ame and Lord Noriyuki of course. The woman continued to not move either way.
"He's right!"
Usagi froze. He … did not know that voice. He turned his head a little, looking away from the woman for the first time since he'd spotted her out of the corner of his vision.
On the opposite side of the bank of the river was a white dog with tan patches on the parts of his fur around his chest, neck, head and face. The rest of him was covered in a once brightly colored kimono though it was now faded and torn in places. He wore a Dashai in his belt. The hound did not look back at him, but at the young woman with a baby. The dog spoke again. "You will be welcome there."
The woman spoke back. "Perhaps my baby would, but why would I be?"
The hound looked down at the babe in her arms. "You hold the child well. You are used to it tending to babes and children in general?"
"I … should not speak of my family. They no longer will speak of me, but to answer that question … I have cared for younger siblings as far back as I can recall …"
The hound tilted his head to gesture to the other side of the river further. "They are always in need at the orphanage of someone to help care for the children."
The young woman turned away from both of them, but Usagi felt no better. He thought her saw her shaking. Her eyes looked even wider. Her face seemed even more pale. The baby's crying worsened too.
Usagi gathered himself for a spring, but before he could the hound burst out of another part of the forest, not very far away from where he'd been before, but Usagi hadn't noticed him move. After springing from one stone to another the dog got to the young woman as she seemed to collapse and took the baby from her. Usagi wasn't much of a judge of such things, but he admitted to himself the hound seemed "to hold the baby well" too.
Usagi was already bouncing from one stone to another himself. When he reached the young woman, the dog was holding the baby standing above her. Usagi grabbed her by an arm and started pulling her to her feet and away from the waterfall. That was when he heard Gennosuke's voice. "Usagi watch out!"
The woman winced. He felt it through her arm, but the hound spoke from above both their heads. "Do not worry. He means me." The dog yelled back to the rhino. "I can't draw a sword with a baby in my arms Gen!"
"My baby!"
Usagi was surprised at the fear and possessiveness in the woman's voice. She rose to her feet and reached toward the bundle in Stray Dog's arms before Usagi grabbed her by both arms. He tried to keep his voice friendly though his hold was firm. "Perhaps, you should wait till you get firmly on the bank before taking your child back?"
She froze in his grip, not even breathing as she stared at the bundle in the other set of arms before her. Usagi looked too. His ears went straight as he saw the dog was actually bouncing the child now. The hound spoke in as friendly a voice as he's yet heard him use. "He will be fine with me."
"Why? Her voice was still low and soft and lost somehow. "Why are you doing this for me?"
Usagi spoke hurriedly from behind her. "I hate to see life thrown away."
The woman seemed to go limp in his hands. Only the strength of his arms held her up. Usagi became afraid he'd take too long to answer her next question. "Even dishonored life?"
The dog spoke again. "No one will know your story at the orphanage or ask. If you know how to keep a baby happy or can get an older child to share their rice balls with others, you will be welcome. That is what is needed at the orphanage. If you do those things well and cause no trouble, no one there will care about your past. I will cane them if they do."
The woman gave a slight start at that last part, but wilted again, though not like before. She held herself up a little bit this time according to what Usagi's muscles told him. "But we will both be new mouths to feed."
Usagi managed to speak first this time. "Lord Noriyuki says he is going to send rice to the village regularly now that he knows of its existence."
The hound's head came up and gaze focused on him at these words. After another moment, during which the baby's crying had lessened greatly, the woman said, "I guess … I could eat, and maybe … Maybe I will take my baby there at least … first …"
Usagi turned her around toward what looked like the easiest path back to the riverside near calm shallow water. "Exactly, we were just making a meal in the clearing."
Usagi looked over his shoulder a few times while guiding the woman, not daring to take his hands from her arms. The dog with the daisho just watched him, his face grim but not too hard, holding the baby, looking like he'd done it before.
What do you think now?
God bless
ScribeofHeroes