A/N: Another day, another chapter.
The next step in Humiya's journey has begun! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Thanks again, Brindani, for being my Beta!
Happy Reading! ٩(˘◡˘)۶
To Change Fate
Chapter 9: Indefinitely Lost
Humiya waited for the blinding light of death to consume her, but it never came. Instead, the abyss spat her back into consciousness, blessing her with a coughing fit and torso deep in a cold river.
I'm alive?
She blinked rapidly, the sun shining in her eyes with the sounds of trickling water and the rustle of trees surrounding her. Her body throbbed terribly, shivering as the autumn wind bit at her. She could hardly lift her head from the shore, so she continued to lay there, her cheek pressed into the mud. With her limited view, she could see that she was in a forest's riverbank and that it was early morning.
The bank was shallow with different shapes of mossy rocks. The river water was so clear that she could see the rocky bottom.
Humiya stared at the scenery in a daze until she realized that she was alone, Itachi nor anyone else in sight. Memories of what happened to her whirled in her mind.
"Ita?" she called, her voice croaky and sore. "Ita!"
Where are they? Are they alive?
She didn't know where she gathered the strength.
She looked all around her before lifting herself up to drag herself out of the water. Her muscles screamed and her cuts burned, but she focused on her arms and made sure they moved one after the other. She let her left leg drag, for she knew any pressure on her sprained ankle would make it worse.
"Anomaly?"
Humiya froze at the voice, wondering if she imagined it.
"Anomaly?" a multitude of voices echoed, deep and otherworldly.
She felt a sharp pain in her hand and saw that it was a large crow that pecked her, its feathers black with a blue tint when reflected in the light.
"Anomaly!" it crowed before pecking her again, bruising her hand.
Fear and confusion gripped her as she brought her hands over her face. With how big the bird was, it could poke her eyes out with one peck.
It wasn't long before its friends came as well.
One grabbed Humiya's finger before tugging at it while the others surrounded her, some pecking at her body while others flew on top of her.
She thought she was going to die from their excruciating pecks, but oddly they didn't. In fact, she felt shadowy chakra seep out of them and into her mind, making the pain and discomfort she felt like a mere illusion.
Genjutsu?
Humiya stared at the crows in surprise as she sat up, shocked with how easy it was. Especially with all the crows standing all over her. She had to check to see that her wounds were still there, cuts, bruises, and the bandages Itachi applied gone. She knew that she shouldn't walk on her swollen ankle despite the lack of pain. Tenderly, she walked forward, careful not to put too much weight on it.
"Anomaly," The crows cried before one that was biting her finger flew up to her shoulder.
The other crows hopped off her and down the river, looking as if they wanted her to follow.
"Coming," she whispered, quite bewildered.
She stood up and began to walk amongst the murder. Was she dreaming? Whatever it was, a small part hoped that they were leading her to Itachi.
He did always have crows with him in the manga, didn't he? He must be waiting for me.
She brightened at the muddled thought and quickened her pace, wiggling her nose as the crow's wings tickled it with its flapping wings.
But she had come to realize that things never really go as hoped.
In the distance she spotted a person laying on their side, feet still in the water and black hair obscuring their face. The closer Humiya got, the more she wanted to stop. Her mere thought seemed to throw the crows into a frenzy, some biting at her drenched clothes while others tugged and nipped at her ankles. All pushing at once. No option but forward. She trembled as she hobbled closer, dragging her feet, eyes fixed on the corpse.
Far too soon, she towered above it. The crows went deathly silent, all following her slightest twitch. She never noticed, her sole focus on the body in front of her. Humiya shakily covered her mouth, her stomach crawling as if something was trying to claw its way back up.
There had been so much death. Flashes of crowds in a frantic race to safety filled her mind, bodies strewn across their path. Worse were the victims partially under the rubble, arms reaching out and eyes fixed in the horror of their final moments. All of it tattooed to her mind's eye.
This one… had long black hair and a familiar symbol sewn on the back of their kimono and… Humiya gasped as her lungs refused to breathe. She fell to her knees. "Mikoto?"
Craw!
She gasped as one of the crows tugged at the hair, the woman's head flopping towards her. She cried out only to shriek in a mixture of relief and horror. It wasn't Mikoto. But half her face was heavily bruised, doing little to relieve the bile building in the back of her throat. She looked too much like Mikoto. Those last images of Mikoto overlapped with the corpse. The desperation in her eyes, blood oozing with each heartbeat from her side. She could smell that horrible mixture of burning smoke and blood. She shuddered before she felt a crow pecking her cheek, hard.
"Ah!" She cried at the sting, the vision vanishing as quickly as it had come.
The crow on her shoulder pecked her again and she swatted it off her shoulder. The moment it took flight, all the pain she felt came back in full force.
She screamed as she fell to the muddy ground, withering on her side, facing the dead woman. The corpse's glossy eyes looked up and stared into hers. The woman should not be alive in her state, her clothes in tatters and black hair back to obscuring the bruised part of her face from the chilling wind. Her skin was pale and discolored, almost translucent. It looked like nature would have its way with her at any moment.
The woman then wrapped her hand around Humiya's arm like a vice, making tears stream down her face from the pain.
Sweet Anomaly! the woman cried; her mouth ajar and unmoving. It is an auspicious day. First, I found that my dear Indra's incarnate survived and now the crows brought you here safely!
Humiya stared trembling under the woman's grip.
The crow she swatted off circled once before resettling on her shoulder, its chakra slowly making the pain she was experiencing drift away.
How could she not have known the one who orchestrated all of this? Only one deity called her by that name.
Naka?
A rancid smile appeared in response.
In the flesh.
The body the goddess inhabited coughed and wheezed, making Humiya recoil. She wished she had a projection of the goddess rather than this.
Apologies, child. I need a medium to be a part of this world and this woman's final moments were the only one you could reach. But be not concerned, her body will be used to properly compensate the crows.
Humiya scrunched her brow, confused.
How?
Naka smiled.
Why through deals, of course. An agreement is one of the most powerful things that you can do in this world. Just like you get to keep your memories for my eyes, she gets to return to me knowing that her little Izumi lived, and the crows have an opportunity to properly feed their young. A trade where all benefit is always for the best.
Humiya gulped, not knowing which to fear more, the deal Naka made with the crows or what Naka needed to tell her.
So, I must be quick.
Humiya gasped as pain lanced through her wrist as Naka's grip impossibly tightened further.
I feel his presence forming in this world. Beware, Anomaly. Beware of Jashin.
Humiya scrunched her brow, confused. She had never heard of that name before.
Who?
Jashin! Naka cried. A god far worse than the Shinigami himself. The abomination seeks to walk amongst the living and will do anything to get it. Even steal souls. Only death and destruction will come if he succeeds.
Naka let go of Humiya and began to draw a small circle with an upside-down triangle in the middle into the mud. Humiya stared at the symbol drawn. Her eyes flicked to the symbol and back at Naka, noticing the body she was inhabiting deteriorating by the minute. She flinched as part of the body's cheek fell away to reveal the bone beneath.
This symbol connects him to the world. If you see it drawn in blood, flee. Do not step into it, for if you enter, he will know what you are and you will be his. Do you understand?
Humiya nodded.
That crooked smile reappeared at the gesture, her shoulders sagging.
Good. Now I must go. The crows are waiting. They will take you to a safe place.
She then grabbed Humiya's cheek, making her shriek in surprise.
Remember our deal. I would be... displeased if you failed to fulfill our bargain.
Humiya nodded again more feverishly before Naka let go. She watched the goddess let out her final breath, her eyes remained fixed to Humiya's.
Suddenly, craws echoed from the trees. Hundreds, no thousands of crows descended from every tree, covering the body in moments. The whole mass moved in unison into the bushes and out of sight. Of the body, there was not a trace.
The crow pecked her temple, causing her to lose consciousness yet again. But this time, the darkness was welcomed.
Humiya dreamt of nothing as she slept only to have a rude awakening with something spicy in her mouth.
"Ack!" she screamed, trying to spit it out, but inadvertently swallowed it instead.
"Grandma Sanshō, she's awake!" a little boy cried before running away.
Humiya looked around to find herself inside a small room, laying on a futon.
It was a run-down room with cracks littering its wooden frame. It reminded her of a cottage. She looked down on the floor to see a bowl filled with the hot contents that still burned her mouth.
Curry? How did I—
"Goodness, Karashi, you're right! I knew the curry would do the trick!" an old woman cried as she entered the room, her little boy gripping her side.
Sanshō was short with a kind aura, like a grandmother who would always offer sweets and good fortune to whoever came her way. She had long grey hair that was wrapped in a yellow baggy hat with her bands tied on the sides of her face. She also wore thick round glasses over her small beady eyes that made them look smaller than they were.
The small boy named Karashi held the woman's navy-blue apron as he stared at her, looking nothing like his grandmother.
He had light brown hair that was tied in a ponytail and wore similar clothes to the old woman, but his outfit was light brown. What was most notable was his eyes, a beautifully deep purple.
It made Humiya's heart ache as the image of Kushina came to her mind the more she gazed into them, so she looked away.
She must be dead now.
Humiya blinked as a calloused, yet tender hand was placed on her forehead. She looked into Sanshō's soulful black eyes, and she was mesmerized by their depth. Just as quickly as her calming gaze appeared, she squinted away.
"Looks like your fever broke," She mumbled to herself before addressing Humiya directly. "I can tell you've been through a lot, young one. Please, lay back and rest. I'll fetch some water for you. Karashi, please watch her,"
"Yes, Grandma Sanshō," Karashi replied before kneeling by Humiya's side.
With a satisfied nod, the old woman slowly moved away, her steps heavy despite her light frame.
Once out of sight, Karashi seemed to deflate into his seat. He took out a block of wood with a pocketknife and absently scrapped many nicks on it. Looking closely, Humiya realized that it almost looked like a crow. She also noticed he wasn't paying much attention to it, hands shaking and blade unsteady. He stopped a moment to look her way and gasped when he noticed her watching him. He set the block and knife aside and fidgeted in his seat. His lips parted several times as if to speak only to close as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
Sanshō came back with a glass before Karashi could get a word out.
"When Karashi told me that crows came and led him to you, I was quite shocked. I could hardly imagine what could have led to such an event," she sighed as she handed Humiya the drink.
Humiya's parched mouth trembled at the wooden bowl covered in nicks and slashes, a light blue color all but worn away. She snatched it, rivulets of the cool liquid dribbling around her cheeks as she tried to drink it all the faster.
"Thanks," she mumbled, the cup slipping from her fingers. She wiped the remaining water from her mouth with her hand.
The other light tugged on the elderly woman's sleeve, remembering Itachi and Sasuke.
"Brother! Baby! Seen? Seen boy like me?" Humiya asked, her throat still sore.
"Shh, child. Don't speak and rest," Sanshō replied, pushing her back onto the futon. "We did not see anyone with you where we found you. We can look for him once you are better, okay?"
Humiya hesitantly obeyed, feeling too drained to argue. She leaned back into the futon and looked out her open window at the foreign trees. She knew that she must be far from Konoha based on her savior's clothing, and hoped it wasn't too far.
Right now, she had to get better and find out how to get back.