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Part 28: The Hidden Self

Info

Writer

Blonde Teraesa

Character Introductions

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Character Deaths

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Arcs

Hikari Crystals Arc

Timeline Entries

The Story

Endless Rain

Part 28: The Hidden Self

© Blonde Teraesa

Walking through the lively Mikomi village, even with a sprained ankle, didn't seem so bad when Moyasu calmed her mind enough to think about it. Using the large, sturdy branch she'd been given for a crutch of sorts, she slowly began to realize how much she missed her own village and the company of her friends and family. She also realized how similar her village was to the Mikomi's village. Sure, there were little differences - the faces were different, the houses, the weapons that were being smithed - but how the people cooperated with one another and how they smiled and chatted ... and how the children played so carelessly ... reminded her so much of home that she felt the sting of hot tears in her eyes for the first time since the siege.

‘Mama ... am I completely alone? Did nobody survive? I feel so alone ...’ She thought to herself, turning her face towards the sky as a tear trickled down her cheek.

Footsteps. Moyasu had heard them soon after she'd left the throne room, and they had followed her even to where she now stood. They slowed when she slowed. They sped up when she tried to lose them. And now they stopped, probably a little more than three feet behind her.

Moyasu wasn't surprised they sent someone to keep an eye on her, but her thoughts had wandered and she let herself cry. She couldn't let the enemy see that. That was weakness. With a quick brush of her forearm and hand across her face, much as if she was rubbing sweat from her brow, she cleared away the tears forming and calmed herself with a deep breath. Then she spoke, in that all-too-familiar, superior, warrior voice.

"What do you want? Stop following me."

Hana pressed a hand against her chest. She hadn't meant to sneak up on the girl, but she hadn't been able to think of a good way to greet her. She hadn't been able to decipher how she was going to learn about the necklace she wore, either. She'd never dealt with a Chi Tribe member before.

"I-I'm sorry. I was asked to-"

"Spy on me?"

"No. I'm supposed to help you feel comfortable here ..."

"I don't want to feel comfortable. I want to leave. If it wasn't for that stupid trio, I wouldn't be here in the first place ..."

Moyasu sighed, still facing away from Hana, ‘I don't want to be here, but I have no choice. I can't leave injured. I can't ... I can't trust the Mikomi. I have to stay rational. I have to remember my home. My REAL home.’ With renewed strength, she hobbled around so she could look at Hana, "Just ... leave me alone, okay?"

Hana wasn't about to give up so easily, and she quickly formed a plan.

"Aren't you hungry? I'll bet you haven't had a descent meal in weeks. How about some vegetable stew? It's hard to come by in the forest, isn’t it?"

Moyasu's mouth watered at the mention of food, but her pride wouldn't let her show it. Wouldn't let her accept it either.

"I'm not hungry."

"Oh? Okay. Well, I'm going to get some ... for myself. I'm famished. Maybe you'll change your mind later?"

"Not likely ..." Moyasu retorted with a little more venom in her voice than she'd wanted.

Her face reflected this, but she quickly covered it up with a scowl. And as for her stomach? It'd stopped cooperating the moment food came into the conversation, rumbling and churning as Hana offered and it begged to accept. With every word of decline, her abdomen scrunched around itself, imagining the tastes and textures it had missed since Moyasu's last real meal. She lived mainly on rabbit meat and roots these days.

Needless to say, when Hana began to walk, Moyasu hesitantly followed, keeping right alongside her the entire time, though at some points that was quite a challenge with her leg in the condition it was.

"I was going this way anyway ..." Moyasu would say whenever Hana looked in her direction.

Hana, though pleased with her ploy, kept her smiles to herself so as not to scare the young girl away. She thought back on her duty towards Moyasu and soon realized that it wouldn't be anywhere as hard as she previously thought it would be to get to know this Chi girl. You just had to know how to get through the shell, along with realizing that Moyasu seemed to always refuse help, kindness, and friendship even when she wanted or needed it. Chi pride. That was something she could work around, if she was careful. And she wasn't about to let Hitori down.

Kyen Koh scowled, and the sound of a stone ricocheting off a stony surface made the men now kneeling around her flinch as if their lives were in mortal peril.

"You fools! That was no crystal! Have you no grasp on the myths of old? The stone must shine with an inner light that reflects the soul of its bearer! You waste my time ..."

"No, milady ... we were sure it was one ... it glowed! I swear it!"

"Then why did it not glow now?"

"I do not know ... it glowed, but then suddenly stopped."

"That's because it was a fake, you fool! Now search again! Find me my prize! And don't touch it when you find it! Trust me, boys. When we find what I seek, we will crush the Mikomi and take our rightful places as the rulers of the valley!"

A triumphant roar went through the crowd of Sendo. The men moved by their mistress smooth words and promises. Kyen Koh retired into her private tent amidst these cheers, and as her troops settled in for the night, eating and drinking and generally having a good time, she sat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank Afrain it wasn't real ..."

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