Once upon a time, centuries ago, there was a small village tucked into the flowery mountainside, overlooking the crystal sea. In the village, lived a maiden - the daughter of a Shinto priest - She was elegant and graceful, the epitome of innocence and beauty. Ever since the maiden was a little girl, she had the ability to see the spirits and at times, even feel their emotions through her veins, but the villagers did not believe her despite their faith. "Oh what an imagination this child has!" they would say. "How precious! She believes so strongly in her father's stories."
As she grew, her gift grew with her. She used it to her advantage as she trained to become a powerful miko. Loved by her people, the maiden tended to the people of her village with devoted compassion. She aided them in their darkest of hours and protecting them from tainted spirits. Until one day, a dark entity engulfed the children of the village. Many grew ill and weak as the demonic beast feasted upon their liveliness. Sucking out their energy like a vampire thirsting for blood. Doctors were asked to come to the village, but none could provide a cure. They only could provide minimal physical comfort. The priest tried to rid the children of their possession, but his battles with the phantom result with quick defeat at the priest's old age. And the inexperienced maiden had no choice but to stand at side and watch in horror as the peaceful village crumbled before her delicate eyes.
One by one the children began to die in their sleep. Families were destroyed and the people pleaded with the priest to purify the village, and turned rebellious when he failed. The maiden tried to uphold peace, tried to keep the light of hope burning, but the darkness was too thick. Until one day, she heard stories of passing travelers about a mythical master who knew nontraditional techniques to ward off pesky spirits. Out of desperation, the maiden sent a messenger to search for this master and beg him to come to the village.
The sun rose and set. The moon rolled across the starry sky as its face faded. Neither the messenger or the master appeared. More children soon became victims of the carnivorous spirit. Just as the maiden herself was about to lose hope, commotion rose in the streets. In the middle of the crowd, stood a mysterious man with the most unusual of hair color and emerald eyes. The messenger was at this side, introducing the man as the spirit master. His eyes met with the maiden's; static and chills shot through her as she realized that he was not much older than she was and could sense an extraordinary aurora that illuminated from him. He turned away, demanding to see the infect children. He was taken to a tiny house on the outskirts of the village, which had been converted into a makeshift hospital for the children possessed by the beast. The villagers were frightened of the contamination spreading and had hoped that if they isolated the victims, it would contain the beast in one room until it starved. That was not the case, however.
The master carefully examined the children, asking the maiden to help him. Her calming presence soothed the madness that burned within the children's minds as the beast ate away at their sanity. It brought them a sliver of joy to see her smiling face and to hear her sweet lullaby. The master complemented her on her abilities. The praise caused the maiden to look away in shame, but the master was quick to turn her gaze back to himself, "There is no reason to feel such a way. Few are blessed with your gift, including myself. You know that to be true. You could sense it the moment our eyes locked." With flush cheeks, her desire to learn more ignited within her.
He turned back to the children, announcing that it would take five days to create the proper elixir to free them from the demon's grasp. The maiden aided the master with the elixir's creation. She gathered the necessary ingredients, helped prepare the potion, and tended to the children. During which she and the master shared their life stories. She was fascinated by his puzzling life and with the tales of the spirits he had encountered. He was impressed with the development of her ability and as her great potential. Late into the night, their laughter could be heard echoing through the hollowed village, filling the air with the first hint of happiness that the villagers' ears had heard in a long time.
Five days passed. The cleansing ritual began. With the assistance of the maiden, the master fed the children the elixir. For a brief moment, they all cried out in pain as the beast began to die within them. Their weakened bodies collapsed upon their mats, but when the children awoke, they were cured and held no memory of the painful torment the demon had placed upon them. The village rejoiced with glee as they thanked the master for his help. Before leaving the village to help his next patient, he asked the maiden to come with him, promising her an opportunity to learn and fine tune her ability. The maiden graciously accepted as the two disappeared hand in hand in to the twilight horizon.
Days crawled by. Seasons changed, and the moon cycled countless times on their journey. The maiden had begun to learn much about the world and the spirits that inhabited it along side of humanity. He told her about all the different types and how each one acted. He helped her learn to filter the good from the bad. She learned new techniques and grew wiser, while also falling into a deep love for the master. He held no resistance to her alluring pleas. However, fate would condemn them.
The war in the distant land had come to an end. The warriors returned home. Among them was the young chef's son, eager to claim the maiden as his own. But as he returned to the quiet village, he learned of her departure with the mystifying master. Enraged, the warrior committed suicide on the steps of the shrine, soiling the sacred temple with spiteful blood while vowing aragami on the master. His resentful spirit morphed into a snarling spirit in the form of a white sturgeon with red eyes. It followed the faint scent of the maiden, swimming as quickly as it could. Its crossed many rivers, climbed rigorous mountain waterfalls, and settled in the distant sea where the unsuspecting lovers traveled by boat to an island village.
It grew large and furious, preparing to swallow the master whole, but maiden quickly jumped to her feet. As the sturgeon 's jaws clenched together, the maiden found herself in-cased in the loneliness of darkness. It began to gag to spit the maiden out, but she held on tightly to its fangs, frantically trying to prevent the master from being eaten. The serpent thrashed around as it tried to vomit her free from its bite. She prayed to somehow protect the man she had grown to love, guilt stricken that his life was in danger at her foolishness to leave the village with him. To accommodate for her mistake, the maiden sacrificed herself. She felt a string in her chest as she forced her heart to pierce the poisoned fang. Her lifeless body fell from the sturgeon 's mouth. The master cried out in pain at the sight, but as he rushed to her side, the sturgeon struck. As it lunged its head forward, it quickly felt itself be kicked back. Flying into the air before landing heavily on the shore.
There, where the maiden's body had fallen, stood a doe . Its pelt shimmered in the setting sun's light. The gorgeous creature leaped at the serpent, crushing its head with its hoof, and heaved it into the sea with its fragile, yet sturdy, antlers. The master stood in the distance, heartbroken but grateful. The doe returned his gaze with eyes that seemed almost human, and even seemed to cry as it nodded 'goodbye'. He slowly approached the sparkling deer, but it quickly dashed away into nearby forest. Never to be seen again by the master's eyes.
Yet legend has it... That the same twilight coated doe can be seen near the village's shrine, grazing on the fresh grass and returning a serene feeling back to the temple.
Oh wow....Just, just....WOW.
What a lovely tale, Steph ^^
Woow... I love the way you
And I also love the background ^^
I re-did the CSS for this too
The story itself is pretty much the same minus the fact that I turned the creature into a sturgeon instead of a snake.
This was an incredible story.
Out of curiosity, was there a reason why you chose the sturgeon as the vengeful spirit? We have sturgeon here in Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, though I'm sure not the same variety you had in mind. Anyway I thought that was an interesting choice of creature for the story, and I'll keep this in mind when interacting with Kumiko from now on. Thank you so much for sharing such a great story!
Quad, I wish I could tell you
Makes sense XD Not
It originally was a serpent,