Era's of Oni

Chapter 4: The Queen and King

A few days had passed since the Horse and Oni met. Kingdoms were very far from each other. During the long time of riding the horse, sleeping with the horse, feeding the horse, and generally taking care of the horse, the Oni had given a name to the horse. The horse couldn't talk and tell her his name so she debated what to call the horse. She thought of something that was related to the color black. Nothing came to mind. Then she thought of the horse's qualities. The horse was loyal, beautiful, and trusting. Shinrai. Trust. That would be the horse's name.

Finally, after so long there was a skookum kingdom spotted in the distance. Akashi told Shinrai to speed up and he did so. They rushed over to the gates of the kingdom. The kingdom was surrounded by large walls just like the kingdom Akashi came from. The only difference between this kingdom and the kingdom Akashi came from was that it was smaller and less poor. There were no Oni's walking around. There was no lust filling the air. It felt more peaceful. There stood two guards at the gates, they held spears up and stood up straight. They watched as Akashi went up to the gates.

A guard walked up to Akashi and spoke to her. "We must check your stuff to make sure that you are not a threat to our kingdom."

Akashi saw that as understandable and cooperated. She handed the guard her bag. The guard investigated her bag swiftly. The guard was a male human. He had broad shoulders, his shining armor, and a helmet that covered his head so you couldn't see the color of his hair. His armor covers his body shape. The guards at her kingdom were more fat. These guards were more well-fitted.

The guard handed the bag back to Akashi.

"Where is your tack?" The guard asked Akashi.

"Tack?" Akashi questioned the guard.

"Your horse equipment ma'am." The guard said annoyed.

The guard was unimpressed by her lack of knowledge. He wasn't the nicest.

"I was not able to afford it," Akashi told the guard.

She lied though, the truth was that she never brought any of the equipment because she thought she'd be walking the whole time. She didn't want anyone to know that she wasn't from a human-only kingdom.

"Once you enter the kingdom to your right there should be a stable to put your horse. If you do not put your horse in our stable before walking through our kingdom your horse may be taken from your hands and you will have to pay to get your horse back. Are we clear?" He asked.

The guard was very serious about his job.

"We're clear," Akashi said.

She got off Shinrai and walked in with him. As soon as she walked in it was like a splash of colors everyone. New smells, new sights, new tastes, new feels, new sounds, new everything. The first thing she did was walk straight to the right like the guard said. There she saw the stable. A man sitting on a chair with his hat down, covering his face. He was trying to sleep. His clothes looked raggy and dirty.

"Uhm...I'm here to drop off my horse." Akashi spoke to the man

The man sighed and got up off of his chair. He grabbed the horse and put it in one of the stables with no horse in it.

"We will hold your horse for seven days, if you do not come back for your horse in seven days we will be releasing your horse into the wild." The man said.

With that Akashi left. She walked back up and left to see the center part of the kingdom again. She walked up the middle seeing kids playing on the streets, and women shopping for clothing, food, and other things. Men work at the shops that the women shop at. You can see that this kingdom as well as the other kingdom both have a problem with gender equality. Guards walked by everywhere. She had to stay human no matter what. If she even showed an inch of her Oni skin she would be murdered, hung, drowned, burned, beheaded, or any other punishment. It was unfair but that was just the way things ran.

A little girl tripped and fell in front of Akashi. The girl cried and cried. The girl called out for her mother. Akashi gently picked up the girl and stood her on her feet.

"Are you ok little one? Where's your mother?" Akashi asked the little girl.

She was in tears. Her mother who was shopping for bread finally noticed her kid crying and ran over. The mother slapped Akashi's hands off of the little girl.

"How dare you make my child cry! Shame on you." The mother yelled and ran away.

Everyone stood still and watched as the mother walked away and Akashi stood there almost in tears. Akashi ran away from the scene to behind one of the buildings. She sat down and held her legs to her chest as she cried. Akashi was a very sensitive person. She didn't expect someone to suddenly yell at her just for helping someone. She missed her parents who'd died in the war. Her old friends had also died in the war. Everyone she cared about had died in the war. She wondered why she'd left in the first place. She had a friend. Yet she left her. Everyone had left her and now she is leaving them.

Akashi wanted to go back home. Then she remembered how she'd get treated over there too. At least she doesn't have to live in poverty anymore. She could be anywhere she wanted here. She could be anything she wanted here.

Thinking about all of this opened her mind up more. With that, she was on her way again. She went back to where she was before and started walking again. She stopped at a water fountain surrounded by more shops. This must be the center of the shops and houses. Where everyone goes to. She asked around for any hotels or places to sleep. They pointed to a building left of where she was. The sign on the building was called "Tavern Inn". She walked up to the building, opened the door, and stepped inside. It was an auberge.

There sat a woman behind a desk.

'Was there finally a woman that worked? Was there a hope for gender equality?' Akashi thought.

Akashi went up to the woman sitting at the front desk.

"Uhm can I get a small room? Just for me." Akashi asked the woman.

The woman looked up at her with judgy eyes. She was not a peaceful or nice person. The woman got up from her chair and went into a room without saying a word. A baby sat on the floor playing with wooden blocks.

'The woman was certainly not fit for having a baby so then why did she have one?' Akashi thought'

A man with the same woman came out from the same room.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The man spoke.

He was old with gray hair. The woman almost looked identical to the man. If the old man didn't have any wrinkles on his face they would look like twins.

"I just need a small room for a few days," Akashi said to the man.

"Two silver coins." The man said.

Akashi carried little to no coins so it was a stretch but she was still able to pay the man. She reached into her bag, grabbed the coins, and handed it to him. She still had eight more silver coins.

Being rich meant having thousands to millions of gold and silver coins. Being poor meant you had some to no gold and silver coins. Finding a singular silver coin could buy you nothing more than a loaf of bread. The poor would make 2 silver coins and most. Barely enough to afford food.

"First one to the left." The man said pointing up the stairs.

Akashi went over and up the stairs, walking over to the first door to the left. Akashi used the key to open the door. There was everything that she needed. She checked around if there was any way someone would be watching her. After looking all over the room and closing the curtains to the window, she saw no way someone would be watching her. She sat on the floor and turned back into her original form as an Oni.

Transforming took a lot of energy. Especially since she was transformed for about a week now. Her head hit the ceiling once she finished transforming. She lay on the bed that was a little too small for her since her feet were hanging off of the ends of the bed. In just a few seconds, she was fast asleep. Awaiting the next morning. 

Word count: 1496