Trial Of Yoshimune

Chapter 3. Chihiro

Chihiro couldn't remember the last time she'd had food. She couldn't really remember anything about her past either to be honest. One day, she had woken up on the mountains, void of any recollection of who she was or had been. The only thing she had known was how to read, so once she had seen two kanjis together to spell out Chihiro, thousand fathoms, she'd decided it to be her name from that day onwards. Clumsily the maiden, she assumed that she was one for her clothes didn't appear to belong to anyone married, made her way down from the mountain.

She felt weak when she first came across a village, and it was getting dark. She saw a child, lost, and afraid. This scene made something stir inside of her and she walked over to the child, who looked at her in awe.

Her hair was golden blonde, freely flowing though there was no wind, her kimono lightly coloured and implied of potentially high status, her eyes were the brightest blue, like the eyes of a newly born child, yet they held oldness in them and wisdom beyond her age that appeared to be in her teens.

She bowed to the level of the child, who was too awestruck to speak. "Little one... Where are your parents?" she asked from the child, who swallowed his fears, holding onto a sack of rice. "H-home", he answered, stuttering slightly. Chihiro blinked and looked at the boy, who still looked like he'd cry soon. "And.... Where is your home?" she asked him with the gentlest voice she could muster. The boy looked pale as he looked around and remembered that he was lost.

"I.. I... I don't...", at this point tears flooded down to his face and fell to the ground. Pity took over Chihiro, who took the rice sack from him and offered her hand to the poor boy. "Let's go find it together", she said to which the child only nodded. Silently in her mind, Chihiro wondered why the boy was alone outside at this hour, when the boy started to explain that his parents had sent him to buy more rice because there was a wedding coming up soon, but he got lost while returning because of a large dog chasing after him.

Before she could even ask about the dog, it came to them. Its eyes were red from madness and drool fell from its mouth, Chihiro saw how the soil where the drool hit turned into stone. The boy looked like he wanted to run and who'd blame him for it, but Chihiro stood her grounds, preventing the escape.

She raised her hand and pointed the black dog, her blue eyes gaining a shine temporarily. "Leave this village, corrupt god and never return. Go to the after life and meet the Enma Daio!" she declared with a loud voice. At first, it seemed like the command did nothing.

But then, the dog started to glow with purple colour and disingrated in front of their eyes. The boy looked up at her in wonder. With a small voice he asked, "Nee-San... Are you a god?". Chihiro observed her hand and saw that they glew a little with purple smiled at him weakly. "Maybe? I'm not entirely sure"

Something seemed to shift and the before empty streets were now filled with people. Chihiro realised that the dog had somehow transported the boy into another realm. No wonder he couldn't find a way home.
As they walked through the crowd, the young woman still holding the hand of the boy, they passed a man with red hair and bright amber eyes. The man whispered "Thank you" before dissappearing into the crowd, making Chihiro wonder if she had imagined him.

As the duo found their way to the boy's home, they were greeted by a worried family of the child. The boy excitedly told them what happened and how Chihiro had defeated the evil dog, they turned their attention to the young woman, gasping at her appearance as they'd never seen such beauty before. They offered her a place to stay for the night, but she refused saying that she needed to return to the shrine. As those words fell from her lips, she couldn't help but wonder why she felt the need to go there and what it meant for her to return. The family quickly put two together and assumed her to be a Goddess in disguise. This prompted them to give her an offering of half a dozen of sakuramochis which she accepted as she hadn't eaten for a while.