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Drabble #4...though it's too long to be a drabble
Prompt #69: Nostalgic
Fandom: Senkaiden Houshin Engi
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Notes: My longest fic yet for this collection X_X
It had been a long time.
Fugen had abandoned his Sennin vehicle several feet away and trekked up the hill to the old abandoned site. Thousands of memories lingered in the ground he walked, yet everything was different after fifty years. The river was narrow and barely flowing. The grass was torn and dried out. And where a little village once stood, there was now only a few sparse stones where houses were, and eroded rings of exposed soil where fires once burned through.
He stood in the nigh-empty field, three deep red roses in his hand. He closed his eyes, letting nostalgia wash over him like the breeze that swept past him.
***
“You see, Kaede?” the boy said, holding up his invention, “With this hook, I can go fishing without hurting them.”
Kaede, a young girl of nine years old, stared with dubious eyes at the older boy’s hook. If it could be called a hook; it was completely straight, more like a sewing needle.
“Oniichan, I don’t get it.” she pouted, “What’s the point of a fishing hook if it doesn’t catch any fish?”
“Well…” he replied, tying the straightened metal to his fishing rod, “I don’t like to eat fish anyway…I just like being by the lake like this.” he looked at his younger sister and smiled, “There’s no reason for me to hurt the fish just for that.”
Kaede crouched, watching her brother lower his line into the water, and pouted more.
“You come up with weird ideas, Oniichan.”
“Fugen! Kaede!” a woman’s voice called from the top of the hill, “It’s time to come home! The sun’s coming down!”
“Coming, Okaasan!” the children called in unison. Fugen stood first, winding his line around the rod and draping it over his shoulder. Then he took Kaede’s hand and they both hurried up the hill to where their mother, a plump woman in her late thirties, stood to greet them.
The three of them walked hand in hand to their hut, not speaking much at first, until the mother took a glance at the hook on Fugen’s fishing pole.
“Oh, is that what you had been working on, Fugen?”
“Hai!” the boy nodded, beaming. His mother smiled back warmly.
“That’s just like you, my little angel. You never want to hurt anybody.” She stroked Fugen’s sky-blue hair fondly, watching it in the light of the glowing ring over his head.
“Ne Okaasan…” Kaede exclaimed, looking up at them, “Why does Fugen-Oniichan have that ring anyway?”
“Nobody really knows.” the mother replied softly, “He was just born with it.”
“Mmm…” Kaede pondered another moment, then looked ahead. Her smile brightened and she ran to greet the father, who had just come home from the fields. Fugen smiled at them, but stayed with his mother.
Then he turned his head to a conversation between two men not too far away.
“Another village was attacked yesterday. Three hundred more people were taken for the royal burial.”
“That’s horrible…what has become of the Yin?”
“That Dakki…it’s all that damn kitsune’s fault!”
Fugen’s face fell, and he looked up at his mother with concerned eyes.
“Okaasan…”
She looked down at her son, questioning.
“Could the Yin army possibly come this far? Could we be next?”
The mother’s face grew serious for a split second. But then she smiled again, and knelt down to look at him at eye level.
“Don’t worry, little angel.” she said slowly, “They wouldn’t be interested in a little village like ours.”
“But they already went after other nearby towns…”
“Fugen…” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “It will be alright. Even if they did come, they won’t take us. We’ll all run and hide. I know how fast you and your sister are.” she smiled at that.
Fugen didn’t answer, nor did he return her smile. But he nodded slowly, serious.
“Come now, let me see that smile of yours. Life is better when you can smile in times like this.”
The boy didn’t smile much for a minute, so she reached out and lightly tickled the side of his neck.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, giggling in spite of himself. His mother smiled.
“That’s better. Now come on, it’s getting dark.”
***
“Fugen. Fugen!”
A hand roughly grabbed Fugen’s shoulder, shaking him awake with a start.
“Wh-what?” he stammered, dazed from being woken up and suddenly worried by the urgency in the woman’s voice.
“Shh!” she hissed back, “Come on, quickly.”
She grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. He rubbed his eyes, trying to gather his disrupted senses as his mother lead him out of the bedroom door toward the exit. But as they reached it, the father came in, silhouetted in the doorway.
“It’s too late. They’re already here.”
Outside there were faint sounds of horses galloping, and some sort of ruckus of hushed whispers. Fugen tried to listen to what they were saying, but couldn’t make out anything definite before his father closed the door, bolting it. His mother looked around the room, then lead him to a corner where a small set of drawers was set.
“Okaasan, what’s happening? Where’s Kaede?”
She didn’t answer, save opening one of the cupboards at the bottom she looking to Fugen with urgent eyes.
“Hide in here. Quickly.”
Fugen stared at his mother with wide eyes. She stared back with a look of desperation that he had never seen in her before. He swallowed, slowly crouching to climb into the cupboard that he just barely fit in, his thoughts expecting the worst.
Once he was in, his mother grabbed him gently on either side of his head and kissed him hard on the forehead. She held her lips there a moment before pulling away, still holding his face so he would stay looking at her.
“Whatever happens, stay here. Don’t come out until it’s all over.” her eyes were brimming with tears as she stroked his hair, “I love you, little angel.”
“Okaas--”
The cupboard door thudded shut.
Fugen froze a moment, letting everything sink in. He had never seen his family so frightened before. He thought back to that evening, talking about the Yin army.
By the Gods, he hoped his suspicions were wrong.
He hugged his knees to his chest and waited, worried and silent. Then suddenly there was a crash just outside. Fugen nearly held his breath, suddenly intent on listening to what was happening outside. He pressed his ear against the door, picking up footsteps and an unfamiliar male voice.
“By order of the Yin, you are to be taken for the burial ceremony of our late emperor. Do not resist us.”
Fugen’s eyes widened as another voice entered.
“Are you two alone?”
“There is no one else here. And we will not come with you to be buried!”
Fugen carefully pushed the cupboard door open a slight bit, hoping the strangers from the Yin didn’t hear it squeak as he did. The two intruders into the home, army men of Yin, had their swords drawn, menacing his parents.
“We have no time! If you resist, you will die.”
“We will not come with you! Leave us in peace!” the father exclaimed, holding some sort of weapon in his hand. He swung it sharply at one guard, who didn’t hesitate to strike back. In two swift strokes, there was the sound of metal and of agonized shrieks. Fugen had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stifle the yelp of horror that would have escaped from it.
It ended as quickly as it started. The two guards turned and left through the broken door as they came, throwing the two bodies to the floor roughly. Fugen stared, shocked, almost disbelieving of what he just witnessed. And in a fleeting moment, he forgot his mother’s warning and clambered out of the cupboard to her side.
“Okaasan!” he grabbed the hem of her robe, shaking her, “Okaasan, get up! Get up!” tears blinded him as his hands stained red.
“Okaasan…” he choked, dropping his head onto her chest, still clinging to her clothing.
Suddenly from the window there was a crash. Fugen looked up with a gasp to see the glass shattering as a burning torch was thrown through it, catching itself on the wooden floor. He jumped to his feet, watching the flames rise up, before behind him another window broke, more fire burning behind him. He panicked, shielding his face and staggering blindly out of the cabin.
He was nearly knocked over as someone ran past him. He blinked to clear his vision and then he saw and heard the chaos before him. All the houses were burning, the field was flooded with bodies and panicked villagers. In the distance Yin soldiers on horseback shackled their successful captives together.
A scream not too far away caught Fugen’s ears. He looked to find the source, and there he saw two soldiers pinning down a struggling, screaming little girl.
He didn’t have to think twice to realize who it was.
“KAEDE!” Fugen ran blindly toward them. Halfway there a pair of hands seized his shoulders, holding him fast as he still tried to run, struggling frantically.
“Leave her alone!” he cried, “She’s only a child!”
“Stop struggling!” the guard holding him snarled, forcing his arms behind his back.
“Let go of me!” Fugen continued to struggle, “Leave her alone! Let me go! KAEDE!”
“I said stop struggling!”
A harsh blow to the back of his head sent him to the ground, hitting the top of his head against a nearby stone with a sickening crack.
***
When he opened his eyes again, he almost gagged at the stench of smoke and blood that attacked his senses. He groaned, slowly pushing himself to his hands and knees. A stabbing pain in his forehead made him shut his eyes again, clutching the spot. A warm, wet substance met his hand; definitely blood. As he struggled to his feet he attempted to open his eyes again, succeeding through the pain.
And he almost wished he hadn’t. He was greeted with the sight of what was once his village, now only a mess of corpses, blood, and ash.
His brow wrinkled in dismay, staggering numbly through the wreckage. He felt almost nothing, until after several paces, he found a familiar body at his feet; his little sister, her hair draped over her face, blood staining her hands and trickling down her robes.
That image alone snapped Fugen out of his daze. His eyes went wide as he couldn’t help but stare at the body before him.
“…Kaede…” he whispered, dropping to his knees and caressing her face.
“Imoutouchan…I’m so sorry…”
Fugen didn’t know how long he sat next to Kaede’s body and cried. But he did know that after however long, he suddenly felt a cold, rough hand on his shoulder. He gasped and turned, an old man greeting him.
“Do not be frightened, Fugen.” he said, “I am a friend.”
Fugen didn’t answer, standing and staring up at the stranger, bewildered.
“I am Genshitenson of the Sennin World. And I have been watching you.”
***
Fugen opened his eyes, returning to the present. Slowly he kneeled where he was, a sad smile on his face.
“Okaasan…Otousan…Kaede-imoutouchan…” he whispered, “It’s been fifty years…I miss you all so much…”
He lowered the roses in his hands to the ground.
“I hope I’m making you proud…I love you all.”
Fandom: Senkaiden Houshin Engi
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Notes: My longest fic yet for this collection X_X
It had been a long time.
Fugen had abandoned his Sennin vehicle several feet away and trekked up the hill to the old abandoned site. Thousands of memories lingered in the ground he walked, yet everything was different after fifty years. The river was narrow and barely flowing. The grass was torn and dried out. And where a little village once stood, there was now only a few sparse stones where houses were, and eroded rings of exposed soil where fires once burned through.
He stood in the nigh-empty field, three deep red roses in his hand. He closed his eyes, letting nostalgia wash over him like the breeze that swept past him.
***
“You see, Kaede?” the boy said, holding up his invention, “With this hook, I can go fishing without hurting them.”
Kaede, a young girl of nine years old, stared with dubious eyes at the older boy’s hook. If it could be called a hook; it was completely straight, more like a sewing needle.
“Oniichan, I don’t get it.” she pouted, “What’s the point of a fishing hook if it doesn’t catch any fish?”
“Well…” he replied, tying the straightened metal to his fishing rod, “I don’t like to eat fish anyway…I just like being by the lake like this.” he looked at his younger sister and smiled, “There’s no reason for me to hurt the fish just for that.”
Kaede crouched, watching her brother lower his line into the water, and pouted more.
“You come up with weird ideas, Oniichan.”
“Fugen! Kaede!” a woman’s voice called from the top of the hill, “It’s time to come home! The sun’s coming down!”
“Coming, Okaasan!” the children called in unison. Fugen stood first, winding his line around the rod and draping it over his shoulder. Then he took Kaede’s hand and they both hurried up the hill to where their mother, a plump woman in her late thirties, stood to greet them.
The three of them walked hand in hand to their hut, not speaking much at first, until the mother took a glance at the hook on Fugen’s fishing pole.
“Oh, is that what you had been working on, Fugen?”
“Hai!” the boy nodded, beaming. His mother smiled back warmly.
“That’s just like you, my little angel. You never want to hurt anybody.” She stroked Fugen’s sky-blue hair fondly, watching it in the light of the glowing ring over his head.
“Ne Okaasan…” Kaede exclaimed, looking up at them, “Why does Fugen-Oniichan have that ring anyway?”
“Nobody really knows.” the mother replied softly, “He was just born with it.”
“Mmm…” Kaede pondered another moment, then looked ahead. Her smile brightened and she ran to greet the father, who had just come home from the fields. Fugen smiled at them, but stayed with his mother.
Then he turned his head to a conversation between two men not too far away.
“Another village was attacked yesterday. Three hundred more people were taken for the royal burial.”
“That’s horrible…what has become of the Yin?”
“That Dakki…it’s all that damn kitsune’s fault!”
Fugen’s face fell, and he looked up at his mother with concerned eyes.
“Okaasan…”
She looked down at her son, questioning.
“Could the Yin army possibly come this far? Could we be next?”
The mother’s face grew serious for a split second. But then she smiled again, and knelt down to look at him at eye level.
“Don’t worry, little angel.” she said slowly, “They wouldn’t be interested in a little village like ours.”
“But they already went after other nearby towns…”
“Fugen…” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “It will be alright. Even if they did come, they won’t take us. We’ll all run and hide. I know how fast you and your sister are.” she smiled at that.
Fugen didn’t answer, nor did he return her smile. But he nodded slowly, serious.
“Come now, let me see that smile of yours. Life is better when you can smile in times like this.”
The boy didn’t smile much for a minute, so she reached out and lightly tickled the side of his neck.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, giggling in spite of himself. His mother smiled.
“That’s better. Now come on, it’s getting dark.”
***
“Fugen. Fugen!”
A hand roughly grabbed Fugen’s shoulder, shaking him awake with a start.
“Wh-what?” he stammered, dazed from being woken up and suddenly worried by the urgency in the woman’s voice.
“Shh!” she hissed back, “Come on, quickly.”
She grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. He rubbed his eyes, trying to gather his disrupted senses as his mother lead him out of the bedroom door toward the exit. But as they reached it, the father came in, silhouetted in the doorway.
“It’s too late. They’re already here.”
Outside there were faint sounds of horses galloping, and some sort of ruckus of hushed whispers. Fugen tried to listen to what they were saying, but couldn’t make out anything definite before his father closed the door, bolting it. His mother looked around the room, then lead him to a corner where a small set of drawers was set.
“Okaasan, what’s happening? Where’s Kaede?”
She didn’t answer, save opening one of the cupboards at the bottom she looking to Fugen with urgent eyes.
“Hide in here. Quickly.”
Fugen stared at his mother with wide eyes. She stared back with a look of desperation that he had never seen in her before. He swallowed, slowly crouching to climb into the cupboard that he just barely fit in, his thoughts expecting the worst.
Once he was in, his mother grabbed him gently on either side of his head and kissed him hard on the forehead. She held her lips there a moment before pulling away, still holding his face so he would stay looking at her.
“Whatever happens, stay here. Don’t come out until it’s all over.” her eyes were brimming with tears as she stroked his hair, “I love you, little angel.”
“Okaas--”
The cupboard door thudded shut.
Fugen froze a moment, letting everything sink in. He had never seen his family so frightened before. He thought back to that evening, talking about the Yin army.
By the Gods, he hoped his suspicions were wrong.
He hugged his knees to his chest and waited, worried and silent. Then suddenly there was a crash just outside. Fugen nearly held his breath, suddenly intent on listening to what was happening outside. He pressed his ear against the door, picking up footsteps and an unfamiliar male voice.
“By order of the Yin, you are to be taken for the burial ceremony of our late emperor. Do not resist us.”
Fugen’s eyes widened as another voice entered.
“Are you two alone?”
“There is no one else here. And we will not come with you to be buried!”
Fugen carefully pushed the cupboard door open a slight bit, hoping the strangers from the Yin didn’t hear it squeak as he did. The two intruders into the home, army men of Yin, had their swords drawn, menacing his parents.
“We have no time! If you resist, you will die.”
“We will not come with you! Leave us in peace!” the father exclaimed, holding some sort of weapon in his hand. He swung it sharply at one guard, who didn’t hesitate to strike back. In two swift strokes, there was the sound of metal and of agonized shrieks. Fugen had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stifle the yelp of horror that would have escaped from it.
It ended as quickly as it started. The two guards turned and left through the broken door as they came, throwing the two bodies to the floor roughly. Fugen stared, shocked, almost disbelieving of what he just witnessed. And in a fleeting moment, he forgot his mother’s warning and clambered out of the cupboard to her side.
“Okaasan!” he grabbed the hem of her robe, shaking her, “Okaasan, get up! Get up!” tears blinded him as his hands stained red.
“Okaasan…” he choked, dropping his head onto her chest, still clinging to her clothing.
Suddenly from the window there was a crash. Fugen looked up with a gasp to see the glass shattering as a burning torch was thrown through it, catching itself on the wooden floor. He jumped to his feet, watching the flames rise up, before behind him another window broke, more fire burning behind him. He panicked, shielding his face and staggering blindly out of the cabin.
He was nearly knocked over as someone ran past him. He blinked to clear his vision and then he saw and heard the chaos before him. All the houses were burning, the field was flooded with bodies and panicked villagers. In the distance Yin soldiers on horseback shackled their successful captives together.
A scream not too far away caught Fugen’s ears. He looked to find the source, and there he saw two soldiers pinning down a struggling, screaming little girl.
He didn’t have to think twice to realize who it was.
“KAEDE!” Fugen ran blindly toward them. Halfway there a pair of hands seized his shoulders, holding him fast as he still tried to run, struggling frantically.
“Leave her alone!” he cried, “She’s only a child!”
“Stop struggling!” the guard holding him snarled, forcing his arms behind his back.
“Let go of me!” Fugen continued to struggle, “Leave her alone! Let me go! KAEDE!”
“I said stop struggling!”
A harsh blow to the back of his head sent him to the ground, hitting the top of his head against a nearby stone with a sickening crack.
***
When he opened his eyes again, he almost gagged at the stench of smoke and blood that attacked his senses. He groaned, slowly pushing himself to his hands and knees. A stabbing pain in his forehead made him shut his eyes again, clutching the spot. A warm, wet substance met his hand; definitely blood. As he struggled to his feet he attempted to open his eyes again, succeeding through the pain.
And he almost wished he hadn’t. He was greeted with the sight of what was once his village, now only a mess of corpses, blood, and ash.
His brow wrinkled in dismay, staggering numbly through the wreckage. He felt almost nothing, until after several paces, he found a familiar body at his feet; his little sister, her hair draped over her face, blood staining her hands and trickling down her robes.
That image alone snapped Fugen out of his daze. His eyes went wide as he couldn’t help but stare at the body before him.
“…Kaede…” he whispered, dropping to his knees and caressing her face.
“Imoutouchan…I’m so sorry…”
Fugen didn’t know how long he sat next to Kaede’s body and cried. But he did know that after however long, he suddenly felt a cold, rough hand on his shoulder. He gasped and turned, an old man greeting him.
“Do not be frightened, Fugen.” he said, “I am a friend.”
Fugen didn’t answer, standing and staring up at the stranger, bewildered.
“I am Genshitenson of the Sennin World. And I have been watching you.”
***
Fugen opened his eyes, returning to the present. Slowly he kneeled where he was, a sad smile on his face.
“Okaasan…Otousan…Kaede-imoutouchan…” he whispered, “It’s been fifty years…I miss you all so much…”
He lowered the roses in his hands to the ground.
“I hope I’m making you proud…I love you all.”