Chapter 1

Within the darkness and thunder crashing, a fight erupts within the castle. Akihito and the Demon King clashes swords. Small flashes of light comes off when the swords clashes against each other. Each determined to kill the other person. Akihito runs at the Demon King and leaps into the air. Akihito grips his sword and slashes down upon him. The Demon King lifts his sword and blocks the attack. Akihito lands, swords interlocked.

“Why don’t you just end it and die,” the Demon King pants. “You are going to die anyway.”

“The only person here that is going to die is you,” Akihito pants.

“Well then, why don’t we see who dies first.”

He knocks Akihito away. He dashes towards Akihito. The Demon King swings his sword bashing into Akihito’s sword, pushing Akihito back. The Demon King howls with rage, while he overpowers Akihito with his brutal strength. Akihito falls down to his knees, taking the Demon King’s heavy blows repeatedly. The sweat, from Akihito, slides down his face and falls off his chin smacking on the floor. The Demon King stops in his offensive advance and stares upon Akihito, who is too exhausted to even lift his sword.

“This is the end of the line,” the Demon King speaks. “I shall conquer the world and change it to my fitting.”

The he lifts his sword. Akihito looks up at him, while panting, and glances at the sword. The Demon King’s sword, color black, transforms and regains its sharp and true form. For a glimpse, the sword shines a little. Upon that glimmer of light, the sword falls and sprays blood all over the place as Akihito’s head rolls away.

As she stares at Akihito’s face, scared and sad, the image starts to fade and disappear. The colors start to mix and spin in circles. Soon nothing was there but pure darkness. Every direction only has darkness lurking around. Wondering where she was, the darkness notice her and starts to engulfs her. She tries to break away from the darkness, but the darkness only stays attached to her. She stretched her hand out as far as she can. She starts to yell and call for help only to hear no sound coming out of her voice. As the darkness continues to consumes her, she closes her eyes and lets everything go waiting for her death. A tear slides away from her eye and passes her cheek to her chin. The tear fall off her chin, rippling the darkness away. She opens her eyes to see a small glimmer of light. As she reaches her hand toward the light, she hears a voice calling her name. The voice she wanted to hear.

“Ai. Wake up,” a boy said.

The light from the door shines straight into her eyes. She opens her eyes ever so slightly. She sits up and looks around to find a boy with grey hair and eyes standing next to her bed. As she lifts her hand to cover her mouth, she sheds some tears.

She leaps to the boy’s chest and cries “Akihito.” She weeps within his arms, crying like a newborn baby.

“Ai. What’s wrong,” Akihito says wiping some of her tears.

“I thought that you have died,” Ai whispers squeezing tighter.

“Why would I die?”

She looks at him and answers “your right, there is no way you would have died,” she wipes some of her tears away. As Ai moves away for from Akihito, he pulls her right back in, wrapping his arms around her.

“I don’t know what you mean or what kind of dream you had, but you made me very worried,” Akihito whispers next to her ear. “If you want, you can tell me anything.”

Ai wraps her arms around him, holding him tightly, and cries again. Letting go all of her worries within his arms. A few moments pasts and Ai pulls away. She wipes her tears away and looks at him.

“It’s okay. I know that you have not died,” Ai explains.

“Are you sure. Judging from how you cried, I’m very worried,” Akihito says concerned looking down at her.

“Yeah I know. I can tell that you were really worried about me. Your hair and eyes tell me everything.”

“Since you know how worried I was, you have to tell me why you were crying.”

Ai looks down for a bit then looks up bashfully and whispers enough so that he can hear, “can you kiss me.”

Akihito takes a step back and yells a little, “why do you want a kiss,” while blushing.

“Is that a no,” Ai says bashfully while looking like a child that does not get what he wants, fiddling with her fingers.

“Fine.”

He walks towards the edge of her bed and turns his head to the side. He waits impatiently for her to kiss his cheek. Ai scoots towards the edge of the bed to Akihito and kneeling in front of him. She places her hands on his cheeks and turns his head. Akihito looks at Ai, confused. She leans forwards and connects her lips with his. Akihito widens his eyes, confused and shocked. Ai slides her hands to Akihito’s back, wrapping her arms arms behind his neck. Ai presses her body against Akihito’s body. She kisses another time and moves away from him very slowly. Ai bats her eyelashes and looks down, blushing.

“That was my first kiss,” Ai whispers glancing upward squirming a little.

He looks at her with a beat red face and yell, “Are you messing with me. That was my first kiss too.”

Akihito steps towards to door, but stops right before exiting.

He turns his head around slightly and asks gently, “are you sure that there nothing that I should be worried about.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ai replies.

“Ok then,” Akihito says looking very sad and walks out.

“Yeah, I know how much you worried about me. Just like your hair and eyes, they never changed and stayed grey. Just let you older sister protect you,” Ai whispers underneath her breath.

Chapter 2

In the world called Atarashi Kikari, there is a certain mountain called Hime that is known for taking people. Anyone that climbed this mountain never comes back down. No one dares to climb on the mountain or even get to the base of the mountain. The base of Mountain Hime is surrounded by a thick forest, called Ushinawareta Mori, with many animals living within. Some even claimed that monsters live within Ushinawareta Mori. But, legend states that a certain village lives within Mountain Hime that can survive and travel on Mountain Hime. This village is supposedly called Kakusa Remishita. But there is no proof that Kakusa Remishita actually exists.

Akihito walks out of the house. He lifts his hand to block the sunlight from his eyes. He walks down the gravel road to starts his normal chores. He takes a few steps and turns around. Looking back at the house, wonders why Ai did something like that to him. He touches his lips and decided not to think too much into it and start working to help provide the village with some food. His father told him to check the animal traps laid within the forest. As Akihito walks to the forest, many people greet him.

“It’s the chef’s son. How are you doing,” one man said.

“It’s nice of you to help us gather food everyday,” a old women said.

“No, it’s fine. I just like doing what I can do for everyone,” Akihito tells them.

“You are such a nice person. Just like your mother,” another woman said.

“Hey Akihito, come and play with us,” some children said excitedly.

“Sorry, but I got to collect food. Maybe next time,” Akihito said as he pats their heads.

Akihito walks past the villagers and heads his way to the forest. Many people greet him along the way and tells him to be safe. Akihito smiles and talks to everyone that is along the path. He soon gets close to one of the gates that leaves the village. The village soldiers are standing guard to make sure that no monsters enter the village.

“Good job protecting the place,” Akihito tells them.

“Thanks you sir,” the guards replies.

Akihito takes a bag and a sword and walks past the gates. He heads into the forest and starts searching for the animal traps. He checks the first animal trap that is the closest to the village and and sees nothing. After checking a few animal traps, he finds nothing. As morning turned to the afternoon, all the traps that he checked had nothing within them. He also notice that there were no animals within the area. As he ventured deeper into the forest, he sensed a bloodthirst behind him. He turns around and saw nothing. The bloodthirst that he felt also disappeared. He assumed it was his imagination and continued his search for food.

It turned dusk by the time that Akihito decided to go home. He obtain nothing within the animal traps that he checked. As he walked towards the village, he came upon a small pond. The pond was a foot deep and was surrounded by rocks. A very small stream on both side of the pond brings water to the pond. He takes a small rest by the pond to recharge his energy from walking all day. He sit near the edge of the pond and laids on his back. He stared into the sky and breathes deeply in and out. Suddenly, the world turns dark and he disappears into the darkness.

Akihito stood in front of the village staring at the disaster. Night has absorb the village. The houses were on fire, the villagers were screaming and yell, and there was blood everywhere. Akihito started to walk into the village unconscionably.

Suddenly, a guy runs in front of him screaming, “HELP ME!”

As the guy runs farther, a black beast chases him. The beast was standing on two legs, the beast’s sword was covered in blood. The man trips over a dead body. He turns around to see a dead woman holding a dead baby girl within her arms. The man starts to cry as the beast slowly approaches the man. The beast starts to laugh and enjoying the scene, eating on the fear and sorrow the man was unleashing. The beast lifts up his bloody sword and slices the crying man. The sword cuts through the neck sending blood toward Akihito. The blood lands on Akihito’s face and clothes. Akihito stands there paralyzed as the head of the man rolls on the floor and stops with his dead pale eyes staring into Akihito’s eyes.

Right before the man died, Akihito heard him say, “Emi. Aiko. Daddy’s sorry.”

Akihito lifts his body up. He looks around and find himself back in the forest near the pond. Dusk has turned to night. He lets a big sigh and washes his face. Akihito starts to heads to the village when he saw a red light lighting the dark night sky. He assumed the light came from the sun that was still setting when the dream intrude his mind. He runs towards the light, scared that the red light is not what he thinks it is. The closer he gets to the village, to the red light, he slowly knows that his dream is coming into reality. The trees fly past him as he runs through the forest. Akihito exits the forest and comes to a stop. Tears fall away from his eyes as he kneels towards the village. The corrupted flames burns all over the village. Scorching anything that it touches. Houses and walls burning and breaking, falling over people and lighting more in flames.

Akihito rises himself up. He walks into the burning village, pasting the burning logs and dead bodies. He walks the gravel road to Ai’s house.

Akihito whispers underneath his breath, “Ai.”

He reaches to Ai’s house and stares at the darkness door covered in flames. Many people lay dead on the ground, creating a burning stench within the air. He steps closer to the house when a black, red eyed demon, long wide mouth, two arms with 5 claws on each arm, and a tail with a hook, emerges from the house. Akihito, with a blank mind, kicks a sword off the ground with his shoe. Akihito catches the sword as the demon rushes at him. The demon strides forward using his arms, laughing loudly as he wants to devour the man in front of him. The demon lunges at Akihito, opening his mouth ready to bite. Akihito couches underneath the demon and cuts the demon’s belly. The demon lands, gripping the ground with his claws, and turns around. The demon screeches at Akihito and marches forward. Akihito turns his body slightly and faces the demon with black eyes. The demon stops in front of the Akihito and pauses. Black goo slides down his body. The demon cries and lunges forward to attack Akihito. Before the demon could attack, his body splits in half, falling on both side of Akihito. Akihito turns around and heads into the darkness of the burning house. As he walks inside, he starts to remember where he is and what was happening. He glances around and sees a body laying on the bed. As he walks closer, his heart starts to ache with pain and sadness as his hair and eyes submerges in grey.

He reaches the bed and whispers, “Ai,” as he touches her arm.

The bed was soaked in blood. Ai was laying on the bed with a small pool of blood surrounding her. Her eyes were wide and open with no color in them and she stares at the ceiling. Akihito puts his arm underneath Ai’s neck and holds her tightly, wrapping his other arm over her body.

With a weak voice, Akihito whispers again, “Ai.” “Ai” screaming with all his might, shedding tears over her dead body.

He lifts her body off the bed. Her body wet and cold. He walks out of the house and remembers something.

“Mom, wait” Akihito said.

“Dear, stay inside of the house,” his mother said.

“Mom, don’t go. Stay with me.”

Sorry dear, but I got to keep you safe.”

She runs out of the house and looks to the right screaming, “come and get me.” She picks up a sword on the floor and runs to the left.

A few seconds later, a black beast appears through the doorway running after the mother. This beast had four arms, each holding a black sword, red eyes in the eye socket, rotten flesh all over his body, and his rib cage was covered in blood and moving like teeths. Akihito stays inside of the house until the next morning. He walks slowly to the door and peeks out. The other houses are destroyed and burned down. He slowly walks out of the house and wonders around the area.

“Mom” Akihito whispers.

No one replies. The wind blows in his small face and the sound of stomps comes closer. Akihito runs back to the house as he fears for his life unknowing what is making the sound. His small legs don’t make it that far before the sounds catch up to him. Someone grabs him and lifts him off the floor.

Akihito moves around and closes his eyes, yelling “LET GO OF ME!”

“Akihito,” a familiar voice saids.

Akihito opens his eyes and looks at the man holding him. It was a young man with a sword on his back.

“Daddy. Where is mommy,” Akihito asked, worriedly.

“Akihito, m--m--mommy is d--dead,” as he cries.

Akihito stares at his father. For the first time, he sees his father crying and seeing him cry, he starts to cry as well. They both hug each other as they cry in each other arms. They carry the mother's dead body to the field. They walk weakly to the large tree on top of the hill. There was a hole that they dugged up next to the tree. They put her inside and bury her there. Akihito stands there looking at the grave. Akihito closes his eyes remembering some of his mother’s words.

“Akihito, always take care of your sister,” his mother said. “You may be younger but take care of her with your life.”

Akihito opens his eyes and looks at the grave and says “yes mother, I will protect Ai with my life.”

Akihito walks down the gravel road while carrying his sister. He continues on while looking at the damages. There were deep claw marks on the building and the gardens were destroyed and mashed up. Dead bodies were everywhere, some were split in half, guts gouged out, heads missing, and blood everywhere. Nothing alive was around the village anymore. The crackling sound from the fire was the only sound that was heard throughout the village. Akihito makes it outside and looks back. Remembering memories in the village, the villagers, and his father and sister. He turns around leaving the burning village to be forever in the past.

Akihito stands next to the large tree on the hill. He stabs a piece of wood into the ground. The wood had the word “sister” carved into it. Akihito buried Ai next to their mother’s grave.

“Mother,” he said. “I’m sorry that I could not keep my words,” as he cries a little.

He wipes the tears away and looks up in the distance. He looks across the field and sees the world beyond Mountain Hime.

“Mom, Ai, see you guys soon,” he says quietly.

He marches forward away from the large tree to the plains past the forest Ushinawareta Mori. He pauses before the forest and looks in. The sunlight shines little into the woods. Akihito takes a step forwards into the woods. A gust of wind blows at him. The tree’s branches shake wildly. Akihito holds his ground as the wind blows, sounding like a beast roar. Akihito looks into the woods as the winds stops. Then he marches into the woods.

Chapter 3

“Come on. Lets go,” Tsubasa said waving his hand. “The longer we are out in the plains, the more dangerous it gets.”

“I can’t,” Mirai said shaking. “I can’t do this any longer.”

“You know what happens when people stay outside too long. They die.”

“I know and that is why I don’t want to come out here,” Mirai said as she runs up to him.

“We got to go or else we are going to die out here.” Tsubasa said looking around nervously.

“I can’t help it. I’m scared.”

Tsubasa is holding a torch as they continued through the dark. A few small pairs of light reflects back at them. He stops in his tracks. He looks at the glimar of lights reflecting to him. Mirai, not knowing what is ahead, walks into him and bumps into him. He turns around about to yell at her when he stops. He feels a killing sensation behind him. He turns around slowly and finds a group of goblins staring at them with wooden clubs. Mirai pokes her head from behind Tsubasa and sees the group of goblins. She freezes in place, legs locked in place. Tsubasa drops the torch turns around and runs leaving Mirai behind. She follows him with her eyes until he vanishes in the darkness. She turns back to the goblins as they screech at her. The goblins start to move closer staring at her with their big black eyes. The goblin in the front lifts his club ready to smack her. She closes her eyes and grits her teeth.

“Someone, help me,” she whispers quietly.

Then, she hears a goblin scream in pain and then silence. She opens her eyes and sees a young boy standing with his back against her holding his sword which is covered in blood. She sees the goblin laying on the floor, guts spilled out, arms are cut off, and a hole on the forehead. The other goblins cries a little and whispers quietly to each other. The young boy rushes forward towards the other goblins. Slicing them with no emotions wearing black hair and eyes. The cries of the goblins vanish from the air as night continues.

The young boy runs to her and asks, “are you okay, are you hurt at all.”

“No, I’m fine,” Mirai replied towards him. “Thank you for saving me.”

“No problem. I was just wondering around until I saw you surrounded by the goblins,” he said as he puts away his sword.

“Wondering around? Aren’t you afraid that you can die out here,” she question him.

“Nope. I can protect myself from these monsters.”

“Well, thank you. I can’t thank you enough for going out of your way and saving,” she said. “Sorry for the late introduction but my name is Mirai Shimizu. What is your name.”

“My name is Akihito Kobayashi. Can you take me to the closest town.”

“Yeah, I can do that for you but we have to wait till morning because they don’t open the town for newcomers at night.”

Akihito picks up the torch on the ground and follows Mirai to the camp that Mirai and Tsubasa made nearby. The camp was two tents and a campfire, which is not lit, in the center. Trees surrounded on one side blocking some of the wind from blowing into the camp.  Akihito looks at the tent and sees the two tents.

“Why are there two tents, Mirai,” Akihito asked putting his sword down by the campfire.

“Oh… there was another man with me but he ran away when he saw the goblins,” Mirai said setting down her bag.

“So in other words, he ran off to save his life,” he said as lights the campfire and sits next to it to warm himself up.

Mirai takes some canned food out of her bag and sits next to the campfire, three feet away from Akihito. “Yeah, but there was nothing he could have done. I was frozen,” she said as sets the canned food by the side of the campfire to warm up before eating. She looks around, turning her head in every direction.

“What are you doing,” Akihito questioned.

“I’m afraid of the dark or rather, out here,” Mirai replied looking at Akihito in the eye.

“I will protect you no matter what so you don’t have to keep looking around. I’ll be your eyes and ears.”

“Thank you but I’m scared of being outside in the plains. The monsters will kill anyone that wanders out here.” Mirai said as she lifts her knees to her chest and wrap her arms around her leg.

“Is there a reason why you are afraid of being out here.”

She looks at him for a bit before looking back at the fire. She takes a cloth and moves the canned food away from the campfire. She takes one of the canned food and gives it to Akihito and grabs her portion to eat. She stands up and moves to sit next to Akihito. She takes a bite of food before telling Akihito her story from the past.

There was a village in the plains. It was not that far from the closest town but it was not that big. Just around 100 people that lived there. There was a big tree in the middle of the village that everyone prayed to keep them safe every morning.

“Mom, why do we do this every morning,” a girl said.

“Cause it protects us from harm, Mirai” the mother said holding Mirai hand.

“Really,” Mirai said as she lets go of her mother hand and runs to the tree. She looks up at the tree and moves to the small shrine. She closes her eyes and puts her hands together and says, “please protect us from harm.”

She opens her eyes and runs back to her mother and goes along her way holding her mother hand again. As night rise, they began. Every village was in there house. Closing the the door and hangout with their family members. Her father, mother, and Mirai was eating supper peacefully. They were laughing and joking around. When they finished eating, Mirai helped her mother clean the dishes. Her father helped dry the dishes and put them away. The mother and father takes Mirai to her room. They tuck Mirai into her bed.

“Have a good night sleep,’ her mother said.

“Good night darling,” her father said.

“Yep, good night,” Mirai said.

Her father and mother walks to the door when they hear a scream, piercing through the night. The father and mother crouch down covering their ears. Mirai covers her ears. The scream had a low, dark, and sad cry to it. Mirai sits up looking at her father and mother as they stand up and look at each other.

“Stay here,” they both say to Mirai at the same time.

They move to out of Mirai’s room and heads to the front door. Mirai hears the door open and closes. She sits, fidgeting, in her room with the little candle that shines ever lightly. A scream cries past her house with a low giggling laughter behind it. Mirai steps on the ground and walks to the door. She knew what was happening but the sounds and noises draws her in. She puts her hand on the door handle. Time seem forever as Mirai twists the door handle. She opens the door little by little creating a crack. She looks through the crack and sees the chaos. People running, demons chasing, and houses burning. Her eyes widens, terror spreads across her face. She backs away from the door covering her mouth. The door suddenly swings open. A demon looks inside and they both stare at each other. It giggles and reaches its hand to grab her. She stands still, frozen in place, crying as her vision becomes blurry. She hears a gurgle sound and sees the black clouded image stop moving. She sees another figure pushing the dead body to the side before walking to her.

She cries, “Daddy.”

The two hold each other in their arms, tightly, before letting go.

“Where’s mom,” Mirai asked.

“She is outside right now. We got to go,” the father said.

They both walk out of the house where Mirai sees her mother fighting a demon. She kills a demon and jogs to them. Mirai notices a cut on the father’s arm.

“Lets go,” the father said as he pushes Mirai forwards through the burning village.

They continue their way through the village, taking the paths that have less demons. They get out of the village and runs to the woods. Then they hear a cry. They turn around and sees a demon with its head up. It continues to cry. Soon, demons start making their way over. Some crawling over the houses and others walk on the roads. The father realized that the cry was a way for it to speak to its kind. He picks up Mirai and starts running to the woods. The mother does the same. She chases after them and following their lead. The reach the woods when the father puts down Mirai. The demons ran half way across the plains.

“Mirai. If you continue through this woods, you will reach a town. They will protect you,” the father said.

“No. Dad, mom, come with me. Don’t leave me,” Mirai said crying.

“Your father and I will stay behind and buy you time. Now go,” the mother said pushing Mirai forwards.

Mirai catches herself and looks backwards. The father and mother smiles lightly to her before turning around preparing themselves. Mirai cries and runs farther into the woods. Blocking out the noises behind her. Crashing into trees and tripping over roots. Her head smacks into a branch and knocks her down. She looks behind her and sees a few demons dead on the floor and two new demons standing in front of the other demons.

One of them had brown spikes on its head, two arms with two white scars on each of its arms, and two legs. The demon had a red eye on the left side and the right side was closed with a white scar slicing through it and the demon had sharp teeths. The demon was about 10 feet tall. The demon next to it was a bit smaller, about 9 feet. This demon had snakes on its head, two arms and two legs. This demon had a hole where the heart should be and two red eyes. Mirai runs away from the horror. She gets to the other side of the woods and sees the town. She makes a run to it. The guards sees her and opens the gate for her. They meet her in front of the gate. The guards look at her and brings her in without questioning. They start to close the door. She turns around and sees the two demons standing there in the distance staring at her. She starts to look away when she sees something strange. She looks closely and sees that the demons are holding hands. There, she sees that both of the demons had a black snake curled around their left hand ring finger. The demons turns around and walks away. She turns around and cries. Sobbing over her mom and dad.

When Mirai finishes her story, she looks at Akihito. She sees him looking into the fire without looking away. She sits there waiting for his response. She finishes the rest of her food and sets down her can. She turns to Akihito about to tell him that they should go asleep when she sees something. His hair and eyes had changed colored. They were first black when he saved her but now they are grey. She stares at him hard. Akihito turns and sees Mirai staring at him.

He backs up and said, “whoa, what are you looking at.”

“I’m looking at your hair,” she said. “Your hair color changed. Ain’t that strange.”

“No, not for me. Ever since I was born, people said that my hair and eyes would change color,” he said as he touches his hair.

“Why does it change color,” she questioned as she scoots closer.

“They said that it depends on my feelings and emotions,” he said as he backs up away from her.

“Then what are you feeling right now,” Mirai said as she changes her position.

Mirai puts her knee on the ground. She reaches her hand out to touch Akihito’s hair. Akihito moves a bit away from her. She follows and her knee slips on some mud. She falls forwards and crashes into Akihito. They both fall onto the ground. She picks herself up and notice that she is sitting on top of him. Akihito looks into her eyes and Mirai does the same, blushing.

“I’m feeling sad that you had lived through that,” Akihito said quietly with a sad tone.

She looks away and gets off of him.

“We should get some sleep,” Mirai said quietly.

“I’ll keep watch,” Akihito said.

Mirai walks into her tent and closes it up. Akihito sits back up and stares into the campfire. Mirai lays down in the tent. She blushes thinking over what Akihito said. She closes her eyes and sleeps.

Chapter 4

The sun rises into the sky. Birds chirp loudly in the daylight. Mirai opens her tent and exits. She stretches her arms and yawns. She walks to the other tent and opens it. She peaks inside and notices that Akihito is not there. She turns around and looks for him. She turns her head in every direction looking for him. She suddenly feels something touch her shoulder.

“Ahhhhhhh,” she yelled.

“It’s just me,” Akihito said covering his ears with his hands.

Mirai turns around and sees his drenched in sweat.

“Where did you go,” Mirai asked.

“I just jogged around the place,” Akihito answered.

“Oh. So... do you do this every day.”

“Not really. I just do it when I feel like it.”

“Well, it is time to go to the town. Are you ready”

“Just wait a bit.”

Akihito walks next to his bag and start putting things in it. Food, water, and a knife. He closes the bag. He puts it on his back and grabs his sword. Mirai goes packs her stuff up and start to tear down the tents. Akihito helps her and they pack the tents up. Mirai puts water on the campfire and walks on the path. Akihito picks up the tents and walks next to Mirai.

“So what is this town,” Akihito said.

“This town is the town I told you in my story.” Mirai answered. “It is the town that I took shelter in after my village was destroyed.”

“Oh. How far away is this town and what is it called.”

“The town is not that far and the town is called helpless. I know that it is a weird name to call a town but that is what the villagers call it.”

They continued to talk about the town when Akihito puts his hand up. He sets down the tents and stands still. Mirai stops, thinking that it is enemies.

She looks around, scared, before asking Akihito, “what is it.”

“Shh,” Akihito said putting his finger over his lips. “If you aren’t quiet, it would run away.”

Mirai was about to talk when she sees it. In the distance, a beautiful white horse standing in the plains. It bends down to eat some grass. Akihito slowly walks up to it. The horse hears Akihito and looks up at him.  It stands there staring at Akihito, ready to run at the split second.

“Wait. We are not your enemies. We won’t kill you,” Akihito said raising his hand and stopping in place.

Akihito bends down and puts the sword down. He then sets his bag down and stands back up. He starts to move to the horse again. The horse stands still as Akihito stands next to it. The horse lowers its head as Akihito pets it. Mirai stands back, shocked and amazed at Akihito. She sees Akihito saying something to the horse but they were to far away for her to hear what he said. Akihito walks to his stuff. He picks them up and goes to Mirai.

He stands next to Mirai and and says, “this is Shiro,” as he points to the horse. “Shiro, this is Mirai.”

The horse neighs to Mirai.

“Hello,” Mirai said. “Wait! How did you tame a wild horse, Akihito.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I have always been friends with animals. I do kill them for their meat but when I do, I bless their spirits with all of my heart and thank them for their sacrifice. But anyways, get on.”

Akihito pushes Mirai to Shiro.

“Wait. Why should I get on the horse,” Mirai protest.

“Its name is not horse. It is Shiro,” Akihito said.

“Ok but why should I ride Shiro.”

“Cause it would make things a little better.” he said taking Mirai’s things.

“Why would this make things better,” she said as Akihito helps her on top of Shiro.

“I can tell,” Akihito said. “You don’t need to hide it. Your feet hurt, don’t they.” as he touches her feet.

He takes off Mirai’s shoes and sees a few blisters and bits of blood. He sets everything down and searches his bag for things. He pulls out a waterskin and cleans the blood. Then he puts ointment on her feet and wraps it with a clean piece of cloth. Mirai looks at him from above, smiling.