Chapter Text
He was dreaming an old dream. It was familiar and alien at the same time. The world around him was like a watercolor painting, vibrant but filled with shapes that blurred in front of his eyes. The air around him carried screams and the song of iron and yet he felt safe and warm, carried on quick feet through a world exploding with reds and greens. Whenever fear would rise in his heart, a warm voice would sooth him and long fingers would softly caress his cheeks, as if to wipe his unspent tears away.
After a while, the reds were replaced by darker colors and the song of iron ebbed away. Only the warm voice remained and the strong arms that held him close to his rescuers heart. But then their voice grew more and more laborious and their feet lost their quick step, until the figure finally tumbled to the ground, still holding him tightly in their arms.
Then he looked up, right into the stranger's eyes. Those eyes were the only thing in the dream that didn't share its water-color likeness. These ruby red eyes, which filled him with sadness and longing at the same time, were always the last thing he saw before escaping the dream, to return back to the waking world.
Haruka shook off the last remnants of his dream and stood up. He knew that he had this dream often and yet those eyes were the only thing he would remember when he woke up. Once, he asked old man Sasabe if he knew somebody with ruby red eyes, but his guardian just slowly shook his head and changed the topic. If the dream didn't leave him with this tangible sadness every time he woke from it, he would have believed it to be just a figment of his imagination.
Haruka sighed and shouldered his bow and quiver, that had been leaning against the stem of the large Keyaki, he had slept under. This was no time to dawdle or to chase ghosts. After all, he still had dinner to catch. If he were to arrive home empty handed, he would have to listen to the old man's complaints for the rest of the day. But the days had grown shorter and so prey had grown sparser too. It had even gotten too cold to take a bath in the stream, much to his dismay.
Hours later, Haruka had finally managed to claim a well fed sika deer as his prize and made his way back to the small cottage in the heart of the Tadasu no Mori. He tried to think of ways to prepare tonight's meal. Maybe a nice stew as the main and some dried mackerels and bread as a side dish? He could already smell the roasting meat and feel the warmth of the fireplace.
Climbing the hill in front of the cottage, Haruka was suddenly brutally jolted from his reverie, when he saw that the cottage and the nearby stables were burning. He dropped his bounty and his bow and quiver where he stood and began to run towards his home as fast as his feet could carry him.
He shouted the old man's name when he reached the burning cottage, trying to spy something, anything within the burning ruins, but all that greeted him was the roaring fire. After a while, he couldn't remember how long he had already stood there, shivering, looking into the inferno.
And yet, strangely, he couldn't feel the fire's heat, nor did it touch the grounds around the house or the stables. Instead, after it had only left ruins in place of the warm and inviting homestead he knew and loved, the fire slowly dwindled down, only leaving ashes in its wake. The last thing Haruka heard before he collapsed on the spot was the song of the birds slowly returning.
He woke up in the early hours of the morning, feeling empty, light-headed and heavy-hearted. The perpetrator who had woken him from his deep sleep stood right in front of him, nuzzling his face lovingly. In the blink of an eye Haruka sprung to his feet and embraced him desperately. The huge black stallion stood still, while the cries of the weeping boy echoed into the forest. At first Haruka didn't question why or how Yoru had survived the fire, he was just glad that he did.
When night fell, after a day that Haruka had spent searching listlessly through the ruins, in search of something he couldn't or wouldn't even name, he returned back to the Keyaki tree, he had rested under the previous day. Maybe in the secret hope that he was indeed yet to wake from his dream and not left utterly alone in the world. The old man and and the forest around him were all he had known his entire life, he had no idea where to go next, what do to or even how to find a way out of the forest.
After all, the old man had always forbidden him to cross the stream that was situated right next to the Keyaki tree. Haruka often sat under the tree and wondered what lay beyond, wondered why the old man was so afraid of it. Now, at last, he had the answer to one of these questions, but at what price? He would have happily lived out his days in the heart of the forest, if he could have his guardian back. He already missed his grumpy remarks, warm hugs and tall tales.
Yoru, as if he knew that Haruka's thoughts wandered to dark places yet again, playfully jabbed his head into his side, leaving Haruka with a colourful bruise and disrupting the quiet of the forest with his equally colourful curses. For the first time, Haruka looked at his horse properly and promptly realised how strange it was that Yoru stood in front of him saddled and harnessed, as if ready to go on a journey. Carefully, as if afraid of what he might find, Haruka sidestepped the horse and started going through the saddlebags one by one until he found a red pouch in one of them. The pouch contained 10 ryo, sparkling brightly in the evening sun, a rolled up letter and a white gold necklace with a pendant.
The pendant was made of a jewel, encased in a spiral shaped golden cage. The jewel had a mysterious colour, it was a deep, clear blue which gave off a hue that was neither green nor blue, where the rays of the evening sun meet the crystal. It was the most beautiful thing Haruka had ever laid eyes on. After the spell the jewel had cast on him slowly wore off, Haruka opened the letter with shaking fingers, still wondering how his teacher had come to possess such things as gold coins and jewels, when they had no need for them here, deep in the forest.
What kind of life had he led before? Had he really found Haruka under this very same Keyaki tree, when he was still a babe? Was there really no trace of his parents left behind? When he realised that the letter possibly held the answers to his questions, he was filled with dread and elation at the same time. Finally, he opened the letter and started reading.
My dear Haruka, First of all, I have to apologise to you sincerely. For all the times when I avoided your questions. For all the times when I told you I found you under a tree. For all the times when I told you not to cross the stream without telling you why. For all the times when you asked me why you had to learn how to fight with a sword, when there was no need to, here in the heart of the forest. As much as you sought the answers to these questions as much I wished there would be no need to ever answer any of them. If I had held the power to control your destiny, you would have lived out your days here in the forest, never worrying about any of the answers.
Tomorrow is your 18th birthday, the day I was meant to give you all the answers you requested, you longed for, but the time to answer all of them was stolen from me. They found me before I could help you find yourself. So I must send you on your way unprepared. But know this, if you find him, you shall also find the answers you seek, in time. The ten ryo in the pouch will last you for a while, but be careful whom you show them to, the spell of gold weakens the heart of men.
You will find my old Katana in the hollow of the old Yamazakara tree behind the cottage, together with a fresh set of clothes. The necklace is yours. It was made for you long before you were even born. Wear it from now on, but hide the jewel from spying eyes. It is only for you to see.
Now that I am gone, it is too dangerous to burden you with the knowledge of your heritage, but I will at least tell you that your parents did love you very much. You were their greatest adventure and they never once regretted welcoming you into this world. Burn this letter after you have read it and cross the stream to go north. After a while, you will find a path made from stone. Follow it; it will lead you to a bustling town, called Kyoto. It's this country's capital.
Once there seek out an establishment called the blue Oni. Then ask the barman to spend a night in room number four. If you do, the red fox will find you. He is the only one who knows the answers to your questions, at least to some of them. But you will have to ask your heart if you really want them answered.
Unlocking the secrets of your past can free you, but it can also deepen your pain and bind you to carry out the revenge of those who have long passed on from this world.
Please be safe my boy. Sasabe