Blood Tainted Rose

Chapter Twelve: My Dark Past

     Jiro woke up covered in blood, blood from his parents, siblings, and the enemy. Memory of coming behind the demon to attempt to save his mother’s life ended in failure. Along with that he become unconscious from a sneak attack. Staring at the lifeless bodies, he smelled smoke coming from somewhere. His house was on fire? Rushing to escape, he broke one the windows. Falling to the ground he heard something in his arm snap. Screaming he stood up and began running away. The people that attacked his family might not be far from his house. Escaping into the woods he hid behind a giant tree. Looking his arm he knew that he had broken it. Curling up in a ball he closed his eyes for the night. In the morning he would head into town for help. Right now he was tired and alone.

    The bird’s tweeting woke him up from his slumber. Moving his broken arm a little, he realized it was better. “Of course,” said Jiro. “I’m a freakin’ half-breed.” At this point in Jiro’s life he at least eight or nine and was still learning about his own abilities and powers. His mother was the demon in the family. She was a monkey demon and his father was a simple farmer. They had met during his time in Terra years ago. The demons the other night were there to gather food for their army, but his father refused. When they didn’t get that food they killed them. Even his younger siblings didn’t have a fighting chance. Now he was alone. Everything in his home was destroyed, the lone survivor from this tragedy.

     Approaching the town, another horror entered his eyes. The entire town was engulfed in flames. Collapsing on the ground he let out a loud scream from the top of his lungs at this horror. All his friends were in that town; even some new arrivals lived there. Now they were dead, being burned. Running to the town he went to see if anyone was alive. Yelling out names of people he knew. No response from anyone. Then a dark shadow formed inside of him. Everyone he knew, everyone he loved, and everything was gone in one night. Turning away from the town he walked back through the forest. He would learn to live on his own. For young Jiro this was just his first taste of the pain of war.

     Over the next couple of days did Jiro barley make it on his own. He was starving, only surviving on berries and nuts he found. There was little water he found and he soon felt the effects of dehydration. The pain of losing his family still took its toll on the young boy. If he didn’t find a place to rest and eat he would die. However he was in luck. In the distance he could see the corners of a house. Running he looked around to see if anyone was home. Luckily no one was home. Opening up the siding door he went into the kitchen. Taking out some meat, vegetables, and soups he made himself a meal. It had been so long since he had something like this it felt so weird on his stomach. Then he cleaned up the dishes and went onto leaving the house, when he heard people coming inside. Quickly he hid in a closet of someone else’s room. He didn’t know if they were human or demon. Either way if they found him, he would be in trouble or dead.

    Suddenly the door to the closet opened up. The one that opened the door was a stunning woman with long white hair, with a single pink shred of hair. Her eyes were the color of sapphires, and her skin was almost pale looking. She was clearly a demon by her looks, but seemed kind and gentle. Looking surprised she called out a name.

    “How long have you been in here, little thief?” asked the demon looking at him with wonder. “Come on out.” She said these words so calmly. Soon a little girl about the age of Jiro was standing the room with wonder as well. She had deep over blue hair and pale green-blue eyes. She was also very pale like the other woman. Must have been her daughter.

    Jiro walked out. He was still wearing the ripped and blood covered clothes. “My name is Kiku Wiseborn. This is my daughter Chiyo. Do you have a name?”

     “Jiro,” he said very confused about the kindness this woman was showing him. “I’m sorry about breaking into your house, but I was starving.”