"Journey" Hyakkimaru X Reader

"Journey" Chapter 1

(Whenever I put ————— I'm switching povs. Whenever I put ——————— it's a time skip)

[Name] was a 21 year old girl. She loved her mother very much. Seeing as she was a very emotional and sensitive person, she loved her mother like no other. There was no one in her village who she loved more than her mother. She had no friends, as all of her past friendships failed because the people she befriended would only hurt her. (Not physically.) She had not known a life of violence. Her mother taught her all sorts of things about herbs. She was taught about poisons and how to make them, but she was also taught never to use the knowledge to hurt anyone. She was taught about medicinal herbs like Chamomile and Echinacea. She learned all sorts of things from her mother, but she was never taught violence. She lived in a pretty peaceful village, one that didn't teach violence. Sure, they were taught about wars between other domains, but they never actually experienced a war themselves. So of course it wouldn't be weird if they didn't know self defense. [Name] never really knew who or where her father was, but she didn't care. All she needed was her mother in her life, nothing more.

On one fateful day, everything changed.

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I was sleeping soundly, eventually woken up by the sounds of crackles and pops. I opened my eyes. It was hot. Really hot. I sat up and looked around. The house was clouded with smoke. I looked over to see my mom packing a bag. She filled it with all of the herbs we had in our house. Even the poisonous ones. She also filled the bag with fruits and bread.

"What's going on mama?" I asked, concern clear in my tone. "Strange people are attacking us, dear. They're burning down the village." She replied. I gasped, quickly coughing from taking in the smoke. "Don't breathe in the smoke." She said. She tied the bag she held tightly. "Please, take this and run away from here. Quickly." She handed me the bag she had been filling up. "But what about you, mama?" I was quick to ask. I didn't want to leave her to die.

"I'm afraid I cannot come with you." Tears started to form in her eyes, but she was smiling. Smiling ever so softly. Her hands cupped my cheeks and she looked into my eyes. I started to cry. I didn't want her to die. The only person in my life that I could ever love so dearly. I didn't want her to leave me in this world alone. She quickly wiped my tears and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I don't want to leave you mama.." I cried.

"Please, [Name]. You must leave this place. You have to live for me. I want you to live. If not for you, live for me. For us." She gave a closed eyed smile. The room began to get hotter. I could see the fire start to come in. It burned down our door. "Run, now! Go!" My mother yelled. I looked her in the eyes. I gave her a long hug and cried on her shoulder. "I love you." She whispered into my ear. I let go of the hug and walked towards the window, the only way out of this house. "I love you too." I ran off. I hopped out the window and started running for my life. I looked around. The whole village was in flames. I ran towards the entrance of the village. I stopped at a certain distance and looked behind me. I watched as the village came crumbling down, all of our homes destroyed. There was nothing left. Nothing but a pile of rubble. I knew I would remember this day forever. Hearing the screams and cries from the people. I would never forget. I saw two men coming from behind the trees. I quickly sprinted into the forest, not looking back for even a second.

I ran as fast as I could. As fast as my legs could go. I planned on going as far as possible. After running for some time I tripped on a rock. "Ugh." I grunted. I was tired. Too tired to get back up. I felt dizzy. It must've been from inhaling all that smoke. It wasn't long before I fell unconscious.

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I eventually woke up. I felt warm, soft hands on my face. I opened my eyes to find a guy staring at me. "Oh my god! Who are you?" I asked, quickly sitting up and backing away, putting my hand on my cheek flustered. "I am..Hyakkimaru." He replied. 'This guy talks so slow.' "Who.. are.. you.?" He asked back. "Oh, I'm [Name]. What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?" I questioned him. "I saw you.. laying on the ground. You looked hurt.. so I help." 'Seriously, what's up with this guy? He talks as if he's just discovered English.'
"Are you from a different country?" I lifted one of my eyebrows in confusion. "No." He said. 'Strange..' I scooted closer to him, starting to trust him. "I'm on a journey. Where are you from?" He asked. I remembered. What happened a while ago, it wasn't some sort of nightmare. It was real. It was just starting to hit me. I started to tear up. I looked down, letting the tears fall freely. "I lived in a village but.. it was burned down by some bad people. I'm the only survivor." I answered.

He frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

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He put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. She stared at him for a moment. She had a thought. An idea on how to survive. What better way to survive than with someone else? "Hey, you said you were on a journey right?" He nodded his head yes. "Can I come with you?" She asked him. "Why?" He lifted one of his eyebrows in confusion. "Well, my mom told me to run and survive. I know I wouldn't be able to survive on my own, even if she did give me a bag." She looked around. "Wait, where is my bag?" Hyakkimaru pointed to a bag on the side of a river. "You mean that one?" [Name] quickly got up to get it. Yup, that was the one. She looked inside of it to make sure it still had everything her mom put in it. Thankfully, it did. She sighed. "Sure." He said out of nowhere. "Sure, what?" She asked, confused. "You can join me in my journey." He said. "Really?" She asked excitedly. "Yes, let's go." He started to walk through the forest. "O-ok!" She said.

And with that, the two of them started their journey together.