Spirited Away: I, The Sacrifice

〜Our Past〜

I, The Sacrifice

Chapter I

(AU) Every village has a God they must appease. For Chihiro, she lives in the dreadful village of Shiroryu with an unpleasant past. As if things couldn't get worse, the village is attacked during the sacrificial festival! Whisked away when trying to escape, Chihiro stumbles into the hands of her village's River God – mistaken as a sacrifice. Thereafter awaits a mass of predicaments.

Rated T to M

By 〜花の神様

In ancient times feudal Japan, villages rely on their own reigning God for life. Whether it be a sun, water or wind deity, without their complete satisfaction your village may suffer until death. Their demands – mainly sacrifices, are carried out by special rituals heard only by the village's Oracle.

In one particular village – there is no food, no water, the soil is as dry as the air. The River God wasn't happy and forbade the village from its resources. They weren't allowed the river's water, nor the animals who were allowed. All plant life was dying, withering as the God sent the rain away. The people survived only by trade carried out by merchants which was a duty only certain families inherited through generations. All the villagers were left with an explanation from the Oracle. "He says"-the old woman announced-"those who yearn must learn." That was all the God had said to his people.

Some say the God is cruel and demon-like. A steely eyed, monstrous dragon whose personality's sadistic for human pain and agony. His home – unseen by the human eye is rumored to house human slaves who've disobeyed the God in the past. Being tortured and probably eaten! Although they were merely horrible rumors, the first Oracle being the only one who had ever laid eyes on the God during the village's creation hundreds of years ago.

。。。。

To be caught, whether by a fellow villager or the God himself (highly unlikely), endangered the life's of her family. At seven years old and growing weaker by the day, Chihiro wandered away in search of food. Everything was dying along with most of her village; the sun was always shining without the slightest chance of rain. The cicadas buzzed one after the other, intensifying the heat you could see in the atmosphere.

Using the trees to navigate, frail and limber legs traveled through the forest. She could hear the river off to her side and hoped the further she wondered from her home, the less likely she was to get caught. The Oracle warned them, the God had forbidden all use of the river, the edible plants and the animals who lived off its water. Chihiro herself didn't know why they were being punished, but wished the suffering would end.

Her stomach ached and growled as she licked her dry and cracked bottom lip. Being more poor than the others, her family could barely afford to trade their belongings for food and water. So secretly Chihiro set out in search of something that wasn't already dead and dried for her family to eat.

The further she walked the louder the river's current roared in the distance, it was like she was heading straight toward it... Lost, Chihiro stopped to think about which way to go, but with the sudden silence she heard from behind a slight rustle! Swinging her body around, her eyes scanned between the trees looking for any signs of life. When she spotted nothing peculiar Chihiro exhaled in relief and took a shaky breath of air as she walked on, all was calm until from somewhere behind—

Snap!

A twig broke! Without looking Chihiro ran in fear of her life. Her hands smacked against the trees as her body flew through the forest. The river's rhythm grew louder as she did closer. Though it was too late to turn around; Chihiro stopped behind a tree with lungs heaving for air. Green foliage all in bloom surrounded the pasture before her like a majestic wall of trees. The terrain was so open– so large that the clouds roaming above left their colossus shadows illuminated upon the earth. In the distance, blue mountains decorated the horizon line on land Chihiro would never be able to venture to. The long blades of grass dancing to the sudden wind caught Chihiro's attention as she leaned against the tree.