Prologue
Massacred

A young red head, about six, walked in the lush forest with careful and soft steps. She had never been inside the forest, due to her mother's constant rants about the evil that lurked within it. Though, today her mother was busy, and didn't tell her not to explore. She, being too young to think it through, she wandered off into the green that surrounded her small village. Her cheap attire of a brown cloth shirt and shorts fit her comfortably, and protected her from the nasty things that scrapped at her legs and arms.

Her jade blue eyes scanned over the forest in awe. Just being there gave her a thrill and hunger from more. Everything was so...unique. So...beautiful. She felt a little confusion at why her mother didn't want to her to see this. This wasn't evil. This was pure.

Knowing she had traveled farther in than expected she turned around and screamed. A raven haired boy stood there, staring at her with black curious orbs. "You shouldn't be out here," he stated bluntly, leaning on a tree, still staring at her.

She blinked, feeling pressured and glared at the boy. Her childish stubborn side questioned, "Who says?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at the small red head and smirked arrogantly. "I do, and if you talk back again, I'll make you sorry."

The red head visible gulped and gave him a wary look. "Please don't hurt me. I didn't mean to do anything wrong-"

"Whether you meant to or not, I don't care. It was reckless," he snapped. She whimpered a bit at his tone, and this made him realize something. His eyes softened as he tilted his head to the side, observing her with interest. "How old are you?"

"S-six," the young girl answered, uncertain if she should tell him or not. He hummed and walked over to her, grabbing a lock of her hair.

"You look older than that." He tugged harshly on her hair, making her yelp. "Are you lying to me?"

"N-no!"

The boy sighed, and let go of the red head's hair. "Children your age, six or not, shouldn't be out here. There has been the threat of enemies all around. So, where should I take you back-"

The slick, metallic sound of metal scrapping against itself rang in that boy's ear and he jumped back from the girl. He looked around frantically, scaring the girl. His calm person turned into a frightened and stunned as a deer's. He stood frozen and when he heard a woman's scream he glanced at the wide eyed girl who stood there frozen, to afraid to move. When she blinked back tears that welled in her eyes from the overwhelmed feelings, she found that the boy was gone.

She gasped, and a strong feeling of betrayal stabbed through her heart. She took off back to home, her fight of flight instincts kicking in. Before she could get to far though, she fell and hit her head. Things went blurry and dark before she passed out, dazed.

XxX

When she twitched her body, she felt cold and stiff. How long have I been asleep? A grim demeanor hung low and thick like morning fog and she sniffed, forcing her arms to push herself off the dirty forest floor.

She stood, wobbling a little and looked around. She couldn't place a finger on it, but something was deadly wrong. She had a bad feeling tight in her stomach. It choked her slightly, making it hard to breath. With deep intake of breath, she stepped forward and trekked back to her village, taking her time. When she saw the outline of the brown roof-tops, she felt relief wash over her. She was home. She was safe.

As she neared more to her village the tight ball started to form again as dead silence filled her ear. No merry birds sang. No children stomped down the dirt paths that through the village. No mothers were heard scolding their children from running away. The redhead swallowed, and closed her eyes to calm herself as she walked out of the outlining forest into the village. When she opened them she screamed and jumped back.

Dead, dull eyes started up at her. She whimpered loudly and looked around. Blood covered everything casually like a nightmare that had come to life. Regular children sat up like dolls, horrified expressions on their faces. These were children she had seen day after day. She didn't know what to do. The crimson color soaked through their clothes, and dripped revoltingly from sliced throats and tummies. She couldn't help but scream again, the sights haunting her.

Fear knitted through her body, threading her veins, and taking control of her actions. She bolted for home, coming across worse and worse sights. They burned into her skull. She ran out past the village, and into the meadow that separated her house from the rest of town. She sprinted through the field; golden grass cutting her cheeks and slicing up her arms. She couldn't feel the cuts that she was getting, so the slight sting to her body didn't faze her.

She bolted up the stairs to her home and screamed when someone bumped into her, sending her falling back. She landed harshly on her rear with a grunt. A man turned and gave her an evil look. "Hello Princess." The red headed girl looked up slowly, almost afraid of what she would see, and blinked. She couldn't see the man's face. Her vision was blurry as her heart raced furiously. Her bottom lip trembled from the man's tone. She couldn't help but notice how familiar his masculine voice was. How soothing and bone racking it was. The contradiction of emotions made her feel light headed.

From her position on the ground her eyes darted to the inside of the house. Even with her sight still fuzzy and blurry, she could make out the sight of her mother, gagged and kneeling on the floor. She could tell she was crying, and finally, the red head let her tears fall was well.

"Mama!" the red head screamed, jumping up. She stumbled a little, and steadied herself before trying to get through the man. But the man swiftly grabbed the redhead by the neck as she tried to do so.

"Where do you think you're going, little one?" the man asked. "Do you want to see your Mama?" he mocked. The red head screamed and felt fresh tears wash over the old ones.

"Let me go!" she screamed desperately. Her mother growled, glaring at the man. The man chuckled and moved to her Mama. He crouched down next to her, his hand still on the redhead's neck.

When close enough he whispered, "Have something to say, sweetie?" He pulled the gag down and corked an eyebrow when Mama spit on him. He scoffed as if in disbelief, wiping the saliva from his cheek. But all too suddenly, he backhanded the girl's mother before returning to his full height. "Damn woman."

"Don't call me 'sweetie', asshole!" Mama yelled, catching the redhead off guard. Her Mama had never used such bad words in from of her before.

"Now now, Asume, your child's here. Watch your language," the man taunted. Asume growled, something about the statement bothering her more deeply than it probably should..

Asume glanced at her redheaded daughter. Her eyes filled with sudden tears of regret. "Don't hurt my baby," Asume begged, her voice strained. "Please, you've done enough. Not her too."

"Hurt her?" the man questioned her like she was crazy. "I could never hurt such a beautiful child." The man's questioning face darkened with a smirk. "I'm just going to make her suffer." The little redhead whimpered and tried to break out of the older man's grip.

Why is he so familiar? Why can't I place a face?! the girl questioned mentally, panicking. Her Mama was going to get hurt, and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Mama!" the redhead screamed, trying to hit the man. But the older man chuckled slightly, and kneed the little girl in the gut, making her scream and cower away from him. She didn't try to do anything more. She didn't want to be hurt. Asume and the red headed girl both knew this was too much at once.

Asume looked at her daughter with sad, big eyes. My poor, poor baby. Tears continued to spill from her eyes. She didn't want to look as the man slide a kunai from his back pocket.

She knew what was going to happen next. Either her or her daughter would die. More tears sprang down Asume's cheeks. She had only wanted better for her kids than she had, but so far it had only been worse. She felt ready to beg for her daughter's life. To stop being strong and finally give into her weakness. To finally give in and cry without holding back. To let those emotions flow from her freely without regret.

A large shadow loomed over her, bring dark thoughts about the loss of time. A deep chuckled was heard before she was struck with pain in her stomach. A blast of wind from the quick movement hit her afterward and she screamed in shock, and pain.

She trembled, and coward on the floor, trying to ball up. A kunai was stabbed deep into her gut, and shot lightning bolts of pain throughout her body. Her nerves screamed at her. She simply wept, giving up. Blood slowly and gracefully soaked through her clothes, and she could felt her heart slowing. The pain easing. She stared at her daughter, letting tears make the skin around her eyes raw. With her final breath she thought the one thing she couldn't say out loud, This is your real father. I'm sorry I couldn't fully protect you, Yumeko.