Sacrifice

“Huh?”

Tashiro rubbed his eyes, convinced he was dreaming. There was no way someone could survive out here, miles from civilisation, in the deepest part of the forest. Least of all, a little girl of no more than seven.

But here she was, skin patchy with dirt, dressed in a tattered gown and clutching a frayed, knitted doll.

Tashiro propped himself up into a seated position. The shift in motion startled the girl, who stepped back, wide-eyed and face pale with fear.

The orange sunrise dappled on the ceiling, giving off an almost ethereal dance of light.

“Y-you can’t be here.” The girl said quietly. “This is my place.”

Tashiro looked around at the ruined Chashitsu. The small house would have been condemned in the modern era, given its state. How it remained standing was a miracle of nature.

He hugged his knees together, trying not to make any sudden movements.
“Where are your folks?”

This apparently was the wrong question, given how the girl blinked eyes shiny with tears.

“They left me here, I…wasn’t wanted anymore.”

Tashiro sighed heavily. He felt that pain from experience. Despite growing up in a criminal enterprise, his childhood was seen as an inconvenience and an unwanted expense.

“Tell me about it,” He muttered, the memory of his parents reduced to nothing more than a blurred outline of people he met.

Offering a hand, he smiled. “My name is Tashiro Jubei.”

The girl said nothing, shrinking back into the shadows, as if they could whisk her away.

Tashiro nodded. Understandable. He could be anything at this point: a kidnapper, an abuser, a Cannibal, or all three. Best not to push the issue for now, lest she runs into the woods and gets herself in trouble.

Rolling his shoulders, Tashiro felt the creak of bones as he pushed himself into a standing position. Looking around the assorted rooms, he found what he guessed was the kitchen area. It had a stove, a counter and a small table.

On top of a high cabinet, he found a Longbow, with a quiver of arrows. Testing the strength, he was surprised how taut the bowstring was.

This could work. He nodded. Things were looking up. 

Moving to the low cupboards, he dug out several jars and a bowl full of leaves.

What the hell has she been eating?

“Hey…uh, what do you usually eat around here?”

“Sometimes greens,” The girl said, almost whispering. “Sometimes nothing.”

Tashiro looked back, his heart sinking with pity.

“No.” He said.

“N-no?”

“I won’t allow it.”

A realisation struck the girl and she shivered on the spot. No meat meant only one option.

“Y-y-you’re going to eat me!”

Tashiro spun around, in complete shock. “What? No!"

Hot tears spilt down her cheeks.

“You’re going to…do bad things.”

“Hey, stop it!”

“I can’t fight you…so please make it quick.”

Tashiro lifted his hands. “I would never..” He quickly approached her, which was enough for the girl to dart out of the house and hide in a gap underneath.

Crap.  He thought. Of course, I’m a demon in her eyes. The only adult influence she has known ended up betraying her. ‘Stranger danger’ exists here too, it would seem.

Grabbing the longbow and a coil of old rope, he dropped the remaining Saketoba in front of the gap and marched into the forest shade.

The girl watched him shrink into the distance before being enveloped by darkness.

Hesitant at first, she emerged slowly from the crawlspace, eyeballing the Saketoba with a curious gaze. Tentatively, she nibbled one end and was instantly filled with a delicious fishy taste. Saliva filled her mouth like a Tsunami as she hurriedly bit at the dry fish.

What is this? It’s yummy, it’s yummy!

Tears filled her eyes again, this time for good reasons.

All of a sudden, she felt alone again. More so than ever.

In the past, she had adapted to isolation, grown accustomed to the quiet, except for the sounds of the forest.

This somehow felt different; the man had given her food out of kindness, and she drove him away. Of course, there was every chance of him being a danger, but perhaps she could have given him a chance to prove otherwise? Did she scare off her one hope for a better life?

Mounting the steps to the Tea Room, she looked back. The forest felt lonelier, no longer a haven but a prison.

 —-This is the first time in two years that I have seen another person. The last grown-ups I saw were my parents. We grew up in a town dug into a cliff and surrounded by Shipwrecks. The grown-ups there liked to drink, liked to dance, liked to…increase the population. We kids weren’t treated well; we were mostly live-in servants and maids, forced to work at an early age. Those who were strong enough were given to the Assassins guild, the Thieves Guild or the Pirates Guild. The ones that weren't strong enough were considered a useless mouth to feed and disposed of. Not killed, but sent to survive in the forest to prove their worth. Of course, none survived, especially since we were forced off a cliff to begin with. My friends, my brothers and sisters, didn’t make the fall, I was caught on a branch on the way down. Two years have passed since I buried them, two years surviving winters, starvation, beast attack and illness. Why am I still here? Why can’t I die like the others? —---

“Who was that guy? Why didn’t he stay? WHY?! I’m nice! I just needed time. I’m nice! I promise!”

The girl sat in the corner for four hours doing nothing but hugging her knees; and slept for two hours. She then played by the river for another four hours, gathering flowers and rocks to make tiny castle on the riverbed. Exhausted, she slept another four hours in the house until a grunting noise woke her up.

Scampering over to the nearby wall, she peeked out and caught sight of activity in the dying light of sunset. A large shadow was casting a disturbance on the row of bushes lining the edge of the clearing. Panicking, she flattened against the wall, placing a hand over her mouth.

Was it a monster? A group of people? What if they’re mean? Real cannibals?

Oh, skinny stranger, I’m sorry I made you leave!

It turned out to be none of those things; just an exhausted ex-Boxer, who wishes he didn’t inhabit the body of an emaciated Vagrant.

“Argh!” Tashiro said, emerging from the bushes. He dropped to his knees and felt the cool grass of the clearing. “I hate this body! Mine was better, so much better.”

For reasons she could not fathom, the girl found herself running toward him. All she knew was it made her feel safer.

“You came back.” She said, trying not to cry, “You came back.”

“I wasn’t about to abandon a little girl in the woods.”

“But you did abandon me.”

Tashiro smiled, realising he had already broken his promise.

“It was a lot safer for you, especially with this thing around.”

Tashiro gestured to the medium-sized wild boar, lying dead on a makeshift sleigh, with an arrow in the side of its head.

“You did all that? That…you could have been killed!”

“Either way, it’s quicker than starvation” The girl was stunned speechless and took out a knife from behind her back. It had a thick, curved blade on one side. “Is this a dagger I see before me?”

The girl tugged at his sleeve with both hands and bowed.

“I’m sorry I thought you were creepy.”

Tashiro smiled. “Hey, the night is young, don’t get your hopes up.”

The girl rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“Very well.”

“Help me with this,” Tashiro said, pulling the sleigh. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

The girl tried her best to drag the sleigh toward the cabin.

“It doesn’t look easy at all! Did you build this thing?”

“That’s why I took so long, with the rope I had to fashion a sleigh from chopped trees. Then, improvise a gun tackle using a rock to drag it up on a sleigh. Something this body is not designed for.”

Couldn’t I have reincarnated inside a Heavy Knight or something?

***

Later that night, the glow of the fireplace crackled loudly, filling the house with a warmth the girl had never known. She watched it with renewed fascination while Tashiro field-dressed the pig and sliced the meat into cubes.

“You telling me you didn’t make a fire in two years?” He asked.

“I didn’t know how.” The girl said. “No one told me anything about life, beyond being a maid.”

“Oh hey, I’ve been meaning to ask your name, now you’re a little more comfortable with me being around.”

“Meiko. That’s what I remember, Meiko the maid.”

“It’s a nice name.”

“Tashiro, right?”

“Right.”

Meiko brought up the knife and tapped the tip. “You gave this back to me.”

“Careful, even though it's blunt, it can still do some damage. You really ought to keep it sharpened, though. Like any skill.”

“Skill? Can you teach me hunting?”

“Well, someone’s got to, in case I get sick.”

Meiko smiled, relieved at the prospect of true independence.

“Who taught you how?” She asked.

“I learnt by doing. Growing up in the country, you either hunt or you starve.”

“Sounds harsh.”

“It was my parents' way of getting me out of their sight. I was all too happy to oblige.”

Tashiro cooked the meat for a little more.

Meiko looked down. “My parents threw me off a cliff, cos I was a drain on resources.” 

“Shit…” Tashiro said quietly. “I guess we both got the FUBAR end of the stick.”

“FUBAR?”

“Tell you when you’re older. Here.” Tashiro offered her a steak cube and dropped it into a bowl. Meiko picked it up, blew on it, nibbled and felt her mouth flood with saliva. After tasting it, her senses blew up.

“So good! So good!” She beamed, still with half a cube lodged in her cheek. “More?”

“Of course.” Tashiro gave her three more meaty cubes, and she gobbled them up in no time.

“Don’t forget to chew, that’s how you end up with indigestion.”

“Indee-wha?”

Ah right, the people here are still behind.

“Heartache, I mean. Eat slow.”

Meiko looked almost sheepish. “Okaay.”

Once dinner was done and their bellies full, Tashiro retired to the far end of the smallest room and curled up facing the wall. He would have to apply his furniture-making skills at some point, but that was a long way off.

As he was on the verge of sleep, Meiko, with her distinctive patter of bare feet, stopped somewhere behind him and lay on the other side of the room, facing the other direction.

“I’m just keeping out of the cold, is all.”

Tashiro nodded, curling himself up. “Good idea, keep yourself shielded.”

“Hey mister. You’re not gonna…you’re not gonna…walk off and never turn back, are you? Not that I care, I just don’t want you to think…I’m a pushover and invite anyone.”

“As far as I am concerned, this is your place. If you want me to leave, I will leave. If you want me to stay, I will always be around.”

Meiko smiled and curled a fist in triumph.