Origin: From Her Blooms the Path

Japan, several centuries ago...

A usual spring morning would bring the warm smell of blossoming flowers, all Kazue feels today is an ever present chill in her bones.

She gets up from her little straw bed and prepares herself to carry out her morning chores alongside her older sister.

Save for the odd tension hanging in the air around her, the day goes as it usually does; she follows her mother to their small farm to tend to their crops and once her assistance is no longer needed, she goes to the family shop. There, she helps her older sister and father until the sun is high in the sky. Her father sends her off to deliver some orders now and again but right after those, she's free to do as she pleases.

She supposes her lack of normal friends is why the odd tension in the air only seems to bother her.

She makes her way to the small shrine at the village's edge, close to the forest.

Years ago it had come as a shock to her parents when she had declared she could see beings no one could but to her misfortune, no one had taken her seriously.

It only resulted in sneers from her parents and mocking from the other children. A struggling family of nobodies, how was anyone supposed to believe a thing like her had a gift so special?

It's been a long time since then and Kazue's yet to grow out of it as her parents had prayed. After many warnings from her mother to 'not disgrace our family.' she'd come to the decision it'd be best to keep her interactions with the spirits a secret. A decision which had led to most fascinating yet lonely adventures.

A loneliness that bothers her so little she's had to convince herself she's no more stranger than she already is every time he feet cross beyond their town's boundaries.

She's met her fair share of mischievous spirits but a greater part of her time is spent with the kindlier ones. She'd set right what she could but not everything can be so easily fixed. She didn't mind though, the yokai were the most interesting part of her life.

There's one aspect of her life she didn't like...

The fights.

They happen almost daily.

Her mother near tears and her father screaming angrily.

'Why are you so useless?!'

'Stop insulting me, it was a mistake.'

'Mistakes. That's all you can make. No sons, just one sick girl and another crazy one.'

'Don't speak of my daughters that way!'

On her return Kazue sits just beneath the window leading into the small area where they usually take dinner. The place her parents are currently arguing. With her sick older sister now eighteen and unable to land a suitor, things we're getting tighter and her own refusal to interact with her male counterparts is hardly helping.

Growing irritated by the arguing noises now getting louder, she ventures further from their home and runs into a little magpie which is no ordinary magpie at all. A shapshifting spirit she's met often enough talks down to her from a tree perch before taking off, something about unsettled Demons coming, she tails after them and soon finds herself unwittingly drawn far off to listen. Intrigued to the thought as Demons are one of the few spirits she's yet to see.

She ends up at the forest's edge, in the company of other magpie spirits and in their swell of scattered discussion she catches bits and pieces of something else that draws her interest.

Another human close-by.

And injured.

She approaches them and before she can ask, her friend from the flock takes off, showing the way.

Kazue follows after with hasty steps, scanning the ground with her eyes until they fall upon a figure seeming to crawl along. A male probably.

She hurries to his side.

'Sir! May I be of any assistance?' She asks, her tone anxious. There's more blood than she had expected pooling around him, far more than her sister's occasional coughing fit have equipped her to handle.

'It would be in your best interest to leave, child. This forest gets dangerous at night.' The man states hoarsely, he looks up her, face wrinkled and pinched from age but still firm.

Kazue frowns realizing deep down she should really leave well enough alone but it's in her nature to press on, 'I understand but that's why we should get help.'

'I am fine, young miss, do return to your home.'

'I can't go unless you leave with me,' she tries, attempting to lift him so that maybe they'll get closer tk the way out. She can get more help from there, 'The yokai say there are Demons coming, I can't leave you-"

His tired eyes stare at her, calculating, 'You hear them? The yokai?'

'A good deal are my friends.'

He sits up and now Kazue can see his wound more clearly. A gaping hole in his midsection. She's no physician but she can tell he there's no way he'll live for much longer. She wants to be calm but the chill that's followed her the whole day travels down her spine in alertness.

'I don't have much longer to live if one has to say,' the old man groans.

A piercing shriek cuts through the air causing Kazue to flinch. She looks around, fear slowly taking hold of her as the sun finallyplunges beneath the horizon plunging the world in a darkness that reel nearly unnatural.

A part of knows it is.

Her beating heart speeds up drastically, but she remains at the old man's side, guarded. He watches her, deeply touched.

'You must leave.'

'You need assistance.'

'I won't make it, but... there is something in me that should...' he hesitates 'I wanted to hide it but now it seems I have no choice but to use what the gods have provided.'

She raises a confused brow, eager to run but she's rooted tk the forest floor by an invisible force. Fear and curiosity at war in chest.

'The gods sent you here to take something from me now that I no longer have the strength to keep it safe. You must do the same else the world of man and spirits shall fall into great disarray.'

Kazue feels her blood run cold, this must be what her senses had been alerting too all day, 'What?'

'Our people and the world as we know it are in danger.'

That gives her pause, 'I wish there was more I could do but all my life, I've been nothing but a burden,' Vivid taunts of being the crazy girl fill her ears, she'd accepted her ability a long time ago, it's alway been apart of her and she loves it but it's still made living a burden.

'Then that isn't the life meant for you.' The old man said, commanding, 'Your gift is wasted sitting among ordinary humans, with what I give, you will find your place...and even your true people, all that is left is for you to fulfill your purpose.'

Kazue stares, mind racing, heart stuttering under his intense glare but elated at the news that there might be more, more to be seen than sitting in her small dusty home and waiting for a future she had no hope in.

Is she being given a choice, or was this simply something else she'd have to accept because she was all that stood between her words and destruction?

'If you accept this, your life will never be the same. After tonight, you shall be a wanderer,' the old man speaks. He takes her left hand, placing in it a small wooden talisman.

Another shrill howl, this time followed by a scream. It's far off, like something us being kept from their area.

'No one must know of your existence, and your work shall be one with no reward.'

'I'm afraid of what the future yours speak of holds, but...if this is a chance for me to do more for everyone...' to be free...she stops thoughtfully. She has no idea what she's getting herself into. But this old man had no reason to lie and he was badly injured. His voice carring no hints of madness but only cool, strong authority.

'You accept then?'

'I can't turn away.'

He closes his eyes briefly, adjusting his position and holding back a cough that would result in blood pouring down his mouth. Much later Kazue would come to under why he'd shown little pain in regards to his injuries. No pain could match what he'd endured up until that moment.

He places a hand on her right shoulder, 'It will hurt just barely, but as soon as I say so, you must run. Run until you reach your home. Hide there for only tonight but no longer. By morning you must leave. Never stay in one place for too long. You will have my memories guiding you so never let go of that talisman. Protect any man who needs it and help any spirit who needs as well. Your work is for both worlds as long as the balance remains.'

She nods, a deep pool of dread sinking into her until its replaced by something else.

A spike of pain shoots through her shoulder, diving deeper into her body, spreading into her chest. She shakes with her vision clouded with all flashing shades of white, red and black.

Suddenly, a cold envelopes her. A sudden clearness of her mind. Her trance broken by the frightened scream of 'RUN!'

She's startled into action, heart pounding. Her feet move before her brain could catch up. She bows to the old man, pained tears gathering in her eyes as she casts one last lingering look back to his wound. She forces herself to turn, running as fast as her legs will let her. All the way, a new feeling overwhelms her, jars her senses, and awakens them to an extent she'd never dreamt of feeling. A vigor of strength and excitement lightihgna fire in places she never knew could be warm.

There's a darkness though, one that threatens to consume her mind, searching for her anger and resentment at the world but she runs through it all. Fixed solely on all the joys and beauty her gift her sent her way, including this moment.

By the time she gets back home, it's already very late. She had failed to take into account her ruffled clothes and the hems stained with blood but fortunately fir her mother is too panicked, scolding and rushing her towards their bathing area to get ready for the night.

She goes into the room she shares with her sister after washing up and having dinner. She lays down but sleep doesn't come easy and when it does, it's filled with voices and strange dreams that make her clutch at the strange wooden talisman in her hold.

On waking the next day, Kazue knows what she has to do.

Or just some parts of it.

She can't ever carry on this life, not with what she now knows is dwelling within her.

Beings with power so great that she has to keep a great secret from far malicious forces. A secret that could unleash a vengeful force upon the world.

As time goes on, she'll sort things out, but sitting in her little bed with the silver lights of dawn peeking through her curtains, she knows she can't remain here.

Morning light brings with it a new life that no longer belongs to just her. But to the mission she is now tasked with and despite the dread of leaving her family, her life and maybe even herself, Kazue has never felt so free.

She stands on the hill overlooking her small home, the only place she's known for so long yet her soul calls her to adventures so far unseen.

She turns to leave, untethered to the rules of society because they no longer applied to her new self.