Miya's Story

   I knew I was dreaming, but the scene I saw in front of me was terrible. My beloved home, the Tomoko Temple, was in flames. And for some reason, I couldn’t move or do anything. I couldn’t scream for help. I only….watched. So it was a relief when I heard my name being called and the blazing vision finally faded away.

   “Come on Lil’ Priestess. Time to wakeup.” Ren said as he stopped shaking me and looked down to my face. “Oh good. You are awake. I’ll let you get changed then.”

   Ren gets up and goes out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I then get out of bed and change into my Priestess kimono. Looking out the window, I see the sun rising over the old cherry blossom tree and smile. Suddenly, I hear a light scratching at my door and so I cross my room to go open it. I find my familiar, a gray wolf named Catori, on the other side. “Ok, I’m coming.” I tell her. Whenever I se Catori, I’m reminded of how I found her. The poor girl had been trapped by hunters in a cage. When I had stumbled upon their camp and saw Catori, she had cuts all over her and looked malnourished. But I freed her and had brought her back to the temple. Now Catori was happy and strong.

   Catori and I continue on our way through the gardens to the main sanctuary in the temple. Ren was there already with his Red-Crowned Crane Saki next to him. He had been talking to Master Daichi, the High Priest of the temple. When they notice me walk in, Master Daichi smiles.

   “Ah, Miya. You slept a bit over today. You do know your supposed to be here before the sun rises don’t you?” Master Daichi says to me. I bow respectfully. “I’m sorry Master. I guess I was too caught in my dreams.”

   Master Daichi looks at me as I finish. He then nods and gestures for me and Ren to sit down for today’s spell lesson. And it’s the same as always. We listen to Master Daichi explain the history of the spell. Next we would practice saying it and try to see if we could perform it. Then we were released. As Ren and I leave, we send Catori and Saki to our rooms and then head up to the old cherry blossom tree on the hill.

   We sit down against the side of the tree trunk that faces the rolling hills and the sun. We stay quiet for a while, but I can feel that something is bothering him. But before I can ask what’s wrong, Ren speaks up.

   “Do you think about your parents a lot?” He asks me. I’m a bit surprised at the question but I go with it. I sit for a moment, thinking. I was sixteen and for twelve years I had lived at this temple after being dropped off by my parents. They had wanted to continue the family tradition that if you were a Priest or Priestess, you should help others. So my parents left me here while they went off to fight demons and evil spirits that plagued the mortals.

   I realize I hadn’t answered Ren’s question and that he was watching me. “Yes, I do think about them and miss them.” I say. Two years after they had left me, my parents were killed by a demon. At least I had known them for a while. Poor Ren’s parents were killed by a demon when he was only one years old. Ren was then sent to an orphanage and later came here when Master Daichi adopted him. I look to Ren, who was still watching me. “What?” I ask.

   Ren suddenly grabs my hand. “Let’s run away and do what your parents did. To fight demons and help others. But most of all to be…together.” He says smiling. I’m amazed at him and find myself blushing.

   “We can’t just run away.” I say. “We still have much to learn. And as long as we’re here, the temple’s codes forbid us from being together. You know tha-” Before I finish, Ren kisses me. It surprises me at first, but I relax and kiss him back. When we part, he smiles and stands up. He offers me his hand and helps me up. We walk down the hill and Ren looks at me. “Think about it.” He says as he leans down and kisses me on the cheek. He then leaves to go to his room and I head off to mine. I walk in and sit down on my bed, rubbing Catori’s back as she sits next to me. I stay like that for about an hour, thinking of what Ren had said. When I make up my mind, I laugh a bit and get a strange look from Catori. “I’m just like my parents.” I say to her.

   I get up, telling Catori I’ll be back and run to Ren’s room. When I get there I notice the door is open a bit. I walk in and stop dead in my tracks. On the bed, both Ren and Saki laid motionless and covered in blood. I ran over, hoping to find some sign of life, but there was none. I grab one of Ren’s cold hands and start crying.

   I hear a creak from the floorboards and look up to see Master Daichi, his sword covered in fresh blood. I stand and look at him. “You? You…did this?” I ask him. Master Daichi looks away from me and towards the body. “It was his own fault. He broke the code and took advantage of you, my dear. Such a thing is only punishable by death. And as High Priest, I’m the only one allowed to kill in the temple. Now come with me and I’ll take you back to your room.”

   Master Daichi offers his hand, but I shake my head and I stand there, my anger rising. I look down to the ground and my body starts to shudder. My head snaps back up and I look directly at Daichi. “Your no Priest. You’re a murderer.” I say in a voice that is unrecognizable. My vision started to cloud as I move towards Daichi. He swings his sword at me and I feel myself catch it, though I can barely see. I kick him out the door and as I walk out, my vision goes black.

   I wake up to Catori nudging me. I didn’t remember anything but as I get up and look around, I think I’m dreaming again. But no, the heat of the flames felt too real. Tomoko Temple was burning, surrounded by the dead bodies of its priests and priestesses. And since I was the only one left, I realize that I did this. I look to Catori, who whines and rubs up against me. “Let’s go girl. There’s nothing left for us here.” I say to her. As we leave and head for the nearest town, tears start to fall down my face.

Three Months Later

   Catori and I walk down the streets of Haruna, trying to get to our apartment. The town had become our new home and I had found a job in one of the fruit tree orchards that surrounded the town. As we near our apartment building, I start to search for the keys in my bag. Suddenly I hear Catori yelp and turn to see that a young wizard had ran into her.

   “I’m so sorry!” The boy exclaims as he stands up. I laugh and pick up the envelope he had dropped. As I look at it, the boy tells me it’s his application to a school named Celestial Cross Academy. He continues on, telling me it’s a school for all types of magic users. As I hand him back the envelope, he reaches into his pocket and gives me a folded up piece of paper.

   “Here.” He says. “My sister was going to apply, but she decided not to at the last minute. She told me to just throw it away, but you look interested in going. Just fill it out, mail it, and hopefully you’ll get accepted!” The boy says as he runs on down the street. I look to Catori and we both go racing up our apartment building’s stairs and to our apartment. I pull a pen out of my bag and start to fill out the application as I sit at the table. Once I was done, we went back down the stairs and got to the post office as quickly as possible. I drop the envelope that contained my application into the mailing bin and walk out the post office door. As Catori and I head back home, I look at her and smile. “Maybe I’ll get accepted. If so, it could mean a new beginning for us.” I say. Her eyes sparkle with hope. Yes a new beginning is definitely what we needed.

Reviews

[Riding the Rainbow]

OMG! I totally loved this! It so different from the story I have read so far and I love everything about Japan and its culture. I studied Japanese in College, as well.

[Avangeline]

Nice. I like it. You could have added a bit more detail for three months later but other than that is was good.