Enslaved

Rig is created and shortly after is captured. While he is captured he is told to watch over the woman Sajoki who he starts to develop feelings for.

Country: Japan


Life. That was my first thought. I felt my presence grow and my form mature. By mature I mean that it gained some shape. I saw a raven and then my form changed into a weak imitation of it. My eyesight also changed and it seemed that I lost some of my form.


I heard a voice. I didn't think it was my parents as I felt I didn't need them. Maybe a creator. I turned and saw a snake as big as a large hill looking at me. It was trying to talk to me. Its eyes were the color of rubies and it put its head to mine.


I would like to say I felt fear but, no, I only felt curiosity. Curiosity to find out who this snake was and to find out what I was. The snake let out its tongue and it touched what was now a raven-like face. I suddenly was able to know everything about myself and that this snake was my creator. That this snake, whose name was Hijunaki, was half-demon and had spent years making me.


I transformed into a male human form. My hair grew long and my eyes grew thin. My hair was black and I was naked. I bowed before Hijunaki and he bowed to me.


"You are free to roam this land, Rig." He said and indicated the landscape with his tail. "You are a creature born to be free but will come if I call."


I did not like the fact that I was expected to come when someone called, but I wasn't yet strong enough to rebel against anyone.


"Can I leave this land if I choose?" I asked.


"Not as long as I live." Hijunaki hissed and I bowed once again.


*  * *


It had been a few months and I had adapted just fine. There were creatures called humans but I hardly paid them any attention. Why would I? It was much more fun to fly or run as different animals. The humans could die for all I cared.


At least Hijunaki had not called for me. For the first few days I had also been afraid that this land would be too small. But, as fortune would have it, it had turned out to be big enough for me.


Today I was in the form of a wolf and was running along to test out the speed of the form I was now in. It was fun to run and I howled as the wind blew through my fur. My fur was a lovely white color that matched the snow that was now on the ground.


Suddenly I noticed a scent. It smelled like a group of humans. Those humans could not catch me! To prove that point, I ran even faster but was suddenly stopped by an awful smell. I turned the other way and a net was thrown on me.


I went down and struggled. Within a few seconds my fur had turned to sharp spines and I was able to easily escaped. As soon as I got out of the net I turned into a raven and started to fly away. At first the humans were confused, but they finally were able to pull together and started shooting arrows at me.


I laughed as the joy of dodging the arrows got to me. An arrow got implanted in my left wing. I screamed as this was the first real sensation of pain I had ever felt. How had these humans been able to get me? Why would they shoot me? They could tell I was not a source of food. When I came crashing down the whole world went black.


*  * *


I heard a crackling sound like a fire. Sniffing the air with my human nose I smelled smoke. I opened my eyes quickly to see where the fire was. When I looked I saw that there was a fire like the humans used. I turned my head and there was a human. He looked different. Normally the humans wore skins but this one only wore a skin to cover his genitals and his body was covered with markings.


"Obake, I have captured you and forced you to wear human skin." The man said. I realized that I had been a raven last and now I was a human. A tied up human, at that. How could a human do this? Their frail bodies made it seem a miracle that they could walk.


"How can you do this?" I asked. "You're a mere human. You're a weakling."


Another human took a stick and whacked my face a few times. "Stop." The marked man said. "I am now your master. Tell me your name."


I tried to resist but my mouth spoke for me. "My name is Rig." I felt confused. Why had my mouth done that? Did this human really possess some of the powers that Hijunaki did. If so, I hoped Hijunaki would come for his creation.
*         *          *
Humans, I had found out, were smelly creatures that actually minded their scent. Bathing was done, for my kind, to be clean. Such as when my feathers in my raven form didn't allow me to fly as well or when my scent would alert predators where I was. But humans, such as my master Tamui, wanted to look good.


I had been washing Tamui for an hour and I was growing annoyed. If only I could have evaded my capture, my days would have been more interesting.


"Rig," Tamui finally said. "Dry me off."


Tamui got out of the pool and stood up. I dreaded this part because going close to Tamui's body wasn't something that I liked to do. He was fit, everyone had to be to survive, but he was my master. He was the one who controlled what my motions were. The special human that helped enslave me had made sure of it.


I shifted my arms into fur and started to dry him off. "You're doing it too fast." He reprimanded.


"Sorry, master." I said and tried to keep my voice as level as I could. Because my motion was now slower, Tamui relaxed more.


"How do you feel about women?" He asked.


"Human women? They are just creatures and hold no importance to me." Was my response. This seemed to make Tamui happy.


"There is a woman I am interested in. She treats me very well and I demand  you keep an eye on her. Her name is Sajoki."


This was one of the worst things that had happened to me today. A creature, such as myself, shouldn't be bothered with petty things such as keeping track of another's future mate. But, of course, I had no choice in the matter. The shackles of my enslavement pulled me down.


The next few hours I listened to Tamui talk about how wonderful Sajoki was. Although most of what he talked about her had very little to do with her character. Luckily, things were cut short when hunting took place and I was happy because it was one of the few times that Tamui let me shift.


Turning into a large wolf I started to prowl for prey. Taking cues from the human hunters, I managed to get a decent amount of food for the camp. I enjoyed running and feeling free. It was only a fleeting, momentary thing as I knew that it wouldn't last. As long as Tamui was alive I would always be a slave to the humans.


I nearly drooled with the thought of his hand in my mouth. Of a painful death for him that could only be performed by me. But those were mere wishes, the strength to go against my enslavement seemed impossible to me right now.


Upon arrival back to the camp, Tamui forced me back into my human form and walked me over to a woman. "This is Sajoki, stay with her." And with that he went off.


I spent a few moments looking at her. She seemed, to me, to be attractive by human standards and I felt a flash of something in me. Was this what humans meant by the word love? This rush of blood slowly starting to leave my head?


"So, you're my protector." Sajoki said in a silky voice.  That voice. That lovely voice made the feeling of love stronger. "Tamui should trust me more."


"I can make no statement against him." I replied.


"I'm sorry to hear that. Why can't you?"


"One special human put a spell over me and handed ownership over to Tamui. I can't help what I am now."


"I'm feeling tired, maybe you could protect me in the tent." Sajoki said and I had a feeling that she was talking about something other than my duties. Part of me wanted to explore my new urges but another part, small as it might be, didn't want to make Tamui angry. I followed her.
*             *                 *
It was raining as I walked to Sajoki's tent. Tamui was sleeping and so it was a good time for me to visit her. The thought of her form had been on my mind a great deal these past few days. Keeping true to my orders, I kept close to Sajoki and she had kept close to me.


I went over to her tent, though she did share it with other people at times, and opened the flap slowly. "Sajoki?" I asked and could only see one form in the tent.


It moved towards me and said, "Yes, Rig."


"Sajoki," I said. "Do you love Tamui?"


"He's not my type of man, but he can support me. It all evens out in the end."


Now my courting of Sajoki would be getting harder, but I had to try even if the end result would be me hiding my tears in the rain. "I've been thinking, would you want to try and mate with me? I'm under Tamui's orders so our love would have to be secret or else I could die."


Sajoki smiled. It seemed sweet and full. I loved her face and could tell she was deciding. At the moment I didn't care if she accepted for personal reasons or that she really wanted me. I waited for her answer and hoped that it would be the one I wanted.


"Yes." Sajoki replied and I felt a great joy over take me. We rushed at each other and started kissing. Within a few minutes we were mating. It was a wonderful feeling and would've lasted longer if not for my excellent hearing.


"Someone's coming." I told her and we quickly got dressed. This was easy due to the fact that humans kept clothing to a minimum.


I stood up in the center of the tent and Sajoki pretended to be sleeping. Tamui opened the flap and looked at me. "What are you doing in here?" He asked me.


"I was checking on Sajoki. It's raining and I wanted to make sure she was sleeping well." I replied. "She's a woman and so she's a fragile creature."


Tamui just stared hard at me and then sighed. "Well, at least you're taking your duty with her seriously. At least more seriously than any other duty before this one."


I went out of the tent and left Sajoki to deal with Tamui. We hadn't been going at it long so she should still be able to perform to his standards.


Walking around for hours got to me so I went to the tent that Tamui usually went to and waited. Finally it was dinner time and Tamui made me get something to eat. He allowed me to hunt so I caught some rabbits.


* * *


I watched them eat the cooked rabbits. Tamui and Sajoki stayed close together. I was sure she would keep my secret because I was something more than human. Hopefully Tamui would be dead before he figured it all out.

*           *           *
The sunset's lovely colors poured over the forest as I headed back. The afternoon spent with Sajoki had been a lovely one. One with no fear of someone sneaking up on us because I was supposed to be out hunting alone. The dead wolf in my hand was the only proof to show that I had been out hunting.


Walking into camp I was greeted by an unhappy and stinking Tamui. "Rig," He said. "You've been out awhile and you come back with only a wolf. You are usually more cunning and clever than that." Tamui took the wolf from me and threw it down.


"Hunting wasn't good today." I replied. "It happens. I am an obake and am not all powerful."


At this moment Sajoki came in and looked at the scene. "I've been looking for you, Tamui." She said.


"I've been here all along." Tamui said. "Now that I think of it, I haven't seen you at camp all afternoon."


Sajoki looked nervous and I calmed myself down knowing that there was always a way out of this type of situation. Sajoki and I had gotten out of awkward situations similar to this before. Tamui looked at her with an angry look in his eyes that a demon would be afraid of.


"You've been having fun with him, haven't you?" Tamui hissed as he started to circle around Sajoki. This was a new move for him. "He is a newborn of his species and you've been enticing him. You've been ruining my servant!" He slapped her face and she looked at him in shock.  "There is an easy way to get rid of this problem. I should've guessed before what you were doing. Should've known that Rig isn't normally as happy as he has been since you've been sleeping with him. I'll just kill you so that I may have my servant back."


I knew a way to solve this: to tell Tamui that I had not fallen for Sajoki's beauty but that I had been happier because it was my duty to look out for her. And that I had been staying away longer so that the temptation of her sweet flesh wouldn't overcome me.


I opened my mouth and she said, "No, Tamui, Rig forced himself on me and I couldn't refuse." She started to cry and fell into his arms. Tamui looked relieved. "I was afraid that Rig would kill me if I didn't continue to serve him."


Suddenly I felt a confused swarm of emotions in me. I felt betrayal at the fact that Sajoki didn't love me when I loved her. I loved her face, her taste, and the sound of her voice but I meant nothing to her. I felt anger and hatred at the fact that Tamui would take her and that she would live a peaceful life.


I turned my gaze to Sajoki and Tamui and made my decision.


Tamui looked at me and asked, "Is this true, Rig? Is it true that you have taken advantage of my future wife?"


A deep seething hate continued coming into my blood. It started to make me burn from the inside out and I looked at the two humans. Tamui who owned me and Sajoki who owned my heart. I hated Sajoki. I hated the human woman with a hate that I didn't think was possible.


Suddenly a fear came to me that Tamui would take revenge upon me for sleeping with his woman. Maybe if I waited the fear would be revealed to be unfounded. But what I felt for those two made me react in a way I hadn't before. Nor did I think I would ever react so before I felt this way.


As Tamui waited for my answer, I turned both of my arms into blades. They were bone but were nonetheless very deadly. Tamui didn't even have a blink of an eye to wait before my right arm connected with his neck. The cut started with a small stream of blood going outwards until his head came off and the stream became heavier and went downwards. I felt my bonds from him being broken and I realized that I was finally free.


Sajoki let go of him and then she turned to look me in the eyes. In her eyes I thought I read a hint of sorrow for what she had done. Of course the truth of the matter was that she was only frightened of death. And, with me being free, I was free to kill her.


My left arm connected with the bosom that once brought me joy and the heart that I thought was mine. I kept my arm in her and she collapsed. After what seemed like millennia, the life in her eyes left and the only sound from her was the blood leaving her body.


I looked at her dead eyes and the impact of what I did finally caught up to me. Removing my arm from her, and changing my arms back into human arms and hands, I finally realized my love was dead. The anger was draining from me and I felt fear. What if someone discovered that I had murdered Sajoki?


I ran outside of the tent and shifted into a crow and took off. I circled around the camp for awhile and saw people going toward the tent that Sajoki and Tamui had died in. I flew away from the camp and traveled for hours trying to get away from the image of Sajoki's dead body and the memory of the extreme anger I had felt.


I couldn't take it any longer and landed on the shore of a lake. I then shifted into a human and looked at myself in the lake's water. My reflection showed a broken heart and eyes that were finally opened. I also saw Sajoki in only her skin next to me. I quickly turned and realized that I had only imagined her. She would never be next to me again. I forgave her for everything and asked for her to be brought back to life. After I did that tears flowed down my face. It became so great that I fell into the lake and my tears and the water became one.