Kaioshin's body had been thrown into a forest almost clear across the planet. He was severely wounded from the attack laid upon him by Zenika, and lay unconscious where he had fallen. However, a person passing by, on their way home, had found him.
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He could see fire surrounding him. Running through the narrow hallways, he searched for those he loved. He knew that they must be dead. Laughter flooded the rooms; smoke rose and filled his lungs. What was he to do? There was nothing...nothing at all. They were gone...all of them. He had to escape. But where was he to go? Every exit was blocked by fire, or a demon of some sort. The one called Jaki mocked him, following him wherever he went. Then he turned and ran into her...red eyes staring down at his helpless form. "Join me...." she beckoned. "Your future lies in my hands...you know you want this. You've always wanted the easy way out...Join me, prince. Its the only way out..."
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Kaioshin quickly sat up; small beads of sweat trailing down his face. He took deep breaths, realizing it was just a nightmare, one that kept repeating in his head for sometime now. The young man calmed himself down, and began to look at his surroundings. They were unfamiliar to him, almost making him think that he was still dreaming. He was in a small room with a small window in the corner. The room was plain, wooden walls and a simple curtains hanging from the window. A table and a few chairs sat in the center, a stove and sink against the wall. He looked down to see himself sitting on top of a bed; two light brown blankets covered his lower half. He looked at himself to see that he wore only shorts, his chest and arms bandaged. He moved his feet to feel that his left ankle also had a bandage around it. Suddenly a pounding feeling came to his head, and his hand went up to hold it. A bandage was around his forehead as well.
For some unknown reason, the room seemed to be moving. His left arm supported himself before he fell back. Then the door opened. He squinted his eyes to see a figure that walked in. Whoever it was had on a hood, hiding their face. Kaioshin's eyes started having trouble focusing and he started to let himself fall back down to the mattress. The other person had mad their way over to him and sat in the chair next to the bed. A hand gently pushed him down and another brought a wet cloth to his face.
Kaioshin relaxed and let sleep take over, still oblivious to whom was with him. He just hoped that he wouldn't slip into another terrible dream.
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He didn’t know how long he was asleep. He could hear faint sounds, but his eyes were too lazy to open to see. Finally, the sounds became annoying and he opened his eyes and rolled over. By the stove he saw a woman standing with her back to his. Her hair was long and white, reaching down to her mid-back. She wasn’t that tall, and she wore some sort of faded red dress.
Kaioshin moaned as he started to realize the pain his muscles were in. His moaning was loud enough for the girl to hear. She turned around and met eyes with her patient. She smiled and walked over to him, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. “Good afternoon,” she said in a pleasant voice.
“Afternoon? How long have I been here?” Kaioshin asked, still a bit groggy from his sleep.
“Almost two weeks now.”
His eyes widened. “Two weeks? It’s been that long?” He looked away in thought for a moment. Then he looked back at her face. She looked familiar somehow. Her hair, her soft black eyes, her smooth skin…The thought had occurred to him, but he didn’t think it was possible.
“Would you like something to eat?” She interrupted his thoughts.
“Please,” he responded. She smiled as she got up and went over to the stove. She had been making some sort of soup, which she spooned into a bowl. She brought it over and helped him sit up in the bed. Kaioshin sipped from the spoon she gave him. “This is great,” he said. “I used to eat this a lot when I was a kid. Veggie Soup, right?”
“Yes. It was your favorite thing to eat when you were younger.” Kaioshin looked at her with a curious look as he ate. The girl only smiled. She got up and started to pick up the mess around the sink. As she placed dishes in the sink, she spoke to him. “It’s been a long time since I last saw you, Prince Kaioshin.”
“It seems that you do know who I am, but I don’t quite remember you. You look familiar…”
“I’m not surprised that you don’t. It’s been almost four years, right? The last time I saw you, you had just met your wife to be.”
“Nishi,” Kaioshin said, a smile forming on his face. “I knew it was you.”
“Took you long enough,” she said mockingly. “I found you in the forest. You were beat up pretty bad.”
“Was I?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t die on me. At one point you had a high fever and were yelling out in your sleep. You came out of it about a week ago now. I’m telling ya, it was a pain to get you to drink something.”
Kaioshin laughed and looked at her. She hadn’t changed much, except that she had become such a beautiful young woman. He had always enjoyed her company when they were kids. “Why did you move away?” He asked, although he already knew the answer.
She sat down next to him again. “Your father sent my father to another town. He gave us more land for going. This is actually a cabin at the far end of the farm. The rest was destroyed.”
“What happened?”
Nishi sighed as she remembered. “Well, my mother died a few years ago from lung disease. And my father had hurt his back, so he was having trouble. I did as much as I could to help. This man wanted to marry me, but when I refused he had a fit. The house burned down one night along with the barn. Everything was basically destroyed. We think that it was that man because he didn’t get his way. He was a bit of a drunk.”
“What about your father?”
“Died. Tried to save some of the animals.”
“Oh…” Kaioshin looked down at his hands. One hand looked like it was getting over burn marks. “I must have been really bad…I mean I feel it, and my hands look bad.”
“Your face has gotten better though,” Nishi said.
“My face? What happened?” Nishi handed him a mirror. He slowly brought it up to his face. He couldn’t believe what he saw. A large scratch was under his left eye, going halfway down his cheek. The left side of his face was recovering from burn marks. His bottom lip looked like it had been cut, but was healing. “I…I can’t believe this.”
“I’m sorry…I don’t know everything, but I can tell it was terrible. I’m sure that it’ll all heal fine. And at least the mark on your chest won’t be seen, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“There’s another one?”
“Yeah, its pretty bad. I think that one will scar over.”
“Great.” Kaioshin let himself slump down. “Its not fair!”
“I know…”
“It was all going fine! I could be married and living happily ever after right now. But then she came…she did all of this. She destroyed everything I had--my mother, my father…my home. Everything! Why did it happen to me? I’m prince! I’m supposed to have the good life!”
Nishi gave him a thoughtful look. She rested her hand on his shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry. You didn’t lose everything.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Look around you Kaioshin. You’re alive.”
“I wish I wasn’t. Now I’ll be alone…”
“You won’t be alone. I’ll be here.” Nishi’s smile disappeared. She stood up and took his empty bowl to the sink. “I have to go out to water the plants. I’ll be back later.” She put on her hooded shawl and quietly walked out the door.
Kaioshin sat there, not knowing what to think. She had just been a peasant in the castle. She was nothing to the royals, but it was she to come to his aid. She had saved his life. Kaioshin knew that she had been special to him. She was the only one who he enjoyed to be with when he was a child. Maybe now…life would become easier after all.