Prologue

     "Momo, come on!"

My dog gives an echoing bark in response. Soon he appears through the shrubs toward where I am, his light fur pale against the dark scenery of the woods.

     "Are you having fun boy?" I say to him, lowering to rub his fluffy ear. He whips his tail enthusiastically and nibbles my hand. I giggle.

It's still dawn. The sun has yet touched the horizon, the sky painted in an obscure gray that makes your chest tight. Without daylight, here in the forest, it's much darker with the overlapping canopies. Mosquitoes buzz with other insects of nature.

I direct my steps to the southern part of the woods. My eyes scan the greenery for any valuable plants. Wild vegetables would spare me some funds for supper, but today my main intention is on herbs. If I could fill the basket dangling down my arm with some precious herbs, then my funds would instead add up a little more when I offer the goods to the apothecary owner. Though unspoken, I already consider this regular errand my career. The owner doesn't seem to mind too.

Well, not that I have much do to in a remote village anyway.

I decide to take a different route today. I clear the dirt ground of dead leaves, hoping to make a track. As far as I know this forest is huge and taking it lightly might not be the best choice, even if you're someone like me who's been here for all my life. It is, though, presumably safe to trespass to a certain boundary.

The earth smells much stronger as I wander further. Momo sniffs the ground with his brown nose, exploring the tentacular roots of a massive silk cotton tree. Columns of oaks and pines scatter throughout. The forest floor no longer stretches out flat, but instead becomes jerky with stones and protruding roots. Weeds crawl like veins. Daylight breaks and brightens up the undergrowth.

I gape at the sight around me, more than pleased. A spicy scent of rosemary wafts to my nose. Next to it is a bush of thyme. A pale color takes my eyes to a shrub of white snakeroot, good for snakebites. I glance to the ground and notice that I'm already stepping on a kind of herb. Liverwort flowers bloom from the soil, the purple flowers small but beautiful.

     "Momo, we could survive half of our lives with all these!" I exclaim to my dog, spinning to get an eye on the many possible herbs all around. My voice causes some birds to fly away from nearby trees.

I cheerfully skip to the rosemary bush and begin to pluck out some. A wild lemon tree grows just beyond it, bearing the golden fruits. I move carefully to pick a good amount before proceeding  to do the same with the next plant.

After a long moment Momo comes running up the surface from my right. He circles around me, barking continuously. I try to shush him out of habit, thankful that we're not in village. When I carry on with my task the dog starts pulling at my clothes with his mouth.

     "What's wrong?" I say, putting aside the half-full basket. Momo lets go of my dress only to gently bite my finger. Then he pulls me toward the direction from where he just came from, as if telling me to follow him.

I stand up and take the basket with me. Momo darts into the trees before I can catch up.

He keeps running ahead, not even glancing back once. I nearly trip several times on the uneven ground all the while trying to memorize the way back. The longer I follow him through the narrow path, I start to become uncertain. I'm not familiar with these parts, though I'm not entirely sure about my dog. The herbs I'm finding are no longer available here. I barely see anything edible.

     "Momo, where are you going?" I call over to him. "We can't venture out too far you know. It might be dangerous."

Well it technically isn't, unless we get too hungry and mistake a poisonous plant for food.

The trees begin to thin out and the surrounding becomes brighter. Momo finally stops running and is waving his tail joyfully at me as if he's found a treasure.

The view beyond him has me staring dumbfounded. Next comes the sound of waves. The salty air.

The sea.

This is the first time I actually get to see a sea with my own eyes! I race toward it. A blast of wind nearly sends me off balance. Amazement bubbles from my mouth as I marvel at the discovery. I dispose my basket down and shrug off my scandals, can't wait to walk to the shore. Momo is already ahead of me. I follow him and come across something at the edge of the forest.

It's a book. Stuffed horizontally into the soil. I move to have a closer look at it. This doesn't look like someone had dropped it, with the book being already halfway through the ground.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I pull out the book from its resting place. Almost immediately, Momo jumps to me and sniffs the book like it's his food. He then takes his nose from the book and lands it to the spot the book was just now kept. Then he begins digging into the ground.

Dirt flies to my face. I back away and stand up. My dog delves furiously. Thinking he's doing what all puppies do, I'm about to leave him to it until his paw finds something white. As Momo claws away more of the soil I pale at the sight of what seems like a hand.

Why is there a deceased buried here? There's a proper cemetery for the villagers located not far from the village itself. And judging from the intact appearance of the hand, now becoming an arm because of my dog's effort, whoever it is must have been recently buried.

Gathering my courage, I edge toward it. Momo easily clears away the sand that buries the face. Then he simply sits back and lets me behold his work.

It's a girl.

She's around my age, young and beautiful. She had a pale face, her closed eyes and withdrawn lips making her look very delicate, yet somehow also very sad.

I'm literally crouching down to her face now. At this distance, I realize something. It's her skin. It looks pale, but not pale enough. I know how a dead person looks like. I know how my mother looked like.

I extend out a hand to brush the dirt away from her cheek, and the contact makes me snatch my hand away. My heart pounds slightly against my ribs. I gingerly move a finger under her nose, receiving no breaths. My hand finds her face again. The warmth is undeniable.

Not satisfied, I use my hands to dig out her whole body. Normally, digging out corpses from their graves might be classified as rudeness towards the dead. Except that I get the feeling that she's more than that.

I keep digging until her body comes into view. Momo assists in the process. My gaze travels to her middle, and I stifle a gasp.

The white yukata that she's clothed in is coated in dried blood. I swallow and reach to touch her chest, searching for a heartbeat. After a passing moment, I really feel it. Although it is very very small and seems likely to fade any second, but it exists. The slow vibrating sensation emerging from her heart.

She's still alive.

An emotion crawls up my throat. Who on earth is so cruel to have her buried here alone without making sure if she really died? It's just too terrible.

I resolve to bring her out of that awful grave hole. Moving over, I grab her arms and put them over my shoulders. Despite her appearance, she's poorly light. After finally adjusting her body onto my back, I get to my feet. Momo is at my side in an instant.

     "You've just saved a life, boy," I say to him. "Let's go home and treat her."

Momo barks and picks up the basket with his teeth. Together we head home, with a new member of our family.

Her wound might be deep, but there's nothing the apothecary owner can't cure.

_________________

Three days passed. To my dismay, I see no sign of the girl waking up.

I took her body to the apothecary and had the owner examine her body. He had said that she suffered not only from the exterior wounds, but also from the poison active in her blood. Ricin poisoning, he said, is one of the deadliest poisons that could kill a person within three to four days and has no particular treatment. All he could do was to provide supplements to try and cleanse her body rid of it. But the chances of her waking up is...too low.

He gave me the needed supplies of herbal medicines in which he took nothing in exchange. I was confused at the look on his face then, but I didn't push.

Now I do the best I can. Boiling medicines as I've been instructed, I feed it to her daily. The sight of her wounds still intimidate me as I apply poultice on her body. The one on her chest is healing, yet the long gash from extending to her waist still needs time. I can't imagine what she's been through.

I repeat the routine until the fifth day. After changing her to my kimono, I settle down beside her. The rise and fall of her breath are barely noticeable. She looks more beautiful now that she's cleaned up. I don't think I've seen anyone in this village with an appearance so fragile.

I turn to the basin sitting nearby, and rid a towel of water. Then I use it to lightly wipe her face. A twitch of movement catches my eyes. Before I realize it, her eyes flutter open.

I take my hand away. Her beautiful gaze averts to me, at first unfocused. I try to smile at her and as a response her expression softens. She smiles back.

One may believe her smile as warming, but to my eyes it only reflects hurt.

     "How are you feeling now?" I ask as I put the towel aside.

     "I'm alright, thank you," she mutters. "Were you the one who looked after me all this time?"

I nod. "Yes. I was worried whether or not you'd wake." I give her body a worried glance and say, "Would you please tell me what happened that got you in this mess when you're better?"

Her weak smile makes my heart sink, but she nods anyway.

     "Oh and by the way, my name is Senya," I tell her. "Shizuka Senya. Tell me when you need anything."

She shakes her head, face as if in pain. "I can't thank you enough for what you've already done," she whispers.

I take her hand in mine. "Don't sweat it," I say. "You needed help and I helped you. It's fair. And I couldn't leave you alone. You seem likely to break any moment then."

Instead of getting offended at my comment, she chuckles softly. "I must be very lucky to meet you."

     "Actually we're both lucky. I've always been wanting a sister you see." I make an exaggerated face, then earn a burst of giggle from both of us. "Though we never met, let's hope to get along. I'll help you until you're all good and well again."

She nods lightly, attempting to sit up but only fails miserably. Pain abruptly erases all trace of her sweetness. She drops back down on the mattress.

     "Don't push yourself. Your wounds are still healing," I quickly suggest. Then I realize I forget to ask something. "What's your name?"

She relaxes after awhile. With another small smile she says, "You can call me Y/N."