The Forest God's New Familiar

~ Prologue ~

A black-haired girl walked through the misty forest, her body covered in blood and wounds. Her black eyes were lifeless as she walked. Two sharp blades were being dragged across the ground without a care in the world as she dragged her body around. She wasn't going to go anywhere in particular, she just wanted to find a place to call home.

I never had a home. I never had a family. I never had friends. I killed anyone that came my way. I didn't give mercy. I didn't care. I killed whatever was in my way to survive. Whether they were innocent or not, I killed them. I didn't care about life. Life was life. Death was death. That was how life was in my opinion. Well, until that day....

A man looked down at Kyoko, who had her sword pointed at his throat "You're so pathetic! Do you really think life is just something you can replace? Life is precious, once you lose it, you can never get it back. For a yokai, you're absolutely pathetic. When I heard about you, I thought you were going to be a challenge, but you're not even worth mentioning!"

He grabbed onto the blade, clutching it and pulling it out of Kyoko's grasp. Kyoko frowned slightly, and swung her second blade towards the man's throat. The man jumped back, dodging the attack and swiping his blade towards her.

The fight went on, each of them getting small gashes on their bodies. It wasn't long before Kyoko managed to dominate the man with her skills. She was hovering above the man, her blade at his throat. To her surprise, the man grinned "I'll admit you're a good fighter. But remember....

Life isn't something you can just throw away. You look lost, girl. What do you want to be? Even someone as heartless as you, have something they want," those were his last words before Kyoko slitted his throat.

From that time, his words wouldn't leave my mind.

"For a yokai, you're absolutely pathetic."

It began to rain, her hair slowly became drenched with water. Blood was being washed off her body and her bloodied blades. She looked at the sky, rain drops slipping down her face. Pathetic, huh?

"You look lost, young one," she turned her head over to see a man in a kimono, her eyes were empty of any emotion. "You're pretty injured, did you get into a fight?"

Her eyes just looked at the man who had long brown hair, pondering on whether she should kill him or not.

"Life is precious, once you lose it, you can never get it back."

"Is something wrong?" The man smiled at her, it was almost fatherly.

Kyoko looked up to the clouded sky, before asking "Why is life so precious?"

The man looked at her shocked, before smiling again, looking at the sky. "Probably because you can only have it once. Once it's gone, it's just... Gone, I guess. Sorry, I'm not good at explaining these types of things," he looked at her, smiling.

"What do you want to be?"

Kyoko looked at the ground, her hair sticking to her skin. Oddly enough, the man stayed dry and untouched by the rain. "No need to apologise, I'll just be on my way," she began walking away from the man, her eyes stuck to the ground.

She stopped walking when she felt a hand on her head. "You look lost, allow me to help you. Why not live at my shrine?"

"I wanted to be but anything. I just wanted someplace to call home."

She didn't respond, just leaned her head on his chest. "Will that... Be my new home?"

The man looked at her, before smiling and replying "Of course."