Legends of Belariath
Serphina
If any one knew where I was born and raised, they would most likely cringe in fear. For those that live in the areas surrounding my clan's home, believe it a cursed, haunted place. And that is that is why my clan makes sure that it remains how they view our lands. There are indeed ghosts and demons walking our woods, but hey are not dead nor from another plane. They are us, we are the ghosts, the demons, the specters that haunt our woods. We are the Youkai, and any outsider who enters our domain dies. Of course, is possible that some one might be spared, if there was a dire enough need for the true skills of the Youkai. But no one needs the ghosts, or specters. And so we remain hidden within the shadows of our trees and bow to no one.
And how do we make others fear entering our woods, one might ask. We make games out of it, the more ingenious and more deadly the prank, the more outsiders die when caught by it. We also do pranks on ourselves, for one needs to train and practice. For pranks on fellow Youkai, tend to be of a more mischievous bend. But pranks are not all we do, far from it. Before we settled down within our woulds we were Kaitou, stealth and shadows are also ingrained into us from the moment a cub takes her first step. But what happens when we end up in combat, where our pranks can not help us, and stealth has failed? That my friend is very simple. We are the Youkai, the ghosts and demons of our woods, and thus do we use the Youkai-Claw.
Not much can stand up to the onslaught of the claws of a true Master of Youkai-Claw. Wood, stone, steel, cloth or flesh. All are sundered, torn and ripped apart by the razor sharp claws that drip with our foes blood. We are fierce, and yet we are also kind. For those who have earned the trust and friendship of a Youkai, end up with one who would fight to the death to protect them. We may have many things , we may steal from you, we may lie to you or deceive. We may misdirect or have fun at your expense. But one thing we do have above all else, honor. We rarely make promises, but when made they are honored even if it leads us to our grave.
That is what I grew up in, as a Youkai. I learned early on how to do our pranks, to slip around with very little sound, and to steal. Most of my childhood was quite normal, the loving attention of my parents, teasing my sisters. Of course, there was one thing that caused me endless frustration. That aggravating boy, Catori. What had first started when I pushed him into the pond while he was attempting to impress the other girls by how well he could keep his balance, ended becoming a feud between him and I as we grew up.
Our pranks on each other became infamous within our clan, he would do something like replacing my shampoo with herbs that would call all my hair to fall out. Or I would go and dump a bucket of tar over him when he was talking to another girl. Of course neither of as noticed the pattern, though our parents probably did. I never realized why I would get so furious that he would rather spend his time with any girl except me. Nor why I was so hurt when I saw him leaving my sister's bedroom one morning. How could he! It was bad he spent time with the other girls, but that he slept with my sister on top of it? Did I not exist at all? After that I became truly vicious in my pranks on him, how dare he bed the other girls and ignore me.
I refused to be ignored, and set about my greatest prank, one that would leave the clan snickering about him for many decades to come. It wasn't all that hard really wait till there was a festival, add a little something to his drink. And watch his reaction the next morning when he had found that he had grown breasts over night. At first they were small and easily hidden, but with each day they grew larger. Each day he became more and more distressed as I led the jeers and laughter at his expense. Loving every minute of seeing him squirm in embarrassment. Especially when several tried to see if they were actually real. His just rewards for sleeping with my sister, no one ignores me.. no one.
After the breasts had finally shrank away back to nothing, and the snickers that were heard whenever he passed had lessened. As I laid in my secret place where I went when I wished to be alone. No one, not even my family and especially not Catori knew its location. Strangely enough it was in the tight space between the ceiling and roof above his very room. I always made sure no one saw when I slipped into the gap between the top of his house and the thick straw roof that covered it. Usually I'd lay along one of the beams that supported the ceiling peeking through a small hole into his room. Quite a few times just watching him sleep, strange how gorgeous he was when he wasn't awake and trying to bed one of the countless other females of the clan.
Then something happened that caused me to stop in my tracks. My youngest sister asked me quite simply, “Sera.. why do you hate Catori so much?” The question was something no one had ever asked before. She thought I hated him? Did they all think that? And I realized as even with how furious he would cause me to become, I didn't hate him. What I hated was the fact he always ignored me. Wasn't I as pretty as all the other girls he had chased. As I thought back I did remember how a several boys had tried over the years to impress me. But I never had any interest in them, in fact I down right ignored them, in favor of pulling my pranks on Catori every time I saw him with another girl. He had never paid attention to me, except to play yet another prank on me. It was as if I didn't even exist to him most of the time. And I realized I couldn't stand the thought of him mated to any of the other girls, I wanted him for myself. Despite the fact he never seemed to want me.
It was as these thoughts were running through my mind when I found myself walking right into him and a group of this friends. As I blinked looking at him, felt my heart wrench slightly and I wanted him to myself. The thought rang once again in my mind. And with a shock I realized that I was in love with him. As I opened my mouth to speak filled with confused and conflicting emotions I heard him, and then his friends laugh. What happened next is something that would be burned into my memory for all time. Him and his friends grabbing me, before I realized what was happening I was gagged with my arms bound behind my back. Being carried on his shoulder as he and his friends laughed as they quickly made their way into the forest.
It wasn't all that long before they found a tree with a hole just large enough to shove the top half of my body into, leaving me trapped with my ass hanging in the air to their amusements. Hands pulled down my britches and then pulled down my panties as I heard them all jeer and laugh. I couldn't believe it, as far as I could tell they were going to rape me. Something that simply was no allowed by the females who ruled our clan. Suddenly a hand slapped hard against my ass. I could ear Catori as he joked with his friends, and soon more strikes rained down on me. Turning my ass red as the pain increased. Tears ran down my cheeks as I sobbed, my cries of pain ignored as I heard him tell his friends to join in the fun. It seemed like eternity before the strikes ended. I was then pulled out of the hole, ungagged and unbound. His friends continued to laugh at me as I struggled to pull up my panties and britches, ignoring my cries of pain before I was able to run off. Tears streamed down my face as I slipped into my home and avoided my family.
I loved him, and he without a doubt in my mind hated me. The pain in my heart would be to hard to bare if I saw him with another girl. It was then that I decided, that I would leave the clan that very night. Once night fell I left with only a handful of supplies. Knowing I probably would never return. Somehow I survived on my own, the next year is only a blur to me. Occasionally I have glimpses of a little halfbreed girl, clinging to me. But are those only dreams? I do not know. All I do know is my next clearest memory is not until I found my self at an Inn, where unknown to me my real adventures would begin.