Last Breath

Summary

A yuki onna makes an important discovery about the nature of revenge

Stats

1100 words, average reading time ~ 5-10 min

Rating

PG. Rejection, betrayal, death of child and other characters, revenge.

Characters:

Emiko (a yuki onna) and Jin (a human, Emiko's former husband)

Cold. Always too damned cold. Would she ever be warm again? The babaa said she could, but the condition required her to convince a human to agree to the deadly terms. Not a chance in all the hells. Humans caused Emiko's predicament. Because she couldn’t have children, Jin, her husband, left her. When she found she was carrying his child and pleaded with him to return, he refused and accused her of sleeping with another man. Worse yet, Jin convinced the village to drive her out of town. She fled to the mountains, gave birth to a stillborn child, and woke up transformed into a beautiful, deadly monster that fed off human ki energy—a snow maiden—a yuki onna. Jin had robbed her of her humanity, too. Someday she'd find her former husband to exact her revenge. After that, she'd see if she could strike a bargain with one of the pathetic humans so she could be warm again. She'd disguised herself and visited the village, but the residents said Jin had been given a post farther north in Mutsu province. Then he'd been sent to war. No trace of him since. The wars raged on and Emiko didn't care. That was human business, not hers. Years later, while scouting the village, she heard a rumor he was returning to Mutsu province. This was her chance! So, she hid near the trail into town and added to the strong winds of the already impenetrable blizzard. A scent she knew well mingled with the winds whipping around her. Finally, revenge would be hers. Jin shivered in clothes too thin and covered with a tattered grass cloak that failed to shield him from the worst of the snow. Huddling to conserve what little heat he could, he painstakingly plodded, one foot after the other. His voice quavered, "The village can't be far now...if we haven't gone off the trail. We'll rest there, warm up, and then head to the fortress." The fear he tried to hide made her lick her lips. Who was this "we"? Taking in the scents on the wind revealed the faint tint of another in her midst. It didn't matter. This was her chance. Stepping in front of her former husband, the one who so coldly spurned her those years ago, she bared her sharp teeth. "The tables have turned, Jin." He stumbled backward, falling into a drift and flailing as he held something to his chest. "Wh-who are you?" "I am the wife you spurned. Don't you recognize me? No matter. Mine is the last face you will ever see." Jin's head drooped as he thrust out the bundle he held. "Do as you w-want with me. Just spare this babe!" Emiko blinked. Jin, her selfish former husband, just put another's needs in front of his own and offered his life too—the very key to her having warmth again. Two goals for the price of one! But why should she spare a brat of his? "Who's child is it?" "My lord's." Not Jin's? "Please! This little one and I are the only survivors of the c-contingent traveling back to my lord. My lord's wife and retinue are dead. This child is the key to p-peace for Mutsu province!" "I was transformed into a yuki onna after you so cruelly rejected me. Why should I care about human wars or human children?" Emiko spat. "This child isn't human. He's a kitsune ch-child related to Date Masamune, the brilliant tactician and my lord's half brother. This child must s-survive so my lord has strong enough yokai connections. Together they can bring peace in Mutsu province and perhaps in the rest of Japan. If this child does not survive, Date will assume the yokai t-turned against him. He'll stand no chance against the forces coming to wipe out the clan. Our country needs the Date clan united!" The wars involved more than mere humans? How did she not know this? "After the kit is delivered, I will demand payment. The cost is your life." "But the little one is so c-cold! Take any warmth I have left and give it to him!" Even if she didn't kill Jin immediately, he didn't have long in the cold. He wouldn't make it back to Date's fortress. Taking the little fox into her arms, she peeked into those vivid orange eyes and a lump formed in her throat. If anyone could save the kit, it was Emiko. She had yokai magic, after all. Was it possible to give life energy to another after taking it from a willing victim? She couldn't think of an alternative and she had to act quickly before the kit was beyond help. "I will take the kit to the Date clan. Prepare yourself," she said. The little one needed energy and warmth to survive. She had to do this. "I will be the conduit between you and the kit." He nodded and held out his hand. When she took it and breathed her icy breath to take his ki, she slowly transferred his energy to the kit. He crumpled. His last words to her were, "I-I'm sorry, Emiko. I w-was a fool." Jin's death wasn't the revenge she thought she'd have. He'd apologized instead of quavering at her feet. A gaping hole where she'd held hatred lingered like an unquenchable thirst and she needed the purpose of helping the kit to fill the void. At least the baby fox was doing better and that kindled a flicker of warmth inside her chest. As she walked with the bundle, her heart thawed a little more and the gaping hole shrunk with each step. Would the Date clan refuse to take the kit because she was a yuki onna? The legends said a child carried by one of her kind would also kill anyone who took it. How could she get past that issue? She managed to find a fox mother who would let the kit nurse for a while along the way. When Emiko finally reached the fortress, she simply let the fox kit run in and walked away after declaring who the fox was. It was hard to let the kit go, but she'd done the right thing. The warmth filled her inside and she no longer needed to hunt mortals to survive. She was human again.

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