𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢 ╱ the searing mark of the red spider lily

     The sun was warm today, at least Sayuri had that going for her. Except when a wind chill shot across the blood dried and caked into her shuddering skin. It felt like she was wearing her dead parents... and in a sense, she was. Another person was staring her down angrily, covering her children's eyes as they walked across the gravel street. The small humans asked questions about Sayuri's placement and why she was here.

     And just where was she, one may wonder? Well, after the loud calls for help alerted those closest to the Fukunaga home, about five of the men from the village ventured to check on the family in the dark of the night when the sun was just revealing itself on the mountainous horizon. They would've never seen the demon that attacked the family with their poor human eyesight as it escaped through the roof of the home. It was out there somewhere, likely tricking more children just as it had done hours earlier.

     What they did see was Sayuri. The young, alive, girl without a single scratch on her, yet battered in blood and gore. In her lap was the greyed and mutilated body of Michi Fukunaga, her husband Tetsuya in the same condition a few feet over. He'd died reaching for his wife and daughter, bloody hand stretched toward them. The image painted before the startled men was clear, in their view at least, that Sayuri Fukunaga had killed her parents with no mercy. A little girl who never showed hatred for her parents, who was grateful for every gift they laid in her hands, and always thanked them for every meal. Perhaps it's easiest to simply turn a blind eye to the hideous truth.

     Tying Sayuri to a post by her wrists had been the first idea that came to the village when alerted of what supposedly happened, and she'd be branded as a murderer by evening. She wasn't cleaned or freshly clothed, just left to stand against the post until the time would come. People stared viciously all morning into the now afternoon, and Sayuri simply wanted to vanish. Her chest hurt from constant uneven and labored breaths, and now not a single tear could manage to slip out of the dried tear ducts. Her face was puffy and pink from the sobbing that emitted through every window and crevice. A boy had stopped by to feed her warm bread for lunch, blushing furiously when Sayuri recognized him as the pant ripper.

     "My parents say it wasn't you," He had whispered after shoving too large of a piece of cake in the other's mouth. His mother had made it the evening prior and told her son to bring the girl a piece so she didn't go hungry in her restraints. He looks to the ground, "-I'm sorry I can't do anything."

      "'ou caf he-" Sayuri tried her hardest to speed-eat before trying to talk again, "-You can help me."

     "No... No, I'm too afraid."

     "You're afraid?" A wave of anger, deriving off of Sayuri's helplessness, burned a fiery pit into her stomach, "-A demon killed my family and I'm going to get searing iron to my skin!"

     "Sayuri..." The boy had wide, nervous eyes as the sweet personality Sayuri usually had dissipated within seconds. The rage in her gentle blue eyes slowly settled yet never fully quelled, it wouldn't for a long time. This had the boy worried he'd get snapped at again, though if he were braver, he knew he could've helped her. Children weren't meant to be brave like that.

     Sayuri watches him scurry away to his home after her outburst. She wanted to cry some more, but settles for trying to wriggle out of the red rope used to tie her to the wooden post. The same one the demon wore and left behind with nothing but excitement and curiousity. It had wanted to meet her again once Sayuri escaped the village, if she escaped, and it was likely after being marked she'd get locked up somewhere. She knew that there had to be a way to enact her revenge and kill that heartless monster. Were there more demons in this world? Would they eat parents of children just like Sayuri?

     "Sayuri Fukunaga, why did you kill your parents?" An aged man with greying hair wobbles toward the restrained child, remorse in his crinkled eyes. Sayuri grimaces at the question and keeps moving her hands around in the rope slowly to see if she could make any progress. There really wasn't any question as to why some people were gathering around the post now, with a burning hot rod held by a young blacksmith. They were ready to see a so-called killer atone for her sins. This was happening far too quickly for Sayuri to handle and even the sight of the steaming iron brand made her want to scream and fight until everyone eventually gave up. Why would they do this to her without even trying to understand? Why?

     "I didn't murder them," Sayuri croaks hoarsely, freshly made tears finally able to trickle down her face and wash away more dried blood, "-I love them! A demon did it, please believe me! Please..."

     "There are no such things as demons in this world! If that were the case, why didn't it kill you?" For his appearance of being thin and frail, the arm on the older man was strong as he tugged the girl's head back by her hair. Sayuri yelps at the sting and looks down at the branding rod nearing her collarbone. She switches between whimpering and pleading, the heat slowly getting closer, her skin beginning to boil and welt without even an actual touch. When it gets too close for extreme discomfort, Sayuri thrashes her body around to avoid the contact it would inevitably make soon enough.

     "NO! No please, I'll do anything! I-I'll leave forever, you'll never see me again just please... please don't- I don't wanna-" The iron connects with her skin and cuts off her voice, Sayuri's eyes rolling back into her head as she momentarily faints. It was too much all at once, the heat, the melting of her skin that was supposed to heal as a mark that claimed the girl as a murderer.

     Sayuri howls when she arrives back to a conscious state after what felt like an eternity, but only was a few seconds to everyone else. Most people had dispersed back to their homes after hearing such strangled noises come from a child. It was disgusting enough they even dared to watch in the first place, and for this moment to be exhibited out in the open. If they were rethinking the idea of branding a little girl who may or may not be innocent, it was far too late for those thoughts now.

     "It's loose, run 'Yuri," A voice was in Sayuri's head, and it sounded like her deceased father. What was he talking about? Had her parents returned from the dead to haunt their daughter and witness her payment for their deaths? "-It's not your fault. Run."

     It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault.

     "It's... It's not my fault," Sayuri rasps to no one in particular, her head now sunken toward the ground after the elder let go. She wriggles her hands to find them loose, exactly as she'd heard. Maybe ghosts did exist, and here they were helping Sayuri.

     She fists the rope into one hand to ensure it stays with her at least until she tracked down that demon again. Then, when the elder is preparing ointment to press to the branded mark, Sayuri makes a run for it. She pivots toward the direction of her home and pushes her legs to carry her quaking body as fast as possible. Roars of anger and surprise sound behind her but she doesn't stop, not even when reaching her house where blood had trickled out of the sliding door and across the veranda. There would never be time to give her parents a proper burial nor any time to grab clean clothes. She had to go further beyond the happy life she lived just yesterday, she had to try and reach the tall mountains in the distance. Surely no one would find her there, or assume she'd die to the approaching cold nights and days. Maybe she would, but being locked away was no way to spend her life.

     "Sayuri Fukunaga! Follow me!" A crow flutters around her moving figure many minutes later, and was so clearly speaking to her with a male voice. This should've surprised Sayuri more than it was, but a demon had killed her parents and now she was exhausted from miles of running. Dusk would set in a couple hours, and she didn't have enough energy to express her concerns.

     The pair runs for miles and hours, the crow leading Sayuri to small groves and clusters of trees to hide along the way and take breaths. From this journey, she learns a lot about a world secret to the average person. A world where demons exist and specially trained demon slayers seek to kill them and save other people. Sayuri hadn't asked many questions in her current mental state, and now where she sat dazed in a small dip of hedges buried in the tall mountain. A heavy fog resided at the top that seemed so high it touched the clouds in the sky. Hazy blue eyes stare up in wonder, knowing this is where she'd have to be if there was any escaping the search party that she assumed would be here by nightfall.

     "You will make your way to Sagiri Mountain and learn the ways of the Demon Slayer Corps! Follow me!"

     "Wait," Sayuri finally speaks, though she trails behind the crow bringing them up and up further into the mountain, "-I didn't say I wanted to become a Demon Slayer. I don't... I'm- why is this happening to me?"

     The crow lands on her shoulder and admires the lusious trees and wildlife around them,

     "My old Tsuchinoto said everything was the call of fate! It was your parents' death that fated you to become a slayer! You want revenge, that's why the red rope is in your palm!"

     "Oh... What's a Tsuchinoto?"

     "A lower ranking in the Corps!"

     "What's the highest?"

     "Hashira!"

     "Can I become a Hashira?" Sayuri felt the questions line up one by one on her tongue. Surely a talking crow wouldn't mind answering them right? And now... if she could raise in the ranks of these Demon Slayer Corps, wouldn't that mean she could save those similar to her parents? One day, when she'd slain enough demons, she could be forgiven by her parents for what she'd done.

     "You will probably die first!"

     "Wha- No! I don't want that!" Sayuri flinches at the instant replay in her head at the mention of her own self dying. She sees her parents getting ripped apart and shedding their blood across the whole room. That would happen to her if she got caught by a demon, and was probably happening to someone out there in the world right now.

     "You will head to Sagiri Mountain to learn how to kill demons! Follow me!" The crow seems to be tired of conversation as it soars up into the air to travel miles above Sayuri. The base of the mountain was far behind them now as the air began to thin and trees clustered closer together. For the next few months, as she traveled during perilous nights and days in the harsh summits, Sayuri would find herself developing a breathing technique before she even reached the man living on Sagiri Mountain.

☁️

𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘 ╱i'm not really satisfied by this 
chapter but i'm also not very good at
building up stories, i apologize :(

but thank you for reading, i always 
appreciate you guys for giving my
fics a read ! <3

sorry for the inactivity, I've been so
busy trying to get a job and with
college, plus i was super sick. but 
more to come soon!

gumiguro-