A Soul Without Fear
By: Lauren


     Alexia had become accustomed to the funny looks she received by now. Those who had visited the Temple of Mika and Hana that were strangers to her home village of Ling-Sa often gave her such looks. Her father and twin brother had also received the same look when they went to the temple and it was there that you could tell who the hypocrites of the Teachings of Mika and Hana really were. Their most important teaching was to never judge by sight, for the eyes can be deceitful. A being of great beauty could stand before one person but still have a heart as wicked as an Oni. It had only been the people of her village that had not looked upon her or her family with such disgust. Of course, she knew why the strangers gave her their cruel looks. It had nothing to do with her face, her weight, or even what she wore. It was the color of her hair for which they shunned her.

     It seemed like such a silly thing to judge one by, but it had been done and would sadly continue to be done. To those who actually knew her, those she called friends, such as Meilynn, if asked, would describe her hair as the color of golden sand. When she was younger, the elders of Ling-Sa village had seen the torments she had endured and had suggested that she dye it a darker color so as to stop the cruel words spoken to her. She refused to do this for the simple fact she didn’t wish to hide who she was. If she dyed her hair, she believed she would be hiding a part of herself, and thus showing the world she was ashamed of who she was. Her father had taught her better than that, always telling her brother and her to never be ashamed of who they were. If there were people out there that would judge her solely on her looks and not bother to get to know her, then that was their loss. This would allow her to see who the good people of the world of Mitako really were. She had also been told that this would also allow her to see who was really a friend and who was really a foe. A true friend was someone who would accept her for who she was, and not be embarrassed because of the color of her hair.

     It was in situations like those that Alexia missed her father and brother the most. They served as painful reminders that she would never again see their smiling faces or hear the sound of their laughter or have them comfort her when she was upset. The closest thing she had to a family was Meilynn, and now Itsuki and Kiyoshi. They were the reason why she was currently in the market place picking up food and enduring the stares of those who deemed her a freak upon sight. Her basket was currently filled with various fruits, breads, cheeses, dried meats, and other such things to get them through the long weeks they had ahead of them. Itsuki had been kind enough to go to the meat market with Meilynn to help her carry some fresh meats back to the campsite. Kiyoshi had stayed behind, wanting to scout around the area and be sure they weren’t anywhere near Lady Asha’s soldiers, so this left Alexia to attend to other matters on her own concerning the rest of the food and other supplies.

     She picked up some persimmons, inspecting them carefully for any type of bruising before taking the necessary silver from her coin pouch and holding it out to the woman working at the stand. She gave Alexia a wary look before she reached out and finally took the money from the girl’s hands. Alexia only smiled sweetly at the woman and thanked her before moving on. She could only hope the woman would come to understand that her appearance made her no different than the other customers that had visited her that day.

     “I have heard those of yellow hair are unable to read.” Alexia heard one say as she continued to make her way through the large village.

     “Not only that, I hear that the females of yellow hair will throw themselves at any male that first catches their eye.” Said another.

     “That’s nothing! I’ve heard they can be quite dimwitted and extremely shallow. They only care for jewels, precious metals, and fine silks.”

     “And I hear they spend hours perfecting their appearance! They sit at the mirror all day and study themselves.”

     Alexia did all she could to restrain her anger, running into a small alleyway by one of the village’s inns, her breath coming out in short, uneasy pants. She could already feel her top and bottom fangs lengthen, a low growl emitting from her throat and her finger nails beginning the process of becoming claws. Her eyes flashed between hazel and gold, the pupils round one moment and slitted the next. She needed to be in the woods now, needed to be in any one of her feline forms and run through the wild and hunt down wild game to her heart’s content. She could already taste the blood of an imaginary deer, licking her lips at the images playing before her eyes. She screwed her eyes shut, letting out shaky breaths until she felt her fangs retract to normal and her claws go back to being finger nails. When she opened her eyes and turned around, she came face to face with three men, each looking her up and down and snickering at the sight of her.

     “So, blondy, is it true what they say about you?” The first man asked, his lackeys chuckling in the background as he took a step towards her. Alexia held her ground, one hand holding the basket while the other stayed at her side.

     “Well, I don’t know,” she said sweetly as she smiled at them. “What do they say about me?”

     The man took another step, the smirk ever present on his face. “They say-oof!” Alexia slammed her elbow against the side of his head, running past him as he fell over, kicking his two flunkies aside before racing out into the open streets of the village, the three men soon hot on her heels. She wove and shoved her way through the villagers that were out and about in a desperate attempt to lose them. Further and further she ran, not daring to look behind her, the view of the woods just ahead when someone took a tight hold on her wrist. She turned, ready to fight until she saw the person holding her wrist was Kiyoshi, his ice blue eyes filled with concern. She eased from her fighting stance, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

     “There she is!” Called the leader of the men she had just escaped from. Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

     “Friends of yours?” He asked.

     “They chose to go after me, not the other way around!” Alexia said in her defense.

     “How come you didn’t fight them?”

     “Because we were in the middle of a huge village surrounded by people who probably can’t fight, I didn’t want to cause damage to any of the stands that I might have to pay for, and because these idiots might be working for Lady Asha.” Alexia replied in a hushed whisper.

     “All good points, but we should still do something about them while we can. The last thing we need is them following us.”

     “You got any bright ideas then?”

     Kiyoshi smirked at her. “Of course.”

     Alexia gave a smirk of her own and the two fell into a defensive fighting stance, their backs pressed against each other as their bodies went into perfect alignment with one another. It was a stance they had practiced many times during their sparring sessions and they had never had an opportunity to use it until now. She set the basket down as close to her as possible, but not close enough to be harmed during the attack. As the three men rushed towards them, they kept their front arms towards their chests while their back arms touched, Kiyoshi taking Alexia’s hand and lacing the fingers through his own. Once in reaching distance, Alexia and Kiyoshi kicked the first down, the heel of their feet connecting with the chin of the thugs. The third and final man, however, was hit much more differently. The two fighters brought up their united hands and punched him with their intertwined fist, his body collapsing to the ground, the onlookers having watched the thing in silent awe.

     The awe was shattered however as a small group of Lady Asha’s soldiers started to make their way through the crowd, gradually getting closer and closer to them. The two teens looked at each other and said in unison, “Oh shit.” The pair were off and sprinting through the village in an instant, pushing their way past villagers and turning every which way, the soldiers fast on their heels. It was as they neared the exit that Kiyoshi turned around, his hand glowing a faint blue before ice shot from it and started to form on the ground where he was aiming. Once he was satisfied, he turned to face back in the other direction he and Alexia were running towards when an elderly woman with a wheeled cart full of apples had started to cross their path in a rather slow pace. The two frowned and automatically reached for each others hand and leaped over the cart in a single, fluid movement, landing gracefully on their feet and running full speed out of the village. In the background, they heard the sound of something crashing to the ground and the aggravation in the old woman’s voice as she yelled, “My apples!” at the top of her lungs before giving the soldiers who had knocked over her cart a lecture on manners.

     When they reached the campsite, being certain they had not been persued by the soldiers, Kiyoshi took a seat by a nearby tree and Alexia set down the basket of fruit by her tent before she started to head back into the direction of the woods. She froze as she felt something grab her wrist, the hold on it firm, but not to tight either. She looked down to see once again that Kiyoshi was holding her wrist, looking up at her, concern written in his ice blue eyes. “Alexia,” he began. “I know you have every right to be angry for why you were being treated the way you were back there, but please don’t let their ignorant thoughts upset you. They don’t know you like Meilynn, Itsuki, and myself know you. You are a good person, a loyal friend, a fierce fighter, a good sparring partner, and one of the bravest people I have met in a long time. If those idiots want to judge you based on something trivial, then that’s their problem and they’re missing out on getting to know you.”

     A light blush made its way to Alexia’s cheeks at Kiyoshi’s kind words and as she moved her body back a step, she tripped over a nearby root and began to fall. In an attempt to steady herself, she threw her weight forward, though it proved unsuccessful in balancing her body as Kiyoshi pulled at her the same moment with the grip he still held on her wrist. She fell right into the ice ninja’s lap, their faces only mere inches apart. Now it was Kiyoshi’s turn to blush, his hand still very much holding her wrist and didn’t seem to show signs of letting go anytime soon, despite its master’s orders to release it.

     “Hope we’re not interrupting,” came the teasing voice of Meilynn, followed shortly by Itsuki’s knowing chuckle. The pair turned to see the mocking duo standing side by side, a mischievous grin on Itsuki’s face while Meilynn only appeared to be amused. Alexia immediately jumped out of Kiyoshi’s lap, apologizing profusely, her face still blushing brightly before she began her walk back into the woods to gather the wood for the campfire, Itsuki’s suggestive banter and Kiyoshi’s annoyed responses drifting after her.