It was a sunny day, Daichia could tell from the glaring sun peeking through the brambles of her temporary bramble hut. She slowly stood up, stretching than pulling her green kimono  over her under kimono she slept in. Yawning, Daichia put some water over a homemade fire to boil.  Getting the herbs she needed just by pulling her hand up from the ground, the plants shooting up in healthy coils, Daichia then picked a couple of leaves. She pushed her hand towards the ground, making the plants crawl back inside the dirt, ready to spring up another day. 

The demoness put her herbs into a clay pot of water. Daichia grabbed a cold, smooth rock and molded it like wet clay,  creating a deformed bowl which she put some rice noodles in. Daichia looked over at the bowl over the fire, and noticed it was boiling. She took it off the fire and poured the herb flavoured water into a stone cup she had also made earlier. Drinking her tea, Daichia meditated while waiting for her noodles to cook. When they finally did, the earth demoness quickly ate the noodles.  

After her breakfast, Daichia quickly got up and walked over  to a wall in her bramble hut. By waving her hand, she made a few of the brambles in the middle sink back to the ground, showing a doorway wide enough for her to walk through. The earth demoness picked up the grass mat she used as a blanket and hung it up over the doorway, then walked out. Daichia breathed in, relishing the feel of the fresh air on her face.

“I can probably go check my traps now,” she thought. Daichia jumped up into the trees and landed gracefully on one slender branch. She practically flew through the forest like a bird with invisible wings,  landing on branches then leaping into the air again. Finally, she found the location of her rabbit trap. Landing on the ground, Daichia saw a homemade box made of brambles. She smelled the box.  From the scent, inside was a freshly dead rabbit. Using her powers, she made the brambles fall and disintegrate. Daichia scooped the animal up and placed it in her shoulder bag.

Daichia checked the rest of her traps.

“My bag is pretty full now,” she thought. She arrived at the last trap, her squirrel trap, and looked at the trap. Shreds of bramble were all over the place.

My poisoned bait was definitely eaten, but where is the squirrel? thought Daichia. I put a ring around this area that had a smell that would ward off any other animal.

“Must have been a human” she muttered. A rustle was heard in the bushes. “I’m too tired to see what that is” she moaned. Daichia ran like the wind back to her hut. When she arrived, Daichia noticed that her outside garden was completely and utterly damaged. Leafs were cut and torn off, and her pots and cups were scattered all over the place. A couple of them were chipped and broken.

“Oh my god! What happened here?” she wondered.  Daichia sniffed the air.

“Ugh, my nose is plugged!” she complained. All she could make out was demon scent. The earth demoness walked into her hut. She rubbed two sticks together, so fast that the friction made fire. Daichia filled her pot with water and placed it over the fire. While the water boiled, she added a few certain herbs to the pot. When the tea was made, Daichia didn’t drink any of it. Instead, she waited for the tea to fully cool then poured it all over her face, especially her nose. Then Daichia added two herbal leaves over her nostrils. The youkai [keep this if you’ve explained that youkai is Japanese for demon.  If you haven’t, take it out] just lay on the ground, relaxing for a couple minutes. Daichia sat up and sniffed the air. Finally, she could smell again. After pouring the tea over her face, Daichia wrinkled her nose, noticing she smelled disgusting. Some of the water had trickled down her neck and into her kimono. So Daichia’s kimono now smelled too. She walked out of her hut while munching on her lunch, a pear. The demoness walked in the forest, half walking, half wandering, not really sure where she was going. But Daichia finally met her destination, a spring. Daichia gazed around the clearing, making sure she was alone. She pulled off first her kimono, than her under kimono. Slipping into the cool, crystal clear water, Daichia was glad to get the grimy dirt and sticky leaves off of her body. She pulled her kimono in too and washed off the stains and tea leaves. After that, Daichia picked up her kimono and placed it on a nearby branch to dry.

Daichia had to wait for her kimono to dry, but when it finally did she immediately got out and dressed. As she wandered back from the spring she was a bit less observant, so it was very strange when she noticed an almost perfectly dried honey fern. This was one herb that was hard to come by, even for an earth demoness. Daichia carefully picked up the fern in a mottled brown leaf. She then  ran back to her hut. This is amazing, she thought, such a rare herb. Suddenly, a thought came rushing back to Daichia. Ferns covered in honey were  poisonous unless completely dried. It would definitely kill an animal, but would probably just make a human very sick. Daichia hung her honey fern up in a shadowed corner of her hut so it would dry properly. The earth youkai was very tired from her day, so she didn’t bother with fancy foods, just quickly making some soup. After that, she grabbed her grass blanket from it’s place hanging over the door and made a wall of brambles for privacy. Daichia took off her kimono and lay on her moss bed in her [insert colour] under kimono, pulling her blanket up. She then drifted off to sleep. In the middle of the night, a fern seed encased in honey lightly splashed into the water bowl.

Light peeked through the holes of Daichia’s bramble hut. The demoness awoke hungry, and she got up, grabbed her clay water bowl and poured the water in it into her pot. She cooked some rice noodles and ate them. Daichia then decided to work on her cooking skills today. She was in the middle of weaving a new blanket when she suddenly felt queasy. The world started swaying around her. She tried to go get some herbs but she suddenly felt like the energy had been drained out of her. Daichia heard footsteps coming closer and closer to the hut, which set her heart pounding. Finally a figure’s shadow appeared in the doorway. But she could not turn around to see who or what it was, for the world had gone black and the earth demoness had fainted.

Daichia woke up beside a fire. She still felt pretty sick. She turned her head to see a demon sitting beside the fire, deep in thought. She gazed at his features, even more pronounced by the glow of the fire. Long silvery hair, deep golden eyes, and wait- are those dog ears? The demon looked at Daichia. His face showed he was surprised to see her awake. Daichia stared wondering what to say. She thought maybe she should thank her mysterious visitor. But she had so many questions. And maybe he wasn’t to be thanked. So she started out with something quite questionative and a maybe just a bit rude. “Who are you?” she asked.

The man looked at her for a while. Possibly thinking of what to say.

Finally he replied “Your rescuer.”

His voice was so rigid and cold. Daichia sensed the tiniest bit of light in it.

“From what?” she asked.

“Your sickness,” he replied matter-of-factly. Daichia thought for a moment. Then she remembered her symptoms. Must have swallowed some of the non-dried honey fern. No other ingredient takes away so much of your energy.

Daichia looked at the demon, noticing that he was looking elsewhere. She quickly gazed at his appearance again, her mind going blank . After awhile she remembered what was happening.

Blushing, she tentively asked “Excuse me?”

“Yes “ he grunted.

“Can you please hand me those berries?” she said, pointing to a jar of black berries. He bent down and picked them up then threw them at her. Daichia caught the jar, glad of her demonic speed, and quickly opened it. She pulled out three ripe berries and swallowed them. There was silence for awhile. Daichia asked one more question before letting sleep claim her once again.

“What is your name?”

He paused, then said “Inuyasha”.