Chapter Text
Gather around and hear this tale and heed it's warnings.
The world could be a beautiful place. One full of sunshine and light. Meadows of flowers blessed by the bright blue sky above. Some people were blessed to have this as their whole life. Without worry or woes or any pain. However it's not always bright sunlight. For where there's light darkness will often hide within the shadows waiting to rear it's horrendous head and bare it's snarled fangs into those who don't heed the dangers. And with that danger came the cursed ones. The savages. The snatchers of humans.
DEMONS.
The ones who were known as the Monsters of the Mountain. They were reigning the earth long before humanity was born, but even when they arrived the gods blessed both tribes with peace...until peace was never again an option to have. Many years ago the humans angered the demons by invading their lands and building their villages on the ancient grounds that for generations the demons reigned over without fail. This betrayal that the humans dare bring with them brough the first of many bad instances to come. Angered by the trespassing humans, the demons revolted against them. By day break the next morning, the first of many villages to come was destroyed as if the gods struck it down. Nothing and no one was left standing. A warning to others that this betrayal wasn't going to be taken lightly. And the humans who did not flea the mountain lived in constant fear, anyone who dared fight back was also never seen again. Another casualty of the demons' rampage. And they would have continued if not for the Elder of one village coming to the demons, he could not bare to see anymore of his people be slaughtered for one more second. So the elder dared to approach the demons' and beg for their forgiveness and to apologize for the great dishonor they had shown then.
"Please, oh please," he begged to them all, "I beg of you. Spare my people, and forgive us for the anger we have brought you."
"Why should we?", the demons asked. "We have never bothered to bring harm to humanity but yet you dare to come onto our fields and claim our lands as your own."
"Oh please," the Elder continued to plead less he fail his people, "My people mean you all no harm. They live in fear every night anticipating the worst. We are willing to do anything to make peace!"
"Anything?," the demons asked, "I doubt you will keep your part of the bargain....But we will give you one chance. A trade will be made."
"What trade?," the elder asked them.
"Peace will be made but a price must be paid. A precious trade such as our lands must be met with an equally precious trade from you. A young bride is what we want. Leave her within the mountains on the first full moon of the new year. We will promise peace for the price of one soul every year, but don't take us to be fools. For we will not offer a second chance such as this. Now go. And make your choice wisely."
The Elder was horrified at the terrible demands the demons dare make at them, but less he fail his people, he agreed to the deal they offered. Thus that next year a young woman was taken from the safety of her home and offered up to the mountain where the monsters inside laid, never to be seen again. The demons were pleased with the offering, for no lives were lost to them that year. Nor the next when another young lady was offered to the mountains, nor the next year with it's offering. And many tense years were passed with this tense promise of peace from the monsters. Every year a poor soul was offered up to the mountains with the promise of no return, and another year no lives would be taken, the humans were too scared to dare disobey the monsters' demands less a far more terrible fate be upon them all. No one wished for the fate to be upon their daughters, their sisters, their friends but the monsters kept their peace as long as the offering stood.
Until one day someone did dare to challenge such beasts.
One day a mighty warrior ripe from battle came to one of the villages and had fallen in love with one of the young women of the village but even his love would not save the young woman's fate. For she was promised to the mountains and it's monsters the next year and would have to be given up if the humans wished to keep their peace with the creatures that plagued them all. The Warrior became enraged with the destined fate of his lover and vowed to liberate the humans from the monsters once and for all. So he trained his mind and body viciously and prayed to the gods to give him strength for what was about to come. Then when the day came on the new year on the first full moon, it was not the young offering that made the treacherous trip up the mountain but the young warrior to confront the evils that lay await for him. The warrior climbed the mountain until he reached where the fields met the dark thick forests of the demons. The demons became enraged that the humans dare to send the warrior instead of the promised offering.
"Demons! You shall not be taking anymore poor souls!," the warrior challenged brandishing his sword within his hands, "No longer shall you take our loved ones for your own!"
This only enraged the demons more. "Heresy!" They cried. "They have broken our pack and will pay dearly for their treachery! Starting with you!"
"Then I will offer you another trade!," the warrior challenged them all, "Duel me and attempt to strike me down! The loser will have to obey the wish of the victor no matter what that may be! Do you accept my challenge?"
The demons agreed and attacked the warrior without mercy. But the gods answered the prayers of the young warrior and blessed him with the speed and grace of lightning and the strength of a hundred tigers with the accuracy of any striking serpent. Each blow from the demons was blocked, each slashed delivered back twice as hard, and every pain given back thrice as painful. Eventually even the mightiest and most ancient of demons was no match for the strength of the young warrior and by that sunrise all the monsters were defeated. The unluckiest ones were no more.
"By terms of our agreement I banish you foul creatures into your dark forests of evil!," the young warrior commanded what remained of the monsters. And with the strength of the gods he pushed them deeper within the depths of their terrible forest home. "No more shall you plague my people with your wickedness! No go and take your evil with you! BEGONE!!"
And thus the demons retreated within the large mountain forest. Never to be seen or heard from again. The warrior returned home to deliver the news to his people, and was met with a celebration in his honor. The warrior was able to marry his beloved and go on to guard the mountain villages for the remainder of his days, though no demons were ever spotted again bringing their wicked ways. Although to this day the mountain forest is one of evil, where any human is forbidden to go. Any human who wonders into the forest never comes out, but outside the mountain has remained safe for any humans who live or travel along it's earth.
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The fire crackled around the warm room, lighting up the faces of the many young ladies gathered around the elder as he told his tale within the warm light of the fire. It's warm glow lighting his pale face and adding a calm, fathering almost heavenly glow to his wise features. His eyes blindly staring at the smiles that he felt warmly given to him as he shared the tradition of the years end. Beside him were his daughters who patiently sat beside him like the wonderful, beautiful children they were. Always attending their father's every need less he needed anything. The robes he wore shifting with his movements as he gestured with such gentleness at you all.
"And in honor of the warrior who fought so valiantly for the love he held, it's now become a tradition for every young lady to be retrieved from the mountain by their future husband before they become married. So every new year on the night of the first full moon we leave the young lady by the creek halfway up the mountain, as a way to honor and remember those poor souls who had done what they had to do to keep us, their descendants, safe from the evilness that once plagued our homes and lives. To honor the brave women whom now shall always be remembered in our hearts and stories."
The room was all a bunch of smiles and giddiness towards Elder Ubuyashiki, after all it was always a tradition at the end of every year all the eligible, unmarried women of age from the village and neighboring villages would come to gather around and listen to the Elders retell the famous story of the mountain monsters and how the New Year Moon Marriage Right had come to be, and what the rules were. It was seen as an honor and a privilege to be the next to carry on the tradition and be married the day after the marriage right took place. However you were a different case. This only brought the unpleasant thoughts of being the next one to be tied down, the next one to get a husband who'll be the only one to make decisions for you. You always wished to leave this place. To not be tied down like so many others. Just wanting to travel. It was why you envied the many beautifully painted birds that flew around your home, they all could just spread their wings and fly away forever and ever and never look back. But you were sure you wouldn't be picked like the last two years you attended these traditional meetings, and your plan you used usually worked. The plain working robes you wore weren't special like the other women's. They were just a plain beige colored compared to the flamboyant kimonos the other ladies wore. And you planned it that way. Because in just three more months you could finally leave this place like you planned, you just needed to have a little bit more money saved up! Then you can finally pay it off-
"As you all know at the end of every year, it is my duty as elder to decide which of the young ladies shall continue on the tradition into next year to bring luck and prosperity," Elder Ubuyashiki continued making Y/n once again pay attention instead of fantasizing more about your eventual escape from the debt hanging over your head. "Which is why I've summoned you all here. One of you shall be chosen by be to continue on this tradition, and after my choosing it shall be up to your parents to decide who they shall send to retrieve you. The man they chose shall then be wed to you the next day as a part of the right and become your husband."
"Knowing any of us, it'll probably be Uzui or his brother again making off with another wife," a voice huffed with almost a scoff and you had to turn your head to one of the other women currently present with the rest of you.
There was only seven of you this year including yourself, one of the reasons why you weren't particularly worried about being picked. After all there was only a one in seventh chance you'd actually get picked and it seemed far more likely that one of the other women would get picked. You unconsciously glanced around to make out where the insult had been thrown from. To the left of you, lit up by the warm flames was three figures. One you recognized instantly as Yuki. She was a farmer's daughter who lived just two homes away from you stayed. She like you, didn't really have any interest in being here, after all it was well known she was already engaged to another farmer's son. She only attended out of tradition most likely because she wasn't married yet, so even if she was picked, her parents already knew who to send for her husband. Beside her was a girl called Nezuko who just came of age last year at the age of twenty. She was wearing that favorite pink kimono you always seemed to see her in, you didn't know much about her family but sometimes you'd see one of her siblings or her mother around town and they always seemed nice, especially the oldest brother. And next to her closest was Mitsuri, she was always a strange was. Really nice! But...strange, her hair was a mixture of two strange colors and she was unusually strong for a girl her age and height but you didn't all care. In fact she might be the one person here you liked here for her confident attitude. She really wasn't needed to attend. Why you ask? Because she was already married if the ring around her finger was anything to go by, and because you literally saw her get picked by the elder last year, you figured she must've just come to listen to the elder's story-...Or to see if her best friend, who was currently single would be the one to be picked, speaking of which- Your f/c eyes sneakily glanced to the right where four others sat. Now these girls were the ones who'd be more likely to be picked out of any of you. The Kocho Sisters from the Butterly House. They were from the next village over, from a much larger more wealthy much more profitable village. They're family was well known for their prosperity and beautiful butterfly gardens for generations, which was why it's been anticipated that one of the four daughters sent from the Kocho household would be the ones to be honored with the mountain tradition. They sat from eldest to youngest: Kanae, Shinobu, Kanao, and Aoi with Aoi being the closest to the Elder. Like the Nezuko girl, this was Aoi's first time being here turning twenty, and you had deduced that the scoff had come from her since she was the only one with the frown and crossed arms to match the annoyed tone.
"Now Aoi," Kanae spoke with the gentleness of their families' symbol, scolding her youngest sister without actually scolding her, "You mustn't disrespect Tengen's family like that. Uzui is very good to his wives, and you know Mother and Father would not let you marry someone they knew you disliked."
Sometimes you wondered how it must've been with such a patient and angelic sister such as Kanae. She was certainly a kind woman who didn't spare anyone her heart, but it just seemed like her youngest sister rolled her eyes at even the mere mention of Uzui. Couldn't say you blamed Aoi however. Everyone knew the famous Tengen family from the same large town as the Kocho family. You'd only seen him once because one of his wives, Suma if you remembered right, was picked to be one of his wives and went through the tradition here three years ago, because one of his wives was from your village. You couldn't remember exactly, you were too busy working to make what money you could so you could save up and repay the debt your parents put you into- You'd only seen Uzui once and that was from far away when he came to visit his wife-from-your-village's side of the family. He seemed to have a giant head and ego to match from what flexing and showing off he seemed to do. His family were known to be strong warriors so you supposed that's how they prospered.
"I can assure you all that Mr. Uzui has no current interest in selecting another marriage," Ubuyashiki promised you all, "But Kanae is right, Aoi. We shouldn't speak ill of one's marriage in a way."
Aoi only huffed through her nose and turned away.
"Soooo, does that mean you already have someone in mind for the ritual already?," Mitsuri's voice gushed to your left.
"I have," the elder confirmed which only surprised the girls and made Mitsuri practically squeal in giddiness.
"I knew it! It's Shinobu right!? Is she finally marrying Giyu-"
"MITSURI!!"
"What? It's not like you try to hide your fascination with him.~"
"They're only friends," again Kanae spoke gently being the voice of reason between the sisters. "And you only want her to be next so you can be the one to plan the wedding like you did your own with Obanai."
That wasn't an understatement. Mitsuri had planned out, gotten ready for, and organized her entire wedding to the gentle Obanai after she was chosen last year to be the one doing the marriage tradition (all in one night too-) after two other marriages being called off before meeting Obanai. In a way you envied her, Obanai was one of the first to fully see her true self and love her for who she was. In the end they were perfect for each other. But you knew for certain who would be picked next..I mean by this point it wasn't a secret even to herself. Your eyes glanced back towards Kanae and her ever calm gaze. It wasn't much of a secret anymore that-...Well. There was a reason you saw Kanae often in your village, and it wasn't because of the yearly tradition you've been attending for a few years now. It was because for as long as you could remember there has been meetings between the Kocho and Shinazugawa families, or at least meetings between Kanae and your village's local protector Sanemi. It wasn't a secret the Shinazugawa family suffered heavily throughout the years. The first tragedy was when the head of the house, who as far as you could remember anyways, had been an alcoholic and eventually abandoned his wife an many children. But it was the second tragedy that made you feel any sort of pity towards the otherwise unlikable man. The tragedy that left his family deceased. When you were younger there was a much larger problem of bandits looting nearby villages, no one had thought they'd venture this far into the mountains until they did, and chose a young Sanemi's family to be their next target. The after math of bandits' looting was brutal, the only two survivors were Sanemi himself and only one of his younger brothers, Genya who wasn't much older than Aoi. The tragedy left the man to train harshly and become the villages resident protector, and it left both men covered in various scars still visible on their bodies and hardening Sanemi to be both a cruel and harsh man at times. Except to three people whom you knew of. One of those people being the Elder who took both him and his brother in after the tragedy, another was his own brother Genya but that was only sometimes and it was only ever a lesser harsh than what he usually dished, and the third was Kanae herself. It wasn't a secret that their mothers were once friends and thus so were their eldest children, and you wouldn't blame him a bit for falling for Kanae. She was as beautiful as she was kind, as smart as she was elegant, as gentle as she was patient. She had to be to be around Sanemi. He never made his usual outbursts whenever her presence was around, you should know because you've accidentally crossed paths with him once or twice on a bad day and ended up with him cussing you out or yelling for no reason before stomping off leaving you annoyed and angry. The rumor was already that the two of them were to be the ones who would attend next year's tradition. Thank goodness. You couldn't take much more of him anymore despite how sorry you felt for him.
"Elder, who did you chose to journey into the mountains?"
That was a question you'd also liked answered! The sooner answered the sooner you could leave!
However the elder only spoke calmly once more. "That will be revealed shortly. For now you are all dismissed. Please leave me be for now." The girls and yourself took that as an excuse to leave. Thank goondess crossed your mind as you slowly made to stand up amongst the others, the rustling of clothes sounding off as you all stood at once. "Except for you."
This was it. The part of these yearly meetings that told you who was being married. It was always the one who stayed behind to talk with him. Last year he had pointed out Mitsuri, and she had been the one to be chosen after being told to stay behind. Which shouldn't have been a problem. So why was your body suddenly frozen?
....It was Kanae...It SHOULD'VE been Kanae. There was some mistake when a paled hand was pointed at the direction right down the middle of the crowd, making all heads turn to follow it. The hand's direction was tilted in a way that made no mistake who the blind man was pointing at, despite the fact he couldn't see he made no mistake. So when the hand pointed, and everyone fell silent, whether in shock or respect you weren't sure. But what made your blood cold was the serious hand pointing in the direction of your own, frozen and shocked body.
"Y/n. Would you please stay behind with me? I have something we have to discuss."