The forests of Okutama had long forgotten the flames. The lush greenery a stark contrast to that day six years ago.
She too had changed.
Taller now, her once short black hair had grown into a ponytail, and her eyes glowed a vibrant orange colour.
Echoes and whispers of that day could still be heard in moments of stillness such as these. It was as if remnants of that day had woven themselves into the forests very essence, creating a haunting tapestry of memory and renewal.
Tsukiko stood up from her spot near the Tama river. She had long since decided that she'd need to stop hiding if she wanted to amount to anything other than a failure.
From past encounters with stray devils, she had heard rumours about a member of her species in kuoh. And stories of two powerful devils, supposedly sisters of the new satans, with kuoh rumored to be their base of operations.
Tsukiko clutched the fabric of her cloak, knuckles whitening as the thought of what those devils might have done to her kin wormed its way into her mind. She just hoped it wasn't like... No, she shouldn't make assumptions yet.
She needed to investigate on her own. She had to see for herself. Maybe they don't interact with each other, or maybe they have struck some sort of deal.
Maybe there are more survivors or a village that wasn't found by the devils out there somewhere.
"Would they even accept me?"
Her thoughts went back to the day she abandoned her people for her own survival. Their screams for help. Help she could have provided.
She was scared of going and finding nothing. But the thought of finding something scared her even more.
The whispers from the forest grew louder and her surroundings became less welcoming, as if encouraging her to leave, in a strange and convoluted way.
She turned to look at the place where her village used to be. "I guess this is goodbye then" she said.
The journey to kuoh thankfully wasn't long, it would only take her around two hours to get there by sneaking into a bus. Not her proudest moments but her lack of money forced her hand.
As she boarded the bus and sat down, she looked outside her window at the changing terrain. She watched as the okutuma mountain ranges slowly transformed to the giant skyscrapers of Tokyo and then the smaller, more down to earth buildings of kuoh.
The bus ride had passed before she had even realised it. She had been lost in thought again, first about what she may find in kuoh and eventually her thoughts drifted back to the void.
It had been years since that dream she had but she still remembers it perfectly. Even after all these years, the melody from that dream lingered, an odd, steady comfort.
As she got out of the bus and stepped into kuoh she took a deep breath. The air reeked of pollution, something she was not used to having lived in the forest for most her life.
The streets around her were bustling with people, the roads were filled with cars, honking left and right, the chatter of students, and the smell of food stands. It was all very confusing for her at first.
"What do I do now?" She hadn't thought this far. She didn't know where to search or what to search for, she tried to use her sense of smell to locate her kin but be it from all the random smells interfering with her or maybe a concealment method. She couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary.
Tsukiko realized this would be harder than she had anticipated. And that before she tried searching for her kin, she'd need to find somewhere to stay the nights at.
With sunset close and Tsukiko's lack of money, she chose to make the first abandoned building she found her temporary residence.
She walked aimlessly through the city, looking around for anything that fit her criteria.
"This could work," she said. Looking at the old abandoned factory Infront of her. The windows were broken, the walls were graffitied, and rubble lay everywhere around it. It was perfect.
Tsukiko climbed up the vines on the wall. Slipping inside through a broken window on the second floor, as she looked at the empty room around her, she couldn't help but slightly loosen her shoulders as a small smile made its way to her face. This would do nicely.
She quickly gathered some foliage from outside the building and brought them inside to create a makeshift bed to lay on.
She laid down, and as sleep started pulling her in its warm embrace, a loud screech tore through the silence.