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Through the Eyes of the Huntress: Keiko Murakami

"Do you want to know who I am? It can be dangerous to know too much about a heartless soul... but I will tell you... I am a huntress of bounty, perhaps of all trades of hunting whether it be murderers, kidnappers, thieves, assassins, or just common criminals. They are my target and I will not give up until I've got them. It matters not if they are giant beasts, the most powerful of all creation or the smallest of creatures...for, to me, they are all the same with no difference; they are my target...

But through all of this...I can remember when there was a time when I had not a care in the world. To me, my world was set and from then it would be filled with whatever I wished it to be... I was wrong. I was born alone...Adopted into a family I felt distance from, so I left. Since the age of eight I lived on my own in a pleasant cabin, hunting and gathering my own food casually. I lived there for four years, seeing no one else in that time span but surviving the loneliness, the emptiness, that world of...nothing. What happened during that time of my living there I'd rather not say. That will always be a mystery to everyone else except myself... Right after a fretful event I left the comfort of my home with hatred buried within my heart...a sense of disconnection from everyone and everything. In a way I had a sense of vengeance...

And thus begins my huntress career... At the age of twelve, almost thirteen, I wandered different areas in search of some kind of retreat...perhaps to find myself. And that is exactly what happened when I came across a poster displaying information on a need for hunters and huntresses. In the back of my mind I knew that then I could have vengeance...but over what? Men... I had my reasons but they are kept to myself. A secret that no one will know or understand...except for me. I trained in the academy of hunters and huntresses for quite a while and even at my age I seemed to have a gift for it. Because I would hunt wild beasts when living alone I gained that skill and became a great huntress at the academy. Unfortunately, the hunters would be given the more difficult jobs as if I couldn't handle it. That was it for me. I dedicated myself to becoming stronger, and just as good as the men, taking as much pain and as many dangerous missions as I could, even against orders. I wasn't perfect though. No one is... I was human and because of that I had many wounds and near-death battles. Fortunately, I was a master mechanic and fixed those parts of my body with machine. Yes...from then on I had machine parts within me, covered by skin like a mask as if I were no less woman than anyone else... However, because of that my strength was by that of machine and I suceeded in my conquest to be more than 'just a woman'. I became a beast...a heartless, tempermental beast but no man could ever tell for the outwards appearance seems flawless...like that of delicacy. I was one of the best in the academy until I became distant so that I could be on my own and become a lone huntress...

And so that is what I am- a lone huntress. I need no one and never will for I was born alone and I will remain alone... No one will ever truly know who I am for I am shielded by a mask of different shades. No one knows my true self. I could easily act as if I were the kindest being alive but have plans of destruction. But then...perhaps I could seem to act like a beast but be otherwise...Perhaps... So then, who am I? What am I? Do you want to know who I am? You never truly will..."