So Raiha waited for her tengu to come for her, and in that time she was still a slave, still a menial laborer, forced to break her back daily and pour her sweat out upon the Earth.

And for what?

She kept at it, because to stop would mean death, and she promised her tengu that she would live to see him again. So she bore the whiplash, the cruel words thrown carelessly at her by liars, slanderers, and gossips, and took up her portion of labor in full. Like a fool, she tried to do her best, forgetting that what was asked of her was not her best, merely her free will. For the promises she'd made still lived within her heart. Unlike those around her, she had not yet surrendered her self awareness, nor her inner fire, and at night she still burned like a torch, as warm as a hearth. And those that knew her gathered close to her against the cold, and together they slept, as peaceful and quiet as the birds on the lake.

But some were repulsed by her fire, and because she was not yet broken, she knew how to use it against others. One such man had reached out for her when he shouldn't have, tried to touch her in anger and only been burned. While he waited for his hand to heal he plotted against her. There are those in the world who can't stand to see others endure things without losing their own true selves. They seek to break them, to bring them down to their own level of misery and stupidity. Such was this one. And with the indifference of others, he made his move.

Raiha was working late into the night, finishing a job that had to be done, and he came upon her with the whip he had taken from the overseer, who was happy to look elsewhere for a small fee. And he struck her across the back so hard she gasped for breath, dropping her load against the ground, collapsing to her knees. He struck again, and then again, while those that remained in the tunnel working late merely watched her fall. It wasn't that they were indifferent to her pain so much as they had been broken for so long by the lash, that they were incapable of protecting her.

When she was huddled and bleeding freely against the stone ground he stopped and spat on her face, the saliva running down her cheek and mingling with her blood. Then he turned and walked away. Once he was gone, the other slaves came to her, picked her up and took her to her pallet, wiping away her tears and blood, tending to her wounds.

As soon as they were healed, Raiha returned to work, her back a welter of fresh pink scars. She bent her back into her work, even though it sent arcs of pain through her body, taking up her portion so others wouldn't have to endure more than their fair share. And she worked again, her inner fire unquenched, merely dimmer, drawn to a small flicker from the pain she bore. Her enemy saw this, and his rage drove him once more to seek her out when she was isolated, working alone again. For although she feared to be alone, she knew that she mustn't avoid work, merely for the sake of assuaging her fears. For fears were the only thing she could use as a fulcrum for survival down in the deep earth, away from the moon, and the tengu that loved her.

And this time she heard him coming because she knew he was foolish enough to try the same attack twice. His persistence enraged her, as well as his pointless interest in her suffering. And these two thoughts drove her into a rage that kindled the fire in her heart to a blaze that could not be extinguished. Her senses went into overdrive, and her mind contracted to a pinpoint that saw only her enemy and how she would defeat him. This time, when he raised the whip, she heard the slither of the lash, and when he struck, she caught the tail crack across her forearm, and although it bled where it touched, she twisted her arm around it and grabbed the end of the lash.

Then she pulled, and her strength was such that he felt his feet skid across the stony ground, towards Raiha. He stared at her in shock, his eyes open in surprise, and saw her eyes for the first time. Bright black, with no iris, nor white, staring at him all unseeing, the berserk fire coursing through her entire body. Steam rose from her flesh, and out her open mouth, and he saw her fangs, her black tongue, and felt himself tremble.

She jerked the whip from his hand and tore it apart before his terrified face. And then she hauled her right arm back and struck him open handed across the face, her fingers talons, her nails sharp. Four diagonal lines of blood exploded from his face and right shoulder. He fell bleeding onto his side and his blood pooled on the ground. Raiha picked up her load and walked away from him, leaving footprints where she stepped in his blood.

They led upwards, back towards the light, where she knew her tengu was waiting.

____________________________

And this is how Raiha got the scars on her arms, and her back, and her pride back.