Yayutni - Braving the Raging Storm

[Note: The is a sketch, please do not judge it harshly as I have yet to actually release the real novel. Thank you!]

[when reading please listen to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD6EUdo8PGI]

In the land of the Kambojas, there was once a woman, Yayutni, who braved a great storm... She started off her life widely renowned, adored for her great charm and exquisite beauty. As great as her charm and beauty was, her heart was as dark and malicious, brimming with cruelty! Thus she always betrayed the trust of those who tried to befriend her, regardless if they were rich or poor, good or bad, man or woman, beast or human. She discriminated against none, in her efforts to manipulate the world to her desires. Yayutni was the daughter of an aristocratic family [her father is mayor of the town], and so in addition to the vanity of her beauty, she was predisposed to view everyone as beneath her. She felt that her life would go on as it always had done, always resulting in her favor ...but then one day in a harvest festival, a hunchback in rags approaches her. She greeted him courteously and they talked. He was bewitched by her beauty and thus confesses undying love.

Inwardly Yayutni delighted in thoughts of torturing him, she then lead him off on a long charade in which he was mistaken to be a molester and ended up being stoned and stockaded by the townspeople. Humiliated, the hunchback left town, but not before he confronted Yayutni, telling her how much more she had wounded him compared to the humiliation and pain dealt to him by the townspeople. Scoffing at him, she carries on with her own affairs.

That night, when all became still and quiet, long after the festival came to a close, Yayutni neglected to snuff out all the lamps, for she felt a sudden dizzy spell. Falling asleep, Yayutni also neglected to shut the windows.
At midnight heavy winds picked up and a thunderstorm snarled ominously in the distance, yet she stirred not. The winds picked up tremendous speed and strength, faning the flames which grew uncontrollable, curtains and linens came ablaze all around her. Yayutni awakened to feel the scorching pain, as fire had consumed her entire chamber. Fear grasping her heart, she called out for help. The villagers awake, but by the time they are ready to save her, all of her chamber was up in flames. Somehow, they manage a successful rescue. They then look upon her to see if she is alive, they are all aghast. In the place of a great beauty lies a frail and crippled invalid who has burns all across her body. Yayutni, the once glorious damsel of the heavens was no more, in her place lay Yayutni the cripple.

Almost immediately, she was shunned by everyone, including her friends and family. Her father shut Yayutni in her room, forbidding her to walk about town as freely as she once had.
Yayutni's sisters tormented and berated her, pulling at her hair and smashing the pots by which her meals are conveyed to her. Slowly however, Yayutni learns how to cope, how to live at the mercy of others, rather than at their adoration...

As time passed, she became good-natured, and her evil thoughts mended due to her changed circumstances. She meets new friends who are kind and sympathetic to her plight. They help her through her troubles and aid Yayutni in her efforts become free of her father's tyrannical rule over her...

One day, not long after she won her freedom to roam the streets once more, she walked down a street attending to a chore. A man of handsome stature and looks, dressed luxuriantly and valiant like a noble of great birth passed by her. At first nothing came of it... But then, Yayutni notices that he wheeled around and stares at her with wide eyes. She quickened her pace fearing some form of ridicule. He started following in pursuit of her. Soon she ran, so does he. At last, he caught her, clasping her hand, he trys to stop her from going further. She pleads with him to let her go and not to ridicule her.

"Ridicule you? Nay! Not you, M'lady!"

"Why not? They all do so here in this town! Am I not a horrific beast with these scars and deformities! Like some apparition from hell?"

"Nay, you are dear to me!"

"To you sir? How do you know me?"

He went on to tell her that he was the hunchback in rags whom she had so crudely mistreated so many years ago.. and that by some miraculous event involving a magical stone he was transformed into the very man that she saw him to be...

"Will you not hear me once again good lady? ...Marry me!"

"Marry you? Marry you! Do you not see? Our roles are reversed, there is no need for you to pursue an ugly monster like me. Go now! Do not jest with me sir!"

"Nay, our roles are not reversed... the heart! Your heart good woman has finally lifted its curse, now you are free, what I saw as a glimmering spark of beauty once, is now a brilliant star! You are glorious, and therefore I can never forget you! Come now, be my wife so that I may forever be surrounded by your beauty!"

So moved was she! Finally, there was a person who truly loved her not for her (once) charming face, but for her heart... her soul! She elated in this, thanking all good fortunes and all divine powers. They married shortly thereafter, of course only after this dashing youth had received permission from Yayutni's father...

Life would have been happy and simple as the wife of that glorious, handsome, noble youth. But Yayutni was unsatisfied with herself,


"How can I be his equal when I am so deformed, I am not worthy of him! I must find a way to regain what I have lost."

And so Yayutni goes upon a journey, upon her personal quest to regain her "Lost Beauty". Despite all the protests of her loving husband, who already cared for her dearly... more than his own life, agreed to accompany her on her travels so that he could help fulfill her desire. What starts off as a journey for artificial ornamentation and selfish desire turns into a journey of great trial and tribulation as Yayutni is forced to examine herself, her soul, her being and discover what true beauty is, and what it is not, it becomes a journey in which the fate of many peoples lives hang on the balance...If she does not check herself and her unwavering determination, in the process she could very well lose her life in her unbending ambition. As the doors of destiny open, what fate will Yayutni choose?

Excerpt I: Dispelling the Disease

There are who are born in this world who never live a day without loathing their very being. Such people hide from the brilliance of the sun hoping that they will not be seen by others or catch a glimpse of themselves. Desperate for companionship and association with a fellow soul, a few of those sad lot try to hide their faces in mud. In this they succeed to bury themselves behind a shell made earthen elements. It is a mask by which they can forget themselves and play the role of another, someone stronger, faster, swifter, more beautiful then "they themself" are. Indeed they are so good pretending that they forget their true self and become that persona. They boast, to cover up for a weakness of spirit, a lack of self-esteem. ... this is grave folly! For there never was a flaw in the first place...!

Now Yayutni, Instead of adding to the mile of muck which clouds your heart and mind, you should seek to wash away this mud, this impurity, dispensing the illusion... Like layers of skin, we all have accumulated uncountable layers of mud upon our face after so many lifetimes, each and everytime losing more of our true selves, our souls. It is time now that you realize Truth and stop this game of pretend, realize who you truly are! Do not lose your senses, do not lose your mind! Fight for the preservation of your sanity! By your own hand you have unsealed the memories of your dormant lives and it is by your hand that you will rid yourself of the malignant mask or suffer the rest of your life a fate more worse than a thousand deaths!

But you have no need to fear. For I am right beside you, I will be here and fight with you all the way as far as you wish to go. Remember well that the Supreme Lord is all powerful, pray to him for aid at this most critical hour! Pray to Him and receive His protection...! I will not question your judgment as to what you decide for your future. I only ask that you do not give up this fight before it has even began! Do not cheat yourself any longer. Be confident in yourself! Stand up and face this darkest hour. Stand up to face your duty! Stand up to grasp your right! Now stand firm against this calamity and fight!"