A Journey through Darkness [P]

Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:03 am

Imagine for a moment, anxiety. The suffocating heat that surges within your body, growing tighter around your ribcage, splintering the bone in a strangling grib - that fruitless lunge for breath that yielded only a gasping murmur of airlessness. It was choking, no more than a whistle of what little remained in your lungs. You try to take it into your hands, to stretch out and breathe again, to latch onto that light in those final moments before darkness as that starving fire grew, begging for air - for that life you so desperately cling to. There is that flame, that intense burning, as the rest of you went cold, rampant with the fear - those icy chills of what lay beyond this, death snaring you in its grasp. You shake. You dread. You feel your control slip and falter, giving up more and more and oppressive desire.

Now imagine shielding all of that, repressing it, for someone else.

“Kyuin?” a voice rang out in the darkness, a soft murmur.

The Iburi trembled, clearing his throat. Darkness blanketed the pair, showering them in lightlessness. It was as if midnight, darker, though each knew it to be midday. Shadow Country, so aptly named, sheltered that darkness.

“Kyuin, where are we going?” that same voice called out, whispering.

The Iburi took hold of its source, grasping her in his long arms. “Away from here,” he replied, his eyes peering into the shadow, darted from side. There was nothing. It was emptiness, like staring into an abyss - a black hole tearing through space and time. It was absence.

Kyuin took a deep breath, stilling his breath. He couldn’t be scared, not with her. He halted his shaking hands, pinning them against his sister. There could be no sign of his dread or terror. He had to be brave - for the both of them.

“Don’t worry, Inori,” he chimed, melding his voice into something of song. “I’ll get us out of here. And away from him,” the Iburi charged, his voice shifting into something stern, cold, but not without empathy.

“Can you build us a fire, Kyuin?” she whispered, pressing against his chest.

The young man was silent for a moment, the jagged symphonies of life taking his voice’s place. He swallowed, nodding to himself. “Sure,” he replied, clearing his throat once more. He stood, taking hold of his sister’s hand as he did so, and began to walk, stretching his arm out before him. “Hold out your hand,” he commanded, reminding his sister to do the same. The thick canopy of this land was both the source of its greatest darkness and its greatest light. Etching a whole into its cover created the village the two had called home for years. A small settlement, Kengoku was something of a safe haven amidst the dangers of the Land of Shadow. It was not exempt from its own, however, the village instead acting as hotspot for crime. It was remote and hard to find, making an excellent home for missing ninja avoiding a price on their head or the common lot trying to sell off hot goods. Despite their presence, however, chakra was nearly unheard of and often dismissed as mere fantasy for children.

In the darkness, Kyuin’s hand found something hard, sturdy. He felt every crevice, bump, and crack. It was a tree, a weak one - dead. Drawing a kunai from his side, the man pierced the tree, splitting the wood with a clean thrust. Placing one hand over the other, he pushed downward, ripping through the bark of the tree. With a thrust of energy, he plucked the weapon from the tree and flicked his wrist. A soft slash resonated outward, cutting through the oppressive air and into the tree. Wood piled onto wood, and, soon, the pair collected what Kyuin had cut, placing the shards and strips of bark into smile pile as far away from the other trees as they could tell.

“Inori,” Kyuin called out, aligning the bark into a teepee shape. “See if you can find…” his voice trailed off. “Nevermind, I got it.”

“Find what?” Inori asked, shuffling about in the dirt.

“Nothing, I’ll find it. You just rest,” Kyuin commanded, the soft clanking of wood sifting through the air.

“Oh come on,” he droned, walking closer to Kyuin with her arms extended. “Let me help,” she said, feeling around for his head and sifting through his unkempt hair.

Letting out something of a sigh, Kyuin rolled his eyes in the dark, clearing his throat and speaking. “Find some tinder,” he instructed, continuing in a jumbling of words to foster an explanation, “Sort of dry, soft grass.”

A soft murmur of acknowledgement rang out in the night, and Inori got to work, lowering herself into the dirt and searching about the ground with her hands. Her soft rustling fell among the sounds of life, abruptly ending with an excited murmur. “Here you go,” Inori called out, Kyuin responding in turn with an, “Over here.”

Plunging his kunai into a piece of the wood, Kyuin formed and indention, grasping another thin piece of wood and placing it inside the cut. Laying the board flat on the ground, Kyuin began to twist the stick between his hands, rotating it back and forth. The noise was much louder than he anticipated, echoing out into the darkness. Kyuin tensed, swallowing, and stopping for a moment. He had to get it done fast. This noise, the fire itself was a call for the predators of the forest. It was a beacon for a feast. It however doubled as a ward, a tool against such beasts. Creatures of this place feared fire, and, with hope, it would be Kyuin’s to control.

Heat emanated from the friction, and, soon, the glow of light erupted from the board. Kindling the fire, the Iburi brushed the tinder against it, and the soft glow grew into flame, scarcely illuminating his paled face. Kyuin cradled the pile, nestling it into his pile of wood. The glow spread, climbing about the bark and crackling with the thunder of burning.

His restless eyes fell from the fire - onto his sister. Her smile was thin, but warm. Her pale blue eyes reflected the soft orange glow of the fire, its heat taking her in like a mother’s embrace.

Neither had their mother. Not for a long time, and Inori barely at all. Kyuin tried to fill the void as best he could while his father fell into drunken stupor one after the next. They were all the had for one another, but there was something of hope in that. Getting away was the best choice for them - for her.

She needed a cure.

Lest she end up like Mother.

“Kyu?” Inori’s soft voice chimed, her eyes falling on her elder brother. “What do you think its like outside the forest?”

Kyuin had never given it thought. The only thing on his mind was protecting and saving her, but, now that she asked, he found himself wondering but without a real answer. “Hmm,” he mumbled, thinking to himself, his imagination sputtering about in his head.

Home, though it did not live up to the word, was a small opening in the blanketing forest in this country. A fire had spread into it, thus granting the desperate and brave a place to stay, perhaps forever. It was the only place you could see the stars, the sun, the clouds, and sky, or so it had been said. Even then, the opening was small, most of the village housed in a towering canopy of trees.

“I want to see the sky,” Kyuin said, nodding his head softly. “That’s what I think it’s like. Seeing the whole thing. All the stars, the moon. I want to see its glow on everything.”

Inori’s smile widened, her teeth showing under the soft orange glow of the flames. “Yeah,” she murmured, her soft voice rife with a contained excitement. “I want to see that, too, Kyuin,” she nodded, looking up at the blackened sky above them. It was absent, an emptiness the fire couldn’t illuminate. Her imagination was rampant, imagining star after star in the void, their soft glow falling on the earth around her. “What else?” she asked, losing herself in her imagination.

Kyuin paused for a moment, thinking. “Why don’t you tell me something?” he concluded, plucking a twig from the ground and stirring the amber light.

“Hrm,” Inori cheekily grumbled, her smile thinning ever-so-slightly. “How bout an ocean?” she remarked, looking at Kyuin. Her cheeks shaped into gumballs, her smile cutting from ear to ear.

Kyuin’s head rocked back and forth, a grin appearing underneath his mask. He eyes gave something of a gleam, a single his sister recognized as a grin. “An ocean,” he echoed, placing his fingers at the tip of his mask.

“I read about them once,” Ino continued, her eyes squinting as she recalled. “Do you believe it?” she asked, resting her head on the earth beneath her. “All that water…” she trailed off, losing herself in thought.

Kyuin’s dark eyes fell, the glow of the fiery melding with his sulfuric irises. “That’d be something, wouldn’t it?” he remarked, nodding his head softly. He looked to his sister. Her fleeting eyes closed, and she fell into sleep, the soft echo of her coughs bounding amongst the crackle of the flames. Leaving took a lot out of her. In spite of everything, she still loved her father. Perhaps she was too young to resent as Kyuin did. To hate. Maybe it was for the best she didn’t.

The Iburi drifted, the darkness acting as night. And for a moment, he finally slept.

---------------

The Iburi’s sulfuric yellow eyes cut into the dark, darting about the the dwindling fire fell from flame. Silence took hold of the forest, save for their smoldering light. The rumble of life had been stripped away, and, instead, there was an emptiness.

Kyuin’s eyes narrowed as he rose from his seat. Crouched, he came to his sister, brushing against her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered upon and her brow furrowed, tensing as Kyuin lifted her from her sleep. In his arms, he took her, leaving her behind the nearest tree. Something was wrong. “Climb,” he whispered. He ventured to step forward but halted, the sound of voices cutting through the silence of the forest. These were not animals one could ward off with fire.

“Hey,” one of the voices called out, the soft crunch of dirt pouring out beneath his foot. “Someone’s been here.” The voice was tame, but deep, older. Kyuin could make out a bald man, the twinkling of his eyes amidst the flames. He was tall, maybe an inch or two above Kyuin, but everything else was obscured by darkness.

“Who the hell would be out here?” another called out. The second voice was more rugged, but lighter - not as deep.

“Aye, you two, shut the hell up, ok?” a third commanded, his voice deeper and raspier than the other two.

The three men, all roughly the same height, began to circle the campsite, fiddling with the fire. “This is recent,” the second man said, the faint glow of the flames revealing his blue eyes and brown hair.

“No shit,” the third man chortled, the pop of his hand against the blue-eyed man’s head resounding around the forest.

“So whattare we gonna do, huh?” the bald man said, his voice taking on a stern quality.

“What is there to do?” the second chimed.

“Damn, do you two ever shut up? It’s probably some poor bastard lost out here,” the third said, moving to the fire. “Kinda like us,” he continued, the annoyance in his voice palpable. “Still, I don’t wanna the risk of getting jumped, ok? Hebi already ate most of our damn food.”

“Phuh,” the bald man grumbled.

“For now, let’s just stick together ok?” the last of the men suggested, kicking about the fire.

Kyuin’s restless eyes narrowed, the kunai lifting from his side as he took aim, just in case.

“We find whoever’s stuck in this hellhole and we take what they-”

This was all Kyuin needed to hear.

But before the kunai left his hand, there was a crunched just above him, a splintering tear in the wood.

Inori!

The men shifted, looking to the tree. With the swipe of his arm, Kyuin’s kunai left his hand, cutting through the darkness and tearing into the man closest to him, the bald one of the three. The Kunai shredded his leg, plunging him onto the harsh earth with a blood-curdling scream and thud. Taking another, he plunged the kunai as high into the tree as possible, lifting himself up and clasping onto his sister’s backpack. With the thrust of his hand, he forced her from the tree, landing with her body cradled in his arm.

“Hebi!” the third man shouted, his rasping voice tearing through shadow. His hands flashed in a torrent of motion, the fire erupting into a roaring glow. It cascaded, flowing into the air and spinning.

“Kyu!” Inori shouted, the fiery glow illuminating the forest as the Iburi charged through the dark.

“There you are!” the man hissed, the fire taking shape. It was a torrent of flames, charging through the forest in a rage.

A dragon!? Kyuin thought, the surge of adrenaline beginning to work through him. The beast tore through tree after tree, leaving a blaze in its wake. Its thunderous, booming roar tore through the silence of the night, shredding through the air and splintering the trees in its stead.

“Kyu!” Inori shouted again, the Iburi’s legs charging faster and faster as he circled the trio. His hand grasped the cold steel housed on his side, flinging it forward into the forest. With a streamed gleam of amber, the kunai laced through the man’s shoulder, sprawing blood into the chilled air.

The dragon coiled, spinning out into the ground. With a quake, the fire rumbled through the night, setting the forest ablaze with a thulm. The shockwave rang outward, thrusting Kyuin and Inori into the ground tumbling. “Inori!” he shouted, pushing himself back onto his feet.

“There you are, bastard!” the man shouted, raising his arms once more. “I’ve got you now!” His chest expanded, air rushing into his mouth an exiting with a blinding glow. Fire tore through the forest, the other standing man doing the same.

What the hell?! Kyuin shouted within his mind. These men could breathe and control fire? What was this?

Charging forward, he clasped his hand around Inori’s wrist, launching her from the ground as he darted to the nearest tree. Pinning himself against it, he forced his sister against his chest, wrapping his arms around her as the fire swarmed around them. The heat was immense, burning at his skin, Inori’s screaming muffled under his coat. The Iburi grit his teeth, closing his eyes as the fire spun around them, spreading into the void above their heads.

“Did we get them!?” one of the men shouted, the fire spinning out of existence.

Kyuin drew a kunai from his side once more, turning from the tree and launching it from his hand. It hissed through the growing flames, piercing a tree from behind the pair.

“There!” the blue-eyed man growled, turning. Kyuin’s brow fell on his eyes, his hand delving into his side pocket once more. His hand wrapped around the warmed steel, slinging it into the blue-eyed man’s chest.

“Dammit!” the last of the trio said, whipping around. His eyes widened, Kyuin leaping from the darkness, kunai in hand, lunging for him. With a sweeping arm, the man drew his own sword, launching to intercept. The metal clashed, ringing as steel met with steel. The Iburi housed many questions. Who was this man? How did he control such a power? But there was no such opportunity to ask. They threatened their lives, his sister’s life.

Kyuin grip tightened, the Iburi withdrawing his kunai from the lock and thrusting it forward to the man’s throat. The man’s eyes sneered, narrowing. With the thrust of his leg, he lunged forward, brushing Kyuin’s wrist to the side with his arm. The lunge was like lava, tearing into Kyuin’s stomach with a pain like fire. The man’s eyes widened, his smile forming in glee.

Kyuin fell to the ground, blood spilling from the sides of his mouth as he suffocated, unable to take in a breath.

“Kyuin!” Inori shouted, the fires swarming around her.

The man’s feet stopped just before the Iburi, his eyes meeting with the young girl meters away. “Don’t worry, brat, you’re next,” he sneered, lifting his sword into the air.

The pain was unbearable, a sweltering flame spreading throughout his body from his stomach. Kyuin could feel the warm liquid pouring from his mouth; he could see the blurred flames and the silhouette of his attacker.

He saw the blade the man held.

And his body felt as if it couldn’t move. He was locked.

“Kyuin please!” Inori shouted again, her voice ringing about the young man’s ears.

With the wave of the arm, the man’s sword fell, piercing its target. Blood poured from the wound, spilling onto the dried earth in a pool. Inori stood, shocked, her mouth open as the fires swelled around them.

But for a moment, all was still. Cold.

And the blood was not Kyuin’s.

The Iburi’s sulfuric eyes stared into his target’s. The man’s sword fell into his body, swamped with a black fog. It was his bloodline, the kekkai genkai of the Iburi Clan. It was Kyuin’s power.

As a shinobi.

Blood fled from the man’s mouth, the light in his eyes dwindling. His knees buckled, the kunai firmly gripped in Kyuin’s hand slipping from the man’s heart.

Kyuin swallowed, finally able to breathe. His yellow eyes turned, facing Inori as she stared, gawking.

-----------

The clanking chime of Kyuin’s kunai rang about in his side pocket, all retrieved. The men carried little, some spare ryo, little food, and some water. Kyuin tried to explain to his sister that it was necessary, that he did what he had to. She didn’t protest, but simply nodded. She understood, agreed, even.

A child like her had no business thinking such. It hurt Kyuin more that she didn’t condemn him - that she, too, thought it was necessary. But maybe it was. They had to look out for themselves now. And he had to protect her - no matter what. All he needed was time.

And a little hope.

WC: 3001

15 Stats

Smoke Transformation [2000/2000]

Beast Tearing Palm [1001/4000]

Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:55 am

Approved

Also:

A Journey through Darkness [P]

A Journey through Darkness [P]

Re: A Journey through Darkness [P]