Disclaimer: Me…? Own an anime…? ::explodes into fit of laughter:: XD Yeah! As if!
A/N: The Pegacorn has returned!! ::fireworks go off:: Yep, it's true, I have not died! Though, I'll admit, 5 months with no updating is a long time. Gomen nasai, minna-san. Hope you can forgive a lazy otaku. :)
But, good news! As you can see, it's a new story! Unless you've never read any of my writing before, that is; in which case, welcome to my world! MWAHAHAHA! ::cough:: Eh heh.. ::sweatdrops:: Gomen. XS Don't wanna scare any newcomers off, so I'll shut up and let you guys read.
This fic is of much better quality than my other ones (It should be, considering I proof-read it I don't know how many times... Y.Y'), so I hope you like! :)
Enjoy!
Awakening Spirits
By Pegacorn (AKA Lisa)
Prologue: From Nightmares to Rude Awakenings
Midnight…
Stars dance through the sky, unseen through the clouds curtaining them…
Darkness…
Moon normally illuminating the night, painted black, tonight being the new cycle…
Vermillion streaks decorate the alleyway, spilled across the asphalt as puddles…
Blood…lots of it, freshly spilled, slowly spreads from open wounds…
Two bodies lay almost motionless, their last strength ebbing away to nothing fast, slashes marring skin that is quickly becoming cold…
Eyelids quiver…
…Two once-glowing suns, golden-hazel eyes --life dimming from them-- slowly open…
…joined by a second, clouded pair, surrounded by a mane of golden locks --now matted with crimson-- that once shone like the full moon…
An evil laugh rings out, disturbing the chilled, night air --beginning low and raucous, becoming insane with power at the thought of the owner's deed to soon be complete…
…Murder…
…Killings…
…The trades of a hired assassin…
His payment would be generous once he finished with these two… Not to mention what he'd receive after wiping out their little brat…
A wicked smirk alights his fanged mouth at that thought, the evil smile reaching his blood-maroon eyes, their pupils devilish slits…
Crazy laughter creates a chill once more as he unsheathes a hidden dagger to raise above his head…
With lazy strides, he approaches the pair --taunting them with his slow gait, death's apprehension thick around them--
And stops before the gold-haired head, the woman's lime-green eyes clouded with her inevitable fate…
The blade raises high--
"…No…!" The golden-eyed man's choked voice cries out as he watches on helplessly, unable to help the female, his injuries too great.
--It is too late… The knife comes down…
…A high-pitched scream…!
---
With a quick intake of breath, he was awake --eyes snapping open as he sat up with a start. Cold sweat plastered his sand-colored bangs to his forehead, and his breath was released in pants. Out of habit, a hand ran its fingers through the strands in front of his strange-colored, hazel eyes --those same eyes closing as he battled to regain control of his breathing.
Finally, his gasping ceased, and heart rate returned to normal. Releasing the grip on the locks that rested on his forehead, he re-revealed his irises with a sigh. 'Damn it… Not that dream again…' This obviously hadn't been the only time within his life that he'd dreamt that event. It had happened many times before, each time being as much a heart-stopper as the last, but never had there been quite as much detail as there was this time. Usually, the graphics of the situation would be very brief, and quite blurred, happening too rapidly to identify any single characteristic.
It was a wonder as to why tonight made such a difference with that vision. Especially since the last time he'd had the dream…
…was two months ago…
Sighing once again, he moved his gaze to his left to look at the digital clock on his bedside (more like futon-side) table. The glowing, red numbers read 6:54 AM, and if the dim, blue light streaming in through the window wasn't enough to tell, the sun would be rising soon.
…He'd also be getting up for school in about 5 more minutes…
With a groan, he flopped backwards onto his futon bed once again, hoping to catch a few more winks before his annoying alarm would start on its mission to drive him insane. He hated that thing, but it was the only way he'd manage to get up on time, because if left uninterrupted, he could end up sleeping half the day away. Maybe even longer, if he tried…
But no. He couldn't do that today. He had school to attend. The first day at his new high school, actually…since he and his family had moved here a few days ago…
…from America…
Ah, how he'd miss living there… Or maybe he wouldn't… After all, he'd lived in a small town (Well, not that small, but small enough so that no one heard of it before.) on the east coast, and in the past eleven years of his life he'd been there, nothing really eventful had taken place.
Well, ok, so he had learned English (Rather efficiently, really…), and improved his Japanese by taking that as his language class for the last two years. Plus, there were those five years of martial arts, and kendo lessons, he had taken, rendering him capable of killing a guy in a dozen different ways. Not that he would, of course! It just felt good to have the knowledge of being able to do so. To have that kind of power. Especially if one appeared to have the build of a toothpick most of the time.
His brow crinkled in thought. Where was he going with these thoughts…? 'Ah, who cares…' His mind began to wander along a different path. 'Shouldn't the alarm be going off soon…?' As if the device had mind-reading powers, it began to fulfill its purpose in life…
…Being annoying beyond belief until someone flipped the off switch.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Another groan. 'Ugh… Way to jinx it, baka!' Pulling the pillow over his head to try to muffle some of the noise, he began his usual morning's ritual chant in his mind to start the day, 'Just. Drop. Dead. You. Evil. Satanic. Thing. You.' Oh, yeah. It was a daily ritual, all right.
Too bad it never worked…
Since his current method of noise-stifling seemed to be failing, he tried to turn as far away from the devil's device as humanly possible…
…So he settled for facing the wall with the covers also pulled over his head.
It wasn't long before the sound of flip-flops on the wooden floor could be heard ascending the stairs --slow, but determined-- and stopped dead outside his door.
A resounding knock sounded on said door, before creaking open a second later. A pair of cool, blue eyes, surrounded by a head of chocolate-brown hair peeked its way through the recently formed opening.
A feminine voice called out, "Reiki, dear, aren't you going to get up?" It was warm as a summer day at the beach, and just as inviting.
…But not inviting enough to convince Reiki to crawl out of bed. Instead, he settled for grumbling an answer, too muffled to understand through the sheet and pillow, but roughly translating to something along the lines of, "…Let me think about that…" --Pause-- "…No."
The woman just shook her head in slight amusement before opening the door a bit wider to completely enter his bedroom. "Oh, come on now. You don't want to be late on your first day of school here, do you?"
'…Why not?'
She stepped over to the futon bed Reiki was currently occupying, and promptly ceased the alarm clock's shrill calling.
Ah, the thing had finally been knocked out! But that only meant one thing…
The covers were suddenly snatched from his grip, revealing his curled-up, pajama-clad form lying on the mattress. He quickly tightened his death-hold on the pillow over his head to keep it from being made to leave, too.
Sure enough, a tug-of-war was started when she tried to claim it from his possession. She huffed in annoyance and released her struggle on it.
Yes! Victory was his!
"Well, if I can't convince you to get up, then maybe Bandit can…"
Reiki tensed. 'Oh, crap. Not the devil-cat! Anything but that!'
Bandit was the family cat. And although he was just a kitten of six months old, he could be very mischief. His favorite thing to do, it seemed, was to leap onto Reiki's head, firmly grip his hair until the boy had tears in his eyes, and refuse to move unless convinced to with treats or threats. Whichever came first. …Usually, it'd be the threats --the ones that came from Reiki were the most effective, it seemed.
Deciding that he didn't need more damage done to his hair (His bangs stuck up enough!) from repeating one of those "sessions", he removed the pillow from his head and slowly sat up with a sigh. "All right, all right, I'm up…" --Running his hand through his bangs once again-- "Gees, Mom, how'd you get to be so evil?"
With an amused chuckle, his mother answered with a "Oh, believe me, I get plenty of practice…" before turning to leave her son's room. She stopped at the door, half-whirling her head around. "Hurry up and get ready. Breakfast is starting to get cold, and I don't expect to have to reheat it…" With that, she slipped back into the hallway, closing the door behind her as she left to go back downstairs.
---
So, what did you think? An ok start? I hope so. Did it show signs of humor, as I planned? I'd really like it if you guys let me know. All reviews will be much appreciated, and constructive criticism is cool. Just don't go flaming for no reason, and I'm good! :D
I wasn't actually planning on posting this now. I was hoping to finish typing the whole story first, and then have weekly updates. But I just couldn't resist! XD This story was practically begging to be posted, so I had to oblige! ..Just don't expect updates to occur too frequently. After all, I am pretty lazy, and I do have a short attention span when it comes to fics. So, just bear with me. :)
Okers. You can hit that purple review button now.
...Or not. It's your choice.
-Pegacorn-
