AN: I'm back with something new! I was rewriting Eternal Bonds when I got this idea and I just went mad and started writing this down. This is part one of this story and will take place before the A:TLA, and finishing at the conclusion of the Invasion of the Northern Water Tribe. Pairings: Naruto x Princess Yue; Sasuke x Azula. Disclaimer: I own nothing. All properties of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto belong to their respective owners.
Avatar Book One: Sacrifice - The Calling
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was the picture of peace, a bountiful serenity that swirled in the air and land and touched by the beauty of a newly awakened spring. The green leaves swayed to the gentle breeze of spring, finally sprouting from their winter slumber. They rustled from the wind like swaying hips of dancers, right to left, left to right. The birds chirping musically in the sweet air rode on the breeze that returned them to their nests in the tops of the trees.
A large hawk soared in the evening air circling the village like a beacon, and the shinobi with white masks and light armor, seeing the beacon, leaped from buildings like hopping crickets bounding for the Hokage tower. Their gifted skills in channeling chakra accelerated their speed, tapping the rooftops urgently. They blurred at inhuman speeds, their white masks glinting from the sun's last vestiges of sunlight.
Below them the villagers, basking in the glow of the setting sun, traveled home for the day, waiting for a hot supper or spending time with their families. Others left the comforts of their homes, embarking on spending the night with their friends at familiar restaurants or congregating at certain meeting spots, ready to liven the night.
As the village prepared for the night a lone figure sitting on a large, rugged mountain with carved faces of the Hidden Leaf Village's Hokages ignored them.
From the Hokage Monument Naruto looked up into the once blue sky. Dusk had settled and streaks of orange and yellow painted the sky like a canvas. He could see beyond the vibrant glow of colors the night sweeping in like the wind, carrying its stars and pinning them to the ever-changing sky. The sky appeared carefree, oblivious to his life - like always.
The waning sunlight reflected his blond hair like a sea of spiky fire. The sunlight also reflected brightly off his green goggles that he always carried with him, a reminder of his goal: to become a true shinobi. His blue eyes glistened with tears already shed, a dry track staining his puffy cheeks, which featured three markings (on both sides) resembling whiskers. He frowned solemnly, alone at the bluff.
He pulled his thin knees to his chest, hugging them as if they were his pillow that he tightly squeezed when he was alone. A light breeze ruffled his green shirt and light blue shorts. The day had been long and arduous for the young shinobi-in-training.
He came to the Hokage Monument to flee those horrible stares filled with contained fury directed at his existence. They glared at him as if he was disgusting, something abhorrent and despicable. Children would bully him or feel reluctant or scared to play with him. They would call him that "kid" or "thing" as if he was not human, not even a person, with fragile feelings and emotions. Naruto felt that the parents and the adults knew something about him, an open secret, passed on to the kids, in hush whispers and harsh glances.
The adults were the worst. The adults hated him. This he knew for a fact. They despised him. He knew that remarkable truth ever since he was born, pure and naked to the world, but still tainted by society's perception of him. Even the shinobi instructors that taught at the academy cruelly disregarded and belittled him. It was one of the reasons he was behind in his classes, or chose to ignore them altogether.
When he asked for help, help did not come in proud compliments or gentle smiles – like his classmates – but in sneers and scowls. They would humiliate him and tie his lack of answers to his stupidity, knowing full well that the resources given to him were inadequate and (some) outdated. He had to pull his own weight – always - in order to achieve a modicum of respect which he never received.
He practiced and practiced but his achievement fell on deaf ears and apathetic looks. Naruto would then act up, playing practical jokes on the villagers and his instructors and masking his pain and loneliness with jubilant laughter and smiles. He sometimes felt like he was drowning and there was no-one to save him.
There were only three people he trusted implicitly, relied upon to lessen his burden as a struggling orphan, the Third Hokage, and Teuchi and Ayami from the ramen stand. The Third Hokage, the Old Man, had assisted him like a transient grandfather. When Naruto confessed his grievances the Hokage reprehended the instructors and gave Naruto updated material.
He had never smiled so brilliantly that day. That day was the day he declared to become Hokage, to be acknowledged and respected like the revered man who had presented him with the same respect no-one had given him. Whenever he met the Hokage, whether walking with him or being treated to his favorite ramen shop, Ramen Ichiraku's, the respect and humbleness exuded by the villagers were wondrous.
The looks ranged between open and honest smiles, the ones spoke of benevolence and awe-filled eyes. To say Naruto was impressed by such a display of emotion was an understatement. The Hokage had likened the treatment to a family, one whom he would cherish at the cost of his life.
And Teuchi and Ayami? They fed the boy when he had nothing to eat, scavenging the streets after getting kicked out from the orphanage for his behavior. (His housing situation was quickly remedied by the Hokage, who, with his power, placed him in an apartment.) They continued to feed him accepting his hungry and boisterous appetite as payment. He promised that he would pay them back when he could, usually by doing various odd jobs; moving furniture, household work, or even assisting at Ichiraku's as a form of payment. Teuchi and Ayami always encouraged Naruto to do his best and never give up, and Naruto treasured their friendship.
Too bad for Naruto the other villagers did not see him that way - his family (the villagers) too cold and neglectful of him - which brought him back to the reason of why he was sitting on the cliff, overlooking the great stretch of the village. The villagers had harshly criticized his dream as he shouted it to the world; he had wanted them to know so they might, in their hard hearts, see him as someone to respect. Instead, they mocked him and stomped on his dream as if to crush any hope that burst from being and threw it – as they said with all failures – in the trash.
So Naruto responded in the only way he could; he declared that he would one day become Hokage and ran, the pain stabbing into his young heart. Every day was the same and he endured their spiteful taunts. He ran to his sanctuary, his safe haven, the Hokage Monument.
The sun had finally disappeared behind the great mountains, the waning light outlining their rugged peaks. The stars were fully awake and glittered in the dark. The moon, a friend of the stars, accompanied their arrival of the night. The moon, silent and piercing, watched Naruto like an old friend, its light blanketing him and the village. The crickets chirping commenced with the veil of night.
Naruto rubbed his tear-stained face. He stood up as he readied for home, readied for another day of the same routine, the same baneful stares. He patted his clothes, removing some of the dirt that had gathered on his bottom. He looked towards the sky once again and turned toward the trees behind. He started to move but froze. A voice as light as a feather caressed his hears.
The voice was indiscernible, but it called to Naruto. It seemed benign and welcoming. The voice sounded as if it was trapped underwater as it gurgled.
"What is it?" he voiced aloud.
His head spun like a top around for the person or thing calling him. Finding nothing he attempted to move on, but the voice continued to call him, imploring him to listen. Curiosity and fright shined in his blue orbs, he was conscious of the fact that hearing invisible things was not a good sign and also skeptical; were the villagers' playing a trick on him?
He halted again when a ball of light hovered in front him. The ball of green light bounced and zoomed around his head playfully. The boy's blue eyes followed the motion.
"A firefly?" he questioned.
The firefly hovered in his face and then zoomed into the thick trees. The voice became louder, more commandeering:
"Follow the firefly," the voice declared, now audible and clear, the words recognizable.
Naruto jumped at the raised volume. He glanced around once more still finding nothing. He shrugged helplessly watching the firefly zoom in-between the branches, visible and waiting. He blinked curiously and ran after it, hoping to find the person that had called him.
"Hey firefly, wait!" he yelled, running after the insect.
A few minutes of running and jumping had brought the boy to a small, strange forest northeast of the main village. A tori designated the entrance to the forest. The gate was surprisingly strong, the earthy, brown bark resilient to years of harsh weather. From what Naruto could remember from the lessons at the academy in relation to the various monuments and shrines in the Land of Fire, especially in the village, this was a sacred place, specifically quarantined from the main village. The forest itself was built by the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage before Konoha's establishment.
The Shodaime declared the forest a sacred sanctuary for spirits and the divine. The forest was forbidden. Naruto did not know the main reason for barring the forest, which had not stopped him from trying to get in however. What he did know were those that did sneak in disappeared for months, maybe years, and returned with haunted looks. They never spoke on what happened in the forest. The returned always came back at the beginning of spring.
He had a few months ago tried intruding in the place because he was curious. The thought of spirits did frighten the young Uzumaki but that never stopped him from exploring. The forest seemed to know him strangely, and called to him, the wind like the hands of the forest pushing him forward. Before he got closer, two Anbu operatives stopped him and he left the place reluctantly.
This time however, there were no Anbu in sight. Naruto smiled at his luck. He was actually going to do this.
Behind the tori the trees were unearthly still and dark, their trunks larger than his body. They stood like soldiers in rank, impassable and stoic, the branches and its leaves intertwining with one another acted as a natural barrier against intruders. The dark areas in-between the trunks of the trees were mysterious and looked like a void to an endless night.
The firefly floated over the tori, bouncing with the melodious chimes of the bells that lined across the nuki which swayed to an ominous wind. The air was cold, chilly in fact. But Naruto stood firm, watching the firefly illuminate the tori and the sign that swung in place. The word water was inscribed in the worn sign. The Gate of Water was its designation. He remembered there was another entrance, the Gate of Fire south of his position.
The firefly floated impatiently around his head and took into the forest. Naruto crossed the gate and looked back to the empty roads that led to the main village. No Anbu. Shrugging with a lopsided smile he ran after the firefly into the dark forest.
XXX
As night finally descended on Konoha, a boy with thick black hair watched the sky change from his window with dark, hooded eyes. Two long strands of bangs fell on both sides of his face, framing his soft features. At the crown, his black hair jutted out like the feathers of a duck's tail. The boy's dark eyes were empty - they had been for months after the bloody incident his brother committed on his clan.
The shadows stalked in the darkness of his room like assassins slowly coming to devour him. He would have welcomed the assassins to strike his heart, to bring death to him. All that he cared for were buried in the cold unforgiving ground. They no longer felt the emotions of the living, which he was suffering terribly through now.
The emotions were violent and turbulent and they crashed like waves in the stormy seas and skies of his mind. They called for him, begged him, to give in. He almost did, but he had to weather the storm his brother had caused.
The only reason he was still alive was on a whim, a promise by his elder brother. In the dead of night, with his parents' bodies huddled together, Itachi stated the reasons for the senseless killings: to measure his capacity, and to see if Sasuke had the same motivation as he to test his own. In that night he vowed to become an avenger and seek justice and retribution for Itachi's massacre.
The nights haunted him and his dreams were constant terrors that struck like boogeymen. They were always there in the back of his mind, fresh and waiting, looming. Sasuke used that as motivation to better himself. That was the end goal.
Sometimes he wished he knew that his new life of solitude was a mistake, brought on by a careless accident to the head. He hoped to see his mother smiling, her arms open for him, and his father's stern face but eyes baring approval, and even, hypocritically, his brother's love and affection, the affectionate poke to his forehead symbolizing their love and connection as Uchiha brothers.
If only that was the case. If only…
Sasuke thought that scenario more often than not. However, whenever he opened his eyes, finding himself alone, in the darkness of his room, he knew that fact to be false.
He sighed long and deep, tonight was going to be another night of makeshift wishing. He watched the stars' silent twinkling. They seemed to mock him for they stood together, like a family. He was about turn away from his window when a green light floated near it.
The ball of light zoomed around his window. The sight was hypnotic. His eyes followed its movement, the reflection of green shining in his black orbs.
Small hands reached for the window sill. They lifted up the window and the firefly zoomed happily into his room. The light from the insect illuminated his room in soft green, darkening and lightening wherever its path traveled.
Sasuke watched the insect in mild curiosity. He had not seen a firefly in a while. The last he saw of one were the days before the massacre, on one of his and Itachi's hunting expedition.
The bug whizzed around his head, the light caressing his face like a flame from a flickering candle. Sasuke raised a small hand and the firefly gently landed on his skinny, pale fingers. The insect fluttered its wings and shook its bulbous light.
"Where did you come from," he asked the bug. The insect simply gave him a look, as if it was curious at his question.
Then, an indistinct voice called to him. He swiftly turned his head to the side, looking for the person of the voice. Finding no sign, he shook his head. He must have imagined the voice he thought, Itachi's misdeeds getting the better of him.
He walked towards the open window and with his burdened hand and shook the firefly off. The firefly hovered close to him. He watched confused as the firefly flew back into his room. The firefly landed atop his head. He proceeded to shake his head, his black hair flailing, but the firefly did not move. He huffed in annoyance.
As he was about to swat the insect from his head, the voice returned. It spoke and sounded like water, like the voice was trapped under water:
"Follow the firefly."
Follow the firefly? He in turn glanced at the bug, which had flown out, again, from the window, hovering, waiting for him to come with it. Sasuke pursed his lips. This could be a trap, he thought, for hearing voices in his head was not normal, not after what Itachi had done to him. Taking a few kunai and shuriken, he jumped out the window, following the ball of light to wherever it wanted go.
XXX
Naruto jumped from tree branch to tree branch feeling his patience lessen. He had been moving through the trees for what seemed like forever with the persistent lightning bug. He was getting nowhere and he felt uncertain that he could return from the forest in the dark. He definitely did not want to wander the forest for years.
The firefly lowered to the forest floor and Naruto jumped down after the bug. He ran after it until it took him to a small clearing that led to an underground cave. Another large tori decorated the entrance. This time the sign said moon, the Gate of the Moon. He walked a few steps until he heard movement in the trees. Hearing a light step on a branch a small figure bounced off the tree and landed further to his left.
He could not see the figure until it came into the moonlight, its face alight in white light.
"Sasuke?!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke walked towards Naruto surprise etched into his young face. "What are you doing here, loser?"
Insulted at the question, Naruto tightened his hands. He glared angrily at the young Uchiha. "What did you say, you idiot?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, loser," Sasuke sighed.
"Why you…" Naruto grounded out angrily. Naruto ran towards Sasuke and gripped the front of his high collar, black shirt.
In return Sasuke did the same, his eyes eager, daring Naruto to initiate the fight. He looked as if wanted to settle their ill dispute – the spar he had defeated Naruto who, stubbornly, never accepted the loss.
"You should just give up; you're only going to end the same way you did last time – on the ground," Sasuke said smugly, his lips curved upwards and his eyes condescending.
"I'll show you last time! Believe it!" Naruto growled, cocking a fist back. He was prepared to deliver Sasuke to the dirt when two fireflies interrupted their near-sparring match. The fireflies darted to their noses, and they looked cross-eyed at the insects.
Releasing his grip on Sasuke's shirt, he placed his hands by his sides, staring oddly at the firefly. He angrily pursed his lips at the fireflies interruption, he was sure he had the upper hand this time against Sasuke. The lightning bugs seemed to be a mild distraction for the two youths. With the distraction came the realization and Naruto recalled why he was here in the first place.
When the two boys calmed the two fireflies flew into the cave. Naruto furrowed his blond brows. Did they want them to follow them into the cave? Was this the reason why he was here?
Naruto glared at Sasuke then looked towards the cave. "I don't have time fighting you; there's something I must do. Someone's calling me."
Sasuke's expression, now curious, said, "The fireflies led you here, too. And that voice as well?"
"What do you know of the voice?"
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "I came through the Gate of Fire and I thought this might be a trap, but since you're here, I can safely say that it isn't."
"What's that supposed mean?" Naruto barked indignantly.
"I'm going to find out," Sasuke said, leaving Naruto to venture in the cave.
"Sasuke! Wait for me," Naruto called, "I'm going to find out first!"
The two boys made their way into the cave. Inside was dark and dank, but the two fireflies provided the much needed light to walk in. The walls of the cave illuminated by the fireflies glow were rough and rigid. The cave walls were hardened and large stalagmites fell from the ceiling like sharp teeth. A raspy wind moaned in the cave like the whispers of the dead and Naruto visibly flinched. He hated scary places, especially those that might have ghosts.
As they wandered through the cave, something shiny caught Naruto's eyes. His eyes traveled in that direction and his breath hitched. Shuriken and kunai lined the walls and littered the ground. They dug into the soil and rock like cemetery stones, marking the fallen. He rushed to the wall, minding the weapons cluttered on the ground.
The walls illuminated by soft green were arrayed with deep marks. Cuts and slashes in various forms dragged and scarred against the brown rock. A lone kunai buried into the wall stood out to Naruto. Half the dagger sank into rock and remained deathly still, still waiting to taste real flesh. Its black luster was faded and rust, like a plague, covered the weapon.
"A battle," he heard dimly Sasuke mutter at the opposite wall, crouching and looking at the remains of a torn flag, the symbol vaguely similar to the one on his back.
Naruto carefully, using his pointer finger, touched the kunai, feeling the bits of rust cling to his hand and flatten like powder when he smudged them together with his thumb. The kunai was very old, he thought, as his eyes wandered to the worn and bandaged handle aged by time and air. He noted a strange black symbol on the bandage: a circle that looked like a wheel with three streaks of vertical lines passing through it.
He wondered what the sign meant and why it was on the kunai. Was it a seal or some kind of special technique? A marking of a clan? He did not know so he called Sasuke over. The black haired boy looked haunted and irritated; there was something in his eyes that spoke of reverence and a knowing. Naruto was not too sure about what, but this, the weapons littering the cave, seemed to resonate with Sasuke.
"What is it?"
"What do you think this symbol is?"
Sasuke leaned forward, studying the marking. His brow scrunched before relenting and looked at Naruto: "I have no idea. It could be a seal of some sort."
Taking the kunai from the wall, Naruto put it in his pocket. He wanted to show the Hokage later after this adventure, maybe he would know what the strange symbol meant. The two boys continued their trek. Further into the cave they went, and the ground seemed to slope, getting lower and lower. A few minutes went by and Naruto's ears twitched at the sound of rushing water. The water made a shooing noise.
He glanced at Sasuke and he could tell the black-haired boy heard the same thing. They rushed toward the sound and from the entrance appeared an expanse of blue light, revealing a large cavern. Towards the back of the cavern a thundering waterfall came from an opening at the top of the cave and fell into a large pond. The water flowed through two aqueducts that ran outward, along the walls of the cave through openings built into the walls. In front of the waterfall, on a small island, green foliage burst from the ground like a scene from a fairytale. Flowers – violet, pink, white, and yellow – and thick vines grew and ravaged the rocks, intertwining them in a flora embrace.
At the top of the cave a wide opening displayed the twinkling stars and the moon's scarred surface. Moonlight spilled from the opening and danced and shimmered over the large pond. The scene was unnatural, ethereal in its creation.
Two symbols were carved on the blue, stony walls. On the left wall the symbol of fire, a counterclockwise spiral flowing into three tongues of flame traveled to the waterfall. Its antithetical, water, comprised of a circle, stylized rightward-facing an ocean wave with three spiral crests breaking over three wavy diagonal lines representing water. A sea of waves crashed against the waterfall like the fire and emptied into the pond below.
It captivated the boys as they stood at the foot of the entrance with mouths agape and large eyes.
Naruto was the first to speak; he could no longer contain the excitement and awe bubbling in him and it opened like a broken dam:
"Amazing!" a large smile covered his face and his happy cerulean eyes reflected the moonlight. Beside him Sasuke nodded in agreement, his dark eyes raking over the blue lit cave.
The two fireflies that guided the two boys into the cavern swept the cave, in unison, and then dove into the water. The water shimmered green and then returned to normal blue.
"Sasuke…" Naurto paused.
He could not find the words at this mythical occurrence. He stepped closer to the pond, peering into it. The water was clear, sparkling as if the sun shined on it. Blue eyes roamed the water and spotted two koi fish. One had white scales and a black spot on its head. The other had black scales as smooth and slippery as the water itself; a white diamond patch marked its head.
The fish were beautiful. They swam in a circle, black and white, dark and light. Their circle was hypnotic and Naruto found himself drifting slowly toward the water, his eyes transfixed. The koi fish's circle was alluring and it called to him, like the voice on the monument. He wondered briefly it they were one of the same, the voice garbled by water.
In a fluid motion the white koi fish broke the circle and the black one continued undeterred. The white koi fish swam to the banks and peered at Naruto, white eyes looked into the crouching blond. As if a emitting a force, Naruto was seized in a hold. Paralyzed. He could not move, he could not talk, and he could only fall, slowly towards the serene water with the now glowing koi fish.
Naruto fell into water. The splash caught Sasuke unaware. He turned from marveling the fire symbol on the wall to see Naruto sink into the water. He called his name and ran to get the boy out. He grabbed the boy's sinking foot and pulled. The action should have been easy, but something gripped the blond boy, dragging him deeper into the pond.
Sasuke trembled in fear. This was not how he imagined this adventure would turn out. He dug his heels into the ground and pulled with all his seven-year-old shinobi strength. But instead of pulling Naruto out he was being pulled into the pond. Dirt dragged as his heels dug deeper into the ground. At this rate he was not sure if he could pull Naruto out. However, he was not going to give on this idiot.
Sasuke's body hovered over the foreboding water, his hands already in it, still holding on to Naruto. He had to think of something, anything! He looked into the water and found the white eyes of a black koi fish. The koi fish's eyes and its diamond marking glowed and he felt his body freeze. His grip went slack and Naruto sank into the blue water. As Naruto's body disappeared he felt himself fall into the water, his body completely sinking into the dark depths.
As the ripples disappeared, the combined light from the moon and the two koi fish illuminated the pond white. In that moment, the bodies of Sasuke and Naruto disappeared from Konoha, leaving the two koi fish alone, continuing their eternal circle of life.
XXX
In an alcove, deep in the North Pole, past the snowy city, behind the chief's temple, Chief Arnook watched the moon and ocean spirits intently. The two koi fish swam in their familiar path, a circle in the pond. The air was crisped and it was considerably warm and pleasant compared to the frigid temperature of the outside. The alcove contained an immeasurable power that granted through the harsh climate and white glaciers, life.
Indeed, at the center, where two bridges connected to a small island of the alcove a flourish of trees, vibrant and youthful, and as old as time, stood green and brilliant compared to the glacial walls. In front of the trees a large gate acted as the entrance and exit, the medium between the Spirit World and the mortal world. At the base, a large waterfall poured behind the island and surrounded it from both sides. A unique aura, one of warmth, seemed to exude from its mere presence.
Arnook had spent quite a while here, restless and anticipating a premonition. Like with his daughter Yue, he had received a premonition from the two koi fish, the embodiment of the Ocean and Moon spirits. He wondered when the event would take place.
As if hearing his thoughts the pond started to glow; blue cracks spread through the water, separating them into geometric shapes. The shapes soon became white and the light started pouring out of the pond in rising particles. The balls of light moved this way and that, freely, enthusiastically, like dancing fireflies. Arnook's blue eyes widened, he had never seen anything like it, not even for his daughter. This was something massive, something unreal, the spirits were preparing. He shuddered at the thought of what might be coming as his eyes followed the moving particles.
In an instant the white light was extinguished, popping out of existence like fireworks. The water returned to a shimmering blue. Arnook anxiously and impatiently waited for something to happen. His hands tightened and relaxed, his mouth twitched. A few moments rolled by and the water remained serene and as placid as always. Are the Spirits playing a trick on me? he thought, his mind moving rapidly. He was about to turn away when he heard the splashing of water. The pond water never splashes.
A lone hand pierced like a spear through the water. The hand opened in a grab, flailing back and forth. The hand became an arm and further down a shoulder. The man quickly grabbed the small arm and pulled it up, revealing a child with white hair, green goggles, and a whiskered face.
Arnook gently placed the boy on the grassy floor. The boy coughed a large glob of water out his mouth. His breaths were sharp and quick. He tried inhaling as much as his little body could take like a pipe organ.
"Are you alright?" the man said, his voice deep and concerned.
The boy's breathing became slower and shallow and he shuddered from the intake. When he calmed he opened a blue eye at the man.
"Thank you, I'm saved!" he breathed before collapsing on the ground.
Arnook surveyed the boy's appearance and a certain foreboding in his stomach turned and rolled. This boy had the same attributes as his daughter; his snow white hair was a testament to this conclusion. The Moon spirit had bestowed life into his daughter, and now he could see the same power inside him. This boy was important and he was sure he was tied to his daughter's fate, he just did not know how or when.
With the sleeping boy in his arms, he left the sacred alcove, never noticing under the boy's shirt the spiraled seal change and morph, the waterbending insignia replacing the spiral.
XXX
Another hand broke through the water, fighting to stay alive under its dark surface. The boy's head broke surface and he gulped for more air. Sasuke's drenched hair clung to his face in dark ropes. His usually spiky crown was limp and dripping. Water ran down his face and his charcoal eyes furiously blinked away the liquid that seeped in it.
He tried to stabilize his body upright, kicking the water in reaction but a large wave crashed into him. The wave sank him deeper into the water and the tide pushed roughly. Saskue's body flopped pathetically under moving current, and before he knew it, he drifted ashore. He climbed to his hands and knees, vomiting sea water from his mouth. Finishing spewing the contents of his stomach he wiped his mouth. His ragged breaths slowed to deep exhalations.
His dark eyes gazed at the sand feeling the course particles dry to his hand like glue. He unceremoniously fell to his back, still breathing heavily, and watched the moon and stars. The white full moon and its surrounding body of stars stared at him. Too tired to move, he closed his eyes wishing the moon and stars away. He wanted everything to leave him alone.