Run.
She could still hear the screams, her legs began to burn.
Run.
She looked back. She never should have looked back. Panic tore through her chest.
'Why- why run?'
The thought to fight crossed her frenzied mind, but it was quickly overwhelmed by instinct once more. She needed to run, and run now. The small girl stumbled, scraping hands and knees across dirt and stones as adrenaline fueled her flight.
Run.
She staggered onto her feet, making only a few clumsy strides before falling yet again, mud spattering across her face.
Faster.
Her body moved of its own volition, blood streaming from the black sclera of her left eye as hands went in front of feet, arms and legs working in tandem to propel her onwards. The pain that these motions brought were sharp, agonizing- until suddenly they vanished. She could not see what became of her body as she ran, aware only of the urge to flee that needed desperately to be fulfilled. And so it was - and she scurried away like a beaten dog, tail tucked between her legs.
Time meant very little now, her only measure of passing moments was the ever increasing number of cuts and bruises on her hands and feet, and the searing, burning pain rising from her heaving, little chest. She could no longer hear the screams, no longer feel the heat of the flames, or see the smoldering rubble that had been left of the only home she'd ever known- and yet still she ran. Her throat was tight, straining to breathe in even a fraction of the amount of air her pounding chest demanded, and each breath burned. Her face was bloodied, bruised, and spattered with soot and mud, her simple shirt and leggings singed and tattered to match. The mess of matted, choppy copper strands that made up her hair were plastered to her face and neck by a combination of her blood, sweat, and all the things she had stumbled and fallen into during her flight. And still, she ran.
Before her tired eyes rose dark spires and crumbled buildings, black smoke billowing from metal towers, a once grand city rising against the distant, grey horizon. The dark night was beginning to fade into a dull daybreak, heavy clouds blotting out the sunlight and casting a grey hue across the land- refusing the skies their beauty. She came upon another wrecked village- still quite some distance from the foreboding city on the horizon- the hovels were all torched to ash and rubble, fields and paddies upturned into reed infested muck. Only the village mill remained standing, its wheel broken and molding, just barely attached to the lone stone building by its creaking axle. There were corpses among the rubble- unrecognizable in their decay, some were scorched black, others mud-caked, but all were broken. Starving cattle and feral dogs wandered aimless and pitiful through their former homes, some collapsed near the remains of what could only assumed to be their families. And then there were the crows and buzzards- cawing and circling high above the ruins, fighting over scraps of carrion, hopping across the muck and mire, pecking at bones. Their figures loomed dark in the limbs of the dead trees and atop piles of broken stone, beady eyes watching, unblinking, uncaring of the small child that stumbled into their grave domain. She stumbled to a stop, landing flat on her chest in the mud and peat, struggling just to breathe, and then she felt the tiny, stinging droplets falling from the sky. They stung her skin wherever they touched, steam rising from their impacts on her entirely overheated body, the morning drizzle feeling equivalent to a brief acid bath to the odd-eyed child. She made a quiet whine, shuffling her way over to the broken mill, and taking shelter in the small bit of protection it had to provide- curling tightly in on herself in a small pile of molding straw and burlap. There was no time to grieve, and she hadn't the energy to waste for tears. There was only darkness- her eyes unable to remain open, so she welcomed it, and sleep claimed her in but a second.
To say her sleep was restful would be a great lie, it was everything but. Her mind replayed the horror she had escaped- ruthlessly, endlessly, struggling to comprehend it all. It was very dark- the middle of the night. She was comfortably nested into her blankets, sleep tugging her under its influence until the peaceful quiet was shattered by a piercing scream. She sat upright, frightened, flinching as a gentle hand was placed upon her shoulder. Her mother was quick to move her from bed and into a cupboard, urging, pleading for her to be silent. There was something strange in the older woman's voice, something strained, something painful- her movements were frantic, lacking in their typical, seamless grace. Her jade colored eyes looked glazed in the dim light of a newly lit candle, usually tidy ashen hair in an oddly messy bun. The girl wanted dearly to question what was going on, why everything so suddenly wrong. Kaa-san was never so messy, never imperfect- why, why had everything changed? And yet she remained silent- curled in the empty, musty cupboard, ever the obedient daughter. She cautioned a glance through the small cupboard door, mismatched eyes quietly observing as her world was slowly upturned. Her Tou-san was missing, another normalcy out of place. Kaa-san was bowed low at her small altar to their family deity, hissing prayers far faster than she ever had. She could see lights outside- bright, flickering lights, and it was warm, much warmer than it ever should have been for spring. There were more screams, and then laughter as the screams would stop. Everything was wrong indeed.
There was a loud bang as the door was wrenched from its hinges, wood splintering across the dirty floor as a pair of long shadows loomed in the entryway, their shapes flickering and warping in the ever changing light- black smoke rolling in with the two figures as they stormed into her home. They were men- wearing clothes and materials the child had never seen before- shiny plates adorned their foreheads with something engraved at their centers. One of them began to rummage through the cupboards and drawers, tossing and shoving their few belongings haphazardly around the room. The other strode over to the altar where her mother was still hunched over in desperate prayer, as if oblivious to their entry. The man grabbed her by her hair, callous fingers digging through ashen silk, hauling her to her feet. Time seemed to slow down in that moment, the child unable to hear the words that he spat at her, nor the cries of distress the woman she'd known as mother was screeching. She watched as his hand cracked across her face, the blood dribbling from her nose- the tears streaming down reddened cheeks when a lecherous grin spread across his face. Her eyes widened as the face of the other man was suddenly at her hiding place, peering in through the dark shadows, and then he shouted something to his companion, both of them chortling as the cupboard doors were flung open wide, and a large, calloused hand grasped her by her throat and hauled her out from safety.
She screamed, she thrashed, dirt-caked nails clawing desperately at the thick fabric covering the man's arms, but to no avail. His grip was tightening ever further around her neck, her vision was beginning to haze, and then she was on the floor. She couldn't really hear the shouting anymore, watching in quiet shock as her mother readied their single cast-iron wok for another swing at the men before they disarmed, and quickly threw her Kaa-san to the ground, tears streaming down both their cheeks now. She could see her lips moving, her throat straining from the volume of her cries that the child could only barely hear- the same word murmured over and over, and finally she could make it out, the shrieks sounding like only the softest whisper.
"Run."
So, after a very long hiatus, the rewriting of Crimson Tears is now starting to go public! :'D I realize that I'm still not the best writer, but with this reboot I'm trying to remove some mary-sue qualities and add in a bit more 'reality' to the story, and with that said, I could really use a beta writer! I'm not a fast-paced person, so if you're up for the task of working with me and my awful characters over a long period of time, drop me a line here on FF :3 This story will -eventually- be going AU, but not for a long while. Thoughts & suggestions are welcome and appreciated, please and thank you!
~Silver