He was careening through the streets, running as fast as his diminutive legs could carry him through the torturous streets. Seeking reprieve, to simply outrun it. But unfortunately, as with the time and every shadow of it thereafter, it was but in reoccurring vain as he couldn't and by ergo, they came closer. "Demon! You deserve this! Get back here". Another loosed projectile came quickly, bypassing the comfort zone and being hit as it sailed by. Nicking the young child hard enough that it hurt and stung, but not enough to draw the very liquid of life from his body they wished to still. As the chase continued he tripped falling face first trying to use non-reactive arms to repel his decent. Sadly, they would not listen so by response of repetition the fall turned to a roll and little harm came of it. There was no pain, as he knew there wouldn't be, but he knew there would be as the accident had cost him. He was caught. Then the dreaded happened, the beatings. He felt them striking him with fists and slicing him with blade-like objects such a liquor container or a knife. Then there was shaking, but it was less painful and it dulled the other pain enough that he heard something. A voice calling, so soft and peaceful he nearly missed it as it simply broke through it all and requested what he felt as a sliver of salvation. "wake ...". And so when salvation was asked and delivered, he did.
He escaped his his little piece of hell to a pair dark auburn orbs gazing upon him. As his lines of thought revolving around her being a goddess or perhaps and angel he tried to touch the androgynous visage before him to halt abruptly seeing the lacerations from his nightmare recede with steam from his skin. The other person seemingly ignored his hand near their face for the moment saying in the voice he heard earlier "You shouldn't sleep outside, you may get sick or die." Unwittingly showing him his first act of what kindness is, which brought an immense warmth to his breast.
"I haven't yet, umm are you a goddess or an angel?" asked the boy hoping that the reason was not to smite down the 'demon' as everyone labeled him, but resigning himself to his fate if it were so the wish of such a kind and warming creature.
What he was expecting though was not for this benevolent being to laugh, such a heart lifting and body warming one it was as well. "No, I'm just another human." The person shifted slightly and back out of what they assumed was personal space then continued "Though I'm named Purity, I'm not any sort of Deity or greater being"
"So what are doing out here then?" asked the frightened boy assuming that the other person then was there to try and assassinate him as several others had tried.
"Oh! I'm here collecting herbs to help a, Friend so that they may get better a little quicker and less painfully." Purity said in a saddened tone that one was in pain.
"Would you need help possibly, because if i may, I will." Requested the boy slightly apprehensive. Similar to a child as if they were asking for a treat and expecting a harsh rejection or denial.
"That would nice. You're looking for this type of a plant" With the statement Purity held up an olive green plant that resembled a five leaf clover with leaves on the stem.
As they forage for the plant that Purity is after thoughts become rampant for both of them. After the third time of looking at each other during the same time Purity decided to break fairly comfortable silence which had descended with a bit of idle banter. "If I'm not intruding why are you out here...?" Questioned Purity leaving dangling in hopes of the boy revealing a name to which revealed fruitful.
"I'm out here training, and my name's Mealstorm. I think." He said adding in hushed tone that went unnoticed by the present company.
"What sort of training would you do out here?" Inquired the curious foraging partner
"I'm trying to perfect a technique I'm learning" He responded evenly, wondering why the other was curious about him.
"Are trying to grow strong to protect someone else?" Asked Purity hoping that the boy knew true power.
To this question He simply exhaled deeply, a little deeper then he wanted as he got the attention of the only other person in the glade, who continued to look questioningly after his deep sigh.'Should I say anything about how it really is?' Thought the blond child searching for any sign of deceit or malintent, to which he finally saw it. The look. The look of someone who had gone through great amounts of pain and loss that knew the true colours of the world while suffering through it all and barely managed to keep on to the next sunrise in hopes that it would get better. The look he saw every day, the look he could never ignore, the look which was barely hidden every time it was seen, the look he saw every time he looked in a mirror. the look he saw every time he saw himself. He took a deep breath of preparation so that he wouldn't back down. 'Hmmmm? She smells of the mist demon guess I'll ask then say'. "Like you do the demon of the mist?"
Purity stiffened at his comment. 'I didn't bring any weapons I can't fight my way out of this, he's in to good a position that if i try to run he's got me. There's no way out of this. But how did he even find out that I was the hunter that helped master?'
"I'll take that tense silence as an affirmation. How, is probably one of the questions going through that mind of yours." He commented not really needing a response to confirm his suspicions, though he did receive a terse nod from the frightened deliverer."Well you smell like frozen blood, bluebells and a hint of mint" was the reply.
'How I try to freeze the blood so I wont get hit and how I freeze it off so that it wont stain me, the there's the bluebell shampoo that I've been using the mint must be the skin lotion to hide the smell of blood that always seems to follow. But how did he smell it.' The fear running through Purity at the mention of things that he smelt that did pertain to the situation, was shortly lead dead by his next comment.
"Is what my teach said you smelled like. I smelt something more incriminating though, The Mist Demons scent." He paused in his speech to regain lost breath and lay bare what he knew. " But also your eyes. There so familiar, with their almost dead expression trying to get from one day to the next. The eyes of one that's had so much happen to them. The eyes that you must have to understand. What they must have done to such an angle like you for those eyes. What happened for a girl like you to receive eyes like that?"
The way he spoke which such painful and intimate knowledge tore at Purity in ways that hadn't happened in almost a decade. But the near binding fear that spread when he spoke of Purity's supposed gender made the reflexive thought spoken. "I'm a boy ma-"
"No you're not" Mealstorm cut through throwing out a gamble due feeling he was right "You have that particular spice to your scent that's only to females."
'What can I say no-ones ever tried called me on it before' Thought Purity, now nearly in hysterics having someone see through the guise she'd worked so hard upon.
"Going to continue gaping or are you going to speak?" Asked the boy hoping that the person he was speaking to didn't suddenly respond violently like everyone else always did.
"No-one ever tried to call me on it" She said on the verge of a breakdown.
"Oh! If it helps no human could actually smell the specific gender defining smells by scent, dogs and foxes can barely do it" He stated trying to make her feel better not wanting to the female in front of him cry or react violently.
"My family lived in the Water country where Clanlines were feared and abhorred. We lived far from other people in a small cottage, we were fairly content. Life was hard but nice." She recalled with a ghost of a smile upon her face. "She never told my father that she was a Clanline holder. So as I aged she would always tell me if I learned anything new to show her first, and with that always in my mind when my Clanline's power woke I showed her." Her smile turned sad as she lifted a hand and showed the boy how she had shown her mother. "I showed her that water listened to me if I tried really" As she lifted her hand a globe of water the size a small child's fist hung about a finger's width away from the palm of her hand. "Then she slapped me, telling me to never use the power of my Clanline again. That I was a horrible blight upon her happiness and she should have killed me and never told her husband that she was pregnant then carried on going into the house leaving me outside" At the mention of being slapped the globe of water fell apart falling to the ground along with smaller globules slightly after. "Somewhere along the two times I had used the power my father must have seen or perhaps even only heard her outburst and made assumptions." She shuddered out a sigh. "Still he found out and later came with several villagers, all brandishing a bladed weapon or a torch and mobbed his wife. As they murdered, beat and probably... I went to hide in the house." While she continued she brought up her legs and enclosed them with her arms, and at the mention of going into the house she laughed scornfully. "I went to the corner of the house that always felt safe whenever I got scared, but it didn't help me this time. After dealing with her they came after me. I cried and pleaded that they don't hurt but all I received was my father telling me I was a hell spawn that should be removed from the world, and with that he raised his families sword ready to impale me." At this point Purity was shaking, making the boy wonder if he should try to comfort her. "I screamed for help and clenched my eyes. What I heard will stay with me forever. It started like the sound of snow falling on snow, then the squelching sound of something hard passing through a body. I opened my eyes and what I saw was the most beautiful snowflake I'd ever seen, I ever made, and it *hic* it killed them!" By the end of her revelation she was sniffling trying not to cry as pent up emotions and painful memories came back. As Purity continued crying Mealstorm shuffled over to hug and try make it better as he'd seen mothers so to there children. with this she broke into sobbing tears and clutched at his chest, letting the feeling of sorrow from that night, the memories she tried so hard to bury but couldn't, and pent up emotion from the years just ebb away and leave with every tear.
As he kept trying to sooth the poor girl and make the pain more bearable he begins to reminisce about his own past. Aloud. "my earliest memories were that of being alone in the world, an orphan. During my time there I was not allowed to own anything if I managed to acquire something it was quickly detained and either destroyed or passed on to another child. As I grew up I was rejected and shunned by others, never allowed to join in group activities such as meals or playtime both were 'too good for a demon' as the matron put it. The only attention I received were beatings, the matron did regularly and the other orphans were encouraged to do so as well. Finally at a later but still young age I was kicked out of the short time hell known as the orphanage. I Thought it would get better, oh how wrong was I." Throughout all of his explanation Purity was still sniffling but paying rapt attention to the disturbingly calm visage of the other. "I went from sleeping on a sack of moldy potatoes in a storage closet to sleeping in trees or condemned buildings seeking reprieve from the hunters. Both the mobs which would chase me periodically, at least a few times a day, and if they caught me would beat me to the point of needing medical attention which I would never receive if lucky or they try poisoning me while I lay prone. Or the hunters of nature such as the elements which I could never truly escape no matter how I tried. Winter to cold even in the trash bins covered by refuse. Autumn and Spring always too wet with severe chances of hypothermia or drowning depending on where I stayed that night. Summer. Oh Summers were the worst with the blistering heat that was predominant in the Fire Country and the wildlife trying to kill me it was a danger on the best of days." At this point she understood his earlier comment of 'haven't yet' and it stung at her that a village could be so heartless. "I managed to survive to eventually get my self into the academy to learn to be a shadow warrior. I thought perhaps now it would get better. Oh I was still wrong! The teachers tried to jeopardize my career by sabotaging test with subtle illusions covering what I was working on be it written tests or sparring practice or even physical tests. Several time attempted to say I tried to kill sparring partners or that I was too deficient in the mind to stay. It didn't help that I was frequently in and out of the academy due to civilians and warriors alike trying to kill as I 'didn't deserve to sully there wonderful village' or that the 'demon defiler shouldn't be taught how to kill'." the look of barely restrained anger that flashed so shortly across his face was not lost upon Purity as she listened to his past. "I eventually passed after two years of failing, and by ergo joined a team. It was the second last time that I thought it would get better, sadly I was still wrong. They still tried to kill me, like not providing backup when they sent me to scout out camps of enemies. Saying that I committed treason by not following orders or trying to bring about the deaths of the other team members. Throwing projectiles or using large scale techniques while I was engaged with the enemy without warning. There was also the not allowing my part of the mission pay so that I would starve or not manage other money sensitive needs."
With
their respective past laid bare for the other to judge and see,
brought them a sense of camaraderie and companionship that could only
be attained by one who had received similar hardship and torture in
their lives. And with their Pain resurfaced coupled with the pain of
the other knowing just how bad the world was not some sad injustice
to them alone, they embrace and cried. For themselves and for the
other hoping that it would get better.
As there sobs started
dieing down there lips drew closer as if by some unspoken agreement
that they both needed a bit of affection in their horrible lives. But
sadly it was not to be as they nearly touched Mealstorms felt the
sense which he trusted implicitly during battle warn him of an
incoming attack, then he heard so he responded. While lifting Purity
eliciting an "Eeep" of surprise he twirled relatively
slowly, for him at least, in a semi-circle has six sickening meaty
squelches were heard.
"Why?" Asked the slightly ruffled girl seeing the six projectiles aimed predominantly for her in his body, wondering what possessed the boy to risk and which would probably result in giving his life for her.
His response was to smile and with a bit of a rasp respond. "Because Purity, an Angle should never die."
So with reckless abandon she pushed forward capturing his lips with her own resulting in a lapse of thought and with such missing saving her from the second wave of projectiles one of which punctured through her body and deeply within his own. As blood poured from her lips all Mealstorm could think was how beautiful she looked and felt the need to voice such. "Even as your here bleeding you're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I think I love you."
As these words pierced through her fading consciousness with a bloody gurgle she voiced what she thought "Then let us pass together my love."
The admittance of such a feeling confirmed that what he felt was love so with his hand he brought up one of her still unsoiled hands up near his head while using her hand clutched one of the knives thrown at the couple. With an almost imperceptible push from her he plunged the knife into his own skull. "I love you, my pure angle." Then with minor repositioning which felt like torture to their body's that wanted nothing more then eternal rest they passed. Gazing lovingly into each others eyes brimming with the short found love they had, feeling the caring embrace of the other and their lips intertwined they passed.
{Epilogue}
"Ummm, teach is the demon dead?" A young pinkette dressed in a red dress inquired.
"Yes, Blossom. The demon brat is no longer a plague in this plane of existence, neither is this demon whore." Responded a tall man with silvery hair and an eye patch.
"Good I can't believe that demon, Mealstorm, was placed upon my team." Said a prepubescent emo emphasising what he believed that he was leader.
"Will you go-" Commenced the infatuated girl to only be cut off by the afore mentioned boy.
"No." Was all He said starting to walk off back to the house they were momentarily dwelling.
As the proud murderers left with feelings of accomplishment rising within all but the boys chest they paid no head to their surroundings as fresh snow descended around the fallen lovers.
The pure swirling pieces of heaven.
