Turbulence and Tribulation

Storms and realizations under a tree on Mt. Rainier

Have you ever gotten caught in a rainstorm in the middle of nowhere before? While seeking shelter beneath a sturdy evergreen, have you ever watched as the raindrops slid down the needles to drip into the small pool directly below in a constant, soothing rhythm as you gazed at the once calm waters of the pool being disturbed by that drop? And in that now rippling pool, you became lost in the sight of swirling colors and particles drifting in a downward spiral as the liquid began to still once more. The top became so still and it was at just the right angle for you to catch sigh of yourself and the green canopy above you before yet another drop fell and restarted the whole process over again in a never ending cycle.

That was Saya Otonashi's situation at the moment. As she and Hagi had trekked through the thick evergreen forests of Washington (not D.C.!!), a storm had blown in and before they knew it, it was hailing and the wind was howling. They had taken shelter beneath one particularly massive, ancient giant that just happened to be nearby. Now, Hagi sat with his back against the rough bark of the trunk, Saya leaning into his chest as they both gazed at the raging storm.

Why had they been hiking the trails surrounding Mt. Rainier in the first place? It had been not Saya's wish, but her dream to travel the world with her faithful Chevalier by her side, the wishful dream always lurking beneath the surface of her murky mind throughout her journey and now she could finally fulfill it. And that was why they were there. After thirty years of sleep, she had awoken in the arms of her steadfast Chevalier and they had set off to travel the world and explore lands unknown to them for the sheer enjoyment and thrill of the experience instead of necessity as they hunted Chiropterans.

Now, the two watched in awe at the wonders of nature.

The winds lashed at the branches, bending them so far it would only make sense for them to snap. But the towering giants did not fall to the force of the raging winds. They bent and curved with the gusts, holding their own as nature fought to tear them down. The tall grasses and ferns swished and swayed like a living ocean of green.

The rains poured down from the sky in oceans, no end in sight. They pittered and pattered upon the forest canopy, floor, and rivers. But now that the hailstorm had halted and it was only liquid water which rained upon the earth, it was calming and peaceful instead of deafening and near frightful. The faint scent of freshwater tinged the air, mixing eloquently with the smells of a crisp, pine forest that was so perfect it was like a new scent had been created just for this land.

But it was the sound especially that caught the Queen's attention. As the drops slipped over the leaves, it sounded eerily similar to a tear sliding down someone's cheek. Then, coupled with the wailing winds, she could almost swear it sounded like someone crying. She especially thought of herself as she made this connection. Suffering through this torturous storm, the forest was crying just as she had during her battle against Diva. Just as she had revealed her jumbled, tormented soul through her tears, the forest was expelling its long hidden emotions through the tears raining down from the turbulent skies. And as those green tinged tears slid down the leaves and needles, Saya couldn't help but admire their grace. It was something only water could ever achieve. She couldn't help but smile at the sight. But it soon faded as she was further immersed in her thoughts.

The storm itself was much like the black haired pair's lives. As the world worked to break them, they had continued on, battling against defeat with an indefatigable fervor to survive and kept going. Though the winds whipped between the trees in an attempt to tear them apart and bring them crashing down in defeat, the ancient towers stood strong in the face of intimidation. In order to survive, the branches would bed, but not so much that they would break. Only enough to keep going strong, to remain standing and survive through the ages to come. The giants had survived the centuries as fate fought to bring them down against all the odds – just like Saya and Hagi. The world had thrown all it could at them in order to prevent them from succeeding the redemption each so righteously deserved, but they had pushed on and fought the currents of lies and betrayal threatening to pull them under.

But now that torturous time was over and Saya could listen contentedly to the falling rains, immersing herself in the scents and sounds of the forest, in peace.

The rains were like music. They beat upon the leaves and needles, soil and rocks, rivers and streams to form a distinctive rhythm comparable only to an orchestra. The leaves and needles were the violins, giving the song a melody that sang a soft, but entrancing tune. The soil and rocks were the violas, further enhancing the glory of the song with a countermelody and harmony all their own which still blended perfectly with the leading violins as the song reached its peak with the rising intensity of the storm. And finally, strong, deep, and steady as always, were the cellos and basses that were the low rush of the rivers and creeks that gave the tune a conquering tone that overpowered none of the others, but instead complimented them. Alone, the leaves and needles would have been beautiful – in that there is no doubt – but without meaning for lack of a definitive rhythm to keep them on track, so that they would never stray from the emotions entwined in the story of a song. Alone, the soil and rocks would have had nothing to harmonize and their fluid countermelody and harmony would have held no purpose, fading into a confusing string of decisively glorious notes that failed to reach their true peak of potential. Alone, the raging waters of the rivers would have been nothing but white noise, the crashing waves and rushing waters a soothing resonance without a melody or harmony to compliment or a purpose for its distinctive rhythm to fulfill, giving it a sense of meaninglessness and loss. But none was alone. All three pieces instilled in the song that was water worked together to form this wondrous song that enchanted all its listeners and left them spellbound by its whispering melodies and lulling them into a state of mind unperturbed by the insignificant conflicts of daily life. And to the audience that was the Chiropteran pair, it created a tune that told a seemingly endless story of a song that neither wished to end in the first place. Neither wished for this peaceful bliss to end…

Saya laid back into Hagi's chest, eyes closed as she enjoyed the orchestra of Mother Nature.

A small smile appeared on her lips as something occurred to her. Water. It was steady and slow, yet it could carve away entire mountain ranges given the ages to do so. Water was ever changing and yet not because, no matter what, water would always be water no matter its form.

Its journey was also much like their own. It had taken nearly a century and a half for Saya to fulfill her duty and kill her sister, Diva, yet she had still accomplished it. Little by little, she had carved her way through the years, tearing down Diva's kingdom bit by bit and gradually wearing away the foundations. The collapse of her twin had been the collapse of a mountain. Though the journey had been long, she had remained steady and true to her purposeful path – save few slips comparable to smaller streams breaking off from the main river only to end in ruin as the river continued on like nothing had happened.

Slowly, her crimson-tinged russet eyes opened as she peered through her charcoal lashes to be met by her Chevalier's gaze. At first glance, they appeared grey and murky – dull – but Saya knew better. In the scattered light of overcast skies and pouring rains, she could detect faint hints of blue specking his irises. They were like Northwest waters. Stormy times made the seas appear grey and murky, but if you delved beneath the surface to its truest depths, it was an underwater wonderland similar to that of tropic shallows – although with far cooler temperatures. Hagi himself, she realized, was like water. His mountain had been the isolating shell encasing her heart. When he had first arrived at the Zoo, she had been cold and unfriendly, pushing him away immediately. But it had been his tears that first cracked the rocky encasement. Those angry, frustrated tears slipping down his cheeks had touched her in a way nothing had before and from that point onward, he had always been by her side, steadily wearing away at that shell. She was no longer that ignorant girl, spoiled to the edge of a dangerous precipice. Had he not arrived when he did, she would have been too far gone and indefinitely tumbled over the edge, drowning in the loneliness that had consumed her twin and never knowing the joy that was opening up and thawing her frozen heart.

And she knew where he fit in with the watery orchestra of nature. His position fit him so well, especially since he played the very instrument he represented – the cello of the rushing rivers. Hagi was a man of few words and did not give long, complicated speeches like the violins or vocally support with the harmonies and countermelodies of the violas. And yet his few words still said so much when there and the saying "less is more" came to mind in relation. It was his quiet but constant presence which had kept Saya going throughout the war. He was a pillar of support, just as the cellos and basses are in an orchestra, keeping her – or a song – on track. He was her Chevalier and never did he waver or stray from his path by her side. He was the definition of loyalty and devotion just as water is devoted to the carving of its mountain and loyalty to its devotion.

And those murky, blue-grey eyes were still so reminiscent of the waters of the Puget Sound. Beneath the murky depths, there was more to him and only recently had she discovered what it was the swirling waters were concealing – love. Actually, it wasn't as recent as it felt to her, for she could still recall his words as if he'd told her of his true feelings only yesterday, rather than over three decades ago. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and Saya believed in this with all her heart as she remained caught in his gaze. She just wanted to add one line to the already infamous saying: "They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but those windows can be cracked and the view distorted." But, if you understood the original image enough, you could piece together the cracked shards and see what truly lay beneath. She now understood the original image and was therefore able to decode the emotions swirling in Hagi's eyes, making him now easier to read than an open book to her.

A blush came to her pale cheeks as her mind returned to reality. Here she was, caught in the middle of a storm under a tree with her Chevalier in unfamiliar territory, and what was she doing? Comparing her life to the rain. She had just ruined the grace of the storm by comparing it to her own wretched life. 'Must I taint everything that is pure with my putrid soul?' she thought with despair. She looked away in disgust with herself.

Hagi understood why she had looked away, though, and responded appropriately. He enveloped her in a warm embrace and held her tightly, not in a possessive way, but comfortingly. He knew she had always had conflicts with guilt and self-loathing and she also experienced them most during times of extreme happiness or sadness.

She immediately calmed at his touch, his warm embrace as soothing as a hot shower after a long, stressful day. Her eyes opened as she returned her gaze to his blue-grey orbs. After a long moment, her smile reappeared as she turned back to watch the storm with her Chevalier.

This land… it got to her. It had carved a nitch in her soul and splayed out her life's journey and meaning in the form of a rainstorm. How brilliant Mother Nature was…

No longer was she trapped in the stormy turbulence and tribulation, she realized, but instead under safe cover, looking out on that same storm she had only just recently endured. But now that time was over. She was safe and an observer, rather than a player, for once. The storm was her journey and just as this tree now protected her from it, Hagi was her umbrella.

Her smile widened. She liked the sound of that…

A/N
Yo, there! Aldedron here! It's been awhile, but my power cord finally showed in the mail and the first thing I did was type this up! I actually wrote it… this morning, basically. It was 1AM and we've been enduring a storm for the past two days and, so, I was awake listening to the rain while my music played and I just couldn't help but think of how the rain was like music (this is what you get when an insomniac gets bored, people). And that's how it started. Suddenly, I was recalling me, my dad, and my sister walking through Pt. Defiance in the early morning during a storm. Then, since I was listening to my Anime playlist, Prelude by Yo-Yo Ma started playing and I decided "I'll write a Blood+ fic about the rain!!" So, then I found as many connections as I could between the storm outside my window and Blood+, and apparently there were quite a few, considering what I came up with lol
And yes, I had to use an orchestra for the analogy. It's familiar and I was already talking about a familiar setting. The forests of Mt. Rainier? Orchestra and cellos? That's my forte – no pun intended

Where is this specifically set? I don't care whether you're actually asking or not because I'm gonna say so anyways. This is set on Mt. Rainier. But, more specifically, it's beside Silver Falls, a waterfall well known for appearing to be liquid silver, its waters move so fast beneath the overcast sky. And, in case you didn't know, Mt. Rainier is in the Cascade Mountain Range in the middle of Washington State. It's the barrier between Eastern and Western Washington – the farmers and the city folk. I'm one of those city folk, residing within the southern tip of the Puget Sound Region. I know the western half of my state pretty well and have gone up to see Silver Falls myself, so you can be sure that my description's accurate. And so's my storm, too! We are currently enduring a four day storm, so I just have to look out my window to see exactly what is described

I did have a big dilemma over where to set this. I got the idea while just sitting in my room, so that wasn't exactly the ideal setting. I thought of placing it in the Olympic rain shadow. There's a rainforest at the base of the Olympics which is currently experiencing the brunt of the storm alongside the coast – and that does include Forks, you Twilight fans. But, I've only even been to the Olympics once and that was the eastern side, so I've never been to the Olympic rainforest and didn't trust my description to be perfectly accurate. My only options left were Point Defiance and Mt. Rainier
I know Point Defiance like the back of my hand and it looks exactly like Mt. Rainier, too. So I seriously did almost choose that. But then I decided that it didn't sound very realistic for Hagi and Saya to travel all the way to the Northwest just to go to Point Defiance, a park at the tip of Tacoma. I'll admit, it's got a killer view of the Narrows and the lights on the bridges are amazing at night, but it's still not very realistic. So that's what it came down to in order to decide on my general location
So, my decision was set on Rainier. But where on Rainier? The thing's fourteen thousand flipping feet. It's huge! But, since water was my theme, I knew it had to be somewhere close to a big waterfall. That very idea made me think of Snoqualmie Falls, but that's not on Rainier and I've only even seen the reservation's most infamous falls on postcards and TV, so that was immediately out of the question. So, I was down to the two most popular falls on the mountain – Christine Falls and Silver Falls. Christine Falls is on the drive to the top, coming from the western side, and is a huge tourist trap. A bridge crosses the river with the falls right there in front of it. Seriously, if you get out of your car, you'll get soaked. That's how close it is. But it's just a cliff face, basically, and a road with a ledge for pictures. Plus, all the tourists and I wanted the two to be alone. That's why I finally settled on Silver Falls. It's more out of the way and on the complete opposite side of the mountain. You can't drive there. You've gotta trek through the forest for about forty five minutes or so and it's not just a single fall. It's a line of them and they're all massive. I could follow them on the trail through the forest and just gaze into those silvery waters forever… It's just so beautiful. So, since it's a more gradual slope and not just a sheer cliff face, the entire area is surrounded by towering evergreens – this is the Evergreen State lol. Therefore, there's plenty of forest for them to disappear into without seeming suspicious
And that's how I chose my setting! Interesting, eh?
Whoa… that was long…

So? What'd y'all think?? I never thought I'd be able to write another oneshot after "Absently Reminiscing", and I still don't know how I pulled that one off, but here I am posting another. Call it a whim lol
Thoughts? Comments?? Confusion??? Just review or PM me! And I love feedback, so rant away!