A soft voice softly came from a distance in the darkness.
"Mom? Is that you?" I asked softly.
Suddenly the voice started singing a familiar lullaby I remember in the distanced past.
"Child of the wilderness. Born into emptiness. Learn to be lonely. Learn to find your way in darkness. Who will be there for you? Comfort and care for you? Learn to be lonely. Learn to be your one companion. Never dreamed out in the world, there are arms to hold you. You've always known your heart was on its own. So laugh in your loneliness, Child of the wilderness. Learn to be lonely. Learn how to love life that is lived alone… Learn to be lonely…Life can be lived life can be loved alone."
The voice began to fade away gradually.
"Mom! Wait!" I screamed but it was too late. I was alone… All alone.
I jolted up screaming in my bed. A black raven that slept in an open cage flew up to my bed.
"Are you alright, Lady Heaven?" He asked softly.
"Yeah… Sorry to wake you. I had that dream again."
"Say a prayer to your mother… She was warning you that something will happen today like she always does."
"I will."
I whispered a soft prayer and then got out of bed. I changed in the room despite my raven. It just became natural since He's been with me since I was born and we're soul bound. I changed into a white corset with embroidery on it. It had beautiful white lace and a little white on the top. I held the unlaced corset to me while I put on short black spandex shorts.
"Can you help me with this?" I asked.
The raven jumped off my bed and landed gracefully in his human form. Our village is so small and the residents are very few in numbers, but we have abilities others don't. When we are born, our soul birds are born with us. All soul birds are white doves, but mine was a black raven. My parents named him Abandon and treated him as a slave. When I was five, they were murdered on a mission. Abandon and I lived alone together from that day on. He sees things no one else can see. No one in the village wants to admit it, but he's stronger than the other soul birds. All soul birds can see a person and automatically know their name, their past, and parts of their future. It's against their rules to tell of the future, but he can tell me of the past and their names.
Unlike the other soul birds who have golden hair and blue eyes in their human form, Abandon has black hair and red eyes. I treasure him greatly because he is a loyal friend and he wouldn't do anything to hurt me.
Abandon came up from behind me and laced up the back of the corset.
"I'll fix your hair after this." He suggested warmly.
"You don't have to…"
"But I want to." He cut me off with a smile.
He arranged my silvery gold ringlets as they bounced off rainbow colors in the light as I laced up my white toe shoes. They're special because Dad made them for me and they don't wear out. When we were all done I clasped the necklace with a white crystal tied to it around my neck. All our villagers start to create their own crystals when they hit puberty. They bring special powers with them as well. Mine allows me to create ice. Abandon's crystal is red and allows him to create fire.
We stepped out of our house and started out for the training grounds. I'm fifteen but I don't have a sensei. None of the ninjas in our village would take me in. They hate Abandon and I. We're the outcasts. Everyone in my village has rich golden hair and deep blue eyes, but my hair is silvery gold and reflects off rainbows and my eyes are really light blue and I can barely see. I'm the only albino of my kind.
Abandon and I looked up into the trees where the village was. We spread our wings and flew up. I had pure white wings and Abandon had black wings. My mother called my wings angelic white since they were lighter than regular wings. She would call Abandon's wings tainted black, but I love Abandon's wings and he loves mine.
We stepped into the trees and first stopped to get breakfast. We weren't allowed into restaurants because we're different from our kind so we pick up fast food on the side. We bought Pon Pon, which we always love eating. It's a sweet white cloud-like substance. It's very similar to what others call cotton candy, only it's not sticky, it's fluffier, and it's not made by sugar strings.
After that, Abandon and I went out to the training grounds on the ground. While we left, others started to give us dirty looks.
"Look at their wings."
"Ugh, they disgust me!"
"It's those two!"
"Revolting."
"Tainted."
"God's gift…"
"Devil's sin…"
"Just ignore them." Abandon whispered in my ear and wiped away my tear. I didn't even notice I was crying.
When we got to the ground, we went into the woods. Our village is called Hidvengakure. It stands for Hidden Heaven since our people have angel wings. It's well hidden and it's only a legend to those blood thirsty ninjas. We don't participate in those so called exams or wars, but we sometimes go undercover and do secret missions. Those missions killed my parents.
"I think we should stay at home today… Your mother sent you a message that today will be big. It might be a bad thing."
"Nothing will happen. Our village is hidden well and no one dares to harm us anymore."
He gave a nervous nod and we continued to our training grounds. Our training grounds were at a waterfall. Like the Spartans, we train in the traditional way in front of our god. Naked. Our people are so in tune with nature, animals, and our religious beliefs, we believe there is no shame. I keep my shorts on, but take off the corset. Abandon does the same. We've done this hundreds of times and we grew up in this traditional way. Others would think it is immodest and vulgar, but it is only vulgar if you have vulgar thoughts. Others don't understand.
"Let's begin." I stated.
He nodded and we began sparing with my ice and his fire. I made an ice shield and sword while he shot fire arrows at me. I quickly dodged an arrow and lightly tapped his abdomen. I rolled gracefully and looked back at him.
"Nice. Your eyes are getting better."
"Thanks."
"Let's see those water skills now."
I nodded. Abandon replaced a sensei and he was stronger than I was. I stepped onto the water's surface and walked to the center. I started moving the water and created a water dragon. It had glowing yellow eyes and lurked around in the water. In a swift motion, it attacked Abandon. I was one with the water now and controlled it as if it were me fighting Abandon. Abandon dodged and jumped around, dodging the dragon's pounces. The dragon shot sharp water out of its mouth. Abandon dodged but it hit a tree and cut it in half. Abandon shot fire at the dragon and it evaporated.
"That's not fair!" I joked.
He laughed but stopped short. His head turned and he looked straight into the woods.
"Look out!" He shouted and jolted towards me.
He quickly set out fire to hit the water. Steam rose from all around us.
"What's happening?" I asked.
He put a finger to his lips, still holding me close to him. He waited for something to happen. As the steam cleared, I could see two figures. When it was clear, a puppet with a bony tail and bandana over his mouth looked at us. A blonde man with a ponytail stood beside him. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. Abandon held me close to him so they couldn't see my upper region.
"Which village are you from, un?" The blonde asked hostility.
"We're not from a village. We're travelers." Abandon lied. I knew he could see that these were bad men. He was studying their past and their future right now. Part of the soul birds' job is to protect its owner.
"We know you're lying. We've been watching you two train. Your jutsus and fighting styles match those of the Hidden Heaven village." The puppet replied.
Abandon held me tighter in his arms as he watched them closely.
"As you can see, I have black hair and she was silvery gold hair. The Hidden Heaven's legend states they only have gold hair and deep blue eyes. We don't have that."
"True… but you both have slits on your back. You both have wings." The puppet replied.
Abandon took a deep breath and then hit the water with another burst of fire. This time, it covered the whole area. Abandon put me on his back and sprinted through the woods. We were going away from the village.
"We need to protect the village. They are looking to destroy the village." Abandon explained as he ran as fast as he could.
"Abandon, there's a trap ahead… a bomb."
"I know."
He triggered it, but consumed it. It enhanced his firepower. First, the blonde attacked us. He threw clay bombs at us and flew around on a clay bird. Every time, Abandon consumed the impact.
"Damn, it's not working!" I heard him shout.
The puppet attacked us next. He shot poison needles at us, but Abandon dodged. He then shot out poison gas.
"Don't breathe." Abandon warned.
Abandon set off his own explosion to get the poison gas away. Suddenly, the puppet was below us and fired another set of poison needles, only aimed for me. Abandon quickly flipped so he took the needles instead of me. When they hit him, he coughed up blood and fell to the ground below us. He even took the ground impact for me.
"Abandon, Abandon wake up!" I screamed at him.
He didn't move and he laid motionless. I quickly removed the needles and tossed them aside. I heard footsteps from behind me. I quickly turned to see the puppet and the blonde approaching. I went into a crouched position and was ready to attack.
"We can either do this the easy way or by force. If we have to go by force, we might have to kill one of you." The puppet warned.
The blonde bolted over behind me and snatched Abandon's body. He held what they call a kuni up to his throat.
"Other words, surrender or he dies, un" The blonde stated.
"Who are you?" I asked menacingly.
"We're Akatsuki members."
"If you want me, try to catch me… I dare you."
Abandon's body disappeared. It was a clone but Abandon was hiding somewhere, still injured. I sprinted into the forest and to the waterfall. I quickly took off my shorts and dove into the water. The blonde was the first to appear.
"Come out and no one gets hurt." He warned.
I didn't come out, but my legs turned into fins as I swam gracefully in the water. He peered into the water, trying to figure out if I was in the water. I slowly reached for his neck and wrapped arms around him.
"Come to me." I beckoned.
He was captured in my spell. Our eyes didn't move away form each other. He lowered himself into the water and I brought him deeper and deeper. When he was completely submerged, I created a thick ice sheet over the surface. I then swam away from him, breaking the spell. He came back to his senses and tried to destroy the ice sheet, but it was all in vain. He quickly passed out and I melted the ice sheet. Once I did, an arm jerked me up and threw me into a tree. I used both my arms to keep me up. My hair covered my chest, as I glared at the puppet.
"I'm getting tired of this game of tag."
He grabbed my arm and pinned it behind my back. I couldn't do anything since my legs were still fins and my chakra was gone.
"If you want this girl alive I suggest you surrender right now!" He shouted.
Abandon jumped down from a tree and glared at him.
"You're Sasori from Sunagakure. An Akatsuki member and a puppet master." Abandon stated.
"Correct. Can all your people do that."
"I'm not obliged to answer."
He jerked my arm so hard, I felt the bone snap.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed.
"I can do worse to this girl then break her arm." He warned.
He dropped me to the ground and I laid motionless on the ground in pain.
"What do you want from us? Our village hasn't done anything to you. Why do you come to seek our village?" Abandon asked.
"What else? Power."
"So you want to destroy our kind?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Exactly… I'll give you a deal. If you two come willingly, then we won't destroy your village."
Abandon hesitated. "Let her go too."
"That's not part of the deal. You both show potential."
"You have to promise she won't be in any harm." Abandon stated firmly.
"Deal."
Abandon rushed to my side and helped me up. My legs turned back to normal now, but I was completely naked. The puppet watched intently as he tore up his shirt to use as bandages for my arm. He let me bite his shoulder to endure to pain. When he was done, blood was running from the bite mark and it started turning purple. Tears ran down my cheek, but he wiped them away.
"It's going to be okay."
He helped me dress and we were ready to go where ever they would take us. The blonde had woken up in the middle of it and was standing beside the puppet now.
"Ready? We wasted too much time here." The puppet stated angrily.
"Yeah." Abandon replied, still holding me against him.
They told us to board the clay bird and they took off. Abandon changed into his raven form and sat on my shoulder.
"I failed you, Lady Heaven." He stated sadly.
"You didn't fail me. You did the right thing."
"Are you two dating or something, un?" The blonde asked.
"Date-ing?" I stuttered. The word felt weird in my mouth.
"What's date-ing?" Abandon asked.
"You know… If you two like each other, then you two date, un."
"I like Abandon and Abandon likes me. Does that mean I'm date-ing him? I also like the lady who sells us Pon-Pon…"
"Ugh, no, un. It's when a boy and a girl love each other. If they want to be a couple, then they date, un."
"Oh, so it's like the bonding of the souls?" I asked.
"What's that, un?" The blonde asked.
"When a man and a woman love each other, they make vows under the golden willow and they are bound to each other for life."
"Ugh… That's more like marriage, un. Dating is only a temporary thing young people do to see if they want to… bond souls or whatever, un."
"No, Abandon and I are not date-ing."
"You say it weirdly, un."
"Will you all shut up!" The puppet shouted at us.
It was silent for the rest of the ride. Abandon didn't seem phased by Sasori's poison so he must have burned it from his system, but he did turn into his human form and held me tightly as if they were going to attack us at any given moment.
"Why are you so tense, un?" The blonde asked.
"I can't trust either of you. Who in the right mind would trust any ninja?" Abandon replied icily.
"Speaking of which, I never caught your names, un."
"Abandon… and this is Heaven."
"What's the relationship, un? Siblings, relatives, friends, dates?"
"I'm her guardian soul bird. I will protect her at all costs even if that means my own life. I suggest you both don't even think about laying a finger on her."
"Done, un." The blonde replied.
The puppet just sat motionlessly. "My name is Sasori and that idiot is Deidara… I suppose you already knew that." He directed at Abandon.
"Just watch yourself. Don't underestimate us. We weren't at our full power. Don't ever underestimate the power of Heaven and Hell."
They didn't reply. At nightfall, we approached a base hidden in the mountains. We landed and the forced us off the bird. I felt a cold foreboding feeling come over me as we entered the dark base. It was like entering the gates of Hell.
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