Hiya! I was broken, shattered into a million pieces, and left in a puddle of my own tears. I was burned, but I healed. And now, I'm back. Shattered, but whole.
She was Rin. Just Rin. No surname, no anything. Nothing but a mess of blond hair, with the clips failing to hold back her thick, blond locks. Nothing but a tear-stained white ribbon that'd fallen off her head and landed in just the right spot to catch falling tears. Nothing but a broken clock, who's hands couldn't piece it back together.
Every minute that clicked by was just a broken heartbeat that kept time with the tapping of tears on a hardwood floor. And that was all a minute could be. All that could be heard was music, everywhere. Taunting, filling the void in her chest and never leaving her any silence, constantly running through her head to the point that she could hardly think.
She choked out a sob, arms folded over a couch with her eyes buried in them. Her shoulders arched, like a vulture waiting for its prey to collapse, just so it could rip into death itself. And wasn't she just her own vulture? Wasn't she herself waiting her heart to shatter, just so the music would stop and she would be dead on the inside?
Or, was that just foolish? Would it really make her happy, to feel nothing? Wasn't she already nothing? Was that cursed music just the thread she was hanging by? If she stopped it, and never wound it back up again, would silence really be any better? And, did it really, truly, matter?
Another tear hit the floor, and a melody formed. A beat, a chorus, and a bit more melody. As the clock ticked away lyrics came, but she only forced them away. But the tune stayed, constantly playing, over and over again. Never leaving, in fact, it was the only thing that never left. It sunk its claws into her mind and dug, leaving scars in every ounce of thought.
It burned. And nothing would cool it. Nothing could soothe the pain that never left; nothing could warm the ice in her heart or freeze the burn in her head. Nothing could take away the utter destruction, and nothing could take the music out of her head. Nothing could wash away the stains of a hundred nights drowned in tears, not the scars they left.
Nothing...
"Rin?" Her head shot up, eyes wide in fear as she dug her teeth in her bottom lip. Her mind buzzed, she kept herself facing the wall so the voice in the doorway would see her crying. Although, the puddle on the cherry wood floor was shining in the candle light, and showed through the shadows with more light than any in her heart.
"Rin, are you alright?" Another vulture, perhaps? Another fake smile to watch dance on a cracked tile floor, and another laugh that broke every other note. All too familiar. A voice near identical to hers, and by some twist of fate a face that reflected everything but the scars of tears and her female gender.
No blood relation and nothing past visible similarities. Nothing. The tune continued, breaking slightly when footsteps interrupted. It changed, softening slightly and getting a notch quieter. "Rin..." His voice was tender. A vulture with downy feathers. A knew tune shoved the old on away and softly whispered a gentle melody. "It's me, Len."
Without warning, his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the couch she'd clung to for hours. Her eyes widened, arms staying locked in their bent position as she gently pulled her to his chest. She was frozen. Frozen against his warm body, her head leaned against his chest as he whispered in her ear.
She could feel everything. His breath sliding down the back of her neck, sending the sweetest smell of fruit to cancel the candle smoke. She could feel the melody wrapping around his soft voice and surprisingly gentle touch, entwining her farther into her embrace. He was mumbling quiet comfort, his arms never leaving her as she curled her fingers over her chest.
Her ear was pressed against his heart, and when one final note hit, she realized something. The music was gone. His heart beat keeping time with his breath was all she heard, all she felt and all she had. Is a vultures heart a simple music box? Or, was the soft thump-thump a godsend to drive away that damn music?
As if she could care. She felt herself melting as his warmth spread through her chest, and she felt the burn in her mind subside with every breath he took. Until she was numb, she felt everything. And then an absolute nothing. Then, for the first time, she felt her heart beating. She felt nothing, and that was everything.
The subtle sound of his heart melting into hers was the nothing she'd always dreamed of. In the wings of a downy vulture, she felt the tears stop. She felt the world remembering where it left her, and slowly picking her up to dance again. She felt nothing, and that transferred to everything.
Several moments passed, and nothing happened. He'd long since stopped whispering, replacing comfort with a hand through her hair every several seconds. His hands were soft, matching feathers in the oddest way. She was silent, even inside there was no tune. It was wonderfully nothing, and happily everything.
He slowly slipped her motionless form away, pulling away his arms with the softest little smile. He held her wrist and slowly set them on the floor, leaving her with the oddest blank expression, hands and knees pressed to the wood. He bent down, a word never coming because words weren't needed.
He lips touched her blond hair as he kissed the top of her head, straightening himself as he slowly turned and walked away. It wasn't a cruel act, leaving her their. No, it was perfect. Him leaving gave her time to sink into the abstract of it all. But not far enough to miss something important. Just before he was gone, he said something surreal.
"See you tomorrow."
A vulture that returned, hoping to find life. A soft, downy vulture. She stared at the empty doorframe, not a single melody swimming in the ocean of her mind. Feeling a tug at her chest, her hand shakily went to her heart, and she fell into the sound of it pounding. Another tug on the strings of her heart and a tune played, slowly forming around her.
But, for once, it was the perfect melody. It was nothing. Yet, it was everything. And as the gears of her mind turned, she once again found herself staring at the empty doorframe. That tug in her chest, that thing that stopped her heart, it was pulling her towards him.
Pulling her towards the warm embrace of a downy vulture's wings.
Decent. I think. Please review!
~TheTwilightWarrior