Stars
A Karneval Fanfiction
by Tomoyo-chan
Disclaimer: I do not own, and I never actually finished watching this, but oh well.
Nai had never seen stars before. Once Karoku had pointed them out in a book as they read together, but there were no stars in the forest. The first night he left their home he had stared for hours, unable to sleep, up at them. Karoku had told him there were as many stars as there were humans but Nai was sure there couldn't possibly be as many people as the stars he could see. He couldn't even count a small corner of the sky.
The sounds were different out here. Louder in some ways, and softer in others. And strangely, all the sights corresponded to the sounds. It wasn't really causing any difficulties, but it was novel, seeing the same things he heard. He wondered if stars made sounds. If they did he couldn't hear them.
Nai had spent three days in the countryside before reaching the first city. He had passed houses, but had passed them by quickly when there was no sign of Karoku. At the city though, there were too many buildings, too many people. He couldn't be certain if Karoku was here among all the hustle and bustle.
So he asked. And asked and asked. Most people walked off without even listening, and the few that didn't had never even heard of Karoku. Karoku's bracelet rubbed heavily on his right wrist. He was becoming weak with hunger and increasingly lost in this place. Nai would wander around at night, looking in every alley and corner. There was just so much, so many places to look, and every crumbling wall looked the same. Nothing looked familiar and he heard no word of Karoku. Even the stars were again lost under the bright lights coming from the house on the hill.
Once in a while, at night, he would find the edge of town and walk just far enough to see the stars again. If there were as many people as stars, how would he ever find Karoku among them? What if he had returned and found Nai gone? Nai focused himself. They would find each other again. He picked out one star, an especially bright one, and named it Karoku. If he could keep finding that star again and again, it would be just as possible to find Karoku.
A few times, he had become too hungry and had tried to get some food from the tables in the city. He was sure he could take some, others did all day long. But each time, a man or woman standing next to the table would yell. A few even hit him, and he learned to fear an upraised hand. He didn't know why these people were so angry, but he stopped trying to get food from the tables. Instead, he listened for small animals nearby. They led him to unattended food in the narrow places between buildings, and once or twice he was able to catch something, but it wasn't enough.
It took days, but he eventually found someone who said he knew Karoku. The man had brought him to a dark alley, and a carriage of some sort, with the windows shut tight. When it had stopped, it had been at the bright house. For some reason the man had chained his wrists together, but only smiled and nodded agreeably when asked any questions about why or where Karoku was. His voice sounded strange, but Nai ignored that for being able to see Karoku again.
The man had talked to another man for a long while at the door of the bright house before something exchanged hands and they were lead around to a smaller, less brightly lit door. The man left him there and a different one lead him inside. This second man said nothing at all, just had him follow from hall to hall. His footsteps had echoed around the candlelit corridors. Few people were in the rooms around them, and he saw no sign of Karoku.
The room he was lead to was large and red and had a bed with cloth hanging around it in the center. It had a strange scent to it, like flowers and smoke. He had been told to wait and so he had, sitting on the bed because it was the only place he was able to do so. He was bored, and still hungry, and there weren't even any windows through which he could find Karoku. The star one that is. Hopefully, the real Karoku has here somewhere.
He had taken to staring at the bracelets on his wrists when the woman arrived. There was something strange about her, something that didn't quite add up, the way that his ears and eyes didn't always agree back home. He figured she was like the creatures of the forest, that didn't look the way they were, when she leaned over him, pushing him easily to his back on the bed.
"Have you seen Karoku?" he asked, looking up at her with his red eyes. He hadn't expected her actions and so grabbed the pillow above his head to steady himself.
"There's no need to think of anyone else. I'll take care of you."
In moments, she had joined him on the bed, sitting on him with her legs on either side of his body. One hand pressed on his stomach as the other caressed his face. She was heavy.
There was a noise in the ceiling, like someone breathing.
(Nai wondered if stars made a sound like a song, sung in the night like a lullaby.)