Hello! Here is my first Tokyo Ghoul story, Drops of Blood in the Rain and Dust.
Title: Drops of Blood in the Rain and Dust.
Rating: M
Genre: Horror, Suspense, Supernatural, Romance
Summary: A new and strange ghoul appears, one with a dark and twisted past and unusual abilities. She is dangerous and cares for no one but herself as she keeps one goal in mind: survive. But one ghoul is brave enough to confront her, and sees through her facade, realizing that she is just as broken all the others. But when her past catches up with her, and everyone she can consider an ally is put in danger, they all begin to wonder if she will save them or keep running from her demons.
Characters: OCs, Kaneki, Nishiki, Yomo, Touka, and others.
Warnings: My OC (the main character) is not a nice person, just to let you know. I don't think many will like her, but do I really care? This story is influenced by shows like Kuroshitsuji, Code Geass, Death Note, and Darker than BLACK. Maybe some Shingeki no Kyojin as well, a bit of influence from the darker moments of Fullmetal Alchemist, and some of the crime TV shows I watch probably too much like Arrow, Gotham, and Allegiance. And this will be a dark and gritty story. Note for the faint of heart, the easily disturbed, or the easily nauseated. If you know me, you will know that most of my stories tend to be this way. I also tend to use any romance as a means to strengthen the "horror" atmosphere of a particular story or moment, but I may make an exception for this. Also, this story is set in a major alternate universe. Things will be different. OOC with some characters.
Author Notes: This is my first Tokyo Ghoul story, so bear with me. Also, I didn't bother to finish the last two episodes of season two, but I know what happened. If anyone feels that I need a refresher, kindly remind me via PM or review. If you are rude and inconsiderate, you will be blocked and all reviews will be deleted pertaining to you.
Well, I hope you enjoy and excuse my attitude. I am a hard person to get to know, but you all can try. :)
It was a bright and cold morning, as usual. The ice-encrusted land glistened in the cold sunlight, a blanket of diamonds shimmering in the dim pink glow of the waking dawn. A faint and icy wind blew, unsettling the fresh blanket of snow that was covering everything like a sheet of frosting over cake.
I was sitting at the top of a hill, my arms curled around my legs. My cheek was rested on my knee, and my eyes were closed as I breathed in the icy air. Crimson stained my vision as I turned my face in the direction of the light, a faint warmth lapping at my scarred skin. Flimsy white clouds left my nose and mouth as I breathed in and out, filling my lungs with a dark chill that pierced my heart and froze it even more.
I coughed, wincing as pain tore through me. I had been in a quarrel that I would have deemed inconsequential earlier, but I had been so, so hungry. My sane judgment was often impaired when I starved myself. Even my prey knew it; whenever I was forced to hunt and slaughter all in my path, they knew that no amount of conversation, be it pleading or screaming, would ever make me stop.
It offered only the slightest bit of comfort. At least they knew I was a monster that could not be swayed once I made up my mind.
The wind whispered around me, tugging at my worn leather jacket with a fatigued insistence. It was begging me to just get up and leave this wretched place behind. But I could not move, not just yet. I had to keep watching. I had to know what was going to happen to her.
She was standing there with her hands bound behind the small of her back with bits of rope and wire. There were probably a dozen or so men surrounding her, all armed with the Kalashnikov rifles the local crime lord had leased them. The scent of her blood was strong, and I moaned softly, amber eyes flickering with a dark amusement and hunger. Frost clung to the edges of her eyelashes and clothes and exposed skin; they had made her sleep outside, no doubt.
I found it hard to understand why the outdoors was used as a means of torture and punishment. It really was a place where a soul could be free, without a single care in the world.
I had learned that the hard way. Even now, years later, I had to suffer for it. But my torturers had suffered even more.
There was a group of men behind her, all muttering to themselves as they wrapped their thick woolen coats tighter around their broad and powerful bodies. I curled my lips back in a playful snarl, mocking them all silently. Tch. Foreigners could never get used to the cold here.
My fingers sunk deep into the snowbank beneath me, sending a welcome chill through my body as the cracked skin of my skeletal fingers rippled and spread apart in an attempt to cling to any hardened fragments beneath me. The cold had little to no effect on me. I have lived in the cold for the majority of my life, both in the physical and metaphorical sense. Despite this, I was not adverse to heat. I just...leaned more towards the ice.
There was a series of gruff laughter, and my gaze was torn from the white blanket beneath me as I turned back to look. The men were crowding her, crowing pathetic insults only cowards would know as they purposely tripped her and mocked her as she fell and shredded the thin flesh of her arms, legs, hands, and face.
A deep growl rumbled through my chest as I pressed my body deeper into my bed of soft white.
The only one that was allowed to hurt her was me.
She screamed as one man grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back and forcing her to the ground. There was a pool of crimson spreading out beneath her, a result of her many wounds opening, and I had to forcefully dampen my senses as they threatened to overwhelm me.
The wind was screaming now, urging me to go on and tear them all apart. I muttered beneath my breath, pushing my dark hair from my eyes. My animal-like urges were satisfied, for now; my stomach was full of the flesh and innards from the wolf pack I had found about a week ago. They had been kind enough to take me in, much to my amusement as if I were one of theirs or merely a stray with no home and great potential.
Well, at least they had gotten the "great potential" part right.
My senses flared and my attention began to waver. I clenched my teeth and curled my fingers into claws, forcing my golden glare back onto the woman and her captors. There was something or someone nearing my hiding spot. I would have to take care of them; if they came any closer to me, they would notify the men below me and then I would end up with a bullet from an Avtomat Kalashnikova in my face.
I muttered beneath my breath, my nails now tearing gashes into the frozen ground. I had to stay focused. I had to watch her. Those men were going to do nothing to her, as long as I still lived and breathed to ensure it.
But whoever was approaching me from behind was really starting to annoy me.
With a growl, I whipped around, crouched low against the snow. Staring back at me was a white-haired man, tall with emotionless silvery eyes and a dark expression. He was clad in a black shirt and white shorts that extended just beyond his knees, shredded at the hems. He had no shoes on and the snow and cold did not seem to bother him.
I narrowed my eyes, taking in as much as I could. He showed immense strength, as broad and strong as a tree. His nearly colorless eyes pierced me, and I felt my curiosity get the better of me. I could feel a dark aura radiating off of him, filled with tremendous power and unrelenting determination. Just who was this man, and what was he?
The wind laughed at me, and internally I snarled at it.
I would not be able to get to her in time. Not with my curiosity beginning to get the better of me.
The man continued to stare at me, his colorless hair dancing in the playful grasp of the wind.
I remained tense, torn between tearing him to shreds and taking the woman from her captors. If he decided to attack, I would be preoccupied with destroying him, the men would hear us, and I would not be able to take her in time.
I grimaced and bared my teeth, my nails tearing into my flesh. As the wind began to pick up speed, sifting through and throwing around the snow, another figure appeared next to the man. It was a young woman, almost as tall as her companion, with short raven hair that seemed to be tinted a navy blue in the bright and cold light. One of her eyes was covered by long bangs that nearly reached her chin, and the other eye that was visible widened at the sight of me. Her body tensed and her muscles rippled beneath her skin, and it seemed as if she were readying herself for a fight.
A shudder ran through my body, a result of my building irritation. I could not attack them, just not yet. I needed to focus on her, but they seemed so intent on confronting me.
I pressed my lips together, feeling my sharpened teeth dig into the thin skin of my lips. No, no, no. They were going to mess everything up!
A scream and a chorus of furious curses tore my attention away from the strange man and woman. The men were pinning her to an icy tree, tearing into her clothes with a hungry fervor. In their frenzied lust and hunger, their rifles had been haphazardly around them. Good. It would make this all the easier.
The rage that had been stored within me stirred, and I trembled with the force of it. Were they going to—?
The second I saw the flash of a knife and heard the distant shred of her clothes was the second I snapped.
But before I could move and brutally flay the fur-covered foreign scum, two strong and cold hands were pinning me against the ground. My legs were pinned by the knees digging into my ankles.
The white-haired man was looming over me, face still devoid of all emotion even as he pressed his weight deep enough to put pressure on my bones. I growled and snapped at him, teeth bared and eyes burning. I could smell the alien scent on him. He was not of this country and he dared to touch me?
The girl shouted something at him, but the blood roaring in my ears made it impossible for me to hear anything but my rage. I tried to snap at the man's neck, aiming for a main circulatory vein, but he pressed even harder, and I flinched involuntarily as my bones creaked and snapped.
He leaned down, snowy hair spilling over his forehead to brush against mine. I hissed, bucking beneath him as I trembled, ice and snow working their way into my clothes.
"Yield."
His voice was as cold as the land around us.
I glared up at him, eyes burning. He would just keep talking, and if I did nothing she would get away.
I needed her.
I wanted her.
And nothing, especially not this walking pile of useless meat and bones, was going to stop me from doing so.
The girl noticed the maelstrom of emotions burning in my eyes, and she roared at the man. I noticed her eyes change, flashing crimson orbs hidden within black sclera.
I twisted, feeling the man's limbs snapping my bones even further. I snarled at him in pure fury, shaking my head as I cursed at him. By the look on his face, he did not speak the language I did, and it only made my jeers and hisses stronger.
My hearing returned the slightest bit, and the girl yelled something that sounded like "Kaneki, stop!"
I froze, jaw clenched so hard that my teeth creaked. Kaneki, hmm? I had heard that name somewhere before...
The man, Kaneki, relieved some of his weight as he felt me relax the slightest bit. I stared at him, almost transfixed by the way the muscles beneath his skin rippled as he moved. The motions were like the way the river trickles moved on the very rare occasion that they were not frozen.
He stared down at me, silver eyes gleaming.
The wind groaned around us, lapping at our tired skin.
I growled softly, relaxing further to sink into the snow. I still wanted to tear him apart, but not as much as I had wanted to. I was too interested in how the man moved to be focused on anything else.
He sensed my increasing curiosity and seemed to drag out his motions, keeping a close eye on me. The woman was still tense, waiting for me to attack.
Kaneki turned and nodded at his companion, who reluctantly turned away to head down the snowy hill.
I watched her every movement carefully, forcing myself to stay relaxed even as I wanted to pummel her into the ground for approaching my catch. The man above me was proving to be ruthless in the way he was restraining me, and I sensed the woman would be as well. They were not normal, proving to be as different as I was.
So how many of them were there, waiting in the snowdrifts to ambush and no doubt attempt to kill me?
A shiver ran through my body, and I shifted restlessly, baring my teeth as the man glanced down at me. I did not want him to restrain me anymore.
Kaneki continued to stare at me, the pressure increasing as if he were warning me not to attempt anything.
I narrowed my eyes and growled softly, twisting my head in the snow. Why would he not move?
A terrified scream came from below us, and I immediately snapped back to my senses. Trembling violently, I arched and forced the white-haired man away from me, bounding over to peer over the edge of the hill and snapping at the woman as she tried to confront me.
No.
No, no, no.
She was gone.
Gone.
I snarled, molten gold burning from my eyes.
They had taken her.
I had not reached her in time.
And it was all their fault.
Whipping around, I had the intention of tearing the two to shreds and feasting on their flesh for the days to pass, but I was met only with snow and the wind.
A frustrated hiss left my throat as I curled back up in the white blankets, fury boiling deep within the black soupy mess I had once called a heart.
The wind whispered to me, urging me to hunt them down.
No. I am too tired. I need to rest.
As I drifted off into a pitch black wasteland, I caught the scents of the two beings who had torn apart my hunt.
I made a promise. The wind would hold it dear, and warn the others not to interfere.
I would find both of them. I would pin them to the ground and watch as they writhed in delicious pain.
They had taken her from me. Distracted me with things that would no doubt catch my attention.
I will find you, white-haired Kaneki. And I will tear your soul to pieces. I will watch the cold light fade from your eyes as I feed the fragments to the demons that fornicate in my soul.
All of you will suffer.
This I promise you.
Touka looked up from her book as Kaneki entered the room noiselessly, pushing her dark hair from her eyes.
It had been three years since the Aogori incident. Three long years since the attack against the CCG had left them more alert of everything, from the slightest disturbance in the street life to a flicker in a new streetlight. The Doves continued to roam the lands, armed to the teeth with cutting-edge ghoul hunting technology.
In response, the ghouls merely grew in number and strength. That did not necessarily mean the appearance of more kakujas, although there were only a few more than what the ghoul community had been used to. It only meant that with the increased amount of hunters, the ghouls would have to strive to survive.
They hunted in packs, excluding the occasional loner, and protected each other no matter the tensions between them. They took down Doves with a brutal efficiency, as well as any rampant ghouls that would draw more attention than they desired to themselves.
That was why they were there now.
It was a bit strange, no one was denying that, but it had to be done. Despite the victories in the battle all of those years ago, there was still a rather significant amount of cleaning up to do.
Touka guessed that they could call themselves a sort of "task force."
Kaneki still worked at CCG under the guise of Haise Sasaki with the Quinx Squad, but he was considered the head of the group even though there were no decided positions. There was also Touka and Yomo, and Itori and Uta sometimes left the fourth ward to help them. Nishiki visited his lover, Kimi, often, usually spending so much time with her that he regularly forgot about the meetings.
Yomo stepped forward, his hands hidden inside the deep pockets of his long and concealing gray coat. The room immediately became silent as the large man stood like a statue at the head of the room.
Kaneki appeared beside him, placing a pale and bony hand on the man's broad and muscled arm. Touka stood and stretched, heading to stand next to both men.
"Okay, listen up!" Her voice was loud and crystal clear, cutting straight through the thick silence. "We have a new ghoul that we need to stop!"
They all looked at the photos they had in the folders that had been passed out. She knew that it was a rather primitive method, but she doubted that they would ever invest in a projector. Not while their new hideout was rather...accident prone.
"Her name is Miroslava Yaroslavtseva Mihaylovna or Mira for short. Her territory can be considered northern Russia, but her influence spreads throughout the entire country."
Touka motioned at them to turn to the next picture, and there was a collective grimace—excluding a few of the coldhearted ghouls—as they all stared at the images of the mangled corpses.
"We are unsure if she is a kakuja or not, but we do know that she is very powerful. Yomo has watched her before - not without injury - and she doesn't act like a normal ghoul, or like us here. She hunts, much like the predators of the frozen wasteland she inhabits. The remains of her victims are rather disturbing, even for those of us who have hunted and killed brutally before."
"So we're going to stop her, right? The Doves aren't going to stand for something like this," Itori said, flicking her long crimson hair out of her face.
"We don't know if they know about her yet." Touka pushed her hair from her eyes, expression grim and determined. "Even is we all took her on headfirst, it still wouldn't be enough to stop her completely. Momentarily weaken her, yes, but Mira seems as powerful as Kaneki or Yomo. For all we know, she could be like...like Yoshimura."
A tense silence hung in the room at the mention of the former head of Anteiku.
"We depart first thing in the morning. Kaneki, Touka, and I will confront her head on. The rest of you will linger a few miles back. She will retaliate." Yomo spoke, voice a deep and thunder-like rumble as he turned and headed for the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he glared at each and every one of them. "If you are late, you will be left behind."
Touka sent him a brief nod as he left without a noise. "Right. And if any of you break off to hunt of your own, I will personally track you down and beat the living daylights out of you. Dismissed." She watched as the rest of the ghouls left, all muttering beneath their breath, and sighed heavily as she sank back into her chair, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.
She started awake as a cold hand fell on her shoulder. Kaneki stood there, snowy hair covering his eyes as he stood there with a calm and quiet demeanor.
"Yes?" Touka looked up expectantly at the older ghoul, dark hair falling in her face.
Kaneki said nothing, instead reaching out to move the woman's bangs out of her eyes and tuck them behind her ear. His silvery stare burned with a temporary warmth as he nodded briefly.
"Better."
He was starting to remember more, enough to be only slightly the Kaneki that she knew and to hold up the Haise guise at CCG. It still hit her pretty hard that he couldn't remember much, but at least he was getting better.
He was almost brotherly to her, now that they were more acquainted. It was bordering on obsessive how much he watched over her, and how he would react should someone attempt to harm her or insult her.
Touka yawned and stretched, feeling more than noticing Kaneki move away and sit on the arm of the couch across from her. Glancing up, he stared at her briefly and then at the couch cushion beside him.
She sighed and moved over next to him, strangely comforted by the cold that was radiating off of his deceptively powerful body.
Moving suddenly, the man had a stone-cold and solid arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against his broad chest. Touka scowled and tried to move away, pressing against the icy diamond that was his body, but Kaneki merely tightened his grip and rumbled deeply, face still devoid of emotion even as she glared up at him.
Touka sighed and relaxed, resting her head against his wide chest as she traced patterns on the thin fabric of his shirt. "You know, you're insufferable sometimes."
He did not bother with a response.
I moaned softly as I pressed my bruised back against the ragged brick beneath me. My fingers clawed at the wall, blood spilling from my shredded flesh as my shaking hands tore them apart.
Those memories were always the hardest. They were never the worst. They were just the hardest.
I was hungry. Oh so very hungry. But I could not take anyone here. That would draw too much attention to me. The attention that I did not want in the slightest.
This place was so different from the frigid wasteland I was so used to. It was hot, nearly unbearable. It was hard to do almost anything in this stupid place. I almost missed my original home, but I could not go back. Not yet.
This place did have much more variety than I was accustomed to. All of them different in unique ways, some for the best or for the worst.
Better for me, worse for them.
I had heard that there were others like me here, beings that tore others apart or the sake of hilarity and sustenance. But having all of us attempting to hunt in the same area would not work. Not while I was around.
Currently, I was watching a tall and slim man tear into a helpless woman. In the dim lighting of the night, I could see his brightly colored hair—a well kept and shining strawberry blonde that bordered on orange that was kept in a spiked and reckless state. Before he had attacked the young woman, his eyes had matched his hair, but now they were the same as the woman I had been confronted by in the snow hill, crimson orbs blazing within a pool of black.
The woman was dead now, pieces of her corpse thrown around as her killer tore into them with a crazed and seemingly grateful hunger. The thick scent and presence of death hanging over the clearing told me that she had probably died while I was lost in my thoughts. There was a large pool of crimson spreading out beneath her, and I growled softly as I forced myself to stay where I was.
The man froze suddenly, the wind lapping at his hair. Crimson eyes shifted and locked on me, sending an unwanted chill down my spine. He was staring right at me, out eyes locked together.
A dark grin curled back his bloody mouth. "I know you're there, little girl. Why don't you come out and play?"
I snarled softly and pressed myself against the filthy ground. I had to remain silent and motionless, completely undetectable aside from the fact that I had already been discovered. They could not know about me, not yet.
That meant I would have to take care of this nuisance.
The man was grinning now, bloodstained teeth bared. "Come on, now. I won't hurt you...much."
I felt the urge to tear him apart rise deep within me. Did he really believe that I would lay out on the ground and let his disgusting foreign hands touch me?
A cold wind blew past me and I whipped around to see the orange-haired man. Before I could react, a heavy foot was crushing my head against the ground.
"Now, what is someone like you doing here?" He paused to lean down and inhale my scent, tilting his head as he no doubt detected the frozen wasteland on me. "Not from here, are you?"
I remained silent, forcing my dark urges away. The little, soft voices that whispered meaningful melodies of treachery and horror...
"What, you're going to ignore me?" The foot pressed harder, shredding the skin on the side of my face. "I'm talking to you. You should answer, brat."
I shuddered, digging my hands into the ground. He could not see my sharpened fingers past the dirt and grime. What he saw was a helpless woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Good. That was what I wanted.
The man growled at me and then a powerful hand was forcing me to my feet. I was pinned to the nearest wall, gritting my teeth as my vision flickered and wavered. I was going to be bruised and sore tomorrow, but I cared little about superficial injuries. I only wanted to watch the movements of the monster who believed that he could take me down. I could not attack him.
The only other thing I cared about was that he was touching me.
He glared down at me, eyes burning hellishly in the dim light of the night. "How about you answer my questions and maybe I'll give you a slow death."
Nishiki grinned as he caught the scent of the trespasser, swallowing his mouthful of flesh.
The newcomers never learned that this was his territory. Hmm. He guessed that he would have to be more...aggressive.
The female has noticed that he was watching her. She was a woman, most likely, and would have been rather attractive had she not been a human. She was new around here—her scent was a key sign—and her slanted amber eyes and long slender face showed it. That, and she was wearing a long black trench coat despite the heat and not a glimmer of perspiration shone on her smooth skin.
He turned away and spoke in a loud and clear voice as he licked the blood from his fingers. "I know you're there, little girl. Why don't you come out and play?"
She wasn't responding, as most of his unfortunate targets did, but he heard her shift and press her body into the ground. Maybe she was hoping that he wouldn't notice her?
"Come on, now. I won't hurt you...much." She was glaring at him now and he could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head.
Pretty gutsy for a stupid human. Ah, well. It would be her final mistake.
Using the speed that he was known for, he crossed the section of bloodstained and filthy land to end up behind her. Grinning slyly, he forced her head to the ground with a heavy-booted foot.
"Now, what is someone like you doing out here all alone? Don't you know the streets aren't safe at night?" He shivered in delight as he crouched down to inhale her scent, burying his nose deep in her thick forest of long black hair. No, she was definitely not from around here. He could all but taste the icy subarctic and the faint presence of permafrost...the crisp and clear snow and the lingering trace of some wild canine (a wolf, if he was correct). She was probably from somewhere up north, far up north.
Pressing a bit harder, he hissed in her ear, "Not from around here, are you?" He did not receive a verbal response, and he could feel the tremors that shook her lean body. Good. She was scared. That would make this much more fun.
He was disappointed that she wasn't responding. Sure, she was going to die pretty soon, but it was the least she could do to have one last conversation, even if it was with her killer. Did she really want her last words to be nothing but silence?
Nishiki watched as her fingers twitched and scraped against the ground and she shuddered harder, shaking her head as she murmured unintelligible words beneath her breath. A dark smirk curled back his lips. Saying the last prayer, was she?
"What, you're going to ignore me?" With a slight twist of his ankle, the hard sole of his shoe began to shred the skin on the side of the woman's face. "I'm talking to you. You should answer, brat."
She was trembling even harder now, her fingers hidden deep in the filthy ground. No matter what he did, she showed no reaction except for the damned shivering.
With a great sigh, he tangled a hand in the bush she called hair and yanked her up and forward, pinning her roughly against the brick wall of the alleyway they were in. She winced and leaned forward as if gasping for air, although no sound came out. He could have sworn that her eyes flashed crimson for the briefest of moments, but it was probably only the light and his hunger playing tricks on him.
Baring bloody teeth, he leaned close and snarled deeply in her ear. "How about you answer my questions and maybe I'll give you a slow death."
She froze suddenly, head tilting to the side. Her long mane of hair covered all except her mouth, and she grinned viciously to expose a row of gleaming white teeth.
Nishiki felt a chill run down his spine. That grin was eerily similar to that of a certain white-haired man, whenever he reverted to Centipede and started rambling about snapped fingers and bugs in his ears.
"What are you smiling at?"
She continued to remain silent, the wind playing in her thick mane. Nishiki scowled and pressed harder, his hand sinking deep into her stomach. She shuddered and coughed violently, a torrent of blood pouring from her mouth and the gaping wound on her abdomen.
He stared as she began to laugh, a hoarse and bloodcurdling sound as demented as the craziest ghoul he knew.
The woman leaned forward, bloody lips parting to reveal long and pointed teeth that had not been there a moment ago. He froze as he felt the telltale and wet ice of her tongue trailing over the side of his face, clearing the smooth flesh of the blood that stained it.
She giggled suddenly, and then a hand was on his chest, long and skeletal fingers tipped with menacing talon-like nails. A low growl rumbled through her chest as she pushed, and then Nishiki was sent flying across the clearing, landing on the cold and unforgiving ground with an agonizingly painful thud.
With a chillingly innocent tilt of her head, as if she was confused on why he was on the ground, she approached him where he was lying on the ground, the breath knocked out of him as his mouth gaped open.
Nishiki glared even as the blood dripped into his vision, watching warily as the other monster neared him.
"Stay away, or so help me, you'll be crying for me to spare your miserable little life!"
The woman froze, clawed hands twitching.
Then she was looming over him.
Nishiki cried out as one of her hands dug deep into his arm, the vice-like grip automatically crushing the bone and tearing the muscle.
Another laugh sounded, and the territorial ghoul was screaming and arching off the ground as her fanged teeth tore into the side of his neck.
The last thing he heard before blacking out was the disappointed sigh.
Yeah, I'm not so sure if people will like this or not...let me know if there's anything I need to fix.
I know there'll be a bit of confusion with this, but it'll all clear up. Should I not answer any questions you all have in the following chapters, feel free to PM me or leave them in a review. Some notes:
a.) I intend to have Mira's main territory in northern Siberia, with her influence spreading throughout the areas around her.
b.) I am deciding on whether or not Mira will be mute or if she will only choose to talk when she wants. Any preferences?
This chapter may be updated in a few days to a week or so, and I am still deciding on whether or not I will put information vital to the plot in it yet. I may rewrite the last scene, too. Just check back in a bit.