DISCLAIMER: OK peeps! Listen up! I started playing the online game Ragnarok Online, and I have to say, IT ROCKS!!! Anyways, the character names are my own, but the idea of the monsters and the town names and stuff like that belong to Gravity, so don't get your tights in a wad, m'kay? So that's my disclaimer… I don't own Ragnarok or anything that tied directly to it! Now, on with the story!
Sacred Bonds
By Amariel1
Chapter 1: The Onset
I shouldn't exist. That's what most people say, anyways. I'm abnormal, an abomination, a threat to the natural order of things in life. What am I? Am I a wandering soul lost in the darkness of my own existence? Am I a monster, who happens to have a sense of compassion? Or am I a 'freak of nature,' a once in a lifetime occurrence? It's hard to tell. I was once human. That much I know. I also know humans now consider me a 'bongun,' a monster, a hateful spirit given flesh, bent on the destruction of the human race out of vengeance of perceived wrongs, and technically they are not incorrect. But I don't feel hateful… do I? No… I feel only confusion. I've seen others like me… I've seen them attack humans with no mercy, killing them without compassion. Am I like them? I would like to think not. I've always avoided battle with humans if I could, and I've yet to actually take a human life. And yet… I cannot deny the fact that I am now of the same… 'race'… as these bonguns, these cold-blooded killers. I did not choose this life, like so many of the other bonguns. Where as they chose this existence, either for a false sense of honor, or guilt, or maybe even for no real reason at all, I was forced into this life by an evil spell. Is that why I'm different from the others? Is it because I did not feel Death's kiss before I changed? Is that why I can feel pity, compassion, happiness… and maybe… even love?
Love… so foreign a word. I was killed before I could really know what it meant. The training that I had been trying to undergo, as a human, kept me out of the social circles, and so the feminine race was as unusual to me as a… well… a compassionate bongun. After my death, the only females I saw were fighters, mages, priestesses and so forth, who usually tried to kill me for what I had become. The concept of love was never shown to me, yet despite this I felt a need to be near someone, not necessarily in a romantic way… I just needed someone, someone to talk to, someone to care about and be cared by. Maybe it was this irrepressible need that brought me to the desperate measures I took…
I guess this is as good a place to start as any. I was wandering though the caves that had become my home since I was cursed. I had already run into several groups of humans, and being pretty tired after finally getting away, I was trying to find a secluded area to rest and recover from the wounds I had received. As my luck would have it, I didn't get my way. I turned the corner only to find a female thief standing not even three feet away.
I froze, trying not to make any noise that would attract her attention. Praying to any gods that would listen, I desperately hoped that she would just continue in the direction she was heading. No such luck. The thief suddenly whirled around and started walking, and gave a startled cry when she walked right into me. Her head had been hanging down and obviously she hadn't realized I was there until she ran into me. I tensed up, waiting for the thief to look up, see what I was, and start attacking. Oddly enough, that didn't happen. The girl muttered a quick apology and started walking right past me, never looking up. As she passed by, the heightened senses that I gained from the curse picked up the scent of blood. Not thinking about what I was doing, driven by compassion that remained from my days as a human, I stepped forward and murmured, "You're hurt." The thief paused her steps, but didn't turn around.
"It's nothing serious. I'll live." She replied, her tone conveying no more care than if we were at the market conversing over a cup of tea. "I've had worse injuries than this."
"You may have, but if you don't do something with that wound you may get an infection." I countered, still not believing what I was doing. My mind was telling me "You idiot! What do you think you're doing! She's HUMAN! She'll kill you without a second thought once she sees what you are!" but my heart was longing for human interaction. I had missed hearing the sound of a normal voice. Most of the other creatures here didn't really speak. There really wasn't anything to speak of here anyways, except what humans came though. My instincts went on high alert as the thief slowly turned around. Oddly enough, her head still hung, as if she were afraid to look up.
"Why would you care?" was the whisper I bare heard her speak. I was startled. How should I respond? What drove her to ask that question?
"I… I don't understand. Why wouldn't I care?" I stammered out, now seriously hoping that the girl wouldn't look up.
"Because…" she started to reply as her head came up and she looked me dead in the eyes, "you're not human."
I stared at her, shocked. The look in her eyes scared me... yes, I was scared. "Damn! She knew all along what I was?" My thoughts raced. "But… if she knew… then why…" "Why didn't you attack me, if you knew what I was?" Ok, not the most brilliant of questions, but it's the only one that came to mind.
The thief blinked "you said so yourself. I'm injured. I would have no hope in trying to attack anything in these caves, much less a bon-"
"A bongun." I finished for her. "A monster. A wounded one at that… but not that it matters… No matter that I'm not at full strength to fight, you think you'd be bested? Do you think that all of us are that cruel?" suddenly a disjointed anger arose out of nowhere, and because of it I kept talking.
"Why is it that if a monster comes across a wounded human and kills him or her, it's a horrible crime, and when a human comes across a wounded monster and kills it, it's either considered 'merciful' or deserved, no matter that the human doesn't know how the wound came to be?" I said. The girl stood there, blank faced though shock. She opened her mouth as if to say something but I cut her off. "Do you honestly think that you're so much better than us? That we're just some sort of scum that exists solely for the pleasure of letting you kill us?
"Oh! But of course! We monsters could NEVER be up to the standard of humans." I spit out. I saw the thief wince at the vehemence and anger in which I delivered my 'sermon'. By then, I was taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I could see the thief clutch her arms across her chest, her head bowed once again.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I… I didn't mean it that way… I didn't think… I didn't know that there where any… monsters that could feel that way." She looked up again, and I saw the tears brimming in her eyes. I don't know, but something about the sight made something in me click. I didn't want to see her cry anymore. I didn't want her sad.
"I… You don't have to apologize," I replied. "You didn't know any better. I didn't mean to get so… well… cruel about it. I…" I was about to say more, when out of the corner of my eye I saw some sort of movement. I heard the thief cry out as a skeleton soldier seemingly popped out of nowhere and tried to attack the girl.
I'm not sure if my actions came from the instincts of the bongun part of me to protect, or the human part of me that couldn't bear to see anyone get killed, but in that split second before the skeleton could strike the thief, I pushed her out of the way and took the blow myself. Grimacing, because the knife the skeleton was wielding scored a deep gash on my arm, I used what was left of my power to destroy the soldier. The skeleton's attack, coupled with the wounds I had received earlier from the humans I had escaped, did horrors on my energy. I fell to one knee, grasping my arm over the wound on my arm in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. I know, you're thinking, 'he's undead, he shouldn't bleed.' Well, my curse decided not to make me completely undead… hence… I could die for real.
I had bowed my head, the stupid hat I was forced to wear slipping over my eyes and obstructing my view. However, it did nothing to impede my hearing, and I could head the hesitant approaching footsteps. "Great…" I thought, "Here it comes. I'm obviously weak enough to dispose of now." I hung my head lower, waiting for the thief to strike her blow. It didn't fall. I was, however, surprised at what she did do.
"Here…" she murmured. "Let me see that." She grabbed some bandages from somewhere in her pack and reached for my arm. Not sure if I could really trust what she was doing, I tried to pull back, pushing my hat back so I could see what the hell she was trying to do. Obviously she could see my discomfort. "Don't worry, I'm not going hurt you. I'm just going to help you stop the bleeding." She reached out again for my arm, and this time, despite my instincts, I didn't pull away. Carefully, she tore away what remained of my lower sleeve and dribbled some water out of a canteen on it, and used it to clear the wound. Despite the fact that she was being very gentle, I still winced. It stung badly, and I let my breath out though clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry… I'll try to be more careful," was all the girl said as she proceeded to bind my arm with the bandage. I couldn't help but watching her face as she concentrated on my injury. The intensity of her focus, and the way she was being so gentle with me seemed to almost clash with out earlier conversation. Other things caught my attention. I noticed, really for the first time, that she was actually quite attractive. She had pale gold hair, closer actually to silver than gold, and her eyes were a beautiful blue green hue. She was well built, and clearly lithe. Her movements were graceful, and yet not seeming too proper. Even her scent was amazing. I was just starting to focus on it when she pulled back.
"There… I think that'll do." She said, looking at her handiwork.
I stood up as she rose too. "Uh… Thanks… you didn't have to do this, you know."
She smiled ever so slightly. "Of course I had to! You saved my life! I definitely would have died if the skeleton had caught me." She tilted her head, looking thoughtful. "Why did you save me? You didn't have to risk your life for mine…"
"I…" I started to reply, but suddenly the world kind of tipped on me. I ran into the cave wall behind me and placed my hand over my eyes. "Dammit!" I swore silently. "Don't pass out now!" It didn't work. I started seeing stars as I slid down the wall and sat on the floor. The thief knelt beside me, worried.
"Are you okay?" she asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. I tried to respond, but everything seemed to be getting fuzzy. The last thing I remembered then was my head falling forward, my hat tipping off my head and into my lap as everything went dark.
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OK people. Tell me how you like it. I'll accept flames this time and take 'em with a grain of salt. I gotta know how to do better. Oh, and those who have read my Inuyasha story… sorry, but it's on hold until further notice. I can't seem to tie the story together yet. GOMEN! *Hides from angry fans armed with tomatoes* anyways… the bongun and thief in my story WILL have names… I just haven't thought of any yet. Any suggestions? They're be formally introducing themselves in the next chappie! Anyways, please review! Ja ne!