Ribbon Wounds
By SMYGO4EVA
Kurogane, the rough and strong warrior from the country of Nihon, caught the eye of princess Sakura at the moment when she first met him. To her, he looked like the kind of person who didn't naturally take things lightly; he also looked damaged. He had the look that damaged people carried with him – conflicted psyches, that could only be reflected in someone's eyes. She knew that look all too well, especially with what was yet to come.
Sakura had always known that beauty, like a rose, had its thorns, and the warrior was no exception when it came to showing his true self. She knew that he was fierce, powerful, and above all else, ruthless in battle and he would stop at nothing to reach his goal and claim what was his rightful victory. She knew that he did this to protect and to become stringer than any other warrior in existence, to become strong in order to show that he could be strong, even if it meant creating red rivers far and wide. He would let the burgundy rivers spill even if it meant getting the revenge he coveted for a long time.
The amount of bloodshed that Kurogane had been exposed to for most of his life, and the amount that Sakura had been exposed to more recently varied. Kurogane seemed to have a barrier around him, something that desensitized his tolerance for how much blood he had seen. To this day, memories of the red liquid escaping the bodies of those who were dead and those who were alive still haunted Sakura.
Despite that, Sakura trusted Kurogane to protect her in battle. She trusted him with her life. And if push came to shove, he would trust her with his life, with both the honor and respect intact. She knew that in his eyes, death came to those that deserved such a fate, but she never would want blood to shed, to be thrown and stained upon the once pure ground, and if Kurogane was giving his all in the battle, she never wanted to see him relish in the lifeblood that was around him, to see him take pleasure in the sudden and swift defeat of others, all which could be seen with one sickeningly sadistic smile that crossed his usually stoic features.
That smile…
That smile…
It was almost beautiful…
Beautiful…
Seductive, even.
Yet it spelled death.
She didn't want to see any more death, yet she couldn't help but be enraptured by his smile. It was dangerous, just as he was. It was seductive even, telling one of what was to become of them in very little words. It emphatically revealed that the stoic warrior was no more and he was the beautiful demon encased in a rugged and rough shell that to be released. The lust for power, the lust for revenge, it would overtake him. It would overtake him then and there, making her wish that she would stop him from the mindless violence he found rapture in or to even be as blood red and bloodstained as he was when she would place her lips upon his, hoping to cease his violent strikes and to return a quiet affection she held for him.
Sakura knew wherever Kurogane would be; there would be peaceful calm or battles to be won. There would be blood upon blood or the serenity of living life as quietly as he could. He would be bloodstained as he destroyed enemies, and she would wear the red ribbon wounds that were upon him as well, sharing what they have been through and what they would one day be left with.