The silence of that moment. That single, cursed moment. That decision.
What do you think when you kill?
What thoughts run through your mind as you make that decision to kill, to end a life?
Does it bring you joy? Does it bring you ruin? Or is there nothing?
A life full of experiences, loves, hate, joy and sadness. From the moment they came into this world they have existed. They have lived, just as much as you. To extinguish the flame of someone's life forever.
For me. I choose to feel nothing. Therefore I choose to feel pain. In this world there can be only one victor. One survivor; to survive you only need to do what is necessary. I ask these questions nearly every time, but to ask these questions about their feelings, in order to feel things such as regret and remorse, I need to survive to fight another fight.
On the battlefield, the enemy is the enemy. You have no other choice...
The faint glimmer of winter's morning light. The mellow yellow tones of the rising sun broke steadily through the thick mass of trees and lightly falling snow. A hand-carved arrow stayed firm and unmoving as it was pointed directly at a deer. A delicate hand lightly gripped the bowstring as it was slowly pulled back. A young girl's eyes remained fixed on the target; she was hidden deep in the underbrush of the forest, far beyond the sight of the wandering deer. The snow covered her tracks, keeping her hidden. Her hand remained steady enough for snow to build up on her hand. She lined up the shot. Her black hair flowed down her sides; only partially covering her focused grey eyes.
Silence was all that could be heard in this sleeping forest. The young girl held her breath. Concentrating on the deer's every move. Its eye position. Its frosty breath in the cold stagnant air. She waited. Then in a single fluid motion she let the arrow go. The arrow brushed past the gentle touch of her fingertips and flew through the air, impaling the deer in its neck. The pain caused it to go into a frenzy; it squealed and tried to run away but the poison on the arrow passed into its bloodstream and entered its muscle. Leaving it paralyzed.
The young girl smiled as she let down her bow. After looking once more to admire her shot, she looked across to her friend whom was hidden amongst the trees. She nodded towards him and in unison they pulled down their masks. The masks were carved from wood; they had the faces of beasts carved into them; a jaguar for the young girl and a tiger for the boy.
They both climbed the trees and then moved towards the deer, jumping from branch to branch. They stayed as quiet as they could; the deer still howling in pain. They stopped above the deer, hidden by the darkness provided by the shadows of the thick leaves. That is when it appeared. A massive beast the size of an elephant. It was a wild bear of the north that fed on anything it could find. It is widely feared by the rural villages in this area as one of the greatest killers of both man and animal. It moved towards the deer and with a single clasp of its powerful jaw, tore the deer's spine out.
They both smiled under their masks as they hid amongst the branches of the densely packed trees; the boy grabbed a metal mechanism hanging off one of the trees and flipped a switched on it. The snow in the area erupted into the sky as multiple metal ropes that were hidden beneath tightened and came leaping up from the ground.
The bear lashed out at its surrounds, paws still covered in blood. The rope tangled around the bear's legs and neck, trapping it.
"Do it now Sayo!"
Sayo jumped down from the tree, landing amongst the disturbed snow; she drew her bow and aimed it at the bear. Without any wavering or doubt she unleashed multiple arrows into its left leg. The high dosage of poison seeped into the bear's deeper tissues causing the bear's fur and skin to peel off. The poison created an almost unreal sensation of pain causing the bear to repeatedly bite at it; tearing at it's own flesh. Its dark red eyes screamed murder as it tried desperately to break free.
The boy jumped down from the trees with a new strange device; he had pulled out a musket and as he walked towards the bear he cocked it. He proudly walked up to the bear and pointed the barrel of the gun into its furry chest. Without a second thought he fired a shot causing the bear to collapse. The shot was so powerful, it cleared the rest of the snow from the nearby area, the sound still echoing in their ears.
The young boy walked up to Sayo smiling under his mask, only to have Sayo slap him and angrily proclaim, "Ieyasu you idiot. We needed to bring it back alive!"
Sayo and Ieyasu took off their masks.
Ieyasu looked up at Sayo. He gingerly played with his short shaggy hair as he replied, "Don't worry. He's not dead" He paused for a second and gazed back towards the bear, "I think..."
"It's not breathing!" Sayo said annoyed at Ieyasu as she gestured towards the bear, "You know we have to bring him back alive. We have been hunting this beast for a week now!" Sayo looked at Ieyasu who looked like a child just caught taking a cookie from the jar without permission, she sighed softly to herself before continuing, "Fresh meat is hard to come by, and it's going to be even harder with winter dragging on as long as it has, and not to mention…."
Ieyasu getting irritated started to mockingly copy Sayo's hand motions and her facial expressions causing Sayo to get pissed with him.
"Well then you can carry him back" She said with a little sneer.
Ieyasu looked surprised and then suddenly worried at Sayo's serious expression. He tried to joke his way out, "Woah, I was the one who did the most work!"
Sayo relaxed and then laughed, playfully replying, "Right, keep telling yourself that"
Ieyasu smiled that he was in the clear and started to tease Sayo back, "At least I didn't use poison on the meat we were suppose to eat"
Sayo blushed and kept going to retort but paused each time.
As they talked the bear started to move again, its skin crawled as though something was moving underneath it. Its eyes began to bulge when two sharp objects rip through them causing Sayo and Ieyasu to jump back.
"The hell is that" Ieyasu said in a concerned and now more serious tone. He pulled out a knife and assumed a defensive stance.
Sayo readied her bow as the skin on the beast's massive back tore open; the first thing they saw were the legs, long furry legs with sharp tips. Hundreds of spiders the size of large boars started to pour out rapidly. The spiders charged at them, baring their fangs at them.
Ieyasu and Sayo jumped back quickly, not expecting or prepared for something like this. Ieyasu looked over at Sayo with a disgusted look on his face, "Seriously. What the actual hell is going on here!"
Sayo shouted back "It must be a winter flesh spider… The mother spid-"
Sayo jumped to the side to avoid the spider leaping at her and fired an arrow into its head, killing it. She did a backflip over another spider and fired two arrows into its body before landing.
"The mother spider comes out during winter and lays its eggs in hibernating animals. It keeps them warm until spring; where they hatch and eat their way out"
Sayo took a moment to catch her breath.
"The beating that the bear took, it probably caused them to wake up early"
Ieyasu cut the legs off one of the spiders. He rolled underneath another one and pulled out a pistol and shot it from behind.
"That explains why this beast was up this late in winter, the pain must have driven him crazy. I mean, the amount of spiders in him just seems unnatural… Well I better get serious if we want to get out of this alive..."
As Ieyasu reached for his mask, another spider leapt at him, knocking the mask out of his hand as it sank its fangs into his shoulder. He turned blue as its poison paralyzed him.
"NOOOOO"
Sayo sprinted as fast as she could to reach Ieyasu. She put on her mask and leapt at the spiders in front of her. She cut one of the spiders in half with an arrow and then threw the same arrow at another, causing it to collapse. The other spiders all ran towards her.
The spiders leapt into the air pointing their fangs at her. She raised her fists to her face, preparing to attack when suddenly a flash of light blinded her sight. When her vision returned, she found herself on her back and looked up to see a single boy stood over a pile of the corpses of the spiders. All perfectly sliced. The boy had brown hair and wore a lion mask. He held a single-handed sword.
"What…. What took you so long Tatsumi!?"
"Sorry… " Tatsumi took off his mask to reveal a decently good looking face. "I ran into a C class danger beast and it took me a while"
Sayo started to get up and Tatsumi offered her a hand, "Geez… Well we better get Ieyasu back to the village, we need to get the poison out of his system." Sayo brushed the snow off of her shoulders, only to look at Tatsumi to see a serious expression staring back at her.
"Ieyasu is here? Is he close by?"
Sayo looked around, seeing nothing but the mangled body pieces of spider and bear. "SHIT, he must have been taken by the spider. He is probably being taken back to the nest."
"Damn. We better find him quick. You said he was poisoned right… Can you track him? "
Sayo grinned beneath her mask and her eyes started to glow red, "Who the hell do you think I am?"
Sayo knelt down and placed her right hand on the ground. She felt the energy of the earth flow through her, then back into the ground. She had become a part of it. She could see the thermal imprints left by Ieyasu and where he had been before being dragged off; when she closed her eyes she could hear the sound of each footstep the spider took as it headed back to the mother spider.
"He's this way"
Tatsumi and Sayo tracked the spider. Following it as fast as they could in order to save their friend. The sun went from high in the sky to setting to night before the finally caught up to where the spider had gone.
"Damn that spider was fast. It was carrying Ieyasu as well..."
Deep in the forest there are giant trees. These trees span high into the sky and touch the clouds. Their thick trunks are so large that during forest fires, the flame of a single tree can burn for years. This is what led to this part of the forest being named, Amesha spenta; meaning divine spark, or in common tongue, eternal flame.
Strangely, as if man made, the ground had worn away leaving a massive hole surrounded by cliff drops.
Sayo and Tatsumi looked up at the nest; a large amount of webs connected the trees. There were so many webs that the trees were bent towards the earth. Forming a natural cage for anyone who dares to enter. The walls moved; not the walls, but the millions of spiders than ran across them. Making them seem as though they were a fluid wave. A black ocean.
Tatsumi looked at Sayo and they both took off their masks. They gazed deep into the nest from the edge and searched for Ieyasu. Their eyes glowed red as they tried to find him….
In the village that they come from, they have a special ability; their people have amazing eyes. Eyes that can see a hundred times farther than any normal man, ten times as fast, and they can even see in the darkest of places if there is so much as a single shred of light.
They have been blessed with this and even the ability to see heat and spiritual energy. This came through thousands of years of their ancestors training their art of hunting to perfection. To be able to see their prey no matter what, where or when; that is their village's advantage.
"He's over there! Tatsumi, he's not too far away, and there are a few others still alive down there."
"We are going to need to go all out for this if we want to save them all"
Sayo put on her mask, and Tatsumi could see the energy from the earth flow into her. These masks are part of a sacred ritual of their village. Being strong is good, but in this world where magic and mythical being exist, having something extra is necessary; this mask limits the ability of their eyes and depending on how much they give whilst wearing it, it enhances their strength, speed and other senses. But when you give one hundred percent….
Tatsumi put on his mask and his eyes went black. Power erupted from the earth causing it to shatter beneath his feet. He had to cover his ears, since each footstep of the millions of spiders sounded like thunder in his ears. He smiled and walked to the edge of the cliff.
"Get ready. I will create a distraction. You get in there and set Ieyasu free. Give him his mask and then save as many as you can…"
Sayo looked towards Tatsumi concerned, "Ok. But don't use too much power. You might actually go blind forever."
"Don't worry, I've got this…"
Flames erupted from his hands, contrasting against the pitch black of the night. Sayo covered her legs in magic for silence and grip. They nodded to each other and Tatsumi looked at his hand. The flame was warm. Gently nipping at his skin pleasantly in this winter wind. But as he clasped his hand it began to burn him as it grew in size. He threw a fireball, into the wall, causing it to rapidly erupt into a mass of burning bodies. The bodies of both spiders and drained human corpses lit up.
"Amesha spenta" Tatsumi whispered as another fireball began to grow in his hand.
The remaining spiders retreated and ran from the fire. Meanwhile, Sayo ran down the webs, carefully picking out routes to avoid being stuck. She slid under some and jumped between others. Carefully aligning herself using the wind. The world around her became a blur as she moved faster and faster. She closed her eyes and allowed them to turn black as she enhanced her sense of balance.
"Heh, after what I said to him about doing this..."
Her feet glowed as she came grinding to a halt. Ieyasu was hanging upside down from the web, suspended hundreds of feet above the ground. Sayo cut him free and helped Ieyasu up as he looked aimlessly into the void, unable to recover from the poison. Sayo focused magic to her hand and applied a healing spell to him. Vines grew from his wound and wrapped around his body.
His eyes opened.
"What happened?"
"You got caught you idiot. Me and… I mean, Tatsumi and I are rescuing you right now."
"Holy shit this place is huge…. and why is it ON FIRE!"
"Tatsumi is keeping the spiders at bay. We need to help these other people and get out of her before the mother spider comes to defend her babies. Here. Take your mask"
Ieyasu took his mask and smiled at Sayo. "Sorry but I need to get a little payback, as well as the chance to look cool after all this."
Ieyasu jumped off the web and fell towards the bottom of the nest. He hit a mechanism on his leg and cables shot out and caught hold of webs either side of him.
His descent slowed and he safely reached the bottom.
Sayo looked down from above. "That idiot! Now I've got to carry these people out of here myself"
Ieyasu looked around and pulled out his gun. He pushed in a new round, and looked for the mother. As he placed his hand on a pillar he noticed something was off. He looked up to see the pillar was actually a leg; he ran back as the mother spider turned its head to look at him. The mother was massive. She was at least twenty times as big as the bear before. This was an S class danger beast. One of the most dangerous in the world.
Her fangs were easily over five meters in length.
"Oh shit"
Ieyasu put on his mask as he finally gained some distance. The mother's eight eyes all stared directly at him.
He began to charge his gun with magic but the light from the spell revealed the hundreds of massive spiders surrounding him. These were not like the ones before and easily were just as big as the bear.
They charged at him. Ieyasu looked around terrified that he might not make it in time. SLASH. The spiders dropped down to the ground dead. Ieyasu looked over to see Tatsumi standing there wielding a flaming sword. He was using magic to enhance his speed dramatically.
More spiders came and leapt at Tatsumi but each time he dodged them. He sidestepped the first. Jumped the second. Back flipped over the third and cut the forth. As he continued this cycle, a rain of arrows came down striking the rest down.
The arrows erupted into flames and from the smoke Sayo appeared.
"Miss me?"
Ieyasu was glad he was wearing his mask as it covered his massive grin, "Heh, only a little"
Ieyasu finally charge up his gun and as he lifted it up, the mother disappeared. In an instant it had moved over a hundred meters, and as its fangs were about to pierce him; Ieyasu fired his gun and the beam cut through the beast and set the rest of the nest on fire. Tatsumi and Sayo ran past and cut off the beast's legs so that it would burn here with the rest of its children. After all, better safe than sorry.
Tatsumi, Ieyasu and Sayo walked out of the burning nest laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just happened.
In the distance, a faint glimmer of light could be seen reflecting off of a pair of binoculars.