Hisashi grunted as he stumbled, feet tripping on one another as he navigated his way through the dark. His sleep-ridden eyes moved around randomly and he staggered towards the direction of a weeping willow, leaning his back unto the bark and sliding down to the ground. It was a comfortable quietness when suddenly, the leaves rustled in a strange way, making an odd noise and he looked up, squinting his eyes only to see a small outline perched on a branch just a few metres away from him. He leaned forward closer to get a better look before he blinked and tried to ignore the sudden unsettling feeling in his stomach as the silhouette moved a tiny bit.
He blinked again as the figure disappeared, leaving him to wonder if he had really seen it before deciding that it was just his sleepy mind and the shadows playing tricks on him. But still, he couldn't shake off the frightening feeling of something watching him even as he tried breathed in deeply, trying to act like normal. Hisashi inhaled sharply as he heard something, something strange making noise and his eyes darted around, pupils contracting and shaking in fear. He slowly glanced up, turning to the source of the noise and let out a loud sigh of relief as he saw that it was only the leaves rustling together, his tense muscles slowly loosening. Then he looked in front of him and screamed.
His heart dropped to his stomach when glowing human eyes met his own and he scrambled back instantly, his heart thudding in his rib cage. A girl stood right in front of him, eyes concealed by her hair and looking perfectly innocent, if wasn't for the fact that she had appeared out of nowhere. Hisashi's back hit against the bark of the tree loudly and he began hyperventilating.
"W-Who are you?" Hisashi's voice rose into a hysterical pitch, his eyes wide with horror and shock. His whole body shook uncontrollably and cold sweat was already dripping to the ground.
"There is no death. There is no life. Only the demon exists, but is it worth existing?" The girl whispered, her unworldly voice immediately sending shivers up his back and continuing her words even as the very air around her rippled and she started to transform grotesquely. Hisashi tried to look away but much to his horror and repulsion, he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the sight, as if he was inside a controlling trance.
"It is a curse, a spell. A mask that cannot disappear, a truth that cannot convince," a cat now stood at her spot, the pure black feline outlined by a faint aura of a forbidding blood crimson as the human's bloodcurdling voice urged on without the cat opening its mouth. "Bouncing for each life after one another, leaving behind chaos and destruction, continuing again as a stained canvas."
Then its eyes glowed before the colour started to shift. Its right eye now glowed an eerie dark turquoise as its left eye swirled into a tempest of bright yellow. "It is a twisted version of a dark rainbow, made by demons and sins, only seen by the dead and the damned."
The splatter of the red liquid pooled around the dead body as the feline blurred and faded away, leaving behind a bloodstained pawprint as a faint glow of red surrounded it. The atmosphere was still heavy with the unforgettable smell of death and blood, even as hours passed and an unfortunate child stumbled upon the scene.
The son's wails pierced the skies and the harsh cry of the raven followed, filling the air with an eerie feeling.
"I am merely a simple feline, abandoned by her master for the dead and seeking revenge on the humans."
"Did you hear?" A middle-aged woman whispered to her younger companion, her eyes sweeping her surroundings in a suspicious way as her friend perked up and looked at her.
"What is it?" Her friend whispered back and the older woman looked around again before dropping her eyes to meet her friend's as they walked side-by-side. She stepped closer to her younger companion so that no one could overhear their conversation though why anyone would want to hear it in the first place was unknown.
"They say that Hisashi-san was missing when poor Ichiro-kun found the rotting corpse of his father underneath the sacred place! You know, the one where the weeping willow grows?"
"Really?"
"Yes! They say that his body suffered no wounds yet his blood was pooling around him! And they found a pawprint of a cat near his body!"
"What? That's strange..." the younger woman frowned, trailing off as her companion nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Then the older woman's eyes looked around again even though there was nothing to be suspicious about.
"They say that the spirit of the weeping willow was angry with him so they killed him!" The older woman gossiped in enthusiasm while the younger one blinked at the suggestion.
"No no, it can't be that," she shook her head and this time, it was the older woman's turn to frown at her. "I heard that somewhere that tree spirits are supposed to be gentle and caring, not bloodthirsty murderers!"
"Well, what if this spirit was an exception?" The older woman persisted and her friend scoffed at her persistence, although she now looked quite unsure of herself.
"That's no-" she didn't get to finish her sentence as she crashed into someone and fell down with a surprised gasp. Her friend blinked in surprise at the seemingly sudden presence and looked at the person who had crashed into her friend.
It was a girl with short black hair and an eyepatch that covered her left eye. The girl instantly scrambled up and apologized as she held out a hand to the younger woman who accepted it gratefully and helped her up.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking on where I was going," the girl apologized quickly before her eye darted around and she sent an apologetic smile at the two woman. "Again, I'm sorry but I must be going now. My brother is probably looking for me." Then the girl darted off with a surprising amount of speed, leaving behind the women stunned at the sudden events.
The younger woman turned to the older woman and blinked. "That was weird."