The Path Of God
Initiation :
I stand at the edge, looking down,
Devoid of thoughts, the cliffs stand steep,
Not knowing, what may lie beyond,
I close my eyes,
I leap.
'…Our house…it used to stand here….right here….'
He didn't know how many days, how many years, how many decades…or maybe even centuries had passed, since then.
He couldn't explain it, really. It felt…it felt nauseating sometimes. The sheer weight with which the realization crashes down on you, with a force powerful enough to break you apart and tear you to shreds.
But then, to him, it never made a difference.
To him, one who had tread the very same soil for years on end, it was but a blunt knife lovingly caressing his skin.
Long ago, so many…so much..time had passed, and yet, it could've been yesterday, for all he knew.
Long ago, a certain man, his rival had chased this foolishness with an almost terrifying bloodlust.
"Immortality."
But then, he'd watched. He'd watched him labor over it, night and day, tearing out strands of his hair in order to achieve that ever so elusive dream of existing unto eternity.
And then, he'd watched him change, change slowly yet steadily from a monster to a man, from beast to human.
Immortality had eluded his rival, and yet, in what one could call a cruel twist of fate, it had found him, him of all people.
To have become one, one with the Dragon, with…God….he'd felt it fill his heart in a most satisfying manner. He was elated, he was…
And then, bit by bit, it had broken, cracked, and the fragments had started to make themselves seen. The same thing that had filled him with elation was slowly eating away at his insides.
He kept walking forward, though. He never stopped. Never, in that entire time span had he stopped once to lament his misfortune, to pity over his pitiable state.
Looking down, he kicked aside a rock, and it hit the sides, breaking apart into a million tiny pieces.
His loose Gi seemed to flutter slightly, signaling the onset of dusk.
'Look at him! The savior of the world! Look at him, walking with his head held high and that smile on his face!'
For the first time in more than a century, he felt his face twist into a snarl.
'Look at him, reduced to nothing.'
In the end, it seemed bitterly ironic. He'd erred. He'd reveled in that sensation for just that fraction of a second, and in that second, he'd changed from the pristine warrior, the pure-hearted Saiyan into…
Oh, he'd ended up paying dearly for it. Strictly speaking, he was still doing so.
Shenron, it had seemed had put him through one final trial, the most important one. And he'd walked right into its gaping maw.
A leaf rested lightly on his spiky black hair, before continuing its wayward journey.
He turned, flexing his powerful arms.
The ground shook. The air seemed to get denser. The weather suddenly seemed to get uncharacteristically warmer.
He blinked once, and focused his eyes.
'There….thirty miles north of east.'
He shook his neck slightly, and a few muscles seemed to pop, as if excited by their master's call.
"You…You there….h-h-hellllll-uhhh"
He looked down at her, arms still folded. She was crawling, struggling even to do so, and yet she crawled. A huge gash adorned her right shoulder, and blood seemed to make it's way out of the wound in a sangfroid manner.
He stepped forward.
Cocking his head slightly, he analyzed her.
Yes, there was no doubting it. A few more minutes, and not one, but two lives would be lost to the world.
The woman was pregnant.
"You…..what's your..naammeee-"
She seemed to choke, and with an effort, spewed out a thick glob of blood.
"Hellllp me…."
Help her? Save her life, and the child's?
He stepped forward. He was now standing right above her. Her hands seemed to claw at air wildly. He produced a foot, and she hung on to it.
Crouching down with a grunt, he looked her straight in the eye.
For a second, two pairs of jet-black eyes seemed to meet, to embrace each other.
He looked up.
Obscurely he could make out the form of a…a behemoth, a great beast, off in the background, causing chaos and taking away lives, probably hundreds of lives.
Not even a sliver of surprise coursed through his mind. Not shock, not amazement, not fear.
He laughed, suddenly.
'Fear?'
He looked at the monster. It's massive tails, nine of them, thrashed about, wrecking the human settlement.
For a second, it seemed to turn towards him, and then it turned back.
And in that second, he studied its malicious red eyes and blood-soaked canines.
And somewhere within him, somewhere deep down, something seemed to stir. It seemed to open its eyes, and raise its hackles.
He closed his eyes, and pushed the sensation aside when he felt the woman below him rasp.
"Why…..why wooooon't you help me…"
He slowly brought his hand down, and placed it on the woman's waist. Drawing forward the other hand, he traced a line across her stomach. Stopping at mid-point, he extended his palm.
"Tell me now. Do you want to live?"
His voice was barren and raspy, vocal cords quite unused to speech.
The woman seemed to look up at him, bewilderment fogging her obsidian eyes. And then, it seemed to fade. She seemed to realize the implications.
To live would be to continue, to dodge death's impending blade, and to get back up again, and see the dawn of another day.
She nodded, not finding the strength to speak.
She felt a sharp spike of pain across her thorax. Invisible knives worked their way across her body, tearing apart her nerves.
She cried, both physically and verbally. And then, it seemed to stop. She opened her eyes.
Vision faded, and re-focused to reveal an awe-inspiring sight, one that would have forced her, had she been able, to drop down to her knees and gaze in admiration.
Gone were the black eyes, gone were the dark black wild hair, only to be replaced by a breathtaking shade of teal eyes, and brilliant gold hair, and she felt the surge.
The surge of energy, both externally and internally shook her body, as she felt new life breathed into her by this…this God.
And she felt her eyes close, finally.
And in the darkness, she heard her savior's voice, firm, steady, and to her, it sounded like the voice of a God, full of shining hope, full of promise, pure promise, joy, happiness, and energy.
"Some time back….you asked me my name."
"…."
"Name's Goku."
"…Wh-What a-a-are you?"
The man seemed to sigh.
"A long time ago, I was the hope of the Universe, I was the answer to all living things who cried out for peace, I was the protector of the innocent, I was the light in the darkness, I was truth, and I was ally to all that was good."
"And now…What am I now?"
The last thing that Uchiha Mikoto saw before passing out was the God walking away, toward the Nine Tailed fox, with a wide grin threatening to split his face in two.
End.
