Dedicated to Kirstie with love.
Yep, a story for mah bestest friend in the whole wide world! xD KougaAya, of course.
Summary: A new promise has been made. Regret resurfaces and sadness overwhelms. Is it true love? Will true love ever be? KougaAya
A New Promise
Chapter One: Winter Prologue
Rain. It seemed to be everywhere lately at all hours of the day. The days were glum and passing by very slowly. The sky was grey, a very light grey, with a slight tint of blue. A sign of sun possibly? Doubtful. Clouds didn't dot the sky like normal, no, they covered the sky. A mixture of colors; purples and grays. Thunder rumbled off in the distance and an ocean gazed stared at the never ending pour of rain. Thunder would probably reach the mountains to the North in about an hour or so. They sounded far off in the east.
Winter was coming up and the owner of said eyes figured it would soon be snowing. He didn't hate the snow…it just brought some casualties that he didn't like overcoming. It would be hard to catch dinner nowadays. It had been getting hard in the past weeks and with winter coming, it will be even worse. Both he and his tribe hadn't been out of the den much unless it was called for. There were risks the Prince didn't feel like taking right now.
Days had now been spent strategizing or wrestling or doing things that young, male wolf demons do. The leader always hated being cooped up in a den, no matter the weather, and so his comrades often found him not there and figured he'd be out somewhere. They knew he'd be fine. His two best friends found it rather lonely when he wasn't with them and they found that they liked the comfort of their den, so they rarely went out with him in this type of weather.
"I'm going out. I'll try and find us some dinner."
This announcement had been common for the past several days so no one bothered to look up and wave goodbye. What was the point anymore? He wouldn't wave back. Two hands went up, though. Even if they weren't waved back at…they still waved goodbye and muttered a goodbye. For some reason, they both silently agreed that if they didn't…they'd find him gone for good and regret not ever saying goodbye. So they did this whenever he'd announce he was leaving and they wouldn't accompany him.
The Prince rarely brought home dinner when he said he'd try. His comrades didn't complain, though. It was hard to get food nowadays as previously mentioned and the Prince…well, he seemed to have a lot on his mind lately. Whenever he'd leave, he'd have this distracted, contemplative look about him and his comrades and friends knew he needed his time to sort out everything. His life has turned upside down in the past year or so. But something that happened about six days back, had completely warped it…something his comrades and friends knew nothing about. The Prince was sure only he and two other people knew about it.
This life warping event and truth had been running through his head over and over again…twenty-four seven, it seemed. It drove him insane and he wished it had never happened. He was happier remembering the past and telling him that he had made the right decisions. But now, as his past came back to haunt him, he was worried that maybe he truly did make the wrong decisions. His life was good, wasn't it? He had mad the right decisions, hadn't he?
These were unanswerable questions. Questions, he contemplated, that might never be answered. The thought scared him, but luckily, he was alone in his fear and no one would ever know. Or so he thought.
Crack!
A thick branch that had fallen from a tree in such violent weather cracked beneath the weight of the Prince. He didn't seem to notice. Nothing really seemed noticeable to him anymore. He almost seemed void of emotion and life, which was a scary aspect for most of his comrades. If they ever lost their Prince, they weren't sure what they would do. It was something that, whenever surfaced in their mind and asked to be thought about, was pushed away. It was almost like banishment. Banishment of thought.
They knew their Prince had been trying to banish a lot of things of his own in the past couple of days or so. Banish demons from his past, they assumed. But, they also assumed, he never did banish them and that they probably would never be banished unless he did something. What this little something was, though, they were clueless to. And so this on-going process kept going…day after day. The fellow wolf demons so badly wanted their Prince to overcome it, both for their sake…and their Princes'.
The Prince had never been one to overcome mental obstacles. He was more-so a hands on kind of guy. And these demons, they feared, would not be overcome…unless the Prince overcame his own fear. The Prince was a proud one and very little did he admit defeat so they knew he would not give up. Sure, it was hope, but what could hope do? Honestly, they figured it was false hope they would later curse.
The Prince was now soaked to the bone but didn't seem to notice or mind. His fur that covered a portion of his skin was dripping with water as they got wet still. The fur was matted and knotted. It was cold out and the Prince wouldn't be surprised if it started snowing later that night. For it was late afternoon and the sky was light, letting the Prince see. Though, he knew, in just a couple of hours it would be dark and all light would be empty. He wouldn't be out that long. He needed to get back to his clan so they wouldn't worry.
He had a big burden to carry, he knew, but everyday…he toughed it out. His clan depended on him. Besides the fact that he was their Prince, he was all they had. He leaded their clan and made decisions for them. They had put all their trust in him and he knew he couldn't let them down. They had lost people; a lot of people. People that were dear to them and who had not deserved to die. The Princes' clan had agonized and suffered through that time. But that was in the past and they had moved on and stayed strong. They were still there and they wouldn't be gone so easily.
He had felt like his world was slowly crumbling…it may not have been crumbling fast, but it was crumbling nonetheless. Taking his first step out of the forest that had moments ago seemed endless, the sky overtook him. He stopped there, at the edge of the forest, and stared up at the sky. His was so clear, it seemed, but he knew that was a lie. The clouds were such a light grey they made the sky look practically white. A part of him almost wanted it to be dark…there was no light. There would never be light unless it was all fixed.
He closed his eyes for a moment, head still tilted up, raindrops pelting his face. It felt like a sanctuary almost. His eyes opened once more and he took a deep breath before looking at the cliff right in front of him. He took several steps forward until he was at the edge of it and right beside a rushing river that had taken fall over the cliff into a vast, glossy lake.
He stared at the river, his eyes traveling its length and then to the waterfall and finally, down to the lake. The river, just like that, had ended. Collided into the ground and became a lake. The thought reminded the Prince of himself almost. He had been streaming through life, coursing through it. Then, all of a sudden, without a warning in advance, he had fallen. The part that bothered him though, is that he hadn't ended the fall yet. He was still falling, even to this moment. And for all he knew, he would never stop falling.
What was left, he wondered? Why, he wondered some more, was he in so much thought now?
What had happened six days ago should have made him extremely happy and relieved, right? It was good news he had received. It was one less thing that occupied and mocked his mind. If this was all true…why did it still mock himself in his mind? Why did it bother him more and more each day? He shouldn't be worried over this, everything was good. He had no regrets in life.
He told himself this but a little voice in the back of his mind always questioned this. He had walked the right path, taken the rights turns, and made the right choices. Why, then, did he question all of this so frequently now? It was almost too much for the Prince to handle and this worried him.
He put up fronts. No one would ever know he was worried or contemplative and questioning or…afraid. It was his secret to keep to himself. Something that he would take to his grave. Assuming where life would take him, the Prince was curious to the possibility that his grave was closer than he thought. After all, he led a life of violence. He had been wounded numerous times and each time, survived. But when, he wondered, would the surviving stop? When, he wondered, would it finally take his life?
He knew that soon enough…he would meet his match. And with the help of plenty of allies (whether he considered them allies or not), he would either have revenge or he would have death.
With all of this thought about, he dived. And while he dived, he thought about the event that had brought all of these thoughts to him. The fateful event that had took place only six days ago…
Prologues are meant to be short, right? I know what the "first" chapter is going to have, so it shouldn't be too hard to get up. I had a bit of trouble writing the prologue. I'm always in Miroku or Sango's mindset so this is a new turn of events for me. Don't expect stories like this to be common. I write MiroSan stuff, unless I'm convinced otherwise.
Reviews are nice and I always love the reviews I get, so keep it coming! Love to all.