In the darkness of the night, she sat alone. Upon a tall cliff overlooking the forest below, like something from a movie. To the human eye it would appear to be nothing but darkness, an abyss that all ran together with nothing to actually see. But Kiara wasn't human. Her eyes could see everything, the individual trees below, the dark lake that reflected the pure black sky, holding only a few stars that wished they were bright enough to bring comfort, and the small sliver of the moon that would be gone son.
She could hear the creatures awaken all around her to begin their night's work, the owls hoots from a mile away. And the howls. The howls of the wolves. The sound stirred up a feeling deep within her, making her soul ache to answer their cries. They were looking for a lost member of their pack, from what Kiara could gather. The alpha female, who had disappeared the other night. Her pups were to be born soon, and they were terribly worried where she went off too.
Yes, Kiara understood. She was one of them. At least, close to it. She listened every night, sneaking out of the Akatsuki base every night after her business was done. She was drawn to this place, it was strange. The howls died down, and Kiara realized they were giving up for the night. It was time for them to hunt now. Even though they were missing a member, they still had to eat, to feed the growing pups.
It was then that the night faded into total blackness, the last sliver of the moon completely disappearing from the night's sky. Kiara winced, as a creeping pain began to surge throughout her, coming from the moon-shaped mark that was located on her arm. The pain grew stronger, and Kiara's eyes closed, as she felt every fiber of her being begin to pulse. It was like this every time the moon left the sky, for her clan drew it's power from the moon.
She opened her eyes once again, slowly undoing the zipper on her cloak, and letting it fall unto the ground behind her. Her eyes slowly glided their way to her arm, where, as she had expected, the mark was taking over. It was no longer the small moon-shaped mark that usually laid there. The mark had taken over, leaving burns as it infected her. It crept from unto her shoulder, unto her neck, soon consuming the side of her face. She winced, as a small wave of almost crippling pain was felt, her one blue eye slowly fading to crimson to match her left eye. The pain had mostly numbed now, with the exception of the waves that came every so often.
And so Kiara laid back, against the large tree that grew there, and closed her eyes as the burn-like marks continued to run over the rest of the skin. She looked like a monster as it consumed most of her, her skin dark and burned beyond most any other mortal burns. But she herself was not completely mortal, as it was. It was this mark that caused her to be able to cheat death, as it was this mark that caused her so much pain. This was her, the true manifestation of the beast that she was. A true monster to most eyes.
It was the reason that she had lived her life this way. The reason her human father had tried to tame her like an animal at a circus, the reason she had snapped, the reason she was shunned from villages. The reason for everything she did. Being a wolf controlled her life. This mark was a constant reminder of that. It was who she was, and it mapped her destiny out like a fairy tale. Kiara, born under the red light of the lunar eclipse. Child of the great Tami. The one who was supposed to lead her bloodline out of their dark ages of hiding, and stop all the rejection they had faced all these years.
Some times she wondered how she was supposed to accomplish this. She was nothing special, and definitely not the strongest of her clan, but somehow, fate had chosen her. It was a lot to bear some time, carrying the burdens she had too. The death of her own mother, and the clan leader, because of her. Her own slaughter of her father and his whole small village. The future of the whole clan that was now looking to her and her niisan, who was the new clan leader.
All her throats were shattered as a larger-than-before wave of pain surged through her whole body, as the mark completely consumed her.
"It's time" She whispered, her voice tainted with an unfamiliar tone. Her whole body seemed to pulse, as it slowly transformed. She let out a small whimper as her form became beast like, the wolf taking over her body. Soon there was no longer the slim female form that had been sitting there just a small while before. A large, mean looking wolf now took her place. It was much different than Kiara's controlled, normal wolf. Instead of the slim and beautiful wolven form Kiara preferred to take, this was big and ugly.
It's whole body was scarred and battered, large over-sized muscles, and messy, almost matted fur. For a second she stood there, but the control soon slipped, and a sort of smile came over the beast's canine muzzle. With a large leap for a start, she took of running, with almost unnatural speed, bounding down the jagged rocks of the cliff into the forest that sat below. A primal growl rose from her throat as she lept over a fallen tree, skidding to a stop, and making a quick right turn. This pattern continued throughout a good deal of the forest, until she turned the wrong way, and skidded to a stop in front of the tallest tree in the forest.
She let out a low bark, rising to her hind legs, and slashing at the tree with her large paws, leaving huge, deep scratch marks in the bark. She snarled, whipping around, her eyes scanning the dark forest for any signs of life. She breathed heavily, snarling with her glistening white fangs at the emptiness. All the animals had fled into the safety of their homes. They knew better than to be out right now. It was strong; and overpowering urge to rip something living to shreds, to taste the blood of something she herself killed.
This is why her bloodline was so shunned. This is why they were called murderers. But they just couldn't help it sometimes. It was an instinct; a side effect of being a beast creature. Her short pause was interupted as her wild rage once again took over, and she burst forward, to find another tree to attack, or something of the sort. She'd take out all this rage on something else, and this pattern continued. Once did Kiara come across a small rabbit, but in her mad dash after it, the small creature had, luckily for him, made it back to his den.
It was hours later, when she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening as she began to regain things. Her thoughts, judgment, and ability to control herself came back. After a moment of looking around, trying to remember the cloudy memories of the past few hours. She began to return to her human form, sitting on her knees in the middle of the forest clearing. Her clothes were all torn, explosing the scars that littered her body.It was over. This time.
She stood, exhausted, but knowing she had to get back to the base before the other Akatsuki woke up. She began to walk the path back towards her cliff, stepping quickly with the last few ounces of energy. She made it within a few minutes, and grabbed her cloak as she made a run towards the base.
She was a monster. A killer. The Akatsuki leader. A true terror to most.
Yet, to her clan, she was the child of destiny.
It was times like this, she thought as she ran, her arm giving off a faint ache, that she wished she could not be these things, just for one day.
It was so much to handle...