Sol of Luna: A New Age
Author: Gakusangi
Author's Notes and Acknowledgements: PLEASE READ!
Okay, so here's the deal. For anyone that keeps track and might still be here, YES "The Four Winds" has been the deleted. I apologize for the lack of updates and my recent creative slump for…well…about a year now? Anyway, here's the deal…I've deleted "The Four Winds" and am now recycling what I can from the story to supplement the OFFICIAL sequel to "Sol of Luna: Near and Far". You see, writing the side story was becoming an immense chore and I felt that it was only serving to keep you guys, the readers, from actually getting ahead in the tale and seeing what you've all been waiting for and in that regard, I find that I've been rather selfish. I won't present any excuses for this blatant neglect on my part as an author. So without ANY further ado, I present the true sequel to "Sol of Luna: Near and Far". I hope you all enjoy the ride…
This is a Death Note fan fiction. Many of the characters presented here are not mine, but the legal property of the original manga writer Tsugumi Ohba, and artist Takeshi Obata. Additional characters from are the legal properties of authors Nisio Isin and M. Prologue: Coyote Midnight
The children all cheered as the bulky panda suit lit another line of firecrackers, tossing them out and letting off a raped serious and deafening 'pops' before the scorched line floated down to the ground. The flashes of the little fireworks left the little ones all blinking and seeing bright and dark spots for a moment and still they screamed with innocent delight at the spectacle. The man in the large panda costume lumbered clumsily over to the cart and removed some tower-candles, placing them on the ground carefully before lighting them and sending up bright rockets of colors into the air which burst into brilliant, flowery displays before floating down to the ground in small embers.
The harvest festival was a three-day event that was often the joy of not only the children but all the citizens of the empire, common and noble alike. The opening of autumn would be the start of the first reaping, and the festival had streamed lengths of colored lanterns over the streets with carved pumpkins lining them, all with ghastly, frightening features for the little ones to enjoy. Before the festival, the men had work tirelessly until the crops were ready to be harvested, tilling the soil, and fattening the livestock. The woman had toiled feverishly in the kitchens, and cleaning rooms, making sure everything was ready for the great feast, and the celebrations afterwards. There had been prepared extravagant foods, like fine roasts, and pies, and other such things and there had been hand-sewn and stitched little costumes for the children so that they could go around the city well after their usual bedtimes to receive little trinkets, and treats from the locals, or cause a healthy bit of mischief. The little kiddies would dress up in costume and venture out of their homes seeking out generous adults. Woe to the person cold enough to deny them their festival treats for they would often find themselves at the receiving end of an embarrassing prank or two before the event had concluded on the third night.
The panda man came back with more firecrackers, tossing them into the street and filling the air with that rattling, like rapid gunfire, which was soon followed by the joyous squeals of the children watching. Another panda soon joined him and allowed him some relief of the gathered little ones, taking over his spot at the cart and lighting more fireworks. The first one made a show for the children, crawling away on all fours like a real panda and making them all giggle in amusement.
The storehouse just across from the display had no food things stocked inside it for some time now…not since the mysterious and as yet undiscovered vanishing of the elder couple that owned it. Nothing had stirred in it for days until this night, when the door slid open silently and a figure, wrapped in a long, black cloak came out, his hood up but not hiding the skull mask he wore over his face. He crept out as stealthily as death itself and moved down the road, away from the festivities without anyone to mark his passing…
(XXX)
Arayoshi Hatori had taken himself away from the noise and merriment, walking away from the plaza where most of the commotion was. It was past sunset but not yet into late evening. The air was a bit crisp and you could smell moisture in the air, but the rains were far off, so the young, blonde man took the streets without any cover, but not without a sense of, seemingly unwarranted, caution. With the gatherings all in the city center, there were little people about as he made his way towards the outskirts without his personal guard or a coach to drive him to his destination. Those sorts of things attracted unwanted attention and he was moving in secret.
His footfalls were met with the steady 'tap-tap-tap' of his polished shoes on the cobblestones. He pulled his long coat about him tightly to block out a chilling wind that suddenly coiled through the streets, making him shiver. His route took him downward, descending the levels of the city like giant steps and making for the wide base, surrounded by the immense wall that enclosed the capitol. The heart of the empire…fortifications laid down brick by brick by the Divine Emperor himself countless years ago. No one could get in, not when the block was lowered and the place held up. Stores of food would last them long through any siege. Impenetrable…invincible…but it was like a rabbit-proof fence around a vegetable garden. There was always that chance that you had fenced the real threat inside.
Hatori was walking briskly, but not swiftly enough to raise any attention to himself. He was more than grateful for the festival leaving all the streets so vacant at this hour. It was only the first night and already it was providing all the protection he could ask for. He moved down the streets and past darkened alleyways, his eyes darting for signs of trouble. Even though the Emperor's son had been returned safely, there was something to be said about such an open attack from the Daimyo forces that left them all feeling a bit uneasy and on-edge. Hatori's breath was making steam now and his coat was pulled about him tightly to block out the cold.
How can the commoners parade up the streets in weather like this every year? Hatori wondered to himself as his shoes tapped along.
Tap-tap-tap…
These taps were not his own and caused the young man to stop dead in his tracks, his body tensing and his hair standing on end as he listened. He was met with only an empty silence, the sounds of the festivities faint several feet up onto the next level of the city. He waited a long moment just to be sure before he resumed. His pace was a bit faster now and his steps lighter as he kept his ears open.
…Tap-tap-tap…
They returned and Hatori stopped, turning around. The street behind him was empty, still…almost unnaturally, it seemed. His breath was coming fast and his heart was hammering, thudding loudly in his ears and deafening him a bit as cold eyes stared, wide and fearful, as though trying to see through the vacancy of the street. But there was nothing. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Hatori turned to move on. He cried out sharply when he came face to face with a grinning skull and stepped back in surprise. The figure wasn't particularly large and wrapped in a dark cloak with the hood up and a skull mask covering their face. Hatori blinked a few times before he frowned and took a step off into a nearby alley, the figure following him in to towards the back where it dead-ended.
"Why don't you just shout out from the wall that something's up?" Hatori hissed angrily, looking the figure other.
The person before him only stared silently, their breath muffled behind the skull mask and their posture slightly hunched. Hatori was quiet for a moment, expecting something, anything in response, but only being met with that eerie quiet, punctuated by the person's breathing. He took another breath to calm and steel himself before he addressed the figure again.
"Well?" He demanded. "Do you have it?"
The figure in the mask stared at him more without a reply. After a moment Hatori became increasingly convinced that the person wasn't going to say anything to him. Just as he was about to ask again though, the masked figure's hand slowly reached into the folds of the black cloak and pulled out a small case, holding it out to Hatori. Hatori blinked a little before he smiled and took the case, popping it open. I pulled out a few pieces of parchment and unrolled them, looking them over and smirking with cold delight.
"Yes." He hummed lowly. "With these documents, I want to dare him to deny my relation."
He chuckled and looked back at the figure, which looked back at him soundlessly.
"…Oh, right." Hatori shook his head to clear it. "Here."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a bag, which was heavy and jingled with coins wrapped inside.
"Don't spend it all in one place." He snickered as he held the bag out to the figure.
The mask stared back at him, tilted slightly, as though confused. Hatori's smile wavered and he his brow slowly furrowed into a frown.
"…Go on, take it." He urged. "It's all there. You can count it yourself."
More silence and more staring, Hatori was becoming rapidly more and more unnerved by this person and started to question his decision to hire someone to retrieve the documents from the imperial archives. The figure reached out slowly, gloved fingers curling around the bag one at a time before it was suddenly snatched from Hatori's hand, making him jump a little. The figure tucked the bag away without checking its contents and resumed their staring. Hatori stared back for a moment before he nodded.
"Alright then…good work." He offered, carefully moving around the figure and making for the mouth of the alleyway.
As he moved, the skull mask turned slowly with him, never breaking away. Hatori started walking back towards the street before stopping at the mouth of the alley and turning back to find the cloaked figure still standing where he had been and staring at him wordlessly. He shuddered and pulled his coat about him more before taking himself out of the alley briskly, suddenly anxious to be away.
He took the more frequented streets, which were still vacant, but with all the buildings about and the lights on, it gave Hatori a sense of safety, like he was in public and less likely to be ambushed. Still, he kept a sharp eye and his ears wide open for signs of potential danger. His shoes were tapping quickly now as he seemed to continue to build up speed.
Tap-tap-tap…
Once again, he was certain that they weren't his own footfalls. Rather than look back, Hatori broke into a run, charging down the middle of the empty street as though his life depended on it. The buildings and windows flew by, the wind howling in his ears. He ignored the cold, the rapid beat of his heart and the panting of his breath. All he could make out was the 'tapping' behind him, matching pace. He ran for several blocks, his lungs and throat burning, his heart aching as it hammered in his chest and his thoughts blurry.
Finally he came around a corner and cried out again as the face of a daemon shot out at him and growled, its horns jutting from its forehead and large, tusk-like fangs protruding from its bottom lip. As Hatori fell to the ground and blinked up, the daemon growled ferociously again…but there was a muffled quality to the sound and a deadness to the monster's eyes that made Hatori blinked for a moment. He gritted his teeth as the creature moved away and he saw that from the neck down, the daemon was a man in red clothing…wearing a red Oni mask for the parade marching up the street towards the plaza.
In his frantic fleeing, Hatori had not detected the sounds of cheering crowds, drums, maracas, flutes and sticks being banged together in a symphony of festival noises. The people were all in costume, not late enough for the children to have been sent off to bed and leaving only the grown-ups to celebrate. Hatori sighed and got to his feet, looking around for traces of a skull mask, but finding nothing. Still, he wasn't prepared to risk anything at the moment and the parade presented suitable cover for the time being and it was heading his way anyway. He moved in from the back, the man in the Oni mask taking his act to the front of the procession and lighting two, sparkling torches, one in each hand as he led them up towards the palace.
"Pardon me." Hatori said politely as he moved through the crowd. "Excuse me…coming through…I need to get by…no, no thank you."
He waved off a vender selling beaded necklaces and took another glance around. Things were in a blur of motion and colors as the parade patrons danced and cheered happily and more than a gentle few a bit drunkenly. Amid the wave of sights and sounds, Hatori thought that made he saw something, like a flittering of shadow the coiled through the crowed almost unnaturally. But as he looked, he was met with only more common folk joining in the merriment of the festival's opening night. Hatori blinked and then started to push through the crowd a bit more.
He sought out the quickest route, finding the clear or clearer paths to shoulder through and politely excusing himself as he went, more out of habit really. It was as he glanced down his next clear line that he spotted something from over the shoulders of the people ahead of him. It was a white, grinning skull mask, staring back at him from across the way. Hatori's blood suddenly cooled in his veins as he froze with suddenly horror. He stared at the masked figure for a moment before a few other costumed individuals passed in front of him, momentarily blocking his view. As they cleared he stared at the vacant spot where the skull person had been only a second ago. Now Hatori's blood turned to ice and his heartbeat became frantic as his eyes darted about fearfully.
Could he have switched over? The terrifying thought crossed the young Councilor's mind. Offered more money to get at me? Is it possible?
There was a hissing sound- no, more like the sounds of a librarian shushing a noise child.
Shh!
I sounded and Hatori caught movement out of the corner of his eye, but when he looked there was nothing there.
Shh!
He snapped his head forward again. Was that a glimpse of white? Could it have been the skull mask among the crowd?
Shh! Shh! Shh!
It was all around him. He saw shifting shadows and moments of movement, but never the actually source. The drums were beating loudly, the flutes baring the sticks slamming together in rhythm. It was utter chaos in the middle of this street and he was fleeing for his life. There was a growl and he jumped to see the Oni mask in his face again, the tusks almost grazing his cheeks. Hatori gasped and then shoved past the man, hurrying into another alleyway. The Oni man watched him go for a moment before laughing and hurrying to the front of the crowd again.
Hatori ran until he heard the cheering of the crowd and the music both begin to fade. He looked about for a moment, seeing nothing move and not hearing any potential threats. He let out a tense breath and turned on corner and then another before coming to a dead end. He frowned and turned around to retrace his steps. This proved useless as about three turns in he came to yet another wall of bricks. He cursed under his breath and turned to head back again. These back streets and alleys were a virtual labyrinth, easy to get lost in and even easier if you weren't frequently walking the place, like a coach-escorted nobleman.
His fancy shoes tapped on the cobblestones and he pulled his coat around himself a little tighter to block out the cold. It wasn't summer anymore, but the whether had been clear and hot during the day still. With no cloud cover to hold in the heat, the nights dropped to freezing temperatures easily though. It was like the summer refused to surrender to fall this year. Hatori only took note of it now as he made him miserable on his way back. That is, if he could stop running into walls in this maze of back ways. He groaned as he came to another dead end and turned around.
As he came around the corner, a massive form filled his vision and he gaped in utter surprise at the tower of white and black fur. A wild panda…in the heart of the city? How was that even possible? There was a flash and Hatori stumbled back a little more. He attempted to cry out in alarm, but all that came out was an odd sort of wheezing gargle, right before he felt his shirt become heavy with a hot dampness. He looked down to see his entire front stained reach and then choked, reaching up to clutch his throat, his fingers dipping into the deep gash there. His mouth immediately overflowed with blood as he tried to speak again, the coppery taste sickening. The blood was hot, making steam rise from the wound. Every breath Hatori tried to take in pulled more blood into his lungs and every exhale made bloody air bubbles rise in his mouth and gush out with the current running from his neck.
He fell over onto the cobblestones, his blood running between the cracks and lines and spreading around him in a pool. He looked up at the panda, which stood on two legs easily, one paw gripping what looked to be a bloody kitchen knife. The panda lifted its hands up and removed its head, revealing that there was another one underneath…a human one. Two red eyes burned in the darkness, down at Hatori, seeing through him.
Those eyes! Hatori thought in horror. Just like the Princesses!
The Hatori's vision began to blur and his head rolled over to the side as his last breath bubbled out onto the cobblestones and he lay still. Everything was still for a moment before the figure in the panda costume knelt down beside Hatori's body and set something down on his chest. It was a little straw doll, used to ward evil spirits by shrine priests. The figure stood back up and smirked as a sound suddenly carried on the chilling wind from the castle, on the highest level of the capitol.
That night, as the crowds went to gather in the plaza, many would claim that they heard howling, like the howling of wild dogs in the night, coming from the Imperial Palace. A fitting thing really, considering that the first day of festival was called Coyote Midnight which commemorated the opening of the three days of harvest celebration. The ghostly howls would also serve to individualize this particular Coyote Midnight from the others in the past and future…as well as the things that occurred that night… SOL OF LUNA: A NEW AGE…Author's Comments…
Well, this has been a triumph for me to say the very least.
Once again, I apologize for my blatant neglect and hope that maybe I can manage to be a better author to my readership as this thing comes along.