Her Dance of Death by passionlily
I stand alone in a locus of death.
This place where we come when life's breath has left our souls; when
we no longer have any need for air.
A cemetery.
But not any cemetery. I feel it in the air. This place is
different.
A cat, black as the night it haunts, prowls the necropolis, eyes
reflecting yellow from the moon's light. I follow it on a childish
whim, on the chance that it might show me what it is that I am
looking for in this place.
As the feline darts in and out of the tombs, I try to get my
bearings. I have no idea where I am, what I'm doing. Deep inside,
I know that this, whatever it is that I'm doing, is important. I
just don't know why.
Suddenly, the animal disappears into the darkness. As I stumble to
a halt, my eyes fall on the closest crypt. My breathing becomes
short as I stare at the inscription, with both horror and sadness.
Tomoe Keiko.
Mother.
I know now why I am here, why I have been brought to this
polyandrium. It is so I can see _her_ once again.
As I kneel there, before the massive stone, the voices start.
"Come," they whisper in my ears, no louder than the wind's own
breath. "Come and dance the cemetery dance. Come," the voices
grow, singing to a melody both haunting and tragic. "Come and dance
the dance of death."
I am surrounded by them, these unknown people of the cold sleep that
never ends. Their arms comfort me, and a warmth I have never known
before spreads through my body. As I absorb their presence, I see
one before me who is _not_ unknown, one of these lifeless shells
whom I have seen before. Mother.
Her voice is as soft and gentle as it was when she was living, when
the bonds of death did not harbor her. "Daughter," she purrs, and
in an instant I know that it was she who led me here, in the form of
that atramentous cat. "Daughter Hotaru, join our dance of death. For
you, one of death yourself, must know that the living suffer, the
living lose one another. The living will never win. But together,
_we_ can win them all."
She reaches out for my hand, and pulls me from the mud. Music rides
the blowing current, and as I stand in the middle of them, I feel an
uncontrollable urge to dance. My body sways with the wind, and I
let it take me over, as I sink into the depths of the Pale Horse's
realm...
My eyes flicker open, to see the reassuring neon glow of my digital
alarm clock. It is 2:23 in the morning, but I know I will get no
more sleep that night. I roll sleepily out of bed, and stumble to
my desk. Pulling out a lined piece of stationary, I start to record
my dream, as I always do. Words spill out onto the paper, and I can
barely control my shaking hands.
I will not share this dream with the others. They do not need to
know.
For I am the Senshi of Death, and Death holds many secrets...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stand alone in a locus of death.
This place where we come when life's breath has left our souls; when
we no longer have any need for air.
A cemetery.
But not any cemetery. I feel it in the air. This place is
different.
A cat, black as the night it haunts, prowls the necropolis, eyes
reflecting yellow from the moon's light. I follow it on a childish
whim, on the chance that it might show me what it is that I am
looking for in this place.
As the feline darts in and out of the tombs, I try to get my
bearings. I have no idea where I am, what I'm doing. Deep inside,
I know that this, whatever it is that I'm doing, is important. I
just don't know why.
Suddenly, the animal disappears into the darkness. As I stumble to
a halt, my eyes fall on the closest crypt. My breathing becomes
short as I stare at the inscription, with both horror and sadness.
Tomoe Keiko.
Mother.
I know now why I am here, why I have been brought to this
polyandrium. It is so I can see _her_ once again.
As I kneel there, before the massive stone, the voices start.
"Come," they whisper in my ears, no louder than the wind's own
breath. "Come and dance the cemetery dance. Come," the voices
grow, singing to a melody both haunting and tragic. "Come and dance
the dance of death."
I am surrounded by them, these unknown people of the cold sleep that
never ends. Their arms comfort me, and a warmth I have never known
before spreads through my body. As I absorb their presence, I see
one before me who is _not_ unknown, one of these lifeless shells
whom I have seen before. Mother.
Her voice is as soft and gentle as it was when she was living, when
the bonds of death did not harbor her. "Daughter," she purrs, and
in an instant I know that it was she who led me here, in the form of
that atramentous cat. "Daughter Hotaru, join our dance of death. For
you, one of death yourself, must know that the living suffer, the
living lose one another. The living will never win. But together,
_we_ can win them all."
She reaches out for my hand, and pulls me from the mud. Music rides
the blowing current, and as I stand in the middle of them, I feel an
uncontrollable urge to dance. My body sways with the wind, and I
let it take me over, as I sink into the depths of the Pale Horse's
realm...
My eyes flicker open, to see the reassuring neon glow of my digital
alarm clock. It is 2:23 in the morning, but I know I will get no
more sleep that night. I roll sleepily out of bed, and stumble to
my desk. Pulling out a lined piece of stationary, I start to record
my dream, as I always do. Words spill out onto the paper, and I can
barely control my shaking hands.
I will not share this dream with the others. They do not need to
know.
For I am the Senshi of Death, and Death holds many secrets...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~