Summary - On a rare and peaceful night, a secret is revealed, followed by an unexpected surprise. MushraxYakumo.
Disclaimer - I do not own Shinzo, however, this story belongs to me.
It was one of those rare and peaceful nights. The group had decided to take a break near Lake Champlain, after hours of traveling. They were all tired and hungry, what with Kutal, going off somewhere and so there was no one to cook for them. Though Mushra did try and serve one of his cook meals (mud stew), but the group could not bear to even try it.
So they tried to sleep and tried to ignore the hunger that rumbled in their bellies, and one by one, they dozed; tired, but hungry. All but one is asleep, which was Mushra, as it was his turn to wait for Kutal.
Being bored and all and with nothing else to do, but stare at the fire that lit up their whole camp, Mushra was slowly dozing off. His eyes wavered between blank stares to droopy eyes, before slowly it began to close. All was silent then for a while, perfect for a peaceful sleep, and then a crack was heard.
Mushra's head slowly went up and turned into the direction of the noise, but saw nothing. Then it went again and this time Mushra saw what was making the noise. He could only see the shadow of it, but he could hear the rushed footsteps, as the intruder tried to make a quick escape. Suspecting it was an enemy, Mushra followed his instincts, leaving no time for thoughts, and chased the intruder.
He ran through thick bushes, making sure he was near the intruder. He could hear the fast footsteps as it hit the damp ground. Splash, pluck, splash, he could tell that with each steps his boots was getting dirtier, but now wasn't the time to for that. He had to catch the intruder. Running through the tall grass, Mushra could see that the figure was close. Within about a few feet away, Mushra ran then jumped high into the air, making a surprise jump attack at his opponent.
But, when he landed, he landed only on ground. Now he was confused. Mushra searched everywhere for where the intruder could be, but could not seem to find it. A shadow similar to the one he chased loomed over him, and as he looked up, Mushra could only see it was the clouds that played a trick on him. Then he looked at his surroundings.
He was near a lake, of which Sago had foretold, could it be Lake Champlain? Mushra looked to his right and saw a sign posted on a nearby tree, it said Lake Champlain.
Not wanting to go back so easily, Mushra decided to stay and rest his legs. He went up close to the lake and looked into its deep waters. He could not see the depth of it, but he could see a surface image: himself. He could see those sad light blue eyes as it stared back at him. His lavender, short hair, that was slowly, but evidently growing. And the face of boy, of whom he knew so well.
A cough from behind brought him out of his thoughts.
"Who's there?" he called out, as he looked at the area behind him.
He did not hear a reply, but he could hear their footsteps. Not wanting to take any risks, he grabbed a nearby stick and crept slowly towards his second intruder. With stealth he managed to get a few feet in front of his intruder and then waited as they came. Then as soon as he was sure that the intruder was close enough, he came out of his hiding place and rammed the stick, with all his might, only stopping when he saw, whom he nearly hit. It was Yakumo.
"Oh Mushra, you startled me." Yakumo, giggled nervously as she eyed the stick in his hands.
"Ah, sorry about that, I thought it was a thief that was coming, and this time I wanted to be prepared." He tried to explain.
"It's alright."
Mushra gave her a sheepish smile. Putting down the stick, he asked "So what are you doing up? I thought you were asleep?"
Yakumo shook her head. "I couldn't I'm just anxious to go to Shinzo. Not after, that enterran we met a few days ago, said that we would be there shortly after about a week. I'm just too excited."
"Oh."
"So what are you doing up, Mushra?"
"Oh me?" said Mushra, as he nervously laughed, then he came became eerily quiet. "Couldn't sleep."
"Oh, why not?" asked Yakumo.
There was silence before Mushra answered. "I guess you say, that I was thinking of the past."
"Oh, what kind?"
"Nothing, much of a big deal." Said Mushra as he carelessly shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to talk about it. Not in front of her. It was too much.
"Please tell me." Begged Yakumo. "I heard that if you talk about things that you're not comfortable with, it would make you feel a lot better."
"I don't think it can." Mushra answered, his back turned to her.
"Please tell." She pleaded.
Mushra slowly turned to her. He could see it in her eyes that she just wants to know what was bothering him. Those angelic, crystal, clear blue eyes, he could not resist and sure enough he gave in. He gave a big sigh, indicating that he was about to start.
"I never told you about my childhood and how I was raised. You see my father abandoned the family, when I was young."
Yakumo's eyes widened at this, and she was about to intervene and try and comfort him, when Mushra went on.
"And my poor mother. She had to take care of me. She was very cheerful, I guess you could even say, that's where I got my personality." Mushra gave a small smile at this, before continuing.
"My mom had a specialty when it comes to cooking, almost rivaling Kutal's, but she was terrible at reading labels. One day while my mom was washing my hair, she accidentally picked up the wrong bottle. She sprinkled the liquid, like you do with a salt shaker, and while she was doing that some of the liquid fell to the floor. Apparently, the liquid, was highly toxic, causing the floor to burn, as it landed, and the whole house burned with it too. I was the only survivor. The color of my hair is the proof of all that. It used to be brown, but now it's this color, forever, reminding me of that day."
"Mushra…" Yakumo whispered, as she noticed the male enterran slowly beginning to tear up.
"And then I had to learn to live alone. To live life as an orphan." Sobbed Mushra, as he turned to face Yakumo. "Do you know how hard life was to live life as an orphan?"
Yakumo remained silent as she let him rant on.
"I had to live life by myself." Said Mushra, his voice wavering with each word. "I had to learn how to fight because it was the only thing I know on how to survive. That is why I fight. It is the only way. My way."
Yakumo was silent for a while, then she spoke up. "You're wrong." She whispered.
"Huh?" said Mushra as he looked at Yakumo.
"There are other ways besides fighting for life." Yakumo finished.
Mushra gave a mock scoff before answering, disbelieving her. "Like what?" he asked, his voice arrogant.
Yakumo gave him a simple answer. "Friends."
"Friends?" he asked.
Yakumo merely nodded, giving him a smile.
"Well, I already have that." He stated.
"Yes, I know were all friends." Said Yakumo.
"But it's hard forgetting-"
"Yes, but you must learn to forget and move on."
"I have moved on." Mushra stated.
"You have?"
"Yes, and I have learned something too."
"What have you learned?" asked Yakumo.
Mushra gave her look before giving her a mischievous grin. "This time I will not tell."
Yakumo blushed, when she thought he knew what he meant. Mushra saw this and laughed at her expression. "Hahaha, you're so funny." He pointed.
Yakumo became very embarrassed. "Relax, stop getting embarrassed about it. I'll tell you if you promised me you won't get embarrassed."
Yakumo remained silent, but turned around to face him, indicating that she was listening. However, instead of saying what he going to tell her, Mushra did something completely different. Closing the space between them, he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss.
Yakumo was beyond shock for words. She was frozen, rooted to her spot, as she let the male enterran kiss her. Then he pulled back.
"See, that's what I meant." He smiled.
Then he turned around, heading for the camp. "I smell fish, whoohoo that means Kutal is back! Come on, let's go back Yakumo!"
But, Yakumo didn't budge, her mind was still focused on what had just happened. She could feel her heart racing as she watched his retreating figure, move away. She placed a hand to her chest, trying to calm down the bubbling emotion as it threatened to rise out of control.
She gave a soft smile. Perhaps now was the time to tell him something too.
End.
I actually thought of this weeks ago to tell you the truth, but I didn't wanted to post it yet. Not with the series, I had recently just finished. Anyways tell me what you guys think of it. And please vote on which one's better: February or Bleached Hair (this story).
Remember to review!