Bi-polar? Sakuya isn't bi-polar. She's bi-WINNING! Hurr… I like writing this story more than I should.
Chapter 2: Both of Us
It was easy to get lost in the forest at night. Even Sakuya had to retrace her steps a few times before she righted herself and got on the path toward her bleak little cabin in the woods. It was obscured by the trees, and far away from civilization—the best for serving its purpose. Sakuya didn't enjoy crowds for a prolonged period of time, and besides, she needed it to hide the precious thing she kept in there.
Checking to see that no one followed her, Sakuya ducked beneath the skeleton of a dormant aspen and fumbled with the lock. It creaked open, and she cranked on the oil lamp, slamming the door shut at the same time. She shed her coat and hung up her bow and arrows, and tossed aside the sword in its scabbard, and the daggers, and flopped upon her bed. Her ankles hurt like hell, and she swore, massaging the mass of scars that were once her Achilles tendons. Not even her crutches could alleviate the pain of her old injuries, and she smiled bitterly, applying a poultice she prepared before she left that morning.
Ten years, she thought, sneer making its way across her worn face, ten years, and nothing's changed. Ten years of pain from this goddamn affliction. Ten years of thankless work. Every day the same thing. Well—and now her grin was very wide indeed—that was the price of love. The price of duty, and perhaps even her life.
Opening the bag she'd carried around all day, she cleared her throat and barked something into the dank corners of the cabin:
"Wake up, cretin."
Something way within the swarthiness stirred, croaking out what passed for a pathetic whimper.
"Eh? So I don't have to kick you up today? Thanks a lot."
Sakuya rose and limped to where the creature lay, turning on another gas lamp until it was visible. The thing in question was a young woman in a rusty cage, shivering, with only her flaxen hair and a few animal pelts to cloth her. She would have been a beautiful creature, but her gauntness and the way she stared blankly at the world, even in her cruel condition, made her look like nothing more than the whisper of smoke coming from a candle's wick once it was snuffed out.
Sakuya's heart immediately filled up with such intense love and hatred at the same time, that she wasn't sure which sensation she was feeling anymore, and unhinged the cage door, letting the broken thing crawl out and curl up at her feet.
"I'm sorry to have left you so long, my dear," she murmured, bending down to the woman's level and kissing her cheek. "It's just that I… that I must work in order to take care of you."
She sat down, embracing her prisoner tight and running her hands down her back. The girl struggled and babbled like an idiot, and Sakuya's demeanor grew cold once more.
"Of course you wouldn't even greet me. I guess you muscles are aching just as much as mine, hmm? Well, maybe if you weren't a waste of a life I wouldn't have to keep you locked up all day! Why do you struggle against me?"
Sakuya's grip grew stronger yet, and the woman yowled.
"I am the only one who'll still love you and take care of you even though you're such an abomination—the only one who doesn't entirely hate you! You, the symbol of my servitude! You, to whom I was bound at birth! And yet… you won't even say my name, Kuuya!"
Her voice rose.
It didn't matter anyway.
Kuuya, the madwoman, couldn't understand language, no matter how much Sakuya tried to teach her. Her words could be as cruel as she wanted, and yet Kuuya would still see her as some sort of loving motherly figure. Well, Sakuya wasn't her mother—far from it, but she might as well be for the condition she was in.
Sakuya rocked her back and forth, words soft once again. She was a pendulum, one that swung without predictability.
"Would you rather be locked up in an asylum?" she whispered, licking her ear. Kuuya was a rabbit-woman like her, a rare sight nowadays, and Sakuya savored every bit of her. Except the fact that she was no longer her master but a doddering, infantile idiot.
"Kuuya, I dedicate my life to you. I know you're cold, and hungry, and frightened, but I'm doing my best. No one would help me with you… if only you knew how I tried to protect you back then… y'know, too many bad relations in the palace, and… and…"
Sakuya had her pinned down, and she snapped once again.
"If I were to fail in my duty to you, my grandfather—bless the old bastard's heart—would surely turn in his grave. Do you still love me even though you cannot speak, and I stray often? Speaking of which…"
Sakuya licked her lips and straddled her captive.
"… I had a hot date that I couldn't make due to you. Come."
And Kuuya was struggling and crying.
Sakuya smirked. Although she was ashamed to admit it, she grew fond of torturing Kuuya in little ways during the past decade. Of course she never hit her, but her suffering was just so sweet and just to her.
It made her happy.
Her life was happy.
Everything was good and silent in the world.
"If you won't show your gratitude by even saying my fucking name, you'll have to repay me with your body!"
Sakuya smirked and pushed her to the ground, crouching over her and asphyxiating her with her boot, applied firmly to the neck. The woman under her screamed and kicked and cried and choked… and…
"Ha… kuo… ro…" she choked, syllables almost unintelligible.
But not to Sakuya.
Her shoulders went lax and she let off, sitting next to her, legs pulled to her chest, head in her hands.
"You… just had to go and say that, didn't you?" she breathed, voice cracking. "You win again. Why is it that you always have me on a string, Kuuya? I… I…"
A tear rolled down her cheek, and she grasped a handful of her own hair, unwashed and greasy with pinesap and animal blood. Spreading her fingers so she could look through them, her eyes glazed over and she stared at the pretty wall décor.
Her family.
"I can't abate the loneliness, now can I, Kuuya? No matter how many friends I make for you, nothing can replace my companionship, can it? And to think I was going to make a new friend tonight… just for you."
Sakuya ignored the pain in her legs and crawled to where the bag lay, opening it. Out lulled the head of a deceased ibex, face filmy and firm in death's embrace.
"See? It's just barely enough for you. Just enough for you not to run off and be put in an asylum… away from me."
She returned to her captive, crouched against the floor, and without warning, embraced her, sinking her face in the crook of her neck.
"I'm sorry I've grown so cruel and selfish to you. It's not your fault… really! When was the last time I was able to feed you? I've spent all of my money on myself and not for you… let me change! Promise! Tomorrow I'll bring home a nice meal from the market and maybe even some candy for you… does that sound good? Remember, I love you! I… love you."
Sakuya looked her straight in the face. Kuuya Amurineuruka, the former emperor of Kunnekamun who lost her country as well as her mind, didn't respond.
"But still… isn't it enough that we're together at last?"
Sakuya's words faded out as she pulled Kuuya closer to her and leaned into her lips, but one last stream of consciousness hung in the room about them.
"We're happy… aren't we?"
Hmm. Needs moar crazy. Short chapter, I know, but I think it has the right effect. Lol. Don't kill me for this, guys. 'Til next time, dear readers!