TOMORROW'S CHILDREN
Flame of Recca After War
It's been so long. Four hundred years of living is too taxing. Today is my son's birthday, yet it didn't seem to matter. For what importance is the day of birth when death is what he has and something that I crave?
How ironic that I would outlive my son by five centuries. Even in this old age, death eludes me. How long must I wait until the reaper comes knocking at the door?
Everywhere I turn, I see people wanting to extend their lives. Little did they know that the lifespan ordained for them is just right. Just enough to live a life of meaning and purpose. If only they would live as long as I, they would understand.
Such meaninglessness. Man's pursuit of anything temporal is always less than the eternal... And once he attains the eternal, he would long for the temporal. Contentment is something we all truly lack.
Introduction to the Eulogy
Written by Kagero for Recca Hanabishi
July 27, 2055
Kurei picked Recca up by the neck, the latter almost unconscious. "STOP!" yelled Fuuko. "That's enough... you don't have to kill him." It wasn't a demand. It was pleading. A hopeless pleading that both of them knew. Yet the words almost seem to come naturally... instinctively... in a desperate attempt to save a friend's life, she pleaded. "We surrender! Stop the fight!"
Kurei grinned, still clutching the neck of his fallen nemesis. "I waited years for the opportunity to take his life. Today, it shall come to pass."
The flame master unleashed a huge torrent of flame, burning his brother alive. Faint screams... from a life almost extinguished. "NOOOOOOO!" Fuuko shrieks, and the rest of Team Hokage stared at the light show. Subdued... fallen... defeated... Uruha Kurenai retained their title as the champion of the Urabutou Satsujin.
Kaoru looked away, not wanting to see the execution. Yet as he did, something just as dreadful gripped his attention. A pair of eye caught his... someone from the shadows was observing.
Episode 1 - A Faraway Future
From yet again, the depth of my slumber, I awoke. Cold sweat running down my cheeks... what have I just seen? A dream? A premonition? It can't be. We have won the Urabutou Satsujin. We saved Yanagi from Mori's clutches. It must have been a dream... it should have been... just a dream.
I rubbed my eyes... composing myself. My memories are returning to me. I was trapped inside the time portal with Mori. I closed it from both ends. Then... I'm sure, that's where I breathed my last...
Yet the question remains. Why am I still alive? Why can't I remember anything since then?
Kaoru looked up the sky. It was painted orange with the setting sun. He found himself sitting down in the back alley, wanting to compose him thoughts after the confusion that ensued. There are more questions than answers. The problem with the world is not that it is irrational. Rather, that it is almost rational. Just when you think you have the answer, an uncanny question breaks down the coherence you thought was.
The silence of his self-reflection was broken almost immediately by a city-wide announcement.
"Earlier today at about 11:30 in the morning, a mysterious boy suddenly appeared in the 3rd district. Witnesses claim that the entire place was enveloped in darkness for a few seconds. The boy was about 56 inches in height, had spiky hair, and was covered with blood. His overall appearance resembles our archaeological finds of humans that lived 400 years ago."
What the heck? They're talking about me! What do they mean 400 years ago?
"If anyone sees him, please report it to authorities immediately. Anyone who finds him will be rewarded with a month's supply of water. Here' are some pictures of the boy."
The sky was suddenly covered in darkness. In a brief moment, images began to appear. Arrays of light gathered together in the sky to form vivid images of him laying down on the streets. Awe... what humans have accomplished centuries past his lifetime never fails to amaze those whose dreams don't even compare to what the eyes recognize. Kaoru smiled. What he saw was a spectacular display of human advancement. Instantly, he realized that public radios and television was rendered obsolete, even irrelevant.
Yet he knew the smile wouldn't last. The excitement was quickly replaced by fear. Just a couple of hours ago, he found himself in the streets... alive... without an explanation. Now, he found himself as though he was a fugitive. Again without an explanation. But what an odd reward. Water? In his time he could have as much water as he want. What is a month's supply of water in exchange for a fugitive? Nobody would be crazy enough to risk their lives for that...unless... where he is right now is a time when the citizens are deprived of it.
"Again, please contact the authorities when you see him. That is all."
The images conjured in the sky started to fade... and the sky is abit darker now. The night will soon replace the day. Kaoru let loose a sigh. "Why do I have to go through all this?"
Suddenly, a gunshot echoed from the alley. Kaoru jumped up. The bullet barely missed his leg. Someone's trying to kill me. Kaoru quickly turned to see his aggressor.
"What the heck?"
A small guy. A bit chubby, wearing glasses, with his shotgun aimed at Kaoru. The man was shaking. Obviously, he wasn't accustomed to carrying a gun.
"What was that for?"
The man refused to answer with words. Rather, he answered by pulling the trigger, firing another shot. This time, Kaoru was quick enough to dodge the bullet. In almost a blink of an eye, he appeared right next to his attacker and slapped the gun off him. The shotgun fell to the ground and Kaoru pushed the guy to the wall with his arm aimed at the attacker's neck. "You will answer my questions, mister.."
The man panicked and screamed, "Don't kill me please!" shaking violently.
"Stop screaming or I'll break your neck!" Demanded Kaoru. He had to be cruel, intimidating. It was unlikely of him. Such out of character. Yet the events that happened has molded him to become the person that he is today. He used to take life for granted. Now, his maturity quickly outgrew his childishness. He didn't want to treat the man that way... but circumstances dictate that he should.
"What day is it? And what year?"
The man looked puzzled. Is that a trick question? What is his victim turned aggressor trying to do?
"ANSWER ME!"
"2411! January 18, 2411! Don't kill me please."
What the hell? This guy has his life on the line. He wouldn't be lying to me. I'm really in the future! 400 years from my time.
"Take off your cloak."
"But sir..."
"Take it off! You won't need it when you're dead. You can fine another when you're not."
The man showly removed his cloak, trembling for his life. "Here you go." handing it over to Kaoru. The outfit of the people in this time is different. Yet he didn't want to strip the guy down. He only needed something to cover himself... and the cloak is perfect. At his present state, he couldn't travel freely. Even with the cloak, he still couldn't. He's robbing the guy... yet he didn't have a choice. When one is left with no good choices, the more sensible recourse is to pursue that which is less evil.
"Why are you being rewarded with water for capturing me?"
The man hesitated again. His trembling stifled his speech.
Before either of them could speak, the man looked past Kaoru and screamed in horror. Kaoru looked back and saw a huge beast jumping into them. Instinctively, Kaoru feigned to the right, avoiding the animal. His hostage wasn't too lucky. The beast had its teeth buried on the man's head. Its paws grabbing his victim by the sides. The man died instantly from the wounds.
Kaoru stared, in horror. "What on earth!" The beast turned to him. It found itself a double dose of treat for dinner. Kaoru stepped back, his heart beating fast now. He could easily handle a man shaking on his knees, but not a hungry beast.
Suddenly, when both eyes met... Kaoru saw through the savage.
"This guy... Shiju?"
The beast lunged towards him. Kaoru sidestepped to the left and with his right leg, kicked the animal's face-using the force to distance himself and to push the chimera away. So powerful was the kick that the animal went out of balance and crashed to the ground. Kaoru landed several meters away from the beast. He looked behind. Brick wall. His sides are also towered by two tall buildings.
The only way out is right in front... where the monster is.
The chimera quickly recovered from the kick and roared in anger. An injured animal is a greater danger. Spikes grew from the monster's shoulders, producing an even more dangerous entity that it already is.
"Mutation... just like... the Urabutou Satsujin..."
Suddenly, Kaoru saw a huge flame between him and the beast.
What was that!?
I hear... a faint scream...
Recca?
Kaoru rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, there was nothing. No flames, nobody... No one but a beast that has already bridged the distance. It thrusted its paws towards Kaoru.
Darn it! What was that vision?
The beast caught Kaoru's body with its paws and pinned him to the ground. Kaoru let loose a smothered scream. His small body had been subdued by a single arm just like that. The animal roared anew and raised its other paw, preparing for the fatal blow to the only exposed part of its victim's body-the head. Kaoru quickly spit on the left eye of the beast. Failing to shield it on time, the beast had the brunt of the moisture momentarily blinding it. The grip on Kaoru's body laxed as the beast was taken aback by the unexpected avenue of attack. Kaoru nipped up and rolled away.
The interruption was momentary, and the beast commenced its unfinished business.
The shotgun!
In a rare stroke of luck, Kaoru realized that his attacker was a blessing in disguise. The random guy who wanted to take his life had ironically supplied everything he needed to survive. The boy jumped into the gun, his pursuer jumping in on him from behind.
With lightning speed, he grabbed the gun and pointed it at the beast, who had already jumped towards him, waiting to dive down and finish off his prey.
"This is as far as you go, monster!"
He pulled the trigger.
A gunshot.
Silence...
And that's it...
The beast fell, bleeding from the mouth... motionless. Kaoru let loose a sigh of relief.
"That was pretty close!"
This too, is also devoid of explanation. He was attacked, first by a man, then a chimera. The more waking time he spends in this foreign place, the less possible it is to piece the puzzle together. He laid on his back, both arms wide open... as though to rest from a near death encounter. He allowed himself to savor the air as he gives himself time for his breathing to normalize. One breath... then two... then another.
Just as he began to relax, his eye caught yet another thing that made absolutely no sense.
"The moon..."
"There are TWO of them!"
End of Episode 1
