Hi all =] THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! Really, I haven't written anything on here in forever and so, I'm grateful =] Well, here's the next chappie, it hopefully is a bit more interesting than the last one =]
THE KING OF GAMES
chapter 1
"Hinamori."
"Ne, I thought I told you to call me Momo?" the young girl queried, a delicate eyebrow raised in mock annoyance. A hand was upon her bony hip, as though taunting him.
"Old habits die hard," he chuckled, his eyes beaming with mirth as he approached her. Momo couldn't restrain her smile as he pried her hand from her hip and replaced it with his own. His fingers were gentle, tender as they made contact with her body. His free hand went to her other hip as a devilish smirk broke out across his lips.
Momo's light shaded eyes widened at the smirk. He was definitely up to something.
Next thing she knew, he'd lifted her into the air and a squeal had escaped her lips as the sensation of weightlessness overtook her.
"Put me down!"she cried as an icy tingle began to flood through her veins. She knew it was an attribute of his. "Hyourinmaru is freezing me!"
Hyourinmaru.
… It sounded so familiar…
"Hyourin… maru."
Her voice croaked as she attempted the word. Her eyes fluttered, immediately closed again by the blinding sunlight. Several places upon her body ached and a groan rumbled in her throat as she turned her head to the side.
The ground beneath her was cool and it soothed the aching pain in her back for a moment as she re-attempted opening her eyes. This time, she simply flinched once before being able to adjust to the sunlight. Her vision was blurred at first and a mass of intermixed green, brown and yellow swam before her, as though it were a kaleidoscope. It was so pretty.
Then, the kaleidoscope shifted and the blurs became more definite as lines appeared to organize the shapes. It was now that her hearing began to respond.
At first, a whining squeal was heard and she grimaced. She felt as though she was a computer and there was a problem with the network. The whine would cause a headache if she couldn't 're-connect' again.
The twittering of birds suddenly replaced the whine and the hum of insects caused a most pleasant background noise.
Rational seemed to return to her as she realized she was in a forest.
Forest?
With new-found strength, Momo shot up.
She resisted the urge to be sick as she looked at her surroundings. She was back in the forest and there was not a rabbit, nor a rabbit hole to be seen. There was no husky voice giving her directions either.
Had… it been a dream?
Or maybe, she really had gone crazy.
But she could've sworn she'd fallen and with a quick glimpse at her torn and tattered school uniform, she was sure she had. But then, where was the hole. She groaned again as she placed her cut palm down on the ground. The dirt clumped into her wound and she ignored the pain as she pushed herself upright.
She really wouldn't get anywhere by sitting down.
She released a shaky breath of air when she found she could stand without falling. Well, nothing was broken, so that was at least a relief.
She shook her head and found that her hair had been ripped from it's neat bun that she'd tied it into this morning and that it now fell freely around her shoulders, extending to her back. She was pretty sure she felt more than a few strands of the black locks missing. It felt as though someone had purposefully ripped them out, or perhaps she'd merely landed on her head when she'd fallen.
That's if she'd even fallen…
Momo placed a hand on her temple, the uninjured one, as she took a moment to gather her bearings.
She really was in a forest, a densely vegetated one at that. It looked identical to the one she'd been fumbling around in before becoming unconscious. Maybe she'd tripped over a tree root instead of falling down a rabbit hole?
A calming breeze picked up strands of Momo's loose locks and ruffled the numerous trees' leaves, making it sound as though the trees whispered to each other. It was different than what she remembered; this breeze was no ordinary breeze. It was almost as if a giant had exhaled.
She shivered, even though the breeze wasn't chilling.
"Remember Hyourinmaru…"
She could've sworn that the breeze had just spoken to her.
And then, she heard rustling.
She whipped her head to the right, to a clump of berry bushes and her breath hitched when she saw it moving. Flashes of white could be seen every now and then and once again, that foreign feeling clawed at her heart. She clutched the organ, not caring that blood now stained her school jersey or that the action caused her palm to burn more.
Then, a simple white rabbit appeared.
A smirking white rabbit.
The creature stared at her with its intense turquoise eyes, almost daring her to approach it.
And she did just that.
The rabbit seemed to gain an expression of satisfaction before it leapt away.
Momo had no choice but to follow.
They'd been playing, 'follow the leader' for nearly an hour now, yet surprisingly, Momo found her stamina unwavering. She was easily able to keep pace with the leaping rabbit, using the creature as her guide. She was once again taken over, her feet now commanding her instead of her logical brain.
They ran through clearings, a river and leap over fallen logs. Momo smiled bitterly, she should join her school's cross country team.
And then, as though someone had opened a curtain, the forest simply stopped and she was embraced by sunlight.
Squinting, Momo made out a gigantic white blob before her.
When her vision focused, she gasped.
It was no blob, but a city, composed of mainly white tiling.
Her eyes widened overwhelmingly as she gazed at the city. It shimmered in the light's rays and it gave the impression of a mirage. The city expanded a huge area, further than Momo's eyes could grasp.
The smirking white rabbit was no-where to be seen.
Momo sighed as she took a tentative step forward, towards the ominous white city. Maybe she'd find answers within the white walls.
The walk to the city was closer than she thought at first and soon, a huge gate came into view. It seemed impregnable.
A few meters from the gate, Momo collapsed to her knees, seeing no way of possibly entering the city and seeing no sign of life anywhere. She was at a dead end.
A sharp scream of frustration escaped her lips as she clenched her hands into fists and proceeded to pound the ground below her. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare, this confusingly beautiful nightmare.
Only the pain in her wounded palm caused her to stop relentlessly attacking the ground as she once again looked at the looming gate. There had to be someway-
"Who dares disturb the gatekeeper?"
The voice rumbled like thunder and she could've sworn the ground shook at the intensity.
Momo whipped her head up as a door beside the gate opened.
The door reached a few meters into the air and was solid white, like the rest of the city and that was probably the reason she hadn't noticed it before. The earth below her began to vibrate and she began to brace herself for an earthquake.
But the next thing she saw, proved that the earth's vibrations were caused by no earthquake, but rather, a giant.
He was huge.
Not only was he tall, but his girth was at least a hundred times her own. She began to shake uncontrollably as the giant saw her, his eyes widening at her tiny, feeble figure compared to his own. Momo had never felt such fear, not even in her own household.
The giant's laughter sent shockwaves not only through the earth, but through Momo's trembling frame as well. She felt as though all her body parts would simply bounce off her skeleton, leaving her nothing but bones. Her teeth chattered together as the giant took a step toward her.
She was unable to move, or even twitch a finger at the incoming foe.
She'd never wanted to know what it felt like to be paralyzed.
"Oh hohoho, such a small girl dares call me into the open?" the giant spoke, supposedly to her, yet his voice reverberated everywhere. "Yet, she is unable to even look me in the eyes? You are unworthy to enter Seireitei!"
So, the white city had a name.
The giant's battle cry forced Momo to look up as a curled fist was swiftly approaching her at a ferocious speed.
She was going to die.
Then, she cried a name she'd never known.
Her voice echoed with the effort of calling the name, and somehow, time slowed as another strange sensation overtook her. It caused her mind to become mind, unable to control her limbs as another presence became known. This presence seemed to lock onto her and take control of her body, her mind unable to protest as she felt like a puppet.
"Don't struggle."
That voice. She knew it. Her eyes widened as she heeded the command, going completely limp.
Then, without any command from her, her body rolled out the way of danger and she narrowly avoided being crushed by the giant's fist.
Coughs escaped her throat as a cloud of dirt was thrown into the air from the giant's strike. A howl of pain erupted from the huge figure as it glared at the frail girl in disbelief. She'd been paralyzed a moment ago. How had she been able to move so swiftly? And why had he, for a moment, seen the face of another behind her? The snow white hair had flashed for a moment, along with the hauntingly familiar eyes. How was he here?
Momo's coughs subsided as suddenly, she was once more in control of her body. That presence was nowhere to be felt, the only reminder was a faint tingling on her neck.
"Jidanbou!"
The voice was so fierce, even the dust stopped moving.
Both giant and Momo turned their heads in the direction of the voice. There, behind the cloud of settling dust stood a figure, his white hair barely visible behind the rising dust. Every now and then, they caught glimpses of smoldering turquoise eyes that seemed to burn a path before them.
And then Momo recognized the voice, it was the one that had been speaking to her all this time.
The giant, Jidanbou, fell to his knees as the dust finally cleared and thrust his forehead to the ground in respect. Momo watched this curiously as she saw that the person was hardly taller than herself. In fact, he looked smaller than her meager height. How was his presence able to instill fear in the giant?
Then, his eyes locked on her and she understood.
Momo felt the urge to completely throw herself onto the ground and assume Jidanbou's humble position. Those eyes, they seared through her, into her very soul. She felt trapped within his gaze, as though she were frozen in their depths. That damn foreign sensation intensified, now clamping her heart in its talons.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment before he began to step towards her. Momo was frozen, only able to watch him approach as his black hakama made nearly no sound. He seemed to be walking, no floating on air as his steps were so smooth and inhibited. Not even the free-floating dust was disturbed. A pure white haori was thrown over the hakama but she couldn't make out the kanji that decorated it.
Then, he reached her.
His outstretched hand dared her to take it and she found the temptation too hard to resist. She was able to move again and gently placed her wounded hand within his as the boy pulled her to her feet. She could've sworn she saw his expression soften for a moment as soon as she was on her feet.
He was a few inches taller than her, she noticed as she stood, but that might have partially been caused by his spiky, snow white locks. They seemed to naturally spike upwards, as though gravity had no hold on him. A shiver ran through her and she was sure his hand was colder than what it was supposed to be.
He released her hand and then began to dig in his hakama's pockets. Momo stood still during this, as if her feet had suddenly been iced to the floor.
A reflection of light caught her eyes as she looked to the charm he now held.
It was a pure silver chain that shone with an unnatural gleam. Yet, it was not the flawlessly welded chain that caught her attention, but the charm which was attached.
The dragon figurine seemed to be made from ice as it shimmered as though it was. The dragon was intricately carved and two ruby red eyes bore through her. The figurine was in the shape of a Chinese dragon, with its scales like spikes. The pendant must have been made from diamonds, she surmised.
Then, the boy swiftly and gracefully slipped the chain around her neck.
The ice pendant touched her skin and immediately caused that area of her skin to drop a few degrees. But somehow, it was a soothing cold.
"Hinamori…"
The boy's voice was far from the fierce growl it had been moments again and she looked at him, finding that his lips had curved into a bittersweet smile.
"Remember, Hyourinmaru," he spoke, as his figure began to fade out, every part whitening. Momo's eyes widened as he began disintegrating, becoming mere sparkles of light that drifted into the atmosphere. She reached out, her hand grasping air as his eyes faded out, leaving no other trace behind.
Instinctively, she reached for the ice pendant around her neck and felt the reassuring chill against her wounded palm. The boy hadn't been a figment of her imagination.
She released the pendant and her brow furrowed when she realized that her palm no longer stung with pain. Looking at the skin, she gasped upon finding it flawless. The pendant had healed the wound.
She whimpered when the chill against her skin began to increase, flowing to all sections of her body and causing her to black out once again.
The last thing she remembered seeing was the astonished face of the giant Jidanbou staring down upon her half-conscious form.
BAM! Finally our favourite ice prince enters the scene =3 Hope you enjoyed this!
Loreylock!