Chapter 2
Makeshift Awakening
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Kain (VO): "I awoke to find myself in a new existence entirely."
(As Kain's eyes open, he finds himself laying atop a web of blankets, pillows and clothing. The moonlight of the bright night sky shines through a cracked window in the room, illuminating only a small portion of the wooden floor near the bed while rendering all else almost pitch black.)
Kain (VO): "I felt weak, but without pain. Peculiar, this was, as I had many memories of such a scenario before – always accompanied by the cruel pain of deprived hunger – the hunger for blood. This time, however, something was different. The hunger's absence, yes, and something greater still."
(Kain strains to sit up, atop the old dusty pile of fabric. He peered around vaguely, with weary eyes.)
Kain (VO): "Strange.. For whatever reason I found myself here, one thing was clear to me. Someone had brought me to this place, and had accommodated me. More than anything, I found myself disturbed by what seemed to be a non-hostile environment. Strange, that I could not recall a previous time where such was the case. I had been a foe to many and all throughout the centuries, chastised as a plague to mankind and regarded as a parasite which must be removed at all costs. Avoiding hostility was second nature to my very existence, and I refused to deem this place any different. Feeling uneasy as I did, I decided not to delay my leaving."
(Leaning forward, Kain attempts to stand up from his temporary abode of clothing and fabric. He is stopped however. His right arm seems to be lodged against something.)
Kain (VO): "In the darkness of the dreary room I could not see what had caught my arm. Little did I know that it would remain with me for days to come."
(Tugging, pulling, and straining to regain his arm, he finally manages to remove it from its previous place near the bed. However, rather than escaping from whatever holds his arm, the object remains attached and is pulled forth with great weight and size. Kain finds himself pushed down by the strange object and rolls off of his bed, hitting the wooden floor beneath. He winces on impact and darts his eyes towards the direction his arm fell. Although Kain himself is shrouded in the room's darkness, the moonlight from the window emanates silver light, now, directly where the object lay.)
Kain (VO): "In the light.. I saw."
(Kain's weary eyes begin to drop, his fatigue catching up to his body. As his eyes close, the last thing he sees is the part most well lit in the room. The Soul Reaver. Mutated in size and form, the reaver now lay entrapped within a cocoon of organic membrane tissue. The same tissue which now plagues Kain's arm, the two seem like one. Distorted and deranged with mucus oozing in and around both, the arm and sword are now mended together, and Kain's hand is frozen in suspension, inaction, always gripping the sword. He falls unconscious.
(--The next morning--)
Kain (VO): "Images of the hut I now slept in swerved in my head. The walls were no longer dark, and a bright light shined - both through the window and the many cracks plaguing this old home's wooden walls. This was different than any kind of scenery I had ever beheld. The walls were metamorphing; melting in a sense. The sun's rays were turquoise in color. Most notable of all: the spirit which hovered before me, white like snow with translucent limbs. I could not understand the language it spoke, nor the gestures it was portraying for me. My mind was hazy, as was my vision."
(A creature squeezes through the cracks of the walls of the wooden hut. It has a vicious, grotesque orifice and growls as soon as it can reside fully in the room. It lunges at the spirit, devouring it like a mad dog suffering from a week's worth of starvation and appetite. It swings its head in Kain's direction, eyes bulging with excitement and arousal.)
Kain (VO): "This creature, on the other hand, was a little more forthcoming, and I knew what it wanted from me."
(Before Kain can react, his eyes open as he awakens once more.)
Kain (VO): "I was granted the view of the hut yet again, though this time in a more common fashion. The morning rays of the sun shined as they ever had, bright with no eerie discoloration. The monster was gone as quick as it came, and I was left to look upon my surroundings, laying here, in the debris."
(Kain finds himself laying on a large pile of wooden planks and broken chairs, all apparently chaotically disassembled.)
Kain (VO): "In the morning light I could see this place perfectly, a small, broken hut whose only purpose was to act as storage to those objects too broken to be made use of. Chairs, bed frames, ripped tapestry, and the like. It was then, gazing out and around as I did, that I realized. This room might have had retained its supposed color after my awakening.. but I did not."
(Kain brings his left hand upwards close to his eyes. He looks down at it, skin-toned as it is. At that moment, any sense of belonging evaporates from Kain's mind, and is replaced with a disgusted frown, revolting in its nature. A pale rosy hue, his eyes now embrace.)
Kain: "Human…"
(He then looks down to his right arm, too heavy to move, and watches it in disbelief.)
Kain (VO): "What happened to the Elder God, I wondered? The continuum of history was far too strong to annihilate him into the blade, I should have known that from the outset. But, careless of me as it was, I was not expelled from history's flow either. Was this a stale-mate, then? It seemed evident that my being here still had some purpose – perhaps I was not able to die either, for history was in further need of me to run its course unaltered. But this..?"
(Kain's eyes remain affixed to his right arm, now engulfed in mucus and membrane tissue, holding the arm prisoner to its own actions.)
Kain (VO): "The reaver.. It would seem that the acidic discharge which fell upon my arm melded me with my blade."
(The blade is covered in the same substance his arm is, cocooned in an organic, repugnant casing.)
Kain (VO): "I wondered whether this drew its conclusion from chance, or if there was a greater need for the reaver to be entrapped this way, his need. Should the blade be the only weapon which might destroy him, it would appear he effectively sealed its proper duty. I was anxious to find out whether the sword still preserved its soul-sucking ability, or if this too was nullified until the cocoon could be removed."
(A voice is heard from outside the hut; a whisper. Kain glances at the brown drapery hanging off the doorway. Standing to his feet, he makes his way outside, dragging the deformed, oversized blend of organic flesh and steel behind him, across the wooden floor. Stepping outside, Kain is greeted with a shovel being swung towards him. He shoots his left arm upwards to block his face, effectively absorbing the weapon's impact unto his wrist. To his surprise, a surge of pain afflicts his arm and Kain is left stumbling back, leaning on the exterior wall of the hut.)
Kain: "What in hell.. Who dares strike me by surprise!"
(Kain peers towards the culprit. He finds himself surrounded by gypsies, both male and female, in what appears to be a small settlement full of old wooden huts and tents. He gazes towards the attacker, eyes burning with ferocity.)
Kain: "Do you so enjoy playing death's game, mortal.."
(The armed gypsy lunges forward. Kain ducks his head just in time to avoid another blow. Sprawling back up, he shoots his right arm upwards, swinging it out in an attempt to split the man in two from groin to head. A gash is made, but the organic mesh which now engulfs the blade renders it too blunt to cut through the man. As the injured gypsy stumbles back, Kain pursues and jabs the reaver towards the man with all his might, watching as it impales him and pierces right through his back. The other gypsies gasp and step away in astonishment. Kain stands firmly, eyes gazing ever-so intently on the blade.)
Kain: "No.."
(After a long, suspended pause, the man falls to his knees and crumbles sideward onto the dirt floor.
Kain (VO): "The man lay dead beneath my feet, and I knew. The Elder God had effectively silenced the only weapon which held the potential to govern his undoing. It seemed as if I was at a loss for power, for here I was: human in nature, without any significant mark of divinity, and a weapon that lay dormant inside a web of oppressive film that even my arm could not break free of. Truly, my chances seemed meek."
(The other gypsies begin to shout profanities and brandish their weapons of choice; pitchforks, shovels, hammers and other blunt objects)
Gypsy: "Whatever you are, it no longer matters! You have plagued our settlement far too long!"
(Kain turns to them swiftly.)
Kain: "Whatever you might be, that too matters little. Getting cleaved is the same for both human and animal."
(A fight breaks out. Though Kain's vampiric skills and abilities are now non-existant, he maintains his morale against the mob due to his unique weapon. As he fights:)
Kain (VO): "I felt my strength usurping theirs with every blow we exchanged. Something was different than what I had imagined. Though my humanity was returned to me, against my will, and infuriatingly drained me of my divine powers, I found myself taking solace in something far, far more vile. The gift imparted to me by the elder one, after our robust meeting, proved to be an essential instrument of my survival. Had I not with-held this contamination to my arm, and had the Soul Reaver truly been lost to me during my unconscious state, my naked humanity would have proven to be my downfall, for how was a mere human to stand against a mob of ten, who unite their assault with a common goal of hatred, detestation and loathing? "
(Kain continues to fight the mob, blocking two or three blows at a time with the oversized reaver. Blood spills across the dirty soil as the battle rages on.)
Kain (VO): "I was now acquainted with the ironic situation that I had found myself in at that moment. For it was not the Elder God's triumph which had transpired on that fatal occasion, but both of ours. As he dispossessed the reaver of its soul-sucking ability, in doing so he made me more invincible than any human known to exist. The divinity in my right arm was not vampiric in nature, and actually quite fetid to behold. But it aided me in guarding my life from harm's way. This was the stale-mate that history accorded to both of us. In this way, both our roles in history would be made possible – mine, however, would yet be discovered."
(As Kain gains the upper hand in battle, the skirmish becomes a chaotic flurry of confusion and disarray. A young girl's voice is heard, and Kain's train of thought is disrupted.)
Kain (VO): "Blood – spilt blood – of the savior herself. In my arrogance I did not see who I injured so thoughtlessly; a mere passerby – and the very one who had brought me here, I would soon discover."
(The young female gypsy, barely reaching adulthood and clad in colorful robes and golden trinkets, falls to her knees. She holds her stomach. Blood trickles down to her inner thighs as he winces in pain, tears forming atop her cheeks. Everyone stops fighting immediately, and one of the gypsies screams, kneeling down at her side.)
Gypsy: "Mirela!! My god!"
(The gypsy glares at Kain.)
Gypsy: "You demon! How could you?!"
Kain: "I give no quarter, young or old! You shall all feast on my blade!"
Gypsy: "She is the one that spared your life; took you in! You were left for dead with no one to care for you but the demons themselves!!"
Kain (VO): "I stood there, trying to put the pieces together. What had happened to me after my encounter with that cavernous abomination? Still filled with rage from the present skirmish, I was in no state of mind to tinker with this puzzle. I wanted blood – moreso to spill upon my sword than to drink."
(Kain takes a step forward, his eyes widening with ferocity. He stops abruptly.)
Kain (VO): "..Yet something lingered in my very being.. A vocation to give this girl the mercy she gave me. I was appalled at what I was considering. At once I brandished the reaver and charged forth."
(Kain slaughters the remaining gypsies that stand guard over the young girl, crouching beneath Kain's feet. Kain looks down at her, ready to end her suffering.)
Kain (VO): "At the critical moment, I could not do it. For whatever reason it was, I allowed her to live - for that day, at least. Was it gratefulness for taking me in, or a strong sense of history's pull – an inescapable means towards her end; her destiny? I pondered this for a moment before tossing my indecision in favor of the latter option – after all, who was I to show any sense of gratitude? And in such a case where a human is required to live in order to fulfill history 's agenda, I would not be there to deny it its plan."
(Stepping away from the girl, Kain throws the sword up over his head and leans it downwards on his right shoulder, knowing very well that he cannot sheath it, nor throw it away. He turns and begins to walk away from the girl.)
Kain: "History has allowed you to live further, young one. Don't toss its gift away."
(The girl, clutching her blood-filled stomach, manages to extend an arm in Kain's direction, almost as if she frantically wants to grab hold and bring him back.)
Mirela: "W-….wai..t.."
(The girl falls comatose and lays on the blood stained ground silent. Kain is gone.)
