Chapter 3
Ciria awoke to the sound of birds outside, and she sighed, quite annoyed. Not for being awoken, but for knowing that everything was probably back to normal. She had probably only dreamt to meet that 'Shadow' person, fighting Ames, Maze and Noola, and the abandoned Arni. On one hand, she was glad, but on the other, she was sad, for she had felt like she wanted to know that Shadow. She pulled the blanket over her head, but when she couldn't fall back asleep, she finally got out of bed.
First thing she noticed, was that this wasn't her bed. Second thing, after she was a little awake, this wasn't her room. Had it been… real? She looked around, not quite sure if she was still sleeping, or already awake and just daydreaming. Ciria grunted and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She gave a yawn, and stepped out of bed, smoothing out her clothes.
When she walked out, she looked around, searching for Shadow. No such luck. The village was empty and deserted, and after pinching herself, she knew that it wasn't a dream. "Shadow!!" she shouted. Silence rewarded her. She blinked in confusion, not understanding why he wouldn't answer her. Had he left her or something? Not that she'd blame him if he did, she never asked him to stay, but he could've said something to her.
With a sigh, she left Arni, intend on heading back to Termina. She wanted to figure out what else had changed.
About a few feet outside of Arni, she noticed footprints, heading toward Divine Dragon Falls.
'That's odd…' Ciria thought. 'Those hadn't been there before.'
And so, she followed them. She reached Divine Dragon Falls easily. A large fall stood in the center. There was a large log in the stream, and a fallen tree made the bridge to get onto higher grounds. And Shadow was there too.
He stood upon the large log in the stream, balancing himself on his toes surprisingly. He was facing the water, his back turned to her, but she could still see part of his face. He had his eyes closed, and looked slightly calm, although he was still frowning. Ciria noticed that his swallow was now strapped around his back, and his arms were down to his side.
"What are you doing?" she finally asked, and Shadow didn't even flinch.
He turned his head around, opening his eyes, and said: "I was meditatin'. And I don't have time ta chat! I have ta leave ta Termina, befere we head ta Marbule."
Ciria watched him as he turned back around with his head. She waited for a moment, and when he said no more.
"Can I go with you?" she asked.
Shadow looked at her from the corners of his eyes, then sighed.
"I mean, I have nowhere else to go," Ciria said.
She figured that this world was not a dream, but the way she'd been living before. Who was she? She had thought her name had been Ciria, but she wasn't sure. However, she could still remember everything from that dream. Most things even up to the slightest detail. She was really starting to confuse reality with a dream, but which was the dream, which was reality? She had no idea.
"Whaeva!" Shadow mumbled, bent through his knees, and backflipped, landing behind Ciria, who whirled around in shock.
"Whoa! Nice jump!" Ciria complimented, seeing as the log was 7-8 feet away from her.
And speaking of long. Now that Ciria had the time to study him carefully, she noticed he was pretty damn tall! He stood at least a foot above her.
"Le's go already!" Shadow mumbled, and began to walk off, with Ciria following him.
The trip to Termina was a silent one, and Ciria lost hope that this was still just a dream. Shadow didn't seem to notice that she was quiet. As a matter of fact, he didn't even seem to realize she was still around. It was frightening.
"Shadow?" she asked.
Shadow hardly moved, safe for his calm steps.
"Shadow?" she asked again, a little louder.
Still no response.
"Sha---"
"I HEARD YA ALREADY!!!" Shadow suddenly screamed, whirling around to face her. "Wha?!" he demanded.
Ciria gulped nervously, and Shadow didn't seem to care.
"Um uh… have you, well… known the name I gave myself?" she asked.
Shadow watched her with an angry gaze, before looking in front of him.
"…Ciria Viper had been the heir ta Viper Manor, but she's been killed 12 years ago."
Ciria heard that one sentence, and all her hope shattered.
Her life had been a big lie. Nothing but a dream she'd had and had started to believe. Why did that have to happen to her? She thought she'd had the perfect life, safe for the fact that she'd lost a friend (or even more than a friend), and now it all seemed to be a dream.
"Helloooo!! Earth ta Ciria! Contact!" Ciria heard and saw a hand waving in front of her face.
"What??" she asked, dazed.
"Ya were all spaced out! Why's tha?" Shadow asked, before they continued to walk through Fossil Valley.
"Nothing… it's just… I thought I knew who I was. I still have memories of who I was supposed to be," Ciria mumbled, and Shadow looked at her a little oddly.
"Ye're not makin' any sense, girl," Shadow mumbled.
Ciria sighed, and was about to explain, when she banged into Shadow, who had abruptly stopped dead in his tracks.
"Shadow, wha---" Ciria started to ask, but was cut off with a hand slapped across her mouth.
Shadow shushed her by placing his finger over his mouth, indicating her to be quiet. Ciria nodded, and Shadow removed his hand.
"More o' the bloody bastard's men," Shadow hissed, pulling Ciria behind a rock.
"Whose men?" Ciria asked in confusion.
"I'll tell ya later," Shadow mumbled, and peeked around the side of the rock.
Ciria somehow managed as well.
Ciria saw creatures of the weirdest kind walking about, seeming to be on guard duty. They were large and scaled, but wore armor for seemingly extra protection.
"What are those?" Ciria asked.
"Crushers," Shadow answered with a hiss. "Stay back, I'll handle them bozos!"
Almost unnoticeable, Shadow sneaked closer to the things he called 'Crushers'. Surprisingly, he could hardly be seen in the dark of the shadows.
'Hmmm… maybe that's why he's called 'Shadow',' Ciria thought to herself, keeping a close eye on him, while staying out of view as well.
A sudden flash of colored light followed, and some of the Crushers turned around, before their horrifying screams echoed across Fossil Valley. Ciria gasped in utmost horror as Shadow killed the Crushers, one by one. He slashed their appendages off, sliced them in half, or even ripped off their heads. After a while of this, Ciria turned her back on it, closing her eyes and slapping her hands over her ears. The sound penetrated through her ears, and Ciria clutched her head in agony.
The sudden silence that followed was shocking. Ciria removed her hands, opened her eyes, and listened. She peeked around the rock, and noticed Shadow holding one of the Crushers' pouch in his hand, searching it for something. Finally, he smirked and pulled out a money bag, dropping the pouch in the process.
Ciria walked over, looking a little confused.
"What are you going to do with that?" she asked curiously.
"It goes ta people who really need it!" Shadow said with a glare still on his face. "Now gimme a hand already!!"
Shadow continued robbing the dead Crushers of their loot. After gulping down the lump in her throat, Ciria bent down beside one of the Crushers, avoiding to look at anything but the guy's pouch. She put her hand in and felt around for awhile until---
Ciria cried out in fear as a large rat jumped out, aiming at her face with a shriek of fury. A sudden fist threw it away, and the rat landed flat on its face. It jumped back up, facing Shadow, who was kneeling in front of Ciria, in an odd cat-like position. It shrieked in anger, making its hairs stand on end like a cat. Instead of backing down, Shadow released something that sounded like the roar of a highly familiar animal to Ciria.
A large roar, and a scream of pain as the demon panther embedded its poisonous teeth in the boy's shoulder. He screamed in absolute pain and anguish.
The rat squeaked, and ran, tail between its legs. Shadow arose from the ground, dusting himself off. Ciria was left in a daze. She knew it wasn't supposed to be real, but the pain in her heart was terrible. Why was that dream affecting her so?
"Oi! Ya gonna ge' back ta yer feet or wha?!" Shadow asked, annoyed by the sound of it.
"Huh? Oh, sorry…" Ciria muttered, getting to her feet.
How was she supposed to live with a dream?
"Wha the Bloody Hell's the matter with ya?! Why the long face all o' a sudden!?" Shadow demanded.
Ciria sighed and said: "I just feel like I've been living a dream."
Shadow blinked, one eyebrow raised.
"Come again?" he asked, confusion clear in his voice.
"It… it's hard to explain," Ciria whispered.
"Then wait 'til we reach Termina!" Shadow said, the confusion instantly gone.
"But then I expect ya ta tell me wha ya mean!" Ciria nodded sadly, having expected that. At least she'd be able to talk about it with somebody.
They continued on their way, neither speaking a word to the other as the sun reached high noon already. Ciria was unsure of herself. Why was that dream haunting her so much? She had no idea, but she just couldn't get the dream from her head. Everything was so clear in her mind, that she could've sworn it had happened yesterday. But she knew it had never occurred before. 'Though I wish…' she thought.
The clashing of wood against wood sounded as the two boys battled with their wooden swords. The younger of the two kids smirked, his dark blue eyes sparking, while the other boy was not enjoying the battle at all.
"Come on already! Stop being a baby and fight!" the younger of the two shouted, and ran forward, sword in hand.
The elder of the two gave a yelp and blocked the wooden sword.
The fight lasted for quite some time, before she finally walked over, hands behind her back.
"Hey guys! How's it going?" she asked with a smile.
The boys stopped their fight and looked over at her. The two other girls, who had also been watching the battle, walked over, smiling.
"Ciria! What are you hiding?!" the redhead asked.
Ciria chuckled and said: "Guess!"
The black haired girl smiled broadly and asked hopefully: "What be?! What be?! Viper Churros?!"
Ciria laughed softly.
"Nope! Guess again, Kireas ©! Are they really that good?"
Kireas nodded wildly.
"Me can eat handful!" she said in fractured English.
The elder of the two boys laughed and said: "Kireas, them Churros were iron rations fer the Acacia Dragoons."
The younger of the two looked at Ciria and asked: "I give up, what'd you bring us?"
Ciria smiled and showed them what she had.
"Tada! I found these at Fossil Valley! Pretty huh?" she said, showing them the different colored flowers she was holding.
Kireas looked down.
"Shoot! Just dumb flower!" she mumbled, kicking the ground.
"Oh my gosh!! They're pretty!!" the redheaded girl said with a squeal.
"Here, Lorelei," Ciria said, handing the girl a fiery red one.
Lorelei squealed again.
"I know Kireas doesn't like these, so…" Ciria started, but Kireas whirled around.
"Ah, you go through much trouble getting flower. Me take one," she said.
Ciria smiled, and handed Kireas a lovely pink one. Kireas smiled brightly.
"Me plant this! Plant then grow fruits!"
Everyone laughed.
"Oh, Kireas! I don't think it'll sprout any fruit," the youngest boy said.
Kireas smiled and gave them the peace-sign.
"No know if no try!!" she said with a wink.
Ciria still held three flowers, each a different color, and was deciding which to give to whom. She smiled and walked over to the younger boy.
"Here Leon, I know you don't like flowers, but these are really nice!" Ciria said, handing him a yellow one.
"Um uh… thanks," Leon mumbled.
She smiled and walked over to the eldest boy. He'd placed his sword down on the soil, and smiled shyly at her.
"Hey," she said.
"'Ey," he replied right back.
"This one's for you," she said. "I saw that one, and I thought… it fits your eyes."
He stared down at the flower, a little confused, before sniffing at the flower.
"Smells nice," he said, smiling. "Wha kinda flower's this?"
Ciria shrugged and said: "I think it's called a 'Bellflower'. Do you like it?"
"Yeah," he said.
She smiled sadly. Ciria looked at Shadow, and took in his face for a moment. He looked so… familiar. But she knew that was impossible. She turned back to the road, looking ahead.
Termina quickly came in sight, but to Ciria's mind, everything was different. Instead of the cheery houses standing at the edges of the town, plenty of houses were torn down, some half, some completely, people still went onto the streets, but only to go to stores and shops, never to have fun. They were pale and looking like nothing would ever go right again. No one seemed willing to fight whatever put them in this mess.
Ciria sighed, when her stomach started to protest. Shadow looked at her in confusion.
"Oh, through all that mess at Arni and Fossil Valley, I completely forgot to eat! Great!" Ciria mumbled.
Shadow simply rolled his eyes and said: "Then le's eat!"
"I still don't understand why there are no chairs around here," Ciria said, before taking a bite of her Squid Gut Pasta.
Shadow didn't answer, he simply ate his own portion.
People seemed to know him pretty well here in Termina, because some times they looked his way, and he gave them a calm nod back. The result was having them smile and turn back to their own food for the rest of the time. Ciria was just glad she wasn't alone. A world where she was alone and had no knowledge of what had happened, would've made her utterly depressed.
"Ya gonna tell me wha ya were talkin' 'bout?" Shadow suddenly asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Huh??" Ciria asked.
Then she remembered.
"Oh! Oh, yeah sure."
She cleared her throat, a nervous habit she had.
"To be honest, I sort of lied. I still remember who I am, but right now, I'm not all too sure. Because if what you said is true, then I can't possibly be who I think I am. So I guess I've been living a dream. And I actually believed it was real," Ciria whispered, trying her best not to cry.
She didn't realize that Shadow was looking at her with a look no one would be able to decipher if they tried. He took a bite of his Squid Gut Pasta, digesting the info he had just received.
"You probably think I'm a sissy, huh? Crying over something as worthless as a dream," Ciria asked.
Shadow calmly chewed on the pasta in his mouth, thinking his answer over, before swallowing.
"No."
Ciria stared at him in shock.
"You don't?!" she asked.
"No," Shadow repeated, taking a sip of his wine. "In me opinion, dreams are very important. They can tell us wha we want, or who we really are. Dreams tell ya yer greatest desire, whether ya admit it or not. They've been tellin' mine fer years."
Ciria looked shocked.
"Whoa. I never would've thought you to be the dreaming type," she said, smiling.
"Ya don't know me 'nough then, do ya?" he asked slyly, before taking another bite of pasta.
Ciria smiled and took a bite herself.
After she swallowed, she said: "You're right. I don't."
Shadow chuckled quietly.
"Boat gets here tamorrow," Shadow said as they paid for a room at the Inn.
People were friendly, but everyone was down.
"Ch. They all gave up on dreamin' a long time ago."
Ciria nodded.
"I can tell," she said.
They entered their room, and saw that there were two beds.
"Hey Shadow, what would you have done if there'd been one bed?" Ciria asked, curious to find out what kind of guy Shadow was.
"I dunno," Shadow mumbled. "I'd probably sleep on the roof or somethin'. Or I'd go back and order an extra bed."
Ciria smiled.
"I get the right bed!!" Ciria said, and jumped on the right bed.
Shadow rolled his eyes and took the left bed after setting his swallow beside it. Ciria placed her katana on the nightstand, before crawling under the covers.
"Goodnight Shadow!" she said, smiling, before falling asleep quickly.
Shadow watched her, then stood up and walked over to her. He carefully studied her face, watching her silver colored hair spill over her face. "Yeah," he whispered, then walked to his bed and lay down.
"G'night," he mumbled, and fell asleep.
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Howdy people!! ^_^ I'm back!! Sorry for the holdup!
Anyway, does anyone have an idea who Shadow is/might be? I'm curious about the results. :)
[Quick note: A lot of people pronounce 'Tric', as 'Trick', but that's wrong!! You say 'Tris'!! Got it?!]
Reviews:
The Mad Orange: Thanks for the compliment.
Bulma Briefs^Yue Lover: Somewhere during a flashback in chapter 5… I think… [rereads story] Yep!! =)
SaiyanGal: Maybe. …… 0_0' Uh………^_^' thanks… I guess…
