A/N: Hullo fellow fanfic people! :D Well, it's the end of the school year with only three days left. I exempted most of my Finals so I had time to work on this. I wanted this to be longer, but since I really wanted to release a chapter to let you all know I'm still alive, this chapter is pretty short - it spans only a dream. Still, I worked hard to try and give this a horror feel. If I can evoke even an iota of feeling from you, then I feel accomplished.
In any case, I hope this chapter is enjoyable. The title of this chapter means "Spinning Doll."
Please enjoy -bows-
II: Spinnerei Puppe
From the depths of darkness, he knows that someone is dreaming, and once again he begins to weave that terrible theater of horror.
xXxOxXx
Sleep used to be such a wonderful thing. It used to bring escape, a rest period from reality. It revitalized the mind and the body. But after that day, Kurogane got less sleep, because every time...the dreams were just too foggy and red and dark. There were too many voices at once.
Sleep was no longer wonderful. But now that his goal was within reaching distance, Kurogane was sure that his dreams would change.
Though apparently nightmares never stopped tormenting you.
Like in all dreams, he couldn't really feel anything and couldn't really think anything. He just was. And all he could really do was look. He was sitting at the base of a tree that seems to be no more detailed than a silhouette. All around him, there were just monochrome shades of, well, shade. The tree was black, the ground was black, and the sky a dull gray. The fog was a moonlight white, lazily rolling and making the distance hazy. Before him, cracked and decrepit, where tombstones.
Graves. A graveyard.
Kurogane got up from his tree and went over to a gravestone that had overgrown vines on it. The ninja frowned, going closer to get a better look, because a dark liquid was dripping from those vines. He knew it, knew the smell and hue that stood out against all the shade. Suddenly it hit Kurogane – the vines weren't foliage, but gore. Someone's innards were draped over the stone like morbid decoration.
A frown creased Kurogane's forehead, but he didn't panic. He was used to blood and mutilation. He had sometimes been the cause of it.
The smell was rank, like the gore had been there for awhile. When the ninja let his eyes trail off, he realized the entire graveyard was full of dismembered limbs and guts. What seemed ominous though was that no matter where his eyes traveled, he could never locate a face. A hollow feeling pitted itself in his stomach.
A sharp cry from a raven flying overhead stirred Kurogane from his sight-seeing. The bird circled where he stood for a few seconds before going on ahead with a squawk.
"Do you want me to follow you?" Kurogane considered aloud. He blinked, surprised at how clearly he heard his voice, and it made him realize just how deathly silent everything was around him.
The raven perched itself on a stone, cawed in an affirmative reply, and flew off once more. Kurogane nodded slowly in understanding and followed the ink-black bird. He weaved through the tombstones, trying not to give the splattered blood and decayed guts too much notice. The raven slowed whenever Kurogane seemed to fall behind, crying out almost impatiently. What astonished the ninja was that he could almost understand the bird.
"Where is it you're trying to take me?"
A ruffle of feathers and a slight change in course was the only answer. Soon, the long black talons of the raven dug into one particular tombstone. It was undoubtedly the most unmarred one in the graveyard. Not only that, but the stone was pure white, but nothing, not even a motif, was upon its surface. And the black ground before it was somehow odd...
The raven cawed, staring at Kurogane intently.
"Is this it?"
"CAW, CAW!"
Deep red eyes looked down at the dirt. It was unkempt, as if the person underneath had only been recently buried.
"Help me!" a voice cried out. It was muffled, but it still sent an unwanted chill to spike down Kurogane's spine.
"Ts... Tsukuyomi?"
"Help me... Help...please... Kurogane... Scared..."
The grave! The realization had the ninja kneeling into the dirt. He got fistfuls of it without hesitation, not caring how filthy his hands were getting. The raven squawked in encouragement again and again. Kurogane tore at the fresh grave, tossing the mud everywhere on the sides of him.
Wait...mud? When had the dirt gotten so moist?
Kurogane looked down at his hands, which had sticky material caked in between his fingers and under his nails. It had that same scent that always haunted him, even in dreams...
It's...blood...
With a cry of rage and decisiveness, Kurogane resumed clawing into the blood-soaked earth, trying not to let the raw smell engulf his nose. That horrible scent! Why was it so vivid in a dream? How could he perceive it so well as he was unconscious? But no matter, the gruesome realness of it made his desperation all the more apparent. He had to get to her! She was still in trouble; she was surely suffocating under all that dirt and plasma!
"Tsukuyomi! Tsukuyomi!"
He suddenly came across a pale hand, then an arm covered in a filthy lavender kimono sleeve. Kurogane wrapped his hands around the pale wrist gingerly, and tried to pull her out from under the earth. A girl suddenly emerged from the tainted soil, sending muddy blood everywhere as she fell into Kurogane's arms. Without thinking and before anything else, the ninja buried his face into her dirty black hair, clutching onto her for dear life.
The girl that always drifted into his thoughts, that lingered like a phantom in his dreams and in real life. The most important person to him.
"Tsukuyomi..." He held her tighter, amending her name to the one that she said only he could utter. "Tomoyo... Are you alright? Can you move?"
The girl, Tomoyo, moved slightly, breaking away from Kurogane's chest. Her eyes slowly traversed up to his red ones, seeming just the slightest bit fazed.
"You came back," she said in a voice thick with static. But in the next second, it was normal again – sweet and soft but weak. "You came back. They were...going to kill me... Kurogane!" She flung herself back into his arms, shaking as she sobbed quietly.
Sorrow tore at Kurogane's heart, but he remedied it by embracing Tomoyo once more. "Gomenasai...my hime," he murmured, trying to hold her as close as possible without hurting her. How long had it been since he could last embrace her like this? How long has it been since his usually short-tempered and serious demeanor crumbled to make way for warmth? He allowed himself to show her just how relieved he was to have her once more.
The raven, still perched on the white tombstone, cried out suddenly, interrupting the pair's tender moment. It was looking behind itself, cawing excessively like it was agitated. Kurogane looked up and widened his eyes at the sight before him.
In the few seconds he had been focused on Tomoyo, weird figures had begun to approach the grave. They were together in a huge black mass, but the outline of them was incredibly fuzzy, like they were being obscured by dirty glass. Their eyes and smiles were luminous and were spotted all over the tangle of black. As they approached ever faster, Kurogane began to hear dreadful fits of crazed laughter.
It was only then did Kurogane realize that he didn't have Ginryuu with him.
"Kurogane?" Tomoyo asked tentatively, looking up at him.
"GET DOWN AND HIDE!" he bellowed, settling her down as gently as he could before jumping out of the grave. Well, sword or not, he wasn't going to stand there and allow Tomoyo to get hurt. After all, he still had his body as a weapon.
The mass of black figures were now more distinguishable now – he could make out their separate bodies and more of their characteristics.
Well, no matter. Kurogane knew who these people were, and what they wanted – just like before. Only this time, he wasn't going to let them get away.
"Kurogane? Kurogane!"
The ninja ignored the cries springing from the grave and sprinted off in the direction of the figures, jumping over tombstones with the raven squawking ever louder.
"KUROGANE, WAIT! YOUR SWORD, I-!"
And just as he reached the figures with grotesque bodies and faces, saliva dripping thickly from their huge fangs and bloated tongues...
They glided past him, as if they barely had given him notice. Kurogane stopped running, looking behind him in horror as they went straight for Tomoyo in the grave. Fear clawed up his chest and he wasted no time in re-routing back to the small girl.
"Kurogane... Kurogane?"
Dammit, how could he still hear that glass voice so clearly?
Could she do it? Could she hold her own against those monsters? Tomoyo wasn't completely helpless, but she wasn't a warrior like Kurogane was.
No, she wouldn't die! He wouldn't allow it!
Tomoyo's head popped up from the grave, trying to get out in time before she was cornered by the monsters. Her eyes widened at the sight of them.
"Tomoyo! Tomoyo, I'm coming!" the ninja shouted, willing his legs to run faster. He couldn't understand this – why did his lungs burn so much? Why did his leg muscles actually feel like they were being exercised?
From the distance, he could make out the grime-covered kimono and the girl that wore it, whose form seemed to be trembling. She waved her hands in a fluid, graceful manner. All of a sudden, an electric pop cracked over the creatures' screeching roars, a burst of light flashing in front of them as Tomoyo's spell tried to keep them at bay. Kurogane believed for a moment that it had actually worked...
The black-haired girl staggered to her feet as the monsters were kept busy with her spell. She saw Kurogane running towards her and she quickly began to make her way to him.
Shadows tore through the light, literally casting the spell away as the creatures came back, emerging from the rays as easily as breaking through a cloud. Tomoyo screamed, turning to her pursuers as Kurogane exclaimed in horror. She was so close to them – there was no way she could...
Cracked, blood-covered lips slowly uttered one sentence as the monsters extended their claws and fangs, reaching out for her...
Just twenty-five feet, maybe twenty... He was now running alongside the demons.
The mass of creatures shrieked in excitement...
So close... So close...!
Tears formed in Tomoyo's eyes. "Don't kill me..." Her eyes locked to Kurogane's.
"NOO!" Only fifteen feet...ten...!
Time froze. The air was suddenly more quiet, as if no one had spoken in the first place. The monsters that had been so hot in pursuit were completely still, their mouths hanging rabidly and eyes wild in the thrill of the hunt. Tomoyo was still looking at Kurogane, but she seemed to be no longer seeing him.
Kurogane himself didn't register what had happened at first, so desperate he had been to get to Tomoyo. He stopped running, just under ten feet away from her. He was close enough to touch the frozen demons. His red eyes scanned the area to see what was happening. It seemed like he was the only one not affected by the time spell.
"What happened?" he whispered, but his voice still seemed too loud.
A rustle of feathers and wings beating left Kurogane's wondering incomplete as the raven descended upon the scene. It's caw echoed in the deathly quiet graveyard. With surprisingly delicate swiftness, it landed on Tomoyo's shoulder. Kurogane stared at it strangely.
"Why do you keep showing up? Do you know what's going on here?" he demanded, taking a step towards it. Although it was just a bird, Kurogane trusted no foreign force near Tomoyo that could potentially harm her.
The bird cocked its head. Then it did something quite strange – it smiled. It made a sound that Kurogane could swear was a chuckle. But the most queer event was when a voice, soft and male, came from that ebony beak. "My, what a scary face you're making there, Mr. Black! Do you perhaps think I'll hurt this girl?" It hopped off of Tomoyo but continued to hover behind her as its body began to shift and change.
Kurogane's eyes widened in fascination and shock as the black bird began to transform. It's legs extended and became covered with something that looked an awful lot like human flesh. The feathers faded, retracting into alabaster skin as the raven's form changed. The wings faded into slender appendages and the beak shrank away into a forming nose and mouth. The body enlarged, becoming something very human. Before Kurogane knew it, he was staring at a slender, lean man shorter than him, with wavy blond hair framing a handsome face. Shadows from the very air it seemed gently swirled around him, giving him clothing that was pitch-black. The previously inky orbs of the raven were replaced with reflective sky-blue eyes.
A light smile played upon pink lips, making the stranger's face all the more attractive. "Hello," he greeted, as if they were innocent people meeting on the street. "You're new in the kingdom, aren't you?"
Kurogane stared blankly at the man, not knowing what to say. It was just as well, since the blond didn't give him a chance to answer. "A newcomer in Seresu isn't common," he informed cordially, still having that smile on his face. "I'm surprised to see you here, considering the stories that must have spread around the country at this point."
Coherent thoughts finally reached Kurogane's mind again and he frowned at the stranger. "How'd you know I'm new in Seresu?"
"Oh, that's quite simple. I would have remembered such a handsome man and beautiful girl had I visited you before," he replied with a wink.
Visited? Kurogane hadn't the faintest clue as to what this man meant by that. He was snapped from his thoughts when the blond reached a pale hand up to stroke Tomoyo's cheek. "She really is a pretty one. Is she perhaps someone very special to Mr. Black?"
Kurogane ignored the name and slapped his hand away from her. "Leave her alone," he growled.
"How scary~," lilted the man, backing away as Kurogane cradled the frozen Tomoyo in his arms. She was so stiff, but at least he could move her away from the stranger.
"Were you the one who stopped time?" the ninja asked, regarding the blond with wary eyes.
At present, the stranger was twirling a lock of his golden hair around one of his slender fingers, gazing up at the tasteless gray sky. "I am," he replied tersely, beginning to whistle cheerfully.
Kurogane frowned. "Who are you? Why are you in my dreams?"
The blond stopped mid-whistle. He looked over at the ninja in surprise. "You don't really know? No one told you?"
"Told me what?" Kurogane snapped, irritated at the shock. He didn't like to be blind to obvious facts.
A sadly thoughtful expression crossed the blond's countenance, as if he were considering something. The smile on his face slowly slipped away as he weighed options invisible to Kurogane. He was still wearing that peculiar look when he glanced over at Kurogane, raising a brow.
"Mr. Black sure is an interesting man," he remarked somewhat absently. "I don't know many people who are necrophiliac."
"What the hell are you going on about?" But even before the stranger pointed to the girl in his arms, Kurogane's nose was engulfed with that cursed scent again. When he looked down into his arms, there Tomoyo was, her chest ripped apart with so many slashes. Blood was openly spurting from a stab wound in her throat, the crimson geyser spraying his face with her slick plasma.
"SHIT!" he cursed, putting a hand over her wound, desperately trying to make it suffice for a tourniquet. "Tomoyo! Tomoyo!"
"There's no point in crying out like that, Mr. Black," the blond pointed out, a grim expression on his face. "The dead aren't really known for, well...coming back to life."
"Shut up and help me!" Kurogane bellowed, going to his knees. The blood was still flying out freely, smearing Kurogane's ace when he wiped it from his eyes. It went everywhere from his eyes, chest...in his mouth...
Ignoring the taste on his tongue, the ninja tore off a piece of Tomoyo's kimono and proceeded to tie it tightly around her neck - "My, it's like you're strangling her!" - hoping against hope that it'd work. But still, somewhere inside himself, Kurogane knew that he was too late. She was still frozen, but now the look in her open eyes was now undoubtedly dead. Kurogane cried out furiously.
"ARRRHHH!" He slammed his fists down in the dirt in anguish. "Dammit, dammit, dammmitdammitdammit! I was too late! I failed her again!"
The blond man, having watched the entire scene, stepped over to the ninja. Kurogane refused to look up at him, too transfixed at the dead girl still awkwardly laying in his arms. All he could make out were his black boots. Then his legs and some of his torso and arms as he bent down to the ninja's level. Kurogane raised his head, his breath shaky and his eyes beginning to sting.
"My condolences," the blond murmured, looking down at Tomoyo. He cupped his chin with one of his hands. "I take it that this isn't the first time?"
The answer was silence and a glare. There was no need for a worded one for the man to understand. He let out a breath. "That's a shame," he said softly. "People really never learn the second time around, either. Don't feel too bad, Mr. Black."
"What are you talking about?" he asked in a sharp voice, but it was still laced with such uncharacteristic fragility.
"You seem to be a smart, determined man, Mr. Black, so I'm sure you'll figure it out. I'm also sure the one who did this to you realized the same thing."
"Realized WHAT?" Kurogane snapped his head up to stare into the blond's eyes. But instead of being met with clear-water blue, he was gazing into pools of pure-blood red.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," the man repeated, a sick smile on his face. "Next time, maybe you'll remember where your sword is."
xXxOxXx
Even as Souma shook him awake, her eyes wide in fear as she called out his name, Kurogane could still hear that soft chuckle tickling against his ear.
xXxOxXx
Ending A/N: And there you have it. It was short, no? Sorry about that, but I really wanted to update. Good news is that since summer is upon me, I'll have ample time to work on my fanfics. I really hope to update soon. Other than that, I haven't much to say. Let the suspense sink in, haha.
Oh, by the way! I finally finished Tsubasa a few weeks ago. 8D I can't believe I'm so late in it... Grrr... CLAMP loves to be all mystical and have everything connected. I hope that I can sort of accomplish such epicness in this fic. Ah, but seriously, I brainstormed like hell this past week and have a lot of things in store ;D This fic better not get confusing... x_X Oh, I guess I did have a lot to say, huh?
Review and/or critique, please.
