A/N: YAY!! I'm really sorry for not updating quickly, seriously i had the worst case of writer's block known to man kind. I'd also been working on my Youtube account (TheRetardedGerbilcheck it out!) so i have like 7 videos up there now. I wanted to give a shout-out to my new friend Kaida! She's awesome and her stories are too! She's on here under the name Kaida Kuroizu! Go read her stories too! She got me motivated to finish this story with her speedy updates! So THANKS KAIDA!!
Kaida: Just get on with the freakin story...sigh
Kaiya: Yea, ok, but i was talking about you you know.
Kaida: hits Kaiya with a fireball Yes i KNOW now GET ONE WITH THE STORY!!
Kaiya: Whimpers and hides behind Saso-danna Yea, ok ok i get the point Sheesh...
DISCLAIMER i dont own, the fates, Tsuna, saso-danna/sadly, but i do own kaiya, aria, kana, akina, and the storyline! GO ME!
Kaiya walked into the small house, tired from her nights work. As she ran her hand through her long black hair she sighed and looked around the small room. She could tell that someone had been drinking because she could smell sake, and she also knew that it was one of her sisters because neither of the twins drank. "I have a fairly good idea who that would have been." She said to herself as she walked down the only hallway. Looking into the first room she passed, she saw Tsuna laying on her side, as though she had fallen asleep while sitting under the table. Aria, on the other hand, was laying on her back with an empty sake bottle in one hand. She was laying in a position that suggested she had passed out and ended up sleeping where she landed. " I knew it." As Kaiya watched, Aria turned onto her side and hugged the empty bottle, mumbling something about a mountain on top of her. Kaiya smiled as she looked into the next room, where she saw Akina and Kana, both laying on futons, but both fully clothed. As she surveyed the room, she noticed a small package at Kana's feet, as well as a brand new staff leaning against the wall, near where Akina was sleeping. "So that's it," Kaiya said to herself, "they must have gone shopping. That would explain why these two are both fully clothed. Someone from the festival must have given them the sake as well." Her smile got slightly bigger as she watched them sleep. Kaiya walked to the back of the room, quietly so as to not wake them, and sat down against the wall. She then set her swords between her legs and hung her hand idly over the hilts. She watched the gentle rising and falling of their bodies, and listened to the rhythmic sounds of their breathing. The immortal of the Moon soon joined them, but not before taking a small package out of her clothes and setting it on the ground besides her. Dawn was rapidly approaching, and she knew that they had to get their sleep so they would be in top condition for tomorrow's journey. Her head nodded as she answered to the call of sleep.
As I opened my eyes, I realized that Kana and I were not alone anymore. Looking around I saw nothing out of the ordinary, but as my eyes reached the back of the room, I recognized the new presence. Kaiya was sitting against the wall, sleeping. I smiled as I watched her, not many people saw Kaiya with her guard down, when she was slept was a rare exception. Getting up quietly so I wouldn't wake either of them up, I walked out of the small bedroom, and proceeded to the kitchen, so I could get breakfast ready. "So, what kind of meat do you want this morning?" I turned around, not at all surprised to see Tsuna and Aria behind me. "Well, since everyone is here I think I might do a little of everything." I said. I was standing with one foot over the other and both hands busy with tying my hair up into a passable bun. Tsuna always teased me because when I would turn around I wouldn't bother to untwist my feet, so it looked as if I was about to tip over at any time, which, in fact, I had done a multitude of times. "Well, then we'll go hunting. That okay with you Aria?" "Uh, yea, sure, whatever." Aria was standing slightly behind Tsuna, rubbing her temple with one hand and holding her elbow with the other.
"What did you do now Aria?" "Well," Tsuna said, "She drank all that sake we got last night, and when she went to get up this morning, she fell over and hit her elbow on the table." By the end of her explanation Tsuna was chuckling, but she knew not to start actually laughing. She knew that while Aria wouldn't kill her she would still hurt her severely, and then we would have to go wake Kana up, and that would take too long. "Well, if that's all, you can both get going. I left your weapons over by the door." Turning around again, I decided that I needed to go out to our garden to get a few vegetables. "See you in a while Akina!" Tsuna and Aria shouted as they walked out the door toward the forest. I just waved my hand to show that I had heard and continued to walk outside in the direction of our garden.
They were both very strong and both very skilled with their weapons, so I didn't have to worry. That, and one of them was immortal and the other was a deity. I smiled at this thought, besides they liked to go hunting together, because they could spar while they were out. Tsuna and I would spar sometimes, but because I was better with my powers and she was a better taijutsu user it wasn't really fair, no matter what style we fought in. One was always far ahead of the other, all in all though, we were on pretty much the same level of power. Aria was a better match for Tsuna because she was also trained in taijutsu, and she had an element that she couldn't control. The Void was something that she could use in a battle, but in training, it was too dangerous. Kaiya, Kana, and myself were able to bend our elements, Kana's fire, Kaiya's shadows, and my water, so we fought each other on a much more even level.
I looked around at the beautiful sunrise that was gracing the land. The Sun had just come over the sea in the east, and it made the water shine like fire. The green grasses from the plains were blowing in the warm breeze, and the similarity to water was startling. It looked as though there were waves in a never-ending tide. The sky was colored a deep blue, and was decorated with a few thin clouds that were tinged pink by the Sun. The breeze marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer, it was warm, and for everyone, Kaiya included, it would be completely comfortable. Days like this were not rare where we lived, but I was almost always to preoccupied to enjoy them. One could lay down in the tall grass on days like this and time would seem to stop. You could lose yourself and end up listening to nature and taking it all in for hours or sometimes the whole day, that is, if you didn't fall asleep. I looked around as the breeze played through my hair, making it fan out behind me.
Turning away from the captivating sunrise, I continued walking towards our vegetable garden. It was not very large, but it had every vegetable we ever needed, and everything always grew, even in times of drought. 'It does pay to be a deity, sometimes at least. We never go hungry, and our crops always grow. Although, it will be a curse when I outlive my husband.' I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the thought, 'I shouldn't think like that, today is supposed to be a joyful day. I get to travel with my friends to see my husband-to-be.' I smiled, 'They were right, I really do love him.' Smiling I went about collecting a variety of vegetables, and some fruits that were growing on a nearby tree. By the time I was done, I had carrots, lettuce, green onions, potatoes, apples, and a melon. I walked over to the stream and proceeded to dump all of the edibles into the water. Making a couple of hand signs I caused the water to bubble around the food, washing all the dirt off. The water churned and swirled like there was a whirlpool, even though the area around it was almost as smooth as glass. When the food was as clean as I could get it, I gathered everything together and let it all float downstream, but not before ensuring that everything would be waiting at the small section of stream by the house.
I stood up, brushed off the front of my kimono, and turned to walk back to the house. I took my time following the small dirt path that wound through the tall, emerald green grass. I was in no hurry, the food would be waiting for me in the stream when I got back, plus Aria and Tsuna would still be hunting. Humming quietly to myself, I sauntered down the path back to our small home.
The sun shone brightly through the window above where I lay. Small patches of gold marked the floor around me. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Kaiya was sitting against the wall, sleeping, 'I wonder how she can sleep like that, with her weapons and everything with her. Well, she's odd like that so whatever. It looks like Tsuna and Aria have already left to go hunting, Tsuna told me they would be, and Akina must have left to get breakfast started. It's really nice when we can just act more or less like a normal family. I mean, well, Tsuna and Akina aren't really related to us, we have no blood relations, but they are the closest thing we have to family. I wonder, though, why the animals are so quiet this morning. They usually are up and running around, something must be going on in the forest to have scared them back into their homes. Something's not right, I should go find Akina.'
Getting swiftly up I quickly changed into the new clothes I had gotten the night before, they fit perfectly, not too tight and not too loose, just perfect. I left my staff, though, because if something happened, I would always have my fire to fight with, and I was too preoccupied wondering where Akina would be. Trying to rub the last remnants of sleep from my eyes, I was once again reminded to watch where I'm going, because, on my way out of the room, I walked straight into the doorway. "Oh, damn…" I said, "Kaiya was right, I'd better watch where I'm walking." Rubbing my forehead where I had run into the door, I walked out of the house and made for the garden they kept behind the cottage, I knew that was where Akina was.
I walked through the green pasture that lay behind their home and almost ran directly into Akina, neither of us are very good at paying attention while we're walking. "Ouch!" We both yelled at the same time. "Kana? Why are you all the way out here?" "Tsuna and Aria went out hunting, didn't they?" "Uh, yes, they did. Why?" "Were they going to do anything else while they were out?" "Um, they usually spar and do some target practice while they're out." "Okay, well, Akina, I think something's gone wrong. The animals in the forest are unusually quiet." "Do you know what's wrong? Can you summon a bird or something to go and check on them? I know they can take care of themselves, but better to be safe than sorry." "Yes, I think that's a good idea. Once we get back to the house they bird should be back."
Kana made a sound that sounded almost exactly like a bird call, high and escalating, and almost immediately, a large raven flew out of the forest and towards them. It landed on Kana's outstretched arm, and looked at her with an eerie intelligence. "Go into the forest, and find Tsuna, the deity of plants, and Aria, the immortal of the Void. When you find them report back to the house we are currently residing at. Also check the area surrounding them for threats. Now go." Her voice held a commanding quality that it was usually devoid of. The great black raven lifted off her arm with a sweep of it's mighty wings, and flew over the border of the forest. They watched it until it flew out of sight, down among the green sea of trees. The turned back to the path and, joking with each other and bantering, they began to walk back down the dusty red path that lead to the small cottage.
By now, the raven was just a black shape moving through the dappled, green forest. It had covered a great expanse of land since it had been charged with finding the two women that were out hunting. It could hear a disturbance in the forest, so it changed it's flight path and headed in the direction the sounds were coming from. There were screams of pain that came to a quick gurgling stops, dull thudding, the clanging of metal off of stone. And then there was the scents. Death. Blood. Fear. The raven flapped its wings and lit on a branch that hung over a reasonably sized clearing.
There were bodies everywhere, laying on the ground where they had been felled. Others were standing around the clearing in a tight circle, an attempt to keep whatever or whoever the target was inside the grotto. The braver men were rushing into the center of the circle, only to be killed, they were the ones emitting the blood-filled final cries. The more cautious ones were standing their ground, watching their target's moves, trying to decipher a pattern. All of their efforts were concentrated on the middle of the clearing, where two women stood. They were the cause of all the death that surrounded them. They stood back-to-back and waited until someone rushed at them. The white-haired woman fought with bow and arrow, and she had unnatural accuracy. She would crack skulls open and let the minds inside be seen, shoot the stomach and watch as the insides emptied unto the hard moss-covered ground, or she would shoot the heart directly and side-step as the body fell at her feet. The black-headed woman fought with projectiles, she would throw shuriken and kunai at her opponents and watch as they either bled to death, or they were pierced in vital organs. She threw hard enough to penetrate both flesh and bone. Her victims fell after taking only a few steps. If they actually made it more than a few steps, they would become tangled in plant growth, and she would be able to hit a still target. Although, the men were coming up with a plan to attack the women, so that they would be able to capture them.
The raven watched as the men gathered their strength and charged at the women, with everything they had left. They were more concerned with the woman with white hair because she seemed to be stronger than the woman with black hair. They concentrated on her more and split up into two groups. One would meet on the side that the white-haired woman was facing and one, a smaller group, would meet on the side that the black-haired woman was facing. They were going to charge and try anything they thought would bring the woman down. They were ready, and they ran towards what they obviously thought was certain victory. The woman with the projectiles was pierced through each of her limbs and once in her chest. She was held standing by the swords in the arms and legs. The woman with the bow, however, was pierced several times through the torso, once through the neck, once through each of her legs, and then wherever the men could fit their blades after that. A raven's crow could be heard as the women went completely limp, and the men sent out roars of victory. The man with his blade through the archer's neck withdrew his sword, placed it in his scabbard, and announced, "Men! We have successfully brought down the women who posed a threat to our village! Their weapons and skills are useless now! You may dispose of their bodies however you see fit! You have earned that honor!" The men cheered again.
"Hmmm, I don't think you can celebrate quite yet. What do you think Tsuna?" The men were dumbfounded, and terrified. They were confused as to where the voices were coming from, they had never heard them before. It was a small man that had his spear through the white-haired woman's right leg that realized it was the white haired woman who had spoken. He immediately yanked his weapon out of her body, backed up three paces, and yelled. It was the black haired woman, Tsuna, who spoke next, "No, I don't think they have earned that right quite yet. What shall we do now Aria?" All of the men that were still standing knew who was talking and they had to get out of there. "Oh, I was thinking about solving this problem quickly and merely opening the Void. That would take care of the living and the dead. Do you think that would be appropriate, Tsuna?" "Oh, yes. That would do very well, we still have to get all the meat back to Akina, too!" "Well then," the woman called 'Aria' was changing, her hair was turning a dark silver and her skin was becoming lighter, "I think we should hurry this up."
Aria and Tsuna began grabbing the spears and swords that were piercing their bodies and pulling them out. Blood from the wounds was drip dripping on the ground around them. The men abandoned their weapons and ran back finally huddling in a small group, unable to run any further. They sat trembling as Aria and Tsuna finished removing all the weapons that had previously 'killed' them. Aria began to walk towards the small frightened group of men. Some passed out and some wept. The more honorable of them simply sat and waited for their inevitable fate, quivering as they did so. She spoke to them in a voice that absolutely shook with power. It was the most terrifying thing the men had ever heard, yet when they heard her speak they could not help but become entranced, for as terrifying as it was, it was also the most beautiful thing they had ever heard.
"I am Aria. I am the immortal of the Void, I have been charged with the duty to banish the demons that were born alongside me. I can open the Void at my will and I can use it for any purpose that suits me. You are about to be banished to the emptiness that is the Void, and you will most probably be torn to shreds by the demons that still survive there. If you survive the demons you will, eventually, become one with the Void. You will cease to exist, do you understand?" The men looked on with wide eyes as she explained. They couldn't believe what was happening, then, slowly, one of the men remembered something. "She one of the three goddesses from the stories and legends." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. They knew it was true. "Do you understand?" She repeated her question, they were beyond words, the could only nod in response. "Very well, then, I think, it is time."
She raised her hand in front of her and began making symbols with them. Behind the men, there was a rip appearing in the forest behind them. The rip was white and it sucked the men towards it. It only kept getting bigger and while she stood there and wasn't affected by the pulling the Void was creating, when the Void was completely open, the vacuum was pulling on them harder than ever. They attempted to grab onto the plants and trees that surrounded them, but every time they tried, the plants shriveled or the trees moved. They saw Tsuna standing behind Aria moving her fingers whenever they grabbed a plant. The leader of the group called out in despair, "We are paying the price for attacking a goddess and a deity! Although we must certainly deserve this, I mourn the loss of life that our foolishness has caused." No sooner had he finished saying this, than he and the others were sucked into the Void and the Void sealed them up in it.
Aria was pleased with his last minute revelation. "You really didn't have to seal them in the Void, we could have just killed them." Tsuna said. "There were demons inside of them. The last thing that the leader said was his own, the demons were sucked into the Void before they were. He returned to his senses right as he was sealed in the Void. I would have spared them, but they would have been split in two. They were already partly in the Void when they were released. I'll go in and fetch their human souls later, so they can, at least, be sent to the final resting place, Kaiya can take care of that." Aria replied while concentrating on returning to her human form. "Ah, is that why they attacked us? That would make sense." Tsuna swayed. "Oh, no, this is not good." She fainted.
Unlike Aria who was immortal, Tsuna was merely a deity, she could be killed by human weapons. It was not easy to kill a deity, but it could be done. The wounds Tsuna had received were not fatal, but she had lost a lot of blood due to them, and it had made her light-headed and eventually made her faint. It was not good for her to be losing so much blood. "Damn it, we've got to get her to Kana. You," she said, looking at the large raven, " I know Kana sent you to find us. You carry the intelligence of a messenger bird. Tell Kana where we are and that we will meet her at the border of the forest. Also tell her that Tsuna is wounded and will need healing. Go. Now!" She yelled the last part, because she was worried about Tsuna and her temper was short. All she had to do now, was not trip on the way out of the forest…it was going to be an interesting journey out. Aria hoisted Tsuna onto her back and proceeded to grab all of the prey they had collected while they had been hunting. After adjusting everything so she had a good grip on it, she set off to the border of the forest. Behind them, the large raven took one last look at them, flapped it wings and took flight.
'It hurts….a lot….what happened?' I lifted my head only to realize I was moving. 'Oh, that's right, we were ambushed and Aria and I were 'killed' by those village men. But that doesn't explain why I'm moving and or where Aria is. This pain is incredible, if it keeps on this bad, I won't be able to think straight, I guess it'll be more like just feeling. Just being, a body with no comprehensible mind.' In my mind I chuckled before slipping into the state I had just been thinking about.
'This hurts, this….running movement.' Some green moved by at a fast pace. 'Maybe if I go to sleep the pain will all go away.' Something like a bird call sounded in the distance. 'I don't know if I can sleep though.' My ride and I jumped over a fallen tree, which caused more pain to jolt through my body. 'This….person, I think it's Aria, it has to be, they smell the same.' More greenery flashed by. 'I wonder what Akina's doing.' Another bird call, but this time it was closer by. 'Am I dying? I don't remember this much pain before.' My thoughts were a jumbled mess. Everything was piled together in my mind. 'This pain, I want it to stop, it feels like its getting worse.' The more we moved the more I wanted to sleep….or die. Something, anything, to take the pain away. 'Kaiya came back last night didn't she? I can't remember.' The forest around us was starting to get lighter. 'Hm, the pain is starting to go away, am I recovering?' My vision blackened a little as the area around us continues to lighten. 'The light is really bright here, almost a white.' We finally came out of the forest and we were within sight of the house. 'There's another bird call, maybe Kana called one of her messenger birds, but why?' My vision got a little darker. 'That's the house. I wonder if Akina has finished cooking breakfast.' I heard Aria scream, although I couldn't make out the words. 'Why is she screaming? Is something wrong?' My mind was getting fuzzier by the second. Akina ran out of the house, with Kana right behind her, she seemed to be crying. 'Akina, why are you crying, and why does Kana looked so serious?' Akina was holding me wile I was laying on her lap. Her tears were starting to wet the front of my armor, making a dark circle on the cloth. 'Akina, please don't cry, I'm fine, just a little tired.' "She's still conscious. That's good, if she passes out there might be some extra problems." 'Was that Kana talking? I can't tell anymore, I'm so tired.' My vision was starting to fade at a rapid pace now. "Please, Tsuna, stay awake, stay awake, come one Tsuna, stay with me, please….please….Tsuna." 'Don't worry, Akina, I'm not going anywhere. I'm just want to sleep for a little while, so don't cry, I'm just tired that's all.' My vision finally went black, but right before I lost all my senses to the wonderful darkness, I heard a scream, a scream filled with worry, terror, misery and loss. And it was coming from Akina.
A/N: YAY!! Kinda short i know, but i couldn't resist putting in a cliffy and anyway it wrapped the chapter up nicely, doncha think? anyway remember to review!! any review is accept and now you can anonymously review too! i didnt realize i had that setting turned on...sorry all my anon readers!!