Chapter Eight
Against the Sunset
The next time Larva awoke, the pain in his joints and muscles had been reduced to a dull ache, and the headache that was splitting his skull was nearly gone. When he at last was able to open his eyes and saw nothing but darkness, he also panicked, thinking that he had gone blind, but then he remembered that someone had put a bandage around them to keep out the light, before he fell asleep again. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? What had happened before he woke up?
The shipwreck. Their ship was nearing the Japanese coastline, he knew it, even through the dense fog. He could sense it, smell it, an old tie that still bound him to this foreign land more than most of the crew could understand. Most of them felt it was unnecessary to come here, to a land that saw them as enemies, but Larva had his reasons. He had been away far too long, and Miyu needed him. He needed her. It was finally time for their reunion.
The fog had been so thick, so heavy, that no one saw the rocks jutting up from the shore, which was dangerously close. With a deafening and ear-splitting crack, the hull of the great Western ship struck the rocks without mercy, cutting it in half and rolling the large boat violently onto its side. The air was consumed with the sounds of breaking wood and the screams of men as they were flung off of the railing of the ship and down the massing gap that slit along the deck. Larva had been frozen in horror, unsure of what to do – should he stay on the ship or jump into the water, like so many others were doing? – until a pole from the towering masts fell from above, catching him painfully in the chest. There was a searing pain in his arm as it the bones were snapped soundly and the world went black when he hit the icy black waters below.
Now his arm was immobile, bound in a thin cast made of some sort of plant-like material. He flexed his fingers, the first motion of movement that he attempted since he returned to the world of the wakeful. They all moved freely and without any pain. At least he had survived, and without any real serious casualties. Gritting his teeth against any pain that might have been there, he used his good arm to push himself up to his elbow, and finally to a sitting position. There was very little pain, thankfully; he was just sore and probably badly bruised. And his eyes? Maybe something had happened to them after he lost consciousness. Almost dreading what the results the would be, he reached up and tugged the bandages off of his eyes.
The light was harsh, but his eyes adjusted quickly as he looked around. He was in a place that he did not recognize, but knew it immediately to be the home of a Japanese Shinma…a very old-fashioned home, perhaps going back a few hundred years before Miyu's time. Miyu…that means that they had made it. He was back in the Japanese Realm.
"Ahh…it is good to see you awake. The others will be enthralled." He was slightly startled by the voice that came from behind. He twisted around, wincing slightly at the pain, to see an old, strong woman of about sixty preparing something in a wide, shallow bowl. "We were almost fearing that you wouldn't wake."
"I…who…" Even after all this time, his own voice still sounded strange to him.
"I am Kanyo, one of the Elders of this village. We brought you and your men here after your ship ran our shores. That was almost four days ago; and you've been asleep over the entire time. It's good to see you've survived." She scooped some of the contents into a smaller bowl and walked over to him, handing it to him. "Drink. It will take away the last of your pains. And you can remove that cast; your arm's probably healed by now."
Larva did drink the strange liquid in it, wincing at its bitter taste. But the taste was familiar, making him pause. "What's wrong?" Kanyo asked as she took the shallow dish away.
"Just…thinking. I had the strangest dream. Someone was holding me, nursing me…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kanyo raise an eyebrow questioningly. He tried to ignore it as he used his sharp nails to cut the cast away from his other arm. He flexed his fingers again and rotated his shoulder a few times; it hardly hurt and seemed to be in good working order. "Someone that I knew from a long time ago…" He shook his head. "It sounds crazy…"
"Not…entirely." Kanyo said. "You kept saying a name in your slumber. How do you know Miyu?"
Larva's head snapped up, his temples throbbing, but he didn't care. "Miyu? You know her?" He did not recognize the Shinma woman, she certainly wasn't anyone they had ever thought.
"There isn't a Shinma in this world who doesn't. A Shinma from the West who knows of the Vampire Kanshisha, and you speaks of her without a trace of fear in your eyes…" She was suddenly right in front of him, staring into his eyes, his chin grasped surprisingly tight in her thin fingers, preventing him from moving. "No, hardly fear at all…in fact, boy…I sense something else, something deeper…" Then she smiled, pulling away, leaving Larva wondering what that was about. "So you are him. Miyu's guardian who was forced to leave when the last of the Shinma were sealed. Larva, if I remember correctly?"
"Y…yes, I am…" There was no point in asking how she knew. If they all knew about Miyu, then they probably know about him as well. "Is…Miyu well? Is she close?"
"You should consider yourself lucky, Larva." Kanyo said, moving silently to the door of her hut. It surprised him that she addressed him by name. Most Japanese Shinma would rather choke on their own tongues than address a Western Shinma on friendly terms. "She is the guardian of this very village, almost a priestess, in some of your eyes, guarding the hole to the rebels had torn a while back. She will be pleased to learn that is you, her lost guardian…I wonder why she didn't recognize sooner."
"It was because of my seal, that damn thing that kept us separated…" By now Larva was trying to stand, making sure that his legs wouldn't give under him as he tried to get over to the door that the Elder Shinma stood at. He supported himself against the wall, peering against the setting sun, hoping to catch a glance at his Vampire Princess. There were few people moving along the broad dirt street of the quaint Japanese town, and beyond, on the rising hill shadowed against the dusk, he could barely see a woman standing there, looking out into the sea. She looked to be in her early twenties in human age, her long hair blown out behind her on the wind that came off the ocean. Larva suddenly felt drawn to her; he wanted to leave the hut right then and there and go to her, to see who she was, to look at her face.
"It is she." Kanyo said, taking note of his staring. Larva looked down at her, the spell broken. "Your vampire. She had grown, you know, a good number of years. She is no longer the child you once knew."
"I…I know…it's…" He scrambled to think of something to say, but all words were lost. He only wanted to go to her, to finally hold Miyu once again after so many years of empty agony.
"Go to her. You've both been waiting too long. That's what you came here for, isn't it?" Before Larva could say anything else, Kanyo pointed behind her. "You shirt and jacket are on the table. You don't deserve to be away any longer. I will leave you to change." Just before she left the hut, she said in a kind, grandmotherly voice, "Thank you for taking care of her the way you did. Will you do the same now, after so many year?"
"Forever." Larva replied with a smile. "There is nothing I would rather do with my life."
He dressed quickly, putting on his white dress shirt, which was still a bit stiff from the salt, over the bandages wrapped around his torso, and then his long black coat on last. He was grateful for the medicine Kanyo had given to him; the pain was almost non-existent.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his heart, which was throbbing painfully behind his ribs, he stepped carefully outside of Kanyo's hut, making sure that no one saw him. He only wanted to get to Miyu.
She was still standing on the hill, still standing as motionless. Even from this distance, there was a different air about her, one that was more powerful and confident and cautious than she had once been; it was also more tearful than it had once been, more sorrowful. But not for too much longer; he would embrace her tightly and bury his face within her hair, speaking to her for the first time since they had met so long ago, telling her she no longer had to be afraid because he would never leave her again. And for the first time ever he could kiss those soft lips and tell her that he loved her, that he had always loved her, and will continue to love her until the end of the world.
But his heart sank suddenly. Miyu turned, looking the opposite direction. Even with the dark shadows the golden glow of the sun cast against her face, she looked as if she was listening for something, like a cat on edge. Then she took off running, down the hill in the opposite direction of the village. She was up another slope of a hill, then vanished from view.
"There is an intruder near the gate!" He heard Kanyo's voice from behind. "She had sworn to protect it from all Shinma who try to get through."
"Where is it?"
"To the north!" Kanyo said, pointing a bony finger. "Go to her, Larva! She'll need you!" Larva nodded hastily and took off running, making his way past the Japanese Shinma citizens and in between their small houses to the direction Kanyo pointed to him.
Because of his injuries his was winded quickly, his lungs burning for air, but he kept pushing himself faster, harder, until from in the horizon he saw the looming Torii Gate that served as a crossroads between this world and the human world. Standing before the gate was Miyu. And standing before her was a Shinma.
It was huge and resembled some giant insect, a centipede or some sort, but with more monstrous features, such as a poison-tipped tail with a stinger looking much like a scorpion's and mandibles so huge they could slice a boulder in half. Miyu was on guard, her bow knocked and the arrow drawn to her ear – since when did she know archery? – and fired. The arrow struck true, sinking through the bottom of the beast's head and emerging through the other side, but it only slowed it down…and made it angrier. Miyu was just able yo hit the ground and roll out of the way as it attacked, diving head first into the ground and cracking the earth where it struck, kicking up a mass of dust and boulders in its wake. It had also snapped Miyu's bow in half in the process. There was a violent blaze of light as fire was called forth. It engulfed the monster's head, but effected it less then the arrow. Miyu was now completely on the offense, and apparently out of tricks.
Something stirred inside Larva, something that he hadn't felt in years; the sudden compulsion to protect Miyu from any and all harm that might befall on her. Without thinking twice, he took off running down the hill.
The giant centipede-Shinma reared high and bellowed, obviously ready to finish the vampire off. Miyu was back on her feet, he teeth bared, his fangs exposed, but was obviously out of ideas, and things were not looking any better.
Something cut across the air, sharp and quick, a thin line of light as sharp as a razor. It struck the Shinma on the side of the head, neatly cutting the head in half at a defined angle. The thing writhed, thrashed, but was also falling, dying. Miyu turned her head to look to see who her savior was when something hit her, sending them both to the ground and rolling out of the way as the Shinma crashed to the ground, dead.
They landed at the bottom of a hill just outside the forest, Larva shielding Miyu with his body until the monster stopped twitching and was dead for good. He lifted his head and looked behind him to see the body already turning to mist and being taken away on the wind. He sighed in relief. That had almost been too close. Then he looked back down at Miyu.
The fall had knocked her unconscious, but his heart jumped into his throat and his breath stopped at the same time. She was more beautiful than he remembered, and now she possessed the radiant grace of an adult woman. Her cheekbones were higher and more defined, her face narrower. Her hair was longer now and could shame the softness of silk as several strands fell across her closed eyes, her perfect nose and full lips. Her face wasn't the only part of her that was a woman now, and he noted that with a blush, moving so he wasn't quite laying on top of her. He looked back at her face, and his heart softened, as well as was clenched in mild agony. Even though she was older now, a woman as she had wanted to be, she was still his Miyu. Her skin was still soft and pale and flawless, her scent was the same, the feel of her body next to his…
The train of though was severed when Miyu made a small sound in her throat, a groan, frowning in her state of unconsciousness as she became wakeful. Larva swallowed, not knowing what to do. Should he move? The position they were in probably wasn't the best in the world, but he wanted her to see him. A new thought came to mind. Would she even recognize him? Oh, bloody hell…
Before he could think of anything, her eyes snapped open, golden and radiant, just as he remembered.
And their eyes locked.
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To be continued…
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:ducks all thrown objects:: And guess what guys? The next chapter won't be out for a while, because I have no idea what I'm going to write next! AHAHA! Wait, that's not funny, is it? Well, I'll try…
