Ahem...so glad I upped the rating a couple of chapters ago...
6,000 VIEWS?! WHAT HAPPENED?! I WAS GONE FOR THREE DAYS!
*Foaming at the mouth*
*cough*
Warning! Chapter will include: flashback, which will include the following: guns, violence, and death.
You have been warned!
(Last Chapter)
"Come on, let's see if we can't find you a fire."
"That sounds...oddly nice right now..."
"That's because you're shivering up a storm." She looked at her hands again and saw her skin was turning blue.
"Why aren't you shivering? You're being selfish and keeping all the static for yourself, aren't you?"
"Only because it will do neither of us good if we're both dying of hypothermia."
"So why not use it on just me?! Why just you?!"
"Because you have no wilderness survival skills, and you'd pick up the greenest wood around here. Plus, it takes a lot of concentration to just keep myself warm. Just enough as to where it's hard for me to walk, talk, and keep warm."
"I-You...fine. Be that way." I rolled my eyes while looking away from her.
"It's only to keep both of us alive Akumu."
"Yeah...sure it is."
(Present Time)
Eventually, we found a decent little grove in the trees, dipping down to end in a small pond. I helped Akumu sit down, and used my recently revealed powers to warm her up, "You'd better not leave me shivering here!" and went to get firewood. I had a decent amount, hopefully enough to stave off any cold we'd meet the rest of the night. I couldn't keep myself warm for very long, as the amount of concentration I had was waning. I made it back to our makeshift camp, and dropped the wood on the ground. I was panting slightly from the exertion.
"Are you okay? You're sweating."
"Just, give me a minute...I had to break down a few times and let the air chill me." I sat there catching my breath. I piled the wood in a classic tepee shape and pulled out my sharpening stone. I reached back and pulled out my sword, bringing it around to rest in my lap.
"...What are you doing?"
"Getting a spark." I stated shortly as I sat still for a minute, once again concentrating. I could feel the static in the air, it made the hair on my arms stand on end. I concentrated the gathered energy into the hand holding my sword, then ran the sharpening stone along my blade once, creating a shower of sparks. Most of them landed on the wood, and soon it ignited. I leaned forward, gently blowing on the embers. Soon, there was a decent fire going, burning nice and warm. I motioned Akumu over.
"Come on, it's no good if you freeze tonight."
"Finally." She grumbled as she scooted closer.
"You know, people will like you more if you were more grateful."
Whack I rubbed my now sore shoulder.
"Jerk." I silently sighed at her lack of manners. We stayed like that for a while. Me occasionally moving the fire around or adding fuel, while Akumu sat there, wrapped up completely in her cloak. She was still shivering.
"Akumu, try opening your cloak to the fire. It'll let more heat in and dry you out faster." She hesitated, then did as I suggested. We both noticed a difference with her shivering.
"Th...thank you..."
"You're welcome."
"...Why are you so nice to me...?" I kept my eyes on the fire, gently stirring hot coals. "I've tried to kill you for a couple of years now, and here you are, saving me from vikings and from freezing to death. Why?" I could tell it has been nagging her since I rescued her.
"To be honest...I felt bad."
"...What?" I set down my makeshift poker, and set my hands in my lap.
"I felt bad for thinking about just leaving you. I guess...I felt like I owed it to you to save your life." She didn't say anything for a while.
"Why?"
"You've asked that already. You're going to have to be more specific." I brushed my hair back from my eye and swatted at a random ember that was trying to sting me.
"Why did you feel like you owed it to me...?"
"I felt like I owed it to the person that introduced me to my best friend." I looked over to see her staring at me.
"So all of the times I tried to kill you, whether directly or not, is pointless because you met a dragon...?" I nodded and looked up at the stars as embers danced in the sky.
"I already got my revenge when I killed you Akumu. But revenge is a dish best served cold, and when I had realized what I'd just done...It nearly drove me insane..." I smiled without feeling, staring at the small fire that was our source of heat.
"But I...I deserved it! I almost kill your parents!" She was scrambling for a good reason for me to still be mad at her.
"Yes, but you didn't."
"Because you killed me!"
"Yes. And I've regretted it every day of my life since."
Flashback Start
"Come on...faster...faster..." I was booking it through the streets of my home town. I was jumping over people and objects, shoving my way through crowds. I gritted my teeth and pulled out my badge, holding it above my head. "POLICE! MAKE A HOLE!" Everyone scurried to move out of the way. I ran at my top speed as the crowd parted. I kept calling out every once in a while, making sure everyone ahead moved. There were a few people who wouldn't/couldn't move in time, and I leaped over or danced around them. "Grr, come on! Why did I have to be so far away! POLICE! MOVE!" I vaulted over a trash can in the middle of the sidewalk. "POLICE OUT OF THE WAY!" Crowds of people moved to make a path for me. I crossed the street and turned down an alley way. I could hear sirens in the distance.
They won't make it in time! I pushed my body to the max, trying to reach my house. Mom! Dad! I'm coming! Just hold on! I burst out of the alley, only to run into a full trash can. A shop owner started yelling at me. I wanted to throw a "SORRY!" over my shoulder, but I couldn't stop for anything. I saw my house in the distance, a simple two story that didn't stand out from the others, at least not to anyone else. I skidded when I reached my walkway, and vaulted the gate; I leaped up all four of the steps. I slammed the door open, only to freeze.
"So nice of you to join us Rei. Isn't it, Mrs. Taiki?" Akumu was standing next to my parents, who were sitting in two chairs tied back to back in the living room.
"LET THEM GO!" I started to run forward, only for Akumu to point a gun at them. "No! What do you want?! I'll do anything! Just leave them out of this!" I swung my arm to the side, my eyes wide with desperation.
"Rei! Who is this?!" My mom was understandably freaking out, and my dad appeared to be unconscious, his head leaning to one side. That was bad. My father had been in two branches of the US military before they moved to Japan, and was very well trained in combat, both distance and close combat. Out of the both of us, I'd figured myself to fall first in a fight.
"Oh? You didn't tell them about us? I'm disappointed Rei, I thought we were close..." She petted the barrel of her gun with a finger. She acted like she was pouting. I gritted my teeth, trying not to do something I'd regret.
"Shut up, and let. Them. Go."
"But Rei! We have to tell them about us! They'll be so excited!" She bounced up onto her toes a bit, making me internally gag.
"You're not telling them squat! Now leave!" I threw my arm back to the door.
"Ah-ah-ah, I'm not leaving until they know e~very~thing...! Oh this'll be so fun!"
"You have ten seconds to leave..." I was shaking now, the adrenaline from the running, and now seeing my parents threatened, was throwing me off kilter.
"Hmm...too bad...'cause you have five!" She whipped the gun back around to point at my mom's head. "There's no way you can reach me in time Rei. I guess you'll just have to tell them everything."
"No..."
"Five..."
"Please! Don't do this!"
"Four..."
"Stop it!"
"Three!" She was getting a sickening amount of glee from this, looking like a kid who'd found the candy stash. Sweat was running down my neck, and I could only plead for their lives.
"Akumu! Don't!"
"Two! Wow, you're really pushing it Rei, you sure you don't want to tell them?" She brought the barrel of the gun up to poke her cheek, thinking she was cute or something.
"FINE! I'll tell them, just stop! Just, stop..." My arms were up, hands gesturing in a stop motion.
"Hmm...Too late! One." The gun barrel slowly fell back down to point at my mother's head. She gave me one last sickeningly sweet smile, then twitched her finger. My eyes snapped shut.
"NO!"
BANG I heard my mom scream, and I opened my eyes to see my last resort in my hands. I looked back up to see a shocked look on Akumu's face.
"I thought you didn't used a gun..." Rage blinded me.
"I don't."
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG Her arm slumped to her side, her gun dropping to the floor. She looked down at the six bullet holes bleeding through her clothes. She looked back up at me, a shocked and hollow look on her face. She dropped to the floor. I shakily looked at the gun in my hands, tossing it away in mute disgust, our last words echoing in my head. I ran over and quickly untied my parents, the three of us, my dad having woken up because of the gun shots, holding each other in our arms. I couldn't focus, and I just had a stone cold look in my eyes. Officers flooded into the house from the front and back, searching the rooms. My Chief walked up to us, and knelt in front of me, trying to get my attention.
"Officer Taiki? You and your family need to come with us for questioning..."
Flashback End
Akumu's eyes widened as realization set in.
"You...I...You regretted it...?" I nodded, not looking up.
"I never wanted to Akumu. I cherish life, the emotions it gives, whether good or bad. The fact that I took that away from you..." A strange look slowly grew on her face, I could see it out of the corner of my eye. Something seemed to have snapped in her mind.
Am...Am I getting through to her...? Did it finally click, that what she was doing was wrong...?
"I forced you to do something. I made you kill. All those men I sent after you, and you never killed one of them. You only disarmed them and sent them to jail...You've never killed anyone else..." Her head dropped into her hands. "I made you kill me...I...I made you take my life. I didn't give you a choice. It was me or your family, why wouldn't you kill me? I would have done it without a second thought...I...I..."
"...Akum-!"
"I'M SORRY!" I froze as those words came out of her mouth, and numbly stared at the fire, listening to her cry.
She's...sorry...? I slowly looked over at her, to see her legs tucked in with her arms around them. She had her head pressed to her knees, and her body was racked with sobs. She looks so weak so...fragile...compared to normal. She actually regrets what she did. What she made me do...
Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself wrapping my arms around Akumu, gently rocking her as she repeatedly whispered "I'm sorry" out loud.
We stayed like that for who knows how long.
Did Rei forgive Akumu too soon? Was the sudden change in her demeanor too sudden? I would really like to know, as I came back to this today (day of upload) and it does seem a little too fast in my opinion. But I also can't think of a better way to settle this dispute between the two foes.
Let me know what you think so far, and I'll see you later!
~Silverleone