Disclaimer: In no way do I claim any rights to the characters of the Suikoden series. I do not own them, nor did I have any hand in creating. Please don't sue as I don't have any money and just want to write a fanfic.
Only in Dreams
By: Chibi Nataku
Chapter 1 - Still Just a Dream
He felt sick, bile rising in his throat until he had no choice but the vomit, fingers clentching in the soft blood-soaked earth. He heaved violently, his shoulder shaking as he desperately tried to gain control of his body. Eventually, he managed to sit back and rub his mouth with the back of his hand, his gaze moving around his burning village.
Bodies littered the ground, some mutilated, others dismembered in more ways than he thought was possible. Blood spattered all over the ground, the burning houses, his own clothing from lying unconscious in the mud. The fresh smell of death invaded his entire being, the sight bringing a new batch of tears to wash away the mud and blood from his face. Insects buzzed around the bodies, birds circling overhead, every bit aware of the killing as he was. His village had been butchered in the night.
Slowly, he climbed to shaky feet and stumbled towards his farm, holding his mouth to prevent more attempts to vomit. The stench of burning flesh and dead live-stock nearly made him pass out again, but he forced himself onwards to home, to see if any of his family had survived the massecre. He slowed his dogged pace to a halt as his barn and house came into view and nearly ran in the other direction, knowing that his brother and three sisters were dead along with his parents. He forced himself to approach, more out of respect of them rather than curiosity. Slipping inbetween the broken boards of the leaning fence, he took careful steps towards his home.
He stopped and sniffled when he came across his older brother's body, head removed completely from his shoulders. The expression on his face was shocked, but surprisingly peaceful. Beside his brother was his youngest sister, Anna, who had obviously been protected by his brother as she walked with a difficult limp thanks to breaking her foot only weeks back. His sister had been stabbed repeatedly in the back as she fell and lay cuddled against his brother, probably slipping off into death after he fell beside her. She looked much more disturbed, her blue eyes open and glazed over, haunted.
He turned away and wiped tears from his face, walking towards his house slowly. He stopped and swallowed hard at the sight of his father's dismembered body leaning against his favourite climbing tree, sword not too far away from his hands. His father knew little of using a blade, but was prepared to protect his family even at the cost of his own life. It was quite obvious, even to his young eyes, that the soldiers had taken their time to inflict pain upon his father right up to the moment he died. Not only had his father been dismembered, but also gutted, his stomach, intestines and other organs thrown about as if in an animalistic ritual. He forced himself to look away and continue walking to the broken down door of his home.
Peering in cautiously, he knew that he paled considerably. More blood than he had ever seen in his entire life was smeered all over the walls, splayed over the floor and furniture, probably even leeking through the creaking floor boards. Nearest to him was his eldest sister, Liza, body naked and ravished. Blood covered her chest from her slit throat and her expression still held the horror of memories of the experience she had been forced to endure.
Next to Liza, only a few feet away, was his mother who was in equal condition to his elderest sister. Unlike Liza, his mother's expression still held the dignity that she always wore, and her expression was peaceful aside from the smeered blood on the left side of her face thanks to the gash in her hairline.
Walking around the kitchen, beneath an overturned table, he found Diana curled in a small ball. Like his mother and sister, she too had been ravished by the soldiers, but unlike the rest of his family, she was in good condition. No wound marred her silky flesh aside from the stab wound that had killed her, a wound that went straight through her heart. Even the blood from the wound had been cleaned away and her hair was still neatly tied back in the blue ribbon that she always had it in. Whoever had done this to Diana took his time and made sure to be gentle with her. Still, he couldn't help but feel disturbed as her unseeing gaze stared off across the house, never to see him again.
Sickened, he ran from the house, wishing that the war would take his life just like everyone else, but no, he had been spared and the soldiers gone. He knew the only reason that he was still alive was not his own doing, having been running a high fever for three days and put in the cellar beneath the main barn where it was cooler. His fever had broken only an hour after the screams started, but he was much too afraid to climb the ladder to find out what was going on. So, he waited and prayed, only emerging from the cellar when the sun rose and the screams has ceased completely as well as the loud shouting voices. Now, he wished that he had never come out.
Looking around, he knew what he had to do. With all the effort he could muster, he placed his entire family in the house and set it ablaze, looking into the flames for a long as he could bear it. He then started away, running as fast as his legs could carry him, away from his dead family, from his village, from his life. He ran until the sweat burned his eyes and his legs gave out on him, leaving him in a crying heap at the side of the road, weakened by his illness and distaught over his loss. How long he lay there he didn't know, but it seemed like an eternity.
Eventually, he remembered crawling off of the side of the road to sleep beneath a tree, but little of the night was clear to him. He merely lay and listened to some passing travellers and the silence of the night. Sleep came to him in small pieces, and he woke dizzy, hungry, and still exhausted.
He stumbled down to a nearby stream and drank some water deeply before forcing himself to wash the blood and dirt from his face, hands and hair. The face that stared back at him in the reflection of the water made him look away. He dunked his head into the cold water and did his best to turn his hair back to the straw blonde that it normally was. He tossed the wet locks over his shoulder and turned away, shrieking in utter shock at the sight of a smiling face from a tree, watching him.
The girl hopped from her perch in the tree, sweeping her long ebony locks of hair back over her shoulder. She smiled pleasantly at the fearful blonde, blinking emerald green eyes innocently. Standing to her full height, she dusted off her clothing and smoothed out the wrinkles that came with a long night of sleep in a giant oak tree. Slowly, she approached the terrified boy, reaching out a tanned hand to aid him back to his feet. When he refused to take her hand, she smiled and croutched to get a better look at him. "Was it you who was crying last night?" Slowly, the boy nodded at her. "What do they call you at home? I'm Mia, a war orphan. Judging by your appearance, I would say that you are one to. Am I right?"
"M...Mia?" He played over the name several times before gathering enough mind to answer her questions. "My parents called me..." He looked away, saddened with the fact that he would never again be called his name with his sweet mother's voice. "Yuber, that's my name. Soldiers attacked my village and killed everyone...I'm all alone." He rubbed his blue eyes, hoping to deter the tears from coming again.
Mia smiled warmly and swept the little blonde into her arms, holding his trembling shoulders. "It's alright, Yuber. You aren't alone so long as Mia is around! I'll take care of you." She smiled when confused blue eyes looked up at her. "That's right! We're going to be war orphans together. How does that sound to you? I'll be your big sister from now on!"
Yuber looked up at Mia in confusion before opening his mouth. "But..." He blinked when his mouth was covered, and he was hugged again, giving in the affection that seemed to make the burden easier to bear.
Mia released her hold on the little blonde and smiled, forcing him an arms distance away from her. She quirked an eyebrow before nodding to herself. "Right, first things first, take off those bloody clothes and we'll get you some new ones. You need a bath." She started to tug off the dirty clothing, throwing it off the lie with her bag of small items. She laughed when Yuber blushed when she had him down nude before shoving the poor dirty boy into the frigid stream, ignoring the undignified squawks and little struggles Yuber made to climb back out again. She easily overpowered the blonde and scrubbed his skin and hair clean of blood and dirt, amazed at the beautiful colour of hair that he had. She let him sit shivering on the rocks while she wandered to her bag and pulled out her only spar pair of trousers and loose shirt. She laughed when he grabbed them and jumped into them faster than anyone she had ever seen. Certainly, the grey trousers were loose, but managed to cling to his hips and the shirt...well, she would be sure to get him one that fit better when they hit the next town.
Yuber rubbed his shoulders, trying to warm his cold skin and stop his shivers. He looked over his shoulder when Mia started to brush his locks of blonde hair, smoothing out any tangle more gently than any of his sister managed to do. He relaxed against the touch, forcing the memories of the previous day to the back on his mind. He was unsure if he could do anything but follow Mia, who seemed to know what she was doing. Perhaps he would stay with her until he got back on his feet and managed to grab an apprenticeship with someone.
"Yuber, how old are you?" Mia asked softly, as her fingers worked to braid the golden locks together, using the tie on her own hair to keep the braid from unwinding.
Yuber sighed and held out his hand, counting the number of summers on his fingers. "Six years old, now." He looked over his shoulder at the smiling girl. "What about you? How old are you, Mia?"
She smiled and patted Yuber on the top of the head as she stood. "I'm ten. I was orphaned when I was your age and have been on my own ever since."
"So you have no family either?" Yuber inquired softly, looking at his hands.
"I have no parents and my only other family is missing." Mia grinned at the blonde's confused expression, blue eyes blinking rapidly in an attempt to comphrend. "I had a younger brother, but since the war, I haven't been able to find him. Now that I think about it, you look a lot like him...well, kind of. You remind me of him a lot."
Yuber cocked his head to the side, blinking again. "Really? What's his name? Maybe I know him!"
Mia smiled as she tugged Yuber to his feet and gathered up her things, leaving the blonde's old clothing for someone else to find. She beckoned him to follow and passed him a side-ways glance. Yuber certainly did look a lot like her younger sibling, mostly their faces. "My brother was called Pesmerga, but I haven't seem him in three years."
"Maybe we should look for him, then." Yuber stopped walking and looked up at Mia. "I don't want to go back to my village. People always said things when I was around, strange things that made me cry."
Mia also stopped and turned to regard the blonde fully. "What kind of things, Yuber?"
Yuber looked away, feeling ashamed that he was telling a girl he had only just met about his village. He felt deep trust in Mia already and wanted her to understand him. "They said that I was a child that had no parents. They said that I was born from the ground."
To Be Continued....
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Comments and questions, please. This is my first fanfic so I would like some constructive critism about it. I will hopefully be putting up a new chapter soon so I hope that all of you who read it will come back and read the next part when it is up. Thank you to everyone that took the time to read my fanfic.
Only in Dreams
By: Chibi Nataku
Chapter 1 - Still Just a Dream
He felt sick, bile rising in his throat until he had no choice but the vomit, fingers clentching in the soft blood-soaked earth. He heaved violently, his shoulder shaking as he desperately tried to gain control of his body. Eventually, he managed to sit back and rub his mouth with the back of his hand, his gaze moving around his burning village.
Bodies littered the ground, some mutilated, others dismembered in more ways than he thought was possible. Blood spattered all over the ground, the burning houses, his own clothing from lying unconscious in the mud. The fresh smell of death invaded his entire being, the sight bringing a new batch of tears to wash away the mud and blood from his face. Insects buzzed around the bodies, birds circling overhead, every bit aware of the killing as he was. His village had been butchered in the night.
Slowly, he climbed to shaky feet and stumbled towards his farm, holding his mouth to prevent more attempts to vomit. The stench of burning flesh and dead live-stock nearly made him pass out again, but he forced himself onwards to home, to see if any of his family had survived the massecre. He slowed his dogged pace to a halt as his barn and house came into view and nearly ran in the other direction, knowing that his brother and three sisters were dead along with his parents. He forced himself to approach, more out of respect of them rather than curiosity. Slipping inbetween the broken boards of the leaning fence, he took careful steps towards his home.
He stopped and sniffled when he came across his older brother's body, head removed completely from his shoulders. The expression on his face was shocked, but surprisingly peaceful. Beside his brother was his youngest sister, Anna, who had obviously been protected by his brother as she walked with a difficult limp thanks to breaking her foot only weeks back. His sister had been stabbed repeatedly in the back as she fell and lay cuddled against his brother, probably slipping off into death after he fell beside her. She looked much more disturbed, her blue eyes open and glazed over, haunted.
He turned away and wiped tears from his face, walking towards his house slowly. He stopped and swallowed hard at the sight of his father's dismembered body leaning against his favourite climbing tree, sword not too far away from his hands. His father knew little of using a blade, but was prepared to protect his family even at the cost of his own life. It was quite obvious, even to his young eyes, that the soldiers had taken their time to inflict pain upon his father right up to the moment he died. Not only had his father been dismembered, but also gutted, his stomach, intestines and other organs thrown about as if in an animalistic ritual. He forced himself to look away and continue walking to the broken down door of his home.
Peering in cautiously, he knew that he paled considerably. More blood than he had ever seen in his entire life was smeered all over the walls, splayed over the floor and furniture, probably even leeking through the creaking floor boards. Nearest to him was his eldest sister, Liza, body naked and ravished. Blood covered her chest from her slit throat and her expression still held the horror of memories of the experience she had been forced to endure.
Next to Liza, only a few feet away, was his mother who was in equal condition to his elderest sister. Unlike Liza, his mother's expression still held the dignity that she always wore, and her expression was peaceful aside from the smeered blood on the left side of her face thanks to the gash in her hairline.
Walking around the kitchen, beneath an overturned table, he found Diana curled in a small ball. Like his mother and sister, she too had been ravished by the soldiers, but unlike the rest of his family, she was in good condition. No wound marred her silky flesh aside from the stab wound that had killed her, a wound that went straight through her heart. Even the blood from the wound had been cleaned away and her hair was still neatly tied back in the blue ribbon that she always had it in. Whoever had done this to Diana took his time and made sure to be gentle with her. Still, he couldn't help but feel disturbed as her unseeing gaze stared off across the house, never to see him again.
Sickened, he ran from the house, wishing that the war would take his life just like everyone else, but no, he had been spared and the soldiers gone. He knew the only reason that he was still alive was not his own doing, having been running a high fever for three days and put in the cellar beneath the main barn where it was cooler. His fever had broken only an hour after the screams started, but he was much too afraid to climb the ladder to find out what was going on. So, he waited and prayed, only emerging from the cellar when the sun rose and the screams has ceased completely as well as the loud shouting voices. Now, he wished that he had never come out.
Looking around, he knew what he had to do. With all the effort he could muster, he placed his entire family in the house and set it ablaze, looking into the flames for a long as he could bear it. He then started away, running as fast as his legs could carry him, away from his dead family, from his village, from his life. He ran until the sweat burned his eyes and his legs gave out on him, leaving him in a crying heap at the side of the road, weakened by his illness and distaught over his loss. How long he lay there he didn't know, but it seemed like an eternity.
Eventually, he remembered crawling off of the side of the road to sleep beneath a tree, but little of the night was clear to him. He merely lay and listened to some passing travellers and the silence of the night. Sleep came to him in small pieces, and he woke dizzy, hungry, and still exhausted.
He stumbled down to a nearby stream and drank some water deeply before forcing himself to wash the blood and dirt from his face, hands and hair. The face that stared back at him in the reflection of the water made him look away. He dunked his head into the cold water and did his best to turn his hair back to the straw blonde that it normally was. He tossed the wet locks over his shoulder and turned away, shrieking in utter shock at the sight of a smiling face from a tree, watching him.
The girl hopped from her perch in the tree, sweeping her long ebony locks of hair back over her shoulder. She smiled pleasantly at the fearful blonde, blinking emerald green eyes innocently. Standing to her full height, she dusted off her clothing and smoothed out the wrinkles that came with a long night of sleep in a giant oak tree. Slowly, she approached the terrified boy, reaching out a tanned hand to aid him back to his feet. When he refused to take her hand, she smiled and croutched to get a better look at him. "Was it you who was crying last night?" Slowly, the boy nodded at her. "What do they call you at home? I'm Mia, a war orphan. Judging by your appearance, I would say that you are one to. Am I right?"
"M...Mia?" He played over the name several times before gathering enough mind to answer her questions. "My parents called me..." He looked away, saddened with the fact that he would never again be called his name with his sweet mother's voice. "Yuber, that's my name. Soldiers attacked my village and killed everyone...I'm all alone." He rubbed his blue eyes, hoping to deter the tears from coming again.
Mia smiled warmly and swept the little blonde into her arms, holding his trembling shoulders. "It's alright, Yuber. You aren't alone so long as Mia is around! I'll take care of you." She smiled when confused blue eyes looked up at her. "That's right! We're going to be war orphans together. How does that sound to you? I'll be your big sister from now on!"
Yuber looked up at Mia in confusion before opening his mouth. "But..." He blinked when his mouth was covered, and he was hugged again, giving in the affection that seemed to make the burden easier to bear.
Mia released her hold on the little blonde and smiled, forcing him an arms distance away from her. She quirked an eyebrow before nodding to herself. "Right, first things first, take off those bloody clothes and we'll get you some new ones. You need a bath." She started to tug off the dirty clothing, throwing it off the lie with her bag of small items. She laughed when Yuber blushed when she had him down nude before shoving the poor dirty boy into the frigid stream, ignoring the undignified squawks and little struggles Yuber made to climb back out again. She easily overpowered the blonde and scrubbed his skin and hair clean of blood and dirt, amazed at the beautiful colour of hair that he had. She let him sit shivering on the rocks while she wandered to her bag and pulled out her only spar pair of trousers and loose shirt. She laughed when he grabbed them and jumped into them faster than anyone she had ever seen. Certainly, the grey trousers were loose, but managed to cling to his hips and the shirt...well, she would be sure to get him one that fit better when they hit the next town.
Yuber rubbed his shoulders, trying to warm his cold skin and stop his shivers. He looked over his shoulder when Mia started to brush his locks of blonde hair, smoothing out any tangle more gently than any of his sister managed to do. He relaxed against the touch, forcing the memories of the previous day to the back on his mind. He was unsure if he could do anything but follow Mia, who seemed to know what she was doing. Perhaps he would stay with her until he got back on his feet and managed to grab an apprenticeship with someone.
"Yuber, how old are you?" Mia asked softly, as her fingers worked to braid the golden locks together, using the tie on her own hair to keep the braid from unwinding.
Yuber sighed and held out his hand, counting the number of summers on his fingers. "Six years old, now." He looked over his shoulder at the smiling girl. "What about you? How old are you, Mia?"
She smiled and patted Yuber on the top of the head as she stood. "I'm ten. I was orphaned when I was your age and have been on my own ever since."
"So you have no family either?" Yuber inquired softly, looking at his hands.
"I have no parents and my only other family is missing." Mia grinned at the blonde's confused expression, blue eyes blinking rapidly in an attempt to comphrend. "I had a younger brother, but since the war, I haven't been able to find him. Now that I think about it, you look a lot like him...well, kind of. You remind me of him a lot."
Yuber cocked his head to the side, blinking again. "Really? What's his name? Maybe I know him!"
Mia smiled as she tugged Yuber to his feet and gathered up her things, leaving the blonde's old clothing for someone else to find. She beckoned him to follow and passed him a side-ways glance. Yuber certainly did look a lot like her younger sibling, mostly their faces. "My brother was called Pesmerga, but I haven't seem him in three years."
"Maybe we should look for him, then." Yuber stopped walking and looked up at Mia. "I don't want to go back to my village. People always said things when I was around, strange things that made me cry."
Mia also stopped and turned to regard the blonde fully. "What kind of things, Yuber?"
Yuber looked away, feeling ashamed that he was telling a girl he had only just met about his village. He felt deep trust in Mia already and wanted her to understand him. "They said that I was a child that had no parents. They said that I was born from the ground."
To Be Continued....
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Comments and questions, please. This is my first fanfic so I would like some constructive critism about it. I will hopefully be putting up a new chapter soon so I hope that all of you who read it will come back and read the next part when it is up. Thank you to everyone that took the time to read my fanfic.