Ch. 19
The past
The past, it is something only man has ever had. Strictly speaking, it is an old model of reality, that no longer works. Yet why do people cline to it so? Is the past not dead, and buried. There are those few people who realize that all there is, is now, and that time is merely a measurement between these 'now' points. For most, though, the past is an undead demon, come back to hound us, with either regret or remorse. A part of ourselves we fear to let go of, for if we did, we might just cease to be
" We come bearing news, Ma'am" Kasumi looked around, she was at her old home, or so it appeared. She could see things, but they were hazy, almost as if they were too close to forget, yet too distant to rember. The man who stood before her, had no face, it was hidden by the shinobi mask. But she couldn't even make out his eyes.
Then, slowly, the events that had transpired came back to her. Her step father had died, about two months ago, and her brother was now in charge. She looked at her hut and felt a sense of pride. She lived alone, and felt like she had reached a certain level of maturity. She was a rebellious youth. She thought she could handle anything the world could throw. She thought wrong.
" Your brother, has gone missing, we have been looking for him for about 2 days. There isn't a trace."
There are moments in life when things come into a painful clarity. She realized exactly what was happening. She couldn't stop it though. It was as if she was outside, she could see herself, and this man, but seemed to hoover above them.
" Why wasn't I told of this?!" She asked with anger.
" We thought it best, to let you not worry" Said the gaurd, stoicly.
"Damn it, I am 14 years old, I am a woman now, stop treating me like some child...."
.... Flash, darkness, new place. "Kasumi, don't go over there!!!!!!!!"
This was her step mother, she was about 7 years old. She stood near the edge of a cliff. " Why not?"
" It's dangerous honey, you might get hurt, we can't have the daughter of the chief hurt, can we..."
She stopped listening, in actuality, she had heard this speech a thousand times. You must be careful, blah blah blah. ' How am I supposed to be this great leader, fighter, man, when will they never let me alone for 2 seconds?? Hiatie goes off by his self, why can't I??'
After Ayane had left, the attention she had enjoyed had become more of a curse. Her, Hyate, and Ayane, were the last decedents of the legendary Misoto, the greatest worrier of all. Ayane' s blood was viewed as impure, because of her mother's little fling with that mad man, Randu. But the others viewed it as fundamentally important to keep the 'pure' blooded one's safe. Kasumi was under almost 24 hour a day care. No one let her do anything she wanted. She was constantly bounced from ceremony to ceremony, never really able to do the things that make childhood fun, like running in the rain. She was treated more like a object, then a child.
....Flash, darkness, new place
Running. She was running. From whom or what, she couldn't be sure, but she was running. She knew, if whatever chased her, caught her, she would have a fate more then death.
" It is your destiny to be the greatest shinobi, ever, you will produce many strong hairs, and preserve our way of life."
" NO!!!!!!!! There has to be more to life then that!! Is all I am, an instrument?!! Meant to procreate our race!! I am a person damn it, not a machine."
" What you want is irrelevant. Only our race matters. What you care for, what, need, desire, is vanity. You are only who your ancestors were. You are only worth something if you can procreate our society. Anything else, is waste of time."
" No!!!!!!!" she screamed " I am A person, a living breathing thing!!!!!!!!"
" Your breath will one day cease, and leave your body cold. You are worthless without the children you will bare, and through them, you will live forever."
" If that's my fate, I do want IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, and started to run faster. She slowly recognized the other voice, as her own.
" You have no choice, without your family, your people, who are you?"
At that she tripped. She seemed to fall forever. Fal through memories of endless days and lonely nights. Fall through hope and fear. Fall through the one question that she ran from. Who was she?...
Her eyes eased open. She would have woken up quickly, but she had to sleep in trees, usually. So she had learned not to make any sudden movements. The room came into focus, but her brain was still hazy. She was scared.
Then something happened. An arm worked it's way around her shoulder. And, for the first time, she felt all her fear melt away. The fog that was in her brain was gone, and she realized exactly where she was. She felt it draw her closer, and it was the best feeling in the world.
She glanced over, and saw Vic. He was still asleep, and was snoring, very softly. Kasumi thought that this was the cutest sound she had ever heard. She took his arm, gently, in hers. IT felt so good, to be wanted. She leaned her head back, closer to his shoulder. But some of her hair got in his noise, and he awoke, with a powerful sneeze.
He sat up, rubbed his eyes, got up, got some water, drank it, and lied back down. He was still semi asleep.
Kasumi couldn't herself and said, " Good night Mike."
"Good nig–ght" He got comfortable, and was almost asleep, when he sat up with such a start that he feel out of bed. This caused Kasumi to laugh, uncontrollably.
" You and I..... I thought that I dreamed.... Did, ahh, did something happen."
She just looked at him, still laughing at him.
" What, I don't get..."
" I can't believe you would have forgotten." She made a fake angry face, and then laughed some more. " After all that,"
" Well, I wasn't sure if I dreamed it, it seemed to good to be true."
" Yep, this is a dream. You going to wake up, stupid" More laughing.
" Shut up, leave me alone, or else!!" He said jokingly.
He got back into bed, and they layed awake, but silently for some time. It was a wonderful feeling, to simply be, not to have to do. The room was still a mess, but the dark canceled that. Yet, it felt as if this singular room was all that was left to the world. Also that all the rendering parts of humanity had been saved, in this room. And all this was all right.
Finally Kasumi could no longer control herself. For some reason, she thought he might have an answer to the question. She could stand exile and persecution, constant war, if she only had her answer.
" Who am I, Mike?"
" Huh?"
Who am I"
" That's... Ah... that's a very complex question to ask. There.. It has been my experience that there are many 'you.'"
" What does that mean?" She asked, not sure what to make of that reply
" Well, you, to me, are a living incarnation of a goddess."
" Seriously" She said
" I am being serious, you gave me back a sense of hope, I feared I had lost. You give my life a certain value. What else could you be?" After a minute of long silence. " To yourself, that is a deep philosophical question. It involves how you view yourself.... Am I boring you, I have the tendency to go on and on sorry."
" No, well, a little."
" Alright then, the abridged version." He said, with a smirk on his face. " You are who you choose to be, at any given time. You completely control who you are."
" But..."
" I am really tired. we'll talk more in the morning. Night."
" Good night."
Eventually they both went back to sleep. And Kasumi had a dream that truly scared her. It was about a demon, that came to take Vic...
The past
The past, it is something only man has ever had. Strictly speaking, it is an old model of reality, that no longer works. Yet why do people cline to it so? Is the past not dead, and buried. There are those few people who realize that all there is, is now, and that time is merely a measurement between these 'now' points. For most, though, the past is an undead demon, come back to hound us, with either regret or remorse. A part of ourselves we fear to let go of, for if we did, we might just cease to be
" We come bearing news, Ma'am" Kasumi looked around, she was at her old home, or so it appeared. She could see things, but they were hazy, almost as if they were too close to forget, yet too distant to rember. The man who stood before her, had no face, it was hidden by the shinobi mask. But she couldn't even make out his eyes.
Then, slowly, the events that had transpired came back to her. Her step father had died, about two months ago, and her brother was now in charge. She looked at her hut and felt a sense of pride. She lived alone, and felt like she had reached a certain level of maturity. She was a rebellious youth. She thought she could handle anything the world could throw. She thought wrong.
" Your brother, has gone missing, we have been looking for him for about 2 days. There isn't a trace."
There are moments in life when things come into a painful clarity. She realized exactly what was happening. She couldn't stop it though. It was as if she was outside, she could see herself, and this man, but seemed to hoover above them.
" Why wasn't I told of this?!" She asked with anger.
" We thought it best, to let you not worry" Said the gaurd, stoicly.
"Damn it, I am 14 years old, I am a woman now, stop treating me like some child...."
.... Flash, darkness, new place. "Kasumi, don't go over there!!!!!!!!"
This was her step mother, she was about 7 years old. She stood near the edge of a cliff. " Why not?"
" It's dangerous honey, you might get hurt, we can't have the daughter of the chief hurt, can we..."
She stopped listening, in actuality, she had heard this speech a thousand times. You must be careful, blah blah blah. ' How am I supposed to be this great leader, fighter, man, when will they never let me alone for 2 seconds?? Hiatie goes off by his self, why can't I??'
After Ayane had left, the attention she had enjoyed had become more of a curse. Her, Hyate, and Ayane, were the last decedents of the legendary Misoto, the greatest worrier of all. Ayane' s blood was viewed as impure, because of her mother's little fling with that mad man, Randu. But the others viewed it as fundamentally important to keep the 'pure' blooded one's safe. Kasumi was under almost 24 hour a day care. No one let her do anything she wanted. She was constantly bounced from ceremony to ceremony, never really able to do the things that make childhood fun, like running in the rain. She was treated more like a object, then a child.
....Flash, darkness, new place
Running. She was running. From whom or what, she couldn't be sure, but she was running. She knew, if whatever chased her, caught her, she would have a fate more then death.
" It is your destiny to be the greatest shinobi, ever, you will produce many strong hairs, and preserve our way of life."
" NO!!!!!!!! There has to be more to life then that!! Is all I am, an instrument?!! Meant to procreate our race!! I am a person damn it, not a machine."
" What you want is irrelevant. Only our race matters. What you care for, what, need, desire, is vanity. You are only who your ancestors were. You are only worth something if you can procreate our society. Anything else, is waste of time."
" No!!!!!!!" she screamed " I am A person, a living breathing thing!!!!!!!!"
" Your breath will one day cease, and leave your body cold. You are worthless without the children you will bare, and through them, you will live forever."
" If that's my fate, I do want IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, and started to run faster. She slowly recognized the other voice, as her own.
" You have no choice, without your family, your people, who are you?"
At that she tripped. She seemed to fall forever. Fal through memories of endless days and lonely nights. Fall through hope and fear. Fall through the one question that she ran from. Who was she?...
Her eyes eased open. She would have woken up quickly, but she had to sleep in trees, usually. So she had learned not to make any sudden movements. The room came into focus, but her brain was still hazy. She was scared.
Then something happened. An arm worked it's way around her shoulder. And, for the first time, she felt all her fear melt away. The fog that was in her brain was gone, and she realized exactly where she was. She felt it draw her closer, and it was the best feeling in the world.
She glanced over, and saw Vic. He was still asleep, and was snoring, very softly. Kasumi thought that this was the cutest sound she had ever heard. She took his arm, gently, in hers. IT felt so good, to be wanted. She leaned her head back, closer to his shoulder. But some of her hair got in his noise, and he awoke, with a powerful sneeze.
He sat up, rubbed his eyes, got up, got some water, drank it, and lied back down. He was still semi asleep.
Kasumi couldn't herself and said, " Good night Mike."
"Good nig–ght" He got comfortable, and was almost asleep, when he sat up with such a start that he feel out of bed. This caused Kasumi to laugh, uncontrollably.
" You and I..... I thought that I dreamed.... Did, ahh, did something happen."
She just looked at him, still laughing at him.
" What, I don't get..."
" I can't believe you would have forgotten." She made a fake angry face, and then laughed some more. " After all that,"
" Well, I wasn't sure if I dreamed it, it seemed to good to be true."
" Yep, this is a dream. You going to wake up, stupid" More laughing.
" Shut up, leave me alone, or else!!" He said jokingly.
He got back into bed, and they layed awake, but silently for some time. It was a wonderful feeling, to simply be, not to have to do. The room was still a mess, but the dark canceled that. Yet, it felt as if this singular room was all that was left to the world. Also that all the rendering parts of humanity had been saved, in this room. And all this was all right.
Finally Kasumi could no longer control herself. For some reason, she thought he might have an answer to the question. She could stand exile and persecution, constant war, if she only had her answer.
" Who am I, Mike?"
" Huh?"
Who am I"
" That's... Ah... that's a very complex question to ask. There.. It has been my experience that there are many 'you.'"
" What does that mean?" She asked, not sure what to make of that reply
" Well, you, to me, are a living incarnation of a goddess."
" Seriously" She said
" I am being serious, you gave me back a sense of hope, I feared I had lost. You give my life a certain value. What else could you be?" After a minute of long silence. " To yourself, that is a deep philosophical question. It involves how you view yourself.... Am I boring you, I have the tendency to go on and on sorry."
" No, well, a little."
" Alright then, the abridged version." He said, with a smirk on his face. " You are who you choose to be, at any given time. You completely control who you are."
" But..."
" I am really tired. we'll talk more in the morning. Night."
" Good night."
Eventually they both went back to sleep. And Kasumi had a dream that truly scared her. It was about a demon, that came to take Vic...