Chapter 4
Last Tears that I Cry
I look to the west, where her energy now flows freely. Normally, I'd rejoice and fly as fast as my body would allow. Not only is it no longer bound and masked, but it is also draining quickly. She has to be in trouble. I must find her! I fly, faster and faster to her power source, when suddenly I can't sense her power any longer. Stopping abruptly, I go over the three possibilities in my head. One, she could just be hiding her power again. Two, she could have passed out. Three... I didn't want to know number three, although it lingered at the back of my mind.
She could be dead.
As I stumbled into the village behind the girl, I winced in pain as I felt the burn move up my arm. I bit my tongue to keep from yelling out. Soon I felt the sweet metallic taste upon my tongue as it bled slightly.
She led me to a large, dimly lit hut. Once inside I froze and allowed my eyes to adjust. Someone seemed to lift the blinds and sunlight poured in. My eyes adjusted to the sudden change and I looked around to see five elderly people sitting in a row side by side a few feet in front of me. I looked at the one on the far left, and moved down the row, and then back to the woman in the middle. She looked at me with sad, sorrowful eyes. I blinked my eyes and jumped when the young girl spoke up from the shadows.
"She has been struck, sirs and medicine woman. She had the opportunity to kill me cleanly and get away with it but she did not. She has proved herself honorably. I owe her a life debt. She must be taken into care and is to be put into the best of care for her remaining time."
Remaining time? What is she talking about? The elderly people murmured to one another about this. My sharp ears couldn't even make out a word of it. I looked nervously from one person to another, unsure of what to do. I swallow my fear and slowly take deep breaths to calm myself. I slowly beg to the gods to forgive me in case I ever had done anything wrong in the past, and silently begged Shin to forgive my foolish actions. I hadn't meant to hurt him. I was only trying to keep him from harm. My past actions led to North, West, and South's deaths, and I couldn't possibly bear the death of the East Kaioshin as well. I prayed that I could prevent any future harm to him. Physical or otherwise.
The old woman that had the sad eyes spoke up now. She said, in a voice that sounded like an ancient flute playing on a soft breeze from far away,
"Do you know what kind of curse you bear, star-child?"
I shook my head slowly.
She spoke again in her flute-like voice,
"The curse you carry has no cure."
I was expecting that.
"It will eat at your soul slowly, and slowly tear at your body, leaving you to die a painful death. You will get spasms where your body with feel as though it is on fire. We have found only a few ways to treat these spasm attacks, and sometimes they work, sometimes they do not. We will treat you to the best of our ability to show our gratitude for you saving our princess, Ashitara." I didn't expect her to say that.
Princess? Spasms? FIRE?! Cold fear flooded through my veins at the thought of flames. I was like any sensible creature on the Earth. I feared fire.
I swallowed hard and listened to the old woman's wise words, praying that she could quell the fear that bubbled up inside me.
"There's so little that we can do for you here. But we will do anything to make sure you're alright." The old woman stood then, and walked forward. The girl that I had saved, presumably Ashitara, nudged me with her elbow and I held my hands out.
The old woman stopped and reached into the folds of her clothing. She pulled out a crystal ball. It was about the size of a softball and was a pale, clear lavender. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of it. A crystal ball... like... like...
She placed the crystal in my hands and she took a step backward.
"I found this years ago, when I was barely Ashitara's age. It had fallen from the sky. I feel as though it may be important to you. I just wish there were more that I could do. I feel as though I knew you, once upon a time. I'd remember a face like yours. And I'd know if I had seen that hair." she said, motioning to my cut hair that spiked and stood up. I looked down at the crystal ball in my hands, remembering the day I'd just given up.
"Katarel you can't do this." Shin reasoned, his arms folded over his chest, his black eyes scolding.
"Shin, it's not fair if I let you go and do this on your own!" she said. She folded her arms across her chest, in an imitation of him and added, "You deserve to have someone there to be with you!"
Why are we fighting? Why fight each other when we need to be fighting together? Katarel fought with herself in her own thoughts and Shin broke her concentration when he burst out,
"I don't care! I won't let you!"
"I'm not going to stop just because you told me to!" she said angrily.
"Then you'll stop because I made you!" He took a step forward and used his slightly superior height to tower over her. She took a step forward and stood nearly nose to nose with him and yelled in his face,
"I won't!"
"You will!"
They just stood there, glaring at each other for a few moments and finally Katarel, with all her pent up anger inside, regrettably slapped the deity, hard on the cheek.
Shin stood there, stunned that she would actually slap him. His cheek was red where she had hit him and he brought his fingers up to feel it, and when he held his fingers in front of his eyes, he saw his blood on them. She had scratched him! She just took a step backward and ran away to her room to cry alone and beg for Shin's forgiveness.
But instead of going to her room, she went to Earth, the crystal he had given in her hands and, standing at the edge of a deep, deep forest, she threw it away, and it landed without making a sound, too far for even her keen eyes to see, and she flew away, to return home and listen to Shin's pain as he moped around and not speak to him for days on end...
Where has my life gone from there? I asked myself. Downhill was the answer from inside my heart. I remembered times where we all would laugh until our sides hurt and times where we all were trying our hardest to try something ordinary, and we all became the people that I cherished the most, even long after they had left us. I felt like it was my chance to make up for everything that I had ruined, for more did not come to take their place and everyone feared that Buu and Bibidi would come and just kill them off.
"So what do I do now?" I looked up to the old woman and she answered with a smile,
"You need to contact him."
It was at this moment, and this moment only, that I understood. I needed to tell Shin I forgive him.
Flying faster and faster, I finally felt her power, steady as ever, in my heart and head. She was alive; I gave a small sigh of relief and flew towards it. Slowly, ever so slowly, a village seemed to unfold itself from the woods that surrounded it. I stopped in midair and looked around, until something caught my eye. Something small and glittering in the sunlight. I turned toward the little light and narrowed my eyes to slits, trying to focus them.
And then, suddenly, everything slowed down. He saw everything in slow motion. There she stood, on a rooftop of the hut in the center of the village. She held the crystal that he had given her in her hands, a smile on her face, but a burn had crept up her arm. It felt like I would do nothing to speed myself up, because there was only one speed, and that was slow. I seemed to finally get to her after hours of flying slowly. I dared not try to fly faster, lest I awoke from this dream to find that she was still gone. Finally, she was in my arms and she hugged me. I held her for the longest time before she gasped out in pain. I looked at her arm, where her burn was, and gasped.
"A cursed burn! Oh my gods, what happened? Katarel, who did this to you? Tell me!" I was beginning to panic, for even I knew that there was nothing that anyone could do about a cursed burn. I looked at her face, which was streaked with pain, and held her close to my chest. She resisted, as I knew she would, for her Saiyan pride made her do things on her own even when she knew she couldn't. Her Saiyan pride was more like the foolish pride of a cowboy that rodeos and it takes so long to realize that he's lost it all. She never knew how much she had until she didn't have it anymore.
And god, I wasn't about to lose her to anything!
We sat across a fire, watching each other. She watched me with kind eyes that expressed so much more than she said. When the village elder spoke up, I listened intently to her words.
"We have been blessed by this young woman's presence and she is going to slip from our grasp. That accursed demon set this burn upon her. Now she will only die a painful death. I pray that the great God, Kaioshin, may forgive us for not being of any more help to him."
I bowed my head, knowing what she said was the truth. But at that moment, Katarel broke out in a laugh and said,
"I can't possibly die! I'm the Crystal Saiyan! I'm supposed to be the only survivor." She looked around at the others, still smiling, but her smile faded when she got to me. My stomach fell out with dread. I was going to lose her... Gods, what the hell did I do?!
I couldn't hold her gaze for long. I knew that it was just sinking in right now. I knew that if there was only one mistake I ever made, it was letting her go to begin with.
And as my second chance slipped out of my hands, Katarel looked down at her burn which had grown over more than half of her torso and onto her other arm. A dog pup came up to attentively and licked her knee and jumped into her lap. She scratched it behind its ears, and said softly to the white puppy,
"I hope you live to be old and wise and strong, Ghen."
The puppy licked her face and she smiled. I smiled softly and prayed that with Katarel's last few weeks, she would not leave me alone again.
Neko Kai:: *cries quietly* This was my most depressing chapter. I have to remember that I promised to send this to my special friend that Kaioshin reminds me of. =3 He says my stories make me so adorable. He might not like the ending to this one though... anyway, I gotta be going now.
L@T3R D@Y$!!
/\/3K0 K@!
Last Tears that I Cry
I look to the west, where her energy now flows freely. Normally, I'd rejoice and fly as fast as my body would allow. Not only is it no longer bound and masked, but it is also draining quickly. She has to be in trouble. I must find her! I fly, faster and faster to her power source, when suddenly I can't sense her power any longer. Stopping abruptly, I go over the three possibilities in my head. One, she could just be hiding her power again. Two, she could have passed out. Three... I didn't want to know number three, although it lingered at the back of my mind.
She could be dead.
As I stumbled into the village behind the girl, I winced in pain as I felt the burn move up my arm. I bit my tongue to keep from yelling out. Soon I felt the sweet metallic taste upon my tongue as it bled slightly.
She led me to a large, dimly lit hut. Once inside I froze and allowed my eyes to adjust. Someone seemed to lift the blinds and sunlight poured in. My eyes adjusted to the sudden change and I looked around to see five elderly people sitting in a row side by side a few feet in front of me. I looked at the one on the far left, and moved down the row, and then back to the woman in the middle. She looked at me with sad, sorrowful eyes. I blinked my eyes and jumped when the young girl spoke up from the shadows.
"She has been struck, sirs and medicine woman. She had the opportunity to kill me cleanly and get away with it but she did not. She has proved herself honorably. I owe her a life debt. She must be taken into care and is to be put into the best of care for her remaining time."
Remaining time? What is she talking about? The elderly people murmured to one another about this. My sharp ears couldn't even make out a word of it. I looked nervously from one person to another, unsure of what to do. I swallow my fear and slowly take deep breaths to calm myself. I slowly beg to the gods to forgive me in case I ever had done anything wrong in the past, and silently begged Shin to forgive my foolish actions. I hadn't meant to hurt him. I was only trying to keep him from harm. My past actions led to North, West, and South's deaths, and I couldn't possibly bear the death of the East Kaioshin as well. I prayed that I could prevent any future harm to him. Physical or otherwise.
The old woman that had the sad eyes spoke up now. She said, in a voice that sounded like an ancient flute playing on a soft breeze from far away,
"Do you know what kind of curse you bear, star-child?"
I shook my head slowly.
She spoke again in her flute-like voice,
"The curse you carry has no cure."
I was expecting that.
"It will eat at your soul slowly, and slowly tear at your body, leaving you to die a painful death. You will get spasms where your body with feel as though it is on fire. We have found only a few ways to treat these spasm attacks, and sometimes they work, sometimes they do not. We will treat you to the best of our ability to show our gratitude for you saving our princess, Ashitara." I didn't expect her to say that.
Princess? Spasms? FIRE?! Cold fear flooded through my veins at the thought of flames. I was like any sensible creature on the Earth. I feared fire.
I swallowed hard and listened to the old woman's wise words, praying that she could quell the fear that bubbled up inside me.
"There's so little that we can do for you here. But we will do anything to make sure you're alright." The old woman stood then, and walked forward. The girl that I had saved, presumably Ashitara, nudged me with her elbow and I held my hands out.
The old woman stopped and reached into the folds of her clothing. She pulled out a crystal ball. It was about the size of a softball and was a pale, clear lavender. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of it. A crystal ball... like... like...
She placed the crystal in my hands and she took a step backward.
"I found this years ago, when I was barely Ashitara's age. It had fallen from the sky. I feel as though it may be important to you. I just wish there were more that I could do. I feel as though I knew you, once upon a time. I'd remember a face like yours. And I'd know if I had seen that hair." she said, motioning to my cut hair that spiked and stood up. I looked down at the crystal ball in my hands, remembering the day I'd just given up.
"Katarel you can't do this." Shin reasoned, his arms folded over his chest, his black eyes scolding.
"Shin, it's not fair if I let you go and do this on your own!" she said. She folded her arms across her chest, in an imitation of him and added, "You deserve to have someone there to be with you!"
Why are we fighting? Why fight each other when we need to be fighting together? Katarel fought with herself in her own thoughts and Shin broke her concentration when he burst out,
"I don't care! I won't let you!"
"I'm not going to stop just because you told me to!" she said angrily.
"Then you'll stop because I made you!" He took a step forward and used his slightly superior height to tower over her. She took a step forward and stood nearly nose to nose with him and yelled in his face,
"I won't!"
"You will!"
They just stood there, glaring at each other for a few moments and finally Katarel, with all her pent up anger inside, regrettably slapped the deity, hard on the cheek.
Shin stood there, stunned that she would actually slap him. His cheek was red where she had hit him and he brought his fingers up to feel it, and when he held his fingers in front of his eyes, he saw his blood on them. She had scratched him! She just took a step backward and ran away to her room to cry alone and beg for Shin's forgiveness.
But instead of going to her room, she went to Earth, the crystal he had given in her hands and, standing at the edge of a deep, deep forest, she threw it away, and it landed without making a sound, too far for even her keen eyes to see, and she flew away, to return home and listen to Shin's pain as he moped around and not speak to him for days on end...
Where has my life gone from there? I asked myself. Downhill was the answer from inside my heart. I remembered times where we all would laugh until our sides hurt and times where we all were trying our hardest to try something ordinary, and we all became the people that I cherished the most, even long after they had left us. I felt like it was my chance to make up for everything that I had ruined, for more did not come to take their place and everyone feared that Buu and Bibidi would come and just kill them off.
"So what do I do now?" I looked up to the old woman and she answered with a smile,
"You need to contact him."
It was at this moment, and this moment only, that I understood. I needed to tell Shin I forgive him.
Flying faster and faster, I finally felt her power, steady as ever, in my heart and head. She was alive; I gave a small sigh of relief and flew towards it. Slowly, ever so slowly, a village seemed to unfold itself from the woods that surrounded it. I stopped in midair and looked around, until something caught my eye. Something small and glittering in the sunlight. I turned toward the little light and narrowed my eyes to slits, trying to focus them.
And then, suddenly, everything slowed down. He saw everything in slow motion. There she stood, on a rooftop of the hut in the center of the village. She held the crystal that he had given her in her hands, a smile on her face, but a burn had crept up her arm. It felt like I would do nothing to speed myself up, because there was only one speed, and that was slow. I seemed to finally get to her after hours of flying slowly. I dared not try to fly faster, lest I awoke from this dream to find that she was still gone. Finally, she was in my arms and she hugged me. I held her for the longest time before she gasped out in pain. I looked at her arm, where her burn was, and gasped.
"A cursed burn! Oh my gods, what happened? Katarel, who did this to you? Tell me!" I was beginning to panic, for even I knew that there was nothing that anyone could do about a cursed burn. I looked at her face, which was streaked with pain, and held her close to my chest. She resisted, as I knew she would, for her Saiyan pride made her do things on her own even when she knew she couldn't. Her Saiyan pride was more like the foolish pride of a cowboy that rodeos and it takes so long to realize that he's lost it all. She never knew how much she had until she didn't have it anymore.
And god, I wasn't about to lose her to anything!
We sat across a fire, watching each other. She watched me with kind eyes that expressed so much more than she said. When the village elder spoke up, I listened intently to her words.
"We have been blessed by this young woman's presence and she is going to slip from our grasp. That accursed demon set this burn upon her. Now she will only die a painful death. I pray that the great God, Kaioshin, may forgive us for not being of any more help to him."
I bowed my head, knowing what she said was the truth. But at that moment, Katarel broke out in a laugh and said,
"I can't possibly die! I'm the Crystal Saiyan! I'm supposed to be the only survivor." She looked around at the others, still smiling, but her smile faded when she got to me. My stomach fell out with dread. I was going to lose her... Gods, what the hell did I do?!
I couldn't hold her gaze for long. I knew that it was just sinking in right now. I knew that if there was only one mistake I ever made, it was letting her go to begin with.
And as my second chance slipped out of my hands, Katarel looked down at her burn which had grown over more than half of her torso and onto her other arm. A dog pup came up to attentively and licked her knee and jumped into her lap. She scratched it behind its ears, and said softly to the white puppy,
"I hope you live to be old and wise and strong, Ghen."
The puppy licked her face and she smiled. I smiled softly and prayed that with Katarel's last few weeks, she would not leave me alone again.
Neko Kai:: *cries quietly* This was my most depressing chapter. I have to remember that I promised to send this to my special friend that Kaioshin reminds me of. =3 He says my stories make me so adorable. He might not like the ending to this one though... anyway, I gotta be going now.
L@T3R D@Y$!!
/\/3K0 K@!
