Prayer Wheel
Ch. 2
Jun didn't get any more sleep that night. Her dream had horrified her; her state of mind
was a mess. She sat in bed, her breathing becoming hoarse, contemplating whether the
dream really meant anything, or if her past experiences had just taken the reins of her
subconscious. She finally regained some of her composure, threw on a shawl (a
particularly ugly one she had made with her accursed loom), and strode out of her room.
Mother Azami, whose room was adjacent to the courtyard, would know what was going
on.
The courtyard, normally an inviting place for Jun because of the many birds that
flocked there, seemed foreboding at nighttime. Walking across it seemed like something
out of a horror movie. Nervously moving a little bit faster, Jun found her way to the
inviting oak door of Mother Azami's quarters. As she extended her hand to the doorknob,
she suddenly felt a pulse of some indescribable sense course through her. This was an
odd occurrence; being at the convent had slowly dulled her psychic powers, and for them
to recur so suddenly and so strongly was very strange. Immediately Jun drew her hand off
the doorknob like it was white-hot, wondering what – or who – was in there that had
made her telepathic sirens go off so suddenly. She put her hand gingerly on her forehead
– the burst of negative energy had given her a headache. Eventually, however, Jun
managed to regain her resolve and opened the door to Mother Azami's room.
Nothing particularly horrifying was in there, except for Sister Riyu, who was an
irritable old nun and the stool-pigeon to Mother Azami. Azami usually took what Riyu
said with a grain of salt, for she knew of her desire to get everyone in the convent in
trouble, but still kept Riyu around for her diligent nature. This time, however, Azami was
in bed with a cold rag on her head, occasionally giving a wheezy cough, and Sister Riyu
was tut-tutting over her bedside.
"Daughter Jun, what do you need from me?" said Azami in a hoarse voice quite unlike
her own. She coughed again. Sister Riyu gave a small gasp and poured a drink of
something out of a nearby decanter.
"Mother Azami is very sick!" snapped Riyu. "Unless your room is burning down – "
"I – I suppose I'll wait," Jun said submissively, backing out of the room. "Thank you,
Mother Azami, Sister Riyu – "
"Jun, wait. You are troubled; I can tell, because you do not normally grasp your shawl
so tightly." Jun realized that she had an iron grip on the ends of her uncomfortable stole.
With a sheepish grin, she let go of it, letting the bunched-up fabric fall to her sides.
Mother Azami gave a small, sickly smile. "And you, Riyu!" she added, her ill voice
suddenly remembering its gentle authoritativeness; "You should not be so melodramatic!
I am not 'very sick'; my head aches and I have the flu. Now, I ask you, please leave,
because I believe Daughter Jun's matter is a personal one." Riyu, suddenly stunned that
her opportunity for brownie points was blown to hell by Jun's advent, stormed out of the
room gracelessly.
Once the irritable Sister Riyu had left the room, Jun slowly explained to a constantly-
coughing Mother Azami the situation at hand. Mother Azami slowly sat up in bed, her
misty-blue eyes full of concern.
"Daughter Jun, there is a story contained in this convent about The God of Fighting, or,
as you know him, Ogre. Once, a disciple of ours named Sister Yoma participated in the
very first King of Iron Fist Tournament, years ago, previous to coming to Shinryuu
Convent. She won, but said she never felt the same after that…an odd sensation that
someone was watching constantly, never being able to sleep…so she joined our convent
in hopes that she could escape from the feeling." Mother Azami looked down at the
festively-colored quilt she was wrapped in. "She died a month later. Someone had slit her
throat." Jun gasped. "We kept things under wraps, prayed to keep the evil spirits away,
and for a while it stopped…" Mother Azami began to cough again, spitting up a bit of
blood. "Oh dear…Daughter Jun, I need to rest now. Please go back to your room, and
should you have any more trouble, quickly talk to me."
A/N: I like writing short chapters. Yay. Anyway, PLEASE FREAKING REVIEW
BECAUSE NO ONE REVIEWED THE FIRST CHAPTER AND IT MADE ME SAD.
Sorry for that outburst.
Ch. 2
Jun didn't get any more sleep that night. Her dream had horrified her; her state of mind
was a mess. She sat in bed, her breathing becoming hoarse, contemplating whether the
dream really meant anything, or if her past experiences had just taken the reins of her
subconscious. She finally regained some of her composure, threw on a shawl (a
particularly ugly one she had made with her accursed loom), and strode out of her room.
Mother Azami, whose room was adjacent to the courtyard, would know what was going
on.
The courtyard, normally an inviting place for Jun because of the many birds that
flocked there, seemed foreboding at nighttime. Walking across it seemed like something
out of a horror movie. Nervously moving a little bit faster, Jun found her way to the
inviting oak door of Mother Azami's quarters. As she extended her hand to the doorknob,
she suddenly felt a pulse of some indescribable sense course through her. This was an
odd occurrence; being at the convent had slowly dulled her psychic powers, and for them
to recur so suddenly and so strongly was very strange. Immediately Jun drew her hand off
the doorknob like it was white-hot, wondering what – or who – was in there that had
made her telepathic sirens go off so suddenly. She put her hand gingerly on her forehead
– the burst of negative energy had given her a headache. Eventually, however, Jun
managed to regain her resolve and opened the door to Mother Azami's room.
Nothing particularly horrifying was in there, except for Sister Riyu, who was an
irritable old nun and the stool-pigeon to Mother Azami. Azami usually took what Riyu
said with a grain of salt, for she knew of her desire to get everyone in the convent in
trouble, but still kept Riyu around for her diligent nature. This time, however, Azami was
in bed with a cold rag on her head, occasionally giving a wheezy cough, and Sister Riyu
was tut-tutting over her bedside.
"Daughter Jun, what do you need from me?" said Azami in a hoarse voice quite unlike
her own. She coughed again. Sister Riyu gave a small gasp and poured a drink of
something out of a nearby decanter.
"Mother Azami is very sick!" snapped Riyu. "Unless your room is burning down – "
"I – I suppose I'll wait," Jun said submissively, backing out of the room. "Thank you,
Mother Azami, Sister Riyu – "
"Jun, wait. You are troubled; I can tell, because you do not normally grasp your shawl
so tightly." Jun realized that she had an iron grip on the ends of her uncomfortable stole.
With a sheepish grin, she let go of it, letting the bunched-up fabric fall to her sides.
Mother Azami gave a small, sickly smile. "And you, Riyu!" she added, her ill voice
suddenly remembering its gentle authoritativeness; "You should not be so melodramatic!
I am not 'very sick'; my head aches and I have the flu. Now, I ask you, please leave,
because I believe Daughter Jun's matter is a personal one." Riyu, suddenly stunned that
her opportunity for brownie points was blown to hell by Jun's advent, stormed out of the
room gracelessly.
Once the irritable Sister Riyu had left the room, Jun slowly explained to a constantly-
coughing Mother Azami the situation at hand. Mother Azami slowly sat up in bed, her
misty-blue eyes full of concern.
"Daughter Jun, there is a story contained in this convent about The God of Fighting, or,
as you know him, Ogre. Once, a disciple of ours named Sister Yoma participated in the
very first King of Iron Fist Tournament, years ago, previous to coming to Shinryuu
Convent. She won, but said she never felt the same after that…an odd sensation that
someone was watching constantly, never being able to sleep…so she joined our convent
in hopes that she could escape from the feeling." Mother Azami looked down at the
festively-colored quilt she was wrapped in. "She died a month later. Someone had slit her
throat." Jun gasped. "We kept things under wraps, prayed to keep the evil spirits away,
and for a while it stopped…" Mother Azami began to cough again, spitting up a bit of
blood. "Oh dear…Daughter Jun, I need to rest now. Please go back to your room, and
should you have any more trouble, quickly talk to me."
A/N: I like writing short chapters. Yay. Anyway, PLEASE FREAKING REVIEW
BECAUSE NO ONE REVIEWED THE FIRST CHAPTER AND IT MADE ME SAD.
Sorry for that outburst.