Prayer Wheel
Chapter 3
Mother Azami and her tale had not comforted Jun in any way; in fact, she had only disconcerted her any more. No mysteries were cleared up, and Jun was only left with more questions. Yoma? Jun had not recalled anyone by that name entering the first King Of Iron Fist Tournament. Still, her trust of Mother Azami was implicit, and Jun figured that there might just have been an oversight on the part of Azami's aging brain.
Jun, closing the old wooden door of Azami's room, found herself once again in the eerily dark and foreboding courtyard. She walked towards her room, which was situated up a brief staircase onto a raised wooden porch; the tap of her sandaled feet against the cobblestones unnerved her a little. She looked up at the sky to see a marvelous map of stars spanning the heavens; the celestial world had always been a topic of fascination for Jun, in addition to her love of nature. The pollution of the big Japanese metropolises had always prevented her from gazing upon the stars, but they were seen perfectly in the crisp mountain air of Shinryuu. Before she lowered her head again, she saw what appeared to be a tyto alba - or night owl - flit across the sky to another tree. Jun's eyes lit up with delight as she saw the bird, and she used a simple bird call to summon the wary bird down to her outstretched arm.
"Oh...what a beautiful bird you are..." Jun whispered, looking straight in the owl's brilliant yellow eyes. It seemed to absorb every word she said, as all other animals did; such was the talent of Jun Kazama. The bird still perched on her arm, Jun gingerly reached for the bird feeder with her other arm and took some bird food out of it. She offered them to the owl, which it took with delight, and stroked its tawny brown head. The owl playfully nipped her ear and disembarked from her long arm, flying off past the boundaries of Shinryuu Convent. Jun watched it until it finally disappeared over the old red roof, then turned in the direction of her room.
A humanoid shadow flitted across the porch.
Jun gasped. She did not have the time to see who it was; however, it made no footfalls, and looked almost as if it was floating. Normally, Jun would have bolted to tell Sister Azami, but something seemed to be restraining her. She looked around the courtyard frantically, hoping to catch a glimpse of the shadow-veiled intruder, but he or she appeared to be gone. Jun was now very tense. A strange echo filled her head, a voice that she couldn't quite place, saying everything and nothing at the same time...
She bolted into a brisk run, heading back to Mother Azami's room. As she ran, the end of her white nightgown's sash snagged itself on one of the gnarled branches of an azalea bush. Alarmed by whatever was impeding her progress, Jun tugged at her gown, where the offending strip of silk freed itself from the constriction of the branch. She set her sights once again to Azami's door, now breaking into a sprint, the cacophony of the mysterious voice growing ever louder and persistent. As soon as the terrified Kazama touched the doorknob to her room, an excruciating pain exploded through her head. She cried out and fell to her knees; the sting was so intense she could barely think coherently; red lights were bursting in front of her eyes. Never in her years of fighting had such a terrible pain ever afflicted Jun. She grasped her head with her hands, groaning with utmost agony, tears streaming down her cheek. The suffering was unbearable... Jun wanted to die, just to end it, just to end the pain...
"Mother Azami! Mother Azami, help!" Jun cried out. Was she even saying anything; was her voice audible at all? She couldn't tell. The voice in her head was now deafening; still its babbling was incoherent, and yet it made all the more sense to her. Red light. Red light everywhere, were the only thoughts she could muster from her screaming head. Her surroundings seemed to be blurring out; she made one more futile grasp for the doorknob and collapsed onto the cobblestones.
"Jun? Jun! Jun, wake up!"
Someone was slapping her.
Jun stirred a little bit. Her small black eyes opened gradually to reveal a very concerned Sister Narin holding her in one arm and preparing to smack her in the face again with the other; in fact, almost all of the nuns of Shinryuu Convent had appeared around the scene. Still terrified, Jun hopped to her feet and started to scream a ghastly scream.
"JUN! What's wrong?" cried Mother Azami, who looked as if she'd improved from her previous feverish state. Jun continued to cry out, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, her shoulders hitching with the force of her wretched sobs. Azami took Jun, who was not in her right mind, and held her closely by the shoulders.
"Jun...Jun..." Azami's voice permeated through Jun's disarrayed mental state, a beacon of light in a world of chaos. Her voice was clear as a clarion, but her lips did not appear to be moving. "Jun, please, try to regain your composure." Jun stopped screaming, but her breaths were still fast and labored and she still sobbed uncontrollably. A violent shudder erupted through her frail body; she shivered and shook her head. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, her mind managed to sort itself out. Her eyes met Mother Azami's icy-blue's, and the old woman's lips parted to speak.
"Jun...what has happened here?"
"N-no. Red light. The doorkn-nob. Shadows. No! NO! Oh, God..." Jun wanted to say so much, but only stuttering and strange words came out. Once again, she slowly felt her consciousness drifting away from her, but this time she managed to remain in the real world. A surprisingly coherent sentence came from her mouth: "Mother Azami, I need to return to my room." Azami, slightly taken aback by Jun's sudden lucidity, stepped aside and said "Oh-okay...Do as you wish. You need rest. Do you need any help?" Jun, her limbs heavy, shook her head 'no' and dragged herself slowly back to her room. It felt like the longest walk she had ever taken. Every bit of stamina she had left was expended just to take the next step; all of the nuns were watching with great looks of concern on their faces. Even Sister Riyu was alarmed at the aftermath of Jun's torturous encounter. Jun's sandals rose and fell heavily against the cobblestones, keeping an unpredictable rhythm, and it took her a solid twenty seconds to ascend the four steps onto the porch.
After reaching the end of her awful zombie-shuffle, she swung the door to her room open. She stumbled clumsily to her bed and pulled the covers over herself, trying to be comfortable. The pain still raged through her body; it felt like a thousand needles were piercing every inch of her at once. After several more minutes of trying to ignore the horrible throbbing, she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.
A/N: ...Wow. I don't think I've ever written a chapter that effective. I even got shivers writing it. Anyway, PLEASE review; a struggling writer needs his encouragement, you know.
Chapter 3
Mother Azami and her tale had not comforted Jun in any way; in fact, she had only disconcerted her any more. No mysteries were cleared up, and Jun was only left with more questions. Yoma? Jun had not recalled anyone by that name entering the first King Of Iron Fist Tournament. Still, her trust of Mother Azami was implicit, and Jun figured that there might just have been an oversight on the part of Azami's aging brain.
Jun, closing the old wooden door of Azami's room, found herself once again in the eerily dark and foreboding courtyard. She walked towards her room, which was situated up a brief staircase onto a raised wooden porch; the tap of her sandaled feet against the cobblestones unnerved her a little. She looked up at the sky to see a marvelous map of stars spanning the heavens; the celestial world had always been a topic of fascination for Jun, in addition to her love of nature. The pollution of the big Japanese metropolises had always prevented her from gazing upon the stars, but they were seen perfectly in the crisp mountain air of Shinryuu. Before she lowered her head again, she saw what appeared to be a tyto alba - or night owl - flit across the sky to another tree. Jun's eyes lit up with delight as she saw the bird, and she used a simple bird call to summon the wary bird down to her outstretched arm.
"Oh...what a beautiful bird you are..." Jun whispered, looking straight in the owl's brilliant yellow eyes. It seemed to absorb every word she said, as all other animals did; such was the talent of Jun Kazama. The bird still perched on her arm, Jun gingerly reached for the bird feeder with her other arm and took some bird food out of it. She offered them to the owl, which it took with delight, and stroked its tawny brown head. The owl playfully nipped her ear and disembarked from her long arm, flying off past the boundaries of Shinryuu Convent. Jun watched it until it finally disappeared over the old red roof, then turned in the direction of her room.
A humanoid shadow flitted across the porch.
Jun gasped. She did not have the time to see who it was; however, it made no footfalls, and looked almost as if it was floating. Normally, Jun would have bolted to tell Sister Azami, but something seemed to be restraining her. She looked around the courtyard frantically, hoping to catch a glimpse of the shadow-veiled intruder, but he or she appeared to be gone. Jun was now very tense. A strange echo filled her head, a voice that she couldn't quite place, saying everything and nothing at the same time...
She bolted into a brisk run, heading back to Mother Azami's room. As she ran, the end of her white nightgown's sash snagged itself on one of the gnarled branches of an azalea bush. Alarmed by whatever was impeding her progress, Jun tugged at her gown, where the offending strip of silk freed itself from the constriction of the branch. She set her sights once again to Azami's door, now breaking into a sprint, the cacophony of the mysterious voice growing ever louder and persistent. As soon as the terrified Kazama touched the doorknob to her room, an excruciating pain exploded through her head. She cried out and fell to her knees; the sting was so intense she could barely think coherently; red lights were bursting in front of her eyes. Never in her years of fighting had such a terrible pain ever afflicted Jun. She grasped her head with her hands, groaning with utmost agony, tears streaming down her cheek. The suffering was unbearable... Jun wanted to die, just to end it, just to end the pain...
"Mother Azami! Mother Azami, help!" Jun cried out. Was she even saying anything; was her voice audible at all? She couldn't tell. The voice in her head was now deafening; still its babbling was incoherent, and yet it made all the more sense to her. Red light. Red light everywhere, were the only thoughts she could muster from her screaming head. Her surroundings seemed to be blurring out; she made one more futile grasp for the doorknob and collapsed onto the cobblestones.
"Jun? Jun! Jun, wake up!"
Someone was slapping her.
Jun stirred a little bit. Her small black eyes opened gradually to reveal a very concerned Sister Narin holding her in one arm and preparing to smack her in the face again with the other; in fact, almost all of the nuns of Shinryuu Convent had appeared around the scene. Still terrified, Jun hopped to her feet and started to scream a ghastly scream.
"JUN! What's wrong?" cried Mother Azami, who looked as if she'd improved from her previous feverish state. Jun continued to cry out, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, her shoulders hitching with the force of her wretched sobs. Azami took Jun, who was not in her right mind, and held her closely by the shoulders.
"Jun...Jun..." Azami's voice permeated through Jun's disarrayed mental state, a beacon of light in a world of chaos. Her voice was clear as a clarion, but her lips did not appear to be moving. "Jun, please, try to regain your composure." Jun stopped screaming, but her breaths were still fast and labored and she still sobbed uncontrollably. A violent shudder erupted through her frail body; she shivered and shook her head. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, her mind managed to sort itself out. Her eyes met Mother Azami's icy-blue's, and the old woman's lips parted to speak.
"Jun...what has happened here?"
"N-no. Red light. The doorkn-nob. Shadows. No! NO! Oh, God..." Jun wanted to say so much, but only stuttering and strange words came out. Once again, she slowly felt her consciousness drifting away from her, but this time she managed to remain in the real world. A surprisingly coherent sentence came from her mouth: "Mother Azami, I need to return to my room." Azami, slightly taken aback by Jun's sudden lucidity, stepped aside and said "Oh-okay...Do as you wish. You need rest. Do you need any help?" Jun, her limbs heavy, shook her head 'no' and dragged herself slowly back to her room. It felt like the longest walk she had ever taken. Every bit of stamina she had left was expended just to take the next step; all of the nuns were watching with great looks of concern on their faces. Even Sister Riyu was alarmed at the aftermath of Jun's torturous encounter. Jun's sandals rose and fell heavily against the cobblestones, keeping an unpredictable rhythm, and it took her a solid twenty seconds to ascend the four steps onto the porch.
After reaching the end of her awful zombie-shuffle, she swung the door to her room open. She stumbled clumsily to her bed and pulled the covers over herself, trying to be comfortable. The pain still raged through her body; it felt like a thousand needles were piercing every inch of her at once. After several more minutes of trying to ignore the horrible throbbing, she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.
A/N: ...Wow. I don't think I've ever written a chapter that effective. I even got shivers writing it. Anyway, PLEASE review; a struggling writer needs his encouragement, you know.