Authors Note: First off I know the last chapter was a little confusing.
But I promise there was a purpose to it. So I'll explain a little about
the chapter in the hopes that it will explain any questions you might have.
First off the story took place mostly in the 'dream plane'. Basically
this is where you soul goes when you dream. So HoshiAsa was using magic to
enter into other people's dreams. She was trying to get into
YoShen/KazeHa's dream but ended up in Herald Alexian's dream instead. So
most everything you saw was what he was dreaming, which is why she couldn't
touch him and KazeHa in the end. For any more information you'll just have
to keep reading. I promise that the story is starting to get in the really
rich part of the plot. If I could type any faster and didn't have to worry
about school work I would probably have this story finished since I know
exactly how it'll all end. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Oh and to answer a question I did make the songs that go with this story
although they were based off of music by other people.
KazeHa opened his eyes to the sight of people in green milling about him. Closing his eyes KazeHa sighed. As he opened them again he noticed that only one man in green was in the room now. It was the healer from the baths. He was leaning against the wall, Herald Alexian leaning against him. The two were asleep and the sun was gone from the window. KazeHa felt strange butterflies in his stomach and closed his eyes again. More time must have passed because he heard the sounds of birds singing and people moving about. There was a buzzing in his head that he ached to scratch away. It almost sounded like voices. Ridiculous. He wasn't hearing voices. It was just the pounding of his head, nothing more. So why didn't he buy that?
::KazeHa. . . KazeHa, can you hear me?::
"Who?"
:::It's me, KazeHa. Your companion Shai.::
"Shai . . . " A sudden burst of memory assaulted KazeHa. His eyes widened and panic overcame him. He couldn't be! It wasn't possible. He would not allow it to be true! He wasn't a white demon. He wasn't. He was KazeHa, first-born son of Emperor ChiHa. He wasn't a part of these people.
"KazeHa? Wake up, sleepy-head."
A hand touched KazeHa and he screamed. His eyes snapped open and his mind screamed out across the city. ::I AM NOT ONE OF YOU!!!! I WILL NOT BE!::
Alexian rocked back on his heels, nearly flattened by Kazeha's mind scream. KazeHa's back arched and he thrashed wildly. Pain. Loss. Anger. Too many emotions raced through KazeHa's being. He didn't know how to handle them. He had never been trained for anything like this. How was he supposed to handle all of this being tossed on top of the pile of burdens that he already carried?
A strong hand grabbed KazeHa's arm. The weight of another body rested on top of him, holding him flat against the mattress. "KazeHa! Calm yourself, KazeHa!" The voice sounded familiar to Kazeha's foggy mind and he struggled to remember where he knew it from. "Calm down. It's me, Alexian. You're safe."
"A...Alexian-san?" Alexian sighed and leaned back, sitting on KazeHa's hips. The gaijin smiled and KazeHa felt a strange fluttery feeling in his stomach.
"You can be pretty loud, you know that?"
"Nani? Loud?"
"Yes, loud. You have probably woken up every mind speaker in the city."
KazeHa went pale. Did Alexian mean that he was cursed with telepathy like the gaijin? "No..."
"No what? No you didn't wake them?"
"No!" KazeHa sat bolt upright. "I will not be...I cannot be cursed with that...that oni (1) magic!"
"Oni magic?" Alexian shook his head and climbed off of KazeHa's warm body. Alexian shrugged the foreign word away. "You have mindspeech and a companion so now you will have to go through heraldic training. Then you can be a Herald like me."
"I don't want to be like you." KazeHa glared at Alexian and climbed out of bed, ignoring his own nakedness.
Alexian blushed at the sight of KazeHa's naked body. His body was distracting and so beautiful. Wait, Alexian thought, did I just think that? Alexian mentally shook himself. "What's wrong with being a Herald?"
KazeHa spun around and glared at Alexian. Rage boiled up inside him, threatening to spill out of him in a windstorm strong enough to level the palace to the ground. For a moment the world vanished and all he became aware of was the wind swirling around inside him. "What's wrong with being a Herald? What's wrong!" Wind began to leak out of KazeHa's body, swirling around him in angry wisps. "I don't want to be a freak oni like you! I don't want my soul tainted by a stupid animal's touch!" The wind lifted the bed behind KazeHa throwing it across the room. "All I want is to be finished with this and to go home! I don't want to be trapped here with you ignorant barbarians!"
Alexian, who had been knocked to the ground by the wind, stared in shock at the angry young man before him. He had never seen KazeHa like this. Not even when Ylsa had first spoken with him in mindspeech. "Kaze . . . Ha . . . " Alexian felt scared. He didn't want to feel that way but he did.
::KazeHa! Stop this. Alexian is your friend. You're scaring him! ::
"Stupid animal! This gaijin isn't my friend! He is the kisama that destroyed my honor and my life!" KazeHa's hands fisted at his side and tears slowly made tracks down his face. ::IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!:: Power exploded outward from KazeHa in a massive shockwave.
* * *
HoshiAsa groaned in pain. Her body throbbed and her head ached even worse. The spell had been broken . . . no shattered would be a better description of what had happened. Someone who felt like Yoshen had shattered her spell even though they had not been in his dream. HoshiAsa rubbed her hand across her eyes wiping away the tears that had been falling. She was not so weak as to cry over someone else's dream, no matter how horrible it had been. It had been horrible, and far too real for her liking. A sight she never wished to see again. Vaguely she realized that someone was knocking on her door. Pushing her self up she made her way to her pile of cloths and donned them before calling out, "Enter."
It was the barmaid. In her hands was a tray covered in food. "I thought ye might like breakfast, ma'Lady."
"Thank you, Annalie."
The girl placed the tray down on the small table and disappeared out the door. HoshiAsa walked over to the food and stared at it. It was unlike any breakfast she had ever seen before. What she wouldn't have given for some miso soup, some fish and a bowl of rice. These people had too strange an idea of what breakfast should be. None of it looked to be healthy at all. With much reluctance she began to eat the food. If it was truly morning she would need to eat and get her strength back so that she could continue her journey and make her way to this city called "Haven" and retrieve Yoshen.
After finishing her food HoshiAsa packed up her belongings and headed down the stairs to the main hall. Few people where there, but they all had servings of the same food that had been brought up to her. None looked up at her entrance and HoshiAsa was glad. These people stared in a way that made her skin crawl. She was nearly to the door when she saw them. A group of men, hooded and hidden by the shadows in the corner where they sat watched her. She sensed something from them but brushed it off. They were no danger to her. She was after all a high priestess of Segi. It wasn't like they were any danger to her.
Her day went bay slowly. Each footstep down the dirt road seemed to take an hour. Her body ached, her cloths sticking to her body. After the rain storm that had trapped her at the inn the weather had changed dramatically. Gone were the frost kissed winds. The air was now pressing down on her like a hot fist. The humidity stole her breath from her until she wanted to collapse under the week shade provided by the few passing trees. Growling low in her throat HoshiAsa stalked towards the nearest tree and the shade it offered. It wouldn't hurt to rest for just a little while. HoshiAsa dropped her pack to the grass and collapsed next to it. Sighing, she nestled deep into the welcoming comfort the grass and shade offered. Closing her eyes HoshiAsa found herself sinking into a deep black sleep, never noticing the figures slipping out of the trees like ghosts.
* * *
After the world stopped spinning and shaking KazeHa collapse to his knees. His world had once again been swept out from under him, leaving him adrift and longing. How was he supposed to live if his world kept changing? Nothing he had been trained in could help him if these people kept changing the rules on their lives as well as his. KazeHa leaned his head towards his lap and stared at the stone floor beneath him. The wind had been knocked out of him one too many times. There was nothing constant in his life anymore.
::What about Herald Alexian? Has he not been at your side through all of this?::
Herald Alexian? KazeHa looked up to the sight of the green men, no they were Healers, and several Heralds collapsed unconscious on the floor. KazeHa crawled across the floor. He looked down at Herald Alexian. The blond gaijin had a strain expression on his face and blood was dripping down from his hairline. Guilt rose up in KazeHa's stomach, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Alexian . . . KazeHa lifted the gaijin's head into his lap. Tearing his bedclothes he made a small bandage that he pressed to Alexian's head in an attempt to stop the blood flow.
::I did this . . . ?::
The mindvoice that answered his question was calm and even, tinged with guilt and grief. ::You did. Don't blame yourself, Chosen. I suppose none of us have handled this situation very well. ::
KazeHa just nodded. He felt numb from the soul outward. The fight in him was gone. He didn't have the energy to fight anymore. He was a ghost. He would never return to his people, he was bonded to Herald Alexian through the Herald's own actions, and now he was bonded to an animal that he couldn't believe was anything more than just that. His life was not what he wanted, but he couldn't change it. All he could do was burry his true self away as deeply as possible and pretend that his life was something he could survive.
1. 'Oni' means demon and if you're wondering 'nani' means 'what'. Just thought I would point that out.
KazeHa opened his eyes to the sight of people in green milling about him. Closing his eyes KazeHa sighed. As he opened them again he noticed that only one man in green was in the room now. It was the healer from the baths. He was leaning against the wall, Herald Alexian leaning against him. The two were asleep and the sun was gone from the window. KazeHa felt strange butterflies in his stomach and closed his eyes again. More time must have passed because he heard the sounds of birds singing and people moving about. There was a buzzing in his head that he ached to scratch away. It almost sounded like voices. Ridiculous. He wasn't hearing voices. It was just the pounding of his head, nothing more. So why didn't he buy that?
::KazeHa. . . KazeHa, can you hear me?::
"Who?"
:::It's me, KazeHa. Your companion Shai.::
"Shai . . . " A sudden burst of memory assaulted KazeHa. His eyes widened and panic overcame him. He couldn't be! It wasn't possible. He would not allow it to be true! He wasn't a white demon. He wasn't. He was KazeHa, first-born son of Emperor ChiHa. He wasn't a part of these people.
"KazeHa? Wake up, sleepy-head."
A hand touched KazeHa and he screamed. His eyes snapped open and his mind screamed out across the city. ::I AM NOT ONE OF YOU!!!! I WILL NOT BE!::
Alexian rocked back on his heels, nearly flattened by Kazeha's mind scream. KazeHa's back arched and he thrashed wildly. Pain. Loss. Anger. Too many emotions raced through KazeHa's being. He didn't know how to handle them. He had never been trained for anything like this. How was he supposed to handle all of this being tossed on top of the pile of burdens that he already carried?
A strong hand grabbed KazeHa's arm. The weight of another body rested on top of him, holding him flat against the mattress. "KazeHa! Calm yourself, KazeHa!" The voice sounded familiar to Kazeha's foggy mind and he struggled to remember where he knew it from. "Calm down. It's me, Alexian. You're safe."
"A...Alexian-san?" Alexian sighed and leaned back, sitting on KazeHa's hips. The gaijin smiled and KazeHa felt a strange fluttery feeling in his stomach.
"You can be pretty loud, you know that?"
"Nani? Loud?"
"Yes, loud. You have probably woken up every mind speaker in the city."
KazeHa went pale. Did Alexian mean that he was cursed with telepathy like the gaijin? "No..."
"No what? No you didn't wake them?"
"No!" KazeHa sat bolt upright. "I will not be...I cannot be cursed with that...that oni (1) magic!"
"Oni magic?" Alexian shook his head and climbed off of KazeHa's warm body. Alexian shrugged the foreign word away. "You have mindspeech and a companion so now you will have to go through heraldic training. Then you can be a Herald like me."
"I don't want to be like you." KazeHa glared at Alexian and climbed out of bed, ignoring his own nakedness.
Alexian blushed at the sight of KazeHa's naked body. His body was distracting and so beautiful. Wait, Alexian thought, did I just think that? Alexian mentally shook himself. "What's wrong with being a Herald?"
KazeHa spun around and glared at Alexian. Rage boiled up inside him, threatening to spill out of him in a windstorm strong enough to level the palace to the ground. For a moment the world vanished and all he became aware of was the wind swirling around inside him. "What's wrong with being a Herald? What's wrong!" Wind began to leak out of KazeHa's body, swirling around him in angry wisps. "I don't want to be a freak oni like you! I don't want my soul tainted by a stupid animal's touch!" The wind lifted the bed behind KazeHa throwing it across the room. "All I want is to be finished with this and to go home! I don't want to be trapped here with you ignorant barbarians!"
Alexian, who had been knocked to the ground by the wind, stared in shock at the angry young man before him. He had never seen KazeHa like this. Not even when Ylsa had first spoken with him in mindspeech. "Kaze . . . Ha . . . " Alexian felt scared. He didn't want to feel that way but he did.
::KazeHa! Stop this. Alexian is your friend. You're scaring him! ::
"Stupid animal! This gaijin isn't my friend! He is the kisama that destroyed my honor and my life!" KazeHa's hands fisted at his side and tears slowly made tracks down his face. ::IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!:: Power exploded outward from KazeHa in a massive shockwave.
* * *
HoshiAsa groaned in pain. Her body throbbed and her head ached even worse. The spell had been broken . . . no shattered would be a better description of what had happened. Someone who felt like Yoshen had shattered her spell even though they had not been in his dream. HoshiAsa rubbed her hand across her eyes wiping away the tears that had been falling. She was not so weak as to cry over someone else's dream, no matter how horrible it had been. It had been horrible, and far too real for her liking. A sight she never wished to see again. Vaguely she realized that someone was knocking on her door. Pushing her self up she made her way to her pile of cloths and donned them before calling out, "Enter."
It was the barmaid. In her hands was a tray covered in food. "I thought ye might like breakfast, ma'Lady."
"Thank you, Annalie."
The girl placed the tray down on the small table and disappeared out the door. HoshiAsa walked over to the food and stared at it. It was unlike any breakfast she had ever seen before. What she wouldn't have given for some miso soup, some fish and a bowl of rice. These people had too strange an idea of what breakfast should be. None of it looked to be healthy at all. With much reluctance she began to eat the food. If it was truly morning she would need to eat and get her strength back so that she could continue her journey and make her way to this city called "Haven" and retrieve Yoshen.
After finishing her food HoshiAsa packed up her belongings and headed down the stairs to the main hall. Few people where there, but they all had servings of the same food that had been brought up to her. None looked up at her entrance and HoshiAsa was glad. These people stared in a way that made her skin crawl. She was nearly to the door when she saw them. A group of men, hooded and hidden by the shadows in the corner where they sat watched her. She sensed something from them but brushed it off. They were no danger to her. She was after all a high priestess of Segi. It wasn't like they were any danger to her.
Her day went bay slowly. Each footstep down the dirt road seemed to take an hour. Her body ached, her cloths sticking to her body. After the rain storm that had trapped her at the inn the weather had changed dramatically. Gone were the frost kissed winds. The air was now pressing down on her like a hot fist. The humidity stole her breath from her until she wanted to collapse under the week shade provided by the few passing trees. Growling low in her throat HoshiAsa stalked towards the nearest tree and the shade it offered. It wouldn't hurt to rest for just a little while. HoshiAsa dropped her pack to the grass and collapsed next to it. Sighing, she nestled deep into the welcoming comfort the grass and shade offered. Closing her eyes HoshiAsa found herself sinking into a deep black sleep, never noticing the figures slipping out of the trees like ghosts.
* * *
After the world stopped spinning and shaking KazeHa collapse to his knees. His world had once again been swept out from under him, leaving him adrift and longing. How was he supposed to live if his world kept changing? Nothing he had been trained in could help him if these people kept changing the rules on their lives as well as his. KazeHa leaned his head towards his lap and stared at the stone floor beneath him. The wind had been knocked out of him one too many times. There was nothing constant in his life anymore.
::What about Herald Alexian? Has he not been at your side through all of this?::
Herald Alexian? KazeHa looked up to the sight of the green men, no they were Healers, and several Heralds collapsed unconscious on the floor. KazeHa crawled across the floor. He looked down at Herald Alexian. The blond gaijin had a strain expression on his face and blood was dripping down from his hairline. Guilt rose up in KazeHa's stomach, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Alexian . . . KazeHa lifted the gaijin's head into his lap. Tearing his bedclothes he made a small bandage that he pressed to Alexian's head in an attempt to stop the blood flow.
::I did this . . . ?::
The mindvoice that answered his question was calm and even, tinged with guilt and grief. ::You did. Don't blame yourself, Chosen. I suppose none of us have handled this situation very well. ::
KazeHa just nodded. He felt numb from the soul outward. The fight in him was gone. He didn't have the energy to fight anymore. He was a ghost. He would never return to his people, he was bonded to Herald Alexian through the Herald's own actions, and now he was bonded to an animal that he couldn't believe was anything more than just that. His life was not what he wanted, but he couldn't change it. All he could do was burry his true self away as deeply as possible and pretend that his life was something he could survive.
1. 'Oni' means demon and if you're wondering 'nani' means 'what'. Just thought I would point that out.