Death Be Not Proud…
9/13/03
By Cynic X
Editing: VashStmpde
I do not own Inuyasha, and am making no money off any of my stories, this one or my other Inuyasha story…(I forgot to put the disclaimer in that one.) I'm only a poor college student, really –shows empty pockets- Now that the boring formalities are done…on with the story!
Chapter 1: Run…
I could heart my heart pounding in my ears as my feet pounded the cold cement of the street under them. My breath came in raps as my chest heaved up and down with every breath. I needed to get as far away from them as possible…I needed to run until I couldn't anymore, so long as I was away from them. I had no real destination, as it was far from where I came from. I was oblivious to everything around me…the lightening that flashed across the sky, or the thunder than sounded in the distance…even oblivious to the blood that was mixing with the rain as it ran down over my left eye. I had only one goal…to run…as fast and as far as I could. The rain continued to pour down…hard…I didn't even bother to brush my saturated hair out of my eyes…hair that had become so long and unruly due to neglect and lack of up keep. The white outfit I had been wearing was soaked through, and stained from the wounds I had received while I was escaping, as well as from mud and dirt from the one time I had slipped on the slick dirt when I had ran through a park just a short time before. I didn't even notice the pain that shot through my body though, or acknowledge the red liquid pouring down the side of my face…you kind of forget about that stuff when your adrenaline is pumping. I stopped hearing footsteps a while back…I hopped that they wouldn't pursue me in a car…they knew better than to use dogs on me…not like they would be able to keep up anyway, and it would be hard to follow my scent in this weather anyway. Lucky for me I had actually chosen a decent day to make my escape. If anyone happened to see me run by, I would imagine that I appeared as a while and black blur…they would probably think that they were imagining things and go back to whatever they had been doing before they looked up. I decided to slow my speed, listing for any indications that I was being followed…nothing…just the sound of the rain hitting the ground. Your probably wondering why I'm running like this...running for my life in this horrible weather…we'll that's simple…
My name is Inuyasha…
And I am going to die.
Inuyasha isn't my real name; it's the name that was given to me after the injection. I know I had a real name...I just cant remember it...Maybe that's a side effect of the "vaccine" as well…or maybe it's just selective memory lose. Whatever it is, I don't know why I can't remember anything from before…not like it matters much anyway...I'm not that person anymore, so why remember a part of yourself that you can never go back to. I do remember one thing from the past though…how this hell all started. You see, I was orphaned at a young age. Both my parents died in a car crash…I was the only one who survived. After that, I was placed in an orphanage. It was lonely, but I was alright for a while. That was until I graduated high school. I was on my own after that. With no place to go, and no family to go to, I decided to enroll in the Japanese army. I would fight for my country for room and board, not really that bad of a deal. I want afraid to die…I really didn't have anything to live for. Its not that I wanted to commit suicide or anything, I can't stand the thought of taking my own life. I'm fighting for something, so maybe my life will be worth something…maybe…
It was okay for a time, but then our commanding officers told us that we needed to take a new vaccine for some new disease that was created. No one from my group questioned them. They were the government; we thought they had our best interest in mind…If only I knew now what I knew then. We were the Firsts…that is, the first ones to be injected with their so called "vaccine." Out of my original group…I am the only one still alive…if this can be called a life that is…and not for that long too…I will die soon, like them…I have no choice. That vaccine of there's was actually a genetically engineered drug that was being tested. The drug was based on years of research the government had done to develop a new kind of soldier…a superior fighter…something that would be invincible. Unfortunately, it back fired. The Firsts started acting crazy, hallucinating, their bodies changed, and then they eventually died after a while in a scream of agonizing pain. Night after night, I would hear those screams…the screams of the dead…those who knew that their time was being cut short. For some reason though, in the beginning I didn't show signs like the other ones. It seemed almost as if I was never injected. But like time, everything changes and I started to show signs that I wasn't normal anymore. The first time I noticed something was wrong was one morning I woke up, and my whole body hurt…not just an ache…It felt like my whole body was on fire. I was struggling to breathe, so I got up from my bed and was trying to make my way to the door of my room…my room…more like a white prison though than a room. I used the wall as a support as I staggered to the door. When I went to turn the door knob, the whole mechanism came off in my hand…The knob and I feel to the floor…I passed out after that. When I came to, I was back on my nice white hospital bed, connected to a ton of machines. It seems that the drug had started to take effect. From what the doctors could make out the whole muscle structure of my body had changed…I had muscles where I never had them, and lost some that I did not need anymore…kind of like Darwin's survival of the fittest…the best muscles stayed, while others disappeared. After I recovered from my first episode, they ran me through a myriad amount of test to see the extent of the abilities I had gained. I was the first one who survived the drug this far, and they needed the data to continue their research. Each day I felt like a lab rat that had to run through a maze, or obstacle course. In the end, they concluded that I had gained heightened agility, speed and strength as well as resilience to any kind of bodily inflictions…perfect qualities for the super soldier they were hoping to develop. Back to my white cell I went after testing…day after day…I remember that room…the only items in it were a white hospital bed, a light on the ceiling, and a two way mirror to watch my every action. I think the only thing I was allowed to do in private was use the bathroom…other than that I was under strict surveillance. The doctors made sure to try and keep me alive as long as possible. Its six months after the injection, and only am I starting to show signs now…how long I have left to live…I don't know…but I would imagine the end is soon…once the signs come you don't have much longer after that…Even though I am in the first stage, my body wont be able to handle the strain that the drug places on it…and it will give out…I will die…and there is nothing I can do about it…
I finally turned my mind to other matters…like how I needed someplace to hide out for a while when they started searching the area for me. Anything would be alright…just as long as I would be hidden from view…and as far away from them as possible. I continued to run, not as fast as before...but still faster than your average human. Taking to the trees, I made better time, and hid myself from any bystanders that were out on this wet afternoon. Jumping from branch to branch, I hardly made a sound as my bare feet came in contact with the branch of the next tree. I could see a clearing up ahead, and let out a mental sigh of relief…I had just realized that my body was running on automatic, and it was starting to catch up to me really fast...I needed someplace to crash…someplace to get help…and fast...Landing on the cold wet slabs that made up the walkway to what seemed like a shrine ahead, the pain came on like an onslaught…Not being able to ignore it any longer, my legs gave out from the strenuous running I had just done and I collapsed on to the ground in a heap of tattered dirty white clothing and tangled black hair, the blood from the cut above my eye, continued to bleed, mixing the rain water with the dirty my face had landed in, making an interesting shade of mud…That was the last thought I had before everything went blank.
End: Chapter 1…
This story is not finished…I'm diverting from all my other stories and writing this one as it comes to me, not having it all complete and then posting it, so I'm open to suggestions on what you would like to see happen, as long as its not hentai (R/NC17 stuff). I do have a sort of plot line I'm going to follow, but other than that, send me your suggestions!
Thanks so Much for Reading!
Yes, the title is taken from Holy Sonnet 10 by John Donne:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st
thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which yet thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more, must
low
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men
And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.