Chapter Five: Tainted
By Sha / #29 (Sunday, May 22, 2005)
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The rain outside sounded endless; cold breezes pushing against the windows, as if trying to find a way in... Could it be looking for warmth, but that was foolish; the entire castle was chilly... or at least her room...
Could the wind and rain be as lost as she felt? Or did it actually wish to rescue the poor, young ice maiden from this cruelty forced upon her?
Yukina just laid there on this old mattress they had left her on, she wondered if she would be able to get out of here? If someone would only save her...
If only someone would come for her... if only she could see another peaceful place... but with this mask on, she couldn't see anything, only darkness... that which frightened her...
The mask couldn't conceal her tears though, as precious ice tear gems rolled off her cheek, and fell; gathering around her on the white sheets...
As she shook from her tears, she began to whimper from the pain in her bloody arms reminded her of the cuts they had conflicted on her...
She was feeling hopeless, exhausted, and quickly losing her faith... completely unaware that her older twin brother was coming for her... but would he even be able to?
This castle, was one of the trickiest, and had traps; and mazes where no one ever returned... the strongest monsters from nightmares lurked in every shadowed corner, waiting, patiently waiting for some fool to venture in...
Mostly, people who were traveling, and became wary, usually made their blind way in, understandably hoping to find somewhere to sleep after their long and exhausting journay... but everyone was deceived...
Nobody was ever warned about this dark, demonic castle either... because almost no one ever escaped living... some were let out, injured, bloody and wounded to no end; just for amusement to the sadistic owner, and their cruel followers... they eventfully just died from bloodlost, and poisoning after being tortured for hours on end; barely even getting a few feet into the enchanted forest; which cried for these unfortunate travelers...
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Hiei let out a gasp as he felt a cold, sharp feeling stab into his chest, filling him with pain... As quickly as it had came, it passed; and Hiei stood up again, still holding a hand on his chest.
Why couldn't he sense anything out of all these eerie feelings coursing through his very being? He just felt like he was being watched; as well as hatred, sorrow and pain... more and more pain... but was unable to really feel where an enemy was exactly...
Hiei continued forward, very cautious and alert, waiting for someone to show up so he could slaughter them... just as he was half-way up the left side of the stairs; he heard a distant sound of sobbing coming from below him.
He stood a few minutes, confused, knowing he had felt his sister upstairs... but who was crying?
He finally decided to go back down, and look into the lower door to see if she might be there instead...
Upon opening up the door, he looked into a hallway, similar to that of the entrance hall... only more wider.
The weeping now echoed through the corridor, and he stepped forward; still alert for some attack or trick to come to him... but as he made his way into this hall, nothing happened, yet he never let his guard down once...
The sounds of crying became more clear, yet still seemed quite distant to him.
Hiei caught his breath quick as he heard a shimmering sound of clicking glass, but it was only a cold breeze making the small glass wind chimes hit together... Then it accuired to Hiei; since when was the wind inside?
Perhaps there was a window open? There were plenty of doors on either side of him; and the one beneath the wind chimes was partly cracked open...
As he placed a steady hand upon the brass handle, the crying ceased to be heard; making Hiei curiously look around, then he opened the door...
...to see two small children, huddled together underneath a torn, dusty thin blanket, against a small spring bed frame with no mattress... The entire room was dark, dusty, and probably once had white walls, judging by the looks of it...
There was a window open, right above the two children's heads; and they were shivering, teary-eyed; looking frightened and untrusting at Hiei, as if expecting him to come in and hurt them...
They clearly looked like they were either put through quite a bit of pain, or witnessed it... judged easily by the mistrust and scared feelings coming from them, and seen through their young eyes.
Hiei stood in the doorway a few more minutes, as the two began to weep again, and cried at him, 'Go away!'.
Hiei walked over to them, making the two shudder, and whimper as he knelt down, placing a hand on the wood floor near their little bare, and dirt covered feet.
"What are you names? I'm not here to hurt you two, I could help you... I promise." Hiei tried his hardest not to sound too kind to the children, but he could not help feeling sorry for them... they must be feeling how his sister felt right now... lost, frightened, faithless and untrusting... which angered him... he couldn't stand this, and couldn't wait to find the ruler of this castle, destroying him and all his followers for hurting innocent lives and tainting them with fear and mistrust like this...
"Um... ah..." The one against the wall, whom was a young girl uttered, who was holding the young boy in front of her; both hugging each another; staring at Hiei, as if still afraid of trusting him yet...
Hiei easily figured they must be sister and brother... but why and how were they kidnapped? or were they just another trick to fool him into a weak position?
"Are you going to save us, mister?" The boy asked; and he sounded sick as if with sore throat nearly; but that could be the dust in the room.
"..." Hiei stared at the two, studying them... both were smudged with dirt, with a few faint yet still visible scratches on their small arms; and they both looked alike, with their dark hair, and eyes; with the same round, chubby little faces; and tearstains trailing a clearing through their dirty cheeks.
He didn't feel any menace from them, and wasn't sure that they were even an illusion anymore...
Hiei figured he should save them - he had found them, now it was his duty to rescue them... but he didn't know what to do with them... he could try to get them out somehow... but the drawbridge was closed... or maybe he could just make them stay here until he had fought his way to the top, and safely rescued Yukina, then he could go back for them as well... because he could never take them with him without risking their young, and innocent lives...
Hiei shallowed, and nodded to answer the little boy's question; and was really surprised when the two hugged him around the neck, whimpering against his chest... he then realized they were crying again as their tears seeped through his black cloak, and sleeveless shirt, touching his skin beneath...
He couldn't help placing an arm around each of them, whispering to them softly... "I promise I will get you two out of here... but I need to save another person... she's upstairs somewhere... and I need to leave you two right here so you can be safe..."
"What if someone comes down here to hurt us?" The little girl asked, as she and her brother looked up into his face... he knew they were both counting on him, and he didn't want to let them down...
"...Well..." Hiei realized he couldn't really know if someone would come down, he hadn't thought of that...
He looked around the room, noticing a door on the wall.
"Just a minute..." He stood up, and the two cuddled together, watching Hiei as he walked over to the door, opening it, to reveal a rather large closet, that only had empty clothes hanging down from metal bars.
Hiei quickly checked through the closet; when he realized it was safe, he decided he could get them to hide in here for a few hours... hopefully, he would be able to save Yukina before too long...
"Would you two be willing to hide in there until I can come back for you?" Hiei asked, kneeing down in front of the two again.
"...Okay..." The two quietly said, shivering again, as a chilly breeze sweeped in through the window again.
Hiei took off his cloak, and wrapped it around the two, carrying them over to the closet, placing them in, then he went over to the window, and closed it quietly.
"Wait!" One of the two cried to him, and he went over, bending down to them.
"What?"
"What's your name?" The girl asked, as the little boy rested against her, looking sleepy.
"...Hiei..." Hiei said quietly, and they both repeated it slowly. "Now, what are your names?" Hiei asked again, remembering they hadn't answered before.
"I am Hikari..." The girl said softly, then her brother spoke. "And I am Hikaru."
"Well... are you two twins?" Hiei decided to spare a few minutes to talk so they would feel safe for a while.
"Yes." They nodded. "We're only four... Mama and Papa disappeared when we got taken away..." The two then continued to tell him about they had decided to take a family trip into this forest, so their parents, who were studying nature could observe it, but it started raining, so they went into the castle, then sometime during the night, their mother and father were attacked, and them kidnapped.
They had tried leaving this room, but were always put back in, then the monster who threw them back in, would leave a cut on each of their arms, to 'warn them'...
Hiei felt angered, but didn't show it to them; he only stood up, telling them he had to get going now, and for them to wait for him.
As he was leaving the room, he glanced back to see their little eyes peeking out at him... this time, these eyes were full of trust and hope...
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To Be Continued...
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