People- We're so scared!
Other people- Don't be, aren't you happy now that she is gone?
People- Well, we thought we would be but now that she is gone, we actually… miss her!
Other people- Since when did you ever care about her?
People- Where is she? We're so lonely!
Other people- Hey, you got us
People- Oh please, you're just an extension of us so we can have someone to talk to while Shade and the readers are gone
Other people- So?
People- We're going to find Shade. Don't wait up
--
Chapter 28: Between the Fight for Answers: Transfusion from dark to light
Karuka and Genkai were seated in the heart of the temple where they were conversing about various things before they got to the big issue.
"Karuka, there is something I need to tell you." Genkai said to her.
"Something you need to tell me? We just met what possibly could you need to tell me?" Karuka asked smiling and slightly laughing.
"I knew your father."
Karuka's laughter stopped.
"What?"
"Your father, he was the man who tried to stop these demons before. The man who taught me of this language." Genkai put her head down not wanting to face Karuka's reaction.
"You're certain it was my father?" She struggled to get her words out from shock.
Genkai nodded, "Truyo Mokushi. World renowned fighter of shadows. Also of the lineage of the very first shadow demon, and inherited the shadow amulet." Genkai said, proving that she was telling the truth. When she spoke of the shadow amulet, Karuka grabbed to it under her shirt astounded of what she was hearing. Of course, why should she be? Her life was always filled with strange surprises like this. She slowed her breathing, wanting Genkai to continue.
"He was a great fighter, probably one of the best I've worked with that wasn't a psychic. He always told me of you and your brothers. He loved you all so much, it made me jealous of the fact that I never had kids." Genkai looked sort of dazed as she thought of something for a second, quickly though, she changed the subject fearing what Karuka still may want to know.
"Anyways, earlier you said that you recognized Yukina? From where may I ask?"
"Oh no, don't change the subject. I want to know more. Tell me more!" Karuka stood up and walked over to the still sitting Genkai. She had anticipation in her eyes waiting for her to talk.
"I will not go till you tell me more."
"There is no more. Nothing besides that ever happened and there is nothing that I have not said to you that you need to know. There is a greater problem at hand and I need your help decoding these symbols." Genkai said standing up and showing the two pieces of paper on her hand. Karuka didn't react at first, but she let her guard down and her emotion and somehow put the information behind her for the time being. She bowed in respect to Genkai which took her for surprise for a second till she shared the gesture as well.
"We need to translate these words, they could be very important to this mission. In fact, I think these words will have a lot to do with this mission. This group has a reason for everything they do, and out of evil ways they will string their nemesis with anything they can." Genkai said with a serious tone. She looked to Karuka who had sat down while she was talking, as if she wasn't really in focus. She knelt down to Karuka's face and saw she was staring at the floor.
"What's wrong Karuka?" She asked.
"My father was passionate about them wasn't he?" She asked at the level of a whisper. Genkai slightly smiled. She got to her knees in front of Karuka and rubbed her back.
"Yes he was child, he was a great man who did many great things in his life time, and all of that he did for you. To carry on the legacy of a strong hearted shadow family on to the next generation like every demon before him. There is more than power in that necklace of yours. There is history, culture, life." Genkai said trying to make her feel better. It didn't work. She didn't know that Karuka hated the burden of the amulet that hung around her neck like a noose. Karuka did not like the legacy she stood for. This legacy took her father away, it took her family away, and it took her life away. Genkai could see that her words weren't helping, so she put the papers down.
"We can look at these papers later. Let's go see what Yukina is up to. Maybe you'll explain your connection with her, it seems that she doesn't remember very well." Genkai said, talking about the fact that Yukina did not remember Karuka. She stood up and looked at Karuka with eager eyes. Karuka took the offer and stood up as well and headed for the door to walk to the kitchen.
When they walked into the kitchen, they saw Yukina sitting at the window with several birds around her. One of the birds had a broken wing and Yukina touched it and it immediately healed. The bird chirped and jumped on Yukina's shoulder and started to sing. Yukina smiled innocently. Karuka and Genkai smiled.
'I remember when I used to be able to do that.' Karuka stepped quietly into the room before Genkai made their presence known.
"Hello Yukina." She said.
"Oh, hello Genkai, Karuka. Are you done talking?" She turned and looked at them.
"For the most part yes." Genkai said while walking toward the table and sitting down. Karuka stood in the entrance watching Yukina walk to Genkai with a plate of sushi.
"Would you like some sushi Karuka?" Yukina asked her while gesturing the plate up toward her after giving Genkai some.
"You really like to cook don't you Yukina?" Karuka asked while walking over to her and taking some. She smiled at her and laughed at her question while putting the plate down.
"Yes, there isn't much for me to do while Genkai is training or out somewhere." Yukina answered.
"You don't go anywhere yourself?"
"Oh no, I haven't been in the living world for that long and I don't know really know where anything is."
"Where did you used to live?" Karuka asked slightly knowing the answer already.
"The Island of Koorime. That was where I born."
'I was right. She was the sick girl my mother took me to see. It seems my contribution helped her greatly.' Karuka thought of being a child and visiting the Island with her mother. They went to heal a sick child that was near death, and Yukina was that child.
-Flashback-
Karuka was very young, back when she still had her tiger yellow eyes. Her hand was lightly placed in her mother's as she walked along side of her. She was very cold as she was walking through a town of all blue haired women and wondering what ill person her mother would heal this time. Her mother stopped and looked down at her child. She joyfully laughed as she saw that Karuka was shivering from head to toe and her teeth were chattering as she smiled up at her mother. Ruka knelt down and tightened the grip that Karuka's coat had on her to try and keep her warm and the Island of Koorime.
"Mother," Karuka said up to her.
"Yes dear?"
"If this is an island, why does it float in the air and not in water?" Ruka laughed at her child's question and just poked her little red nose.
"I can't really explain that. It is just a name I guess, not literal." Karuka didn't quite understand but she nodded her head anyway.
"Now come on, we need to see this little girl who is sick. I think she is your age Karuka. Maybe after I heal her then you two could become friends." Ruka said. She knew her daughter had no friends outside of her brothers, and she needed to live more of a normal life than the one she had. Luckily though, Karuka didn't seem to mind, or understand, that it was only her, her brothers, and her father in the world.
"Excuse me Miss," a woman came running in front of the two, "are you Ruka?"
"Yes, yes I am." Ruka stood up to face the woman.
"You need to come fast. The girl is in terrible danger!" She yelled. Ruka became more serious and picked up Karuka and ran along side with the woman to get there as fast as possible.
Running to the scene, Ruka and Karuka could see a woman crying over a child in a bed. The woman was very young, and obviously, this was her child.
"She is Hina, and the sick child is Yukina. Please you must help her fast." The woman pleaded. Ruka nodded and set down Karuka down. She walked over to the woman and put her hands on Hina's back cautiously. She whipped around quickly and, seeing who it was, she grabbed onto Ruka's coat bawling her eyes out.
"Please! You have to help her! She's dying! She's dying!" Hina screamed, finishing the last words through pain of seeing her child die.
"Yes, I will help her but please, you will need to give me room to analyze her." Ruka said. Hina nodded still in tears and let go of her and moved away.
Ruka sat bedside next to the furiously coughing Yukina. She opened her eyes to look at the woman. Quickly, Ruka noticed that Yukina had red eyes, not very common among the Koorime's. She ignored the thought of eye pigment in her head and put her hand over Yukina's head. She was burning up. Her body temperature was that beyond a normal demon, and for someone like a Koorime, this was deadly. Quickly, she put her hands to the girls' forehead to see what she could possibly do to save this girl. However, in fear and pain, she retracted her hands quickly. Yukina's head was literally burning up. It was as hot as fire and Yukina could still not control her coughing. With each cough she made, the burning sensation would flood back to her throat again and make her wail out in pain. Ruka, holding her hand in pain, shuffled away from Yukina, completely surprised at the diagnosis she had made on the girl in her head.
"What can you do? Can you save her?" Hina asked through tear gems falling from her face and clanking on the floor. Ruka swung her head to the distressed woman with her mouth gapping open and surprise written all over her face. Never before in her lifetime had Ruka seen a case as rare as this. Where an apparition was facing the exact opposite of power they possessed. It was like a fire apparition being caught in a snow storm, and, therefore, an ice apparition trapped within the walls of fire. This is what Yukina felt, slowly burning to death within herself. There was nothing Ruka could do, only extreme lengths could be taken to cure her, but Ruka was not willing to take them for the cost she would have to pay was too much for her. Ruka tried to compose herself to tell this woman her child was going to die, but nothing could make her do it in the state Hina was in. Ruka quickly stood up and exited the room, motioning for Hina to follow. She did in fear of what she was going to be told. Karuka watched the two leave in confusion.
"Mother? Where are you going?" She asked, but she didn't get an answer. Her mother only looked at her from the doorway and broke out into tears of what she was thinking. She could never go as far as that. She couldn't give up Karuka for any other, she couldn't sacrifice her only daughter. This other little girl would die. Not Karuka. She stepped out with Hina to talk.
"What's going on? Why aren't you doing anything?" Hina pleaded to her, putting her hands up to Ruka's shoulders. She just grabbed Hina's hands and cupped them in her own, getting ready to tell her.
"I cannot heal your girl. If you could do nothing to save her, then neither can I." Ruka said with her eyes closed and head pointing to the ground. Hina stared at her in surprise.
"But we did everything. We tried every healing technique we know and she still wouldn't get better. Why? Why can't you do anything?!" Hina then broke down again. She fell to her knees with her hands still placed in Ruka's grip. This time, dozens and dozens of tear gems were cascading down from her face. Ruka looked at her and imagined her in that position. She couldn't handle it just as much as this mother. What person could? Finding they can do nothing to save their own child.
"Tell me," Hina started between breaths, Ruka looked down at her, "what is it that she has that is so terrible that no one can cure her?" Hina looked up at her with pleading eyes.
"The disease is called Contrary Sway Syndrome. It takes the opposing power of the victim and slowly… eradicates them till they are no more. Right now, your daughter is slowly burning. Contrary Sway Syndrome is very rare but when it does become present in a body if another demon or apparition of the elements touches it they too become infected. Please, you must tell me who has touched Yukina. I might be able to help cure them." Ruka told her.
"Why would you be able to help them but now her?" Hina asked.
"Because, when the disease is transferred, its power is reduced when it touches the oxygen between the ailment holder and the new victim. Therefore, it is easier to take care of in the second body since the energy is radically less then in your daughter. Plus, this particular disease can only be transferred once from the original sickness placement, so, if you touched your daughter anyone who touches you does not become infected." Ruka explained. Hina still looked confused.
"I- I still don't get it. Aren't you now infected since you touched her? And are you sure there is absolutely nothing you can do?!"
"Hina, because I am a tiger demon is why I don't get infected. This disease is only transferred through the elements, ice, ground, wind, fire, water, sun, and, in rare cases, shadow." Ruka said, struggling the last few words and thinking about her daughter. Hina still looked at her from the snow covered ground with saddened eyes and tear gems falling to the ground.
"She- Yukina is- my baby-" Hina couldn't compose herself to speak. Her Yukina was going to die. Ruka knelt down and rubbed Hina's back.
"Please Hina, you must tell me who touched Yukina while she was sick like this."
"I'll show you inside." Hina said through stifled coughs. She stood up slowly and walked to the door. Quickly, she turned to Ruka.
"I touched her too." She said worried.
"Don't worry, I can cure you." Ruka said. Don't worry? Don't worry! What a thing to say to a mother as her daughter is dying. She gripped Hina's shoulders as she entered the room with the several women in it. They quickly turned to the two in hopes of a cure or antidote for Yukina, but by the look on Hina's face, they could see there was none. They quickly walked over to her and hugged her in sympathy as she, for another time, broke down. Ruka tried to keep her emotion away for a second. She looked at her daughter who just stared at the group of women in confusion. Ruka forcefully smiled at her as she still tried to keep tears away. She walked to Karuka and picked her up to look at her.
"Did you touch the little girl Karuka?" Ruka asked her. Karuka shook her head no to her with her thumb in her mouth. Ruka, again, forced a smile to make it seem as if nothing was wrong. Though that was hard with several bawling Koorimes behind her, but she tried her best. She set Karuka down and turned to the others.
"Please, will anyone who touched Yukina come outside with me? You have probably been infected with her disease and I need to cure you." When she said this, the other women gasped in shock, but obeyed.
Outside, Ruka touched each woman's forehead to cure them. She could feel heat from their heads and she was sure that Yukina had infected them. But, because of the cold environment, when the disease was transferred, the fire effects were decreased before entering the other skin.
Karuka was left alone with Yukina. Or, the coughing girl as she had dubbed her. She sat right be her bedside and watched her cough. She was thinking about the disease that her mother had said she had. Karuka, being half tiger demon as she was, had great hearing, and heard the whole conversation of her mother and the other woman from outside. Contrary Sway Syndrome. Karuka had heard about that disease before. And she knew the only way for it to be cured was if another demon or apparition of the elements, who was trained in healing, shared their healing power with the victim, so they could work on curing themselves from the inside. Karuka was surprised though, since she knew that Ice apparitions had healing power, and she wondered how this girl, or any other apparition that was there could cure them. I mean, they were part of the elements, ice… duh. And Karuka, she was half shadow, an apparent element, or sometimes an element. Sort of like the letter Y. A E I O U and sometimes Y. And shadow was the Y. Only used if the others do not fit. So, in Karuka's mind, that meant that she was the only one who could cure the coughing girl. She looked into the red eyes of Yukina with her yellow and smiled. Yukina could not return the gesture. Seeing this girl in pain made Karuka sad. She wanted to help her as much as she can. Give as much as you can to help someone else. That is what her mother always said. And that is what Karuka would do. Although, Karuka wasn't sure if she had enough to give to help this girl, but she would try her best to do as much as she could. Karuka thought of the cure for this disease and what she would have to do and give up. It was a lot, but to help someone else live, it was just enough. She closed her eyes to ready herself. She put her hands in front of her, palms out readying her healing power she got from her mother.
"COUGH what are COUGH you COUGH doing?" Yukina quietly said.
"I am going to help you." Karuka said to her.
"Thank COUGH you COUGH." Yukina managed to say. Karuka smiled at her and placed her hands on Yukina's burning forehead.
--
People- Question… if Shade is gone, then how are her stories still being updated?
Other people- We don't know
People- So you decided to come?
Other people- Der, we're here aren't we?
People- Shut up
Other people- Whoa, you guys get more like her everyday
People- Shut up… oh yeah… and to you guys (readers) review and maybe Shade will come out. If you don't, we'll shoot you (not literally, but we'll haunt you in your dreams) Please just review, flame, speak gibberish we don't care! Just press that little GO button and submit a review. It doesn't take that long to voice your opinion.
Shade- Yeah! Do it!
People- Shade!
Shade- Gotta go!
People- No! Damnit! Why didn't you guys get her?!
Other people- We don't know
People- Oh shut up…. Please review, she'll come out I swear!