Disclaimer: No, I don't own Wolf's Rain or its characters, or anything else related to it so on so forth.
A/N: I know. I should be working on other things right now. Like, my other unfinished fanfics…but…I couldn't make this one stay in my computer any longer. It's been sitting in my computer for weeks. This is also my first Wolf's Rain fanfic, so sorry if some of the character's are OOC.
"It is not merely that we search for Paradise, but that Paradise is calling for us."
Serenity
A soft breeze swept the springtime air across the blooming meadow. Large puffy clouds floated across the cerulean sky that framed a red moon in the distance. Blonde hair entwined through tall grass. A woman lying in a pool of lavender, shaped by every kind of flower that ever grew, gazed at the beautiful sky with a serene look. Her eyes mirrored her silk dress, never adverting from the endless stretch of space before her.
On the shore of the meadow hill a large lake lapped up the sides and seemed to melt into the sky above. The transition between the earth and water was almost nonexistent and merely consisted of a small muddy ridge.
The woman outstretched her arm and dipped her fingers into the cool water, ripples encircling them. She listened as the drops of water fell back in as she lifted her hand back out. She remained like that for a while before slowly closing her eyes and folding her arm back over to her side.
Darcia stood over the lifeless figure, his eyes blank. A young woman lay unmoving across a raised bed. She wore nothing but the hair that cascaded down her body in waves.
Tubes of blood and fluids hung from the ceiling and were steered into falling in the veins of her body. Quiet breaths of air were the only indication the woman was even still alive.
A gloved hand cupped the woman's face. Stroking it softly, the hand fell down to her neck, a thumb placed over the jugular just to make sure. Moving back up to her face, the hand once again stroked across her cheek.
"Hamona"
The word was low but audible. It rung through the silence with longing and despair. Livid with hope.
"Soon, we'll be together again."
Darcia awoke sitting on the floor leaning against a large column. It was crafted out of a dark purple marble, one of the rarest colors next to red. The stone almost perfectly masked the smeared blood sprayed across it.
Darcia had not remembered falling asleep but then again, it wasn't a rarity when he watched over Hamona.
The noble glanced lazily about the colossal room. The light from the wall of stain glass art shone like a rainbow across the waxed floors. He studied the designs, recalling them from memory. He followed the pattern until it was broken by an object that he'd never seen before.
Slowly standing, Darcia made his way towards the foreign object.
When he was merely five feet from it, he realized it was a small side table. It had a rounded top with a diameter of less than a foot. Its wood shone a deep subtle red that mingled with a darker onyx. It looked as if it had one leg but as one followed the appendage downwards one would find that it elegantly untwined into four feet. The feet where peculiar though and, at close glance, were actually in the shape of wolves' paws.
The small table seemed to fit right in with the rich, yet scarce, decor of the dark palace. Although one thing stood out in the solitary piece of furniture. It was somehow untidy.
Upon the gleaming wooden top was an object hidden by a thin piece of velvet that was draped over it. Curious, Darcia lifted the fabric.
Under lay a bouquet of lunar flowers. It was hard to tell though, as all of the flowers were still only buds. One of the buds slowly shook, as if trying to bloom but failed as it stilled.
With a sinking feeling that something was wrong, Darcia plucked the bud and looked at it more closely. The flower shook again as a few petals started to unfold revealing a bleeding centre.
Clouds began to gather in the sky of the lost meadow. Not at all worried by the darkening atmosphere the golden haired woman just smiled up at the grey things. Thunder rumbled and sent shivers though the grass.
"Oh, how lovely," she spoke. "Such a lovely sound. Can you hear it my Lord Darcia? It's Paradise calling to us. It will whisk us away one day you know." She stifled a small giggle behind the back of one hand.
The clouds began to leak water, a small drizzling mist. The wind blew harder and whipped her hair about.
"Wouldn't that be marvelous my darling? To be swept away into Paradise…"
She out stretched her hand, reaching for the moon.
"…forever."
Dropping the bud as if it had caught fire, Darcia stepped back and watched it melt into a puddle of blood on the floor. The liquid boiled thickly and sank into the floor coming up as angry roots that tore across the room.
The roots grew and moved towards his feet as he jumped back, barely avoiding them with each step. Almost animal-like they grew more aggressive and caught hold of his ankle.
The noble winced in pain as the knobby splintered wood twisted and coiled into his joint. It continued to tighten its grip until he believed that his ankle would burst and he'd be one foot short.
Reaching into his robes Darcia revealed a long heavy sword. Quickly drawing it down and across the foliage it screeched and let go. The injured root retreated into the floor leaving a trail of green blood behind it.
The room fell quiet then. It hung in the air and on the walls like dew. The cracks in the floor felt hollow now. Vacant.
It was when the silence became almost suffocating that Darcia turned to look at his beloved. His eyes widened with what he saw.
"Hamona!"
Laughter mixed with the sound of falling rain filled the humid air. The blonde woman did nothing to shield herself from the pelting rain.
All the beautiful flowers around her seemed to lose a little bit of their vitality. They drooped and began wilting around her. The earth grew soft with the makings of mud.
Nothing seemed to deter the woman from her joyous thoughts. She was so caught up with her laughter that she did not notice the shifting earth. Nor the roots that sprang from beneath her and clung to her wet silken clad body.
She began to sink into the earth, plants reforming around her, leaving no evidence of her existence. Before she was submerged the wind blew a loud gust above her. She smiled one last time.
"Such a wondrously lovely sound."
He was sprinting now as the roots that had come back up were weaving themselves thickly around Hamona. The wires and tubes that were her lifelines shook near their base at the ceiling. The tremors spread down the tubes and small holes burst randomly down them, the streams of fluid turning into thorns. They flowed and twisted together within the mess of knobby roots.
After running for what felt like years Darcia neared Hamona. However a small vine had lifted up and caught hold of his leg, halting him. As he searched for his sword once again he heard a low hum behind him. The noble turned to where the small table still stood.
The long leg of the table splintered and cracked with a sick wet sound, separating into four parts that aligned with the four feet. They broke apart as the base of the table widened and the velvet grew longer and covered the small antique.
With a confused stare Darcia watched the object morph until it was a large tall white wolf. The animal hunched down as if it where to pounce and gave a viscous growl.
It charged and snapped its jaws too closely around Darcia's leg, tearing the vines that held the noble down instead of tendons. With his freedom and foot spared again he ran and got to the edge of Hamona's bed.
Hearing the wolf choke and spit on the vines he tried to free Hamona from the plant's grasp. He got her upper half visible again when her hair started to fall off. Bits and pieces fell until a small pink bob was left. She seemed to grow smaller as her skin turned white.
It was when he felt the wolf's teeth sank into the back of his neck that he saw Hamona open and reveal blind crimson eyes.
"Lord Darcia…" The young girl's sentence fell short when she noticed her lord was still sleeping. He often did so when he watched over Hamona for long periods of time.
She had come to report some new information about the Noble's Paradise Lady Jaguara had been creating. She'd tell him later instead.
The girl walked up to where Darcia leaned against one of the columns. He looked as if he where dreaming again. She smiled. He was always out on business or obsessing over Hamona. She became worried after her Lord had seemingly gone mad that one day, so it was nice to see him calm for once.
As the young girl watched over Darcia she wished that he'd never have to wake up again.
After all, he always looked so serene when he dreamt.
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