"Down With the Sickness"
The first part of the chapter is horribly written, but the part with Aerith is better. I put the sections of the legend together in case you didn't get it before, which added a bit more length to the chapter. It's mostly copied and pasted, so you can skim over the section if you want.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.
Warnings for the entire story: Violence, language, blood, possible disturbing images
Chapter 5: Prayer of Saint Francis
Though we had nowhere to go, no leads to follow besides our own hearts, we still fought on. Our hearts constantly conflicted with each other - one would want to go one way while all others went the other. It was my job as pack leader to hold everyone together. Seifer held the proof of that across his chest, when I decided that a little bit of violence was necessary to keep the pack in order. Without teamwork, we'll never be able to come human again. I'll never be able to talk to Aerith again.
'So, what now?' Kairi had asked me after we arrived back on the mainland. I had ignored her, instead choosing to run northwards. I didn't have a reason at all. I didn't have a vibe telling me to go north or anythign. My heart didn't even tell me to run north. We had gone days without food, but our stomaches weren't complaining yet. In a few more days however, it'll prove to be a problem.
I stop, staring at the sight before me. The others nearly run into me, but manage to catch themselves right in time, preventing a collision of wolves. I couldn't believe to where I had run. It wasn't the end of the world that I had ran to, but it sure felt like it. After all of our hardwork, we really were back to first base. We had arrived at Agata, but it felt like a whole different town. I had told the pack to lay low and go a few miles away from Agata, for safety.
The security had heightened considerably, I could tell. I wasn't far away, but I was far enough to escape detection from the humans. The humans carried some strange paper slips with them, about the size of the ID card for the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Perhaps the humans were now forced to carry ID to enter that place.
I stood facing the city with a terrified expression on my face, the terror showing blatantly in my eyes. 'Where do you want me to go!' I shouted at the sky. 'Why do you keep torturing me!'
I ran wildly, howling as I went, 'Just because I am nothing but darkness means I'm to be tortured forever!?'
I stopped suddenly, panting. As my eyes focused slowly, I saw a slow-moving beat-up wooden wagon being pulled by ebony horses. The chance was here, I knew. 'Go on,' I heard a voice say to me. 'Go on...'
I ran towards the cart.
'Go on...'
I sprinted with all of my might, leaping quietly into the back of the wagon, where the storage was. I quickly hid myself behind some boxes in the far corner, ignoring the feelings of claustrophobia sneaking up on me from behind. The wagon stopped suddenly, and I knew that the moment of truth was here. It was time to test Lady Luck.
The human's hands prodded and poked around the wagon, looking for smuggled goods or weapons, most likely. It makes me wonder if the security is higher because of a weapon threat? What are the humans coming to, killing themselves? Why is everything so corrupt now? As the hand creeped closer, I pushed myself further and further to the wall, flattening myself against it. I was relieved to hear the human's voice say to the wagon's owner, "You are free to enter. Welcome to Agata."
I would've smiled then. As soon as the wagon took a few back routes in the city, I hopped out, quietly running out of sight like a little mouse would do. If people would listen to the animals, it'd be amazing of what they could learn. Thrilled with my luck so far, I decided to take the alleyways back to Aerith's church. I thought I heard footsteps, but I decided to ignore them...
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As I approached the old white church, I crept towards the ground. I heard a female human's soprano voice singing highly from the back of the church. I entered the old doors, wincing as I heard them creak and squeak. They really needed some oil or some other lubrication. As I approached the human, I was shocked by her appearance.
She had grown weary and tired, black lines making a new home under her eyes. Her eyes were dull, like mine usually were in human form. It pained my heart to see them in such condition, making me wonder if this is how she felt. I listened to her sing, a sad melody but with some hope. She always sang that song, "The Prayer of Saint Francis". She always told me that it said what she wanted to do. The meaning of the song became apparent to me. She wanted the change the world, just like I want to? Did she give up? Yes, she has. There's no hope in her eyes, and I can tell by looking at her posture that she has given up the fight against humanity.
I felt my throat tingling as she reached the climax of the song. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I had to howl along. Her singing had made me almost happier, and almost with a renewed sense of hope. Our melodys and voices blended perfectly, and it sounded almost as if a choir of angels were really the ones singing. When the song finished, she turned around and faced me with those hollow eyes. I held my tail high, proud of myself. I walked towards here in a friendly manner. She dropped the flower she was holding, and stared at me. I stared back, unable to move my gaze from her eyes. She was reading me like the books she was always so fond of.
"Kisei, why are you back?" she asked me as I walked towards her again. I wanted to ask how she knew my name, but I brushed it off. She probably knew my name from the legends.
"When the world was created by the goddesses, they created wolves and humans alongside each other. Wolves had already proven themselves to be a respectable race. The humans, however, have always been destroying the planets. Every time that the world is destroyed by humans, it is reborn. The goddesses recreate the wolves and humans, and everything starts over again. Eventually, the goddesses grew tired of the cycle. They gave wolves a special power - the ability to turn into humans. The wolves' duty is to help the humans, but, right now, they can't." They keep on striving to invent more things without making the things they have efficient. This land on which we sit now was once a large forest, part of Kojiki Forest to the north. They came here, cutting down the trees and trying to find oil in the land. The land was being poisoned until it could sustain no more life."
"Long ago, wolves reigned over the land. Alongside of wolves were the humans. The humans respected the wolves, and wished to live as they did. There were a group of humans that wanted to rebel against the wolves. And so, a great battle took place between the wolves and the humans. After the battle, the few wolves remaining stook alongside the human race. Some wolves could even go between wolf and human forms. The rebelling humans made it the top priority to kill the wolves. The remaining wolves ran towards the southern islands, driven away by the humans. Anyone that wanted to live like a wolf was killed in the cruelest way possible. And so, the humans began to have a need for inventing new things.
"Eventually, the humans began to turn corrupt with power. Kings became dictators. The dictators trained massive amounts of people to invent things that would be able to kill anyone who opposed them. Eventually, the dictators were overthrown, but the new kings had the urge to invent. And invent they did. The planet began to die, and the wolves could tell. There were four wolves that would be able to save the world, but they came from different worlds with different points of view. Eventually, the wolves fought their way past the discrimination and hatred with the help of peace-loving humans. The wolves traveled to Lover's Peak, the mountain in the center of our world. All wolves died on the way except for one. The wolf was as white and brilliant as the snow itself, and his name was Kisei. There was no white wolves recorded before him. He was one of a kind and seemed to be the savior of the world.
"At the top of the mountain lay in wait a cruel human. The human despised Kisei for what Kisei and the other wolves had been doing. The human only wanted to push further into technology and forget the past. But with any more technology created would come a price. The world would slowly begin to die.
"Kisei and the human fought on top of the mountain. Blood coated the snow in the crater at the very tip of the mountain. When all seemed lost, a guiding light was sent from the heavens. A wall of white began to move across the world. After the light faded, there was nothing left but the snow falling from the heavens.
"Wolves were once again created alongside the humans. And so, the legend repeats endlessly."
"I like to plant flowers," Aerith said, as my attention slowly wandered from her voice to the flowers. "It makes me feel like I'm helping the planet." I felt a pang in my heart as she smiled sadly at me.
She sat down carefully on the floor besides me as I took a seat myself. Cautiously, she reached her hand up and began petting me like a household pet. To show her my appreciation and happiness, I wagged my tail and began panting.
"You poor thing, you can't go into human form, can you?" she asked me, all the while petting me to soothe my wounds. "I think that I know of a way that can help. North of here is a wild and confusing forest of snarling branches and trees that's called Kojiki. It used to cover all of the planet, but now it barely covers half. It's hard to miss the black on the horizon as you travel towards it.
"Not many people are aware of this, but there is a small village that lies beyond Kojiki Forest to the far, far north. The village is called Shinku. It has no modern technology, much like our human brothers that live south of here. The people of Shinku are very accepting of everything from nature, so you should have no problem there."
I looked at her strangely, silently questioning the truth of her statements.
"How do I know this, Kisei? My family originated in Shinku many years ago. They eventually moved down here, but I disagree with the belief structure here in Agata. Perhaps one day, I'll move back up there, with Cloud by my side..."
I nudged her hand with my head before getting up. I looked at her for one last time, turning around and walking quietly out of the door. I had not gotten far, taking the winding alleyways to get out of the city. I was almost out, almost to freedom, when I ran into someone that I knew when I was human. There, before me, stood Squall "Leon" Leonhart.
"Hey, Kisei." No wonder he knows my name. Aerith practically beat the legends into our heads multiple times when the church was still up and running.
"I saw you entering the city. Pretty swift thinking for a wolf. I feel like I know you from somewhere..."
He trailed off, and I looked at him expectantly. I gently tugged on his leg with my teeth.
"So, you want help escaping? You must be pretty important if Aerith talked to you like that. The guards are about ready to start patrolling through the alleyways here. Take a left at this intersection, and sprint. You'll encounter a few crowded streets, but just keep running. When you get to the edge of the city, there's no guards there, but a large wall. There's a large crack in the wall from a Heartless attack, so you can fit through there."
As I began walking away, he gave me one last piece of wisdom. "Don't worry about Sora, he's fine."
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A little warning now, there's a little time skip from the end of this chapter to the beginning of the next one. Nothing that drastic, though. Maybe a few days or so.
I had a power outage while typing the chapter, so let me know if anything seems amiss. Like all of a sudden Cloud's driving a car or something and then Cloud's having sex on the couch with Leon. Something like that.
I would like to see 3 reviews before I update again.