Chapter XV

Nightmares

*Songs for this chapter (recommended to be played, really induce you in the story), search them on youtube:

1. Legend of Korra OTS10- Before

2. Avatar: Legend of Korra Ending Theme

They are the theme songs from one of my favourite animated shows : Avatar. Enjoy!

Ren was curiously observing the Hoshi-Gumi match. It had an unexpected turn. Hao was never merciful to his opponents. Also, that suspicious girl, Rilury, managed somehow to get herself indirectly involved in this match through the fact that these hippie people were her friends. It might have played a role in this unordinary result. It was definitely strange, her relationship with Hao. He himself didn't know if she was secretly just following his plan.

Ren's eye stopped at a strange figure, the figure of a silvered hair girl dressed in black. She was the leader of Rilury's team. She seemed to be attentively watching the match, but her eyes were somehow enveloped by a strange darkness.

She instantly made Rilury her teammate. Was she conscious about her inexplicably power? The strange thing is that Rilury's furyoku level increased since the last preliminary round, since…

She was in her team. Did that mysterious girl with a very high furyoku pressure had something to do with it?

She hasn't even implicated herself the first battle and for Ren, this thing was definitely disappointing, because that's the main reason he came to see that fight…

There was something off about her. Something that intrigued him more than everything.

The girl looked at Rilury, who was staring at Hao. Then, after the Spirit of Fire made a short and loose attack, she stood up and started to leave.

When he saw that, Ren didn't stay on his thoughts and quickly followed her. He wanted to see what she was capable of.

*song 1 plays*

The sun shortly set off, the night was starting to become clear and the full moon was spreading its pale light over the trees of the forest they went in. She suddenly stopped and said without turning her back.

"What bad manners you have. Not even presenting your self while following me this whole time."

Ren had a satisfied grin. So she indeed was sagacious, just as he expected.

"My name is Tao Ren. And I've seen you don't seem to be bothered by my actions."

"I was just wondering…why would anybody follow a stranger in the middle of the forest? It is dangerous."

So, an intriguing remark suitable for attacking. That's what he's been waiting for. He pulled out his kwan dao and instantly formed an oversoul. He was prepared for a battle.

"At least tell me your name before you try to finish me off." Ren said with a mischievous smile full of excitement.

"My name is Miyako and this is all you need to know about me. And as I see, Tao Ren, you seem quite excited. But the main reason is that you think this battle will make you stronger. And I can help you with that without necessary fighting."

Ren's expression suddenly became surprised, but he replaced it with a slight suspicious frown.

"No thank you, I'm not becoming one of your lackeys." He frankly replied.

"I don't need your loyalty."

Ren was surprised by her response.

"But you will someday pay me back. There is no mercenary involved. One day, you will just have to do something for me without putting any questions."

Ren stared at her in disbelief.

"Interesting deal, but what makes you think I'll accept it? You're willing to make people stronger just for a simple favor they'll have to do. It doesn't sound quite logical."

"There isn't any scam in this offer. I don't want to involve these people in my plans."

"Why not?" Ren asked with a smirk. "They could come as a great tool in hand, right?"

"Because…the results of this offer aren't accurate."

He became even more intrigued.

"You can't use your spirit in this process, so the death chances are increased. And by accepting this, I could also benefit from your loss. Even if a fight would bring more accurate results, attacking you here would also hardly affect the surroundings and I can't allow myself to be discovered. So, if you somehow manage to succeed…" he approached him and her shadowed eyes reflected a strange light from the pale moon. "Just simple favor would be enough for me."

His look was for some brief seconds captivated by her posture. The lady of the night. It made sense, a compromise they would both have to make. Her not asking for too much in exchange of him to endanger his life. A smug appeared on his lips.

"Fine then. When should we start?" he said, his eyes catching again the glimpse of excitement.

"Right now."

Among with her serious tonality, a dense darkness rapidly spread through the trees. The forest was covered in a dense smog, which had a strange pressure on his spirit. He felt juts as a human being feels when being exposed to infrasound. The air became heavier to breathe and he quickly dissolved the strange anxiety that wanted to grasp him.

Miyako was standing with no problem, holding eight pieces of paper in her hand.

"This forest is haunted by my spirit now. You have to search for these eight papers and bring them to me. You have to find them before he finds you. Be careful…if he gets too close to you, he'll nourish with your spirit."

Ren maintained his composure.

"So that's the catch, huh? If I loose, your spirit will also become stronger."

"However…if you overcome him, your furyoku would increase more than his reyoku. After all…you have to know the true darkness before truly beneficing from the light."

The papers flew away from her hand.

"I'll be waiting you at the end of the forest. Good luck."

A dense fog enveloped her and she disappeared from his sight. There was only him left in the dark forest.

Ren accustomed his body to the pressure and managed to walk normally after a few steps. In a few minutes of wandering he found the first piece of paper sticked on a tree.

"Already? This could be easier than I've expected." Ren said to himself.

Then he felt a strange presence behind him. He smirked, as he knew his remark would displease IT.

He turned suddenly, but saw nothing in his near sight. Searching with his look, he found a strange tall figure half hidden by a tree. It was too far to see, but it seemed that it was an asthenic body with unusual long members, wearing a black suit. It was just standing there, not moving. He instinctively made a few steps, wanting to confront him, but his head suddenly started hurting and the pressure on his chest became stronger. He stopped and remembered what Miyako said. So he walked in the opposite direction.

He walked deeper in the forest. The darkness was unfolding itself and the moon was covered by black clouds. The silence was suffocating. His steps could be clearly heard. He saw the other piece of paper, hanging on a tree branch. He climbed, took it and then he jumped on the ground. The sound of him landing was followed by…a crack. A miasma appeared. It was there, watching him silently, near the furthest tree he could see because of the dense miasma that appeared. He saw it clearly: it had…no face, just a blank, white head. But he couldn't look at him more than five seconds, as the earth to shake and so his head. The spirit was doing nothing, it just stood there.

He walked away, but trying to maintain its composure. Footsteps could be heard behind him. He stopped. There was heavy silence.

He saw another paper, and picked it up. Then he heard a heavier sound of the footsteps. He looked back. IT was walking towards him. His heart started pounding, the pressure on his chest became higher, his sight became blurred.

He ran. For the first time, he felt fear. He didn't run because he was scared of dying, he ran because e was scared of him and wanted to get rid of this feeling.

Ren wanted to find those papers as soon as possible. He turned his head to look for them. On his right side, there was it, standing in the background. It took forever to pass the view.

He took quickly another paper from the ground, still running. Another one, up high in a tree. He climbed and took it. He wanted to jump again, but this time…

IT was underneath, waiting for him. He didn't have any escape, so he stood there, waiting for it to leave.

Suddenly, a black shadowed tentacle rose and tried to grab him. Ren quickly jumped on another branch. Then, he saw another ones rising and folding the tree. The only chance he had was to jump on another tree. He didn't hesitate.

He escaped it again. The trees were falling beside him, as was jumping each one of them. The dark miasma was pulling him down like gravity. He watched a clear path and finally landed. He ran again.

This spirit was…hers? It seemed to be worse than a demon. It was feeding from human fear. Ren wanted to shut his emotions.

He saw another paper simply lying on the ground. He even hesitated to pick it up. But the air seemed to be a bit clearer. Nothing happened…yet. Now that he had a bit of time to rest, he counted the papers. Six…Ren's face became shocked, as he observed that there were plain drawings of stick figures on them and also something written:

Leave me alone… Running is useless… The End of the game… Death…

He looked on the last paper found.

'I'm watching you'…

He instantly looked back and saw it. From the monster's back there were six huge black tentacles unfolded. The view was horrifying. A dark fog was surrounding it, it was the creature of the night. It made a step towards him. He fell on his knee.

Strange and dark drops were spreading in the air. The tentacles rose higher in the air, covering a big part from the sky.

Everything was dark. He was trembling and he felt like his heart was being ripped off from his chest. Ren frowned, he couldn't bare being so defenseless against this creature.

But he had to continue. Running again, he found the seventh one. A strange drawing seemed to be made by a child, another human stick figure with scrambled lines emerging from the centre.

It was running after him. He didn't dare to look back. The earth was shaking, some rifts would occur on his way but he jumped them. Tentacles would try to grab him, but he dodged them.

How could this creature that terrified him the most be her guardian spirit? What was that girl capable of?

He found the last piece of paper. He read it:

The Slender Man…

He stopped. It started raining, but there were drops of blood falling from the covered sky.

His eyes were shadowed and he just stood there, the blood draining on his face.

The tentacles plunged suddenly and his body was pinned to the nearest and thickest tree trunk. His own human flesh hit the hard wood and now his own blood was dripping out. The pressure was so heavy that the earth undermined beneath.

The slender came closer.

The air felt like a heavy iron.

The creature with no face approached him.

The demonic miasma covered any trace of light.

Its white head was the only thing that could be seen in the darkness. The Slender Man was coming to devour his soul in the deathliest silence.

Ren's glance was covered in shadow.

'You have to know true darkness in order to truly benefit from the light'

"That girl" Ren said in a short and heavy breath. He smirked.

He looked directly at it, with the same eyes he had in the beginning.

The moon was visible again. She felt the spirit returning back. So, The Slender finished his job. Miyako sighed.

Her silver hair and long skirt was fluttering in the moonlight. Standing on a cliff, her eyes became saddened.

She recalled how she wandered through that forest. Lost in her own sorrow, the monster came and she succeeded to tame it, because…

The darkness was bigger in her heart. And the spirit knew that when she looked it directly in its eyes. She saw the dark beauty and accepted it. She obtained a great power but which came among with the burden of a lonely heart

Since then, it hunted no more souls. That boy, Ren, had few chances of survival. She knew that, but at the same time, she was impressed by his perseverance. It was the first time somebody was actually…interested in her existence. She sighed again and her breath felt melancholic in the air.

*song 2 plays*

A footstep. She flinched and looked behind. It was Ren, with all the papers collected in his hand. He gave them to her.

"You were right. I can feel the furyoku overflowing in my body." He said with a satisfied grin.

Her face was shocked. Did he manage to overcome it? No one has done this before, except for her. For that, you either have to be like her or…

Have a strong heart. For the first time in her life, she smiled warmly at him.

Ren blushed and quickly erased the strange silence between them with a question:

"So? What I need to do now?"

Ah yes, after all he had to something for her now.

"Hmm…" she said, still slightly smiling. "I haven't thought about that yet."

Ren was surprised by her response.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"I just like to have people in my debt. Perhaps…" she got a melancholic look "This is how I keep them close to me."

Ren's face blushed again, but this time he turned his back quickly and crossed his arms.

"I'm leaving now, good night." He said a bit flustered and started walking.

"By the way Ren…" Miyako added, looking down. "I wouldn't mind if you'd follow me again some time…", she said, not smiling anymore, with her eyes a bit sad.

Rens head turned.

"See you again, then." he cordially smiled.

In the silent camp, a girl dressed in yukata was wandering with small steps, a bit sleepy, but anxious.

She couldn't sleep a bit. She had nightmares and lucid dreaming all night and he couldn't feel a strong dark pressure in the air. The moon eclipse made her fear her loneliness. She decided not to sleep anymore, but standing in the shadow, all alone, was also terrifying.

When strange noise in the forest that made her shortly tremble, she decided to see him…

Rilury didn't know where his tent was. She wasn't wearing her earring.

She found a tent a separated by the camp. Of course, he couldn't sleep among all the people's thoughts.

'Are you sleeping, Hao?' she thought.

A boy with long hair and also dressed in a white loosen up yukata got out from the tent.

"Not anymore" he responded with a sleepy voice.

"Hao, I...couldn't sleep a bit…and I was wondering…you know…if your tent would be more comfortable. I mean, I just wanted to ask that, not actually sleep in your tent, even if we had, basically, camped together, but…"

Hao smiled warmly at her.

"Just come inside, Rilury." He said softly.

"Thanks…" she responded with a slight blush and a bit pouted.

They were sleeping together. She had her back turned and quickly went asleep. Hao watched her as she was trying to occupy as little space as she could. He was smiling, but before his tired eyes closed, she flinched. She was having a nightmare again...

He came closer and held her in his arms. That's when she started breathing calmly again.

To be continued...

*So, do you like the pairing? I wanted to concentrate on other characters as well. What about the references? xD. Sorry, but I can't hold myself not to put them in my fanfiction, plus that The Slender Man is considered to be a mythological creature somehow... It is a monster that really interests me (and it also gave me nightmares, of course, what's the perks of being such a great monster?). Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me if you have enjoyed the music playlist so far :D