C1: さようなら
"Hah-hah, hah… hah," Akali panted as she rose unsteadily to face her opponent.
Cloaked in deep red robes, a picture of elegant grace and dangerous toxicity embodied itself in the being of a beautiful woman with flowing black hair tied back in a braid, and forest green eyes that met Akali's own in a piercing stare.
Without warning the woman became a shadow, and became a flurry of fists and blades, pummeling Akali's body.
The Fist of Shadow, how fitting.
Akali fell to the ground, gasping as a trickle of blood made its way down her neck and towards the valley of her chest.
Her mother landed smoothly on her feet, brushing off imaginary soot. She began to walk closer and bent down.
Fixing her daughter with a stern gaze, she said all but two words.
"Again, Akali."
Akali groaned in pain as Hori soothingly placed lotus salve on her wounds. Grimacing at the sharp sting, she instead focused on the face of her best friend.
Hori was considered a rare beauty in their small but honorable village. Curled blonde hair found its way down her back and framed porcelain skin and pale blue eyes. A stark difference to the common dark haired, dark eyed residents of the ninja mountain, Hori was abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of the Elder Master of the village.
It was found that Hori had not fighting skill, but rather a talented affinity for healing and the practice of medicine, so she was taken under the wing of a successful young medicine master as an apprentice.
She found that most of her practice came from patching Akali up.
"I swear Hori, she was trying to kill me. These wounds are causing me to fall behind in school training! I can't improve if she keeps knocking me down like this," Akali complained, clutching on to her bruised wrist.
She was returned with a sympathetic smile, "Look Akali, you're not doing too-"
"Akali."
Akali stiffened at the interruption, and turned towards the entrance. There, in all her confidence and poise, was the very bane of Akali's existence herself.
"Mother."
Eyeing her daughter with a strict gaze, she walked up to Akali. "May I speak with you?"
After a moment's pause, she added.
"Alone?"
Hori flushed, mumbled an embarrassed "oh", and scurried out of the room. Akali glared at her mother.
What, do you wanna beat me up again?
Sighing, Kage sat down at the foot of her daughter's bed.
"Akali, you know that everything we do, we train for, is all for you and your future, right?"
Akali rolled her eyes and nodded.
Her mother's lips came together in a grim frown.
"So I hope you'll understand when I tell you I'm sending you away for training."
What the
Fuck
"What? You're sending me away? Where? Why?" Akali returned in anger, "I won't do it. I don't care. I won't leave my home."
Kage sighed, as if she were dealing with a petulant child, "Akali, stop being stubborn, I see you haven't gotten it through your thick head but you are weak, useless, and the Kinkou Order does not need someone like you becoming a burden. Do you not understand your duty? You are being raised to be honored with the responsibility of Pruning the Tree. How do you expect to uphold such an impertinent role with the meager ability that you dare call skill?"
Akali recoiled as if she had been slapped.
Useless, weak, burden.
Akali had just finished bidding her goodbye to Hori. Other students of the Kinkou Order Academy sniggered and pointed.
"Look, the supposed prodigy."
"What a joke, we all know how she lost to one of the weakest fighters in the Academy."
"Pity, her mother's talent went wasted."
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, trying to prevent her emotions from showing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure approaching.
Shen, the true prodigy,
And her first love.
A small girl with raven locks and a little boy (shorter than she was) clutched hands as they traversed across the stream, jumping onto rocks that formed a bridge through the shallow waters.
Making it to the end, both let out a shout of surprise as they tumbled to the ground.
Initially shocked, they soon began to giggle, which eventually led to laughter as the sun beat down on their joyful faces.
…
"I don't know what to do, Akali's potential and true abilities should be appearing by now."
"Perhaps she is a lost cause."
"It's a shame, she's so close with Shen, and he's already so talented."
"Indeed."
…
"Shen… I don't understand… what did I do?"
Stone cold was the face of the boy she loved so, so much.
"Get away from me. It's an embarrassment to be seen with you."
Their eyes met.
Akali saw nothing in his eyes, no semblance of what they used to be.
He walked past her.
'No fucking way am I gonna be some lovesick bitch,' Akali thought to herself.
Looking from where she stood, she looked on to the grass, the temples, the medicine house, the training grounds.
She looked on to her home for the past 15 years of her life.
She looked on to the Order that never loved her.
"Akali, you'll come home soon."
In her mother's eyes, Akali saw relief.
Like hell I will.