Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Blood of the Gods: Part One- When the Sun Sets ❯ Peices of My Heart ( Chapter 6 )

Pieces of My Heart

 

The manor was quiet; a warm comfortable summer night. Guards armed with tall spears and laden with light armor stood or walked slowly around the walls to the courtyard. Some talked quietly, confident that it was safe enough to do so. Torches flickered and fireflies buzzed in the air. Nothing was happening,

On the southern end of the manor wall, a cloaked shadow leapt down into the tall grasses without so much as a thud. Fireflies flew from their places in the plants as this person quickly slid through the grass, their head of long dark hair held up with a ribbon of some kind popping up like a fox every once in a while. Strange dark colored feline ears twitching on their head, screening the night air for any threatening sounds, while eerie yellow eyes scanned the area before the person ducked back down into the grass and continued slinking towards the lord's manor. They paused at the edge of their safety in the tall weeds and sat in a crouch, waiting for something. A guard walked casually around the corner and down the outdoor corridor. He disappeared around another corner. The figure darted from the grasses and into the soft light of a nearby torch before they reached the wooden beam to support the roof of the manor. They gracefully climbed up the beam and onto the roof. Once they were sure that they were out of sight, they stopped to catch their breath.

That quick dash through the torch light revealed that the figure was a young woman. She wore a cut short dark blue travelers dress, and a brown cloak. Her legs and feet, from the knee down, were wrapped in a dirty white cloth. Some of her new moon black hair had fallen from the cloth that bound it and hung just out of her cat- like yellow eyes. Her skin looked tanned, even in the moon's pale light and small fang tips peaked out over her bottom lip. She looked up to the moon and a look of complete tranquility flooded her eyes. The sudden sounds of urgent shouting and running footsteps brought her out of her reverie. The rest of her body stilled as her ears worked, trying to hear what caught their attention. The footsteps stopped and the guard began to talk quickly, making it hard for her to make out exactly what he was saying. Her eyes widened a fraction; she had heard the only words she needed to know that she was found out. Cursing under her breath, she took off across the roof and out of sight, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

A man dressed in long silk robes and sleeping slippers walked quickly through the dark corridors of his manor. A maid was following close behind him with a small candle to light the halls. He turned the corner and slid open the door to the outside. His guards were rushing every which way, some yelling commands while others just looked confused. “What is going on out here?” All the guards stopped at the sound of that voice and stood straight, their spears at their sides. “An intruder sir.” The lord looked at the commanding guard who spoke, “Intruder?” “Yes. The person was last seen on the southern end of the manor by the corridor not long ago.” “Who is it?” “We don't know yet sir.” A figure suddenly dropped from above them. “Are you nice boys lookn' for me?” She smiled darkly at the lord. The guards moved. But she had her sword drawn before they even got close. The guards halted. The maid ran back into the manor with a loud squeal, the candle she had been holding rolled on the floor, melted wax pooling on the wooden floor. He studied her for a moment before his brown eyes widened in recognition, “It's you!” The memory of his first morning at a neighboring village flashed in his mind.

 

The lord had just entered the village when a young man came running up to his head guardsman. The man waved a piece of paper around, yelling about a demon. He had asked the guard to let him see the paper. The guard handed it to him. It was an ink drawing of a pretty young woman in a dark cloak, a short traveling dress, white cloth wrapped up her legs to just below her knees, dark hair held up by a cloth and a menacing sword in its sheath on her hip. Though, the most intriguing thing about her was that the drawing showed her with dark cat- like ears on her head and a long panther looking tail behind her. There was a message written on the bottom of the page that read `By order of the lord, her head in exchange for a large bag of gold pieces.'

 

He had dismissed it as a joke someone was trying to pull and moved on. She laughed quietly, “Seen my wanted posters have you. I thought they did a pretty good job, don't you?” She dug the tip of her blade into his throat a little more causing a small trickle of blood to trail down his neck. She motioned to the guards behind her, “They need to leave.” He gestured for them to leave without breaking eye contact with the woman on the other end of the sword at his throat. He studied her eyes for a moment. “What are you stare'n at?” “Why?” “Why what?” “Why do you kill people? Do you have nothing to live for?” She looked at him for a moment longer before tilting her head so her eyes were hidden by her hair, “I used to think like that…” “You don't have anything to live for do you?” She was quiet for a while longer before she growled viciously and dug her sword into his shoulder, pinning him to the wall. He cried out and gripped the blade. She pinned him with a hateful glare, “I have plenty to live for old man.” He looked at her again and saw the flames burning in her eyes. “Then why?” Her face consorted in pain, “It helps me deal with my hellish existence. It proves that I was here and that I existed. I leave corpses behind as proof that I was there. I kill because I can.” She paused to take a shuddering breath, “It helps me deal with all that I have done.” He saw her look away, hiding the pain inked on her face. She pulled the blade from his shoulder and let him slide to the ground, leaving a thick line of blood on the wall. He held it with his hand, but it did no good. “You have no one so you kill to prove your existence-” “Don't you ever say that!” She turned on him with a savage snarl, “I have her. She is who keeps me sane. She is what stopped me from taking my own life long ago. She is who brings me home every time I leave and it is she who matters to me. I have my sister and that is all I need.” Her eyes danced with bright hatred, “I kill because it helps me hold onto my sanity that has been slowly torn away because of what my sister lives through every day. It helps me relieve some of my own guilt.” He cringed in fear under her eyes. “I need her because she is the only one who remains.” Her eyes dulled back to their normal subtle glow. She sighed and raised her sword again; he screamed. “See you in hell mi' lord.” The iron blade cut through the air several times before he actually hit the ground. Katsura looked down at him for a moment before walking away, the blood dripping from her sword falling in patterns on the ground. A tune drifted behind her as she walked back into the dark. The soft melody told of unbearable sadness and pain, though there were no words. You could simply feel the pain. You could feel her pain.

Moriko shot up from her sleeping position in their room, her face drenched in a cold sweat. She held her head; eyes clenched shut against the onslaught. Why? Why must I remember the things you have done? They are not my memories! I didn't do that! It was you! Not me! You! She relaxed a little when Katsura remained silent. She lay back onto the hay, but stiffened when a soft voice weaved through her ears. “You and I are the same person Moriko. Don't deny that.” Then Katsura was silent, returning to her peaceful doze in her place somewhere buried deep in Moriko's soul. Moriko sighed. No matter how deep Katsura slept or was buried, they are still connected through the body they share, thus are unable to escape the other. Moriko and Katsura both knew though… They both knew that even if given the chance to go, neither really wanted to leave.