Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Blood of the Gods: Part One- When the Sun Sets ❯ Phases of the Moon ( Chapter 10 )

Phases of the Moon

 

 

The walls of the Guard's House rattled with the noises of stampeding feet as Hikari and Atama ran through the corridors. Kozue stepped out of his room just as they went thundering out into the morning. Where could they be off to so early in the morning? He walked out after them, his brothers long since gone. The sun was bright in his eyes when he stepped out onto the grass. Kozue searched for the kids, but only saw a strangely dressed man walking off with some sacks under his arms. He began to walk around to the back of the Guard's House when one of the sacks with that man squealed and giggled. His eyes went wide. Hikari! Kozue turned and ran after them.

Kannashi grinned when his niece and nephew came running out of the Guard's House. They crashed into him, Hikari giggling like some hyper child. He scooped them up and started walking toward the gate with each one of them under an arm like sacks of rice. “What do you guys want to do?” “Can we go shopping?” Kannashi made a face, “Shopping?” Atama rolled his eyes. Hikari started squealing when Kannashi's fingers ticked her sides, her giggles making her brother's ears push further into his hair, the action unnoticed due to the cloth on his head. Kannashi suddenly got a dark glint in his eyes, half glaring at something behind him. Atama tried to twist in Kannashi's arm to see what it was but his quick side- step to the right gave him to much of a jostled feeling to do so. Kannashi growled quietly and let his two charges slide to the ground behind him. “What is your problem?” Kozue stumbled before righting himself and turning to face the man who had been holding Atama and Hikari. “My problem? You are kidnapping those children!” Kannashi stared at him for a moment, “You have got to be joking. I am not kidnapping anybody.” Kozue glared, “Who are you?” Kannashi almost did not answer, “Kannashi.” Atama walked out from behind Kannashi to get Kozue's attention, “Calm down. Mother told him to watch us until she got back.” “Who the hell is this?” Atama turned back to Kannashi, “Kozue. He knows mother and Aki.” “Atama, you know him?” “Yes.” Hikari trotted over to Kozue, “Can you come with us?” He shot her a confused look. “She wants to go shopping, but I think it would do them some good to get out of the Capital for a while.” “Are you serious? Moriko could be back any time. You can't leave the-” “Yes we can. I'm sure that you know that she could find them, no problem.” Kannashi gave him a meaningful look. Kozue's eyes got a little wider, “You know?” “More then you think Kozue.” He motioned for Hikari and picked her up when she ran to him. “Come on.” He started walking again, Atama staring at Kozue for a moment longer before following suit. Who is this man? Kozue followed after Kannashi and Moriko's children, his brow creased with thought.

They walked almost to the bazaar before Kannashi turned off the main street and weaved through the huts and small wooden buildings until they came to the Capital wall. “We cannot get up this.” Kannashi swung Hikari onto his back, her arms around his neck, while he crouched down, “Not you maybe.” Kozue watched, almost awed, when Kannashi leapt easily to the top of the wall. I have never seen anyone do that accept Moriko and Aki. Who is this? He turned to Atama, “Do you want me to throw you?” Atama did not even look at him, “No.” He watched as the boy twisted around to leap up onto the roof of the hut behind them, turn up there and then jump up onto the wall next to Kannashi and his sister. Immature grace. That is what that was. Atama turned to stare at him, but said nothing. Kannashi crouched down and held his arm down to him, “Jump up and grab a' hold.” Kozue glanced around before gathering himself as much as possible and jumping up to grip Kannashi's offered hand, “You had better not drop me.” Kannashi smirked and then Kozue was not sure if the man knew that he was serious or not. Kannashi yanked him up with a small grunt of effort and set him on his feet next to them. “There. Easy.” He turned and leapt down on the other side, “Hurry. Before someone sees us up here.” Atama grabbed Hikari and they dropped down off of the wall. Kannashi reached up and caught them before they hit the ground and set them at his feet. Kozue stared in slight awe at the completely unwavering trust Atama and Hikari held in this man, someone he had never even seen before that morning. Why is that? What is it that makes them trust him so much? Kozue dropped down with a heavy thud as Kannashi leaned against the wall, arms crossed loosely across his chest in a lazy way. Atama and Hikari ran out in the grass, the little girl giggling something to her sibling before running away from him, his annoyed yells chasing after her. Kozue slid down to the grass, his eyes slightly unfocused in his thought. They just jumped. He called to them and they just leapt off of the top of the Capital wall without as much as a second thought. Why? He watched Atama `tackle' Hikari into the grass. What makes them trust him? Kozue chanced a glance at Kannashi. The man looked a little odd. His clothes, his skin, his hair, the way he talked and held himself; such confidence and such an uncommon smooth demeanor. It was unnerving. Then he realized something about the man leaning on the wall beside him. He is like them… But, not. He has that same… like an air about him. It is the same as the one around Aki or Moriko. Or even Atama and Hikari. That is why they have such confidence in this man. They are all the same. “You are the same.” Kannashi turned to him, “The same?” He grinned, the tip of a fang peeking over his lip, “Figured something out have you?” Kannashi turned back to the wrestling kids in the field, a more sober look on his face, “What makes you think that we are the same?” Kozue blinked, but remained silent. Kannashi sighed, “Let me tell you a little secret. Two in fact. Yes. I am like them. As you say, we are the same. Just as you and I are the same. Yet, with all of our similarities, there are differences that define us as well. Do you see what I mean?” Kozue turned to stare blankly at the sky, “I am not sure.” “We are all the same, and yet we are all different at the same time.” Kannashi pointed to the moon that you could see in the sky, even in this morning light, “We are all like phases of the moon. All the same, created in the same world, living and breathing beneath the same sun, and yet, no two beings are the exact same.” “Just like different phases of the moon. The same thing shown in different ways.” “Yes and no. Sometimes the moon has nights when it is blue or orange. Other times you cannot see it at all. Is it really the same? You and your brothers are like the phases of the pale white moon. Others like me and Aki are like the different colors of the moon. The same in a way, yet completely different.” Kozue stared at the older man, awe swimming in his eyes. Kannashi grinned, “I think that is the secret to the universe. Understanding that we are all the same in some way, and yet, at the same time, we are totally different from each other. Each one of us is unique, just like everybody else.”

Kozue stared intently at Kannashi for a long time, his eyes searching. Kannashi let him search, allowing thoughts to fall across his eyes for Kozue to read. “You are taking them away.” “No. I am just going with them.” Kannashi focused on the man beside him, “They cannot stay here. They feel vulnerable. They belong in the wilderness. Away from man and the greater part of the population.” “I do not understand. They seem fine.” “Because they did not want you to know. They are like caged animals here. They simply do not belong.” Kozue glared pointedly at him, “You could have tried to stop them from leaving.” “They are not gone yet Kozue. You will see them once more before they go. And, I could not have stopped them, not even if I wanted to.” Kannashi watched as Atama tried to stalk a pheasant in the tall grass, his sister attempting to corner it. “See them. Watch how they work. Aki and Moriko are forest creatures, not meant for the cities and worlds of men. Moriko will do what is best for her younger sister and her children. If that means leaving, then she will leave. None of them belong here. And quite frankly, neither do I.” “What do you mean? You lived here before they even got here.” “Yes. I was in the Capital. But, you fail to see the difference between belonging somewhere and digging out a place for yourself. I made a place for me, but now, I wish to leave.” Kozue fell silent; contemplating what was just said to him and what he might say now. “When do you leave?” “Tonight. When the Midsummer Festival is in full swing. We will gather what we need, then leap the wall. Simple.” Kozue stared at him again, “You love her?” “Aki… How did you know?” “I could see it when you said her name.” Kannashi chuckled softly to himself. “You know, she gave me something that I have never had.” Kannashi fell silent for a moment. “I care for many people. They all gave me something. People I would kill for.” He paused, eyes uncertain. “But Aki. She gave me something special. She gave me the only person I would die for. The only person I ever really loved.” Kozue watched him for a moment, another wave of awe in his eyes. Such love and affection… How can he feel so strongly after knowing her for such a short period of time? They fell silent, comfortable with leaving things just the way they were for a little while longer.

The slowly setting sun watched silently as Atama shot up from his place in the grass when a familiar scent filled his nose. Hikari looked at him with a small crease in her brow, “Broth-” Her eyes went wide and they both scrambled through the field to get back to the Capital wall, “Mamma!” “Mother!” Kannashi woke from his slight doze when Moriko dropped down to the ground in front of him. “Greetings.” She grinned at him, “Aki is looking for you.” He opened his mouth to say something just as Atama and Hikari jumped onto their mother. She smiled and laughed, pretending to fall over when they tried to pull her down. This gave Kannashi pause. When Moriko was with those children, something in her changed. She was no longer calm and collected. Yes, she was warmer toward him, her sister and some- what to those brothers, but this; this was completely different. She was warm and loving, even her eyes were different. They no longer held that chilled look of death that was always lying just beneath the surface. He watched her for a moment longer, rolling and chasing her kids in the middle of the grass like she did not have even a care in the world. When she glanced at him, his eyes widened for a moment at what he saw there. I guess some things remain the same. He shifted a little when Kozue stood and walked off after saying something to someone on the Capital wall. What could she have seen to cause such a shadow to remain behind her eyes, even now? What could have been so horrible? Aki dropped down beside him, “Kannashi.” He grinned at her, “Aki.” She leaned on him, her head on his shoulder. His arm automatically snaked around her to hold her there. Kannashi gazed down into her hair, blue eyes once again thoughtful and unfocused. They have lived such hard lives, and yet, sometimes, they seem almost normal. “How can you stand it?” “Stand what?” “Your lives. Everything.” Aki turned so she could look at him, “Because if I could not, then there would have been no point to living in the first place.” She moved to kiss him, their noses almost touching, and her breath hot on his face, “If you have the courage to begin a journey, then you must also have the will to complete it.” He felt her fingers slide down his cheek, “And a wise person once told me that life itself was a journey.” “Love is a journey as well.” They turned to see Moriko standing there, a soft knowing smile on her face, “The reason you need two people is because without another, no one person has the courage to begin this journey and because it is the hardest, the most painful of anything either of you will ever experience, you will both need each other to complete it.” She turned away, “But do not get me wrong, it is worth everything.” Kannashi stared after her, “Who did she love?” “She did not.” “Then how?” “Because she sees the world in a distinctive way. In a way no one else can.” “What do you mean?” “I mean, she sees everything that goes on around her, even when no one realizes it. Her eyes see the world in many different ways all at once. She sees everything. Because of this, she is wise in a way that some people can never be.” “I do not understand.” “Neither do I.” Kannashi kissed her, an arm around her neck. She pulled closer to him as he ran his tongue over her lips, slowly memorizing them. They broke away, Aki with a light blush on her face, “I can accept anything for you, my dear.” Her face grew hot and he laughed, the sound smooth, beautiful. Out in the grass, Moriko laughed as well.

 

* * * * *

 

The half moon rose high above the Capital, her light almost drowned out by that of the festival far below. Fireworks of every color rained down from the air, people cheering for the display. Villagers watched the fireworks and the dancers moving to the sounds of flutes and drums, merchants yelling of decorative masks, toys and food. Children ran between the older people, sparklers held in their small hands. More explosions and then lights rained down over the festival once more.

Kannashi watched the fireworks from his perch on the Capital wall, a small black hemp sack on the wall beside him. His blue eyes left the festivities on the other side of the Capital to search the dark for any sign of the sisters he waited for. Nothing. He huffed lightly and pushed back the hood of his old cloak. It was simple; like a cape of mud brown hemp with a hood attached to it. The ankle length hem was torn and ragged from previous use, but the cloak itself was almost perfectly fit over him. He turned to the left and stared into the dark for a moment before Moriko and Aki came running out of the black, their footsteps barely making any noise on the old stone as they moved. He grinned and stood, bag in hand. Moriko got to him first; her face calm, but her eyes gave away her wariness and excitement. Atama slid off her back just as Aki was setting Hikari on the ground. Kannashi paused for a moment to look each one of them over, now knowing what they had gone shopping for earlier that day.

Moriko's old traveler's dress was now a new black dress that she obviously modified prior to coming out. It was cut short just above her knees with hip high splits up the sides. The sleeves that had been on it were now cut off at the shoulder with small designs of dark red cherry blossoms spreading from her left shoulder to circle around her neck high collar, a thick sash of the same dark red hugging her waist. The black fabric seemed slightly stretchy so that it could easily move with her without acting like a second skin. Her ankle height black leather boots scuffed a bit on the stone on the wall when she shifted. His gaze moved to Aki. She wore a dress similar to her sister's except hers was all black with a lighter sash that swirled with white and dark blue, almost mismatching with the dark brown of her ankle high boots. Even Atama and Hikari had something new. Atama wore dirt brown trousers and an earthy green shift, the brown matching the brown of his boots. Hikari was wrapped in a knee length dark blue dress with splits up to her hips and black trousers that fit under the dress. Her boots were the same as her brother's. Kannashi opened the bag and tossed each sister a brown hemp cloak, just like the one he was wearing. Aki tied the string around her neck with a grateful smile, Moriko doing the same. Kannashi pulled a leather water flask out of the pack and tied it to his waist, the bag forgotten. Aki moved to pick up Atama but he latched onto his mother, a silent growl on his lips. Moriko picked him up and motioned for Aki to take Hikari. Once Moriko was sure Atama was comfortable, she leapt off the wall, her weight making a soft thud in the grass as she landed. Kannashi and Aki followed her and they ran across the field, keeping low and out of sight. Another firework exploded in the sky just in time to see the three dark figures vanish into the forest.