Destiny - 1/2
anonymous
November 22 2009, 07:46:35 UTC
A/N: sorry OP, I got this scene in my head and this is what happened… warning: genderswitch, a bit dramatic. ---
There was something in the fire.
The girl’s eyes flew open in a gasp and she breathed heavily, short cropped black hair sticking to a creased forehead. Cold sweat covered her clammy skin, and she frowned, hands shaking as she tried to keep her fingers in their proper seal position.
The sacred fire crackled on fiercely in front of her, and she blinked hard, letting the comforting warmth eventually slow the racing of her frantic heart.
For months now, there was a malevolent warning in the messages the Kami were sending.
-A war time poster flying free from a telephone pole.-
Normal, uncomplicated images… which shouldn’t have spoken of revolution, and yet, they did.
-A clatter of old cans being thrown down.-
Like the sparkling of light through a brilliant crystal, the visions always scattered into fragments when she woke from her meditation.
-Two figures. A hand outstretched. And everything burned.-
The world was coming into a turbulent era, and the land of the rising sun was not beyond its reach, despite how secluded it had been. The girl was young, and while she trained to be a Shinto priestess, she went about her daily life, watching the harbor fill with more and more naval ships by the week.
She had no part in the war. She told herself. It would never truly reach her. Her family said.
But then there were the dreams.
And try as she might, when she looked into the fire, the tumultuous visions told her differently.
---
A rustle in a garbage bin drew the Japanese girl’s attention to a small pile of boxes as she returned home from the market.
The girl sucked in a short breath, unable to dismiss the western superstition as a black cat suddenly darted across her path.
Dark eyes turned to look more closely, and once she saw it, she decided that she had been wrong. The cat wasn’t black. More like a deep chestnut colour with shaggy fur, and an odd little tuft of two curls sprouting from its head. Its eyes were a gemstone olive green as they stared back almost lazily.
The girl smiled a little. “Kawaii…”
The cat stared some more, whiskers twitching sleepily as if it recognized the word, before it ambled away and out of sight.
---
“These are times of war. Everyone, even the smallest creature, is affected.”
The weeks past, and the school teacher spoke in a rare, confiding moment, before returning to the lesson.
The girl frowned slightly to herself, taking her notes without question, but… deep inside… she did not agree. These were times of war, but not just anyone could do something. The dreams were a reminder of how she, a simple young girl, could do nothing.
What else could a simple girl do in the face of the world?
---
The climb up the stone steps to the shrine and her home was a welcome routine. The sky was blue, and at that minute it was easy to forget the haunting images in the fire. A scrap of paper skittered across the ground at her feet, and the shrine’s loud brass bell rang.
The Japanese girl saw an elder woman with her two small grandchildren giving prayers to the Kami, and she couldn’t stop the fierce remembrance of their messages to her own.
A tiny mew near her feet startled the dark-haired priestess, and she looked down, becoming aware of, with pleasant surprise, the shaggy stray cat from some time ago. Green eyes blinked up at her as if asking a question.
The girl smiled and asked one back. “I wonder… is even the small you affected?”
---
It was evening when she walked down the blue lit street. Time was catching up with the people in their land now, and while watching the twinkling city lights surrounding the distant buildings and the harbor before her, she thought about the fragility of peace.
She turned the corner. A flyer flew free from a nearby telephone pole. A chestnut cat peeked out from the alley, the sudden noise of old cans being thrown down deafening the quiet street.
---
There was something in the fire.
The girl’s eyes flew open in a gasp and she breathed heavily, short cropped black hair sticking to a creased forehead. Cold sweat covered her clammy skin, and she frowned, hands shaking as she tried to keep her fingers in their proper seal position.
The sacred fire crackled on fiercely in front of her, and she blinked hard, letting the comforting warmth eventually slow the racing of her frantic heart.
For months now, there was a malevolent warning in the messages the Kami were sending.
-A war time poster flying free from a telephone pole.-
Normal, uncomplicated images… which shouldn’t have spoken of revolution, and yet, they did.
-A clatter of old cans being thrown down.-
Like the sparkling of light through a brilliant crystal, the visions always scattered into fragments when she woke from her meditation.
-Two figures. A hand outstretched. And everything burned.-
The world was coming into a turbulent era, and the land of the rising sun was not beyond its reach, despite how secluded it had been. The girl was young, and while she trained to be a Shinto priestess, she went about her daily life, watching the harbor fill with more and more naval ships by the week.
She had no part in the war. She told herself. It would never truly reach her. Her family said.
But then there were the dreams.
And try as she might, when she looked into the fire, the tumultuous visions told her differently.
---
A rustle in a garbage bin drew the Japanese girl’s attention to a small pile of boxes as she returned home from the market.
The girl sucked in a short breath, unable to dismiss the western superstition as a black cat suddenly darted across her path.
Dark eyes turned to look more closely, and once she saw it, she decided that she had been wrong. The cat wasn’t black. More like a deep chestnut colour with shaggy fur, and an odd little tuft of two curls sprouting from its head. Its eyes were a gemstone olive green as they stared back almost lazily.
The girl smiled a little. “Kawaii…”
The cat stared some more, whiskers twitching sleepily as if it recognized the word, before it ambled away and out of sight.
---
“These are times of war. Everyone, even the smallest creature, is affected.”
The weeks past, and the school teacher spoke in a rare, confiding moment, before returning to the lesson.
The girl frowned slightly to herself, taking her notes without question, but… deep inside… she did not agree. These were times of war, but not just anyone could do something. The dreams were a reminder of how she, a simple young girl, could do nothing.
What else could a simple girl do in the face of the world?
---
The climb up the stone steps to the shrine and her home was a welcome routine. The sky was blue, and at that minute it was easy to forget the haunting images in the fire. A scrap of paper skittered across the ground at her feet, and the shrine’s loud brass bell rang.
The Japanese girl saw an elder woman with her two small grandchildren giving prayers to the Kami, and she couldn’t stop the fierce remembrance of their messages to her own.
A tiny mew near her feet startled the dark-haired priestess, and she looked down, becoming aware of, with pleasant surprise, the shaggy stray cat from some time ago. Green eyes blinked up at her as if asking a question.
The girl smiled and asked one back. “I wonder… is even the small you affected?”
---
It was evening when she walked down the blue lit street. Time was catching up with the people in their land now, and while watching the twinkling city lights surrounding the distant buildings and the harbor before her, she thought about the fragility of peace.
She turned the corner. A flyer flew free from a nearby telephone pole. A chestnut cat peeked out from the alley, the sudden noise of old cans being thrown down deafening the quiet street.
And…
Her heart froze.
And finally.
Them.
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