4th dream [awakening]
[Soundtrack: Kajiura Yuki - mezame (Mai-HiME OST Vol. 1) - please click]
It's a blue and copper velvet dusk, and the red star twinkles brightly to the lower right of the moon. The air smells of rain and of flowers and the mountain. Akira is quietly enjoying the early spring night, walking back to the dormitories after spending most of the day shopping and sketching people at the train station. He is in a rare good mood, in spite of dual dark clouds hovering in his thoughts. He doesn't know why Father has sent him to Fuka Academy, or why this surprise invitation raised its head in the first place. Akira is successful in school but not remarkable, intentionally so. He's thinking on that, how elite this place is and how little it suits him, when he sees a shadow of something. It's as big as a truck, black, yet it glows purple at its edges.
Whatever it is, it's dangerous, so Akira takes off at a run after it. In a clearing near the path that winds through the woods, the shadow emerges from the ground as simply as a diver rising from a swimming pool. Legs first, they're furry, monstrous, as big as trees around, and then the rest of it comes. A hairy spider with far too many legs, too many arms, and mandibles that drip with something that stinks acrid. A bit of it dribbles to the ground, singeing the grass beneath it. It starts to skitter, crushing trees and shrubs nearby on its way toward --
A playground. The sound of nearby children. No. It absolutely can't go there. Akira arms himself with the only thing he has on hand - a box cutter stashed in with his art supplies, a sharp pair of scissors, a metal ruler. Times a good leap and he's on the thing's back. It's got more joints than it has any rights to, more legs too, so even as it scitters it tries to jolt and sweep Akira off. He jams the boxcutter into one of the creature's many glowing purple eyes hard enough to reach its brain - in theory.
The boxcutter blade makes a sound that's screetchingly reminiscent of a fork against a plate, and bends like taffy. Between dodges, Akira manages to jab his ruler in the joint of one arm, and that ticks the thing right off. It stops entirely to grab Akira and throw him to the ground. He lands on his feet then darts back into a tree.
All of the monster's attentions are on him now. At least the playground is safe as long as he fights it. He's still got the scissors, time to make it count. There's one place he can think of that's weak enough. So he lets that thing pin him, as disgusting as it feels (the hairs are like wire) and get closer closer closer.
He jams the scissors up into its mouth.
Nothing.
Quickly, Akira rolls away. The thing is making noises like he doesn't know what. Chittering. Chattering. Little tiny screams. It's about to pin him again when there's a flash of white light and there's a strange, large, double-sided kunai in his hand. He has no time to ponder the make of it - the otherworldly, round swirled pattern of each blade rather than the typical arrow shape he's used to, or how the weight seems perfect in his hand. He's got another chance, and this time he won't blow it. He runs right beneath that thing, darting past its dripping fowl mouth, and throws the kunai up into the soft part of its abdomen. The weapon plunges in with a crack and then a spongy squelch, and then he's surrounded by green light.
The monster dissolves into glowing green dust that suffuses into the warmth of the spring night.
Someone nearby is applauding. There's a boy in a tree - a boy about Akira's age, and, judging from the uniform, in his school as well. "Found you~" he calls, like they were playing hide-and-seek.
The boy has bright pink-red eyes and white hair that stands straight up. Akira immediately distrusts him.
"My Akira-chan is so lovely, acting boyish and tough!"
"Who," Akira growls, "The hell are you?"
NAGI! [ Akira yells out and lunges forward so violently in his sleep he wakes himself up. He looks around, for a long moment convinced that demonic boy is in the room somehow. ] Damn!
It's a blue and copper velvet dusk, and the red star twinkles brightly to the lower right of the moon. The air smells of rain and of flowers and the mountain. Akira is quietly enjoying the early spring night, walking back to the dormitories after spending most of the day shopping and sketching people at the train station. He is in a rare good mood, in spite of dual dark clouds hovering in his thoughts. He doesn't know why Father has sent him to Fuka Academy, or why this surprise invitation raised its head in the first place. Akira is successful in school but not remarkable, intentionally so. He's thinking on that, how elite this place is and how little it suits him, when he sees a shadow of something. It's as big as a truck, black, yet it glows purple at its edges.
Whatever it is, it's dangerous, so Akira takes off at a run after it. In a clearing near the path that winds through the woods, the shadow emerges from the ground as simply as a diver rising from a swimming pool. Legs first, they're furry, monstrous, as big as trees around, and then the rest of it comes. A hairy spider with far too many legs, too many arms, and mandibles that drip with something that stinks acrid. A bit of it dribbles to the ground, singeing the grass beneath it. It starts to skitter, crushing trees and shrubs nearby on its way toward --
A playground. The sound of nearby children. No. It absolutely can't go there. Akira arms himself with the only thing he has on hand - a box cutter stashed in with his art supplies, a sharp pair of scissors, a metal ruler. Times a good leap and he's on the thing's back. It's got more joints than it has any rights to, more legs too, so even as it scitters it tries to jolt and sweep Akira off. He jams the boxcutter into one of the creature's many glowing purple eyes hard enough to reach its brain - in theory.
The boxcutter blade makes a sound that's screetchingly reminiscent of a fork against a plate, and bends like taffy. Between dodges, Akira manages to jab his ruler in the joint of one arm, and that ticks the thing right off. It stops entirely to grab Akira and throw him to the ground. He lands on his feet then darts back into a tree.
All of the monster's attentions are on him now. At least the playground is safe as long as he fights it. He's still got the scissors, time to make it count. There's one place he can think of that's weak enough. So he lets that thing pin him, as disgusting as it feels (the hairs are like wire) and get closer closer closer.
He jams the scissors up into its mouth.
Nothing.
Quickly, Akira rolls away. The thing is making noises like he doesn't know what. Chittering. Chattering. Little tiny screams. It's about to pin him again when there's a flash of white light and there's a strange, large, double-sided kunai in his hand. He has no time to ponder the make of it - the otherworldly, round swirled pattern of each blade rather than the typical arrow shape he's used to, or how the weight seems perfect in his hand. He's got another chance, and this time he won't blow it. He runs right beneath that thing, darting past its dripping fowl mouth, and throws the kunai up into the soft part of its abdomen. The weapon plunges in with a crack and then a spongy squelch, and then he's surrounded by green light.
The monster dissolves into glowing green dust that suffuses into the warmth of the spring night.
Someone nearby is applauding. There's a boy in a tree - a boy about Akira's age, and, judging from the uniform, in his school as well. "Found you~" he calls, like they were playing hide-and-seek.
The boy has bright pink-red eyes and white hair that stands straight up. Akira immediately distrusts him.
"My Akira-chan is so lovely, acting boyish and tough!"
"Who," Akira growls, "The hell are you?"
NAGI! [ Akira yells out and lunges forward so violently in his sleep he wakes himself up. He looks around, for a long moment convinced that demonic boy is in the room somehow. ] Damn!