OOC: The Dream
[Note: Rain is referred to as a female in his dream, as he's in Crossdresser Mode throughout most of it, and truly appears to be a woman.]
The marketplace was busy today, she noted. People bustled to and from the various shops, merchants greeted customers warmly, children begged their parents for candy. Young men with swords at their hips walked together, talking and laughing loudly. Snippets of their conversation reached her ears.
"The master... talking about... some girl who trolls for men and information. A good-looking hairdresser with..."
She did not linger.
She wove her way purposefully through the crowds, moving with grace and fluidity, intent on her destination. Though she smiled at those who greeted her, she did not stop to chat. Something was happening further down the street, and the closer she got, the greater her sense of foreboding grew.
"If 'Sen' fails, 'Kamiyui's bow' can still move."
The voice, male, calm and authoritative, seemed to have come from thin air, or perhaps from within her own head. If 'Sen' fails... No. She felt strong resolve well up within her. Failure was not an option. And this disturbance down the street... a large crowd was gathering, and somehow, she knew that this could lead to failure if she didn't stop it quickly. There was something important she needed to do, she was sure, and she needed to do it discretely.
She blinked, and in that instant she found herself there, the people that pressed closely around her all observing and commenting on the scene before them. Outside of a used goods shop, some men appeared to be bullying a young girl. Reaching calmly into the folds of her clothing, her fingers brushed cold steel...
There was a blur of orange-red across her vision, a shout, and darkness.
---
Not quite darkness, she realized. She could still see, but the light flickered faintly, like lantern light. She was inside now, in a place that felt cool and slightly damp. A basement. There were men - some angry, and some panicked - and there was shouting, and the sound of running footsteps somewhere above her. And then, there was the reflection of dim light in a polished blade, and there was blood, and screaming, and a weapon in her hand. Her senses seemed overwhelmed; everything around her was happening too quickly for her mind to consciously process it all... and yet, she found that she was not afraid. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Adrenaline surged through her veins, and she felt confident, entirely in control of the situation... and furious.
Her focus returned, suddenly as sharp as the kunai knife she held, and it narrowed in on one man, the one trying to escape up a ladder. She did not hear the words he spoke as she held the point of the weapon to his throat, nor did she hear her own response. There was another voice speaking in her mind, that of a woman.
"You're on your own. You have only yourself to depend on."
Her surroundings shifted again, and faded away.
---
Outside now... and it was raining. Pouring. The downpour made a steady sound against the road, each drop cold and stinging against bare arms. Up ahead, there lay a woman. No - there lay the body of a woman.
Strikingly pale, save for the vibrant purple bruises. Washed clean by the rain, save for the angry red slash across her back. Naked, and cold, and discarded.
The sudden grief was both unexpected and unbearable. As was the intense guilt that welled up from somewhere deep, deep down. Somewhere that should have been sealed off years ago. All senses seemed painfully clear now. Hands trembled, knees hit the blood-drenched ground... when suddenly there came a new voice, another woman. Cold and mocking.
"Did you come to try to save her? You're the one who sacrificed her."
And another, a young boy, angry and tearful.
"You don't have the right! You don't have the right to..."
To what? Did it matter? You're right. I don't. I don't have the right... This is my fault. She's dead, and it's because of me. Why couldn't I...
The heavens opened. The rain beat down in torrents now, and water began to rise swiftly around the two lonely figures, steadily engulfing them both. It was as though they were being submerged into an ocean - a calm, dark, freezing ocean.
And they sank. Deeper and deeper, into the cold black abyss, one quite unable to fight her way to the surface and the other quite unwilling to do so.
She died for me...
The marketplace was busy today, she noted. People bustled to and from the various shops, merchants greeted customers warmly, children begged their parents for candy. Young men with swords at their hips walked together, talking and laughing loudly. Snippets of their conversation reached her ears.
"The master... talking about... some girl who trolls for men and information. A good-looking hairdresser with..."
She did not linger.
She wove her way purposefully through the crowds, moving with grace and fluidity, intent on her destination. Though she smiled at those who greeted her, she did not stop to chat. Something was happening further down the street, and the closer she got, the greater her sense of foreboding grew.
"If 'Sen' fails, 'Kamiyui's bow' can still move."
The voice, male, calm and authoritative, seemed to have come from thin air, or perhaps from within her own head. If 'Sen' fails... No. She felt strong resolve well up within her. Failure was not an option. And this disturbance down the street... a large crowd was gathering, and somehow, she knew that this could lead to failure if she didn't stop it quickly. There was something important she needed to do, she was sure, and she needed to do it discretely.
She blinked, and in that instant she found herself there, the people that pressed closely around her all observing and commenting on the scene before them. Outside of a used goods shop, some men appeared to be bullying a young girl. Reaching calmly into the folds of her clothing, her fingers brushed cold steel...
There was a blur of orange-red across her vision, a shout, and darkness.
---
Not quite darkness, she realized. She could still see, but the light flickered faintly, like lantern light. She was inside now, in a place that felt cool and slightly damp. A basement. There were men - some angry, and some panicked - and there was shouting, and the sound of running footsteps somewhere above her. And then, there was the reflection of dim light in a polished blade, and there was blood, and screaming, and a weapon in her hand. Her senses seemed overwhelmed; everything around her was happening too quickly for her mind to consciously process it all... and yet, she found that she was not afraid. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Adrenaline surged through her veins, and she felt confident, entirely in control of the situation... and furious.
Her focus returned, suddenly as sharp as the kunai knife she held, and it narrowed in on one man, the one trying to escape up a ladder. She did not hear the words he spoke as she held the point of the weapon to his throat, nor did she hear her own response. There was another voice speaking in her mind, that of a woman.
"You're on your own. You have only yourself to depend on."
Her surroundings shifted again, and faded away.
---
Outside now... and it was raining. Pouring. The downpour made a steady sound against the road, each drop cold and stinging against bare arms. Up ahead, there lay a woman. No - there lay the body of a woman.
Strikingly pale, save for the vibrant purple bruises. Washed clean by the rain, save for the angry red slash across her back. Naked, and cold, and discarded.
The sudden grief was both unexpected and unbearable. As was the intense guilt that welled up from somewhere deep, deep down. Somewhere that should have been sealed off years ago. All senses seemed painfully clear now. Hands trembled, knees hit the blood-drenched ground... when suddenly there came a new voice, another woman. Cold and mocking.
"Did you come to try to save her? You're the one who sacrificed her."
And another, a young boy, angry and tearful.
"You don't have the right! You don't have the right to..."
To what? Did it matter? You're right. I don't. I don't have the right... This is my fault. She's dead, and it's because of me. Why couldn't I...
The heavens opened. The rain beat down in torrents now, and water began to rise swiftly around the two lonely figures, steadily engulfing them both. It was as though they were being submerged into an ocean - a calm, dark, freezing ocean.
And they sank. Deeper and deeper, into the cold black abyss, one quite unable to fight her way to the surface and the other quite unwilling to do so.
She died for me...