Fuckin' hell. I hop over a branch that nearly snags my foot. You know.. That man pride I have from years of being in men's sports. So when the dare came from my team.. Well I just had to do it. I mean I'm captain. I can't just.. Well.. Chicken out. I have to be a leading light. I groan. If Yume finds out about this she is going to worried beyond belief. She hates me doing dangerous things. But I tend to just do things. I like danger. Its a beacon to me. I suddenly hear the old bat's voice in my head. She allows warned me to never come here. Hell even some of the kendo team were trying to stop me. I pause and look around. This place has an odd feel to it. I can feel my back warm slightly and I know that the tattoos are beginning to show. An auto activation it would seem due to the aura of this forest. Not that I blame my own instincts for being on the defense.
I continue on, only to pause, blinking. Didn't I pass that tree all ready? Oh shit. Please don't tell me I got lost. I slap my hand to my forehead. What am I.. Yume? I don't get lost like this. I sigh and my hand falls to my side as I look around. I'm surrounded by dense foliage. I suck on my teeth in annoyance. This could be very bad for me. I scratch the side of my head and look around a bit. more. Its well into the night and the trees are hardly allowing the moon to beam down to the forest floor. Ah hell. What have I gotten myself into? Yume is going to kill me if I'm not back home soon. She thinks I'm out drinking with the boys. Fuck. Those asstards better not go an blab to her where i really went. They do and they won't be sitting for weeks once I'm done with them. I'm not their captain for nothing.
I grumble a curse under my breath and continue to walk. Honestly. I can't be lost for too long, right? A wind whispers along my form, making me nearly trip over my own feet. I whip around with wide eyes, looking around, tensed for battle. But there is nothing but silence. Nice Shiori. Your scaring the shit out of yourself like some teenage girl. I take a calming breath when something flit across my vision. A ebony butterfly. I begin to follow it, as if in a trance. But then it vanishes and I am left standing before an ominious looking cavern. I look around, frowning, brow furrowed. I don't understand what is going on. Why am I here?
I peer into the cavern and I feel a chill wind brush my face, like tiny frozen claws. It beckons me. Tells me to enter and find what lies beneath the darkness of it all. I move forward, even as the black tattoos of my shochou crawls down my arms, up my neck and curling along my cheeks. If one looked at me naked, my tattoos actually form a butterfly wrapped completely around me in elegantly curved lines of black that glow a soft pink when power is being used. I know I should be worried. But I find that my curiousity is winning out now. The cave carries the stench of death and decay, yet I move into it, the darkness swallowing my form till nothing is left. My eyes find themselves blinded as the pitch black consumes all light. I feel clawed fingers tips brushing along my form, the wails of death filling my head. But I push it away and continue forward. I will not be swayed from my path by the sirens of dispair.
I'm suddenly blinded by light and I lift my right arm to shield my sensitive eyes. I slowly crack them open and blink back the tears that the light had brought forth. Slowly my vision adjusts and I lower my arm. I lift my left hand and wipe away the tears from having the sudden brightness. I look around, finding myself before a river. Odd. I flick my gaze around. Where am I? Something catches my eye and I look across the river. There is a door there. It stands alone, but looks old. As my eyes leave it I nearly fall over in shock, letting out a yelp as a boat now rests before me with a hooded ferry man. Fuck that nearly made me faint. The ferry man seems to gaze at me. I see glowing red eyes shining from within the dark depths of its hood. It holds out a skeletal hand and make a beckoning motion. I find my body moving on its own and I'm then climbing into the boat and sitting. I look down to see the markings on my arms are glowing faintly. The boat lurges forward, nearly sending me crashing to the forward into the bottom of the boat. But I catch myself and glare at the ferry man's back for that. The boat glides silently across the river and i look down into the water. I nearly let out a girlish scream as a decayed face looks back up at me from the water. I quickly look away. What the fuck was that? I swallow thickly and peek over a bit again. I then note that the river is filled with dead bodies. My stomach churns, bile rising up to touch the back of my throat. Men, women, children. White, black, tanned. There is a mix. Never one the same. The bodies were submerged, eyes closed, but their skin was decaying away from their bodies, making me want to get the hell off the river.
We are nearing the other side and I can't stop myself from looking over the edge. Its morbid curiousity and I know I should hate myself for it. But its like saying to a kid, don't poke the jelly fish that's washed up on the sand with a stick. But what do you do. You find the sharpest stick you can find and you poke the hell out of the thing. Though I would never poke the things in the water. I'd be too frightened in all honesty. What if they like.. Woke up or something? Then pulled me into the water and I died. I shudder at my thoughts. The boat lurges again and I hit the bottom of the boat. Goddammit. I sit up, groaning and rubbing my elbows. I look at the ferry man. Its looking at me again and steps back, silently telling me to get off. I nearly scramble of the little row boat. My feet hit solid ground and I nearly drop to my knees to kiss it. I turn to thank the ferry man, but he's gone. I look around and see nothing. A chill runs down my spine. Fuckin' hell.. What have I gotten myself into? I shake my head. No time to think about that. I turn and move toward the huge double doors that just stand there. I peek around them and see nothing behind them. Odd. What's up with these doors then?
I pull myself back and stand before them. They are old and wooden. Carved on the surface is what looks like a huge eye or something. There are no handles to help in opening them. So.. What are they for then? My frown returns. I came this far for.. This? My frown deepens. Was I missing something here? My hands lift and I press them to the door. My markings flare to life, shining pink as they react to me touching the door. I put my weight into this and push. I grunt and I continue to push. Suddenly I hear a crack and the doors begin to glow, forcing me back. I look up at the eyes on the door seems to come alive and opens, looking down on me. I swallow thickly as it peers at me, as if testing my worth by looking into my soul. THe eyes narrows and I gulp. Did I do something wrong? The eye snaps shut without warning and a rumbling fills the area. I back up a step, wondering what was happening. I then look at the doors as they swings inward.
A strong wind suddenly begins to suck me inward. I try to resist. But it latches itself around me and I let out a scream as I'm pulled in, faintly hearing as the door slams shut behind me and everything goes black.
Part one
-1453
![.Leave Out All the Rest [The Dark Blade Quest] Henban2](https://2img.net/h/img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/tre2k/h2h/henban2.jpg)
Home 
Log in 
