"It's been a while, Francis."
A beautiful girl glowed in the darkness. Her hair was black and wispy, untouchable. Her eyes were a rusty red, old eyes. Her clothes were very loose, showing as much skin as she could, even as the cold wind howled.
Francis glared at her, showing his teeth that was already growing fangs.
She chuckled. "No need to be so feisty with me. Unless, you don't want my help." she swung over to him, placing her hand over his cheek. "Nekomata wouldn't want you to hate me, would she?"
"Nekomata is dead. She was killed by D. Kyuubi. So, her opinion doesn't matter now." Francis glowered. Her mouth twitched. Nekomata was her only friend, the only one who had gave her hope in living.
"What's it like..." she began, "To know there's no point in living anymore?"
Francis stared at her. He had found her weak spot. Nekomata.
[somewheres]
Houkou looked down at his children. What else could he do for them, he was useless now...With out Nekomata, he couldn't see the light anymore. But now, his own daughter was clinging to him, begging for an answer.
"Where is he now?" Houkou asked Ronin. Houkou couldn't say 'Francis' it hurt him too much.
"Last time we saw him, he ran off...He sensed something ahead, and didn't want us to get involved." Ronin replied.
Houkou looked down at the floor. He shook his head and stood up, gently pushing Nozomi away.
"I can't leave this place. Go back to him while you still can..." Houkou said.
"But-" Nozomi began.
"He's in more danger than you know...If you're not near him than he can't be strong..."
"What do you mean?" asked Ronin.
"He is a spider demon, he feeds off of other chakra to stay strong. The closer you are to him, the stronger he is..."
"Any chakra?"
"No, only blood relatives...."
Ronin and Nozomi glanced at each other. Could this really be true? Francis is just using us?
[back to Francis]
Far off in the distance they heard someone shouting.
"I'm not Hachimata!" The voice kept repeating.
"Tora...Should we..." Francis began.
She sighed. "I guess so...I didn't expect you to call me by that name."
"Well, it was Neka's favorite one...." Francis replied.
The two ripped into their demon forms and sprinted off toward the yelling.
TBC...Kyuubi? Hachimata? Houkou?
(ps, Tora is a new member of the club!)
I sat against a tree that had fallen from three years ago. I hadn't moved in that entire time, not even to get something to eat. So you could say I was a lot skinner and paler than the last time anyone saw me. My eyes were also dead from lack of hope, the bright red they were disappeared to a cold black. My black hair was even a bit longer and messy than before, but it didn't matter. I was dead to everyone, so... *sigh* You could say I had no real will to even move anymore.
My head was on my knees and I sat still as something approached. The person approaching felt... lacking... as if something was missing. It was no doubt of mine that my overflowing chakra was leading him, but I didn't flee or move. I just sat there as he came. It was Hachimata, but it wasn't him at the same time. "Hachi," I said in a dry tone but not looking up.
He didn't answer for a while, but eventually said what I anticipated. "I'm not Hachimata."
I still didn't move from my spot, nor did I move my head, but took in the coldness around me and responded by saying what I knew about my friend. "No... you killed Hachi......" I said in a dry tone, but somewhat upset.
"Yessss I killed him, and now I've found you......"
I continued not moving and just continued to talk. "What are you going to do... Dark..." I asked in an emotionless, dry tone.
"I found you and now I'm going to take you to D. Kyuubi and have him execute you."
He wasn't giving me the answer I felt he needed to tell me. "Why..."
He stepped back from my question, but answered. "Becaussse. D. Kyuubi demandsss it."
That wasn't the answer. That wasn't the true answer. "No... why did you kill Hachi......"
His mood seemed to change, his voice even seemed to panic at what I was asking. "Becaussse I wanted to be the one to live."
He wasn't being truthful. To me, he had no reason at all. "You both could have lived," I said back, my voice remaining in its dry tone, "Why did you kill Hachi..."
"I wanted to."
"To kill yourself..." I asked.
He was panicing even more from my cold voice. To me, it seemed haunting to him, like a ghost of someone he knew he helped kill. "I wanted to be the only one living!" he shouted at me.
"That isn’t good enough... why did you kill Hachimata..."
"Enough!" he yelled, not wanting to hear me anymore, "Come now or I’ll kill you here and now!"
I moved slightly, my head starting to lift. "Do you think I fear death?"
My head picked up after so long and looked straight at Dark with dead eyes looking straight into his red eyes. "Kyuubi," he said in an unsure voice.
"You're missing something inside you," I said as I looked into his eyes, "... what do you think it is..."
His face looked fearful, he felt I knew the answer, but I was clawing at his soul and looking straight into it. "I don't know," he said, trying to look away.
"No... You do know..." I said, "why did you kill Hachimata..."
"Ssstop assssking me that!" he shouted at me, trying to cover his ears.
"Why did you kill Hachimata, Dark... Why did you kill Kai and Maki's souls... why'd you kill Hachi... You know the reason, yet you continue to deny it," I continued to say in a cold and dry voice, "Why did you kill Hachimata, Hachimata..."
"I'm not Hachi! You have no right to call me that! I am Dark!"
"No... Hachimata, why did you kill Hachimata..."
"Sssstop it!"
"You know why... you know why the emptiness in your heart grows, you know why your soul feels like it's ripping apart," I said, still giving him an emotionless stare, "Hachimata, why did you kill Hachimata... You know the answer..."
"No I don't!" He shouted at me.
"Yes... you know why Hachimata killed Hachimata," I said in a cold, dry tone.
His voice was becoming more and more paniced. It's as if he felt I was looking into the darkest pit of his soul and being. "Why did Hachimata kill Hachimata... I know..."
"Then tell me! Tell me why I feel thissss wretched feeling issss in the pit of my being!"
"You know the reason Hachimata... you know..."
"I'm not Hachimata!" he said.
Hachimata was confused. He was... "Hachimata knows why he killed Hachimata... it's not my place to tell him though..." I said.
I relentlessly hunted for Kyuubi. D. Kyuubi had instilled a hate for his lighter half in me. I wanted him dead as much as D. Kyuu....I ravened angrily hissing when I came to a dead end and constantly eating the humans that D. Kyuubi had given to me to help find Kyuubi.
There became a saying among those men. "Run with Dark and you'll be left in the Dark." which untimently meant that I would eat someone.
“Lord……Kyuubi isn’t here……” a man said quietly.
I turned and stared at him with pure red eyes. He looked ready to shirk and grovel at my feet like a dog. I was ready to treat him as such and kick him when the feeling returned. The feeling of a missing piece a void within had once again returned. I twitched, hissed something to the effect of then get on with it, and walked away dazed again.
“Dam,” I swore, “What issss thisss?”
I looked out into the vastness of the land feeling the vibrancy of chakra and life running through it. I had not been able to feel it before I had killed Hachimata. It swirled about almost carried by the wind. I hissed a bit for no reason other than to add to the feeling.
“If I am sssso whole….what am I lacking…..” I asked again.
Suddenly the breeze carried with it a smell. It was a smell I had not come accords in so long. My heart nearly exploded as I ran off through the vastness towards the smell towards the chakra towards Kyuubi….
I ran for a long time until I knew exactly where he was. His chakra radiated out of him like a dying person. Once I found him I stopped and breathed. Kyuubi sat very still his back propped against a fallen tree his head down.
“Hachi,” Kyuubi said dryly.
I stared at Kyuubi taking in his features. He had become skinner and his hair was a mess on his head.
“I’m not Hachimata,” I finally answered.
“No…..you killed Hachi……” Kyuubi said as if it hurt him to even say it.
“Yessss I killed him, and now I’ve found you……”
“What are you going to do…..Dark……” Kyuubi asked not moving his head from the rest of his knees.
“I found you and now I’m going to take you to D. Kyuubi and have him execute you,” I smirked.
“Why…..” Kyuubi asked.
I was caught of guard and didn’t know how to answer. I stepped back a pace trying to think of what to say.
“Becaussse,” I answered, “D. Kyuubi demandsss it.”
“No…..why did you kill Hachi……” he asked.
The feeling screamed it me now. The lacking…..the missing thing….the vacentness was screaming out now asking why.
“Becaussse I wanted to be the one to live,” I answered.
“You both could have lived,” Kyuubi retorted not changing his dry voice, “Why did you kill Hachi….”
“I wanted to,” I answered.
“To kill yourself……” Kyuubi asked.
“I wanted to be the only one living!” I yelled.
“That isn’t good enough….why did you kill Hachimata…..”
“Enough!” I yelled, “Come now or I’ll kill you here and now!”
“Do you think I fear death?” Kyuubi asked.
And for the first time, Kyuubi picked his head up and his eyes looked straight at me.
“Kyuubi,” I said unsure of what else to say.
Kyuubi stared at me with full black eyes.
Kyuubi continue?
"You two stay here, I sense something up ahead." Francis ordered the twins.
They didn't reply. Already knowing that he was going to leave them in the darkness of asking questions, they didn't move from the spot they were standing.
Francis skidded off into the twisting alley ways, into even deeper darkness.
"Nozomi..." Ronin said, turning to his sister. "Do you think we should just run off and try to find our father? We could easily track him down better than Uncle."
Nozomi didn't reply. Instead she closed her eyes and transported their spirits to where Francis was...
"I see you. There's no use in hiding." Francis called out to an empty building.
Instantly, Nozomi and Ronin were back in their bodies.
"What happened? You never been interrupted before??" Ronin gasped.
"I-I don't know...Whoever Uncle was talking to...Sent us back." Nozomi shook.
The two looked in the direction he had run off too.
"So powerful..." Ronin said, clenching his fist. "Are we useless? Are we some kind of burden? So we even be-"
Nozomi slapped Ronin across the face. "Don't ever say that again! We have a reason to be here...For Uncle...For Mother...For the world!" She began to cry.
"Nozomi, I know...but, we need to get stronger....If only we could meet our..."
"Father." they both said at the same time. They gazed into their eyes.
"Could you transport us to our father?" Ronin gasped.
"I don't know...I only know how to do souls...." Nozomi said, biting her lip.
"Try." he begged. "Try."
Nozomi closed her eyes and focused all her chakra into her mind, it then absorbed both of them....
And "POOF!" they were found inside a small cushioned room, and laying on the floor was a young man with knotted hair, tears causing his eyes to swell. One eye was blue, the other was a swirling black, dried blood from that eye was all over his cheeks and mouth.
"Father?"
D. Kyuubi-
Dark left and I was beside myself within the room, but I felt everything around me. "So, it seems Shukaku left. To where I wonder..."
I got up from my chair and looked out the window. By my standards, everything was fine, even with the tanuki gone. I didn't really care about him. What made my blood boil was the fact Kyuubi was MIA, for three years too. I want him dead! That wretch deserves it.
However, I chuckled to myself. He could be dead for all I know and if not, he surely will die in front of those rebels that want to find him and some of the others that are missing. My guess is though, they are dead. It didn't matter though. Either way, they would lose.
Kyuubi-
*sigh* It's been three years since I saw the others... Maybe I'm doing them a favor... What if she is dead by now? No, I can't think that way. She'd never die easily, but... *sigh* I'm probably dead to her and everyone else.
I climb, I slip, I fall
Reaching for your hands
But I lay here all alone
Sweating all your blood
If I could find out how
To make you listen now
Because I'm starving for you here
With my undying love and I
...I will
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause there's no hope for today
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause maybe there's another way
I climb, I slip, I fall
Reaching for your hands
But I lay here all alone
Sweating all your blood
If I could find out how
To make you listen now
Because I'm staving for you here
With my undying love and I
...I will
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause there's no hope for today
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause maybe there's another way
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause there's no hope for today
Breathe for love tomorrow
Cause maybe there's another way
I climb, I slip, I fall
Into your empty hands
But I lay here all alone
Sweating all your blood
It's getting late. All I can hope for is a better tomorrow with everything going on... How can I say that? I don't deserve a better tomorrow, but... I don't know anymore. I just wish I could see my sister, my love, and my friends. For now though, I'm staying here for a while though... It's probably better this way... To them, I'm possibly dead anyway.
~D. Kyuubi
~Kyuubi
