This world is a storage for many of my fanfiction writings. Some of my main fanfictions I will keep on my main world, "Memoirs From the Void". I like to hone my skills in writing, so any constructive criticism is encouraged deeply. Other than that, enjoy my various musings from my mind to the Internet.

Any Ideas?

Well, I'm at a writer's block here when it comes to this miscellaneous fanfiction that I write here on this World. If you read some of the other works here, I normally like to do love stories or gory, warlike fanfictions. Anyways, I'm at a loss for what to do for my next oneshot fanfiction on this World, so any ideas are welcome. If any of you have been reading some of my 'fics, then you could also help by giving me some tips on which writing styles to use and such. I'm thinking of doing some sort of Samurai X-esque oneshot next, with more of a deeper part to it than my "Scythe" twoshot work.

All ideas welcome, and thanks to anyone who gives ideas, tips, or just wants to read what I'm here to write!

-uchiha75

Edge of Scythe, Edge of Fate

The whispers of the wind settled down as the scythe lifted back into the air, retracting the dark aura emanating from the blade. Resting it on its shoulder, the shadow turned once more and continued to descend the mountain slope. Winter was all around, no life; just a cold, snowy mountainside. Snowflakes, falling slowly as the shadow moved, falling through its cloak, falling through the scythe. Again, the creature was transparent.

With a howl from the peak of the mountain, the hidden torches on the mountainside erupted into flame, as if summoned by the sound. The shadow ceased all movement, looking both ways at the light sources.

Here they come.

Telepathy, a cold voice, expecting what was to come. From the abyss below flew a light, growing larger every second as it grew near to the creature. A wolf jumped from the ledge to the right of the shadow, tearing its cloak. Landing on the opposite ledge, the wolf spit out the shredded piece of cloth and bared its teeth at the shadow. Its hand was of shadow, spiked with black flame. There was a flash as the light finally reached the mountainside, leveling itself with the being.

The light creature was also cloaked, but in a golden and red robe. It carried a flaming katana, with feathery wings sprouting from its shoulder blades. Gliding over to the ledge where the wolf stood, it reached a white hand out to stroke the wolf's fur. As if from a silent command, the wolf ceased to bare its teeth, and walked back into the darkness, its eyes no longer filled with hate.

"And so we meet, demon." The angelic being's voice was calm. "And so, death for one of us is inevitable...Auxes."

Saying not a word, Auxes lurched back, and lunged at the angel, scythe poised above its head. The angel dodged and thrust its flaming katana at Auxes. The being knocked it away with its scythe, and slammed its hilt into the angel's chest. Forced into the mountainside by the impact, the angel shook its head, brushing off the damage as if it was nothing.

"Ah...ha, ha." the angel coughed out.

"Lucretius...you are too weak to tear apart the darkness of my scythe. And thus you are too weak to kill me." Auxes stated.

"I bear a blade radiating light; that is all I need to tear you from this world!" Lucretius snarled. The angel again thrusted its blade at Auxes' heart, and again, the shadow dodged.

"Is that so?" Auxes raised its scythe.

"Be excorcised, demon!" A path of flame burned as the katana sliced horizontally at the shadow, burning away part of its stomach. Lucretius smirked as the shadow cried out in pain, swinging its scythe berserkly.

THOU SHALT DIE!

In a fit of rage, Auxes screamed out telepathically. With amazing speed for one carrying a weapon of such mass, the reaper-like being darted to the side, slicing Lucretius in ribs. Crimson blood dripped from the wound, and the angel grimaced. Snarling, Lucretius loosed a barrage of flame into the night, some of which singed the shadow once again. Auxes slammed the hilt of the scythe into the wound he had just dealt the angel, visibly breaking a few of the angel's ribs. Gritting its teeth, the angel slashed vertically near the shadow's arms, slicing the forearm down to the elbow. Ashes glided to the bloodied snow beneath the two combatants.

Resting its scythe on its shoulder, Auxes sighed. "Interesting...but a pity that I will have to kill you in the end."

Lucretius pointed the katana's tip at the shadow. "Is that so? I have been sent as the only hope of the people in the abyss you call a kingdom." With the katana, it motioned toward the vast expanse far below. "I have been created to be your bane, and thus I shall be. Kill, maim, murder...these words mean nothing to you, monster. You do each as you will, without a second thought. This tyranny will not go on, so long as I draw breath!"

"Foolish heroics, spoken over and over by many young and hopeful warriors. If this is all you are here for, then there is no reason for you to continue. Allow me the honor of eliminating your pathetic excuse for a life!" Waving the scythe, Auxes shot a wave of ice at the angel, encasing its right arm in the freezing element. Using its katana, Lucretius jabbed quickly but meticulously at the ice. Eventually, the flames melted the frozen water and freed the angel's arm.

"In the end, someone with those heroics will come and defeat you, whether it is me or not. I will do what I can to deal out your demise, however, until I can no longer do so. Foolish heroics are not always foolish; you could be the one who is foolish." Lucretius sighed and took out a vial from its pocket. Slowly, it raised the vial to its mouth, taking the cork out and drinking its red contents. Throwing the now-empty vial away, the angel pulled back the hood of its cloak, revealing a light face with raven-colored hair trailing down in a ponytail. A small pulse was emitted from its pupils, a wave of gray washing like a wave into the red sea that was the iris of the eye.

"A 'final order mechanism' put into my body for a situation equivalent to this. Here I will die, regardless of whether you do as well, or live. It matters not anymore, for I have a one-way path left." Raising the katana, Lucretius roared the howl of a berserker, and rushed at the shadow, slashing again and again in a suicidal rush. Auxes guarded as quickly as the mass of the weapon allowed it to, using the hilt as a shield more often than not. At last, the shadow knocked Lucretius away. The pulse in the angel's eyes began to slow significantly, apparently a sign of the angel's failing life force. Regaining its stance, Lucretius shook its head and charged once more, raising its katana high over its head, leaving its chest open. Taking advantage, Auxes raised and brought down the scythe.

For a moment lasting an eternity, the angel watched its reflection in the blade of the scythe as it swung downward. A terrified pair of red eyes, a face that seemed already dead. A small tear ran down the face of the angel.

What have I become? I am a monster, not an angel.

The blade of the scythe slammed down into the angel's heart, instantly clouding Lucretius' eyes over in death. Weakly, the dying angel threw the katana; it landed hopelessly beside Auxes. A small stream of blood flowed down the chin of the angel, and it whispered one final sentence.

"And so...I fall...into death..." Lucretius went limp, the angel now dead. Holding the corpse on the now bloody scythe, Auxes laughed a monstrous, maniacal laugh. Victory.

A shockwave slammed into the back of the victorious monster, knocking it forward, and almost throwing the scythe out of its hands. With a curse and a snarl, Auxes turned to see the wolf had returned; with its mediator slain, nothing was holding its rage back now. The wolf picked up the flaming katana from the bloody snow, and lunged at the monster.

The extra weight on the scythe from the corpse of Lucretius stopped Auxes from moving the scythe to guard as quickly as it would have wished. Auxes had barely moved the scythe before the impact hit: the wolf plunged the katana into the deathly cold heart of the monster, incinerating it, and instantly killing Auxes. The wolf landed on the ground with ease.

The newly-slain body of the shadow doubled over, and flipped off of the mountain into the abyss. The scythe and the corpse of Lucretius fell with it, into the darkness beneath the ledge. Both the angel and the demon dead, both falling; Lucretius had not said the words he had in vain. The "foolish heroics" were in actuality now.

Turning back from the edge of the mountainside, the wolf walked back up the mountain. As a final tribute to the fallen angel, who helped to liberate all of the land in sight, the wolf howled when it reached the peak.

A new day was beginning from the darkness. A day free of tyranny. The first day of a new age.

It has begun.

Scythe of the Night

Swiftly moving, the creature nods to the air. A shadow, silently floating upon invisible wings. A wolf stands beside it, howling into the cold night air. The rolling white plain below is ever silent, save for the occasional echo. A bloodlust filled the air between the two, neither seeing the other, but sensing the voids in the area. The wolf growled, its fangs glowing like blades in the night; the assassin's dagger falling.

Slowly, the shadow turned to the wolf, and withdrew a reaping scythe from its tattered cloak. The scythe was made of pure silver, save for the hilt, black as midnight. In fact, the gleam of the moon above the two was the only way you could make out the shape of the hilt. Whenever the moonlight struck it, the hilt glowed with an unworldly light. It had a deathly aura about it...Not the aura of the usual killer, for the scythe showed no sign of wear, no sign of blood.

The wolf lunged at the shadow, its fangs shredding the cloth surrounding it. The shadow moved, however, leaving the wolf in its illusion of the connecting fangs. When the beast saw as it landed that the cloth in its mouth had disappeared, it looked around blindly. It could not see the shadow descending down the slope of the snowy peak. Digging into the snow with its paw, the wolf snapped its large maw at the air, groping for a sign of the being, turned invisible once more. A gleam of the moonlight on the snow flashed in its eyes. Thinking that it was the deathly scythe again, the wolf jumped backwards, baring its teeth and growling. When the gleam dimmed and did not return, the wolf turned back and walked across the peak, satisfied with the thought of its "victory".

As the shadow moved down the slope, the scythe trailing behind it in its cloaked arm, it turned to watch events unfold on the mountainside. The snow fell upon a lone tree, burdening it with an icy package. The small but visible cold breath of a pack of mice scurrying into their homes entertained the shadow.

Pathetic creatures. It seemed to be whispered on the wind blowing across the mountain. The mice froze, looking around. Seeing nothing, they scurried on, the chill still in their spine.

Yes. Screeched the wind. Doom has come. As if summoned, the shadow floated to the ledge where the mice were moving. Raising its glorious scythe, the blade rose and fell in one demonic blow. Striking the mountain, a shadowy wave was emitted from the point at which the scythe touched the ground. The snow was darkened, and the mice fell to the ground, dead. The shadow turned back into the night.

Yes.

Anime: The Otaku Shakespeare

Let's face it: each one of us here at the Otaku has become addicted to anime in some way. Whether we've been pulled into it by interesting characters, intense storylines, or even just the fact that an anime falls under a favorite genre of yours, we've been the audience of anime for years. Has this not happened before, many years ago? Yes, it has, during the time of Shakespeare himself. His audiences were captivated the same ways we are to anime; the characters, the storylines, the overall atmosphere of the productions. Of course most anime doesn't have the dramatic feeling many of Shakespeare's plays had, the two have many similarities.

Take, for example, Naruto. Within it lies betrayal, romance, and tearful deaths. Shakespeare's Othello has much of the same qualities, and enthralled many, including some of today's audiences. Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden has an enormous fanbase now, and has the promise of continuing with its ever-growing fanbase for years to come.

We've all experienced Shakespeare in school, for projects, reports, and entertainment, but many of us dislike it. To many, these are just more school assignments. When we compare it to some of our favorite animes, however, there are more similarities than you would have once thought. Even the fanbase for anime and Shakespeare's productions are alike: both fanbases are still growing, and are giant. Both enthrall us, and spread across a wide range of topics and genres; romance and betrayal, as I have spoken of before, are in many animes, as well as many Shakespearian productions. Although many productions from both sides show supernatural beings or royal characters we won't ever be, there are those that show normal life, or at least have hints of it here and there.

It is obvious that many people can try to disprove the similarities in some way, trying to prove that one side is better than the other. We have to remember that these are centuries apart, and thus differ when faced with many different topics. Again, the styles may be different, but the overview relatively close when comparing the two sides to one another. Sure, I'm positive that the audiences of Shakespeare didn't come up with as many character pairings that we have come up with over the years anime has been around. I'm sure that many anime fans don't like over-dramatizations, and don't want an anime to become as dramatic as some television shows that are around today.

When you think about this topic the way I have throughout this essay, you may come to find that many more things you know other than anime have their own Shakespeare, just as everything has an Achilles' Heel in something. Hopefully we will understand many more ideas about anime in the future, about the whole psyche in us Otakus that back the very thought of anime. Addiction? Possibly. Entertainment? Maybe. Even these questions have been pondered upon by the Shakespeare audiences throughout history. The human psyche is indeed an interesting topic to cover when it comes to both anime and Shakespeare. Where does one get the ideas for such works? Everyone has usually come to agree on a one-word answer when it comes to both topics: Imagination. Both were created by imagination, both were supported and forwarded through imagination. At the heart of both, you find imagination.

Can we really say that we know the motives behind such fanbases and such works? I don't believe that we can truly understand such, but we can give answers here and there that are far apart, but can create an answer. It is a surprise, isn't it, to come to understand that the project you might have had years ago, or maybe even a few days ago, shares a basis and many ideas with one of your favorite forms of entertainment? I suppose that it depends; we could find similarities here or there during that project you might have had, but stored it away in those memory cells and never reopened that "door". With this whole new aspect on both fronts, we might never look the same way at either of the topics again. You might even take my musing about many things having their own similarities to Shakespeare and look at just about everything in a new light.

One thing's for sure: I suppose to many Otakus out there reading this, Shakespeare isn't as boring as it once was.

Petals in the Rain: Part One

It was an April afternoon, and clouds hung low over Konohagakure. Uchiha Sasuke looked up at the clouds and sighed. How carefree, up in the heavens...he thought. It was an old custom in his family for males of his age to appear with a date to the Spring Festival the following morning, or not appear at all. Not appearing at the Spring Festival was often frowned upon by many, however, so Sasuke would need a date. At a younger age, girls would flock to him, wanting an opportunity to go out with him.

At sixteen, however, and recently returned from Otogakure, the chances were slim. Even if there were those who still wanted to go out with him, they were forbidden by their families; he was not one of much honor, nowadays. It didn't matter much to him, however: Sasuke didn't want girls looking to brag that they got to go out with him. In his opinion, a date would not be a real date without someone you can really love. None of the fangirls loved him in the romantic sense of the word that he was thinking of.

A small droplet of water struck his forehead at that moment, and he looked up absentmindedly. Sasuke could feel a few more droplets hitting his casual shirt. He was about to walk back inside the Uchiha manor, when a shout startled him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Haruno Sakura ran up to him as the rain began to pour down.

"What is it this time?" Sasuke asked, supressing the urge to roll his eyes.

"I was on my way home when the rain began to pour, so I ran here, as it was the closest place around. Do you mind if I stay until the rain stops?" she asked over the rain.

"Whatever," he said, and the two walked into the manor.

"Arigato, Sasuke-kun." Sakura thanked him as they went through the doorway. "Sorry for the trouble." Sasuke responded with his signature "hn," and motioned for her to sit down at the table with him, and she did so.

"So...Do you have a date for the Spring Festival?" Sasuke asked.

"No...why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. I thought Naruto and you were going together, that's all."

"He's going with Hinata, or so he tells me. Apparently he's proud of it, that's for sure." Sakura answered.

"Typical..." Sasuke sighed. He talked with her some more, about the political status of Konohagakure in particular, as she was the Hokage's student. Eventually, he began to think, Could she be the one? I suppose she could, if she still has feelings like from before.