DRAGON OF FIRE, MAIDEN OF WATER (working title)
(an original fantasy story by Angel Mercury. Begun on June 2, 1999)
CHAPTER 3 - No Turning Back
(This is ONLY A ROUGH DRAFT. I may edit this without warning)
The morning greeted Namida with its eternal reassurance. The rebirth of the sun in the east heralded a new day - a day of decision and no turning back.
The rays of sunlight, like a gentle mother, caressed Nature's still sleeping face and dried her tears of the previous night. They also brushed by Namida's face, drying her tears as well. What the still-young day will mean for Namida, the sun already knew - but the young woman had yet to find out.
She was woken up by the childlike chattering of sparrows outside her window. In the night, they probably hid somewhere to escape from the terrifying storm - but with the first hint of dawn, had come out to celebrate its life-giving light. Namida glanced at them and could not hold back a smile, and for once it seemed to her that the little birds, like innocent children, were smiling back, as if asking her to join their celebration of a new day.
The madness and the tears of the previous night were washed away by the warm sunlight - but not without leaving a trace on Namida's already fire-scarred mind. But she tried once again to bandage the scars, so they would not be seen.
"I'm... fine," she tried to reassure herself, her voice, although forced, was growing stronger with each syllable. "I'm fine. I'm fine." She told herself.
The day was indeed reassuring - the sun rising from the pastel-rose clouds of dawn could only bring calm to rough waters.
While bandaging the scars of her mind, Namida found a new thread that caught her attention.
'What is he doing at this very moment? Do these dreams follow him too?...or are they his fault?'
Suddenly, she needed to know. And she knew that she would only settle for an answer from him - the dragon himself.
The day of decision had come.
Somewhere, where the sun had already matured and almost reached noon, a young man was practicing sword-fighting with his teacher.
"What do you ask of me, Kaze*?" asked the teacher in a calm, sure voice, easily reflecting the student's sword back at him. He knew the move his student used very well - and reacted as if he was sure that he had already known everything his student wanted to know.
The young man suddenly leapt forward in a new attack, like a sudden gust of wind. "At first you wanted me to study the sciences, but I refused. You told me that that is what is needed today, but I did not listen. I begged you to teach me the art of the sword instead - I did not yet know why, but I knew I had to learn." The teacher parried Kaze's attack easily, leaping aside, unsure of where Kaze was leading him. "So you've taught me the ancient sword skills, Master, and now I can prove that I can defeat anyone in the land who doesn't spend all his time in research and still knows how to use a real sword." With this, Kaze spun around, tricking his teacher, sword flashing like lightning in a storm. "See? I've even defeated you, Master." The young man, slightly out of breath, spoke formally to his teacher even while he applied a surprise attack, knocking his master off his feet. "But I had a dream last night... of someone I remember from long ago. Someone I need to see now. Someone, for who a simple sword would not be enough. So I ask you, Master - to teach me magic."
"Kaze! You know that is impossible! Forbidden!" the teacher got up, forgetting to dust himself off or compliment his student on his excellent use of sword techniques. "Magic is earned over lifetimes, it is not taught!"
Kaze sheathed his sword. He clearly wanted no more practice today. "But Master! You know magic, and you've read my soul. You know that I knew magic in my past life. I feel that it is what is missing from my life, and only ask you to rekindle that flame. You, Master, are the only one I can ask for this." The young man was obviously more than determined. "I will not turn back!"
"Well... I suppose there would be no harm in only opening a little of your potential. I will teach you a few simple spells that you should have already known before and should remember with a little training. But I will not go any further! We will begin in the evening." And the old teacher muttered aside, "The Sky knows I should not be doing this."
Suddenly, Namida heard a knock on her door. She realized that there was only one person left living on the island who knew her well enough to knock on her door this early in the morning. Amari, of
course. And, just as expected, she heard the old witch's voice outside the door - but she did not expect to hear what the old witch said.
"He is close." Namida more than knew who Amari meant, of course. "You must leave now or you will never have a chance to see him again. My boat is ready - take it and sail to the mainland. You have my warmest blessings, dear girl." Then Namida heard the old woman's footsteps fade away from her door, just as suddenly as she came.
Namida was surprised, stunned, confused, and reluctant beyond comprehension, but to her own surprise, she heard herself say simply "Y-Yes, Amari. Thank you."
Quickly she got up and ready before fully realizing what she was doing. But when she did, her only reaction was a simple laugh - of course, it was Amari's way of getting her to finally make a decision and move at the right moment, by not giving her time to think but just act. There wasn't even time enough for goodbyes. She had to admit, the wise old woman was right. This was something Namida had to do right now, ready or not.
And before she knew it, Namida realized that there was no turning back.
Ryu Hino's fiery red eyes opened to greet the sight of the rose-tinted sun dawning on him as well. He still sat beneath the wall of the ruined city in the same pose as the thunderstorm found him - coiled-up, hidden, yet confidently clutching the hilt of his ever-present sword in constant expectation of something.
The warm sunrise, while chasing the last remains of yesterday's torn thunderclouds away, also brought him unexpected news.
"Someone... is trying to find me," he muttered to himself. "One of them I must see... the other I must avoid."
And though the sun brought no more information about who these two people were, Ryu instinctively held his claw-sword even tighter.
Namida now needed no magic advisor to feel that the dragon was indeed close. The eyes full of fire, forever etched in her memory, were burning brighter than ever.
The young woman's feet left light marks in the cool sand as she walked slowly to the island's wharf where Amari's sailboat was indeed floating ready, complete with food and provisions for quite a long while. The old witch really did think of everything, the girl thought with a smile. Despite Amari's warnings to hurry, Namida deliberately prolonged every second she had left to spend on the island that became her home. She was alone in the morning mist from the ocean, yet she could feel the kind soul of the island itself next to her, renewing its offer of friendship that it made when Namida first arrived here. She smiled, as a cool ocean wave washed over her feet, reminding her of reality.
She did not look back at the island as she raised the sail of Amari's boat. A breeze immediately filled it and Namida, still not looking back, jumped into the boat. There was no need for oars today - the wind thoughtfully took the boat where Namida wanted it to go.
She kept the boat close to the shores of the island, sailing around it - the way to the mainland was on the other side. She watched with a sinking heart as her home village disappeared behind the lush trees, which marked the edge of the island. She could now see the mainland - and understood why Amari told her to move quickly. The old witch needed no magical clues to figure out what was happening.
The dragon was retracing his old steps - the city Namida was born in lay in fire-scarred ruins again. The last time she managed to look at it, it was slowly being rebuilt... And as much as the young woman wanted to turn around, to shut her eyes, to run away back to the island - she forced herself to look at and sail toward the dragon man's horrible deed. The innocent rose morning in the sky that promised hope was in such contrast to the black, hopeless ruins of the mainland city. And to her own surprise, she looked at the city's ruins Ryu Hino made not in hate - no, not anymore. She had no more strength to hate him - and hate could not help things anyway. She only had one burning question - "Why?"
Slowly, the wind picked up, carrying her to the mainland shore quickly, once again leaving her with no choice.
No choice. In the perfect calm of the sea, she grabbed on to the rail of the sailboat, holding on for her life. 'No choice?' No, she made a choice... the only choice she had aside from insanity. 'This is my choice. Amari helped me, but this is my choice and my choice alone.'
Alone.
In a daymare, Namida heard claws scraping against the walls of her mind... Dragon claws. Or the claws of insanity. Or both - tearing at her heart...
A soft thud of the boat hitting a rock brought Namida back to reality. She realized that her knuckles had turned white as she held on to the rail of the boat, and the claws she had heard was simply the bottom of the boat scraping against rocks on the shore.
A sigh of relief.
No, she decided. This was the right choice. Facing insanity was better than running away from it.
Namida slowly let go of the railing and stepped out of the boat, feeling as if she was hanging from a cliff and letting go of her only rope. However, she stepped out onto soft grass that had miraculously escaped the flames.
'I'm here. I'm back. I'm Nozomi. I am real,' she heard herself think, heart pounding - to everyone, herself, and no one in particular. She was Nozomi again, not Namida. Hope of reality, not Tears of insanity. This was her choice, this was herself speaking. Whether she wanted it or not, it was her choice.
'This is real. You are real. So am I. I'm scared, but I'm sane.
'Where are you?'
And to her surprise, he answered.
She felt the eyes looking at her, and this time, they were real. Ryu was standing on the charred city wall, straight, almost formally so. His sword was at his side, his shield was in his hand, chain-mail was covering every vulnerable spot, as if he was a warrior going into battle. But he was alone - a graceful, steel, almost mythical warrior from an age long gone. Nozomi felt alone, exposed, vulnerable - but for a moment, she couldn't help but almost admire him.
Suddenly, he leapt off the city wall - it was low to the ground so he did not have far to jump. Nozomi shuddered instinctively as Ryu came closer to her. She could see him, she could hear his chain-mail clinking as he came toward her. Here he was, the man who burned her past, her family, burned her sanity.
And he asked a question which Nozomi was completely unprepared for.
"Do you hate me?"
