Facing Failure
Warehouse, San Francisco Bay, CA, February 1, 2000
When the haze of rage cleared, Seiko found herself covered in blood. She frowned, her mind in turmoil over the events of the last half hour. Only distantly did she recall climbing the rusted fire escape, looking for a suitable entry point. She found an old air conditioning vent which had been covered with plywood and with utmost patience, pressed in upon it until she managed to loosen it enough to remove without too much sound...
...she'd found them on the third level of the deserted building. They used maybe half the floor for their work, the men apparently working in shifts in order to ensure that their hostage stayed awake, using slow and cruel methods to insure their target's sleeplessness day in and night out. The young man was exhausted, beyond exhausted. Tears had long come and gone and only the certainty of death shone in his eyes. It was that look along with the bitter knowledge that whatever he knew would die with him that pushed Seiko beyond her sanity...
She had known anger before. She'd felt the beast stretch inside of her skin, trying to tear its way out before. Always before she'd welcomed it; that certainty of retribution had burned in her like a fire of righteousness sparking and simmering within her bones. She had always before been self-confident enough to call to her beast, to embrace it, and stroke it with the promise of deliberate violence and freely shed blood. With the promise of torment with inescapable finality.
The beast within her had often purred in delight at the torments she'd wrought. It's dark impulse sated again and again, subtly wearing away at the walls within her soul. And at the same time the stone that had been so painstakingly and carefully constructed around her heart had given way over the years; the defenses weakened by her growing emotional confusion. They were worn down by soft whispers, romantic gestures, and heady affections. Virilent anger gave way to more consideration, more understanding; the beast within watched, knowing that one night she would fall prey to weakness.
This night she'd been very weak.
-------------
She sat over the bleeding, broken body of the young man. So young. His breathing grew labored as she'd untied and ungagged him. He was so weak. She couldn't think clearly about how to bandage his many wounds, the blood flowed sluggishly, distracting her. In horror, she could feel the beast within her lick it's maw at the chance to taste such innocence. Gathering her will, she bound the beast and chained it within her heart. Tears flowed as she watched her failure of broken flesh and bone struggle to live after only fourteen scant years of existance.
With him dies my obligation, Akimichi Chouji.
The words sounded stark in her mind. In her entire life she had never failed. She may not have succeeded but even setbacks were to be expected in a path as unpredictable as life. There would always be a way and she would always find it. Akimichi had admired her single-mindedness. He'd admired her tenacity and stubborness. It is why he chose her to be the guardian of his mortal line. He had been her saviour. He'd put blade in her hand and taught her how to turn humiliation and fear into power and vindication. The knowledge that one could take life gave her confidence. It honed and shaped her. The power of life and death was like that of the Gods, to choose who could live and who could die...from her home in the mountains, she often looked down at the small homes of the valley people and wondered at their smallness. That they could be so content to be so small was always a mystery to her. Simple people living simple lives. It was alien to her. She could not understand and could barely begin to try.
Now the last of the Akimichi lay before her. In all of her years she'd ever had the power to destroy. The power to heal was beyond her and she felt stupid at her ignorance. There was only one thing she had that could possibly help, but she knew in her heart that it was too late.
She tore at her wrist and fed the child her blood. She carressed his throat, encouraging him to swallow and then she laid down beside him, facing him. She gently smoothed his hair from his forehead and kissed it softly. She gently placed a hand on his chest and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Heal...live. Live.. Ikitte...Naoshite..onegai.."
Like a mantra she willed him to repair bone and tendon, to breathe deeper, for his heart beat to strengthen. But it was all to no avail. His heart beat slowed. The rise and fall of his chest stilled.
He died.
Something in Seiko died with him.
--------------
She lay on the earth above his newly dug grave, watching the stars march across the heavens. The odd dark cloud obscuring the sliver of moon from view. She was exhausted. She couldn't feel anything. She felt empty.
The wind blew at the grasses, tangling her hair. Insects wandered across her skin, the softest sensations reminding Seiko that she was alive..or at least undead. The wind grew aggitated. The sky grew darker as storm clouds blanketed the stars thickly and the darkest of night fell. The wind grew angry. Hard, cold drops began to fall sporadically and then heavily upon her. She closed her eyes.
Then the rain grew warm. Warmer. Hot. She opened her eyes, frowning in confusion. She touched cheek and peered at her fingers. Her fingers were dark and wet with blood. Blood rained down upon her. Poured in torrets that pressed her more firmly into the earth. The earth was melting, giving way to the blood drops. She felt herself begin to sink. She sat up quickly and cried out in pain as strands of her hair were cruelly ripped from her head. She rolled her eyes to see what held her and it was a hand.
The breeze blew in her ear and it's whisper became the screaming of a terrified young man. A stronger breeze joined it and it became the screaming of an older man, this time in admonishment, deep in disappointment. The wind blew stronger, angrier, a chorus of male voices rising in dissonance their misery, anger, hurt, and pain.
The light touches of insects on her body grew into a steady stream, a march. And then the touch grew firmer, more substantial. Fingertips. Fingers. Hands. Hands rising from the ground and grabbing ahold of her with impossibly strong grips. She couldn't move. And when she opened her mouth to scream, the blood rain would flood it, filling her. Blood flowed into her mouth and out of her eyes, her nose, from beneath her fingertips, the roots of her hair.
She sank into the earth, into the embrace of every man whom she'd ever wronged. Above her, Jin watched Aunt Kitsune's descent into hell and smiled.
----------------
Seiko sat on the grave of Wu Si Jin. Unmarked, unremarkable, it was all she could think to do. Akimichi Takeorei sat with her, his hand holding hers as she stared at the newly turned earth. He'd found her hysterical when awoke this night. She had not spoken since. Never had she seem less like herself. A shadow. He worried about her. Something was very wrong.
They both sat in silence.
There was a rustle of sound. Rei looked around, alert, trying to pin point its source. He stood and walked a ways in a growing perimeter to ensure that their privacy continued uninterrupted. The sound he heard behind him made his blood turn cold.
Seiko screamed in pure terror.
He raced back to her side and looked around for the source of her fear but he could see no one. He prepared himself mentally for battling others like her who could hide their presence and waited.
Seiko screamed again and back-crawled from the grave. She moved until she came to the base of a tree and covered her face with muddy hands. She began to whimper.
Thoroughly confused, Rei took a step towards Seiko when a sound more pronounced than rustling came from behind him. He turned and looked down.
A hand rose from the earth.
Startled, he took a step back in shock but then reason took over. He reached over and pulled, helping his nephew emerge into the night. Silence. The fledgling grew in awareness of his surroundings and then ever so slowly turned his gaze up unto his uncle, his prey. He exposed his fangs and hissed, his intentions obvious.
Seiko stepped between the Akimichi's, her eyes nearly level with Jin's. She studied him while he appraised her, acknowledging her beast. Her claim over Rei staked, she calmly commanded her servant to leave. She offered Jin her wrist, her voice quiet with little inflection, "Drink. And after that, I will teach you to hunt."
When the haze of rage cleared, Seiko found herself covered in blood. She frowned, her mind in turmoil over the events of the last half hour. Only distantly did she recall climbing the rusted fire escape, looking for a suitable entry point. She found an old air conditioning vent which had been covered with plywood and with utmost patience, pressed in upon it until she managed to loosen it enough to remove without too much sound...
...she'd found them on the third level of the deserted building. They used maybe half the floor for their work, the men apparently working in shifts in order to ensure that their hostage stayed awake, using slow and cruel methods to insure their target's sleeplessness day in and night out. The young man was exhausted, beyond exhausted. Tears had long come and gone and only the certainty of death shone in his eyes. It was that look along with the bitter knowledge that whatever he knew would die with him that pushed Seiko beyond her sanity...
She had known anger before. She'd felt the beast stretch inside of her skin, trying to tear its way out before. Always before she'd welcomed it; that certainty of retribution had burned in her like a fire of righteousness sparking and simmering within her bones. She had always before been self-confident enough to call to her beast, to embrace it, and stroke it with the promise of deliberate violence and freely shed blood. With the promise of torment with inescapable finality.
The beast within her had often purred in delight at the torments she'd wrought. It's dark impulse sated again and again, subtly wearing away at the walls within her soul. And at the same time the stone that had been so painstakingly and carefully constructed around her heart had given way over the years; the defenses weakened by her growing emotional confusion. They were worn down by soft whispers, romantic gestures, and heady affections. Virilent anger gave way to more consideration, more understanding; the beast within watched, knowing that one night she would fall prey to weakness.
This night she'd been very weak.
-------------
She sat over the bleeding, broken body of the young man. So young. His breathing grew labored as she'd untied and ungagged him. He was so weak. She couldn't think clearly about how to bandage his many wounds, the blood flowed sluggishly, distracting her. In horror, she could feel the beast within her lick it's maw at the chance to taste such innocence. Gathering her will, she bound the beast and chained it within her heart. Tears flowed as she watched her failure of broken flesh and bone struggle to live after only fourteen scant years of existance.
With him dies my obligation, Akimichi Chouji.
The words sounded stark in her mind. In her entire life she had never failed. She may not have succeeded but even setbacks were to be expected in a path as unpredictable as life. There would always be a way and she would always find it. Akimichi had admired her single-mindedness. He'd admired her tenacity and stubborness. It is why he chose her to be the guardian of his mortal line. He had been her saviour. He'd put blade in her hand and taught her how to turn humiliation and fear into power and vindication. The knowledge that one could take life gave her confidence. It honed and shaped her. The power of life and death was like that of the Gods, to choose who could live and who could die...from her home in the mountains, she often looked down at the small homes of the valley people and wondered at their smallness. That they could be so content to be so small was always a mystery to her. Simple people living simple lives. It was alien to her. She could not understand and could barely begin to try.
Now the last of the Akimichi lay before her. In all of her years she'd ever had the power to destroy. The power to heal was beyond her and she felt stupid at her ignorance. There was only one thing she had that could possibly help, but she knew in her heart that it was too late.
She tore at her wrist and fed the child her blood. She carressed his throat, encouraging him to swallow and then she laid down beside him, facing him. She gently smoothed his hair from his forehead and kissed it softly. She gently placed a hand on his chest and leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Heal...live. Live.. Ikitte...Naoshite..onegai.."
Like a mantra she willed him to repair bone and tendon, to breathe deeper, for his heart beat to strengthen. But it was all to no avail. His heart beat slowed. The rise and fall of his chest stilled.
He died.
Something in Seiko died with him.
--------------
She lay on the earth above his newly dug grave, watching the stars march across the heavens. The odd dark cloud obscuring the sliver of moon from view. She was exhausted. She couldn't feel anything. She felt empty.
The wind blew at the grasses, tangling her hair. Insects wandered across her skin, the softest sensations reminding Seiko that she was alive..or at least undead. The wind grew aggitated. The sky grew darker as storm clouds blanketed the stars thickly and the darkest of night fell. The wind grew angry. Hard, cold drops began to fall sporadically and then heavily upon her. She closed her eyes.
Then the rain grew warm. Warmer. Hot. She opened her eyes, frowning in confusion. She touched cheek and peered at her fingers. Her fingers were dark and wet with blood. Blood rained down upon her. Poured in torrets that pressed her more firmly into the earth. The earth was melting, giving way to the blood drops. She felt herself begin to sink. She sat up quickly and cried out in pain as strands of her hair were cruelly ripped from her head. She rolled her eyes to see what held her and it was a hand.
The breeze blew in her ear and it's whisper became the screaming of a terrified young man. A stronger breeze joined it and it became the screaming of an older man, this time in admonishment, deep in disappointment. The wind blew stronger, angrier, a chorus of male voices rising in dissonance their misery, anger, hurt, and pain.
The light touches of insects on her body grew into a steady stream, a march. And then the touch grew firmer, more substantial. Fingertips. Fingers. Hands. Hands rising from the ground and grabbing ahold of her with impossibly strong grips. She couldn't move. And when she opened her mouth to scream, the blood rain would flood it, filling her. Blood flowed into her mouth and out of her eyes, her nose, from beneath her fingertips, the roots of her hair.
She sank into the earth, into the embrace of every man whom she'd ever wronged. Above her, Jin watched Aunt Kitsune's descent into hell and smiled.
----------------
Seiko sat on the grave of Wu Si Jin. Unmarked, unremarkable, it was all she could think to do. Akimichi Takeorei sat with her, his hand holding hers as she stared at the newly turned earth. He'd found her hysterical when awoke this night. She had not spoken since. Never had she seem less like herself. A shadow. He worried about her. Something was very wrong.
They both sat in silence.
There was a rustle of sound. Rei looked around, alert, trying to pin point its source. He stood and walked a ways in a growing perimeter to ensure that their privacy continued uninterrupted. The sound he heard behind him made his blood turn cold.
Seiko screamed in pure terror.
He raced back to her side and looked around for the source of her fear but he could see no one. He prepared himself mentally for battling others like her who could hide their presence and waited.
Seiko screamed again and back-crawled from the grave. She moved until she came to the base of a tree and covered her face with muddy hands. She began to whimper.
Thoroughly confused, Rei took a step towards Seiko when a sound more pronounced than rustling came from behind him. He turned and looked down.
A hand rose from the earth.
Startled, he took a step back in shock but then reason took over. He reached over and pulled, helping his nephew emerge into the night. Silence. The fledgling grew in awareness of his surroundings and then ever so slowly turned his gaze up unto his uncle, his prey. He exposed his fangs and hissed, his intentions obvious.
Seiko stepped between the Akimichi's, her eyes nearly level with Jin's. She studied him while he appraised her, acknowledging her beast. Her claim over Rei staked, she calmly commanded her servant to leave. She offered Jin her wrist, her voice quiet with little inflection, "Drink. And after that, I will teach you to hunt."