Status: Done.
Salt in the Wound
Bloodlust and empty spaces.
“I don’t know where she came from. She just stood up from behind the wall, bleeding and stumbling. We could hardly understand what she was saying.”
“Well you did good bringing her here. We will be able to find out where she came from when she comes around.”
Their voices were hazy and thick, but what was even more noticeable was a constant beeping sound next to my head. Where am I? Everything was blinding me, noises were too loud, and I was numb in every important area of my body. “Hello?” I said as loudly as I could. Suddenly a face clouded my vision. He wore glasses that hid what his eyes really looked like and was crowded by a crown of white hair. A hand touched me and said something inaudible. I was drifting again.
“Who are you?” Someone asked me. My eyes re-opened and returned to the haze. “Who are you?” they repeated.
“My name,” I whispered, “is Ishiko Hitomi”
“Ishiko, how did you get to the ruins?”
“The ruins?” my voice got louder and stronger as I reached up and pulled a cord out of myself. “Those ruins are my home. That village was MY VILLAGE.” The haze left my vision and I could see myself surrounded my men in white outfits, most with a medical mask on.
“Impossible, no one survived that tragedy. And even if you had you wouldn’t be alive today.” His hand pushed against my chest, trying to force me back down. A man in the back laughed loudly.
“The girl, she’s delirious!” That got me.
They knew something was wrong when my skin tore and my teeth were like blades. They could feel the fire too. My arms had scales the color of the earth and my face was pulled back into the most grotesque of smiles. “You will die like the rest of them. Fast and forgotten!” I growled. Hitsuchi controlled my every move, I was much like a puppet so to speak. I saw what was happening but the voice wasn’t mine, those were not my actions, and this transformation was more him than it was me. This time though, I didn’t see much hope here.
“Wh-what is that?” One man stumbled backwards, fear in his eyes. These were not ninjas, merely medical men. With hearts like drums, I could hear them beating. Faster and faster. It was a hunger I could not control, a bloodlust so large I was surprised I hadn’t attacked yet. “Go get help!” One yelled. Before he could escape the tent, I sprang. Landing on top of him, the blood of my mouth dripped onto his face and he wore the same look in his eyes that I once had.
It happened so fast I cannot recall the details. In one minute I was hungry and angry, the next I was unsatisfied and even more thirsty. I could see a faint shadow above the man, staring at me with those haunting eyes. Full of fear and a deeper understanding of the world.
So familiar…so much like her eyes. “Everything is burning” she told me. And in that moment she knew they would not see tomorrow, no one would. I screamed and turned my arms to my own head, the pain of those memories striking me right in the heart. My pain was now Hitsuchi’s pain, and even he was recoiling.
“They were so young! How could you!” My voice was ragged, a cross between my own and Hitsuchi’s. “They did nothing but hide! Get out of me! GET OUT!” I stood up with eyes tightly shut, stumbling around trying to repossess my body from him. He was a murderer, and he had done it again.
Just like last time, I couldn’t stop it.
I couldn’t hear their shouts over my own. But I knew what they were doing. All I had to hear was “Kage”
to know I had caused a threat to their village.
They wanted me dead and I would gladly oblige.
“They can’t kill me.” His voice rang throughout my body. It was dark and angry that I had managed to push him back. “They can’t kill you.”
Ignoring him, I crawled out of the tent, people were around me just staring. Dirt clung to my wounds and the blood ran faster down my neck. Then I saw it. Those turquoise orbs staring deep within me. That’s the last thing I saw before I gave in to the darkness and collapsed.
“Well you did good bringing her here. We will be able to find out where she came from when she comes around.”
Their voices were hazy and thick, but what was even more noticeable was a constant beeping sound next to my head. Where am I? Everything was blinding me, noises were too loud, and I was numb in every important area of my body. “Hello?” I said as loudly as I could. Suddenly a face clouded my vision. He wore glasses that hid what his eyes really looked like and was crowded by a crown of white hair. A hand touched me and said something inaudible. I was drifting again.
“Who are you?” Someone asked me. My eyes re-opened and returned to the haze. “Who are you?” they repeated.
“My name,” I whispered, “is Ishiko Hitomi”
“Ishiko, how did you get to the ruins?”
“The ruins?” my voice got louder and stronger as I reached up and pulled a cord out of myself. “Those ruins are my home. That village was MY VILLAGE.” The haze left my vision and I could see myself surrounded my men in white outfits, most with a medical mask on.
“Impossible, no one survived that tragedy. And even if you had you wouldn’t be alive today.” His hand pushed against my chest, trying to force me back down. A man in the back laughed loudly.
“The girl, she’s delirious!” That got me.
They knew something was wrong when my skin tore and my teeth were like blades. They could feel the fire too. My arms had scales the color of the earth and my face was pulled back into the most grotesque of smiles. “You will die like the rest of them. Fast and forgotten!” I growled. Hitsuchi controlled my every move, I was much like a puppet so to speak. I saw what was happening but the voice wasn’t mine, those were not my actions, and this transformation was more him than it was me. This time though, I didn’t see much hope here.
“Wh-what is that?” One man stumbled backwards, fear in his eyes. These were not ninjas, merely medical men. With hearts like drums, I could hear them beating. Faster and faster. It was a hunger I could not control, a bloodlust so large I was surprised I hadn’t attacked yet. “Go get help!” One yelled. Before he could escape the tent, I sprang. Landing on top of him, the blood of my mouth dripped onto his face and he wore the same look in his eyes that I once had.
It happened so fast I cannot recall the details. In one minute I was hungry and angry, the next I was unsatisfied and even more thirsty. I could see a faint shadow above the man, staring at me with those haunting eyes. Full of fear and a deeper understanding of the world.
So familiar…so much like her eyes. “Everything is burning” she told me. And in that moment she knew they would not see tomorrow, no one would. I screamed and turned my arms to my own head, the pain of those memories striking me right in the heart. My pain was now Hitsuchi’s pain, and even he was recoiling.
“They were so young! How could you!” My voice was ragged, a cross between my own and Hitsuchi’s. “They did nothing but hide! Get out of me! GET OUT!” I stood up with eyes tightly shut, stumbling around trying to repossess my body from him. He was a murderer, and he had done it again.
Just like last time, I couldn’t stop it.
I couldn’t hear their shouts over my own. But I knew what they were doing. All I had to hear was “Kage”
to know I had caused a threat to their village.
They wanted me dead and I would gladly oblige.
“They can’t kill me.” His voice rang throughout my body. It was dark and angry that I had managed to push him back. “They can’t kill you.”
Ignoring him, I crawled out of the tent, people were around me just staring. Dirt clung to my wounds and the blood ran faster down my neck. Then I saw it. Those turquoise orbs staring deep within me. That’s the last thing I saw before I gave in to the darkness and collapsed.