My e-mail address is currently undergoing some i-surgery; if you
comment on this fic, please at least CC it to me, as I may not see it if
it's only sent directly to the list.
Begin fic:
Clear skies revealed the city below, its own noisy light drowning
out the starry heavens and the full moon above. Towards the outskirts
of the city, on the upper hillsides where civilization had just begun
encroaching on the wilderness, a wind stirred. It wound its way
cautiously through the branches of old trees, through the skeletal
frames of buildings that were still under construction.
The wind bore the faintest scent of blood. Of hatred. Of ...
wrongness.
Thickening like a tangible thing, the breeze slowed, swirling, and
darkening until it formed a slowly rotating mass dark enough to hide
whatever lay within from both the light of the moon and the light of the
city that sprawled below.
It contracted briefly, from the span of an entire rooftop, to merely
twice the size of a man. It began to whirl more violently, then
suddenly drew back, revealing a form in the center of the wind. It drew
back cautiously, slowing its movement.
Unclad, he slumped to his knees, eyes closed, and put his hands
before him, kneeling, to steady himself.
A single line of dark wind brushed his cheek, ruffled his hair, and
then drew back. He would have been taller than most men his apparent
age. Young, but in his twenties. His hair was short, but longer than
most businessmen would wear theirs. His build was more muscular than an
average man, but less developed than an athlete.
His eyes opened, crimson pupils shaped like a cat's, and he raised
his head. "He was here," the man breathed.
The wind intensified, and the man stood, closing his eyes again, and
throwing his head back, his face to the moon. The darkness enveloped
him, covering everything but his fingertips for a long minute, and when
it drew back, he was dressed in a clean suit, gray as his hair. His
eyes opened, again, still shining the color of blood.
He nodded, staring out across the bright city. He glanced behind
him at the dark swirling force, and frowned. "There's--" He cut off
abruptly as a single tendril of darkness separated from the rest of the
mass, and settled into one hand, forming a pair of spectacles. He
nodded his appreciation, and donned them. His eyes were a dull gray
behind the lenses, save for a hint of blue. "Then ... I may be a
while," he said. "If you need me ... send Yuta."
The whirling force rose above the rooftop, as though to vanish back
into the forest that had birthed it, then paused, and swirled around the
man one last time, leaving a large duffel bag behind as it vanished.
"Thank you, Mother," the man whispered as the wind faded.
He turned back to the city, adjusting his glasses, then looked up at
the moon again. "I will find you, Uesugi Shuichi. And I will destroy
you," he vowed to the night.
***
The late afternoon sun seemed dim, before it even began to set.
Thin light filtering in through the windows of the room, seeming only
barely to illuminate it. There were two figures within.
One, slumbering in a bed within the shadows of the room, a blonde
woman, the blanket drawn up and concealing all but her face and hair.
The other, a nondescript young man with glasses and brown hair, sat
on the other bed, watching her warily. He was dressed in a dark
high-school uniform, and held a knife in one hand, the blade folded away
neatly into the handle.
"Why is this happening to me?" he asked quietly. "What's going on
here?"
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Dividead is created by C's Wares, property of Himeya Soft in the US.
Shingetsutan Tsukihime is created by Ozawa Kaoru, property of J.C.
Staff.