Yukimura

(Short stories and poetry.)

Distantly drifting softly on misty night air.
Beautiful sounds drift in from out there.
A song, a speech, a voice, the unknown.
Hear satisfied sighs and longing moans.
Feel of beautiful tears and vile laughter.
The melody promises truth ever after.
Wanting ears seek an unknown desire.
The heart burns as though it's on fire.
Imagined, unseen, yet sure to be great.
Like the purpose of fulfilling your fate.
Yet still float free on the night's breeze.
Sorrowful beauties come to appease.
Promising pleasure, a heart that's still.
In the midnight ballads of good and evil.


*Edit: Readable Color*

The_Jazz

Ow, my eyes....

How about editing it into a readable color?

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Yukimura

(A new story begins. "Double Helix")

Two men, brothers in blood, set out on an arduous journey. They didn't need to speak. They had both had the same dream. The image was still clearly painted in their minds. Every time their eyes closed, the image was seen again, and the voice was still echoing in their heads. An angel of light speaking with a booming yet gentle voice.

"Dragon of earth, dragon of heaven, a great trial faces you. A minion of the beast has killed the guardians and threatens to consume all. His appetite is only for destruction. In his wake he leaves suffering and ruin. There is no time to prepare, there is no time to sharpen a sword or string a bow. Simply go, the time is now, your purpose calls to you."

So the two walked, Marc and Matt, side by side, through the crowded streets of New York city, far away from their homes in the south. Something inside them was ablaze. A passion had been lit, though they knew not what for. They simply knew that this was it. This was what they had waited for. Now that the time has come, they were going to shine.

--------

Now their dreamlike state had passed, and reality was setting back in. The pair sat in a bar, putting down their third shot. There was an obvious air of frustration about them. They were unwilling to let go of the feeling they had in coming here, but they could not ignore their mind's analysis of their situation.

"We're idiots."

Marc was the more skeptical of the two, and at times like these, he couldn't help but let his feelings be known. He didn't want to believe they had come here for nothing, but he felt as though he had no choice but to believe that. He finished off a shot to try and lower the volume in his head.

"We're not idiots. I mean, we came here for a reason. We had a vision man! How many people do you know nowadays who have visions? There's some reason we're here. Maybe it's not as grand a reason as we originally thought, but I'm absolutely sure there's a reason."

Just then, a thunderous crash could be heard through the bar. Glasses rattled and fell off tables. Without time to scream, people simply gazed wide-eyed in shock, attempting to process what was going on. Marc and Matt simply looked at each other with stern expressions. Excitement quickly set in on both of them, and they bolted out the door to see what was the cause of this crash.

Outside they stopped and gazed in shock at what seemed to be a dragon. It had come crashing through a collossal building that was across the street from the bar. The building itself was quite unique, but all eyes were focused on the dragon that seemed to be having trouble adjusting to its body, like a newborn. It now lay on the ground, rolling over with big, clumsy movements.

A man came out of the building and walked over to it with a hand outstretched, as though hoping to calm it and examine it. In a flash the dragon shot its mouth out and bit the man's hand off. It then blew fire at Marc and Matt, who jumped out of the way, but not in time to save their pants from being singed.

"Well that plain pisses me off, but how do we fight a monster like that?"

Yukimura

Matt tapped Marc on the shoulder and pointed to the building next to the bar. It was a gun store. The two looked at each other with impish grins on their faces. Turning and running at the same time, they both delivered crushing kicks into the window, and then stepped through into the store.

"Seriously, what are the odds of that?

"God loves us.

"Or something."

The two loaded up their 'supplies' and jumped back out the window to see the dragon now fighting against a group of men in black suits that had run out of the building. They were unloading entire clips from assault rifles into the beast, but the bullets only bounced off.

"Crap, seems like that was pointless.

"Might as well give it a shot. Maybe we'll get lucky.

"Agreed."

The two pointed their guns at the beast, and a stern look crossed their faces as they felt something stir inside them. It was as though they felt wind blowing from inside their bodies. They felt strangely warm. Without even wasting time talking about it, they shot at the same time, and two fresh new bullet wounds appeared in the dragon's chest. It crashed to the ground in a heap, but quickly regrouped and stood again, glaring at the two strangers to the city.

They shot again, but the dragon seemed to disappear before their eyes. In a flash, it was upon Matt, sending him crashing into a nearby wall with its tail. Matt's eyes opened widely and rolled into the back of his head when he hit the wall, but he landed on his hands and knees. Marc instantly turned and shot another bullet towards the dragon's head, but as soon as he pulled the trigger, it was gone again.

"It's gotten stronger?"

"No. *cough* It's wounded now. It wasn't really fighting before, just enjoying itself."

It appeared again, biting into Marc's arm. It carried him high into the air. Matt fired several bullets at it, managing to land one in its wing, which caused him to drop Marc to gain speed, but his objective had been completed. Marc now fell from an incredible distance. Matt braced himself to attempt to catch his falling friend, though he knew it to be futile effort. Such a feat would be near impossible.

Marc felt a sudden calm washing over him. As he looked below, he saw a man standing next to Matt. The man was dressed in a crimson cloak that hid his face, but somehow his eyes seemed to shine through. He seemed not at all interested in any of the insane things that were happening around him. Only in Marc, and Marc felt sure he had seen this man before. Something in his mind cried out, Help.

Matt felt as though a strange wind were blowing up from the very earth beneath him, and he saw Marc's fall was rapidly slowing. He stepped to the side, and watched in awe as his friend gracefully landed next to him. Before Matt could even ask, Marc began to answer.

"Dragon of the earth. Isn't that what the angel said? I feel like I've done this before..."

Matt's eyes locked into the distance, and time seemed to stand still for a brief moment. He saw the dragon rushing towards them with the same incredible speed as before, except... he saw the dragon. He registered somewhere in his mind that it seemed nothing else was moving. Even Marc stayed in the same battle stance he had assumed since landing. Matt could clearly see some sort of current running over the streets beneath him, and he stepped into one, and ran atop it.

He felt himself being propelled towards the dragon. There was something innate to him about this ability, but he didn't waste time trying to comprehend it. He simply shot forward, jumped, turned, and hooked his legs around the dragon's wings. It crashed down to the ground and slid forward straight towards Marc, who had to jump to the side to avoid being hit. As they slid, Matt put the barrel of his gun to the back of the dragon's head.

*BANG*

Matt stood, covered in blood from sliding so far across asphalt. Marc also, exhausted, feeling his arm become heavier and heavier as the adrenaline in his system began to die down a little. They looked at the dragon, and to their horror, it began to squirm a little.

"It's as good as dead."

"Something's still not right."

Marc hated being right. A strange darkness surrounded the dragon and seemed to pour into his mouth as he breathed in what seemed likely to be his last breath. Matt noticed to his dread that fire was welling in the back of his throat. He grabbed Marc by the shoulder and turned to run, but there was no way to make it in time.

Even facing the other way, it seemed that the whole city lit up with the amazing force of the attack. The two instantly felt a immense heat building at their backs. They both knew somewhere in their minds at this moment that death was imminent. Then, a strange man in a white... or maybe bright blue, it was hard to tell, suit of armor stood before him. He had a power about him that seemed to burn the very air. Matt felt sure he recognized him, but he could not place where from. The man grabbed Matt by the wrist, and rocketed into the sky with such amazing speed that Matt could not believe his arm didn't snap. Marc fell from his grip. He had no time to call out his name, they were gone in a flash. There was only time to register the pain and loneliness of his separation from his friend.

__________________
Maybe the answer is in the very light reflected off our blades. Maybe that's what it means to be this creature known as samurai.

Yukimura

Matt found himself floating down into a strange village very slowly. The man's hand was still on him and kept his descent slow, but somehow, he did it without actually grabbing Matt. Matt was confused, but something about this place seemed peaceful to him, like coming back to his hometown. The two landed gently and Matt immediately turned towards the strange man and shouted.

"Why did you pull me away from there?! Why just me?! Marc's still back there! How could you just leave him?!"

The man looked very puzzled by Matt's reaction, but he quickly seemed to shrug this feeling off. He gave Matt a reassuring look and placed a hand on his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice flowed like a gentle stream. It was refreshing and relaxing to the ears of its listener.

"Your concern for the earth dragon is most noble, but I assure you, his guardian must have gotten him out of there in time. You aren't the only one with people looking after you."

"Guardian? It's high-time I asked, What's going on?!"

"I am sure your confusion is deep. There is much to explain, and not much time to waste. Come, we shall talk."

The man led Matt through the small town towards the center where a great castle lie. To Matt it seemed the castle, which had many buildings within its walls, was bigger than the rest of the town combined. As they passed through, Matt couldn't help but notice a few curious looks from those around, but they all seemed friendly enough. Still, something about this place seemed different than anywhere he had been before, and not just because they appeared to be a few centuries behind the times. As they walked the man spoke.

"My name is Enzeru. I am the one who has been assigned by our lord God as your guardian, and as the guardian of all the past dragons of heaven. All throughout the earth, there are people who serve as protectors of the human race, most of them not even realizing it. They have huge amounts of spiritual energy. Spirit energy works just like it would seem, it affects the spirit. Those with high spirit energy affect the hearts and minds of those around them, changing every situation they enter in some way."

Enzeru paused to yell out to the gate guard, who signaled down the other side of the wall for the gate to be opened. The castle gate began to slowly rise into the air, and the massive doors behind it open back into the castle. Matt amused himself thinking, Man. I wonder if they even know about electricity?

"In extreme examples, spirit energy can be used for things like healing, or possession, changing even the body of those they affect. The thing that makes the dragons stand out is, they have enough, or should i say the right type of spirit energy to even affect the physical world around them."

"So how does one build their spirit energy?"

Enzeru thought, I like this one.

"Actually, inside every soul is a vast, pure, and powerful supply of spirit energy. The problem is all of the contradiction that exists inside a person. Different sections of that energy work against one another to the extent the person is conflicted in their own soul. You, dragon, like all dragons, regardless of whether you will it or not, will forevermore reduce the number of conflicts in yourself. It is part of your very design, your purpose. Now that you know this of your nature, you will never again reduce your power, it will only grow and grow."

At first Matt smiled at this, but something soon occurred to him that made him far less excited about this revelation.

"So wait, you're telling me that regardless of how I feel about it, my soul is going to change from this day forward? How many forms are there of an unconflicted soul? What happens to me? The real me?"

Hmm, he asked so much sooner than the others.

"You will become what you are meant to be, and when there is no more conflict in your soul, the world will no longer be able to hold it, and you will be taken to heaven."

Matt suddenly felt somewhat dizzy, and the world around him seemed to spin, everything except Enzeru. Matt got the sensation that he was travelling at a great speed while still standing still, and he saw a brilliant flash of light.

__________________
Maybe the answer is in the very light reflected off our blades. Maybe that's what it means to be this creature known as samurai.

Yukimura

Matt suddenly found himself standing in a massive ivory castle. It seemed endless, and yet, somehow everything seemed close by. It was a slightly offsetting experience at first, but he found himself quickly going accustomed to it. As he looked around, he began to realize where exactly he was. His eyes widened and he looked to Enzeru.

"You are right in what you suspect... mostly. This is heaven, or rather..."

"We're in heaven?! I thought that require I be far more... you know... dead."

"You would be correct in thinking that, but this isn't actually..."

"Wait... if this is heaven, then does that mean I could see Stephen?"

"You speak of your brother. If he is here, you can see him. Whether or not that is the case, I cannot say. Finding him would be quite difficult however since..."

Matt didn't even bother to let Enzeru finish. He took off in a flash of a sprint. He instantly saw the same currents running over the ground as he had before, and was soon tearing through the castle at incredible speeds, calling out.

"Stephen!"

Time seemed to stand still. There was no room in Matt's mind to even process the passage of time. There was only the desire to find his lost little brother.

"Stephen!"

Then, Matt screeched to a halt. He saw a figure standing at the end of a long hallway that he recognized in an instant. Matt rushed over to him and crashed into him with a huge hug. He instantly knew the comfortable feeling of the arms that were squeezing him back far too hard, and he returned the favor as they crashed into a wall. The two could not seem to stop laughing for a moment, and then, Matt felt a deep pain in his heart. He turned to see Enzeru, still standing beside him, as though he had never left.

"It's not really him."

"As I was saying, this is not really heaven. Think of it as a video file of a program running. If your actions were well enough anticipated, the video file could perfectly replicate the program, the difference being that no actual changes to the computer would be made. In this case, the person predicting is you. I have placed in your mind certain unchanging truths about the nature of heaven, and you have filled in the rest yourself. So, the illusion has become quite accurate."

"So, I can't see my brother?"

"You can see him, yes. You cannot speak with him, no. Actually, it's very odd that you were able to find him at all without actually being dead yourself. For those in heaven, they can feel in their souls exactly where those they knew in life are. You are not actually in heaven. The chances of you seeing him here are astronomical. It is both a great blessing and a great curse to you that you saw him here."

Matt smiled a sad smile as he looked at his brother one last time. He punched him in the arm, and Stephen punched him back and waved, never speaking a word. He disappeared in a flash, and Enzeru put his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"Come, we have business here."

(Interlude: Let's have a poetry break! Title: Rainbows)

The leaves crunch softly under my feet.
My breath hangs white in the cold air.
I search for treasure oh so sweet.
I find nothing but my own despair.
The pot of gold that's at the end.
It's nowhere at all to be found.
Endless circles continue the bend.
The rainbow never touches the ground.
In frustration I walk away.
Sadness covers face and eyes.
The sun shines so brightly this day.
But looking down I don't see the sky.
I sigh and cast a wanting look back.
Tears of joy make my eyes full.
Never found that pot of gold.
But the rainbow is so beautiful.

(Okay, back to the story.)

(By the way, if anyone's actually reading this and wants to see more of it, just post something relating that desire, and I'll post longer posts more often. It's good motivation for me to know I'm writing for an audience.)

As Marc felt Matt's hand slip away, it seemed he fell in slow motion back down to the earth. He knew his demise was imminent, and there was a certain peace in him for a moment, then fear. It wasn't that he was afraid to die, he simply wanted so badly to live. Only just today had he felt this rush of purpose in his life, and now it had to come to an end like this? What kind of man dies at the beginning of his story? He simply could not accept it, could not be at peace. He would not accept it.

He felt like screaming, but channeled his energy into fighting for his survival. His mind raced for an option, something he could do to save his life, and then, just as he was about to be consumed, he realized he never hit the ground when he fell. He was slipping right through the earth beneath him. The fight for his survival still raced through his mind as he fell deeper and deeper, and then landed gently, somehow on his feet, in what seemed like absolute darkness.

He saw before him a pair of eyes that seemed to pierce right through the darkness, looking into his very soul. He got the feeling that there was life all around him, yet he could see nothing. He simply stood, gazing back into these piercing eyes. It was as though seeing them look through him like that forced him as well to take inventory of what was inside him, and slowly, the world around him faded in.

He saw the same man in black from before, still shrouded by his cloak. Surrounding him were fearsome looking knights in crimson armor that seemed to burn the air around it. He could feel their menacing looks on him, but he did not fear. He gazed back at the man who seemed to had brought him here, preparing himself for the event of a fight. Much to his surprise, the man dropped to one knee, and following his lead, the knights around him.

"Welcome, dragon of earth. We have been long awaiting your arrival. I am Amarth, assigned to be your guardian. Since you are here, I assume you've come to grow stronger."

Marc thought about this for but a moment. The concept seemed to catch him quite off guard. He was still trying to take in these sudden immense changes in his life. There was nothing normal about anything that had happened to him lately. Yet, the answer seemed so clear. He had almost died, his dreams never being realized. He was so close to being forgotten by the world that spawned him. He could not allow that to happen again.

"Yes. I will grow stronger. Where do we begin?"

Though Amarth's smile couldn't be seen, something in his eyes revealed his expression. He put out one hand, and in it began to appear a swirling mass of shadow. Something about it seemed to pulse energy, power of some kind. Marc knew that since he had seen this, his life was on a new course. He would master this talent.

"Let me tell you about spirit energy..."

__________________
Maybe the answer is in the very light reflected off our blades. Maybe that's what it means to be this creature known as samurai.

Yukimura

Matt stood in awe as he stared at the sight before him. There were hundreds of men, something about them seemed to shine. They stood so close to the presence of God, which Matt himself was never allowed to see, even in his own vision. They praised His name over and over, and their hearts were overflowing with gladness. There was something about them though, at first it seemed somewhat creepy. They were all exactly the same. Sure they still carried individual air about them, but they were like photocopies of one another.

Matt felt Enzeru tap him on the shoulder, and he turned around. In an instant, he could see into the depths of hell, and there were the same copies, suffering and screaming. The sight of these was too much for him to bear, and in an instant he was back.

"These are the dragons of heaven and earth?"

"Half right, these are the dragons of heaven."

"Oh... I guess I just assumed that servants of God would be..."

Matt allowed his voice to trail off. Though his curiosity was not sated, he could not bring himself to continue on this train of thought. Something about it seemed blasphemous to him.

"You thought that dragons of heaven had some sort of free pass to heaven?" Matt moved to speak, but was glad to be interrupted. "All humans have a choice to make, and each is free to make his own. God does not bind even the dragons of heaven against their will."

-------

Marc was walking behind Amarth through a thick wood. He didn't quite remember coming to this wood, but he didn't bother to think about it too much. He knew they were training, and he couldn't wait to get even stronger.

"Hey, Amarth. Where are we going anyway?"

"We're almost there."

Suddenly, Marc heard a huge crash tear through the woods. It startled him and he took a fighting stance, but Amarth simply continued walking. Taking a queue from him, Marc let his guard drop again and followed. After a moment more, they arrived at a great pit within the wood. It was vast, deep and wide. Within was a terriffying beast, a dragon that was black as the night sky. It seemed to have an infinite number of razor sharp teeth. Its eyes tore through the souls of those they landed on. Marc instantly became terrified in a way he had never known before. It took him no time to calm himself though, as the dragon was held by a great army holding ropes and weapons, keeping it contained within the pit.

"Come."

To Marc's terror, Amarth began walking down into the pit. He saw that about halfway down was a deck of sorts that walked out towards the dragon's head. His eyes widened fully as his entire being hoped to stay away from it.

"Amarth! Don't be crazy! You can't go there! He'll kill you in a second!"

"Do you want to be stronger or not?! Now come!"

Marc swallowed hard and started down into the pit. As they drew closer, he noticed that Amarth's eyes never broke from the dragon's, not even for a fraction of a second. Marc tried to look as well, but every time he did, he felt as though he would be crushed under its gaze and was forced to look away.

Marc was surprised to realize that they had already made it all the way onto the dock. He laughed slightly cocky in the face of what he had thought to be so dangerous. He payed close attention as Amarth began to speak.

"As long as you look without fear, it will not attack. In fact, it will fear you to the degree it expects to be feared. You must purge yourself of fear, or be destroyed. Good luck."

Marc didn't need to voice his complaint as Amarth began to walk away. He knew that they understood each other, and Amarth was going to leave him either way. He also knew that there was no way he'd pass up this opportunity to grow in such intense training, so he stayed, turned, an looked up.

__________________
Maybe the answer is in the very light reflected off our blades. Maybe that's what it means to be this creature known as samurai.