|
Sunlight Raye - Part FOUR |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Time passed by and Raye quickly became the top of her class. Then they rode into their first battle, which they won. Everyone said it was because of her and she became a hero for her squad and all of her fellow warriors. It was after a few more battles that she got in a fight with Huja.
“Come Kuto, you have to put me in the front,” said Huja.
“No,” said Raye, “I’m the squad leader. You chose me so I choose how we fight.”
“Well I wouldn’t have chosen you if I thought that you didn’t have any faith in my abilities,” said Huja.
“I put you on the right flank because I am on the left flank,” said Raye, “We balance each other out. A half demon on each flank with a human on the lead.”
“How did you know - I mean I’m not a demon.”
“Relax, I’m cool.”
“How did-?”
“Because I am half demon, or at least I was until I started turning.”
“Do you have a power?”
“Yep, you?”
“Yep, I can blow things up,” said Huja, as he extended his had a tree blew up, “What’s your power?”
“I’m a telepath, I can get into people’s minds.”
“Cool.”
“Not really, it’s extremely strange.”
“That’s how you knew about all that demon stuff on the first day.”
“Yep.”
“Is that how you knew about me?”
“Nope.”
“Then how?”
“I’m just perceptive.”
“How perceptive?”
“I know,” said Raye as she pressed her hand against his face and pushed his long hair out of his right eye, “That you’re blind in your right eye.” She could see the scar that had damaged his eye clearly now. It was just as bad as the one on her arm. That was why she was so sure that it had been a scar instead of a disease. She’d seen the same thing with an eye lost due to an illness. It was impossible to visually tell the difference. But Huja had tried to cover it up with his hair so therefore it was an injury.
“You really are perceptive,” said Huja.
“I have my moments,” said Raye, “So are we good?”
“We’re good.” They parted ways. It was nice not being alone, two demons on the same squad. It was good to have something in common like that, even if they had no idea how much they really had in common.
The months went by and soon so did the year. They fought, a lot. Class was fun, it was so much better than school in Shano. They learned about things that were useful. The Code Book was basically a text book and Raye felt a rush every time she read something on her own. Huja had taught her so much easier than Kuto had. She started to read other things too. Huja had a lot of books and he was always happy to lend them to her and help her read them. She learned more in that year than she had in all her school years back home. Huja said that it was cute, the way she acted when he would give her a new book.
Their squad was easily the best and the superior officers clearly favored Raye. She excelled at everything she did and she was always so happy about it. Everything made her happy, everything fascinated her. Shano was this big dark mess but everything at the camp was bright and new. It was that behavior that gave her so many fans. Her huge smile and bright, currently green, eyes had become the talk of the entire camp. She was having the time of her life but things were getting messy, too messy.
Jaso had fallen for Huja, hook line and sinker. He would act like an idiot sometimes but Raye couldn’t make any jokes about it. She’d do the same things around Naro. She was a graceful killing machine who would fall over if he touched her. They were really close. It was to a point where it was uncomfortably close. He tried to kiss her, she’d tried to kiss him. And she knew what was happening, she was falling for him. That was the last thing she’d been excepting when she had come to the war. She had expected fights and demons and possibly death not love. She hadn’t seen love happening at all.
Raye walked into her tent and sat down. She pulled a box out from under her cot and opened it. It had a notebook in it. She pulled it out and flipped through it. Kuto had started it. They sent it back and forth between each other sending messages. She flipped through it and reread the last series of letters. It was strange because even in the letters they pretended to be each other. The letters might be read or reviewed for security so they were also forced to be vague.
Dear Raye,
I miss you guys even more now. Being away from home is harder than I thought it would be. This is my dream, it always has been but I can’t help but wonder how exactly it became my dream. Everyone always said that it got from him, but everything I remember about Gaksu seems to be a lie. How much do you remember about him?
~Kuto
P.S. I think I might have a crush on someone here.
Dear Kuto,
I don’t remember much about him. You were closer to him than anyone. It seems like a life time ago. He used to tell us about his adventures in the war. He made it seem fun, maybe that’s why you wanted to join. He left when we were kids. I never questioned your reasons and you neither should you. Especially now that you’re there for crying out loud. Everyone back home misses you just as you miss us. Hala says if you don’t come home soon she’ll never speak to you again. (She’s already planning your welcome home dinner). Now you have to tell me everything about your crush.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
He’s got light brown hair; it’s practically strands of gold. He has these enchantingly lovely blue eyes. And man is he a great fighter or what. He’s nearly as good as me, we spare all of the time and I love to watch him stretch. He looks so, uh, when he does it. It drives me mad sometimes. It’s all I can do to not kiss him. I’ve almost done it a couple of times. He’s got the most amazing smile and everything he does just makes me like him more.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
Look who’s in love now? Who would have thought it? You, the great lone wolf, in love? It’s about time too; you need someone to take care of you. Someone who is, preferably, not me. I mean taking care of you can become a hassle after a while, I’m lucky to still be alive after everything you’ve put me through, especially recent events. Hala fainted when she heard the news. Okay not really but she wanted me to put that in. She wants to know his name so come on, spill it. Tell us everything.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
His name is Naro Izu. He’s from Arela. He’s really nice but nothing’s happened, of course. Despite what my fan club believes. He’s not very smart though, unless he actually tries, when you think about it. I mean yeah he’s somewhat intelligent and all but he’s kind of an airhead and he can be kind of spas. It’s not like anything can happen, we’re two guys. It would never work because of, you know. It’s hard at times, seeing him around here, just being near him can hurt. Every time he touches me, even if it’s just on the shoulder, I can feel his hand for some time after he’s taken it off. Being near him is painful because I can’t have him but I can’t stand to be away from him. I always have to see him. I always want to be near him.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
I know that it’s hard but you have stay strong. You can’t deal with any complications right now. Any trouble could mean your death and we both know it. So stay focused, don’t think about him. Kuto, think about the way things were for you back here. The way people treated you was horrible. If you go forward with this it’ll only make things worse for you. It’ll be just like at home. If he finds out that thing he’ll treat you just like they do. And don’t think you can handle that.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
You’re my best friend! You’re supposed to support me. You’re supposed to say, “go on, let yourself be happy for once in your life.” You’re supposed to tell me to fight for myself and what I want instead for the whole world. I love him I really do. I want your support but I don’t need it. I’m going to him the truth, the truth about how I feel, the truth about you and me, us, the you/me, me/you thing. It’s gotten so confusing. I can’t even tell what’s going on in my own life. I will tell him, I have to tell him.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
KUTO STOP!!! You can’t trust anyone with that secret! Think about what you have to live for. Kuto, you can’t tell him the truth. I may be your best friend but I will not support any decision you make that will throw your life away. I don’t care what you think you feel. If it is love any feelings he has for you are for that you, not the real you. Just come home now! Forget the war, forget all of that danger.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
Like hell I’m coming home! I belong here and I get that you could never understand it. But I actually fit in here. I love it here. SO I AM STAYING HERE! And I love him and I trust him with my secret. I trust with him with my life. I will tell him the truth whether you like it or not. You know I always do exactly what I want and nothing that you can do will ever be able to change my mind.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
He can’t possibly love you back. You’ve made things far too complicated for it to work out. You’ll only get hurt. Trust me for once in your life. It’ll just be better if you keep the secret until you get back.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
I have to tell him. I can’t stand lying to him anymore. You don’t understand, you’ve never been in love. And it is love, Raye, it really is. I know that you don’t get it but it really is love. I love him so much it hurts. And I tried to stop loving him, but I can’t. It is more than a crush or lust. It is love, Raye.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
As much as you think I don’t understand, I do. I have fallen in love. You’ve been gone a long time. Things change, it happens. I can’t really tell you about in a letter but I know love, I swear to god I’m in love too. And I love that the person I love loves me back. But that will not happen with you. You’ll be happier if you just come home.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
So you finally went somewhere with Hala did you? And don’t act like I couldn’t know because I always have. And if you ask how - I’m not a moron. I see the way you look at her. God, I’m proud of you for taking the guts to do something about it. Just as you should be proud of me when I do the same thing. You’re in love so you know what it feels like and know how much it hurts to lie about how you feel.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
So you’re proud of me eh? Does that mean you’re not mad at me? Because if you are mad at me I better run for the hills. I’ve seen you angry before and I’ll tell you, it’s scary. I hope you haven’t lost your temper there. You can seem, well insane. Let’s not forget how well I know you. But if you’re not mad at me then I am truly grateful for that. And besides even if you were I wouldn’t change. I couldn’t tell you, you know that. And I love her
~Raye
Dear Raye,
Of course I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at someone for following their heart, least of all you. Raye, you’re my best friend and you always will be, whether you want to be or not. That’s just the way things are. I have to tell him and I hope you understand because I love you too. And no I haven’t lost my temper yet.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
Fine, go ahead. Clearly I’m not going to be able to stop you. I never could. Once you set your mind on something there’s not a force strong enough in the world that can get you to change it. You’re as stubborn as you are strong. I guess it’s nice to know that there is one thing about you that will never change. But just be careful okay. I don’t want anything to happen to you.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
You said that you don’t want anything to happen to me. No offense but that’s really stupid. Let’s look at my life for a second okay? I’m miles from home in the middle of nowhere, fighting an army of evil psychotic creatures from hell intent on ripping me limb from limb. That is of course while dealing with my fan club full of stalker-prone, extremely horny teenage boys, who need a serious reality check. Then there’s that whole you/me thing, which just makes things so very complicated my head is still spinning. Plus there’s that whole thing with dad being alive and in a way he’s right here in my backyard and now I’m turning into a full demon. Now I’m in love. So for crying out loud, Raye, stuff happens and it tends to happen to me. What can I say I’m just that lucky.
~Kuto
P.S. I’m going to tell him soon. But I’m not sure how to do it. I think I’m going to embarrass myself. I always do something stupid when he’s around, he just gets me stirred up.
Dear Kuto,
I wish you good luck, you’ll need it. Just remember to be yourself. Be brave and always have faith in the love that you have for him. It’ll be scary, trust me on that one thing, But if you two have a true love then it will all be fine and maybe you’ll have a happily ever after.
~Raye
Dear Raye,
I will but there’s something I’ve got to say first. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me after I drop the bomb. So if something goes wrong and you know, I’m found out. If I’m killed before I can return home I want to know that I love you; I love you all so much. I don’t have any regrets and I really am happy. So tell Enari to be strong but whatever happens don’t let him join the war. There are things about it that you don’t understand. But know this; I understood everything I was getting myself into when I left. It’s not as good as I made it seem. Also tell Hala that she should never give up on her dream. Hala’s Hut will be a major success I know it will. And now you, you have to be strong and whatever happens stay away from this war. I don’t want you guys to have anything to do with it anymore. Please just do this for me.
~Kuto
Dear Kuto,
You’ll be fine. Don’t think like that. You promised to come home safe and you always keep your promises. Please, come back soon. And bring that boy of yours home with you. So go, tell him the truth and tell me how it goes.
~Raye
That was the last entry. Raye put it away. Today was the day she would tell Naro the truth. She got up and looked in her small mirror. She was never in the habit of doing so, yet every time she was going to see Naro she found her looking in the mirror. As she reread the notebook she couldn’t help but think about how long she already been gone from Shano. It amazed her as she realized it had been over a year ago. She’d left near the end of summer last year and it was already the middle of fall again. This place had become her home; these people, her family. She pulled her hair back. Since she had cut her hair last year it had grown back. Now she could put it in a ponytail again. It was a short ponytail, only a little more than a stub. But she liked it. It also had green streaks in them. A result of the scar. They matched her eyes.
She got up and left her tent. She was supposed to meet Naro in five minutes and she was going to be late. It wasn’t a date, despite what the whole camp thought or how much she wanted it to be. On her way there she ran into Jaserard. Every time they saw each other lately they had the same stupid argument.
“Cut the hair,” said Jaserard.
“Not going to happen,” said Raye.
“I could send you home for insubordination you know?”
“You could? Could you?” She smiled at him.
“You’re so annoying.”
“Yep.”
“Cut it.”
“No, I like it.”
“Well no one else does. It looks bad. The whole camp hates it.”
“Shall we take a vote?” asked Raye and he groaned, “Who likes my hair?” Almost the entire camp raised their hands and cheered for her. It surprised her that some of them were yelling at Jaserard for trying to force her to cut her hair. One guy even went so far as to scream “Pigtails!” She looked at the one she thought it was. She sighed and looked back at Jaserard.
“I hate you.”
“I know, well I got to go see Naro,” said Raye to the groans of the crowd, “For the last time, it’s not a date!”
“Sure, go.” She ran off, without argument. She was already late for her meeting with Naro. She ran as fast as she could. When she got there she found a very grumpy looking Naro leaning on a tree. He looked perfect. He always looked perfect.
“You’re late,” said Naro.
“Sorry,” said Raye as she bent over to catch her breath.
“What’d you do? Run here?”
“Yeah.” She looked up at him and smiled.
“And yet you’re late.”
“Patience is a virtue.”
“So is punctuality,” said Naro and they both laughed, “And can I ask why?”
“I ran into Jaserard, he tried to get me to cut my hair again.”
“Why not just cut it?”
“I like it.”
“I like it too.” Naro put his hand on the side of her head. He ran his fingers through her hair. When he reached the back of her head he flicked off the band she had used to tie her hair up. His other hand reached behind her and caught it. Her hair fell down around her face. She looked beautiful. He grabbed her hand and slipped the band over it. He pulled her hand up and kissed it. He grabbed her hand as tight as he could, he never wanted to let go.
“So?” asked Raye.
“We need to talk.”
“Yeah.” There was a long pause as they walked away from the camp.
“I-,” they both started. They both laughed again. They both found the same things so funny. It was cute.
“You first,” said Raye and she nudged him.
“No, you, mine is kind of shocking.”
“Trust me, mine is definitely more shocking.”
“Oh, yeah?” He leaned back against a tree and pulled her in close. She didn’t resist and when she felt her back connect with his chest her heart started to pound. He put his head next to hers on her shoulder. They kept finding their selves in these positions. It felt so natural for him to have his arms around her. It was nice when he held her close and it was that pleasantness that kept drawing them back in despite what they both knew they should be doing. They knew they shouldn’t but they couldn’t help it. That was where they wanted to be, they wanted to be with each other but they had a problem. They hadn’t told each other how they felt. They didn’t want the other to reject them.
“Naro?”
“You know what?”
“Huh?”
“I want to know what you have to say.” He wrapped one of his arms around her upper arms, tight around her shoulders. It felt so warm and she had trouble focusing. After a while, when she did not talk, he wrapped his right arm around her stomach.
“Uh,” said Raye as she took a deep breath.
“What is it?”
“I am-.” She stopped; she couldn’t finish her sentence.
“You are?” He wasn’t sure why he did it but he couldn’t stop himself. He slipped his hand up, under her shirt. He gently caressed her stomach. As soon as he did this she tilted her head back on to his shoulder. She moaned softly and Naro lost what was left of his self-control. Her knees buckled slightly and she fell backwards into him. Her body wasn’t listening to her head. She knew that she should stop it; she couldn’t let it go any farther. But she couldn’t move to get away. Her breathing slowly fell into rhythm with his as his hand inched upwards. He loved the way her skin felt and he wanted to feel all of it. His hand grasped the bottom of his shirt and he slowly started to pull it up.
Suddenly a blue spark coursed between them and Raye snapped back to reality. She pulled away from him, stumbling to a tree in front of her. She grabbed it and caught her breath. It was like coming up for air.
“Wow,” said Raye.
“Are you okay?” asked Naro as he rushed to her side. He placed a hand on the back of her neck. The warm sensation returned and she turned away from his touch before she lost control again.
“I have to tell you what I was going to say.”
“Oh?”
“I am - AHHH!” Raye clutched her head. It had come from nowhere, such horrible pain. She’d only felt something of this magnitude once in her life and she’d hated it that time too. But she had learned from it, she’d learned how to protect herself from this kind of pain. It came from her power and she’d never expected to feel again but she was. She fell to her knees and started to scream.
“Kuto?” asked Naro as he caught her before she hit the ground, “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s -,” said Raye and she tried to finish the sentence, to explain. Someone was breaking down her mental defenses without any regard to her. But her barriers were strong; no demon she had ever met could destroy them so easily. She’d made sure of it. There was only one person who’d ever done it and that was her Grandfather. But he was dead, he’d died ten years ago and he would never do this to her. Whoever was doing this was just shattering her mental barriers like they were nothing and clearly couldn’t care what happened to her in the process.
“Hello, little human,” said a voice inside her head. It was dark, sinister and full of evil and malice. It was like poison. She started to feel numb all over and then she felt nothing. She couldn’t feel her body at all.
“KUTO!” yelled Naro as she passed out in his arms. The area went deadly silent. He was afraid that she was dying and the quiet made it worse. But little did he know that there was a very strange conversation going on inside her head.
“Who are you?” asked Raye, but somehow she already knew.
“You already know, just think about it. Who else would have the kind of power it took to take your barriers? And believe me, they were strong, some of the strongest I’ve ever seen and I have seen a lot. You’re so full of surprises little one. Who knew that such a powerful demon could come from the humans.” The voice said the word “humans” as though it they were such horrible things. As he said it all of the doubt she had about his identity vanished from her mind.
“Darak?”
“Yes and unfortunately I don’t know you’re name right now. But I do know how big of a pain you’ve been to me, which is huge.”
“Why, thank you.”
“I see your spunk gas returned quite fast.”
“I guess.”
“It would be quite impressive if it weren’t just a façade.” She jerked.
“How are you in my mind?”
“I love that even in the face of danger you are still so curious. It’s adorable.” She jerked again, that voice. It felt like it was attacking her from all sides. And he’d just called her adorable, that was weird.
“What do you want?”
“I’m here to give you an offer.”
“What?”
“See, its things like that, that make you so cute. You’ve already told yourself you won’t accept the offer no matter what it is. Yet you still can’t help but ask what it is.”
“That’s not true!”
“Oh but it is.”
“What offer do you have?”
“Join me.”
“Why in the hell would I do that?”
“I can give you whatever you want.”
“Huh?”
“I can give you magic, money, minions.”
“What?”
“Whatever your heart’s desire, I can give it to you. Even a certain young boy you seem to care for so much.”
“Naro.” She hadn’t meant to say it, it had just slipped out.
“Yes, though I don’t understand why you feel for him so deeply. He’s a human.”
“One- there is nothing wrong with being human, two- I’m human.”
“You were never really human, you were a half-breed.” She jerked once more.
“I’m not a half-breed.”
“Not anymore, you’re a full-blooded demon now. It’s very attractive.”
“What?”
“You have great potential and I could teach you so much. You could be my precious one. You are strong but I could make you stronger. Just swear your allegiance to me, my love.”
“I’ll never do that.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“I am.”
“Let’s see how sure you are after I’m finished with you.”
“What?”
“Because you see, you are well on your way to becoming my Beloved. And I’ll make sure that stay on that path. For you belong to me and only me and I won’t let anyone else have you.” She felt like she was shaking, he’d called her his Beloved.
“I don’t belong to you.”
“All demons belong to me, you will be my Beloved. I’ll love you and take care of you, just come to me. You might as well just come now, I love and I’ll have you.”
“No, never, I won’t.” It came out struggled and she could feel him smiling.
“Let’s see how you feel after I give you a gift.”
“A gift?”
“Something of mine, a glimpse of what you can have if you join me. Some of my power, see how you like it.”
She felt sensations in her body again. She was back. She felt a little bit ill but otherwise fine. She felt something warm wrapped around her. It took her a second to figure out that it was Naro’s arms. She took a deep breath and then things started to go from bad to worse. It was like someone had just electrocuted her. She was thrown from Naro and hit a tree. He jumped to save her but a huge gust of wind flew through the area. At first it held him in place but as it grew stronger it blew him away from her. Raye slowly flew into the air and hovered a few feet above the ground. Then she began to glow. Her hair whipped around her and everything about her became golden from the light. Her head shot up and her eyes completely gold, far brighter than anything else. When Naro looked into her eyes he somehow knew that she was the source of the strange wind. He also understood that she had no control and that she was in pain. He struggled against the wind, slowly making progress. Raye screamed in agony, her voice echoing with power.
“Help me,” said Raye. The wind died and she fell.
“KUTO!” screamed Naro as he dove and caught her. They tumbled and rolled down the hill. After they had stopped, Raye slowly opened her eyes. She saw Naro leaning on top of her.
“N-Nar-Naro?”
“Yeah, I’m here, I’m here.” He put a hand behind her head. And she took a few deep, ragged breaths. She looked around at him.
“Why are you on top of me?”
“Huh?” asked Naro as he realized he was lying on top of her from when they had fallen, “Uh, um, we fell and rolled and uh, I guess, I ended up on top. You shouldn’t be surprised; this happens a lot with us.”
“And you’re always on top.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, as if you’re trying to protect me.”
“Oh.”
“Normally, I hate that.”
“Oh,” said Naro and he started to rise off her.
“But when you do it.” He stopped.
“What?”
“When you do it all that I can say is,” said Raye as she reached up and grabbed him, “Don’t stop.”
“Huh?” She wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him close. It was closer than they had been before. Now he could hear her pounding heart and feel her frantic shaking. He knew something was wrong.
“Please don’t stop, please, please, always protect me.” She was begging. Darak was close and she could feel him. She was terrified, she knew that she was powerless against him. She just wanted Naro to protect her.
“Of course I will, I’ll always protect you, I promise.” He lifted her up and walked back up the hill away from the denser part of the forest. She was shaking badly and he knew that he couldn’t carry her all the way back to camp so he set her down.
“What? What are you doing?”
“I’m going to go get help.”
“No! Please don’t, please don’t go, please don’t leave me all alone. Please stay with me.” She grabbed his arm and her voice sounded so pleading. Her eyes were full of misery and he lost his own will as he looked into them. He couldn’t bare her being so sad and scared. He would do anything for her if she’d just be happy again. She needed him and he couldn’t deny her, not when she looked at him with those eyes of her. He’d never seen her like this before. She was the life of everything that happened at the camp. She always happy and smiling and laughing. And on missions she was the brave one. There was no demon that could scare her out of a fight. She enjoyed fighting, she would fight anyone. But now she was acting completely different. She was scared and sad. He didn’t like that. He didn’t understand what had just happened to her and she couldn’t explain to him, not right then, she was too shaken up to talk.
“Okay.” He laid down next to her. She grabbed him, pulled him in close and shivered violently. He held on to her as tight as he could to give her the little bit of comfort that he could. It was bad at first and for good reason. Darak had just climbed inside her mind. He’d said such strange things, things she didn’t understand and couldn’t understand. She never understood love. Growing up pretty much alone she’d never been close to anyone other than Mantos and Hala. She’d always been by herself and love had always seemed like such a farfetched thing. But now she might have been in love and Darak had said he loved her. She felt sick and violated. The shakes were bad but slowly she calmed down. Soon they came only in small attacks. Eventually she fell asleep in his arms, with her head on his chest.
A couple of hours later she shot up. It was light out, she’d fallen asleep. She felt a little better. She shook Naro and he woke up too.
“We fell asleep,” said Raye.
“We have to get back to camp,” said Naro and he stood up, “You don’t look so good. I’m going to carry you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are not fine, so climb on.” He forced her onto his back.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to.” He started to run back to the camp. Raye almost fell asleep again; the only thing keeping her away was Naro’s constant movement as he ran.
“Thanks,” said Raye as he set her down in front of her tent.
“Are you sure you are okay?”
“I’m fine,” said Raye and Naro gave her a skeptical look, “I will be.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I promise,” said Raye he started to walk away, “I just need some sleep.” She ducked under the back of her tent and her chin dropped at what she saw. The rest of her team was waiting for her.
“I bet you do,” said Huja, they had been waiting for her. She swallowed.
“What are you-?” asked Raye.
“We went to wake up Naro, he wasn’t there,” said Jaso.
“So we came looking for you,” said Kalan, “But you weren’t here.”
“Out all night were you?” asked Huja as he reached out and grabbed something in her hair. He showed it to her: a twig. She whimpered and immediately reached up to feel her hair. There were more. She looked at Huja and let her mind go into his. She saw exactly what he was thinking and she didn’t like it.
“You pervert! Nothing happened!”
“Don’t pull that trick on me!” yelled Huja, he knew what she had done. She shouldn’t have told him about her power, he was already for it.
“It’s my trick; I pull it on you if I want to, besides nothing happened.”
“Sure.”
“That’s it! OUT! Everyone out!” She shoved them all out. She looked at mirror and removed the rest of the grass and twigs from her hair. She set the mirror down and walked over to her cot. Rather than climbing into it, she slid down underneath it. She began to shake again. She felt horrible. What had Darak done to her? She heard mail call yet she couldn’t move to answer it. They immediately noticed her absence and her squad rushed into her tent, where they found her shivering under her bed.
“Kuto, what’s wrong?” asked Huja.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh, Kuto,” said Naro, “Come out.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Huja, can I borrow your dictionary for a sec?”
“Okay, sure,” said Huja and he went into his tent and grabbed it. He returned with it and slid it under to her. She flipped through it. She needed to fully understand what Darak had said to her. First she found the word “beloved.”
Beloved: loved very much, very popular with, a person who is loved very much.
Love: Affection, strong feeling of deep attraction, romantic.
Precious: Rare & wealth of value, valuable/ important not to be wasted, loved.
Desire: Strong wish to have, a person or thing that is wished for.
Adorable: Very pleasing, charming, lovable, and usually very pretty.
Attractive: Appealing, alluring, charming, pretty, cute, eye-catching.
Cute: Pretty, delightful, charming, endearing, sweet, appealing, darling, lovable.
It didn’t make any sense. Darak was her enemy. They were fighting each other. How could he say those things to her? Did he mean those things? Did he really feel that way? She told herself that he was trying to mess with her. She didn’t want to let him get to her, but it was hard. Something inside of her kept reminding her that conversation, of his tone of voice and of the way his presence felt. Everything about him seemed like he meant every word, yet how could he? They were enemies; it had to be a strategy of some sort. She didn’t want to deal with it, she didn’t know what to think. Plus on top of it she felt like she was dieing. He’d done this to her. If he loved her why would he hurt her? He’d called it a gift, he was psychotic maybe he thought it was a gift. It was too confusing; she should stop thinking about it but she couldn’t.
“Kuto?” asked Huja as he bent over to look at her. She didn’t like it so she threw the dictionary at him. It hit him in the face.
“Kuto!” yelled Naro and she reached outside of her bed.
“Are you coming out now?” asked Jaso. She reached up and grabbed her pillow.
“No,” said Raye angrily, before ducking back under. She was acting like a child and she knew it. The next actions were retold as Kalan recounted the event to Jaserard.
“Then Huja tried to pull his mouth, sir,” said Kalan.
“He stopped?” asked Jaserard.
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
“He bit him, sir.”
“Why?”
“He refused to come out, sir.”
“Why is acting like a child?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“We can’t hold mail call much longer.”
“Then help us get him out, sir.”
“Fine.” Kalan led Jaserard to the tent. When they got there something came flying out, barely missing them.
“Leave me alone!” yelled Raye.
“He’s been throwing things, sir,” explained Kalan as he held open the tent.
“Lovely. Private Manto!” yelled Jaserard.
“Uh, oh,” said Raye.
“Come out of there right now.”
“No.”
“That’s an order.”
“But-.”
“A direct order, Private.” She let out a yell and kicked the bed.
“I don’t want to.”
“Out, now!” She groaned loudly and crawled out. She could never disobey an order not matter how she felt.
“I hate you!” yelled Raye and she ran out of the tent. She only got a few feet before she fell to her knees, exhausted and out of breath. She was too tired to keep going. She had never felt so drained before in her life.
“You’re not okay are you?” asked Naro, he was directly behind him.
“No.” She heard him kneel down put his head next to hers.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“You said you were okay, I knew you weren’t, but I let you go any way.” he wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s okay.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Please.”
“Yes, of course, I forgive you.”
“Good.” Raye felt something strange on the back of her neck. She knew what it was immediately. He’d just licked her.
“What?” He kissed her cheek and took a deep breath. He loved the way she smelled, nothing could be so sweet.
“First, we have to get you through mail call.” He stood up and wrapped his around her stomach. Then he lifted her up, off the ground, and held her up. Her feet dangled for a few second before he set her down. Yet still he held her tight, never wanting to let go and her never wanting him to.
“Naro?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re beautiful?” She froze.
“What?”
“You’re beautiful, you know that?”
“Huh?”
“You’re fantastic, amazing.”
“Hey get a move on!” yelled Jaso and they jumped away from each other. Raye ran he fingers through her hair as they walked into the mess tent.
“Now that we’re all here,” said Jaserard angrily, “We may begin.”
“Took someone long enough,” said someone callously. Her head drooped in shame. She heard someone moving. She looked up and saw her teammates’ backs. They had stepped in front of her, to protect her from being completely embarrassed. She rushed over to them.
“Thanks,” whispered Raye. She had leaned up to whisper in Naro’s ear. She was suddenly reminded of how much shorter she was than everyone else on her team. Huja, who was the next shortest on her team was at least three inches taller than her. Naro was even taller than Huja, almost a whole head taller than her. She wasn’t sure why she had suddenly thought about it or why it had bothered her so much.
“Anytime,” said Naro, “How do you feel?”
“Short,” said Raye and he let out a laugh. It made her smile. He put a hand on her head. He turned and looked at her. She was smiling at him brightly and her smile made his face light up. His hand slipped back and fell into hers. Her hand was cold, that wasn’t right, he’d held her hand before and it was always warm. But now she was frozen. Before the warmth of her body was enough to melt his heart from a single touch. Now she felt like she was made of ice. He held on, trying to warm her the way she had warmed him. After a while she ripped her hand away from his. He brushed it off as he was probably just squeezing too hard. But he would soon wish that he hadn’t.
Jaserard went through the list in order. After a few names a dull thump sounded from the back of the tent. Everyone twirled to see what it was. They saw Raye collapsed on the ground.
“Kuto!” yelled Naro as he rushed to her side. Her eyes were still open and she looked right at him. Her eyes were so full of pain.
“It hurts,” said Raye as her voice shook. She started coughing and her body writhed in the pain. The attack lasted around a minute and ended with one powerful surge that caused her to turn over. It drove most of the men in the tent wild. Naro was holding her when he saw that her shirt had slipped back slightly. He and half of the guys in the tent nearly had nosebleeds at the site of her bare back. He knew that it was only a shoulder but he could never have dreamed to see such a beautiful sight in his life. It was a very beautiful shoulder. It was slender and pale. It was absolutely perfect in every way. She slowly became still on his lap. It was then he noticed something strange.
“Is he okay?” asked someone. It was the statement of many. But Naro couldn’t hear them; he was too busy staring at Raye’s back.
“Scars,” muttered Naro.
“What?” asked Huja, who had knelt down next to him.
“Look.” He was right. The part of her flesh that they could see was clearly covered with gruesome scars. There was maybe a square inch of skin that wasn’t damaged. They were different types of scars. Some were very old, at least ten years old and probably older still. Others were relatively new. The greater number were clearly from whips. Yet there were a good deal that were from blades; from obvious stabbings to those that were clearly made when some had hit her with the side of a sword to make a long, deep wound. They seemed as though they were all over body and they probably were. It suddenly made some sense why Raye was so careful about she wore, if they only knew the half of it.
Naro didn’t understand how she could have been hurt so many times. She was only eighteen years old. How could she’d endured so much suffering in such a short time? She had obviously lived through so many tragic things already. She must’ve felt so much pain.
“What happened to him?” asked Huja.
“I don’t know,” said Naro, his voice was drenched in his sorrow. It didn’t make any sense. These scars told the story of her life, which had clearly not been easy. Yet she could still smile and smile in a way that could light up the whole camp. Then there was her laugh. She could laugh so fully, in a totally contagious laugh. He couldn’t believe that he had failed to see all of the pain she’d endured. She was always so happy and she never seemed sad at all. She told jokes and played stupid games with everyone. Every time someone else felt bad, she took care of them. She always told him exactly what he wanted to hear, everything he needed to hear. Yet he was too stupid to see that she was in pain. She had some times slipped things but he had been unable to put it together. How could he have been so stupid?
“How did this happen to him?” asked Huja.
“I don’t know.” He lightly traced the scars on her back with his fingertips. She shuddered softly but it was enough to make him never want to stop. That was because it was not a shudder of pain or disgust but rather it was, so clearly, a shudder of pleasure. So he did it again. This time she shuddered stronger, deeper and it was followed by a soft moan. The moan was enough to set the tent on fire.
“Is he going to be okay?” asked Huja. She took a deep, ragged breath and rolled onto her side. That was when Naro saw her birthmark. It was right there in plain sight now. A crescent moon on her shoulder.
“Oh my god,” said Naro in shock. Huja reached over as fast as he could and lifted up her sleeve to cover the mark.
“What is it?” asked Jaso, no one else but Huja and Naro had seen it.
“Nothing,” said Huja, “Let’s get him to the infirmary.” Naro lifted Raye up. A strange fact to know might be the most of the solders in the camp were gay. A very large number of them had feelings for Raye. Yet there were some who had love in the arms of other men at the camp. When Naro picked Raye up she looked delicate in his arms, she was running a fever and her face was rosy. Some of the couples thought Naro and Raye made a good match. So they cheered at the sight. One man said out loud that they looked cute together. Most of the others were writhing in jealousy as the squad walked out. The straight guys were just embarrassed that they were there.
 Zegwarian310 · Mon Aug 06, 2007 @ 04:11am · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
