Chapter 21

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Sure enough when Kaoru woke up she wasn’t in the room they’d given her. She was in a cold dank cave with a letter to her side. She picked it up and opened it, finding Enishi’s handwriting inside

There is a door in front of you to the pit. Do not enter unprepared. If anything goes too wrong, I will come for you, but don’t rely on it as it might take me some time, should something happen.

Kaoru stared at it for quite some time. Underneath it was a beautiful ink sketch of a Tiger sleeping underneath a Sakura tree. She could hardly believe it had come from Enishi’s hand, and she bundled it up in her small pack, hoping it would help her through the next six months, as she had nothing else.

She squinted her eyes and pulled the door open, taking a deep breath as she stepped out…and her feet met air. She fell three feet down, landing on the ground with a thud. She hissed in pain as she stood up, her butt would likely be sore for a few days. It was her fault though, she admonished herself, for not looking before she stepped.

She looked up to see leering faces looking down at her. They were scrubby and thin, although none of them lacked muscle. One would have to have strengths to survive in a place like this. Kaoru was grateful she had a weapon to make up for strength though.

She likely looked like a tasty morsel to them in more than one way, her hair was brushed and clean, and her skin white, free of soot. She had a warm cloak and what looked like a pack of supplies. More importantly she was a girl. She doubted many were sent here, or of any that did, few likely survived long. She shivered as some of the lustful sickening looks that were sent her way.

She started defending herself from the mobs, but when they seemed to keep coming at her she drew her sword, slicing cleanly through one in front of her while hitting one behind her with the scabbard. Blood sprayed across her face and clothes, standing out against her pale skin as it dripped down her cheek and to her chin.

Kaoru watched as the body fell in two pieces with a thud. It was entirely too easy to kill, she thought to herself. She felt an odd sensation of numbness and a lack of remorse as she stared down at the first person she killed.

He was likely in his forties, or at least life had worn him down to look that way, his hair was gray and scraggly long, coated in his own blood, and his “bowels” spilled out across the already bloodstained gray stone, signifying this was one of many meaningless deaths.

She finally remembered where she was when someone grasped her arm with his. She instinctively whirled about and chopped it off, the man fell to the ground crying out in pain as others overtook him, already starting to take advantage of the weakness.

Kaoru pried the dead, but still war arm off of hers and threw it into the crowd. People had already started backing off, either preoccupied with the corpses or afraid to meet the same fate. Kaoru wandered over to a slope in the pit and sat down, waiting for the time to pass by. She was sure that she’d get enough exercise. A voice sounded behind her

“New here I suppose?” She looked around to see a small boy sitting besides her. She almost jumped up, startled. She hadn’t even heard him come.

Enishi looked down as she fell ungracefully to the ground. He winced, figuring that she’d likely had her eyes closed when she stepped out.

“Think she’ll make it?” Fang asked imperviously. Enishi glanced over at him, than back at Kaoru.

“She will” He said bluntly in his usual deadpan style. Fang chuckled.

“You can still say yes to my proposal you know.” He said grinning at Enishi “I havn’t given up on you just quite yet.” Enishi tightened his jaw.

“No” he said a little more firmly than he’d meant to. Fang leaned back into a chair, gazing down at Kaoru as fresh blood sprayed generously up from a body she’d embedded her sword in.

“I want her” he said simply. Enishi looked over at Fang in alarm “When you’re done with her will you give her to me?” he asked querulously. Enishi had a faintly murderous possessive look in his eye, causing another laugh to bubble up from Fang. “Ah, my dear friend… that’s why I love you” he said putting his arm around Enishi’s shoulders. Enishi flinched away.

“Giving her to you would be worse than anything I could do” He said, his tone fading to the usual emotionless one. Fang frowned. Last time he’d seen Enishi, the man had been easier to control with his shaky grasp on sanity. This new development wasn’t promising at all.

“You can’t escape me forever, Enishi. You were mine since I first laid eyes on you when you came here” Fang spoke coldly, his tone quiet and calm. Enishi looked at him unaffected.

“You were five years old.” Enishi said standing. “And you’re as much of a brat now, as you were then.” Fang snarled and stood, storming off in a huff. Enishi leaned over the railing and looked down at Kaoru. He whispered her name but only the wind heard him, carrying the word off into the silence of the air.

“Who are you boy.” Kaoru asked the scrubby smiling urchin. The boy looked down at himself, putting his hands to his chest as if to see if he was still there.

“Yup” he said to himself, and then looked up at her “I’m me,” he grinned. Kaoru looked at him exasperated.

“I wasn’t saying anything different” she said to him, hoping he’d say something else. He shook his head as if knowing what she expected.

“Don’t like my name, threw it away, now I’m just me a just myself” the boy chattered on. Kaoru got the impression that the boy was a bit off mentally. Something must have happened to him. She lifted the boy up and hugged his little body to her. He hugged her back, burying his face in her chest.

“Oneesan” he cried out silently. Kaoru froze, thinking of Enishi crying out the same thing. Then her body relaxed as she hugged the boy tighter, a tear slipping down her face, making a trail through the blood that had dried on her face.

Enishi watched for the next week as Kaoru took care of the boy she’d adopted. The boy would often disappear into the shadows and reappear chewing on a piece of meat or a bone. Kaoru never seemed to ask where the boy got it. Enishi frowned, feeling Fang approach from behind him.

“She’s going to be sorely disappointed when the boy dies.” Fang said coldly. He was still annoyed at Enishi apparently. Enishi looked over at Fang sideways.

“Kaoru will likely protect him from being killed.” He replied. Fang gave Enishi an odd expression.

“People avoid the sick ones,” he said simply “That is, until they’re dead.” Fang grinned, regaining his usual composure. “That boy is the reason they’ve left Kaoru alone till now.” Enishi looked ahead silently. Fang rarely lied. He wondered how Kaoru would deal with it. Fang grinned out towards the pit.

“I wonder how long it will take her to realize the blood on the boy is often his own. At least the kid seems to avoid her finding out” Fang chuckled. Enishi said nothing.

Sure enough the boy was avoiding Kaoru whenever he had coughing fits. She reminded him of his sister, and he didn’t want her to run away like everyone else had, afraid of catching the same thing from him. He huddled into himself in the darkness and pressed his wobbly knees to his chest, coughing up blood in great heaves. If he wasn’t already huddled, he likely would have doubled over from the pain.

The world went blurry and faded to black, as he fell, the last thing he heard was a whoop of excitement from the ravenous residents of the pit.

“Oneesan” He whispered as his body went numb, his muscles spasming for a few minutes before finally twitching at last to a stop.

Kaoru watched blankly as the crowd swarmed once again. It seemed to do this every time someone died. She sighed, resting and arm on one bent knee while the other leg lay stretched out before her. She chewed on a splinter of half charred wood as she stared out into the crowd. Her eyes went wide as she heard an ever so small raspy voice from the center of the crowd.

“Oneesan” it cried wearily, and Kaoru’s heart pounded furiously in her chest as she stood up and ran through the crowd, pushing people violently out of her way. Sure enough in the middle she found the boy, his skin ripped raw and red in portions where some of the crowd had gotten to him.

She crouched down brushing her hand across his face. He smiled and she started, he was still alive?! He breathed out brokenly and she had to lean closer to hear his voice.

“Oneesan…” the boy started “Take me with you where you’re going” Kaoru nodded to him, her tears falling to his small little face, knowing he couldn’t see her, and likely didn’t know she was there. He was likely seeing his sister behind those sightless eyes.

Kaoru hugged the body to her as it at last fell limp. She stood, slinging the boy over a shoulder as she snarled at the crowd. She drew her sword and it glinted in the dim sunlight. Tears streamed down her face as she hacked at the many nameless people. It rained blood as she cried out in remorse

“Why here!!” She brokenly yelled, “Why did he have to die here!!” She stopped her furious movements and stood still, her cherry blossom outfit now stained red. She stared at the ground, blood running down her face and chin down to her throat. The metallic taste of blood was on her tongue and lips.

“In this hell,” she whispered to herself “There is no mercy” she hissed gripping her sword. “You have met your match, hell” she bit out bitterly, the blood falling in on the line between her lips. “For I am your queen and you shall taste death” her voice shook with anger as she spoke.

Enishi watched the snowfall down on the bloody scene below, melting as it hit the ground. He watched Kaoru sadly as she gathered wood ant set a pyre on which to burn the boy. He was thinking maybe he should not have asked her to do this. He looked away. No, he thought to himself. He had needed to know if she would.

Fang grinned from the silence of the shadows, watching both of his positions. He wanted the bloodstained emotional girl, and he wanted Enishi. He would just have to figure out how to get them both.

He turned around and stalked off into the castle. The next months would be interesting, if Kaoru ventured into the other areas of the pit. She had entered on the side of weaklings, cripples and sick folk, the weak sheep of the pit. If she traveled east, she would find that the rest of the pit was not quite the mindless crowd this was. He wondered, if before the six months were up, she would meet the lord of the pit.

Fang chuckled to himself with the thought. Enishi may seem cold and emotionless now, but from watching him, he knew that if he could somehow secure the girl, he would once more be able to manipulate Enishi as he once had before the older man had slipped out of his grasp. He wouldn’t let it happen again.