Urameshiyaaaaaaa Surprise! It's certainly been a while. Not only was school really nasty those last two months, but this and that has stopped up the progress of this fic for some time now. I was...thinking, about how amateurish my writing is. There are so many ways it could be better if I were to rewrite it now. More than that, I was worried that I had completely lost the spirit of the story I originally wanted to tell. However, after doing some thinking, I realized that this was the natural order of things. The original path of the story is perhaps one fit for an alternate ending, but it is too late to return to that path. The story has taken a life of its own, and I can only watch and continue writing it to its conclusion. I hope you will continue to join me on this journey.
With my late night ramblings out of the way, let us begin!
---
“Nngh…”
Once again the cool samurai found herself resting against one of the hundreds of trees in the Forest of Magic. A long time had passed since the incident with the tree of false hope. How long exactly was impossible to tell for Meira. An hour? Two hours? Certainly it couldn’t have been only a half hour…in any case, Meira simply couldn’t walk anymore and reluctantly sat down to rest.
*pat pat pat*She was certainly not happy with sitting still though; even though she had not seen even a hint of a youkai, the eerie silence only confirmed in her mind that the beasts of the forest were there, watching…waiting for her to let her guard down. She absolutely could not let that happen; this “rest” only left her more on edge than ever before. Meira scrunched the area around her eye and groaned; the forest was beginning to take its toll on the samurai’s mental state. She just wanted this all to go away…she just wanted to go home… Meira let out a sigh and allowed her eyes to draw to a close.
*pat pat pat*Wait, what am I doing?!Meira snapped back up and brought a fist to her forehead. “Was I really going to go to sleep? No you idiot, that’s exactly what got you into this situation in the first place.” Meira gritted her teeth and did her best to fight off her exhaustion. Meira’s eyes scanned her surroundings, desperate for something to hang onto.
The ground? Meira looked at the moss-covered earth. She hadn’t thought about it, but the mud caused by the rain no doubt had left her samurai robes an absolute mess. And worst of all, after that fall her hair fell into it too…
*pat pat pat*Finding no further mental stimulation there, Meira’s thoughts turned to the tree she was leaning with. Its bark was rough and pointy, and her neck was starting to get a rash. Why did this forest have to have such antagonistic trees?
…
No, I’ve already thoroughly gone into how trees suck. Something else…*pat pat pat*Meira snorted. “This forest is all the same anyway. Maybe if anything looked the least bit different, I could find something. Maybe I could even find my way out. Maybe if-“
*pat pat pat*“Maybe if this FREAKING RAIN WOULD STOP, ARGH!” Meira pounded the ground with her fist.
She held her head in frustration as she found her object of fixation and growled at the canopy above her. The pattering of the rain, once calming, was now beating into her mind with each passing second. How could she have ever thought this was relaxing?!
Wait a second though. This rain is pretty damn annoying, but aren’t the leaves and branches up there what are really to blame?That’s right. In the end, trees really were the source of all Meira’s problems. The samurai put “burn the forest” on her list of things to do once she became all-powerful. Yet, the part that really got to Meira was how puny the flora in the forest was.
“I mean, these trees aren’t even that big. If it were anyone else stuck in this forest they could just fly right above these trees and would have been out of here hours ago. They wouldn’t even have to
think about it.”
Meira felt a pit growing in her stomach as her thoughts turned to this cold truth. Indeed, the average person in the village could float in the air at will due to their spiritual power. They could concentrate their innate energy into bullets and use them both for show and for combat. The lucky few even had supernatural abilities to make the world turn in their favor. And what do these people do? They just take it for granted. They’ve got all these amazing talents some people would kill for, and they just…
use them. It was disgusting. Meira couldn’t help but growl.
Those dorks wouldn’t last one day in my world. Take away their power and they’d probably drown in a well. A full well.Meira was getting really steamed now. What would they do if they were here, hopelessly lost and scared out of their minds, never sure when their next step could be their last? They’d just curl up in a ball and cry, that’s what!
“Those ungrateful assholes, I hate them!” Meira pounded the tree and curled up into a ball.
…
“God damn it…”
The hot-headed samurai rubbed her temples to nurse her headache. “Why am I even letting those jerks get to me? Those jerks couldn’t survive without those stupid abilities made for jerks. If anything, this just proves how much better I am than everyone else. So why…?”
Meira lifted her head and gazed at the canopy, letting out a deep sigh.
All my life, I’ve seen others fly above the rooftops. All my life, I’ve seen the other kids shoot bullets and make those cutesy patterns with their danmaku. All my life, I’ve had to watch them from below. All…my…life… Meira’s hands balled into a fist.
“But…but you know what? I don’t really care. I don’t! What’s the point of spiritual power anyway, if all you can do is shoot cutesy girly patterns with them? It’s stupid! A true fighter swears by her sword! You don’t need any sissy energy to wield a sword. Those lame-os can keep their stupid danmaku. I don’t need it. I don’t want it!
Then why…Meira’s lips curled up. “And flying…the flying’s so stupid too. Everyone always looks sooooo happy when flying in the sky. I mean what are they, five? Sure it’d be useful to get out of here, but honestly, they are so lazy! What would they do if they were trapped here like me? That’s right, they’d just curl up and cry, just like I said. Those lazy-ass losers can keep their flying. A real adult doesn’t need such kiddy things.
Then why…?!Meira noticed her fists were shaking and tried to still them. She looked at the moist ground. “It’s just…why do they have to enjoy this stuff so much? The kids, the grown-ups, why do they all have so much fun with this? It’s all so stupid. So why…?” Meira’s breathing became heavy. “The flying, the danmaku, the flying people and the flying danmaku they shoot, who gives a flying fuck? It’s all so fricking idiotic, so why…why…”
Why not me too?Meira’s shoulders drooped. She rubbed her eyes, which seemed to have gotten some dust in them. She found her hand covering her eye again.
“God…I feel like shit.” Meira did not like these new feelings of self-loathing, so she decided it must be time to get moving again. Grunting, she struggled to her feet. This mocking forest stretched all around her, but surely there must be an escape to this horrible nightmare.
I’ll prove it them…I’ll prove I don’t need their powers. I’ll find my own way out. Because this is the only way I can be better…I’ve got to do this. Meira did her best to hold back her tears.
---
Man…Shapes swirled in and out of focus. Her legs could not stop moving, for if they did she would collapse.
Man…All alertness had faded. The never-ending tension brought by her hidden enemies had taken its toll on Meira, and she finally gave up her paranoid vigil. She hardly even cared anymore if she was caught.
It never ends…At some point it occurred to Meira that the Forest of Magic couldn’t possibly be this big and she was most likely traveling in circles. Not that she could tell since the forest all looks the same.
“Oh well. What does it matter anyway. Better keep moving…” She could barely bother to keep her eyes open. Her feet hurt and her eyes were dry and the clanging of her scabbard was close to creating a bruise in her leg and she just didn’t care anymore. Sometimes she wondered if there ever was a life before the forest. Maybe she died at that tree and this is hell.
Well, that’s fine then. I don’t care anymore. This may as well be hell. Just let some youkai take me to he-*Crack*
“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Meira snapped up and leapt to her side, crashing against a nearby tree. Her gasps for air punctuated the silence as her bloodshot eyes scanned her surroundings for the enemy. Seeing nothing, she took a few deep breaths and let go of her chest.
“W…wha…what was that?” She gazed at the ground and found a small twig. Meira groaned, picked up and threw the broken pieces into the trees.
“Fuck damn iiiiiiit.” The newly awoken samurai shook her head and continued straight ahead.
Wait, was this the way I was heading before?Meira’s eyes opened wide as she considered this fact. She concentrated as best she could on the trees, the ground…a quick look in vain for the path…nothing she could use to orient herself.
“ShiiiiiiiIIIIIIT!”
I did it again! I’m gonna get lost. Again.
Why do I have to be so useless?!“Grr…I. Can’t. Take. This.” Meira rolled her eyes around her.
This forest, it’s said nothing to me! Not a single sign of the way out! Why is everything so silent? Why won’t it say anything? Am I not good enough for it? Then why won’t it let me out? Why won’t it let me out? WHY WON’T IT LET ME OUT?!“God, something, happen alreadyyy! I wish Noroiko would just pop out or something already so I could relax. Anything, damn. This tension is killing me!”
Meira froze at this thought. Did she just…wish for her sister? That psychotic little snot that attacked her and ran off into the night? She really
must be going crazy! She shook her head and stormed forward.
*pat pat pat**pat pat pat**pat pat pat*You know, she’s not so bad, Noroiko. Meira’s expression softened.
I mean, sure we have our fights, but…is she really that hard to like? The samurai’s weary mind drifted…
---
”King meee!”
“No no Noroiko, that’s not how you play Checkers!” Meira grabbed her little sister’s hand, which had attempted to move a piece to the other side in one go. The young toddler pouted.
“You move it diagonally, remember?” The younger sister tilted her head. “Die a gone alley?” Meira moved her red piece up and to the right. “You see? Like that. Di-ag-on-ally.” She moved it back.
“Now it’s your turn.” Noroiko slowly nodded, picked up the piece she had attempted to move before, and moved it diagonally to the other side of the board.
“King meee!” Noroiko’s grin was insufferable. Meira did her best to control her temper.
“No! Move it back!” She forced her kid sister’s hand once more. “You can only move one space at a time!”
“Wha? But that’s booooriiiing.”
“It’s the rules!”
“Rules are booooriiiiiiiing.”
Meira nodded. “Yes, exactly!” She paused. “I mean, yes, yes they are, but in this case you have to follow them, otherwise we can’t play.”
Noroiko puffed her cheeks. “Mmmmmwaaaaah. Fine!” She picked up the piece once more, glaring at her older sister. She then slowly and deliberately moved it one space diagonally.
“Good! Now it’s my turn.”
---
“Wha? No fair! You moved two spac-HEY! GIMME MY PIECE BACK!” Noroiko pounded at Meira’s arms as she retrieved the piece she captured.
“You jump over pieces to capture them. What, I didn’t tell you that yet? Must have slipped my mind.” Meira flipped the piece and caught it, a big smirk on her face. Noroiko’s eyes looked as though they could kill, or at least curse.
“Fine then! My turn!” The enraged toddler took one of her pieces and moved it over another piece several spaces away and snatched it away. Meira was stunned.
“No Noroiko, no! NO!” She reached for her piece, but her little sister was too nimble. The young girl fell instead on the checker board, knocking the pieces out of alignment.
“Oooh. See what you did Noroiko?!”
Noroiko crossed her arms and looked away. “You fell, not me!” Meira couldn’t say anything to this but growl. “Nngh. Fine, just help me put the pieces back.” Noroiko dropped her angry face and set to work helping. Within a minute, the pieces were more or less returned to their original positions.
“Alright Noroiko. I put that piece back, so it’s your turn again. Only jump pieces next to yours, okay?”
“Okay!” Her chipper voice should have immediately alerted Meira that something was up, but not until it was too late did she notice that Noroiko had replaced one of her pieces right next to the end of the board.
“King meee!” Meira could only gawk at what just happened.
“King meee!” She felt a nerve snap.
“What’s wrong? King meee!” Something about those sparkling eyes just…
Meira’s hands balled into fists. “No! I will NOT king you! In fact I’m gonna DECK you if you don’t shaddup!” Meira bent down to throw the piece across the room when-
*THWACK*
Meira froze as she took a deck of thrown cards to the forehead. Noroiko covered her mouth and giggled incessantly, but Meira could no longer hear her. She couldn’t feel the dozens of cards fluttering down over her hands, over the ruined checkers game. All she could feel was the blood in her veins writhing, boiling. All she could feel now…was hate.
“AaaaaAAAAAAAAH!” Meira pounced at her sister, who deftly moved out of the way. A loud thump resounded. She scrambled to her feet and whipped her head to meet her opponent, and was met with a card thrown straight to the bridge of her nose. Incidentally, it was a king.
“Ah-! Youuuuu!” This time Meira charged her sister on foot – or at least she intended to. In reality she took one step and slipped on the pile of checkers pieces and was sent tumbling to the ground. While she tried to catch her breath, Noroiko trotted up to her fallen sibling and stepped on her back, then rolled over her.
“Captured you! Now you’re mine!” She cackled to herself.
Meira seethed, but saw her chance. She made a grab at her sister’s legs and jerked them backwards. The lightweight toddler didn’t stand a chance, and crumpled to the ground.
“Ha ha ha, I got you now you little brat!”
“Wha-wha-whaaa. Meira, that’s cheating! Waaaaaah!” She kicked her feet in vain. Meira rose up over her sister, maintaining her grip on her little sister’s legs. She lowered her head above Noroiko.
“You said it yourself Noroiko: Rules are boring.” She grinned.
“Now it’s time to play wheelbarrow!” Noroiko’s eyes opened wide and she struggled. “Nooooooo!”
*bang bang bang*
“Girls, what are you two doing in there?!”
Both girls spoke in unison. “Nothing mother!” Eventually the image behind the sliding door sighed and walked away, and the pair instantly returned to the eternal struggle, grinning all the while.---
Meira sighed, a wistful smile on her face. “She can be a real pain sometimes, but…I guess she only ever wanted to have fun.” The lost samurai’s eyes narrowed in sadness. “I admit…I had fun, too. Noroiko…will I ever see you again?” She sniffed.
And mom too. Oh god, I didn’t even think of mom. The samurai’s thoughts turned to the tyrannical matriarch that was her mother. The one that always stood in her way and talked her ear off over every stupid thing.
But, was she really that bad?
“She’s quite a pain, yeah…but she’s always been good to me, huh… She’s never tried to throw me out, she never asks me to do any chores…” Meira sighed.
“Maybe she was right to lecture me all these years. After all, where I am now…” Meira’s lips curled into a sardonic smile.
Meira’s eyes refocused and she noticed that she had stopped walking. That was fine; there was no point in trying anymore. All she could bring herself to do now was stare at the impenetrable forest in despair.
What is she going to think when I’m not there tomorrow? When she finds out I’m gone, she’ll freak out, she’ll be hysterical! It will be just like with father!Something clicked in Meira’s mind.
It’ll be just like with father. A shiver ran down her spine as a long repressed memory began to surface.
“Just…like…father…”
---
“Cmon Jack! Kick that big bad eye’s butt!” Meira kicked her legs under the kotatsu as she read her favorite comic book by the light of the morning sun.
“Meira, please don’t use language like that in the house.” Meira narrowed her eyes at her mother, who had been pacing around the room nervously for the past hour.
“Moooom, it’s not a bad word; it’s cool!” She had gotten up early so Noroiko wouldn’t be up and making noise as usual, but now she had her worrywart mom to deal with instead.
“Meira dear, please, not now.” She eyed the door again for the third time in as many minutes. The young girl rolled her eyes. “Moooom, dad’s gonna be just fine. He’s just a little late coming home is all.”
“Very
late!” She stamped her foot toward Meira. She took a large breath in and regained her composure. “I-I know he often comes home late when he goes out hunting, but this is far too late! Where is
he?!” She fiddled with her shirt collar.
Meira huffed. “Then yell at him when he comes home, not me!” She buried herself back into her comic book.
“Gwa ha ha, it’s over for you Jack! Now all of the lands of Japan are miiiiine.” She turned the page. “What do you have to say puny samurai? Cower before the great Mastoff! Gwa ha haaaaaaa!” Meira grinned in anticipation for her favorite part. The blood-soaked face of the titular samurai gave the evil eye a steeled glare as he supported himself with his long, equally blood-soaked katana.
“Where do you get off, Mastoff? Japan can’t be owned by the likes of you! This is a land of honor! This is a land of freedom! It can only belong to the strong and cool, like me!” He rose to his feet, a powerful aura growing around him. Meira voiced her favorite line of the whole comic:
“On my honor, I, the cool samurai guy Jack, will not give up Japan to the likes of you! PREPARE YOURSELF MASTOFF!”
”Meira, please.” Meira was shaken a bit by her mom’s outburst and nearly dropped her comic.
“M-mom…” She was not used to being yelled at like this; tears were welling up. Her mom’s eyes softened, but Meira didn’t give her time to say anything else.
“FINE, I’LL GO AWAY THEN!” Meira snatched up her comic, hopped to her feet and ran to her room.
---
“S-stupid mom...” Meira was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. “Why’s she always got to think about herself? Doesn’t she care about her daughter?” She sniffed.
Meira didn’t get why her mom was worried - Her dad was awesome! Every week him and his drinking buddies would go off and fight the evil youkai surrounding the village, to protect us all. He was amazing – almost as cool as Jack. He’d always come home with tales of near escapes and stunning victories over savage youkai, showing her his battle scars and letting her feel his muscles. A man like her dad would never do anything selfish like die, and she loved him for it. Someday, when her spiritual energy awakened she wanted to be just like him, wandering the outskirts of the village and driving off the bad guys.
Meira giggled, her tears having already dried up. “What’s holding him up I wonder? Did he chase the youkai all night? Have fun drinking afterwards? Getting a present for his favorite daughter?? Aah, I can’t wait for him to come home.” Meira grinned. Until he came back and settled down her fretful mom, she just had to settle with her fictional idol. She flopped onto her stomach and picked up where she left off.
“Gwa ha ha, what a foolish samurai you are to oppose the great Mastoff! Prepare to meet your honorable doooooooom!” The titanic eye demon fired a powerful beam, which the cool samurai guy jack deflected with his katana like a badass. With a mighty shout, Jack jumped forth.
Several panels of incomprehensible movement (but many loud sound effects and colorful explosions) later, Jack was on the counterattack. The golden aura around him intensified as he made a cool samurai pose, his katana balanced on his free hand and pointed straight at the iris of his adversary. He charged forward with a mighty cry in untranslated English:
“Jack attack!”
Meira giggled at her hero’s catch phrase. She didn’t understand English, but it sure sounded cool.
The young samurai fangirl heard the faint sound of a door opening. “Aah, there’s dad. I’ll go say hi after this.”
“Gwa ha ha! You fool! You have fallen right into my trap!” Mastoff leered and fired a colorful laser beam at the samurai charging at him.
Gritting his teeth, Jack leapt forward and thrust his katana forward.
“Gwa ha ha, die samur-aaaaaaai?!”
To Mastoff’s shock and horror, Jack pierced the beam with his blade, cutting it in two. Meira squee’d in her mind at how awesome Jack was, as though she hadn’t read the issue a hundred times before. Once again she had to voice the awesomeness.
“THE COOL SAMURAI GUY JACK WILL NOT-“
“MEIRA!”
Meira yelped as the door to her room slammed open. At the doorway was her mom, her breathing labored to the point of hyperventilation. Argh, again you have to ruin my fun? She scowled in contempt.
“Moooom, what now? Did dad tell you o-“
“Meira…Meira…!” Tears were streaming down her face. Meira blinked. “Mom…?”
“Meira, Your father…he’s…” Meira’s mom staggered over to her and collapsed by her bedside. Meira didn’t understand – what could have happened?
“M-mom, what is it? What about dad?”
“Y-you’re father…he’s…he’s…” Her mom wiped her tears. “Your father is…”
Meira’s eyes opened wide.---
Meira still felt the bitter taste of that morning when her father did not return from his weekly hunting game. One of his friends appeared before them, covered in deep gashes, to break the news of his death. Never before or since had Meira seen her mom look so devastated. For over a week after the funeral, she stayed in her room. She left her bed at most three times a day; she wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t cook, it was a rare occasion she would do more than mumble in response to Meira’s attempts at communicating. It was then that Meira began to distance herself from her wreck of a mom. Even after she recovered, Meira never forgave her mom for such a self-centered period of weakness and neglect.
For her part, Meira was of course broken by her father vanishing from her life. He was her role model. Her hero! He wasn’t supposed to die like that, so soon. It tore at her every day as well.
Yet, Meira refused to let herself cry at his burial. While her mom buried her face in her hands and Noroiko tugged at her sleeves, still too young to fully understand what was happening, Meira could only stare at the casket with steeled eyes. She knew her dad wouldn’t want her to cry. Instead, she had to get strong, to grow powerful, to make her father proud.
But mom, she never wanted that. It’s always been “come home by supper” this and “don’t wave swords around the house” that and “surely you don’t think that is sanitary” all the time. Never was she allowed to follow her dreams. Why…? Meira closed her eyes and let out a distressed sigh. Her legs sank to a sitting position (getting her robes further muddied). With all the stress of being lost, of the endless trees, and from looking for youkai predators, Meira’s mind was too exhausted to care about the forest any longer. The samurai gave in to exhaustion and let her mind wander once more among her memories, looking for a pleasant memory to latch onto in her final hour.
*pat pat pat**pat pat pat**pat pat pat*A rare embrace from mom… That felt nice…
---
“Mom? Wha-what are you doing?”
“Meira…I love you.”
“Wha- Mooom, you’re embarrassing me! I’m not a little-“
“Meira, please never leave me…please don’t throw your life away like your father…”
“…Don’t tell me what to do!”
“Please Meira…just lead a normal life. Don’t throw it all away over senseless pride…promise me…*sniff*”
“…”…
“A-aaaah!” Meira gasped. Her hands were cupped over her mouth. “What mom said…she meant…!”
Live a normal life…that’s what my mom wanted? But…but I’ve never…aaaaahoh my god True, this was always an implication from her mom’s constant disapproval of Meira’s behavior, but Meira had never seriously stopped to think just why this was until now. It’s so obvious now… Her father’s dangerous lifestyle, concluded by a violent death…why
wouldn’t she disapprove of her daughter following his path in life? Her mom wanted only for her two daughters to live a comfortable life.
“Mom…only wanted us to be normal…” Well, that’s all well and good for her, but Meira, who desperately wanted power to match and surpass everyone, couldn’t possibly live with that. Without power, she felt beneath everyone. If she couldn’t get stronger…
“…AAH!” Her arms started shaking, her mind practically shattering over what she now realized.
I’ve wanted power so badly. I’ve searched for it for so long…I’m nothing without it! I NEED it to be worth anything! But…
“Promise me…”
But…!
“Just lead a normal life…”
…
I never saw that there was someone who accepted me all along… Tears began welling up in Meira’s eyes. “Mom…you’ve only ever been looking out for me…you never hated me. But I…I…” On the verge of tears, the samurai brought her quaking hand over her eye.
*pat pat pat*No! What am I doing? I can’t let myself be brought down like this. I’ve got to…got to keep moving. I can’t believe I’m doing this melodramatic shit. I’ve got to calm down. I’m going to find my way out! Meira attempted to tame the tremors reverberating throughout her body and forced herself to her feet. Her vision was cloudy from tears, but if she just started moving…
*step*
Surely she could escape…
*step*
She would be able to prove her strength, something that…
*shiver*
That…
*shiver*
“Oh god…” Meira brought her hands over her face.
I’m…such…trash…Meira collapsed to her knees. Her chest was heaving; she couldn’t control herself any longer.
“Wah…Waaaaaaaaah…wa-waaaaaah!” The tears…they wouldn’t stop. But Meira couldn’t care less at this point.
“Mommyyyyyy! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’ve been so…so stupid! I-I…oh god, I want to go home! I want to see you again! I don’t want to die! I want to live! Please, let me out…
let me out…” Meira wept bitterly into the night.
“I’ve been so blind…I’ve been…so…blind… I want to see you all again…Noroiko…mommy…Kotohime…Ms. Kamishirasawa…”
Meira choked.
“…Well, not Ms. Kamishirasawa, but…ooh, I’m so stupid.” The formerly silent forest now rang with the laments of the broken samurai.
“All this time, I could have just lived normally…I would have been fine that way. Why did I insist on following father? I wanted power…I wanted power?! Well look where it got me!
STUCK IN A FUCKING FOREST!” Meira dug her nails into the ground as she crumpled into a pitiful wreck.
“I’M SORRY! I’LL BE GOOD! I’LL BE A GOOD GIRL FROM NOW ON! So please…somebody…help me…help me…”
*sob*
*rustle*
Meira’s heart stopped.
What…was…that…? She gulped. She prayed it was just another bat.
*rustle*
Meira’s breath quickened. It was faint, but she could hear a wooshing sound, almost like…wings. Slowly she lifted her trembling head and looked up. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
The first thing she saw were the wings she had heard. Short, thick, batlike wings. The next thing she saw was the body – or, what could be called the body. A small, round green center about the size of a soccer ball.
Of course, Meira could no longer notice the center without seeing it for what it was – a single large eye. With a somehow menacing look, the eye stared back at Meira, its “whites” actually blood red. There the green cyclops hovered, without making a sound.
Meira could feel her breath receding. A youkai. A youkai had finally found her. A large, creepy, no doubt slimy youkai had found her. A big scary eye had found her. And it was looking
Right
At
Her.
And then it moved.
“H…HYAAAAAAA!” Meira nearly fell backwards as she scrambled to her feet and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
---
Countless trees whirled in Meira’s vision as she ran for her life. Were these trees ones she had passed by already? Meira couldn’t even think straight, and it didn’t matter anyway. All that mattered is that she run, run until she could run no more.
ohgodimgoingtodiepleasedontletmedieaaaaaaahMeira was functioning on pure adrenaline at this point. It was all she could do to weave and avoid smashing into the trees. Several times she nearly lost her balance and grazed the sides of a tree. She couldn’t afford that. She could not afford any mistakes.
No, no, this can’t be happening…THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!It was a pure nightmare. Meira, a girl who had never known true hardship in her life, now ran like prehistoric women must have ran from a savage tiger. At this moment, her thoughts echoed that of said woman: “I have to keep running or I am going to die.”
Someone, anyone, help me! I’m not strong enough…I can’t win on my own… Meira desperately wanted to shout these words, but was terrified that she would only attract more attention from youkai. So all she could do was run. So she did. She ran and ran.
Meira’s feet carried her for several minutes afterwards, deep into the forest. She never once stopped for a breath, never even stopped to change direction. Never before had she exerted herself so much, but she knew she couldn’t stop, or else she would surely perish at the hands of that horrible beast. Maybe it wasn’t as big as the youkai she had heard of, maybe it wouldn’t be all that intimidating if she could fight back, but as far as the defenseless Meira was concerned, that eyeball was a shinigami coming to take her life away. She had to run. She had to run…
Finally, Meira’s strength began weakening. Her lungs felt as if they were being punctured with knives.
Oh god, I can’t keep this up much longer. Is it still following me? Still running, Meira whipped her head the other way. It was difficult to see in this light and at this speed, but she couldn’t see the beast. Did she lose it…?
“Ah-!” Before she could see what she hit, Meira was sent tumbling through the air. Her lower leg hurt like hell, but worse was what she saw as she looked forward: A large tree stump. At this rate…!
NO!Meira brought her arms up to her head. The gambit paid off, as her arms took the brunt of the impact. It hurt, but she could deal. She grunted and pulled herself back to her feet. She immediately regretted this action, as she stumbled sideways back against the tree stump. She took this temporary immobility as a chance to catch her breath.
“Hah…hah…guess this…is where I get off. Ooh…” It was only now that she was off her feet that she felt the agony she had just undergone. She rubbed her calf gingerly, hissing as she did so.
With this momentary peace, Meira took in her new surroundings while she waited for the throbbing in her legs to stop. She had stumbled into a clearing of sorts, thirty, maybe forty feet in each direction. For whatever reason, all the surrounding trees were cut to nothing but stumps, allowing Meira to get her first good look at the night sky in hours. It was…almost man-made. In any case, the view of the cloudy sky was a welcome sight for the weary samurai. If it weren’t for the eye demon –
Oh god! Meira whipped her head in all directions. There was no sign of the beast, and chances are she had run hundreds of feet from there. There’s no way it could have followed her.
“I…think…I…lost it…” Meira drooped her head. Her long hair fell into her face, but she didn’t care. She had survived. She was a survivor. The joy of being alive made up for the hours of torture she had been subjected to. The beautiful sky was bringing back hope to the girl’s heart. She took in the clean summer air into her lungs and let out a large sigh.
“Siiiiiiiiigh. I’m alive…I’m still standing. Heh heh…ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha-!” She pulled herself to her feet, her legs having recovered.
“I’m alive! I lost the youkai! Yes…YES!” She pumped her fists in the air. She felt better than she had all night, nay, for a long time now. “I did it! I outwitted the beasts! I’m not helpless after all! Ha…Ha!” Meira looked at her hands, which now felt like they were pulsing with energy. She grinned.
“I’m not worthless…I’m-“ Any further shouts of jubilation were abruptly cut short by a sharp blow to her back that sent her sprawling onto the grass.
“What the-?!” Meira quickly flipped onto her back and gasped. There it was, as though it had never left: The eye demon, and no worse for wear after the chase.
Shit. What did I just learn not to do. Noise. Why did I make noise. Shit… The pit that had dug itself in Meira’s stomach all night burrowed deeper than ever before. She gulped, backing away with her hands.
*rustle*
“Wha-wha-“ Meira looked behind in horror as another, nearly identical eye demon appeared as if from nowhere. She looked between the two youkai flanking her, unsure of what to do. Quickly she leapt to her feet and tried to make a break for it.
*rustle rustle rustle*
“No…” Meira’s eyes widened as three more of the cyclopean horrors emerged from the dense foliage in front of her. She slowly stepped back into the center of the clearing. The five red-eyed monstrosities spread out and surrounded the clearing. She looked around herself desperately, but the clearing was simply not big enough – there was no opening in their formation. The five monstrous beasts looked upon her with looks of pure relish; there was no question as to their intention. She wasn’t sure what an eye could hope to do to her body, but…she shivered.
Is this…how it ends? Am I finished? Meira brought her fist to her chest. She was trapped, trapped by a pack of youkai.
…
No…I won’t let it end like this! I must fight back. I’ve GOT to fight back!She had no choice but to fight…
Can I…can I really do this…? Meira gritted her teeth. She didn’t have much of a choice. The forest had finally had its fill of the samurai’s fear. This pack of youkai was its call to arms. Now was the time for her to prove to the world just what kind of a person she was. She had to kill. It was death, or die. No prisoners! One side would fall! It was her, or them!
“Bring it on…the cool samurai girl Meira…*gulp*…accepts your challenge!”
---
Maybe I was hitting
this song a liiiiiiittle too hard there. ;^_^ In any case, I hope you enjoyed the fruits of my labors.
Will Meira overcome the devious denizens of the destructive deciduous...uh, forest? Or shall all her efforts and epiphanies end in tragedy? Find out in the next episode of:
Samur Eye Z!!!!!!!!
