To Bury Living Bone

[Sekkekkyū]

Solo.



To Bury Living Bone

To bury a living person
How terrible can it be
To be buried beneath
For no one to save or even see?

You buried my living body
The rest of my clan too
Do I forgive you? Hardly!
Now, it's your turn.


~~~

The narrow shadows and aching darkness was nothing, death had colder jaws. Smight sighed as she pulled her hood up. It was dark here, but at least it was warm... and death had colder jaws.

The marble floor was terribly cracked and hadn't been swept in ages. Sleeping mats and dim, weak lamps were laid out at random across the humongous, two floors building. The sound of poorly cared for wood caused fear to strike in all hearts.

All but Smight's though, death had far colder jaws.

This was the average hotel of the ancient city of Beinost. Few people lived here. Given the nature of light living freaks of normality, the hametsu could shrug when asked why.

Smight was waiting for someone tonight. She received a letter at the Order of the Crimson Hand base from someone who could "help her goal." Who though, Smight wandered.

She would have to wait and see for herself.

[Sekkekkyū]

Smight noticed a new figure walk through the rotted oak door. He walked towards her. Smight's head tilted up. Up until now, she had been in a relaxed position, almost asleep even. However, any sign of her informant would be able to get her up again. It very well did.

Smight stood to her feet with a grunt, her chains shaking around her. By the time she stood up, the muffled footsteps on marble were right in front of her.

Smight blinked and looked up to see a shadowy figure. "Smight FlameShadow was it?"

Smight's eyes narrowed, "Yes. And who may you be?" She motioned a loose hand towards him.

His reply made her heart skip a beat, "A fellow survivor."

[Sekkekkyū]

A fellow hametsu survived the apocalypse? She wasn't the only one? - Well, in terms of how she survived she still must of been the only one. However, hearing that another member of her tribe was alive seemed to breathe air to her she lacked as of late.

"A fellow FlameShadow?" She raised her voice in joy, "Wh-who - what's your name??"

The man pulled his finger to his mouth though, "Shhh! Not here! I'm being watched..."

Smight glanced around them, instantly alert, for any hostile figures around. Meanwhile, she motioned him to follow her to the stairs to the second floor.

[Sekkekkyū]

The stairs seemed to creep a haunting song as the two hametsu stepped upstairs. The wood they stepped on was old, obviously in need of refurbishing. Would such a forsaken city get their needs though? Who knew?

The upstairs was a more cozy place to be. Several massive sacks of material, a single desk alight by a burning candle, and the innkeeper checking his pretty money stash.

The obese, blond elf glared at them, not bothering to check his rigid clothing, "What are 'yall 'doin here? Got a prob'em?

Smight pulled her hood down, daring to glare him right in his eyes, "My friend and I need to talk..."

He got the message. He pulled the small amount of money he had closer to him and huddled over his desk, recounting every penny.

Smight turned to see her partner had closed the door. He walked over to her and whispered, "My name is Eevel Dewa FlameShadow. A pleasure to meet you."

Smight grinned at him, "Likewise."

A silence fell over them, unspoken tragedy overtaking the memories of both minds. Sickness, betrayal, a horrid stench, the moaning elders and crying infants, all that death...

Eevel finally broke the silence, "Fellow survivor of the sickness, I have a lot to tell you."

[Sekkekkyū]

Eevel looked left and right one more time before speaking softly to Smight, "I do not have all the answers, but I do have some clues. I think I know what may have caused all this to happen. Meanwhile..."

The black haired, pale skinned FlameShadow dug into a purse then pulled something out. It was a glimmering, red stone. About the size of an apple, the oval shaped object was still half emerged in the bag to avoid the innkeeper's greedy eyes from seeing. Meanwhile, Smight recognized it all the more.

"I went... grave digging... in the nursery of our camp. Th-this was the only one still alive."

Smight found a smile slowly cross her face.

"We have to find a good, healthy place to bury it! It's not to late before it rots!" Eevel encouraged.

Smight put her hand to her grin, "I agree. This may be the last chance we get..."

That glowing stone was the key to the next generation of hametsu children. Hametsu did not reproduce, new members were born from the ground of a nursery once every ten years. Red stones like these were buried beneath the sacred ground to allow this to happen - it was filed with a special FlameShadow spell.

The offspring would grow for the time needed in their eggs, orange eggs were female, crimson was male. The members of the tribe had an entire festival dedicated to their young, activities including the choosing of parents to raise the children in the eggs. Once born, the children were given to their parents and that was that. Children were sacred to the hametsu race, only coming into existence once every ten years. Six years had passed since the last hatching, four more to go until the process was able to possibly take place.

However, the nursery was sickened from the cruel, venomous fangs of cold death that had taken close to all, young and old. While there was four years until the stone was able to create new eggs, was that short time enough to find the needed place for a safe sanctuary?

The two FlameShadows pondered that.

[Sekkekkyū]

Eevel put the stone back in the bag and handed it to Smight, "I can't carry this safely much longer, you should take it."

Smight bit her lip, she was never good with kids. Yet, children was where this entire operation could begin. She felt worried thought, this stone had extremely strict needs that would be close to impossible to carry through with. Smight was determined to get this right though, for her clan.

"You can count on me." Smight took the sack safely. She then walked right up to him and whispered in his ear, "Why all the secrecy though?"

The FlameShadow sighed, "Th-this sickness didn't ju-ust happen. Someone was out to get the clan..."

Smight's multicolored eyes widened, "What?" She snapped.

Eevel shuddered, apparently looking back at a memory as he glanced down. "I don't know who it is though. All I do know is that someone has been stalking me for a while... I have no idea why though."

Smight now had a face of cold determination, she knew what she had to do. "We should just go find out then. Shall we?"