Death's Hunt

Chapter 6

The next day, as I stood in the clearing, I was waiting for Chiyoko to arrive. And, just like yesterday, she was no where to be seen. “This better not become a reoccurring thing,” I thought. Suddenly, Chiyoko stumbled out of the bushes, panting hard.
“You know that deaths don’t get tired, so there’s no use in you panting. Also, you’re late… again…” Chiyoko didn’t say anything this time. She simply looked down at her feet, avoiding eye contact. “But at least you’re not as tardy as yesterday,” I added. This seemed to make Chiyoko feel a little better. “Now listen to me and listen very carefully. Those feet of yours are going to be your main weapons.”
“Wh… what do you mean by that?” Chiyoko asked hesitantly.
“Every death has some kind of weapon. Many have multiple ways of killing. That scream of yours… that will be your second weapon. But I don’t see you using it anytime soon, so right now we will work on your feet.”
“I… I still don’t understand.”
Grumbling in frustration, I grabbed a rock and threw it at her. Unsurprisingly, she fell over in her attempt to dodge the rock. As she rolled back onto her stomach and got to her knees, I walked up next to her.
“Yesterday you caught this rock with your talons, the claws on your feet. I want you to keep trying to grab it,” I told her with an emotionless expression painted on my face.
“But… but I can’t raise my legs that high!” Chiyoko protested.
“Then we will start by rolling it at you.”
As I walked away, I chose a large boulder to replace the previous stone. Using my tail and claws, I chipped away at the sharp corners, making sure that it was round enough to properly roll. Once I was satisfied with my work, I crouched down holding the stone in one hand. I swung my arm forward and released it as if it were a bowling ball. The heavy sphere of granite charged towards Chiyoko. I could see that she was nervous. Just as it was about to hit her, she leapt over it instead of trying to grab it. I had to give it to her, that jump was impressive. I walked to the rock and brought it back with me. While I passed Chiyoko, she hung her head in shame and apologized for not trying to grab the stone.
I stopped for a second and looked down at her. Using one of my fingers, I forced her to look up at me. “Try using that jump of yours,” I stated before continuing on my way. I turned around and started aiming the projectile at Chiyoko. I recreated the exact same motion as my first roll and waited for Chiyoko’s reaction. She raised one of her feet, getting ready to grab our makeshift ball, but just as it got within range, she side-stepped it, her nerves clearly having gotten the best of her. I sighed as I retrieved the stone.
At around the seventh try, she stopped jumping out of the way, although she didn’t really try the grab the rock either. Instead, she’d only lift one of her feet so the rock wouldn’t roll on her toes. By her twelfth try, she was attempting to grab the chunk of granite, though her timing was off.
“All right Chiyoko. Listen very, very carefully. This is going to be our thirtieth try. This means that after this we are done for today. So, try to make this one count.”
She nodded as I took aim, “Three…. Two… one…” I put all my strength into this last roll, forcing the rock to plow across the ground, kicking up dust as it continued. Chiyoko lifted her foot, though she was trembling. I could see she was nervous. She then slammed her leg down, just missing the rock. As she looked behind her, I noticed that her entire body was shaking. All four of her eyes were welling up with tears. She must have felt like she had failed. Calmly, I walked over to her and placed a hand on one of her shoulders. She jumped in surprise before pulling away.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Anyway, it’s not like I could have hurt her in the first place.
Chiyoko shivered in place as tears started to roll down her face. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I’m… I’m just…” I got onto one knee so I could look her in the eyes. “I’m just a failure!” Chiyoko blurted out in a mess of sadness. I placed both of my arms around her before pulling her into what humans call a hug.
“You are not a failure,” I whispered in her ear.
“Yes I am! I can’t do anything right! I can’t even catch a rock!”
“Listen to me. It was just a rock. We were practicing – that’s all.”
“It’s my fault!”
“No, it’s my fault for pushing you.”
“No, it is my fault. All of this is my fault.”
“Chiyoko, calm down,” I said holding her tightly. “Now, how is this your fault?” She tore herself from me and ran off.
“Chiyoko! Wait!” I shouted, but she was already gone. “I’m an idiot!” I growled. I walked up to a tree and stabbed my claws into it. “Why do I keep DOING THIS!!” I yelled enraged, tearing my claws across the already dead plant causing it to collapse in on itself, its branches crashing into each other, dead leaves swirling around, the petrified trunk crushing its neighbour. As my eyes stopped glowing, I looked at what I had just done. I walked over to the fallen plant and sat down, burying my face in my hands, my fingers sifting through my dark hair.
I sat there as emotions flooded over me like torrential waters, thinking about everything I had ever done. All the deaths I had caused, the fear I had spread. Everything. Because of that one stupid… stupid mistake. Why did I think it was a good idea? I should have known better! Death by a hundred cuts. Is there any worse way to die?
“Kakrix!” My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Vlagor’s booming voice. “There you are, my friend. I’ve been wondering where you were.” It’s only then that he noticed the destroyed tree I was sitting on. “My! What happened here?”
“I cut it down.”
“Why would you do that? I mean, what did that already dead tree ever do to you? Oh! Wait. Did you get caught in its branches while flying low? That’s it, isn’t it. You were flying and you hit the branches. You got stuck in them…”
“WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS?!!” I roared.
Vlagor stepped back at my outburst, clearly shocked by it. I calmed down and apologized, “Sorry Vlagor. I’m just not having the best day. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Was it Sheri?”
“No, that multi-armed skank didn’t do anything.”
“No luck hunting?”
“No, not that either.”
Vlagor cupped his chin into one of his gigantic paws, thinking very hard about what could have angered me. “Well, I know that I could not have done anything since I only saw you two days ago. And it couldn’t have been Anga, otherwise she would have told me.”
“No, neither of you got me mad,” I replied becoming annoyed.
He then snapped his fingers before exclaiming, “Wait! Alger came by yesterday, talking about convincing Chiyoko to ‘really’ get into the idea of the Soul Hunt. Did he confront you, causing you to get very angry?”
“Yes, he confronted me. And yes, he angered me. But no, he was not what caused me to tear down this tree,” I said exasperated.
“Then what was it?”
I looked up at him before answering his question with one of my own, “Vlagor, I have been doing this for such a long time. And yet, I cannot let go of my last life. How are you able to just continue? How are you able to leave behind the life you had?”
Vlagor looked at me surprised. It was very clear he had not expected that. “Well, hum… well Kakrix, the truth is that there is still a little bit of me that is holding on to my last life. I may have told you how I died, but not why.”
“You died because your time came,” I simply told him.
He laughed slightly at my blunt remark. “Well, yes it is true that death decided to pay me a visit that day, but the way I see it, I died for a good cause.”
“The bear that killed you fell on your spear and died. You can’t say that your death extended that animal’s life.”
“You are only half right. Yes, it is true that I did not extend the life of that enormous cave bear, but I could rest easy knowing that I had extended the life of my family.”
I looked at him in shock. “Why didn’t you ever tell anyone that you died protecting your family?”
“Well, at first, it was because the memory was too painful. But, as time passed and I grew accustomed to my new non-life, I simply left that part out because it was just something I did now. Maybe the problem with you is that you cannot find a good thing in how you died. Try to find the … um… silver lining.”
“I can guarantee you that there was no silver lining to the way I died. Really, if anything, I had it coming.”
Vlagor simply rubbed the top of my head, “Well Kakrix, I’d say keep searching. You might actually find your silver lining. And you know, maybe you could start anew in this life, or non-life. Show everyone that you aren’t the terrifying monster who will kill on sight that everyone thinks you are.”
I pushed his hand away from my head as I stood up. His words resonated in my mind, “starting anew…” They kept repeating over and over in my head like a broken record. And then it came to me. I now knew what I had to do.
“I’ve got to go now, Vlagor. But know that you are wiser than what most people believe.” As I flew off, I heard him call out loud, “Wait! What do others think of me?” I chuckled softly at that comment as I began my search for Chiyoko.