Sunshine and shadows

The past that haunts

"Ma! I'm going out on a hunt!" Aramis called out, strapping his sword to his waist. When nobody responded, he sighed, picked up his quiver and bow, and made his way into the forest.

Today, like all the other days, his feelings of self-pity and loneliness were only lessened when he breathed in the forest's fresh air, sighted the lovely birds, and played with the woodland creatures. After all, no human wanted to be seen with the chieftain's murderer son.

His morbid thoughts were interrupted by the zing of metal cutting through the air. This unusual sound stopped him in his tracks, and he crept toward the warrior, silently drawing his own sword in the process.

The sword's speed intensified, and even from this distance, Aramis could make out that the warrior was highly skilled. He gripped his sword tighter and stopped behind an outcrop of bushes, peering through the spaces between the leaves.

A bright, sunny clearing paved with grass met his eyes. A gentle breeze blew through the air and sent ripples across the green blades. Beyond the meadow, the pearly ocean crashed against the shore and created a melodic tune.

This sight would have been pleasant to see, if not for the young girl practicing her swordswomanship with obvious bloodlust. The deadliness of her blades were at stark contrast with her lovely young face. In fact... he was too far away to tell for sure, but her doe eyes and rosy cheeks looked quite similar to his. A chill went down his spine as he realized that she looked a lot like how his sister would have looked if she'd survived.

An ominous feeling crept up his throat, and he slowly began backing away from the haunting girl. He almost made it to the comforts of the forest when the girl suddenly stilled her movements and turned towards him. Her rosebud lips curled in a frightening smile, and she curled her finger in his direction, beckoning to him.

He gulped and considered running away from there, but an invisible force pushed him into the clearing, and he stumbled to a stop before her.

Now that he could see her up close, he knew for sure that this was his sister, though its implications scared the soul out of him.

He curled his toes as her cool eyes settled on his. "You've come at last." she spoke, and all he could think of was how her lilting voice was like a siren's; beautiful and haunting as it drew you to your death.

"I've always wondered how my first interaction with my brother would go." she said, tilting her head to one side. "Would you be happy to see me? Relieved that I'm alive? Eager to take me home?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but she beat him to it with an amused chuckle. "Then I realized, 'Of course he wouldn't be pleased to see me. After all, he's the one who tried to kill me.'"

Aramis' head spun and he felt the world tilt around him, making everything move with a dizzying speed.

"I... I wasn't trying to... I was just..." he stammered, the words barely forming due to his constricting lungs.

"You weren't trying to kill me? But brother dear, when someone throws an infant into the sea, they generally mean to kill the babe."

"No," Aramis mumbled, shaking his head back and forth. "No, no, no, no. This isn't possible. This isn't..."

"I've always wondered why you did it," she continued calmly, as though she was having a conversation about the weather. "Why would anybody kill his own baby sister? What made you hate me so much that you decided to get rid of me?"

"How?" Aramis said, oblivious to her words. "You couldn't have survived the fall. You couldn't have survived the ocean. How are you alive?"

"I'm losing patience, brother." she said, unsheathing a dagger and spinning it in her hand. "You'd better reply soon, or I might lose control."