Hanahaki

Prologue - The Vision

          The sky above the game stadium was darker than sable and a modest fog covered the grounds of Tree City so that it was difficult to see anything within several meters of view. The air was cold and it was accompanied by occasional, bitter gusts of wind that nipped at every tactile surface. A harsh, eerie silence covered the base of the arena since it was completely empty. The deep night took over the empty seats, the towering pillars and the acrylic surface of the courts where the game introductions took place during the day. During this time was when the gentle, warm sunrays caught onto the metal seats, radiating an amiable heat to accompany the cooler weather.
          However this particular night was different. Accompanied by the bitter cold of night, there suddenly came the sounds of the frantic pattering of sprinting footsteps and heavy, terrified breathing from the entrance to the arena. This terrfied figure entering into the main hall of the arena was Gai, the Running Man competitor representing the fearsome yet sly Mong Tribe. His atheltic, exiguous build made it easy for him to dart across any terrain and disappear very quickly without a trace, but he swung his arms violently to propel himself as fast as his slender legs could take him as if whatever he was running from, was as fast as he was, if not faster. His chest stung with fatigue as he rushed into a hallway leading into the stadium. Gai could feel his heart thumping so intensely that he thought it may fly right out of his chest. With heavy breathing, he yelled in a terrified yet aggressive manner, "Who are you!? What do you want from me!?" as if he knew that he was being pursued by something or someone that had a lust for blood. A pursuer that could injure or kill him with ease. After making a tight turn down another entrance hallway, Gai darted behind a tall, marble pillar a couple meters out of the way in order to hide himself from his pursuer. Hardly able to move, all he could hear was the blood rushing in his head and the rapid pounding of his heart. He tried not to breathe too heavily in fear that this mysterious stalker would find his hiding place. He stealthily held up his arm to pull out his hologram map coming from his watch. He did so and displayed a large chart of the entire stadium. While brushing his hair back with his fingers, he stared intently at his current location, which was underneath the west side of the stadium, not far from the dormatory where he fled from. Gai held his breath while looking for an easy escape route and he could feel his throat getting tight from anxiety. "If I make a move quickly toward the east hall, I may be able to escape in time. I just cannot waste any time," Gai thought to himself as his eyes darted back and forth over the map, deciding that a quick dash out of his corner toward a nearby door would not be of any harm to him, as long as he made it fast.
          As he viewed that door he knew as his escape route on the hologram chart, he readied himself to make a run for it, before he suddenly froze in terror after hearing the menacing footsteps of his pursuer. The footsteps were not far from his location. Gai held hismelf tight against the cold, stone wall and gritted his teeth as he could begin to feel the mysterious presense approaching closer and closer every second. He was then introduced to a new kind of silence as the footsteps of his pursuer came to a stop. Gai felt lightheaded and his chest ached, taking in this terrible silence so that a minute felt like several hours. He began to close his eyes in defeat, but then a sudden sharp ping of a object bouncing off the side of the wall inches from Gai's face brought him back to an alert state. He was startled awake when he heard the chilling patter of what sounded like a metal stick land in front of him. He turned his head quickly without making a sound and saw the horrific sight of an aluminum arrow laying close to his feet. The long dart had a jagged barb that could rip flesh with ease. He shuddered at the fact that his pursuer had found him and was out to terminate him. Gai thought to himself, "I need to stand up and fight. If I don't, I'll be seen as a coward or be killed in an instant. It's worth a shot. I know how to take out strong warriors without a problem, that's for sure!" He gritted his teeth and groaned under his breath as he made his final decision and quickly jumped from his hiding spot to face the mysterious stalker. He yanked his shuriken from his pocket and held onto it tight as if he was prepared to throw it.
          When he looked up to face the peculiar character before they could make another shot, he saw that the creature, who was about his height, built like one of the Nyanya Tribe, had pointed ears, flattened back in aggression with flowing dark hair pulled up in a ponytail. The feline looked like a phantom or a spirit. It was covered in appalling black smoke and had their face covered with a black mask to hide their identity. They were adorned in a black robe and carried a sturdy black bow with a tight string and perfectly centered sight window. Gai refused to take his eyes off of this strange and terrifying, but also whimsical and majestic creature. He took a closer look. "This shady creature looks oddly familiar," Gai pondered to himself as he tried to stare deep into the deep green eyes of the creature, "Maybe I should get closer."
          Gai felt deep in his heart that he should not harm them, so he lowered his arm in submission, but to his horror, the sly combatant reached for their arrow holster and pulled out another long aluminum arrow, similar to the one that narrowly missed Gai just seconds ago, and held it up to the sight window, aiming it at Gai's chest, right at the heart, where a single blow would kill him. Before he could react, in the blink of an eye, he suddenly grew numb in the chest as the sharp point of the arrow impaled him square in the middle of the chest. Gai felt his breathing stop and he suddenly felt the urge to choke as if he were drowning. He did not dare to touch the area of the wound where the bloody arrow jutted out of his sternum. He grew dizzy and felt a terrible spinning sensation has his vision grew blurry. "This is it for me," Gai thought to himself. The only thing he could see now was the intruder turn their back on him and walk away as if their work had been done. Gai stumbled against the wall as if he could feel his strength failing quickly and he took a step forward to chase down the creature before they got too far, but instead he stumbled back and toppled over, falling hard onto his side on the rough concrete floor. He could see the cloud of black smoke disappearing from his presence as he laid on the ground with the arrow in his chest. He opened his mouth to yell, but only a dry groan ripped from his throat. Gai could feel a cruel, raspy tickle in his throat as if the arrow hit just below his windpipe. He grew even more dizzy as he let out a harsh cough. When he did so, what looked like red flower petals hurled from his throat and onto his lips. He tasted the bitter leaves on his tongue and grew confused at the strange phenomenon, wondering if this was a sort of curse brought to him from the bizarre creature that mercilessly left him to die. "It planted a curse in me," he thought to himself in an angered tone as he spat up several petals from his mouth, "What are these!? Why am I choking on flowers!? Oh I will get them! If only I can-" His thoughts were interrupted before he began hacking up more flower petals that fell from his mouth and onto the floor beside him. He felt his mouth getting dry from the relentless coughing until he could feel his breathing coming to a torturous end. He laid his head on the ground as if he knew he was about to die. Sweat dripped from his hairline and Gai could feel his fingers growing cold. His chest stung from the impact of the arrow and the lack of oxygen caused Gai to faint so that the darkness surrounded his field of vision, leading him into an ill doze.

To Be Continued...