Donten ni Warau: Meeting Nishiki

Meeting Nishiki

 The clouds had cleared from the sky. The sun shone in the azure sky. Nishiki trotted through the forest. Above her the cloudless sky was beyond dazzling, but she couldn't focus on that now. She was looking for her "master," although he had disagreed to her calling him that. Where is Master Soramaru? She wondered.

She saw him kill the Orochi, everyone for miles had seen that. After that, she hadn't a clue where he could have gone. She wanted to see him, she wanted to see him up close. The last time they had been within 5 feet of each other, he was a monster. Covered in midnight toned scales and gazing off with despicable red eyes. She had been terrified then, swinging the sword at him was not something that she ever wanted to even think about again. Her reasons for doing so were a different matter, completely.

She had to see his smile again. He was the one who brought her out of the dark world that she'd been living in. Nishiki never thought of herself as anything more than a tool, and she thought even less of herself because of her unfledged status. He taught her how to see herself as a person.She needed to see him again.

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The brothers of the cloud stood near the edge of a cliff. Where only moments ago, the 10th chief of the Fuuma clan had jumped. They thought he was their family for 10 years. His betrayal filled Soramaru with anger, but his anger left, giving way to just sadness. He, Tenka, and Chuutarou stood there, just looking into the distance. No one wanted to say anything, although there was so much that needed to be said. The silence stretched on, there was nothing but stillness.

Finally, the silence was shattered by a feminine voice. "Master Soramaru!" It called repeatedly. The Kumou brothers snapped out of their dazes. Soramaru turned to see Nishiki running towards them. When he saw her, he was overcome with emotion. He didn't really have feelings for her (yet), but seeing her filled him with joy, because she was one of the few things that he remembered.

***Flashback***

When the Orochi had taken over, there was only a small part of Soramaru that saw everything.That small piece of him had watched in horror as houses were torn apart, as people fled in terror, as Shirasu appeared as a different person. He remembered Nishiki, dressed in Fuuma gear approaching him. Oh please, no! He had thought, but the Orochi did not attack her.

She kneeled before him, and he watched. If she was on the Fuumas' side, he could not blame her. She had already told him her story, he knew that her only desire, really, was to be accepted as a Fuuma. He heard her say to Shirasu's twin brother how peace clashed with her will. How she was a ninja. She was a ninja, after all, denying one's own upbringing isn't easy.

Soramaru couldn't hold anything against her. She was born into the clan, after all. But, still, those thoughts did nothing to ease his pain. He hadn't wanted to listen anymore, it hurt too much. He did hear one thing, though, she had called him "Master Soramaru."

His breath caught in his throat as he listened. She was talking to him, not the Orochi. He saw the swords and her sitting across from him. "There are rumors, Master," She began,"That these swords can cleave you from your chosen host." As she said that, his swords just missed a connection with his body. He was chasing her, now. Run, Nishiki, run!! He thought, as though he could send a telepathic message to her. He was relieved when the Orochi stopped chasing her, only to panic again as it chased after Chuutarou.

***Flashback end***

Soramaru couldn't help it, he ran towards her. When they met, his arms went around her and her's around him. They hadn't known each other for long, but Nishiki had made just as big an impact in Soramaru's life as he had made in her's.

The separation was awkward. He had embraced her on impulse, and didn't know what to do after that. "Umm... Thanks for... everything." He managed to say, he didn't know exactly what to thank her for. She'd done so much that he could had difficulty putting all of his gratitude into an eloquent sentence. "No, thank you, Master Soramaru." Nishiki said quietly. Neither person knew what to do after that, leading to yet another stretch of silence. Luckily (or maybe not), Tenka jumped in.

"Soramaru," Tenka yelled in his brother's ear. "What the heck?! I'm gone for a little bit and you just find yourself a girlfriend, not concerned for your older brother at all?! Seriously? That really hurts, man!" Tenka's eyes flooded with tears, comically. He wasn't being serious at all. Soramaru sighed."Tenka, she's not my girlfriend... She just.. She.." He wasn't sure on how to finish his sentence. Him taking the girl in was a little difficult to describe at the moment, and he didn't want to oversimplify the story by just casually stating that he found her half dead on the side of the road. "She's the girl who Gerokichi ran into and the one who gave Miss Botan our swords!" Chuutarou stated. Tenka made an odd look, but understood the basic message.

Soramaru turned to where Nishiki was just a second ago and found her on her knees on the ground. "Master Tenka." She said, addressing Tenka as formally as she could. She knew who he was, Soramaru briefly described his family situation when he took her in. "Oh, You really don't have to do that." Soramaru said, gently pulling her to her feet.

Tenka raised his eyebrow, "Aren't you going to introduce us, Soramaru?" Soramaru gave Tenka an exasperated glance, but still did as he suggested. "Tenka, Chuutarou. This is Nishiki. Nishiki, this is Tenka and Chuutarou." He said, gesturing awkwardly. "She's been living at the house for the past week. She could stay for as long as she wants, right?" Soramaru said, looking at Tenka. Tenka observed Nishiki's different colored eyes and nodded, Soramaru let out a breath, relieved. "But, I'm curious about a few things..." So close, Soramaru thought. He almost escaped all of the questions.

"-And she was the one who tried to separate me from the Orochi with the swords.Happy?" Soramaru finished after Tenka asked a ton of questions about the nature of his relationship with Nishiki, when they met, and a few random questions, like what her favorite color was. Surprisingly, it was a lot more to explain than anyone would expect. "I would like to serve the Kumou line." Nishiki said, her eyes on Soramaru and Tenka. Tenka smiled. "With everything that I've heard, you're already family of the Kumou line."

About an hour later, at the Kumou Shrine

"Hey, Soramaru." Tenka called out. "Why is all of our soap engraved?" Soramaru entered the room, laughing a bit. "Oh yeah, well, I may have forgotten to mention it to you. She tends to go a little overboard with things. You should have seen her doing the laundry."

Tenka stared at the soap that had the kanji for soap on it. " Speaking of Nishiki, where is she right now?" Tenka asked. Soramaru shrugged. He hoped that she was getting some rest, even ninjas had to sleep sometimes.

He found her sitting down on the patio deck, under the sun. "It's nice, isn't it?" He said from behind her. She turned around and her eyes met his. "Yes, it's beautiful. I had no idea what I have been missing." She replied as he took a seat next to her. "We were in the dark for so long."

"Yeah," He said. "We were, but let's not talk about that now, because we're never returning to that darkness."

Nishiki nodded, almost all of her memories were dark. She was in a box, she lacked the strength necessary to become a Fuuma, she was in a prison (not as a prisoner, but close enough), for her entire life she had been in the dark. But the sad things that she had endured seemed to dissolve, like salt in water, as she sat, drenched in the golden sunlight with Soramaru.