When Darkness Turns to Light

Accursed Requiem

Recappy from the Last Chappy: "He's the leader. Tarzan's dad, if he'd ever accept him," answered Kiba. "Doesn't trust humans, so all of us going'll only scare him. Sora needs to find his friends, and his party should go with him. Three people is kinda pushing it, but one more could probably go along. I'll stay behind."

Before Jane or the Professor could speak, Clayton smiled and volunteered himself. "Perfect. You can protect Miss Porter and the Professor. I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place. . . ."

His smile became dark and foreboding.

Chapter Thirteen: Accursed Requiem

One's eyes are said to be the windows to the soul. Through them what goes unsaid or is hidden by a smile or frown comes to light-ideally. Wintry eyes can be warm, and warmly colored eyes can be cold. Soulless eyes reflected the empty being one was.

And yellow eyes that glowed characteristically hinted either one without a heart or one whose light had abandoned them long ago.

There were four pairs of eyes on Hikari. Two were completely black, bearing no distinction for iris and pupil. The third was a dark, milk chocolate brown, and the fourth was a fiery red-orange. All came from different directions.

On a branch in front of Hikari stood a bluish grey-haired male with pale skin and a little brown eyeliner feminizing his features; his turquoise lips formed a condescending smirk. He wore long black armbands and skin-tight shorts; his tunic was short-sleeved, tan, had a purple rope around his waist, and brandished a Yin-Yang symbol-only, the parts normally meant to be colored black were blank. Around his neck he wore a dark red-beaded necklace; it appeared that another head sprouted from the back of there. He was one of the black-eyed ninja, Sakon, whereas the other head was his brother, Ukon.

Jirobou was a portly boy with red-orange eyes matching the three patches of hair on his scalp in color. His outfit was similar to Sakon's, though his tunic was sleeveless, he was sans arm bands, and his shorts were actually baggy pants tucked into bandages. There was no makeup on his stoic expression; he was to Hikari's left.

A young woman with reddish pink hair was a little higher than her, standing atop a branch on her right: Tayuya. Her bangs fell around and between the dark brown eyes as a black cap covered her scalp. She was outfitted similarly to Sakon, but she wore no beads.

In order to see the fourth person, and the other person with black irises, Hikari had to twist her head and look behind her. He was a dark-skinned, dark ponytailed, arachnid, having six arms coming through the armholes of his sleeveless shirt and a standard pair of legs-eight limbs in all. What drew Hikari's attention about him-Kidoumaru-the most, however, was the shinobi hitaiate tied around his forehead brandishing a musical eighth note.

"Sound . . . ? You're the last I'd expect to see, especially looking like you're on a mission-in a place like this," remarked Hikari. She intently stared at the ones visible to her and listened for the fourth's movement. "Orochimaru . . . huh? That snake sent you to kill me, is that it?"

Sakon scoffed, prompting Hikari's stare. "Please. As if you're a threat to him." He crossed his arms, lilting his head. "For some reason, he's interested in you; subsequently, he sent us with a proposal."

"You're coming with us," Tayuya added. There was hardly any emotion in her face but solemnity; one almost would have mistaken it for disdain. "No choice in the matter, but you can make it easier on yourself by going willingly or we can do it forcibly."

"A good player is always looking to level up," Kidoumaru included. "They want to improve their stats. Orochimaru can do that for you; grant you new abilities."