Of Beginnings

Chapter 6

Runa smiled as she inched closer to Itazura's face. She never had slept before, and she thought that it was adorable the way that humans looked when they did. "Nin-gen!" She sang. Ningen was a nickname she had given Itazura since he still had not told her his name. She lightly poked Itazura's nose. He opened his eyes slightly, then closed them again. "Sorry Princess," He said. "I don't really feel like working on debris today." Runa frowned in a pouting-like way, then smiled brightly and laid down on her back next to him. "Well, that's fine, Because I woke you up to tell you that It's done." Itazura moved his arm from his eye and looked at her. She smiled widely in silent response. "Yeah!" She said, as if hearing his thoughts. "I figured out how to use the water to cause erosion, And last night while you were sleeping, I figured out to speed up the process. Look!" Sure enough, when he looked over her shoulder he saw that the entrance was open. "That's amazing!" 

  She beamed proudly but then her face softened into a sad grin. "Well, um...I guess this is goodbye." Itazura lifted his arm from his eyes. "What?" She looked toward the newly-opened entrance. "I've been trapped here for eons. I-I kinda thought that we would..." She stopped speaking and stared at her folded hands in her lap. Itazura sat up and smiled. "Hey, don't worry. I think I know something that can help." He removed the stolen map from his back pocket and laid it on the grass. There were thousands of differently colored X's on it. Runa watched as Itazura's strong crimson eyes danced around, looking for some unknown thing. "Here." He said, pointing to a navy blue X.  "'Tsumi no dōkutsu', The Cave of Sins. Legend says that we need to overcome seven challenges. Each challenge completed leads to one fraction of the Tear of Sin, or 'Tsumi no namida. the Tear of Sin is made up by Seven tear fragments, But don't worry." Itazura pressed his hand to his chest, then gently moved it forward. Six tear fragments son followed, right out of thin air. "Legend says that the fully completed Tear of Sin is strong enough to free anyone from their bondage. Even eternal damnation. Runa looked at him with hopeful eyes. "You-You're doing this for me?" Itazura smiled at her excitement."Of course, Anything for you, My Princess." Runa's eyes started to tear up, and she buried her face in his shoulder. "Thank you..." She whispered. "Will she hurt you?" He asked quietly. "Not If i'm like this." She answered. Itazura pressed her head harder into the hug.  

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The Cave of Sins was different from Itazura's expectations. It was dark, But what surprised him was the water. " After a few minutes of lingering, Runa sighed. Itazura placed his hand onto Runa's shoulder. "Come on." walking forward numbly, the two came to a large pool of water. Before them stood a plague that read

"Enter if you dare,

Only shall the bold.

This cave will do more than scare,

And to proceed the weakest must be out cold."

    Itazura glanced down at Runa as they both silently read it. She trembled. Sweat dripped down her face, even though the cave was freezing. She clearly knew that she was the weakest of the two. As the they began to enter into the water, Runa shrieked and pulled her foot back. "It's boiling!" She exclaimed. Looking over at Itazura she gave him an exasperated look. Itazura turned to the water and walked over to the edge. "Ningen, don't-" He entered the pool up to his kneecaps. "It's fine. The water is kinda cozy, actually." Runa gave him a surprised and worried look "I guess you'll have to-" Before she could finnish he had picked her up bridal-style and was carrying her to the other side of the water. "I was going to say 'go on without me.'" She whispered. "No you weren't." He answered. Runa looked down at her hands, Blushing. 

     Suddenly, The water around them began to shift and move. Huge waves started to form. Before he could dodge, Itazura was pulled underwater, dragging Runa with him. The water worked mercilessly to tear the two apart. He kept his hold with her hand, until another wave broke it. A savage wave was thrashing Runa and Itazura around like ragdolls. Runa was screaming in pain. All of a sudden, A loud crack!  echoed throughout the cave. Itazura turned and saw Runa sink under the waves. Blood was dripping down her forehead. He tried to swim towards her, but he was getting tired and the waves were too strong. They suddenly began to die down, and Itazura could easily swim towards her. Grabbing Runa's unconscious body, he made his way back to shore. Panting heavily, he looked on to what lay ahead of him. In the next room there was more water, but it moved along at a seemingly lazy pace. Itazura dipped his hand in, attempting to feel the cool sand. Instead, his arm kept on reaching down until he felt it. Both his arm and his head were completely submerged, including half of his neck. He reamerged and sighed deeply. Grabbing Runa, he began into the water. Once he was in, the water was up to his stomach. He held  onto Runa's ragdoll like body as he started wading down the long corridor. The water's current proved stronger than expected, and Itazura had to kneel so that he and Runa wouldn't move too fast. The ground changed from sand to hard, jagged rock. After about five minutes or so, they arrived at a set of doors. Huge wooden doors made out of old oak, lined with silver on the edges and sapphires implanted into the boards. A carving in the wall to the right of the doors had a map. There were seven holes, each with a diamond in it. Each diamond had a symbol on it that was different from the rest. All of the holes had a line which connected to a longer line, which then connected to yet another diamond, until that one led up to a diamond which had no symbol. Six of the seven diamonds had cracks in them, leaving one of the seven, and the two other diamonds unscathed.  Itazura rubbed his chin, then stopped. "I know what I need to do." He turned towards the doors and opened them.