Thanatos's Curse

Six: Aftermath

They all took shelter in an abandoned cave.

It was cold, wet, and the air smelled stale and earthy. Tatsuya curled himself up as the two siblings slid off his back, setting their bags to the ground.

They all stood silent, the atmosphere quiet and still. They didn't know what to do, what to say. It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

Kaida sat against the large dragon, resting her head against the warm body. She felt empty, with nothing but an aching sore spreading from her abdomen to her limbs. Her back hurt from that painful impact, but the whole thing felt like a distant memory, as if it happened so long ago.

Yukio leaned onto the rocky wall, sighing deeply. He hesitated. "How are Mother and Father doing? Grandmother?"

"They're dead." She said before he could close his mouth.

He turned his head back to her, his eyes widened. She quickly averted from his gaze, bringing her legs closer and curling herself up like a ball.

"They're dead." She repeated.

He turned back to himself again, facing into the open air that led outside. The pouring rain hit the floor, dampening everything slightly.

"I'm not surprised." He let it go silent again.

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Nightfall fell soon, and the three were still sitting silently, just as they were when they arrived. Yukio lazily walked over to Kaida's side, slumping down to the ground.

"We should sleep." He murmured.

Kaida nodded her head slightly in agreement before leaning against Tatsuya. "Good night." she said.

"Good night."

Tatsuya yawned, his giant mouth opening and letting out a softened groan.

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Dreams were a rare thing for Kaida to have, but when she did have them, she always remembered them.

It started out blank, like a sheet of pure white. She was in the middle of nowhere, lying on the middle of nothingness. But as she drifted deeper and deeper into her mind, things seemed to be filling up the white space. At first, there was grass. Simple grass, green and abundant. Then a clear blue sky appeared, hovering over her like an azure blanket. It comforted her. It reminded her of a place awfully familiar. Tall bamboo shoots began sprouting out from the green blades, sporadically yet at the same time orderly.

She smiled a little. For once it seemed a little calm, without the rain, or any worldly concerns.

But just as she sat up, the once green grass shriveled up into brown dirt, and crumbled beneath her. The sky overturned with dark clouds that hung over her head. She fell into pitch black. Her stomach dropped. She wanted to scream, but nothing would come out of her dry throat. Her hands flailed, grasping for a stronghold. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. She was falling into thin air.

Just then, she landed in the grasps of claws. They constricted her even more, and she struggled for breath. It threw her into a wall of emptiness, and she landed with a groan. Then, as she pushed herself up with her sore arms, a head lay staring right through her. Her father. It kept chanting words she could not comprehend, words she didn't want to know.

She wanted to scream.

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Morning came quick, much to her excitement.