Blackbeard; The Legend

The Choice

Akahana stared intensely at the candle, for her mind was not at ease. Inside her mind, a struggle was going on, and she was conflicted on to do. Her dreams, her goals, the very desire she pursued for all her life, was suddenly being shaken on its foundations. Before, she was ready to leave and begin her life as a hero. But now, after everything, she didn't know if she was prepared or not.

She gripped the blanket tightly, her claws digging into it. She bit her lip as she kept glaring at the candle's flickering flame, as if that would do anything to ease the indecision in her heart. Tears of frustration dripped down her face as she kept attempting to quell her qualms over what to do.

If she left, that would mean breaking Hiroaki's heart. If she left, that would mean that Hiroaki's family, who had been looking for someone for him for a long time, would be cheated out of their what they were promised. If she left, then it might break her father's heart for a second time, and she would be leaving her own family in disgrace and grief. So many negative things would emerge from doing this one action, and Akahana didn't want it happen.

Yet, if she stayed, she would forfeiting everything she was taught, just to simply become a housewife. Twig even had asked her about why he was training her one time, if it would all go to waste.

"Why don't you just tell father that you don't want this?" Twig asked.

"Didn't you see the last time I tried?" Akahana said. "He's not going to train me to become a warrior."

"Yeah, I know, but what if you could prove him wrong?" Twig suggested. "Maybe in a sparring match, maybe in a tournament-"

"He still won't let me, if I prove him a thousand times wrong." Akahana cut him off.

"Then what are you going to do?" He asked, and Akahana hadn't answer, only walking off.

Akahana shouted in anger and swiped at the candle, and it clattered to the ground. She got off the bed and stomped furiously on the flame, even after it was put out, before collapsing on the floor in a mess of maddened sobbing. After a few moments, she tried wiping away the never-ending tears and she looked at herself in the mirror. Her makeup had begun to drip down, and her fur was unkempt. A hollow shell of what she looked like. Yet, beneath her ruined face, she saw something.

Wiping away the desecrated makeup, she looked at her reflection, without any unnecessary additions, and saw her mother. It almost seemed like she was actually gazing back at her, with those eyes that looked through her very soul.

"Akahana, what's wrong?" Akahana could hear her mother asking her, and she tried answering through her tears.

"I-I don't know what to do, mother..." She said, strangled. "I don't know if I-I should stay, or do what I've always wanted to do..." She wiped her tears from her eyes. "If I go, I hurt all those I leave behind, but if I stay, I waste everything that I've learned." She slammed her fist on the table. "I need some sort of guidance, any sign, at all...please..."

Suddenly, one of the other candles in the room went out, and Akahana gasped. Another candle went out, and in a sort of trail, a path was made. Following the blown out candle trail, she exited her room and down the hallways before she ended up before the two massive doors of the library, which were faintly illuminated by candlelight, and Akahana pushed them open. It was in complete darkness, but once-snuffed out candles erupted the shadows with bright new flame, and Akahana continued pursuing as more burst to life. At one point, the path ended, and as Akahana looked for the next fire, a small gust ruffled her fur, and a book fell from its perch, clattering on the ground. Picking it up, her eyes widened as she recognized the beloved tome; Collection of Svellish Tales. Its pages were already flipped open, and when examining the open page, Akahana's mind raced. Written on the page, were the golden words that inspired Akahana from the beginning; The Woe of Brunhilde.