Falling from cloud nine (solo)

The steam from her drink curled around her hands, faltering her shaking enough for her to take a sip from the warm liquid. The potent smell of blood was too far engulfed in her senses, blocking the taste of the liquid. Never had the girl looked so broken and wrecked as this very moment. Her own wounds were still bleeding slightly, but the dried blood splatters of her fallen enemies remained encrusted on her face. Her eyes shut silently, the world was too heavy to view at the moment. The darkness was comforting, the complete silence. The sound of her own breathing filled her ears, the stuttering inhale and exhale that brought her chest in and out. She opened her eyes, their flickering blue pigments caught with a killers innocence.

'Feeling better now?'

The old man had been waiting for Kaiyo, his patience was cracking a little but his timing was spot on. There was no surprise there though, he knew this girl better than even she knew herself. That was probably why he was her Sensei. In more of a spiritual sense, though there was no doubt in the girl's mind that he was a very able fighter.

She nodded, draining her cup as she slid it down in front of her. Her white robes swished against itself as she crossed her legs, her brave gaze tracing up the man until she was locked in his gaze. She was silent. Everything she needed to say, everything she was feeling was written so clearly across her face that to speak would only muddy the story. She was thankful for the man, even now, she was lucky to have found him. That was a story for a different time though, today she had come back to him for more support.

'You first mission was protecting a Noble...Things didn't go smoothly?'

Her mouth dropped a-jar, no words could fall from her mouth though, she was silent. The silence was safer. The man remained perfectly still, his gaze un-faltering. His own black robes billowed from a gentle breeze that Kaiyo couldn't feel. She couldn't feel much right now.

'If i'm dead, but alive now...That, it means i must be angel...It means we're all angels right? The pure souls allowed to live beyond death' She couldn't allow his eyes to pierce her soul for a moment longer, her eyes dropped to the soft wooden floor. The setting sun gave a soft orange glow to the wood, a warm colour. 'I didn't know angels could be so evil...We were meant to be the pure souls' The sorrow in her voice eared on desperation. Her vision blurred with the pain of such a revelation, the physical representation of her sadness.

'By such a sin fell the Angels...' His voice spoke with the wisdom of a thousand ages, though that was perhaps just his age. Kaiyo had never fully understood the things her Sensei said; he often spoke in riddles and questions. Today, he made a bit more sense. Today, Kaiyo was looking a little harder for things to make sense.

The Noble her team had been assigned to escort was clearly not a pleasant man, his over-powering smell had reeked of power and distrust. She hadn't liked the man, and was disgruntled about having to protect him. His carriage was ambushed by a group of thugs, spitting and snarling about gutting not only the noble, but his protectors. It had been the lesser of two evils. Two evil forms of the pure souls.

'Their harrowed souls no longer able, to watch in silence; not intervene. To save the world without being seen' This pricked her attention. Could such a place only break the purity of the Souls allowed to live beyond their death. Was she to face the same fate. Kaiyo had met a lot of people for whom she doubted heir morality; no-one more than herself. Her hands rubbed down her thighs, gripping the excess material bundled around her knees as her knuckles turned white. Where had she lost her carefree nature, a twisted and tangled memory.

One of her team members had died on that mission. An academy student killed by a local thug before they had a chance to really save anyone. It was always the kindest people who died. Perhaps it was their weak hearts, it was a vain hope that she could ever ignore her fragile heart. Kaiyo had lost it. Her deathly blade had swung and sliced at anything that dared move in front of her. An image of combat instinct, she had roared into action; her clothes still wet from her friends blood as sprays of congealed red liquid splashed across her face. There wasn't enough movement that could have released her anger then, and her blind rage had lost any form of defense. The wounds she had sustained would surely have incapacitated her on any other day, but today she had fought on; she had rallied through and slashed and sliced the bastards beyond death.

It was surely too big to ask if she had done the right thing. Kaiyo couldn't bring herself to answer that question. She did know she would do it again, the release was needed; the revenge had been so sweet, so justified. So right. Her heads released, falling flat on her knees as she tried to regulate her breathing again. The old man had bandaged her up properly, so she was in no risk of dying; but she was already dead wasn't she?

Had it been naive to try and see the bright side in everything. The question stuck so deeply in the back of her throat that one glance up at her Sensei and even he felt her pain. Her wounds of course were causing pain, but this was deeper. It would not be easy to let this go. Kaiyo would have to fully believe in herself. Born again...An angel given a chance to protect. The man was leaning forwards now, his eyes so electric and engaging that he was practically speaking out loud. Leading and willing the girl to reach her conclusion.

And then it was there, the obvious response. The most resolve her metamorphic state could manage right now. Her eyes widened, a spark of life glistening through their bright blue crystal view.

'But thorns and stings and those such things just make stronger our angel wings...'