Silver Dragon Rie

The sky fell that day.

Nightmares sunk down from the sky, laughing and hissing manically in carnivalesque ecstasy.

That was the day that my parents were supposed to meet me annually. I get so excited the couple of days beforehand that I can barely go to sleep. It is as if my heart is with my parents, riding on their electric car over mountains and rivers to safely arrive at where I am. My father always brings me my favorite snack: fresh fruit picked from the tree in our backyard, squeezed into sweet juice. Every sip is a taste of childhood.

And yet, why did it have to be that day that the Dreams shattered and doomsday arrived.

I killed countless Nightmares easily despite the warnings from adults. Combat seemed almost too easy for me. I could solve any trouble with a swing of my blade.

But that day, everything changed.

The Nightmares just kept coming no matter what I did. I watched as my teammates fell around me one by one. I resisted until I could no longer yield any ground, for my parents were behind me... The Lost Pulse was the last thing that I could do. I charged into the fray without hesitation, but I was still outnumbered. When I was on the verge of collapse, they rushed over to hug me. They smiled and called out my name, just like when I was a kid.

Was it snowing? Everything was pure white. I ran like when I was a kid back home and dove into the warm covers. A sense of fulfillment crept into my heart, and I fell asleep safe and snug. I heard the gentle whispers of my parents vaguely in my dreams. That was perhaps the life I always wanted... It was morning when I woke up again. My eyes stung from the glare of white sunlight. They were still hugging me, but by then, their bodies were already ice cold. They were still smiling, as happy as ever.

I stayed there, perfectly still, as if afraid to awaken them from their deep slumber. My tears began to flow uncontrollably, and I clenched my teeth to prevent myself from crying out.

My heart has been cold as ice since that day. All my hate threatens to consume me like a demon.

Why was I so lazy? Why was I so incompetent? I had so much time, but I wasted it all away... I am a despicable person.

Now, I can only keep swinging my blade, when I am in pain, when I am heart-broken, when I am angry, when I am tired. I swing my blade again and again, letting that icy feeling seep into every pore of my skin, every inch of my body. Letting it follow the edge of the blade down and slip past the hand guard, piercing into my blood and driving deep into my heart like ice-picks.

This agonizing pain becomes the courage that drives my next strike.

Growing up often happens so suddenly. One minute, you're a kid, and bam, you're an adult the next.

I brought my parents to live at the foot of a mountain near our hometown. It snowed there in winter often, including the day that I bid them farewell. Before I left, my mother gave me an omamori amulet that she had gotten at the temple. It bore the herald of the Tobun Family and stamped with a light pink fingerprint. My mother teased me with it and grasped it tightly. When I pulled it out of her hands, she smiled. A smile that went straight into my heart.

I was so happy to have the ward. I was back at the Tobunkai. It was springtime, and the sakura flowers were blooming...