Dance between Mortals and Immortals

Chapter 3.1

Six years later

"Rize... Rize wake up."

Rize opened her eyes slowly taking in her surroundings giant trees towered all around her, their roots warping the forest floor into an uneven and unnatural look. Birds fluttered around in the patches of sunlight that filtered through the canopy.

The place was familiar, but not familiar. It reminded her of her home in Naebashi village deeper in the forest, but something different struck her as if she was awaiting for someone, but it didn't explain how she had gotten here from the academy.

Her hair was sprawled out around her as she propped herself onto her elbows. Where am I? She thought to herself. With blurred vision a figure stood in her vision with a hand stretched out to her. The body blocked out the sun momentarily obscuring her view further.

"Rize come to me!" the deep gentle voice was so familiar to her... how long was it since she last heard it? She couldn't even remember the last time that voice entered her ears.

Rize's vision cleared and before her stood her father they were in the middle of the great trees of a giant forest the world sun poked through the canopy giving the floor a beautiful emerald green warm charm. As if she was taking a stroll through the great northern forest hunting with her father again. Wearing his cloak he always wore on their hunting trips it didn't look like he had just experienced years of war and battle, but what did that matter?

Smiling Rize jumped up from where she was laying. Joy bloomed in her heart the dark years she had experience in the academy alone washed away as she jumped into his embrace.

"Papa? You are back from the frontlines?! Is the war over? How are you here? I missed you!" Rize said excitedly.

"War? What war?" his face gave away to confusion as he pulled back his hand.

Rize paused "Yo-you don't remember?" she said paused. Shaking her head as she looked at her father. Getting out from arms she took several steps backwards looking at him strangely.

As she said those words she realized she didn't remember how she got here the academy was located in Xi'an which was a subtropical climate a place where this cool, gentle, and welcoming climate could simply not exist. Only hot, humid, and wet were the characteristics of Xi'an and the surrounding regions, but how was that possible? None of it had made sense. She wasn't crazy; he was clearly here. Everything. Felt so real.

"Rize... I'm sorry for not making it back to you" as her father spoke those words. "I failed you and your mother. Please forgive me, but there is something...something I had to do."

Her father's words confused her as she backed away more her father's gentle smile continued unmoved in an almost unnatural fashion. "This..." she whispered to herself "isn't real is it?"

Looking up to her father whose smile immediately melted and his chin tiled slightly up in a nearly unnatural fashion. "What? You don't want to see your father? You didn't miss him?"

"Why are you speaking in third person." Rize said taking another step back her heart was racing something wasn't right it didn't feel like a dream, but normally when she dreamed and realized it she would awaken.

Kijuro smiled with a unnatural and toothy smile "am I not?"

Rize stared in horror as an arrow was shot from out of view impaling itself into her father's skull sending shards of brain, blood, and skull bits from him. Crumpling to the ground hitting it with a sickening thud his blood sprayed onto her face making her not able to utter a word. The droplets of blood started to roll up and down towards her eyes. Slowly her vision turned red and then to black leaving nothing, but raw emotional turmoil in its wake. Falling to her knees she let out a mournful scream.

After a few moments passed by her vision narrowed as if she was pulled into a long tunnel her soul seemed to be having a floating out of body experience as she watched her father die before her eyes. As if being pulled away from the horrific scene she reached out as she was pulled into a tunnel of pure darkness.

"FATHER!" Rize let out a silent scream as she tried to yell out to no avail... only silence... "Come…to me…child." A whisper could be heard before everything turned to black.

The dream had already begun to fade in detail...only the words were left.

 After some time had passed silence was all that could be heard…no it was more than silence it was a complete lack of sound…the world was silent and black. As if everything had been erased only her mind remained.

Time passed slowly as she didn't know how long this odd dream was going to last, but she was certain it was in fact just another nightmare to which she had grown accustomed to. 

Rize's eyes shot open as she found herself laying in her bedchamber she was breathing heavily as she had the same nightmare every time she dreamed, but a different way her father died each time.

Perhaps it was her imagination running wild, but ever since her masters told her that her father died in combat five years ago she had not had a peaceful night of sleep since. She stared at the ceiling and a single tear rolled down her smooth cheek. Her breath slowed as she realized it was another nightmare of the man whom she would never meet again.

'Curse him, he promised' she said with a nearly venomous tone.

Bitterly she found the willpower to pull herself up from her bed and looked into the mirror right across from herself. In the reflection was a small athletic girl with piercing blue eyes and long, black, messy hair. "aww" she let out a mildly disappointed sigh before running her slender fingers through her hair to comb it in place.