ceruleanrocket
Level 10
Hello and welcome to the second chapter of The Umbra Of Her World!
This will be the final chapter posted, and I really REALLY hope you all enjoyed this because holy crapping balls I have been writing this bitch since I was 15. FIFTEEEENNNN I am now 20!!!!
Anyways please leave feedback and If you haven't checked out the first chapter- uhm babes turn back and go read that first before this hello?
<3 - Cerulean.
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art by malenia_the_artist on insta <3
Chapter 2: Silence The Lamb.
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Chattering teeth, shivering bodies, gripping on to one another. My first memories and Images once finally escaping. Me and Hiranori cuddled up in a bus stop. I don't know how long we waited but it must have been hours. The sun was setting when we left, and now we watched the sun awaken before our very eyes. My face Had been tightly wrapped with ripped sleeves, but bodily fluid was oozing and Seeping out through the fabric. The pain was getting unbearable, the cold only just distracting me.
The sun felt haunting. The colours that arose out looked like flames. Mam…
What a gruesome end you had. Memories barely appeared, only one. She taught me the Language of her home. Japanese. Mother knew Russian too, but Hiranori chose to learn a lot more about that, finding the accent peculiar and unique.
That rush of hope that flourished once the distant tracks of the town bus came hurtling down the uneven road. “We are gonna get you to hospital okay?” Hiranori muttered, squeezing my body tighter. I couldn't speak. The pain wasn't describable. The melting sensation of individual layers to my skin was excruciating.
Once we got onto the bus, I noticed the pain completely stopping. At first I felt relieved. The pain was over and I could sleep. I remember feeling the soft yet freezing shoulder of my brother against my cheek before allowing myself to slip into slumber.
When I awoke, the blood curdling scream that gasped out of my lips was deafening to every nurse and doctor that surrounded my bed frame. Confusion, fear, pain. I couldn't see. An odd metallic like mask completely bolted into my own skull was now a new accessory. After the surgery, doctors were too scared and too unknowing to my situation had panicked and placed a pure white oval shaped metal mask for unknown reasons to this day. They had it drilled into my forehead followed by a strap around my face. Two clips inside my cheeks.
I couldn't escape it. It was stuck to my own face.
I later learned that this mask was bullet proof.
Hours had passed, multiple soothing medications had been implemented into my IV bag. I knew what a lot of the stuff they were doing to me was. Mother was a nurse. Mother…
She would slide me textbooks of her research.
She sacrificed everything till her last burning breath.
Mother…
I could hear my brother trying to comfort me. Trying so hard to look me in the eye with that sweet smile. I couldn't hear anything that was being said, I couldn't reply. It was as if my soul was destroyed, crushed, burned
I had another panic attack.
Day after day, hour after hour my body constantly shook and panted for breath.
The doctors said I had trauma. PTSD. They diagnosed me pretty quickly with it but they didn't cure it. Or try to. I was told to calm down and try these breathing exercises. I wanted my mother back. I wanted my face back.
During my rehab, I smashed mirrors and reflective surfaces everytime I could. They said it was normal to have uncontrollable responses to things that triggered me. That I had to learn and adapt.
I wanted.
My.
Mother.
I wanted to feel alive again.
I didn't feel alive.
Soon, Hiranori stopped visiting me as much. His last visit he had told me that a family friend from our Mother's side found out about our situation and offered him a place to stay out in Russia. A chance to restart life. Hiranori begged and pleaded for me to join him. But I didn't. I chose to stay locked away in the Walls of my hospital bed.
After nearly 2 years of hospital stay, they finally released me. I had received the odd letter from Hiranori, claiming he was learning medicine and aid. That they were teaching him to fight. He was doing well from what I could tell.
Once I was out, I had nowhere to go. No place to call my home. So I took the money I had taken from my father, and booked a flight to a far away country. One that would never remind me of here.
I landed in Busan, South Korea. I could see the strange stares from the locals as a child walked through herself, completely alone. I was only ten Years old, trying to figure my way out into the big overwhelming World.
I watched as a tall slender woman walked past me, a stare of power And grace. Her hair was soft, thick with a striking red colour To it. Everyone I had seen so far had dark black or brown hair so it stunned me. She approached me, speaking in Korean first with words I didn't understand. She realised and began speaking in English, her accent thick.
“Poor baby…are you alone?”
I nodded, not uttering a word. The mask had taken my soul apart, stealing the confidence in my voice. The woman's eyes looked at me as if her heart had shattered into a million pieces. She held out her hand, offering to take me away.
I had no other option. She couldn't be as bad as my father. Nothing could torment me anymore.Thats how it worked right?
And with that, I took her hand. She led me to her motorbike, securing me onto the back as we rode off towards the mountains. The gorgeous scenery of the forests and animals. Foreign lands of true beauty that my eyes had never settled down upon before. So this is what nature looked like. This was the world hidden from me for all these years.
I had grown acquainted with the woman and her husband. They both made an effort to teach me not just their culture and language, but the mountain ranges, the intricacies to being a woodcutter, a hunter. Every morning, Mr Choi would teach me something new about the mountains. How to manoeuvre around them safely. How to hunt. My history with weapons training caught them both off guard. My quick ability to adapt to a whole new world made them even more intrigued as to where I had come from.
8am, Sunday.
Whirring sounds echoed down the wooden creaked hallways of the Choi residency. My eyes flinched and fluttered open, a wave of disorientated confusion meeting my expression to the odd sounds of clink, clank and crack that seemed to fill my ears.
My voice was slowly coming back. It had been 4 years out here with them, and I had not yet uttered a word. Until today.
“Yeosin-Ah!” They gave me a new name. One they called out to me. Apparently it means Goddess of strength. I didn't find it fitting but a new name was like any. I walked my way towards them, stopping my exercise for today. I peaked my head around the pillar, confused as to where they were.
“Bedroom!” He called out in Korean. I ran towards the room, slowly opening the door as I silently bowed towards the room.
Before me was Mrs Choi. Her skin glossed sickly with a pale sweaty complexion. She was unwell, and the look on Mr Choi's face told me all that I needed to know.
“Come here, my child.” His words of comfort resonated with my heart. A family to call a home. I walked to his side, staring down with somberness at the woman I grew to view as my mother. “She has grown weak and unwell. Spend some moments alone with her.” I nodded my head. Mrs Choi offered her trembling hand out to mine, which I accepted.
Her tired eyelids folded down, barely having the strength to keep them open. As she spoke, her coarsed voice whispered out. “My dear Yeosin…How I wish to see the woman you will grow into.” Her voice sent a shiver through my body. The overwhelming Sadness that she wouldn't live long enough to see me as an adult stung my already fragile heart.
My hand squeezed hers lightly, a reassuring gesture to help sooth her nerves. She never saw my face and yet held me with such care. My face began to tug and contort behind my steel mask. A once white mask that She herself painted onto with a magnificent purple. I fought back the itching teats that dared to build up. My mouth slightly parted open, desperate to say anything to her. To thank her for a loving home. To thank her for her loving nature.
“Stay.”
My first words in 6 years. The first time I heard my voice. It was deeper than I remembered. unlady-like compared to hers. Her tired Eyes widened up as much as they could, her grip tightening my hand. I watched as her eyes brimmed with tears, her expression staring up to me in awe and relief.
That night, Mrs Choi released Her final breath.
I thought after this moment that Mr Choi would get rid of me. I didn't feel like I'd be of any use to him, and I would bring constant memories and reminders of his late wife.
But he continued to raise me, Training me healthily on core strength, building my stamina and even teaching me more agility than before thanks to our mountain range and woods that surrounded the nearby area.
Sometimes, late at night, Mr Choi would come back up the mountain with a limp, Bloodied and bruised. Sometimes there would be no wounds on his body, but the blood was still splattered across. He'd always try sneaking in each time but without fail I'd be awake. Watching out across our land. It was a routine for me. 4 hours of rest, watch out for the rest of the night. I didn't mind though, it was the world's most peaceful place.
Or so it was.
Tonight was the same as any other night. I was sitting on my window sill, setting my gaze far out into the horizon. I could hear some frantic crunching of earth-like sounds coming from in the distance, as if someone was charging through them. Then the sound multiplied, like a large infestation was ploughing through the exit of the woods. I lowered my body back off the window ledge, flipping over Till my footing hit the ground as I quickly snatched the sword Mr Choi hand crafted for me. I kneeled Behind a pillar, sword close to my body as my eyes peered out from behind.
My first sight was of Mr Choi clutching to his ribs as he ran sporadically. His face was contorted into a painful scowl, desperation planted in his Hazel eyes. A gut wrenching yell boomed out of his voice. “YEOOSSINN!” His voice sent a shiver down my spine, the shadows emerging from the trees to reveal 8 men in all black with a white band around their arms charging straight At Mr Choi with an assortment Of weapons, mostly bats.
I quickly began to climb up the pillar, still out of sight as I reached the roof, poised And ready to leap Down and attack.
1
2
3
4
5
Now.
5 seconds was all I needed for them to be all in the perfect position. The first attack was taken from the shadows; A forearm sneaking around the front of one of the attackers necks. Their bodies fell to the floor in a thud, lifeless and unmoving.
“What was that-”
“Fuck, where are they!?”
They all got on guard, eyes darting around the darkly lit landscape. I held my breath, raising the sword directly above my head as a tall man began slowly backing up towards my position. It was at this moment I was reminded of the feeling I had when I took my father’s life. This set off something inside me that I had never felt before.
Bloodlust.
The ultimate craving and animalistic instinct to kill whatever opposed me. So I did. My blade dragged down through the man’s shoulder blade, taking his entire shoulder and left arm clean off. His blood curdling scream awoken the wildlife, hearing birds flutter by my head as they chirped for saviour. I didn’t feel like a saviour at this point. My position was compromised but this didn’t stop me. I brought my blade behind me as I charged straight at the remaining 5, and one by one each dropped to the floor either half alive by a thin thread or already greeting past loved ones in the after life. The peaceful, green and vibrant grass was now stained red. The trees splattered with red. The flowers, the pillar, my body, my hands, my mask, Mr Choi.
Everything was painted with a crimson stain.
Mr Choi’s body was pressed against a tree, still holding his ribs that gushed with blood. My lust for violence and death had subsided like a tide returning. My whole body once more shook violently with scarce adrenaline as it ran straight towards the man I wanted to call my father. My hands hovered over him, not knowing what to do or what to say. His mouth fell out with grunts and pains.
“Yeosin-ah. . .” He wheezed, clutching my arm with his free hand. My breathing was becoming more ragged and uncontrolled as the time ticked past. “Train-” He panted, biting down on his lower lip. “Train well! Survive. . .God above, survive.” The grip Mr Choi had on my arm was growing weaker and weaker, slipping down my forearm as it struggled to even remain up. I knew he was dying. I knew it. But what could I have done?
He told me to survive, so that is what I did.
As Mr Choi took his final breaths, I laid him to rest next to his wife. I thought my mask would flood with my own tears but they began seeping through the holes of my mask. It was then I saw my reflection for the first time in four years. What I had become. There was a blood splatter around the eye of my mask, creating this blood dripping effect from my tears that poured out.
It stained my mask. I tried to scrub it off but it stayed there. I heard the sirens from the far distance behind the forest and knew it was time to go; But I couldn’t move. My feet had firmly planted into the ground, leaving an imprint of my person that would never leave my side, So I took my mother’s watch, what little money I had left and the notebook Mrs Choi gifted me when I turned 15. My sword was now carefully slotted into a holster that I tightened around my hip, before finally throwing over one of Mr Choi’s cloaks and making a dash for the end of the mountain.
There was a river down at the far end of the mountain, accompanied by a hoard of rocks that created a way across. They weren’t stable enough to walk through, Mr Choi had always warned me to never venture this far. I glanced over my shoulder one last time, bowing deeply before throwing legs as fast as they could across the rocks, each one a mere inch away from a crushing death. I had made it to the other side when I heard a loud group of men talking angrily to one another. Their dialect was far too thick for me to even process but I had a suspicion it was the backup group to the one I had just slaughtered.
Time was never by my side. I was fast but my chances of outrunning a group of fully grown adults was slim and I knew that. So as I took my final leap to a nearby boulder, I crouched down, Springing my legs upwards before clasping onto a branch of a large mountain tree. My back faced the floor as my legs carefully wrapped over it. I needed to control my strength, the branch wasn’t as sturdy as I had hoped, feeling it wobble and shake from my hold. I pushed up steadily, Digging my fingers into cold barked wood, eager to gain a higher ground.
Two, three more branches and I had finally gained a safe, high enough area where they wouldn’t see me. The leaves shrouded around, engulfing me in a naturistic Umbra. One by one, their stampede greeted the mossy earth, crushing their way through some of nature's beauty to stain it with ill will. A sad, sorry state to bear sight to.
They had passed, and so had more time. Was there even anything left? How would I get away from the constant hunt without Mr Choi? Mrs Choi?
As the woodland creatures croaked for bedtime, the sun dipping low to cast its ever glowing blaze onto the cliff side, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Could I hunt too?
Sure I had harvested my own food, and learned the survival tactics gifted upon me by Mr Choi. The ability to remain calm whilst taking a life, albeit animal or person, had been thoroughly solidified within my very hands. But I had never done the search, the chase. I had only ever taken what was already on death's door, or had un-welcomed us with their presence. Could I, too, become a monster like them? Did I want to be? As the thought crossed my mind I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt. The look in Mrs Choi’s eyes during her final breaths. Would she ever love a damned soul, if she knew what their hands could do?
My head tilted upwards towards the blackened sky.
A monster by design, carefully curated to be the weapon a hand not needed to bear. So be it.
I jumped from the staggering height of my branch, handing with a collapsing thud, pounding out the landscape in ricocheting echoes. The men were ahead by quite some distance but the stilled woodland creatures suddenly awakening at a frightening speed had caught their attention, each one looking towards the direction of the sound.
I had not stopped running. Twigs, leaves, insects. They all crushed and crunched beneath my booted shoes. The men had braced themselves for a larger impact, being thrown off their guarding when such a fragile looking thing came into their line of sight. Their disgusted look of rage for being fooled showed no care anymore. It only made my body crave the bloodlust further.
A direct attack, could render me a lifeless body. So Instead I honed my speed, using agility first as I made a jump for the tree, kicking off it’s side as my hand gripped the very handle that would not leave such a poisonous thorn.
SLICE.
One head, rolling across the earth's flooring. A shriek of horror as my blade met with the next victim’s shoulder, followed by another cry for help. Incoherent yells of what I could only presume were orders left the other men’s tongues, But with my shadow no longer covering my front, I could only stand and await for their move now.
I felt a cutting edge blade glide across my calves. My teeth collided together, applying such a surge of pressure that I thought would surely shatter them. My blade flipped around, using the handle to knock them unconscious as it connected to their temple. The male’s body fell with a thud, and my blade finished the rest off.
One man remained. He’d been standing, frozen in horror at the sight he had just watched. A show not designed to entertain. Out of breath, My shoulders rose and faltered in a ragged breath, slowly falling my head back and towards the left as it stared down the final victim.
They had already made a run for it.
“Ah. . .” I muttered, panting still. “Farewell.”
~~~
Day’s had flown by. I had managed to sneak my way into a BnB, cluttering my way up towards their dust ridden attack. It was after three days my lungs began to worsen, most likely by the asbestos or mould. I couldn’t pin down which, but most likely it had been both.
On a cold, full showered sky ; The night only ablaze with the neon signs of the town’s assortments of shops and restaurants, I begrudgingly walked, clinging to the walls in hopes that the shadows would comfort my lonely hours.
I missed my brother badly. I was not religious but I found myself wanting to pray for his survival. That whatever higher being was out there would hear my cry of help and keep him safe. I had no way of knowing if we’d ever cross paths again. But when the time does come; I will never let him out of my sight.
Too deep in thought, I hadn’t managed to see the eldered lady that bumped into my body, causing a staggered step to fall back. My hands came up, open palms springing out with surprise and worry. Had I harmed her? Like everything else; My body seems to wither away the innocence, and it’s evil.
She glanced up towards me, frightened by the mask at first but soon she smiled. My breath caught into my throat. “Are you okay?” Her thick accent was barely tangible, but I knew context clues and gave her a nod. “My goodness you look young- Come in come in! Its far too brittle a night to be out.” Her warming hands approached my arm but I couldn’t allow it. I twisted my shoulder back, praying her contact would remain void.
“My dear. . .I won’t hurt you. Let me get you something to eat, hm?” The love of a grandmother. That wasn’t something I ever had. Our grandma was long dead before we were ever born.
I fluttered my eyes towards the warmly lit door she had called me towards, slouching my way through, sheathed sword and ripped bag in hand.
My only belongings. My only worth.
The eldered woman had gifted me with Jjajangmyeon. A korean noodle dish with a black bean sort of sauce coating. Some pork cutlets laid on the side, a small portion of kimchi. Was this what it felt like to be lavish? The small two roomed housing didn’t seem like much but the food that fell down my throat felt unforgivingly tasty. But that looming voice that ushered it was time to go had left an empty feeling in my stomach as I stared down to a dirtied, finished plate.
As I arose from my seat, clutching my belongings to leave, The elder had called out to me once more, rushing over as best she could to hand me an envelope. Her wrinkled hands encased my own. “Dear, stay safe now okay? . . Head towards the pier there's going to be someone there to help. Let him help you. He’ll take you somewhere far from here. . .”
Tears trickled down from her caramel eyes. Why? I wondered. My eyebrows flinched in confusion, baffled by the money in my hand. She didn’t let me reply, ushering me out the door in a hurry. “GO- go!” She’d exhale, waving me goodbye.
I jammed the envelope of money into the bag, hugging it tight to my chest as I sprinted off. Puddles of mud and cold water splashed up to greet my legs as I came thundering down the alleyway.
I squinted long and hard, trying to decipher the language on the signs when I spotted a small marking of what looked like a river symbol by one of the words. I took off in the pointed direction, brittle cold air smashing against my skin.
Finally it came into view, the rushing water, the single boat. The old man who stood, waiting for my arrival in front. His arms were crossed, and interesting tattoos accompanied them. Full of swirls and wave-like markings, amongst demonic faces that looked off putting. I didn’t get time to answer as I came face to face. His hand was already outstretched.
“The envelope.” He demanded a much clearer voice than the old woman’s. With hesitance, I scrambled out the envelope, finding it to be quickly snatched away. His bear-like hands gripped my bicep tightly, dragging me onto the boat with ruthless care.
If he wasn’t helping me, I would have plunged my blade through his throat. But alas, I sat through silence. A roaring engine rippled out from behind me, until finally we glided across the calming river, towards the open ocean.
~~~
All this man did was nag and whine. It had driven me insane, the days we had spent on the open sea with nothing but his voice constantly bitching about one thing or another. The engine is too slow! You’re too silent! Fish better damnit! Fish less damnit! I had grown very fed up.
A banking came into sight, and the excitement in my chest was beyond ecstatic, Even earning a chuffed laugh from the boatman. “Sit down, would you. Grab that damn anchor too.” I practically lunged my arms with the speed of light, holstering up the far too heavy anchor in both my arms, waiting for his signal to release it into the depths below them.
“Alright ya damn brat. . .go ahead and-”
I chucked it in, almost toppeling overboard before being yanked back by the back of my shirt. “Be careful you dumbass- Go on, get off this is your stop.”
He’d pause.
“Welcome to Karakura.”
With a cruel smirk, the boat kicked up the anchor with a mechanical whirl as I had gotten off. Stood on the sandy land, holding onto my only belongings, I could already hear the distant sirens blaring off of god knows how many cop cars.
The man already began driving back his boat, leaving me all alone.
I spun around, kicking up light specks of sand as I plundered on through. The night was dark by the time I had arrived, looking around with a suspicious feeling in my gut. As I came through the large tori designed gateway off the beach, A bright light shone from the only sign of life in a closed door.
The sign was. . .
I couldn’t read it. No matter how hard I tried, I had no idea what it said. But I did know it was Japanese.
My mother came to mind.
But the rest, Was history.
