It was kind of cold tonight, she was glad that her mother thought to force Shujinko into the honey-colored sweater she wore. She had on long socks for the occasion. And was generally dressed comfortably. The day was just as slow, and she spent a majority of it psyching herself up for her first solo mission. It was a bit exciting really, she didn't have to worry about Harumi or Masaki getting hurt. So she was pretty ecstatic. She arrived at the home of the woman who requested it.
"Ms. Kobuhana"<i></i>
Was the woman's name. Whom she also called out to when she knocked on the door. She held her sword carefully at her side. Awaiting the concerned resident to open the door for the now 13 year old Shujinko. The door slowly creaked open. A short elderly woman stood before her. She seemed alarmingly thin, but she had a bit of life in her cheeks, her skin seemed to all sag down at once, making her look like she had too much of it now. Her medium sized hair had been tied into a bun.
"Hello Ms. Kobuhana. I'm the individual they have sent to adhere to your request. Something about the neighbor's making very loud noises during the late hours?"
The woman nodded meekly. She seemed like a paranoid mess, but Shujinko wasn't here to judge. She was here to get a job done. Kobuhana pointed to the house directly next to her home.
"In there..."
Her hands were shaky, and her voice had a rasp to it. It was rather unsettling. But whatever the case, Shujinko would make the 8 second trek over to the neighboring house. Shujinko rapped her knuckles on the door, standing there for a minute before knocking again. The next minute that followed was a young Shujinko growing increasingly irritated when no response was heard. In a swift gesture of her hand, she delivered a deadly slice to the door. The feeble wood crumpling the the masterful strike. Shujinko let herself in...
What she saw was a bit ominous. The house lacked any kind of lighting, which wasn't good because it was dusk. And the sun was going to disappear completely soon. The wooden floors were cracked and splintered, and the old walls had plaster and paint peeling off every which way. It unnerved the girl, but she was hear to find the neighbors and do something about the noise. She began her adventure into the home. Trying to observe anything for some sort of clue to anyone that might be living here. The living room of the rickety home seemed normal enough. There was a single ripped up couch, and that was about it. Aside from the tattered furniture, there was nothing here, so she moved on.
Next was the kitchen... which seemed a bit creepier. There were small dark spatters of something on the floor. She couldn't really make out anything of the sight, but she could smell something particularly putrid. Following the scent to a smaller door. She would open it to see a tiny bathroom, with a toilet that smelled most foul. Almost immediately closing the door when the whiffs assaulted her senses. Bracing herself as she stopped vomit from coming. Whoever these people were, they were very VERY un-hygienic. She didn't even get a chance to investigate, but she was probably better off not sticking her face in someone's shit-bowl. Moving on...
Next was the upstairs. It consisted of a bathroom, a bedroom, and a closet, or at least that's what the briefing told her. She learned her lesson from the bathroom and would avoid the smelliest of the doors. The rotting door was the only thing that kept her poor nose alive. So she opened the first door she came too. It seemed to be the closet. It's contents were that of a singular robe. And nothing else. The robe seemed to be recently wet, because she could hear the dripping of water to the floor, and how bad the garb smelled. Closing the door, the opened the one across from the smelly what she thought was the bathroom. Only to find... a bathroom. What. Well... this one didn't seem like something died in here, so... to the smelly room then. She turned around, taking a deep breath, she would shoulder her way into the room. Opening her eyes to see...
What the fuck was this. Shujinko's eyes widened for a moment. Multiple... somethings were spread out in what seemed like a star shape. And it wasn't until Shujinko's eyes adjusted to see what exactly they were.
"Holy shit..."
She cursed. These... these were... limbs... human limbs. Two arms covered the upper area, and two full legs covered the bottom. There was a rotting torso in the middle, and a long gone head at the top. Shujinko's heart was caught off guard for a moment. The gag reflex getting the best of her. Unleashing the putrid fluid from her stomach in a sudden burst until she stopped. What was this? WHAT WAS THIS?! Shujinko's hands came up to her mouth as she backed out. She didn't want to be here anymore. This was monstrous. No human being could possibly do this. Shujinko was scared. She didn't want to think of this. What was going on?
She quickly went back down stairs, her hand already on the knob. She wanted to leave. She wanted nothing more than to leave this place and forget the mutilated man. But she had to finish this job. She couldn't go home a disgrace. As if trying to fight herself, she released her grip on the knob. And turned back.
"Don't go back upstairs..."
The only place she hadn't really looked through was the first floor bathroom...
She held her breath again and opened the door, looking around for something when she actually noticed this was actually colder. As if a breeze passed through. Some sort of light shined behind the toilet. Trying to be quick, she kicked the toilet out of the way with what room she had, and looked into the open hole. It seemed as if a cavern had been carved out... The things she did to prove she was the best. Crawling into the open hole, the smell seemed to diminish until she was walking straight up. There was light in this walkway, held up by small torches tapered to the walls. This all seemed so cliche.
'Just keep going'
She told herself. She heard an ominous chanting, emanating from below her position. It seemed to originate from further down...
[Few more minutes of ADVENTURE]
She came to a wide dome like area. Where she could see multiple people huddle together near the middle. They all wore long dark robes. And had disturbing patterns on their robes. They all chanted loudly. And suddenly a high pitched sound pierced the veil of chants. It was screaming. Cries of utter pain and anguish. As if someone was making a last ditch effort to save themselves. And within a few seconds it was stopped. The voice the signified life just... snuffed out. Shujinko could feel tears begin forming on her face as fear began to grip her in an icy embrace. She didn't know how long she stood there, but the next thing she knew, she was being grabbed by someone. Instinct kicking in as she screamed out loud and flipped the assailant over her shoulder, she drew her blade as she kicked the person away. Her eyes were wide, and her arms were shaken. And now she could feel the gazes of the hooded men all focused on her. Their hidden eyes seemed to pick apart her flesh... Shujinko didn't want to see the source of the screams of pain. She wanted to leave. But she couldn't. Her legs wouldn't move. Frozen... with the eerie group quickly advancing on her... small knives all drawn...
"No... Don't come near me..."
She idly pleaded. Feeling her heart catch in her throat.
"Leave me alone... please..."
They were coming.
"Who are you?!"
Her voice was raised. They were almost upon her.
"Stay away..."
She could feel her grip tightening. So close...
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
She suddenly bellowed with all of her might. She could feel tears stream down her cheek. Multiple daggers stinging her skin as she flurried her blade. Fight or flight had been triggered. Fear had overcome her like some animal. She began feeling her sword slice through another's flesh, it was almost sickening. Eventually, her sword caught on something. Against the now ripped fabric of her most recent victim of her fearful rampage. Her slight surprise was more than enough window for the hidden 'demon' to clutch her face and raise his dagger high. Shujinko's immediate thrashing changed the target from her throat to her left eye. The last thing it ever saw was sharpened metal piercing through her cornea. Ripping out the small fleshy ball while the young girl really went berserk. An unimaginable sound escaped her lips. All reason and fear lost to an unstoppable rage. She blacked out so to speak. Blindly waving her sword around in ferocity, slaying everything in sight...
[The next morning]
Shujinko had one arm wrapped around her legs in a fetal position. And the other one covered her eye, which had left trails of blood. She seemed shocked, and weak. She shivered in place amid the results of her slaughter. Her clothes also were stained in blood. And she flinched when she saw a man in a mask enter the room she had been in. Her breathing quickened while the man, who most have been an ANBU operative approached her cautiously. As if a wild animal. Upon closer inspection. He would notice the entirety of her left eye was missing, she was shaken to the core. Traumatized. Her breathing was very ragged and labored. She could not even form words.
~MFT~
WC: 1631