“Are you sure you want me to do this?”
Destiny actually paused and considered the question. When she’d hired the mercenary to take care of Kida for her, it had seemed like a brilliant idea. She wouldn’t have to get her hands dirty, and it would happen somewhere off behind the scenes and it would be over and done with. Now that she was confronted face-to-face with an unconscious Kida, it seemed… wrong, somehow, that Kiri should be the one to do. She owed Kida that much, at least. She owed her an honorable death. And this would force her to take responsibility for it, fully onto herself, which she felt would be just retribution for the act itself.
Finally, after a long pause during which Kiri began to fidget, she answered.
“No. I need to do this. Thank you for your help, here’s your gold.” Destiny pulled out her money pouch and counted out Kiri’s payment, noticing with dismay just how light the pouch was afterwards. Well, that was a problem for another day.
Kiri took the gold willingly enough, but gave her a long, searching look before she left without another word, leaving Destiny alone with Kida.
Once she was gone, Destiny looked over at the unconscious form of her friend and sighed. First things first, she supposed. She rummaged in Kida’s pack until she found her rope, and proceeded to tie her up as securely as she knew how. It wouldn’t do to have her waking up too soon and fighting back. Destiny didn’t know if she could go through with it if Kida was staring her in the face.
That done, she took a step back and considered the methods she had available. She couldn’t bear to use her sword, it would be too personal. Instead, she lifted her hand and focused on her magic, whispering the spell to cast a bolt of power towards the unconscious form of her friend. The force of the magic seared the air as it struck, flashing over Kida but leaving no visible mark.
It must have been immensely painful, because Kida woke up with a yell of rage and pain.
“Destiny! What the blazes was that? Are you trying to kill me?”
The pain and utter seriousness Destiny felt must have shown on her face, because Kida’s expression went from indignant confusion to fear, then finally to anger.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, or why, but I won’t let you get away with it,” she said quietly, her voice full of rage.
“That’s what you think,” Destiny replied, just as quiet, although her voice rang with sorrow rather than anger. Faced with a conscious opponent, she surrendered to the inevitable and drew her katana, holding it in front of her, hating herself all the more at the flicker of fear in Kida’s eyes.
She lifted the sword, stepped forward, and swung, aiming for Kida’s neck.
Unbelievably, she missed. It was only after she had recovered from the loss of balance occasioned by her sword swinging wildly that she realized that the fault had not been hers. Kida had dodged, throwing her tied-up body to the side. Destiny growled and lunged again, stabbing this time. Kida rolled the other way, managing to deflect the blade into her wing, rather than her heart, where Destiny had been aiming. Then the unthinkable happened. Kida had been wriggling the whole time, and Destiny now realized that it had been her attempts to free herself from the ropes. And she had succeeded, partially. Her hand snapped up and grabbed the hilt of Destiny’s sword. They wrestled back and forth for it silently, glaring at each other the whole while.
After a few long seconds, Destiny was knocked backward by a powerful kick from Kida’s bound legs. She lost her grip on the katana and it went skittering across the floor. This was not going well. Not at all. So she did the first thing that came to mind, and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Kiri! Get back here and help me!”
Kida blinked at her in shock. “Kiri? Kiri helped you? Is she behind this?”
Destiny had no time to answer, because at that moment the door was kicked open and Kiri stepped in, brandishing her shotgun.
“Wait, don’t kill her, just injure!” Destiny shouted, but it was too late. Before she had even finished the first word, Kiri had fired. Two shots. Both flew true, hitting Kida square in the chest and knocking her back onto the floor, where she lay still.
Kiri grinned sheepishly at Destiny. “Sorry. Didn’t hear you in time.”
Destiny scowled at Kiri for a moment. Then, driven by an impulse she didn’t fully understand, she fetched her katana and stood over Kida’s still body. With one swift movement, she drove the katana into Kida’s heart, directly over the bullet wounds. It gave her a strange sense of completion as she stepped back and surveyed what she had done. She knew the reality of it would hit her later, but for now she simply felt a grim sense of victory at the completion of her task.
Suddenly, the door burst open once again. Destiny whirled around, expecting to see Kiri, but instead found herself face to face with a very confused and angry Ares.
“I heard the shouting, what’s going on?” His gaze flicked from her to Kida’s body, then back, rage suffusing his features. “What have you done?” he asked angrily, stalking forwards in an attempt to get past her.
Destiny held her sword out to her side to block him, flat pointed towards him. She didn’t want to harm him if she didn’t have to. One friend dead was enough, even if Ares was a relatively new one.
“Ares, leave. Now. There are things about this situation that you just don’t understand right now.”
Ares glared at her sword, which was now blocking his advance, then at her. “Clearly! It looks to me like you just killed your best friend!” He turned to her and lifted his staff as if preparing an attack.
“Ares,” Destiny said quietly, her voice carrying a warning. “Do you really want to continue this attack? Do you really want to fight me? If all is as you see it, then I have already bested Kida. Are you really stronger than she was?”
She could tell that her words had hit home. He stopped dead, his expression hurt. There was a long moment of silence, then he quietly shook his head, lowered his staff, and left without another word.
After he had gone, Destiny moved to Kida’s body and began arranging it. She laid her out in the way of the ninjas, arms crossed under the point where the blade pierced her chest, eyes closed, looking almost peaceful in death. Proper respect paid, Destiny too left, closing the door firmly behind her. The body would be discovered before long. Fleeing would not be a good idea, because that would place suspicion upon her, so she returned calmly to the party below. A quick word and exchange of gold with the man at the main counter secured her a room, which she retreated to after letting Kiri know where she would be.
Sinking down onto the bed in her room, Destiny finally let herself break down. The realization was hitting now. She had taken a life. Not just any life, but that of her closest friend. They had laughed together, cried together, learned together, grown up together. When Destiny had no where else to turn, she could always turn to Kida. They were each other’s stalwart defenders in times of crisis, and biggest rivals in winning the approval of their instructors. They were truly sisters, in all but blood. Destiny felt closer to Kida than she did to her own sister, Nanashi, and knew that Kida felt the same way about her.
Now Kida was dead by Destiny’s hands. Well, maybe not technically, but by Destiny’s will. And she had delivered the final blow. The sense of victory was still there, but now it was overshadowed by grief and remorse and regret. Was membership in a powerful ninja clan really worth that kind of betrayal? Was she really so greedy, so power-hungry? Now self-loathing stole into the mix of emotions that was roiling in her head. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a choice. She could have told the Wor clan no, and she could have continued her life as if nothing had happened, secure in the knowledge that she had a friend like no other in Kida. Instead she had chosen the path of darkness, seeking power at the expense of her honor.
No. She still had her honor. That was something that was not so easily lost. She had not killed for no reason, nor had she lied outright to Kida. Her honor might be tarnished, but it was still there. Now she would simply have to go about restoring it. The realization of a new purpose managed to calm her wild thoughts enough for her to relax, and sleep eventually took her, although it was a fitful one, disturbed by vague, half-remembered dreams. When she finally sank in to deeper sleep, far into the night, she found herself in yet another dream. This one, however, was vivid in a way that she could not help but recognize.
Once again she found herself surrounded by a ring of blue flame. Once again she saw the shadowy outlines of many figures beyond the flames. And once again she found herself terrified, but oddly calm.
The man with the dragon tattoos stepped forward through the flames, smiling. “Congratulations,” he said. “I am proud of you, Destiny. You have carried out your mission with honor. There will be more tests yet to come, but I believe we will be happy to welcome you into our ranks before long.”
He motioned, and two other ninjas stepped through the fire, coming up on either side of her. They took her by the arms and began to drag her towards the man with the dragon tattoos. She tried to resist, but found her body had no strength in this dream world. She was turned around so her back was to him, and she felt something cold between her shoulder blades. The sensation grew, then suddenly blossomed into excruciating pain. Destiny bit her tongue to keep from crying out, but inwardly she was screaming. The pain intensified, prickling across her skin like fire, centered on her back.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, the pain began to fade.
“Well done, young one,” came the voice of the tattooed man again. “We will contact you again. Until then, may the gods watch over you. If they choose not to, know that the Wor clan will be watching instead.”
With those ominous words, the scene faded, and Destiny awoke with a gasp in her room at the tavern inn. Her back was still sore.
She leapt from the bed and pulled her shirt off over her head, stumbling into the bathroom and turning on the light. If she craned her head, she could see her back in the mirror. There, between her shoulder blades, was a tattoo. There was a skull, with a sword piercing it’s eye holes. It was the same tattoo she had seen on the ninjas in her dream, with one difference. The rose that entwined around the skull and blade was missing. She still had tasks to complete, she realized, before she would be a full member, with a full tattoo.
That also meant she would have to endure that searing pain again, which was enough to make her shudder. Well, she would deal with that when the time came.
Leaving the bathroom, she moved to the window and pulled the curtains aside. Off in the distance, the sky was turning pink and orange with the light of the rising sun. Somehow, in the midst of the dream, she had slept through till morning. Sounds drifted through the air, the noise of the city awakening and meeting the new day. Destiny found herself reluctant to do the same. This would be the first day she had ever lived without Kida by her side. Still, it was something that must be faced, and faced with her head held high. The past could not be changed for all her wishing, and dwelling on it would bring her nothing but pain.
With a willful focus on an optimistic spirit, Destiny turned from the window to pack up her things, ready to meet the others and leave this place. Ready for the next adventure.
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