Cold sweat rolled down his forehead as he awoke suddenly, Kuribun had the dream again... It was all too common these days, a dream filled with distorted angry faces then red filtered over his vision followed by screams. He shook his head slowly before he sat up in his bed, a nervous sweat causing his bare torso to glisten softly under the moonlight that shown into his bedroom. And after staring at the wall for several moments, he got up from his bed and pulled on a simple long sleeve shirt before leaving his small apartment.
As he looked back towards the apartment, he thought for a moment about his parents and where would they be right now. He sighed softly and shook his head a little, deciding that it was best not to think about it, and continued on down the sidewalk, just walking with no destination in mind. Passing through the quiet streets of his neighborhood, he let his thoughts wonder as he walked down the empty streets, which was no surprise since it was a few hours after midnight and this was an older, less trafficked neighborhood.
He tilted his head a little when he heard something, then blinked a few times as he tried to discern if it were his imagination or reality. When he heard it again, he squinted his eyes a little and looked in that direction before moving a bit swifter towards the sounds. When he rounded the corner, he saw a couple of thugs bothering a young lady, who held a bag clutched to her as she tried to ignore them and continue on.
Then, he saw it... One of the men had knocked the bag out of her hands. And, his vision turned red. He could hear breathing, heavy breathing... motions, very quick motions... and the screaming faces... When he came out of it, he saw the figures of the thugs around him, beaten unconscious, and he assumed he was responsible. The woman had moved to a wall and was leaned back against it, quietly looking at him with fear in her eyes, and he glanced away to stare down at the ground, ashamed of himself.
Without a word, he continued on down the street, not looking back... not wanting to see the frightened face of the woman he saved, not wanting to think about the fact that he just went out of control and beaten up mean. Though, he did know that they deserved it... At least, he could take some degree of comfort in knowing that they weren't innocent. These thoughts comforted him some, but he was still troubled by the way he felt so out of control.
Hours seemingly passed, his thoughts bouncing aimlessly as he struggled with the conflicts tugging at him. If he weren't so mentally preoccupied, he might have noticed that the time seemed to have stood still while so much time had passed. He might have also noticed the way the fog appeared at the corner of his vision. And suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts by another sound and he felt compelled to once again move towards it. He saw something pass around a corner, just a brief glimpse before it was out of his sight. And, he raced to follow whatever it had been, but he couldn't catch up with it, no matter how many corners he turned or how fast he ran.
Somewhere along the way, he lost his balance, stumbling a few steps, then completely losing his footing as he fell through the air... His mind felt so foggy as he couldn't even contemplate how he had fallen in the first place. Had he not just been walking down a street? Why would it have suddenly disappeared from under him? But, he didn't think, he couldn't as he felt warmth spread over him as he succumbed to a peaceful slumber...
He slowly opened his eyes, a surreal sight before him as he lay on a hill shadowed by a tree with almost unnatural pale red flowers. A thin mist filled the air and a pale blue light shown down from the abnormally large moon. He tilted his head a little as he looked around in awe and blinked slowly when he thought he saw something near the tree. As he watched it, he saw a soft light start to emerge from behind it...
Then, he suddenly woke quite unpleasantly, having been sleeping on a tree limb and shifted enough to slip from the tree slightly to tumble into a mess on the ground. He murmured quietly against the ground before getting up, brushing himself off for several moments, then blinking as he looked down at himself and the strange clothes he now wore... His more modern attire had been replaced by a traditional, but plain white cotton kimono, a simple black hakama, a black sash, and sandals. He blinked slowly as he felt something hard concealed inside the sash, slowly pulling a dagger slightly out of it before tucking it back in.
Muttering quietly to himself, he glanced around down at his change of clothing, "What is going on..." He tilted his head a little and picked up the pack sitting against the base of the tree, sighing quietly and slipping it onto his back before looking around his immediate surroundings, which was followed by another sigh before whispering softly to himself once more, "I must be going crazy..." With that, he started walking through the rather quiet forest with only the occasional sound of a forest animal, just a few active in the early morning.
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