Welcome to Gaia! ::

Story

The sky was just darkening as Night walked toward his house. Blood dripped from him to the ground, his eye was closed to block the blood out.

He staggered falling to his knees outside his home, when the door infront of him opened everything went black.

When Nights eyes reopened the docotr was hanging over him.
"well now i didn't think youd wake up so soon" he said.
"Wah where?" Night said bolting up, and slamming his head on the top bunk.
[wak] gonk
"ah" came a voice from above.
"Kara.." Night said rubbing his head.
"slow down boy, shes alright...for now, and you dont try to move so fast. youve been in a sticky wicket." Said the doctor smiling soothingly.

Night slowly got up and checked the bed above his, his sister lay there hers eye closed, deep in sleep. She never used to sleep like that...so peaceful...she normally turns and twisted to the point he nearly was always awake at night.

The doctor hinted they should go into the other room quietly, so Night followed him and sat on the chair infront of the fire. It was only as he sat down he realised how many bandages he wore, his arms were both covered as was his head, left leg and upper torso.
The doctor noticed and said "i wont ask about the injuries, i have a fair idea where they came from...but shall i ask for one of the men from the village to come and check on you both now and again?"
"No need for that..." Night said under his breath.
The doctor raised his eyebrow and then coughed.
"well then, we need to talk about your sister..."
Suddenly Night felt like looking at the walls or ceiling, as he did he noticed the log cabin had some gaps in the insulation. i need to fix that he thought.

"Night, this is important" The doctor said calmly.
Night stopped trying to avoid it, he had to hear this, he needed to know
"As i said when we first brought her back here, she was badly hurt internally, and she....." even the doctor seemed to find it hard to say.
"May not be able to get pregnant when she gets older." Night finished for him. It was those words that had made him....

Kara had always wanted a family, she had already named the kids she was going to have. She said she wanted me to be god father to all of them and she thoughtd id make a good uncle. alway pretending she was preganant and playing famlies. Yet she was terrifeid of boys...dont know how she was going to make that work...But now shes probably even more scared.

Night tried to let it sink in but it wouldn't.
"No there must be something you can do" Night said loudly, then remebered about kara and quietn't down.
"Im sorry night but no. Ive done all i can, if your father..." The doctor could himself, doc and dad used to be close, they were childhood friends.
"Theres nothing anyone can do. And the undertaker has fixed out his funeral, itll be tomorrow." The doc pulled on his coat and clicked shut his bag.

"Will Kara be able to go?" Night asked quickly.
"She will if shes awake, but she'll be sore. so if you can find an old walking stick. If shes still asleep however, then let her sleep dont wake her."
"But the funeral..." Night said suddenly
"Shell be able to say goodbye in her own time. Ill be in in the morning
if shes not awake ill stay here with her while you go to the funeral."
"Thanks. She shouldn't wake up on her own. and i really want to go" Night said a tear rolling out his eye. Night wiped it off, no none of that, not now.

The doc waved as he left, closeing the door behind him.
Night slowly went through the motions, he got some peat from outside to fill in the holes he had noticed eariler and some more wood for the fire. As he locked the door for the night, Night looked out at the pathway to the house and even in the darkness he could see the spots of his own blood on the stones.

End of Day 1

The Sleeper

Night heard her cry from behind the bedroom door.
"Daddy..." was the quiet shout. Night didnt know what to do, he didnt know how much shed remember from yesterday.
"Daddy!..." came the quite shout again, Night couldn't let her cry like that, and slowly opened the door into their room. She lay bundled in her blankets her eyes still closed, like in the midst of a nightmare.
"Shhhh" Night said soothingly to kara, stroking the hair from her face. It was damp, shes probably been in a cold sweat fromt he nightmare.
"Its ok Kara, your home, your safe" Night said as he watched her gently open her eyes.
"Night...im scared..." Kara was an adventous kid, when she wasn't pretending she was a mummy, then she was an explorer. Everything facenated her, she once found a cave of bats with some freinds, They came out crying and screaming with fright but little Kara ended up bring one home to show him and Dad. Dad made her take it back even though she wanted to keep it as a pet. Night remembered his words to her.
"Kara you cant keep him"
"Why not daddy?"
"because he is a free animal"
"But daddy hes mine"
"Kara why were you born with legs"
"erm, so i can walk..."
"thats right, and were do you walk to?"
"lots of places, whereever i want...kind of"
"Yes. but where do you always walk each and everyday?"
"Hm..." Kara was thinking hard on that then seemed to explode when she thought up the answer.
"Here, daddy. I come home every day"
"Now then, why do you think this bat was born with wings?"
"so he can fly...so he can fly home.." Kara said, she understood now what our dad meant.
"Thats right sweet heart" Dad said patting her head.
"Dad can i be friends with him at least, and go vist him." She said as she fed the bat a piece fruit.
"i think hed like that Kara" Dad said laughing. That night she let the bat go, but she continued to go vist it, it even started to come see her at night sometimes. she decided not to name him since she didnt own him, and just called him bat.

The only thing that had scared her were the boys in town. the day she first went to school, a bully in the year above hers, hit her until her nose bled. she never trusted boys after that, even after i puched the boy and broke his nose for what he did to her. I have a bit of a temper when it comes to hurting my sister...

Once a boy had asked her to play with him and she came home screaming and hid under her bed, dad had to bribe her with a new doll to get her out. The boys stopped asking after that. It was kind of sad, but now she only had more reason, would she even trust me?

As Night was thinking, Kara took his hand and held on to it for a while trying to calm down.
"Night wheres daddy?" asked Kara.
"First how are you feeling?" He delayed the answer for a while.
"Im sore, and i feel abit sick" She answered.
"do you think you could eat something?"
"No.." she said pulling a face that made Night laugh alittle.
He kept stroking her hair, and squeexing her hand. He felt like she just needed her to know she could rely on him.
"Night wheres daddy? is he outside?" Nights viens turned icey, this time he had to answer...
"How much of yesterday do you remember Kara?" Kara notice his darker tone and seemed to be thinking hard, screwing up her face slightly.
"i remember having breakfast then me and dad went down to the market, but after that its kind of fuzzy, did i catch a fever?" Kara asked sweetly.
"Kara...you and dad were attacked on the way back from the market." Night hoped she wouldnt hate him for telling her, but the tears he was holding back since last night were starting to burn behind his eyes. Nights vision of the world grew alittle cloudy as the tears formed.

The Funeral

The Doc came back an hour Later and they started their way to the lake.
The funeral cerimonies for their village were conducted on the lake. The body is burned on a pyre in the center island, then a urn-ful of ashes is taken from the ashes of the pyre and placed under a shine stone in the cemetary.

The family is normally the first to arrive but the doc told me they had delayed the funeral for an hour or so because of Karas awakening.
Unfortunately not everyone knew that till they turned up, but they seemed willing to wait because when Kara and Night arrived they were greet by all and offered there condolancies.

The arrived at the cobbled shore and stood looking out at the body of their father ontop of the wood blocks ont he tiny island in the center, lotus blooms and lilly pads were scatter around it and the frogs had started their evening calls.

Kara had stared crying again and fastened herself to Nights arm, but he was soley focused on his fathers body and was determined to watch it until he coul see it no more. The preist was on a platform on the water, he threw a torch onto the pyre to begin the cerimony, they the platform was brought closer to the shore so he could speak.
"Freinds and Family, we gather here to honor this man, a Man who we all know to be good and true"
As the preist spoke the doc, put his hand on my shoulder and Night could here assents to the preists words that filled him with pride.
"Kiba was a widower, father and surgeon. I think we will remeber him best for his tirinkets that showed his great respect for nature. To be Performing this today is by far one of the sadest occancison in this villages history..."

The preist continued like this for a long time, as the body burned in the background. Night burned those words into him as he watched his fathers remains, and comforted his sister. Other people were asked to come aboard the platform to talk about Nights father. Many people did, many explained how his father saved thier lives and how he was such a kind man. Doc Kane got up and said a few words.

"Kiba was my best freind, he helped me when i was none too good my self, and he was the best surgeon i have ever met. We were a team and im going to struggle without him but i hope this loss will make me a better doctor and a better man. Thats What Kiba did he made people much better people and he loved his children very much."

Now there was nothing but flames in the pyre, Night could look away and see all the crying people. He saw lots of people, few he actually knew well but they were all sad at his dads departure. Then night and kara were asked if they wanted to say anything. Kara shook her head, but Night felt he should say something to all these people that respected his father, so he stood on the platform, the waves pushing it up and down underneath him. It made him feel sick, that or what he was about to do..he couldnt decide.

Kara clung tightly to his side, she wasn't crying to badly now. She was trying to hear what night had to say, it was unusual for her brother to speak with people he didn't know let alone an entire crowd at once.
"..Firstly," Night said shakily trying to get his volume right "i want to thank you all for coming, to know my dad meant so much to you all fills me with pride in my father. espically doc Kane who has helped us through a very difficult time...my dad once said that "people should help each other as much as they can through times, walking in the light or through wandering in the night" I know now what he meant. My dad dedicated his life to other people through this way of life and now that hes gone a great hole has opened up but i dont want anyone to fill it. I want you all to fill it, i want you all to live as my dad did and help each other the way he would have helped you if was still here today."

Night felt this request was a good place to stop, hopefully they understood what he was asking of them. if they didnt then they never really knew my dad or his dreams. He turned back to the pyre and watched it burn again...

It was then when night felt he was being watched, his eyes darted about in the gloom, the hairs on the back of his neck now stood on end.

"who there" he asked into the darkness.
The nearby trees russled in the heavy wind of the storm and the rain striking down on the bark with loud crashes. Night became worried, he feared that the angry ghosts of the men he killed were watching him or worse his father. It was then that in the dark two points of light appeared behind one of the bushes at the side of one of the trees, the eyes were glowing like saphires, night stood stalk still as he saw the eyes lock onto him.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightning that tore the sky in half, the eyes had gone and whatever was there was no longer. Night turned back to his fathers grave and then fell backward in shock as the beast now stood infront of him. Night pushed himself backwards sliding in the mud as the creatue turned its eyes toward the ground and sniffed.

The monster was like a very large cat as black as the night, all across its body were striped markings that seemed to glow a blue white colour that almost seemed to ripple across its thin fur. Lifting its head the eyes transfixed on him, Night pulled himself into a crouch ready to run, this thing is massive, its as big as 3 full grown men.. Night thought trying to work out how fast it was and if he could get away but he knew it was hopeless this cat had moved behind him in the blink of an eye, theres no way he could run.

Night huddle himself into a ball, the tears returning to his eyes. "This is it i guess, the retribution for my sins. I'm sorry I wont keep my promise Kara" He howled into his arm, waiting for the blow that would send him to meet his father. A blow that never came.
Night opened his eyes, the cat had sat down infront of him, its eyes locked onto his instantly making night feel uneasy and fearful.
"Are you not going to stand?" Night was stunned when the voice broke the silence, silence! the thunder had stopped. Night heard the cat speak again "Will you not stand? will you not face that which threatens you"
The talking cat did not seem strange to Night and that was the strangest thing.
"Are you going to kill me?" Night asked it, shaking.
"I will if you do not raise" Said the talking deamon cat.
Night quickly stood up, slipping in the mud as he went.
The cat was now at eyeline with night head, it really was gaint.
"What do you fear?" The beast asked him.
"I dont understand?" Said Night confused, wondering if the monster was just playing with him, like the town cats when they corner a mouse.
"What is your greatest fear?" The cat never blinked or looked away, Night felt if he did either then he would suffer a great deal of pain.
Night was about to say "You" when he caught himself, even now in the face of his death, that wasnt biggest fear. "I fear, my greatest fear is..." Night looked hard at the cat its glowing body casting a strange light over its face, "That my Sister gets hurt again and at worst its me thats the one who cause her pain"
The cat looked like it didnt believe night, so he felt like go on.
"I've done terrbile things, things i can never be forgiven for. You have no idea...If i ever hurt my sister like that..." Night shock as memories and imagining swirled around in his mind.
"I know what you did Night" The cats voice broke through his thought, an icey hand grabbed his heart. "Revenge, is something which has no benifit to anyone"
Somethng inside night snapped back before he could catch himself "They will never hurt my family again!"
The cat roared and the thunder above cracked in response, a blade of lightning struck into the sea causeing a great plume of smoke to raise.
Night cowered on the ground again.
"Hear me Night!" Night cat bellowed, "That hatred inside you will burn until nothing close to you lives. You will hurt those closest to you and your greatest fear will come true"
Thus words struck Night hard, he felt like hed been punched.
"Tell me Night what is your greatest wish?" Once again night felt it best to answer from his heart.
"I would wish that the attack had never happened" Night replied quickly.
"That was the correct answer" The cat said closing his eyes and lifting his head into the rain.
"I dont understand" Said Night confusidly.
"You could of wished that those men had never been born, the attack would never of happened then either." He looked at Night again "If that had been your wish, i would of struck you down where you stood"
Night gasped, he had started to believe that the cat wasnt going to harm him.
"I couldn't wish that..." Night said softly, "My father believed all life was precious, i couldnt make the same mistake again"
The cat seemed to smile at Night, it was creepy..
"You have a good heart Night but it has been clouded by that hatred inside you. So i will help you."
The cat stood and walked away alittle the turned back and roared into the night, the thunder in the sky bellowed like a drum. Night could feel the sound vibrating right through him, lightning peeled away the sky and the rain intesified again.
"Night! I am Raienkou, The great Black tiger, the elemental spirit of the storm" as he spoke the skys seems to come to life and the clouds churred and billowed. A Great stroke of lightning fell to the ground and struck Night! His body was on fire, the pain was excrutiating his mussled clamped tight shut and night felt something inside him move. Night fell electricity pulsing across him in small sparks that seemed to mark his skin.
"I bestow apon you a Gift. This power can be used to protect or destroy, it is your choice, as to how this power is used"
The marks on his skin where like the patterns on Raienkous fur, like black stripe tattoos, he felt differant for an instant then they faded away.
Night turned to raienkou, his body still twitching and a burning sensation left on his skin.
"the marks, they're gone..." He said stunned.
"They will return when you need them" Raienkou said softly, his tail swaying, turning away from night.
"I have one last thing to tell you Night." He said looking back, " Your sister needs to be healed, i saw inside her at the funeral, she has a great illness that in her weakened state will consume her."
Night collapsed, it was one more hurt after another. "No..." he whispered
"There is a way to save her though" The Tiger told him.
"Please tell me Raienkou" Night begged him desperatly.
"To the north, across the Vratt Plains, beyond the Northen city of Deltsa lies the mountain of water. There at the summit, is the sacred spring. This can cure any and all injuries. You must take Kara there."
"Across the Vratt Plains, beyond Deltsa, to the mountain of water." Night repeated.
"It will not be an easy trip but it is the only way" Night nodded to Raienkou.
"Raienkou, can i ask? why are you helping me?" Night asked suddenly.
"I met your father once, he impressed me. I know that he would not want his daughter to die."
"She wont, i promise, ill get her to the spring. I swear on my father even if my life is forfiet shell get to the spring" Night said steely.
"Then its time for me to go" Raienkou turned and with a great leap and roar, soared above the clouds. "Night, I know you will impress me too" he whispered smiling.