Post by aiyoku on Aug 16, 2012 6:17:25 GMT -5
Somewhere in the darkness, there was a scream. Sleep shattered in a fantastic explosion of heat and pain. Where was she? What was happening? Another cry, and still another. The babies – the children! Aiyoku leapt from her bed, trying to make sense of the room around her.
“Ai! Get those two in the corner!” The voice was frantic, but she recognized it as Matron Millicent.
“Aye, Millie!” Aiyoku gathered two babies from the corner beds as fire and debris rained from the ceiling. But something wasn't right. They weren't crying. They weren't breathing. Aiyoku fled for the door. Perhaps she could help them once she was clear of the fire. But something else was in her way. Something ablaze, something – alive, and writhing.
“Millie!” Aiyoku paused, looking frantically between the unbreathing babies in her arms and the woman struggling at her feet. Millicent lay prone on the floor, pinned by timbers and a portion of the stone chimney that had fallen in the blast.
“Get them out of here, Aiyoku, get them clear of the raiders! Go!” Matron Millicent still wriggled, but there was something wrong in the way her body moved. She was broken. She looked up with pleading eyes. “Take them to safety, Ai – get them out of Jhelom. Please. Promise me you won't ever come back here.”
“Might makes right! We are right!”
The cries from outside pierced the chaos as another bottle sailed through the window. The glass and fuel ignited as it smashed against was was left of the stone hearth, and engulfed the room with flame. Another scream, this time her own, was drowned by the sounds of destruction. All she could do was flee.
Outside, by the light of the rioter's fires, she could better see the broken bodies of the children she carried. The girl, and smaller of the two, seemed to sleep peacefully, but for the shard of wood that nearly severed her in half at the chest. The boy child was burned beyond all hope. The other women and children had fled already. No sounds came from inside, except for fire, and shattering of glass. Aiyoku watched, horrified, as the orphanage – the only home she had ever known – became an inferno of death and flame. Silently, she uttered a prayer over those who escaped – and those who had not. A prayer that those who'd gone before would make it to safety. A prayer that those like Millicent would not suffer anymore.
And when she had done all that she could, she, too, fled the raiders and rioters – death in each arm – through the fires and cries that ravaged Jhelom, to the moongate that shimmered with hope at the perimeter of the city. Aiyoku stepped through the gate and emerged in the silent, darkened forest on the other side. No fires here. No screams, and no unrest. Only the cry of an owl and the shimmer of the moon on dark, infested trees.
Only when she had buried the precious things she carried, could she give thought to where she, herself, would go. She had worked at the orphanage in the months since she had come of age. It was all she had ever known. She wiped the soot and earth and blood from her hands on her skirts, as she paused again at the moongate. All she remembered of where she had come from were the names and words repeated to her by Matron Millicent since she was old enough to understand them.
Quietly, with resolve, Aiyoku stepped into the moongate again. Bathed in the light of promise, she uttered the name of the only place that came to mind. “Makoto-Jima.”
Without preamble, night was swept away, and she was bathed in the light of morning. Curious eyes, dark, and so like her own, watched her as she stumbled from the gate. For now, she would find a bath, and grieve, and rest. Hope could wait until tomorrow.
“Ai! Get those two in the corner!” The voice was frantic, but she recognized it as Matron Millicent.
“Aye, Millie!” Aiyoku gathered two babies from the corner beds as fire and debris rained from the ceiling. But something wasn't right. They weren't crying. They weren't breathing. Aiyoku fled for the door. Perhaps she could help them once she was clear of the fire. But something else was in her way. Something ablaze, something – alive, and writhing.
“Millie!” Aiyoku paused, looking frantically between the unbreathing babies in her arms and the woman struggling at her feet. Millicent lay prone on the floor, pinned by timbers and a portion of the stone chimney that had fallen in the blast.
“Get them out of here, Aiyoku, get them clear of the raiders! Go!” Matron Millicent still wriggled, but there was something wrong in the way her body moved. She was broken. She looked up with pleading eyes. “Take them to safety, Ai – get them out of Jhelom. Please. Promise me you won't ever come back here.”
“Might makes right! We are right!”
The cries from outside pierced the chaos as another bottle sailed through the window. The glass and fuel ignited as it smashed against was was left of the stone hearth, and engulfed the room with flame. Another scream, this time her own, was drowned by the sounds of destruction. All she could do was flee.
Outside, by the light of the rioter's fires, she could better see the broken bodies of the children she carried. The girl, and smaller of the two, seemed to sleep peacefully, but for the shard of wood that nearly severed her in half at the chest. The boy child was burned beyond all hope. The other women and children had fled already. No sounds came from inside, except for fire, and shattering of glass. Aiyoku watched, horrified, as the orphanage – the only home she had ever known – became an inferno of death and flame. Silently, she uttered a prayer over those who escaped – and those who had not. A prayer that those who'd gone before would make it to safety. A prayer that those like Millicent would not suffer anymore.
And when she had done all that she could, she, too, fled the raiders and rioters – death in each arm – through the fires and cries that ravaged Jhelom, to the moongate that shimmered with hope at the perimeter of the city. Aiyoku stepped through the gate and emerged in the silent, darkened forest on the other side. No fires here. No screams, and no unrest. Only the cry of an owl and the shimmer of the moon on dark, infested trees.
Only when she had buried the precious things she carried, could she give thought to where she, herself, would go. She had worked at the orphanage in the months since she had come of age. It was all she had ever known. She wiped the soot and earth and blood from her hands on her skirts, as she paused again at the moongate. All she remembered of where she had come from were the names and words repeated to her by Matron Millicent since she was old enough to understand them.
Quietly, with resolve, Aiyoku stepped into the moongate again. Bathed in the light of promise, she uttered the name of the only place that came to mind. “Makoto-Jima.”
Without preamble, night was swept away, and she was bathed in the light of morning. Curious eyes, dark, and so like her own, watched her as she stumbled from the gate. For now, she would find a bath, and grieve, and rest. Hope could wait until tomorrow.