Amita: Part One by catlady87 |  |
Untitled Document
My feet slapped against the flat earth, and my
spine jolted with every step. Breath came only reluctantly, echoing harshly in
my dry and scratched throat. Tears of terror streaked down my face and patterned
the dusty earth with soft "hisses". It seemed that only my fear was keeping me
going; my endurance had failed me long ago. Fear was keeping me alive.
Dark violet twisted violently in the sky
and silent lightning streaked across the horizon. Behind me, footsteps danced
lightly. I could tell that the red-eyed, silver Kougra that had haunted my dreams
was on my tail. However, his intent was obviously not to catch me, as he would
have done so by now, just to hunt me down until I collapsed in shuddering exhaustion.
It was just a game to him, this predation, and I was the prey.
When my last gasp had escaped me, I tumbled
head over heels, sprawling on the ground. I looked in terror as the eyes of
the silver-haired Kougra, those blood red, soulless eyes, bore down on me -
all teeth and claws...
I awoke in a shuddering gasp, my tangled,
sweaty sheets wrapped around me in a tight cocoon. The acrid, bitter scent of
fear hung itself in the stagnant air. After peeling the soaked sheets off of
me. Stretching, I limped over open the windows, which were sticky with age.
Sweet, clean, fresh air swirled around
me, replacing the stale, and I breathed in deeply, trying to replace the memories
of soulless Kougras with that of spring breezes. The crisp air soothed the pain
resonating at the base of my skull, and after refreshing myself I trotted over
to the mirror.
A tall yet slim starry Shoyru blinked
back at me. Memories of the Kougra filled my head, and were there when I closed
my eyes. This silver monster had been there, haunting my dreams, non-stop for
two weeks now. The part that scared me most however was the fact that the Kougra
looked exactly like my brother, except my brother was white, and his eyes were
a deep green. The build, the postures, the scents - everything about this monster
and my brother was the same.
"Maybe I should talk to him about it,"
I mused to the Shoyru in the mirror. "He'd probably just laugh though."
I dismissed this thought almost as soon
as it came - my brother was not one to laugh at people's honest worries. After
chewing my lip and debating with myself, I decided to swing it by him this morning,
the more casually, the better. I didn't want him to think me too concerned with
mere dreams.
As I flew swiftly down the stairs and
started making my morning espresso, I noticed him by the window, but his stance
was not one I expected. His stance was... locked. There was not one muscle of
his moving except for his eyes. His lips were curled slightly in a soundless
snarl, though his eyes were guarded.
His gaze locked on something outside
the window, and he didn't twitch a hair when I said "Good mornin'!" His eyes
flew to the left, and he darted to the next window. After ten minutes of his
perplexing behavior, he stopped, grinned carelessly at me, and reported lazily
that he needed to go upstairs, and that he'd be down again soon. I frowned,
and mused to myself when he was gone, wondering what his concern - even fear
- was all about. However, common sense was simply not my strong suit and deciding
against my better side to satisfy my cravings of curiosity, I flew outside.
I breathed the new-born air deeply in,
and examined the place where Amita's eyes were locked. We lived on Mystery Island,
so the refreshing waves could always be heard from down at the shore, and exotic
birds shrieked their anger at those who invaded their territories. My feet padded
carefully at the sandy rocks, and I briefly entertained the thought of going
for a swim in the cool ocean.
My thoughts shattered and fear rose abruptly
however when a deep, unrecognizable voice came from behind me. "Not thinking
of going in the ocean are you, m'dear?" I turned to see a Neopetless human (these
were not common) standing behind me, a small, sarcastic smile playing on his
face. My eyes widened when I saw that he was wearing a jade robe, and spoke
in a foreign, unidentified accent. He continued, the smile long ago faded. "Where
is Amita, the Bearer of the Amulet of Lost Souls?" he demanded. I found my voice,
and snapped back "I don't know what you're talking about. My brother isn't the
bearer of anything!" He started toward me and I tensed, but Amita came almost
from out of nowhere, flying and snarling, a bundle of muscle, teeth and claws.
The man's eyes showed a spark of fear,
but it was quickly overlaid by triumph. He started to say something but Amita
snapped, "Go back to where you came from, Hyacinth!" All of a sudden, the man
disappeared. Only the layer of anger in his eyes betrayed the fact that he did
not go by his own free will.
I stared in shock at the seemingly innocent
place where the man had disappeared. The forest, before seeming so calm and
peaceful, suddenly filled me with foreboding. Something seemed… not quite right,
and it had to do with Amita.
After turning expressionless eyes on
him, he avoided my gaze and said in a firm voice, "Maybe you have a right to
know why you were put in danger today." I followed him inside, glad to be away
from the forest, but a chill up my spine betrayed my thoughts of relief by somehow
knowing that I was following the very "wrongness" I was trying to escape.
After seating ourselves at our kitchen
table, the house seeming deceptively quiet (my siblings and mom were out), my
brother looked at me. "I'm going to show you something that you won't like,"
he murmured. The warning was hardly enough.
I felt the air loosen around Amita, and
he relaxed more than I've ever seen him relax. His guarded eyes showed something
I've never seen so complete - utter relief. Looking down showed that something
had materialized out of the air. Around his neck hung a loose leather cord,
and at the base of the cord was an amulet. The amulet's center was icy black,
seeming to steal the very light from the rest of the world, but around it swirled
white. The white swirls were numerous, when I tried to count how many, more
and more appeared - it was never-ending.
When I reflected back on the blackness
stealing light, I realized it was stealing something more. Despair trickled
up my spine and tingled in my mind. I couldn't get rid of it, the fear and pain
was clinging to me. A sadness, like a hole in my mind, was draining me of energy
and I couldn't seem to right myself. Gazing into Amita's eyes, I could see his
eyes had turned into a whirlpool of emotion: despair, hate, sadness, depression,
pain, fury.
Amita saw my reaction, the air tightened
again, and the amulet disappeared, along with any traces of emotion. His eyes
(though I caught that he expended a bit of effort on this) turned guarded and
expressionless again. "Sorry," he muttered difficulty. He breathed, and continued
more freely. "That was the Ka'har'ishin. In common tongue, one would simply
call it the Amulet of Lost Souls."
Even the name stuck terror. "So, when
that man said that you were the Bearer..."
He continued when I hesitated. "Yes,
I am the Bearer of the Amulet of Lost Souls, or the Rahre'mas'hin. I was born
with this wretched..." for a moment words had seemed to fail him, but he promptly
maintained his composure. "This amulet. I was also born white."
I was staring wide-eyed and prompted
him to go on. " My mother wasted no time in abandoning me; she knew what I was
- there had been prophecies written about me. My teacher, a kind Eyrie, took
me in and taught me everything there was to know about life and made sure I
had everything I needed.
"One day however, I returned from my
nightly hunt to find him dying. He murmured to me about men in robes of jade.
He told me to run. When he passed away, a few minutes later, I bolted. I never
ran so hard in my life, for I'd known that this plethora of terror, rage and
sadness that I'd had all my life had caused this."
He continued, seeing my look. "Yes, I
had felt it all my life, and I had learned to control it. One reason I was the
bearer was because I had a little resistance to the amulet. Normal people go
insane if given too much exposure. However, over time, it swum through my mind
and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't get rid of it... it was there whenever I
turned and how often I tried to run away. I tried to get rid of it but it wouldn't
leave - it needed me, and it had a will of it's own. I was trapped."
Amita shook himself. "Anyway, I ran to
the docks of Neopia (I was born in a isolated forest). I had never been to a
place that had so many sentient beings before. That was when I made myself lock
up the emotions the amulet conjured inside myself, so others wouldn't feel it.
It made it much worse, but it eliminated the terrible way people got pale when
they came near me. I proceeded to board a boat to Mystery Island.
"The boat itself was mainly uneventful,
until a few hours into the trip. Huge dragon creatures shrieked and cried above
the ship, with people pointing and screaming. There were men with jade robes
on top. I knew they were looking for me, and the last thing I remember was a
huge dragon tail swiping me off the boat and into the raging sea."
Amita was staring into the fire in the
hearth, its flames crackling delightedly. His eyes were lost in thought, and
after this introduction I became lost in his story.
To be continued...
|
