Phase one

A Chance for Rebirth

Ch. 1

Sleep Cometh

“Could it possibly any fucking hotter?!” Savannah grumbled in her bed. Despite the fact that it was early May, the weather refused to cool down. Both windows were as open as could be and the fan droned a loud hum. Thin pajamas and sheets were the only items covering her teenage form. “Is there any way to get cooler?” Savannah ticked off the possibilities in her head. An obvious thought struck her. “Scratch that. There is no way I’m sleeping in the buff.” Left with no other choice, she pulled her top over her sweat slick back. The air’s grace caressed her bare flesh. Lying back down, Savannah positioned herself to comfort. Her small still developing breasts snuggled into her mattress as her sheets covered her legs. Her thick copper hair caressed her damp shoulder blades as her eyelids shut the world from her sea green irises. She felt a small drop of sweat trickle down her spine as she drifted to sleep at last. The drop soon turned cold as did the rest of her flesh.

Ch. 2

Contradictions

The twittering of summer song birds awoke Savannah as they usually did. But these seemed oddly different. As did her bed as she arose. As her eyelids broke apart, a cascade of green greeted them, instead of the blue of her walls. Amidst flowers and various creatures of the wing, Savannah had awoken in a field. Her heart became filled with confusion. The logical idea that this was a dream quickly passed. In dreams, one’s senses weren’t so stimulated. She could feel the grass beneath her feet and the warmth of the moist earth. The spice of the plants filled her nostrils to the point of annoyance. She soon became terrified. Her mind swam with the horrible possibilities of what was happening. But despite that, she tried to stay calm. Savannah knew that if she lost control, she’d be asking to get killed. Just ask any victim in a horror movie.

Soft, padded footsteps soon became audible. She turned to confront this newcomer. Nay, this wasn’t a newcomer, she was. She readied herself for whatever may come.

It was a man who walked toward her. Yet, he wasn’t really a man. He was more like an angel. The angelic man drifted toward her, baring a pair of large, folded white dove wings. No, she was wrong again. He seemed to be a demon, for he bore a black wing like that of a bat. Savannah gave up. He seemed to be both. The angelic wing gently caressing his right side while the demonic wing stood erected on his left. When the wings released her of her admiration, she gazed upon his façade. His hair was a perfect silver which caressed his neck. Gray entered her mind as to describe it, but the shine and life within it spoke silver. His eyes seemed to be a placid black. They seemed to show no emotion, and yet seemed to hold innumerable secrets, just waiting to be told. His flesh was marble. Perfect, unmarred, ivory white.

“Welcome, newborn Kuusooka.” His voice was the next object of notice. It held a melody within itself. He spoke as though he sung with the heavenly choir. But a deep lust started to arise within her. Innocent, yet dangerous. Sexy, yet caring. A multitude of contradictions spilled forth in her mind. But despite how perfect this creature was, Savannah refused to fall for his charms.

“Who the hell are you and where the fuck am I?” Being a girl of her era, she refused to be a weak damsel in distress. This hybrid divine being chuckled, rippling his storm grey slacks. She realized this was the only article of clothing he wore. His upper body was midway between massive strength and intolerable weakness. By a glance, he appeared to be no older than twenty-one. ‘But he must be centuries older than that, I’m sure.’ Savannah took note of all she saw in her thoughts.

“My name is Hizashi Shisou. Feel free to call me Zashi for short. And you are within the realm of Yume,” he smirked as he spoke. Hell, he had been smirking since he arrived. A sincere, yet cocky smirk. He stepped closer towards her, until he was within arm’s reach.

Now it was Savannah’s turn to chuckle. “Both of your answers tell me nothing. What are you exactly anyway? Your wings suggest you’re some kind of divine being. But…” she trailed off, trying to think of a way to end her thought.

“I am of both sides, but belong to neither one,” his smirked faded only slightly. “I am known as a tanegawari. I’m here to introduce you to Yume. This land is sacred and we have only just started to allow you humans to come,” he growled at the word human as though it were a vulgar term that would burn his tongue. “Sadly, I am not at liberty to tell of its origins."

"Well, what are you allowed to tell me?"

"Anything else."

Ch. 3

Answers

“Well, what does God think about this place? I mean, if the demons are working alongside angels, would he be angry or something?” Zashi’s face became stone. Not a single emotion could be seen.

“The God that belongs to any religion is false. Nothing more than a fairy tale used by a few angels to keep the human race from going insane. I’m sure you’ve seen huge masses of people blindly following his ‘word.’ Imagine the chaos that would ensue if they found out the salvation they seek doesn’t even exist.

“Sometimes, the devils will take responsibility for creating this tale of a deity. That only happens when something like the crusades occur. There is no god in any shape, form, or name. Only us. The winged divine.”

“So, what happens when we die? Where do we go?” A small fear rose in her heart. Her stomach clenched and twisted, making her want to vomit. What occurred after death had always been a terrifying subject for her.

“I’m not at liberty to tell you. So just forget about death until it’s your time to go. Now then, let us now focus on you. Have you ever played or even heard of a type of game amongst your kind, I believe it’s called, an RPG?” A curt nod was all Zashi would get from her. “Well, that is what Yume can be compared to. In truth, it is as infinite in space as the human imagination. You are in the medieval section of the land. I believe you will find this to your liking. Now, let us decide your apparel.”

Ch. 4

Class Decision

At that moment, a crimson fire wall washed over Savannah. She had gone to sleep without a top on. He had been getting full view of her breasts the entire time they spoke. Why hadn’t he told her? Because he didn’t want her to cover up, the lecher. She glanced down and wished she had been right before. In truth, she was more missing than just her top. Zashi had allowed her to stand before him completely sky clad. Her shock was quite obvious. The divine cocked his head to the side, with a greatly confused look. Filled with rage toward the pervert, she swung her arm out to strike him. Within a millimeter of the hairs upon his skin, he caught her. His grip was tight; she could feel the blood beginning to pool in her hand. “You perverted lecher,” she cried. “Why didn’t you tell me I wasn’t covered?!”

With a calm and serious look that pierced like a blade, his reply was quite simple. “You are born on earth naked. And so you are born in Yume just the same.” He released her wrist that would most likely have a bruise later. “What class of being would you like to be? Please be aware that your species can’t be changed. So elves, dwarves, and Halflings are out.”

It took not even a moment for her to reveal her answer. “I’ve always wanted to be a warrior. Can I be that?” Being a hero, defending the weak, becoming a legend, that had always been her dream. But under all this wonder of living her favorite type of game, Savannah couldn’t help but wonder. Why was she getting this kind of choice? Zashi seemed to enjoy treating this like one big game. It seemed to him, this was like initiating a new member to a group of Dungeons & Dragons fanatics.

A sudden look of surprise was just as quickly replaced with that same smirk. “I almost forgot. There are three rules you should know before we continue. One: Even though you are here within your dreams, all you do can hurt you physically. Two: If a divine or fellow kuusooka kills you, your flesh is dead as well. Three: If you kill a musouka, he or she will fall into a coma, never to awaken. An empty shell with no soul. Is that clear?”

“Uh, no. I have no friggin’ clue what a kuusooka or a mosouka is. Care to fill me in?”

“Ah, yes. Well in short, you are a kuusooka. One who has awakened within their dreams is a kuusooka. What you were before was a musouka. A regular dreamer. Now do you understand?”

“Yes. And I still desire to be a warrior. But instead of a sword, I want a bo staff,” slight disappointment rang in her voice. She had always envisioned knights with gleaming swords standing heroically after a victory.

“Hm, yes a bo staff seems much more appropriate for you. I don’t think you have the stomach for death. You don’t seem like the kind of person who can stand having your blade enter a form. Feeling the stripping of the flesh, the scraping against the bone, and everything in between.” The emotion he put behind his words seemed to actually create the feeling in her body. She could almost hear the tearing flesh, her victim’s last cry, his last breath. Fairy tales, books, and movies always made this seem like no big deal. She knew in reality, she would never be able to stand the guilt of having someone’s blood on her hands. She had heard that the only way to escape that was to kill again. To continue killing just to escape the ever present guilt seemed like madness. With the bo staff, at least she didn’t have to worry about cutting off limbs, or someone bleeding to death. She just had to make sure her jabs didn’t rupture anyone’s organs or her swings bash in someone’s skull like a melon.

“Here is your new weapon.” From behind his magnificent and beautiful form, he pulled out an eight foot staff three inches thick. Savannah reached out and grasped the steel blue weapon. “It’s made of ghost iron wood. It is a rare substance, even around here. You should feel honored to be allowed to wield such an object.” The smirk was still plastered on his face. But there was something more behind it. Almost happiness. Or maybe pride? “It is extremely powerful and deadly.”

She wondered, ‘How in the hell can this branch be used as a weapon? It’s so light; it feels like it’ll snap if it so much as taps paper.’ The half-breed divine seemed to sense her doubt. “It feels light only in your hands. That’s the way the substance works. It’s light weight only to its appointed wielder. Don’t worry, though. Your enemy will feel its true power and regret crossing your path. That is, if he survives the blow.” Once again he let out a small chuckle. It was as though the thought of others’ death pleased him to no end.

Her faith somewhat returned, Savannah decided to test it out. Remembering her training from her martial arts school, she started up one of her sparring forms with this weapon. Despite the fact it was a couple feet bigger than the staves her school usually used, her performance was nearly flawless. A few plots of grass were scraped away, creating odd patterns from her weapon’s form. When she was completed, she sighed deeply, closing her eyes, treasuring the feeling of the moment. The brush of a feather followed by a heavy weight was felt upon her breast. Her first thought was Zashi embracing her. Had her movements with her sky clad form instilled something within him? She opened her eyes to find herself fully clothed. A pair of clod hopper boots covered her feet up to her mid-shins. The softest pair of leather slacks caressed her flesh. The leather looked indestructible, yet felt as soft as silk. A shimmering green tunic covered her upper form. Considering the texture and the way it shone, Savannah believed the threads were woven from pure emeralds. Lastly, she discovered a breastplate that had given off the weight. After much flexing and testing, the new warrior discovered that all her clothing would not hinder her in any way or form. Her breastplate even stayed in place, as though it were a bra.

“I do hope you enjoy your new attire.” His grin returned, by now it was annoying Savannah to no end. She desired to test her staff’s true strength by bashing out his front teeth in one swift thrust. Slightly winded from her test, she swung the staff over her shoulders so she could rest her arms upon it. She noticed that it rested upon her bare neck. Not only was she now fully dressed, but her hair had been put up as well. Her weapon was swung back down and rested against her shoulder as she inspected her new style. Using a satin soft band, the copper locks that usually flowed over her shoulders were now laying flat upon her cranium. No more would she have to worry about hitting a ponytail when the staff ran across her skull.

“Hm, I see you like it. The best thing about it is no strand will fall out on its own, nor will the band. For it is woven from angel feathers. There is no material better than that.” There appeared a new emotion within his hypnotic voice. It was almost undetectable in its subtlety. Savannah could not tell what it was that appeared in his speech. “I believe you are now ready to go off on your new adventures. I bid you farewell.”

He turned, spreading his exotic wings that dwarfed Savannah greatly and leapt into the sky. The gust that followed knocked Savannah on her back, winded. When she looked toward the sky, Zashi was nothing more than a speck. That is if the speck was Zashi.

Amazed at what had just happened, Savannah decided to set off. After all, this was her chance to live out her heroic dreams. She set off toward the east. The old westerns always had the hero setting off toward the sunset at the end of the movie. But she was just beginning, so the sunrise was more appropriate. Slinging her bo staff across her shoulders and laying her wrists upon it, she set off, eager to see what awaited her in this land called Yume.