1 Crying in the Forest Ablaze [Yuzu/Private/Training] Mon Jun 01, 2015 6:47 am
Tsu-chan
D-rank
It was hot. Heat. Fire. That's all the girl could feel. It was her nightmare. Surrounded by red, surrounded by flames, by the light, by the burning, by the ashes, by the smoke, by the everything! She was five years old again, the walls were crumbling into ash, the embers fell from the burning walls, the ceiling was coming down in flames. She couldn't breathe; her lungs were too filled with smoke. She couldn't move; her legs were paralyzed with fear. It was happening again!
Why today? Why when she decided to go out by herself that the flames decided to follow? It had started sunny and blue. The day was nice. The forest was green and the birds were chirping. She was trying to train to better her ninja skills. She didn't even know where they had began! She had just smelled that sickly, suffocating smoke, she had seen the animals running, and she had tried running away too! But she wasn't fast enough, just like so many years ago, she wasn't strong enough to escape by herself. And now here she was again. Curled up in a ball, tightly hugging her knees, closing her eyes as if somehow she could transport herself to a better place. Tsuru couldn't believe herself, after all this time she could only sit and watch herself get eaten by the flames?! But they were too big, and she was still too small. A single little girl against an entire forest fire didn't stand a chance. Maybe if she had just been stronger, maybe if she had worked harder or done something to make herself better! But she hadn't changed at all, she was still afraid of fire.
Her dark green hair was getting singed at the ends of her braids, but that was the least of her problems. She didn't know how far the flames went or for how long they had been burning. She heard a thundering crack behind her and just turned her head to see a flaming tree limb drop to the ground. The branch fell into pieces, embers scorching the back of her neck.
The branch wasn't just a branch. Instead she saw a collapsed ceiling beam explode into embers. A piece of wood flipped off onto her arm, burning her with a scar that remained to this day. She crying, alone but there had been someone else. On that day, her cries would be heard by someone. A figure tall and comforting had surrounded her in a wall, the earth cool and even damp, different from the burning hell outside. That had been the last day she had seen her mother alive. But this day would be different! She didn't have anyone she could call out too. She looked down to her arm, it was only her memories that she had seen it get burned. Though underneath her sleeves, she knew that the scar was still there. But today she was actually still in one piece, save for a few burns here and there. And the fact that she was living her worst nightmare.
"No...!" She whispered to herself, her voice barely heard from the cracking of the fire. She shook her head rapidly, trying to get her mind to distinguish memory from reality. "I'm... Different from before!" She repeated it to herself, a mantra to find courage that hadn't been there. She stood up, her knees trembling and her entire body shaking from heat. It had been seven years ago since she had been in an inferno like this, but in that seven years she had to have changed at least a little, right? She wasn't some helpless five year old anymore, she was a Konoha shinobi! She lived in the land of Fire! How could she let herself be so scared of it?!
She began running, to where she didn't know. Everything was too devoured in flames that she couldn't tell which direction was what. Before she knew it she was skidding to a stop, the deathly sound of breaking wood filling her ears right in front of her. She looked above yet another tree limb was failing from the heat. Gravity seemed to pull it down slowly. As it hit the ground, it exploded in embers.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The girl screamed louder than she had ever before. This day was different from the last time. Today while in this fiery hell, she was alone with no one to come and save her.
Why today? Why when she decided to go out by herself that the flames decided to follow? It had started sunny and blue. The day was nice. The forest was green and the birds were chirping. She was trying to train to better her ninja skills. She didn't even know where they had began! She had just smelled that sickly, suffocating smoke, she had seen the animals running, and she had tried running away too! But she wasn't fast enough, just like so many years ago, she wasn't strong enough to escape by herself. And now here she was again. Curled up in a ball, tightly hugging her knees, closing her eyes as if somehow she could transport herself to a better place. Tsuru couldn't believe herself, after all this time she could only sit and watch herself get eaten by the flames?! But they were too big, and she was still too small. A single little girl against an entire forest fire didn't stand a chance. Maybe if she had just been stronger, maybe if she had worked harder or done something to make herself better! But she hadn't changed at all, she was still afraid of fire.
Her dark green hair was getting singed at the ends of her braids, but that was the least of her problems. She didn't know how far the flames went or for how long they had been burning. She heard a thundering crack behind her and just turned her head to see a flaming tree limb drop to the ground. The branch fell into pieces, embers scorching the back of her neck.
The branch wasn't just a branch. Instead she saw a collapsed ceiling beam explode into embers. A piece of wood flipped off onto her arm, burning her with a scar that remained to this day. She crying, alone but there had been someone else. On that day, her cries would be heard by someone. A figure tall and comforting had surrounded her in a wall, the earth cool and even damp, different from the burning hell outside. That had been the last day she had seen her mother alive. But this day would be different! She didn't have anyone she could call out too. She looked down to her arm, it was only her memories that she had seen it get burned. Though underneath her sleeves, she knew that the scar was still there. But today she was actually still in one piece, save for a few burns here and there. And the fact that she was living her worst nightmare.
"No...!" She whispered to herself, her voice barely heard from the cracking of the fire. She shook her head rapidly, trying to get her mind to distinguish memory from reality. "I'm... Different from before!" She repeated it to herself, a mantra to find courage that hadn't been there. She stood up, her knees trembling and her entire body shaking from heat. It had been seven years ago since she had been in an inferno like this, but in that seven years she had to have changed at least a little, right? She wasn't some helpless five year old anymore, she was a Konoha shinobi! She lived in the land of Fire! How could she let herself be so scared of it?!
She began running, to where she didn't know. Everything was too devoured in flames that she couldn't tell which direction was what. Before she knew it she was skidding to a stop, the deathly sound of breaking wood filling her ears right in front of her. She looked above yet another tree limb was failing from the heat. Gravity seemed to pull it down slowly. As it hit the ground, it exploded in embers.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The girl screamed louder than she had ever before. This day was different from the last time. Today while in this fiery hell, she was alone with no one to come and save her.
~763~