1 War and Wildflowers. Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:13 pm
Takao
S-rank
A calm, serene night had overtaken the Fire Country. Cool, gentle breezes swept the empty streets, urging the late-nighters into their homes. Autumn was in full swing and the vivid foliage that decorated the village in technicolour. The Hidden Leaf village was, in a word, peaceful. Yet the same could not be said of her residents; one in particular tossed and turned restlessly in their bed. Sweat bound the sheets to his skin as he shifted uncontrollably, his brows tensely furrowed as he endured the nightmare plaguing his slumber.
Takao awoke with a start, the scream of his dream carrying over into his conscious state as he shot up. He slammed his back against the headboard and cast a jittery gaze over his surroundings, trying to catch his bearings. His scream caught in his throat and he settled, if only slightly, upon realizing that he was in his room. Gradually his rapid, ragged breathing calmed. It was unusual that he was startled so thoroughly by a nightmare that had plagued his dreams in perpetuity, but as his gaze wandered to the other empty side of the bed, it became apparent that his nights alone were beginning to take their toll. His head fell into his hands and his eyes closed as the faint throb of a headache steadily built, and the chorus of voices that ensured that not so much as a modicum of silence could be enjoyed soon joined the migraine. C̶̲̔Ò̴̤U̴̟̐L̶̟̃D̷̰͊ ̵̢̾D̶͈͑O̵̟̕ ̷͜͠Í̵͚T̸̞̽ ̵͙̏A̵̭̕T̵̝̚ ̷̋͜H̴͈͋Ạ̶̍L̷̦͝F̴̹̆ ̴͈͒Y̵̻͋O̷̥̎U̸̢͑R̵͔̔ ̶̨͋A̸͓͂G̶̺̔E̸͚̿ S̸̨̖̓͜ͅH̵̞̗̹͛̀Ȩ̵̈́̽ ̷̡̨̤͂͒͑͒͜W̷̺̅̏Ã̵̞͓̲͛̕Ṡ̸̤̯͕ ̸̛̭̺̑́̕Ả̸͙̯̹͆͠L̶͖͔̤̿W̸̲̪͙̅A̵̹̺͍͒̃͝Ȳ̵̭̪̖̈́͛̓Ŝ̷̢̟̗̜͝ ̵͈̘̆B̸̞͇̐Ȩ̴̯͓̫̋̍̈́͠T̷̘͉̩͆̀͊́͜T̵̮̦̠̈́̐̿̿Ẻ̸͓͖̘͒R̶̳̲̘̀͊ Ḧ̶̪͚̯̝̖́̎̈́̄͛͘͝E̴̡̢̳̦̰̣̟̒͋ ̵͙̻̺̖͛̽̐͌͠W̸̮̱̝͈̊͑A̵̰͗̄͝S̸͉͆̅ ̶̭̮̈́́̐̒͌̅͝R̵̖͖͕͓̫͓͓̈́͌͒́̾I̴̧͓͒̾͗͂̄͒G̷̨̨̣̻̖͈̝̬̉H̷̨̏̍̊̊̍͘͠͠Ṯ̶̣̺̗̫̕͘ S̸̤̽͑͠H̶̩͓͙̙̺̟̘̾̂͆Ò̷̮͍̩̺͓̖̉̚U̸̡̻̥̣̗͇͍͐̎͑̅̊̚L̷̢͎̭̭̹̑͊̀̀̎ͅḐ̴̣̰͉͍͈͔́͂́͌̊̐ ̷̹̰̤̠͇̲͇̉̑͒͌̈̓̓ͅH̸̛̻̞̫̙̮̗̫͕̾̔͛͑͑̄̍A̸͉̫̮̼̪̘̅̀̑̉̄̓̚V̴͕̇̒͋͐͒̆͠ͅĘ̴͚̳̝͍̦̗̖̆̀̾͑̊ ̷̘̻̿́͐͝͝D̸͉̥̤̖͕͔̀̌̌̎͌͊Į̵̧̦̜̣̮͇̓͝È̵̢̢̳̟̮̱̅͜͠͠͠ͅD̴̙̓̌̕͝ Y̵̧̡̟̐̚Ò̷͎͇̼͜U̶̢̻̣̫͈̥̐́̈́͂̀͒͠ ̷̢̅̈H̴͔̯̗̦̮͚͍͗̀̐̉̒͂A̶̹͇̻͔̞̹̔̓͂̓̚͝V̸͙̀̒̂͒̈̋͝E̴̢̧̡͉̮̳̠͌̏̚͘ ̵̡̢̪̞̭͐̀̀̑Ṱ̸̫̗͌̈́̍̽̽͝Ơ̴̡̱̗̯̲͝ ̶̧̝̪̰̲̹̄̍̾͆̉̏̚Ĺ̷̛͖̌͘Ę̸̅̎̅̈́́Á̶̧͙͎̭̂̀̃̀̋͠R̷͓̝͚̱̲̐̈́͌̽͠N̵͇͛́ I̸̩̒T̸̫͚̾ ̷̥̭͘W̵͖͓̔Ä̶̭́̎S̷̭̙͑̚ ̸̙̌͘Ẏ̷̡Ǫ̴̮̂̅Ȗ̵̱̽͜R̴̨̗̎̐ ̶̂̋ͅF̷͚̝̑A̷̺͗Ų̵̛͇L̸̙̔T̸͖͍̊ C̷̛̮̜Ô̴̮̯͒U̴̦͘Ĺ̸̥D̷͕̈́N̵̳̝͑'̶͚̤̎͒T̴͈̆̅ͅ ̵̳͗̌P̶̠͝R̴̗̊̕O̶͇͍̒̍T̴̤̍͝E̴̹̊Ç̸̱̊̐Ṱ̷̛̈́ ̴̫͋H̵̘͑̿E̵͎̜͐̑R̷̨͈̔̄ Y̸̩̎͑O̸̡͒́Ŭ̶͓ ̸̻̐S̴͙͓̓H̷͓͙̀O̵͓̓̑U̴̖͗̈́L̷̯͖͌͌D̸̝̰͑ ̶̹̜̂Ḧ̴̛͔́A̶͍͂V̷̩͑E̷̢̙͒ ̷̖̳͆̚L̸̲͝I̸̬̤̐̀S̵͉̓T̶̠̓E̷̢̙̓̓N̶͔͋̕E̵͉̱͘D̴͍̉ͅ B̶̬̰̂͛͝ͅȔ̴̙̥͇̻Ŗ̵̘̝͕̻͓͌̈́̋͝N̵̥̟̹̱̾͒̂͒̀͊ ̵̱̘̋͝Ị̴̩͔̙͗̐͝ͅT̴̢̞̩̾ ̴̰̤̀͆̃̒͑̈́A̵̹̮̿̎̚L̴̻̹̥͌̍́L̴̙̪̾̾͠͠ Slowly, his digits curled around his head, squeezing harder and harder as they grew louder and louder. He tried to shove them back into the depths of his psyche, yet try as he might, they would not be done away with so easily. A low growl built in the back of his throat as the noise in his head and the pain that accompanied it made him angrier and angrier, frustrated that they seemed to be unending and silence was little more than a fantasy. His legs swung over the edge of the bed and he reluctantly pushed to a stand, lumbering tiredly into the bathroom. He recoiled at the light when his hand slid over the switch and shambled to the sink. His hands gripped the edge of the vanity as he stared into his reflection, the throb of his headache growing worse with each second that came to pass. His eyes shut tight and his jaw tensed in an attempt to endure. The pain felt inescapable and as it grew and grew, his grip tightened around the vanity until it gave under his strength and cracked. Then, with perfect timing, a knock echoed throughout his home. His eyes opened and he glanced toward the threshold of his bedroom, unsure if he had heard correctly, and slowly stood from the vanity. Takao walked from his bathroom through his bedroom to the staircase and descended them into the foyer, down to the genkan, noting the time to be quite early along the way. “Takao--!” A voice called out the instant he pulled the door open by only the slightest of margins. It swung open the rest of the way, slamming into the stopped next to the wall, and he was greeted by the sight of a family friend whose appearance bore striking familial resemblance to himself. “Uh--” Takao managed to barely begin speaking before the woman interrupted him and continued speaking. “It’s Ojiisan! He’s… it’s…” She stuttered as tears welled in her eyes. “Just… just come!” |
TOTAL WC |
1,192 |