Whispers in the Dark (Solo, KKG training)

Something changed, it was silent. Yozora was not sure what exactly changed, as she did not remember what she was doing a moment ago, but something definitely was different now. The girl was still, laying on her back as she could feel. When she opened her eyes she saw the ceiling, most likely of stone or clay. It was dark, she was in a room with no windows, the walls seemed to be made of clay and wood. It wasn't cold, nor was it hot or even warm. The room looked pretty empty, there was no furniture, no stuff at all. Yozora noticed her katana laying next to her - it was the only item in here. She got up and picked up the weapon. After slowly looking around the girl let the weapon rest on her back, with the hilt over her right shoulder, as always. There was an exit, it looked like stairs going up, to the floor above. Still confused as to how she got here, the girl approached the stairs. That is when she hear it. She was not sure what it was, but she certainly heard something. It seemed like someone was trying to tell her something, even though there was nobody around her. The deadly ambient silence made it all the more creepy. She stopped for a moment to listen if it repeated and after a minute or two she decided to move on, there was nothing to be done in this empty room, maybe there were some clues above. She got up the stairs, the interior here was different - almost everything was made of an exotic redwood, it was polished and looked really fancy. There were lights here, fire lamps hanging on the walls, they provided some light but it was still fairly dark. No windows just like down there. The room she was in looked like a corridor of sorts, though there were no doors to other rooms, only the stairs leading back to where she came from. The girl tried to see what's at the end of the corridor when it happened again. This time it was a vision instead of a whisper - she saw... herself. The vision looked kind of pale and colorless, it was rushing straight at her holding katana in one hand and throwing one kunai with her other hand. Without even realizing what was happening Yozora stepped aside from the kunai and prepared her own katana to block an attack. Strangely though the attacker did not go after her when she dodged the kunai, which immediately disappeared into thin air. When the phantom got to where Yozora was just standing it swung though the air and it clashed with something invisible. Or at least in was invisible for a moment before appearing. It was Shinji, the man Yozora trained with some time ago, but he looked pale and lifeless same way as Yozora's image. The real girl stood there prepared to defend herself at any moment and looked at the two fighting. It seemed to exactly replay their fight, except at the very end Yozora did something wrong and Shinji stabbed her in the chest with his combat knife. At that moment both images froze and a second later disappeared, leaving only the confused girl standing in the dark. She had no idea where she was or how this phantom fight was possible. An idea appeared in her head. What if it's an illusion? What if somebody put her under a genjutsu effect? It was fairly easy to test. With a single hand seal she attempted to break it. When nothing happened she came to two conclusions: this isn't an illusion at all, or it's so powerful she could not break it with her current skill. Either way, there was nothing she could do for the time being other than go and see where this corridor leads.

By the time she reached the corridors end, Yozora heard the whispers two more times. She could not make it what, but she felt that whoever or whatever it was, it was eager, leading her somewhere. Since there was no way to escape this, Yozora did not see any choice other than to follow the path. She was wondering why was the phantom fight shown to her, and what or who showed it to her. The fact that they knew exactly how they fought was also somewhat interesting, because it meant they were either close by when she fought Shinji, or probed the fight out of her mind. Also the fact that in the shown fight she actually died... Finally she got to the end. There was a japanese style sliding door. The girl opened them and stepped into a hall. It was about as bright as the corridor behind her. There were lamps on the walls as well as windows here, although almost no light came through the windows. There were more doors just like the one she just opened, there was also this one big wooden door with dark metal plating. It was partially open. Then it happened again - she heard a whisper and this time she understood it. It said "come". At the very same moment her eyes caught something dark leave the hall through the wooden door, it was fast and looked like a shadow of sorts, definitely not a person. The doors stayed partially open, but she could not see what's on the other side as the gap was really thin. Yozora slowly walked the hall towards the door. She stopped, deciding to look where the other doors would lead, but before making to any of them the whisper happened again. "This is the only way out..." The girl ignored it, opening the dearest sliding door. Behind it was another corridor, not unlike the one she just passed. And there was somebody there, standing on the other side - a person. "Hello?" She would not get any response, but after a moment she'd recognize who it was. And a shocked expression would appear on her face. The person on the other side was Yozora's mother, though since she looked pale as the other phantoms, it was safe to assume she was one too. What shocked her though was her mother's eyes - they were bleeding. Then the door would suddenly close and an invisible force would pull Yozora away from it taking it to the wooden door which led outside, into the dark that was behind it.

As the wooden door closed behind Yozora, the force released her and she fell on her back. Her eyes immediately noticed the stars and the night sky above her. It was unlike that what she could see from Hidden Sky village. The stars shined in different colors, there were much more of them than there normally would be, it was as if the whole sky was a continuous stream of rapidly changing lights, although the background remained dark blue. It was stunning. What she also noticed was the building she was just dragged from. It was a tower and it seemed to go straight into the sky, never ending, having no last floor. At some point it just fused with the stars becoming part of the sky. From the outside the tower was made of marble and the style was so different from what she was inside. This sight made Yozora remember something, no wonder it was all so familiar. She had dreams about this place, though she could not remember them clearly now, she knew she had seen that tower and that sky before. Suddenly coming back to her senses and remembering she was just dragged out through the wooden door she looked around. She was laying on a grass. This short grass was everywhere as far as she could see. There was somebody standing next to her. Swiftly jumping on her feet and grabbing her katana the girl prepared to defend herself. The figure was hooded and she could not see their face, not did it show and gender specific characteristics. Time passed, as they were just standing there, Yozora looking at the figure and the figure looking at the sky. Suddenly the figure would say something and Yozora recognized this being the very same voice whispering to her all this time, but now it was clear and understandable. "You know... I really like the sky here... It's very peaceful" The figure would not move nor reveal their face. The girl did not know what to expect. What could it mean? She did not even know what was this place and how she got here. All she knew is that she liked that sky too. And so she said. "I like it too." A reply followed "True... Otherwise it would not be here." A faint melody of irony could be heard in those words as if the one who said them was mocking her for not knowing something she was supposed to know. "Anyway... You must go now. Do not worry, you will come back here to find out more" It started turning and Yozora felt some tension, squeezing her blade's hilt even tighter. "But before you go... there is a gift I want you to take with you..." Now the figure was completely facing her and she could looking inside the hood. But she did not see anything, there was no face only two bright blue eyes glowing in the dark. As she looked into them a dark flow of energy began to emerge from the figure. It would cover everything around her and she would slip away.

Next thing she knew was a wooden ceiling above her bed, back in her house. It was a dream, a very strange and realistic one, as if she was actually there, whatever that place was. The figure's words were still echoing in her head. A gift... She knew something had happened. She saw the world differently now. But that did not answer almost any questions.

1668 w.
[Unlocking 1st Meigan State - Crimson Lotus]

Approved.