The Blooming Dark Rose [SOLO]

Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:39 pm

Solis-Aufero, the sacred blade of the Darkness from another realm, pulsed with energy that signalled delight. She was becoming more powerful now, absorbing Yuriko’s soul from this Realm had allowed her to do so and soon she felt as if even the sun would stand no chance against her and her Darkness. Her Wielder was obedient, if having her own agenda, but as long as she continued to feed Aufero souls she did not care. All that mattered was that the hunger was satiated for now and soon more and more would fall, by any means necessary she would assert her power in this Realm. Soon, she would rid her and Yuriko of all those who continued to challenge the Darkness that resided both within her and within her home Realm. Aufero’s mind, by degrees, wandered to her creation and first Wielder, of how she came to be as powerful as she was now.

“They are Demons, Lamina. You must destroy them.” Aufero had said to her Wielder, the Temple knight known as Lamina. It was something that many would question, of why a demonic blade would send it’s wielder after fellow Demons, but given the mental state that she had been reduced to, Lamina was in no position to argue the point. They had traveled many miles to the distant town of Augsburg, which lay a half-continent away from the Temple’s main base of operations and where her Wielder had obtained the sword, Aufero herself. As they traveled, Aufero went through the mind of her wielder absently in order to discern any information that she may find of use at a later time, such a thing was normal for a Spirit Blade or really any Darkness Being to do as they often found memories hidden from their targets themselves that allowed for them to be influenced easily and without much force. One such thing was what Aufero found, a long distant memory of murder, of the first blood upon one’s hand. “A lover as well, how interesting . . . “ Aufero thought to herself as she examined the thought closer.

Many years ago, during her early childhood, a lover had become deathly ill and she was forced to take her life out of both mercy and per the one’s wishes. Ever since then she had been deeply haunted by the image and words spoken just before the one she had been forced to kill passed from the world of the living. “I love you . . . I only wish that we had been able to live together longer . . . “ --- “Such simple words” Aufero thought to herself, “Yet so haunting to her. This may prove to be of use later.” She concluded before receding from the memory. It was then that the two had finally arrived at the gates of Augsburg, a peaceful looking village with scattered citizens wandering around about their lives as if nothing could go wrong. The moonlight was illuminating the village’s roads and reflecting off the tip of Aufero’s blade as Lamina drew her, slowly from the sheath and held the weapon at her side, gazing forward with a stern expression. Aufero then spoke to Lamina, preparing to begin what would soon be known as a massacre. “Forward, Lamina. Purge the demons and do as your duty commands, bring peace to this land.” As she spoke, Lamina nodded and obediently went forward in a trance-like state.

It did not take long for the purging of Augsburg to begin, once it had, it was brutal and relentless. Many if not all of the villagers had been unarmed and ill-prepared for any type of battle, much less with a Wielder of a weapon such as Aufero, whom was much too powerful to be fought by such trivial means as fists or broad-swords. Aufero easily cut through armor and steel and even some of the wooden buildings as Lamina used her to begin killing every last man, woman, and child in Augsburg without a moments hesitation. That was, however, until the very last child remained. This child made Lamina’s eyes widen in sudden horror and realization as she gazed into the eyes of the child. They were not demonic red eyes as was standard for Demons, but deep green, full of innocence and youth. It was then that she looked at the bodies that lay around her, not a single one having red eyes or even a hint of demonic attributes. They had all been innocent, and she was to blame for taking their lives.

“I am sorry . . . “ She whispered, having no other choice to end the child’s misery other than bringing Aufero through her as well. Lamina cradled the child in her arms for a long few moments afterwards, sobbing as she now knew the truth of what she had just done. She had never been sent to save this lands, or bring peace to them, but to burn them to the ground without remorse. She had done just that upon Aufero’s command, yet even now Lamina knew that she would obey the blade if it called to her once more. She had nothing left but it’s hunger and blood-lust, and it was all her own doing.

But that world was distant, long forgotten to the minds of even those who may have lived in it once before, Yuriko would likely not grasp the true meaning of the memory if Aufero were to present it and would likely use it as a reason to fear, rather than aide her in their noble quest. Of course, Aufero had grown in humanity since her first visit to this Realm: Before, she had been merely an instrument of Darkness and Evil, used to bring destruction and woe both upon it’s Wielder and those who were it’s target. Here, however, with the aid of Yuriko she had begun to understand the finer points of humanity and of their emotions. She understood now that instead of searching out their blood or souls; Aufero should instead seek out salvation with the use of the aforementioned. Yes, it was true that she remained a blade made of Darkness and blood, but she had promised her First Wielder one thing before her death: That she, Aufero, would use her power to save the Mortals from their self-imposed destruction and turmoil, even if it meant a few must die in the process, it was for the Greater Good.

Yuriko stood now among a small collection of grass and trees, she had not recalled how exactly she had arrived here, only that she came with a purpose: To harness Aufero’s power one step further than she had in the past. With that, she drew Aufero from her sheath as a gust of wind came to cause her cape to billow out behind her, the sword itself having changed considerably since it’s first appearance and indeed becoming more befitting of her new Heroine outlook on her duties with it’s katana-esque appearance and sabre guard which protected Yuriko’s hand from similar blades in some respect. She closed her eyes for a period of several moments, allowing the calm of the wind against the grass to overtake her senses and for the Darkness to flow from the blade and over her body like a gentle blanket of black. She allowed the sensations to be her only thought for some time before opening her eyes once more, observing with a smile that the Darkness had formed a shroud around most of her body and seemed to become a sort of second-skin to her; as she moved forward, it traveled with her body. Aufero too, was covered in this thin veil which had before remained only upon her and nothing else, but Yuriko was glad that now she too was able to feel the comfort the Darkness brought and to utilize it to instill fear within her enemies and hope within her allies. Stepping forward. Yuriko swiftly made a flurry of slashes in the air, testing her movement and finding out that it was indeed faster by some amount and not at all hindered, in fact she felt as if this is where she truly belonged, within a blanket of shadows, blade in hand, ready to dispel all evil which crossed her path. However, as the moments turned into minutes she felt that there was indeed a drawback to such a comfort; It seemed that as time passed on that the Darkness became heavier upon her and indeed begun to weigh her down until, after nearly an hour had passed, she could no longer allow herself to maintain the Shroud as it became too heavy. Although, one thing she was confident of, even if it could not be maintained eternally, over time she would become more powerful and thereby be able to withstand more of the Darkness’s weight and, eventually, become a worthy champion of it’s unique justice.

Night passed and with that came the bringing of dawn, though Yuriko by no means stopped for rest: The entirety of the night was spent attempting to use the ability for as long as she was able before being forced to dispel it, in which instance she begun to instead simply train by performing several acrobatic exercises, all the while continuing to practice with Aufero by drawing her as quickly as she could, then sheathing her once more, repeating the process indefinitely until she was tired of it. However, and oddity came across her mind and vision upon using the new ability [ Which she had dubbed the Dark Rose Stance due to both her theatrical nature as a Heroine and the fact that while Aufero was the Darkness, she at one point had merely been a Rose, a girl whom was simply young and innocent, even though this time had long passed, she reminisced and created the name with the memories. ] one time in particular, Yuriko had assumed her stance when, all of a sudden, her vision was overtaken by a vision of numerous dark entities which threatened to attack her judging by their movements and appearances toward her. This frightened her considerably due to their pure surreal nature combined with the paranoia that accompanied one of the Darkness so frequently, with that in mind Yuriko had charged the group of dark beings and begun to fight them nimbly and at the same time viciously while cursing them for everything that they were; For some odd reason the names of many of those she knew came forth from her mouth as she slayed each and every one before eventually coming to an exhausted rest, the veil of Darkness falling only to reveal several trees cut into small pieces not much larger than the size of one’s palm. “How does it feel to slay one’s inner-demons, Yuriko? Can you put the past behind you now and focus fully on our future?” Aufero’s voice rang out within Yuriko’s mind as she panted, hands resting upon her knees as she leaned forward before replying internally to the sword: “My inner-demons? Do you mean that --- they were not real? . . . And, I can never truly forget all that has happened in my past, Aufero, But I will do my best to secure our future with renewed strength. Thank you, for allowing me to become stronger.” Yuriko then sighed deeply, dropping down to sit with her back against a remaining tree that remained unharmed and as she did so, Yuriko gazed out onto the horizon and dreamt of what awaited her and of all those whom she would save once she became powerful enough.

Yuriko thought also of her past, but not too longingly as to not stir any feelings of resentment or sorrow along with the pride she felt from slowly beginning to unlock Aufero’s power. Her mind wandered to the people whom she had met when only a lonely village ninja who had just graduated the academy, she thought of Inijo, Yaju, and of the one she may consider an ally soon enough, Suto. They were all people whom she had known and two of which she had left behind, while they all were within her mind for their own reasons, she knew that her resentment and anger would be purely placed upon the one whom had promised himself to her yet, when the time came, abandoned her and left her to fight evil on her own in a world which was corrupted so highly that one could not step out into it without being faced with one atrocity or another; Yuriko intended to amend those errors rightfully yet he had not understood and instead took it upon himself to claim to be her enemy! He will not earn forgiveness easily, even if he came begging upon his knees. Yuriko thought with a discontent grumble, slowly beginning to tear her mind away from the memory and attempting to focus on the present and future, not so longingly on the past. Eventually, she closed her eyes and for one last time before the sun rose fully around her, she allowed the Darkness to cover her and comfort her as she sat there, drifting into sleep with thoughts of heroic deeds and thankful others who were appreciative of all that she had done, of all that she had sacrificed to be their Heroine.

Time passed around Yuriko slowly as she dreamt, the world around her changing as dawn was set upon it and, with it, she too would change and adapt to it. Even as she slept, Yuriko changed bit by bit into the person whom she saw herself to be truly, internally, and truthfully. While only time would tell, Yuriko was confident that she would become the Heroine of Kumogakure, or it’s Shadow. Either way she would do all that she could to save them, along with the rest of the world, from themselves.

[Exit]
[21 stats]
[2,308 WC]
[Obtained "Heroine Style: Dark Rose" Skill]

Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:43 pm

approved

The Blooming Dark Rose [SOLO]

The Blooming Dark Rose [SOLO]

Re: The Blooming Dark Rose [SOLO]