The Same Dream
Do not falter
Thunder echoed through the city, accompanied by sheets of pouring rain. Standing in front of her Sensei's darkened home a sense of dread overwhelmed her.
You have been here before
After being missing for a fortnight a letter had arrived to Daiyu from her Sensei, requesting her presence at his home. She’d been here many times before to study, or train, or simply have dinner with him and his family. He was a good man, and his disappearance had come as no short of a surprise to everyone who knew him. An investigation was underway in search for him but it had revealed no leads as of yet. His family had kept a light on outside the home since his disappearance, even with the nightly rains during this season. There was no light tonight however, and the door was left open. There is no room for hesitation
Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw inside. A flash of lightning illuminated the gruesome scene for only a second, but she would remember it in vivid detail for years to come. The sundered and mangled bodies of her sensei’s servants and family, scattered across the main room like twigs and branches thrown across a forest clearing after a storm. There he was, kneeling down on the floor in the center of the room her sensei sobbed.
“What happened?” The words left Daiyu’s mouth as if they were not her own, she no longer felt one with herself she was merely watching the events play out before her. The sobbing stopped, and her sensei rose on unsteady legs. She could see blood dripping from his hands. Again it thundered, and another flash of lightning illuminated the Tanto in his hand. It too, was drenched in blood. Her sensei turned to face her as her eyes began to adjust to the dark, but what she saw was not right. His face was twisted, picked and scarred. Boils rose up from open sores on his skin and inky black pus oozed from his mouth. He said nothing when his eyes finally rested on her. His mouth set into a sickening mockery of a smile and he lunged at her.
You are Kuni
It was over fast, too fast for her to process. Her wakizashi was drawn and ready. He, or it, was sluggish, wounded, and broken. Spent from the slaughter it had already committed. Whether conscious, or subconscious Daiyu had some idea of what was going on here, and she had been taught at an early age how it should be dealt with. She sidestepped the clumsy thrust and brought her sword down across the back of it’s neck. It crumpled to the floor, with a choked gurgle being the last sound it made. It wasn’t clean, the head didn’t quite come off. Daiyu had to wrench her Wakizashi free of it’s spine and that’s when panic set in. Finally she recognized the voice of her mother, whispering in her ears. Run
Daiyu lurched forward out of sleep with her tanto already in her hand. Startling away the bird that had just begun to sing by her window. The same dream every night.
