Another of younger Zed's Dreams
Lungs gasped hungrily for breath as the young Kinkou ninja bolted upright, a thin cold sweat broke from his pores as his eyes snapped wide open, a wild look within them. His gaze swept the room, the soft flicker of lanterns caused the darkness to dance and sway as the soft cold night breeze blew in through the open windows of the room. Zed heard the soft breaths of his brother from across the room, Shen was fast asleep, like always when this happened. No comfort was to be found within the Kinkou. Zed didn’t mind, his brother’s emotionless face is something he had grown to know well.
He pulled deep breaths into himself, each shaken breath inhaled acting to push the tight coil around his heart, the fangs from the snake leaving his body relaxing his muscles as he shuddered and exhaled. “Nightmares again, Zed?” A calm voice from the corner of the room sounded, Zed’s pale brow knitted into a frown in response as the voice spoke once more, “Master would not be pleased to know they shake you so.”
Zed didn’t speak aloud, his lip pulled back into a silent snarl of irritation at the fact Shen had known yet another of his weaknesses. Another thing Shen didn’t seem to have, a weakness. He was an iron wall of Kinkou ideals, unbending, unbreaking and immovable. What else would one expect from the son of the Eye of the Twilight and master of the Kinkou?
His feet touched the wooden floor boards, not a sound could be heard as he done so. He needed to walk, he needed to clear his mind of the nightmare, that darkness that threatened to consume him entirely, drown him and suffocate the breath from his lungs. Was it a sign? That maybe he wasn’t capable of what the Master expected of him, the darkness was swarming around his thoughts...
Before he knew it, Zed was standing before a pair of simple black wooden sliding doors, silently they rolled open. Again the coil of fear constricted within his chest as the inky black darkness spilled forth, creeping along the wooden floors toward the young Ninja’s feet. What training had he received in order to deal with fear? ... His mind drew blank. His breaths became shallow and rapid; slowly he shifted a foot toward the encroaching darkness from beyond. The longer he stared into the abyss the more they seemed to twist and pulse as if they were alive; waves of cold were brought forth from the shadows like breath that chilled the bone. Reaching out with a shaky hand Zed began to step forward to feel his way through the dark...
A air splitting scream of horror erupted from the boy’s throat as clawed fingers ripped apart the shadows, lashing through the air and clamping themselves around the limps of the boy as he soiled himself in fear before dragging him into the darkness. Still... Too... Meek...Want... Too... Weak...