Home is Where I Deem it

8; Escape

With a pounding heart and trembling hands, I cast a desperate glance over my shoulder, searching for any sign of pursuit. The air is thick with tension, every nerve on edge as I press forward. I can't wait to escape.

And then, I see it, a faint glimmer of hope amidst the darkness, the small hole in the crumbling wall, barely wide enough to squeeze through. Without hesitation, I lunge towards it, my fingers scrabbling at the rough stone as I pull myself through the narrow opening.

For a moment, I am suspended in the darkness, the cold embrace of the unknown enveloping me like a shroud. But as my eyes adjust to the dim light, I see a faint glow in the distance, beckoning me forward with promises of freedom.

With renewed determination, I press on, my muscles aching with exertion as I crawl through. Each movement is a gamble, each breath a leap of faith, but I dare not falter, not when freedom lies just beyond my reach.

And then, at long last, I emerge into the cool night air, my lungs burning with the sweet taste of freedom. Behind me, the walls of my prison loom like a silent sentinel, but I pay them no mind. I'm free.

Free.

The excitement finally took over and I ran, sprinting into the woods surrounding the village. I was free.

Free.

The world was mine to explore, mine to hold. I laughed; a real, true laugh that I hadn't been able to produce for years. With heightened senses and the knowledge that I had people waiting for me, I ran.

I ran with everything I had, hopping on tree branches and flying in the air between them. It felt so good. I was free. Free, free, free.

Eventually my strength ran out, leaving me exhausted. I'd run for hours without stopping to rest. I stumbled to a stop near a river. My shoes here haphazardly pulled off and thrown somewhere on the ground. It was cold as I stepped into the water, but watching as the blood ran off my clothes and washed away down the current was so entrancing that the cold stopped being a problem.

I stripped, unzipping my jumpsuit jacket first, then my fishnet shirt, then I slipped off my pants.  My body was shivering, but I couldn't feel it, too lost in my thoughts to notice the cold.

My chest, right above my heart, sat Jashin's symbol. A triangle within a circle. Upside down, but only from an outside perspective.

I washed my hands, scrubbing and clawing at the dirty blood on my skin. My arms came next, and soon, the blood was replaced by scratches and numbing cold.

After I washed my hair, stripping it from the crimson blood, my eyes widened. My hair… It was white. It had definitely been blonde. What happened? Had those dirty monsters’ blood tainted me? Scrambling out of the water, I gasped for breath. What happened to me?

‘It just happens sometimes, don't worry’

I sighed, my shoulders sagging in relief. A quiet laugh escaped my lips, slowly becoming more and more hysterical.

“I did it! I did it, Kurama! I'm free!” I fell back onto the ground, laying on my back to gaze at the stars. Where would I go? Who would accept me in this world of order and reason? Who but those two cloaked rogues?

But such questions were for the rational, and I was no longer bound by such trivial concerns. With a grin plastered across my face, I embraced the chaos of the night, ready to carve my own path through the madness that awaited beyond the prison's confines.

All I needed was Lord Jashin. With him, I could do anything. With that final thought, I closed my eyes, relaxing into the grass. I could worry about getting dressed in the morning. For now, the feeling of the earth beneath me was grounding.