Fractured Moonlight

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When the moon is full and the tide is low, the creatures emerge. Crows and ravens may call with a warning, but the vultures wait on the sideline. The streets and railroads are barren, foreshadowing the hearts of men. Everywhere in the sky the stars' glow seem to have diminished. Waves lap against the sand in silence. The trees sway with the wind no creature can feel. Leaves fall but never reach the ground. Waves continue to caress the sand lovingly, polishing the rough surfaces.

Everything becomes still, frozen between one breath and the next.

A raven, wings spread out wide, a warning deep in its beady black eyes. A crow, its wings tucked in, a caw stuck in its throat. A vulture, eyes half closed, its wings indicating fury. The waves, stuck in the ocean where sand will never meet. The water, with a look of glass, never to be broken by the forces at work.

Everything frozen between one breath and the next.

A man rises from the waves, his skin is golden, water dripping from the perfection. Motion still holds its breath for the man. He walks with a purpose, his long strides eating the sand beneath his feet. He is as naked as the day he was born. He is exquisite perfection, long arms, long legs, deep skin tone, strong jaw, sharp nose, intelligent eyes.

The world stands still, waiting for his command, waiting and expecting the deep tone of his voice, the command and power he wields.

The man blinked, his long black eyelashes sweeping over his dark eyes.

The world began again.

The man was gone.

~~~

For the first time in history, the sky rumbled and seme to break apart as lightning spread across the sky. No one had ever seen such lightning which was so closely packed together that it looked like a spider's web. In that short moment, the lightning above seemed to be under some kind of power, which caused the very dimensions to crack.

A black streak came from out of the darkness. It passed through the lightning and caused beautiful dream-like ripples to appear. It was impossible to imagine what that black line was, it was even able to ignore the power of lightning.

As suddenly as it appeared, the lightning disappeared and the sky returned to normal leaving only the moon high in the sky.

Silver fingers swept through the trees lighting only parts of the forest. The canopy above shielded most of the moon's rays but from what came through anyone could see the silver illuminating a figure. The figure stood in a small clearing of leaves and grass, from far away the figure was silhouetted, an immobile image one could not touch. Closer and the figure took shape. It was a male with medium length hair; the color looked ashen with white streaks. The male form wore dark jeans and a black long sleeved shirt with a red hoodie over it. In the moonlight, his skin was a ghostly pale and though his eyes were not close enough to see, one would feel that they were not ordinary. If one was close enough to his face they would be able to see one bright blue iris and a vibrant green one that were visible even in the dark.

The man was lean and as his fingers twitched his muscles rippled under his shirt. His shirt was tight enough that the impressions of his muscles were etched into the fabric as if it were his skin. Another twitch and the man moved. He turned his head up towards the sky and stared at the moon.

It was Kai.

"Is this heaven? Or hell?" He thought to himself. He knew he had died but he could feel the wind blow against his hair and feel the grass beneath his bare feet.

Bare? Kai looked down and realized he didn't have any shoes or socks when his clothes looked like they had been ripped and gone through fifty years of time.

Dazed, Kai looked around him and found himself within a small batch of woods, the odd thing was that these woods were surrounded by ruins. It was as if the ruins were so old that they had been taken over by the miniature woods. Kai could hear nothing, not even the sound of wind. Slowly he made his way forward careful not to make any sound as he stepped down.

Even though he was careful, a large tree along the way was covered in thorns, not knowing this, Kai accidentally brushed against it. To his astonishment, the thorns pierced his skin and caused him to bleed.

"I'm alive?" Kai whispered hoarsely. The entire time he thought he was dead. Wasn't this supposed to be the after life? If it wasn't then just what had happened in the park?

Feeling his soul react to the thought of knowing he was still alive, he also felt his stomach gurgle and growl with hunger. His first task needed to be to find food and water.

Surrounded by the ruins of the old building and the lush greenery, it took hours before Kai safely and cautiously made it away from the area. Although it was night, Kai felt that the only reason he could see clearly was because of the glow from the moon. As he finally made it out of the woods, and looked up at the sky, he was shocked to the core.

Up in the sky were three moons, not just one. The largest sized moon was the one that had been lighting his path and it looked like the moon he was use to. To the right of that moon was another one half its size, the biggest difference was that it was a dark red that seemed to blend into the sky. To the left of the large moon was the third one. This moon was a dark purple, it also seemed to blend into the dark sky.

Stunned, Kai sucked in a breath and tried to calm himself. He felt his heart beating erratically within his chest as he slowly looked around. Although he had been moving for hours, he had not seen a single living creature, not even a cricket. As he moved further away from the ruins, his first thought was to find running water. His chances of survival would increase greatly there.

Ever so cautiously, Kai began his trek into the unknown. He didn't even notice that the scrape from the thorns earlier had begun to change color, then it began healing quickly as if it was never there.

~~~

The quiet sound of fresh water broke the silence of Kai's walk. A ecstatic smile covered his face as he made his way through the tall grass toward the sound. He didn't know how long he had been walking for, but he could feel the blisters begin to form on the bottom of his bare feet. Hoping to find the water soon to be able to soak his tired feet, Kai picked up his pace.

With the sound of the water coming closer, Kai breathed out a soft breath. After being by himself for so long, Kai had begun to think that he was the only one who was in the area. This was the main reason why he froze when the sound of voices reached his ears.

"The Clan Lord wants enough fish for the next two weeks." The voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to carry along the water. "He says if we don't come back with enough, we will be demoted."

Kai was astonished he was able to understand what they were saying, he knew they were not speaking the language he was use to, but somehow he could understand it.

Another voice answered the first one, "Does he realize just how hard it is to catch fish in the Zeon river? It's like finding an eagle living with a sparrow."

A third voice spoke up, quieter than the other two, but it seemed to hold the most authority. "Let's just get this over with, there's no point in complaining."

"You're right," the second voice responded.

Excited, Kai rushed forward toward the voices, his feet seeming to barely touch the ground as he ran. In front of him, he saw the bank, the three were facing the river with their backs toward him. The three heard the sound of Kai's footsteps and they all turned away at the same time.

All four stood without even blinking as they stared at each other. The three on the shore were the most surprised by the man that appeared behind them because they did not hear him until the last second. The second thing that froze them were Kai's two different colored eyes.

Kai, on the other hand, felt all the blood drain from his face. Even though he saw the lips of the three moving, the only sound he could hear was a loud static buzz. The world began to sway and the last thing Kai saw were the three faces before him.

All three had the face of a beast. These three were not human.