This was based off a dream I had a few days ago. It may not be a great story, but I'd like to put it up. There are 11 chapters in all. They are all very short. Enjoy --- ~I~ Today was like any other day for her. She and her brother had traveled the world together alone, shunned by the world. They often stopped in certain towns to stock up on food, make repairs, get new clothes, etcetera. Of course, when the humans found out that she was demon, they would usually try not to get involved with them, unless money was involved, of course. Greedy little humans. Demon…. A word they called her. She just thought of herself as a normal girl, but… well, that’s not what they thought. She was someone who had the body of a human, but the soul that wasn’t from this world. Because of this, the humans were frightened of her. Her older brother was the only one who didn’t think that of her… But, then again, he had a strong suspicion that he was the same as her. She always felt like she didn’t belong here, and that she was different from everyone else. When she was very little, and her parents still loved her and cared for her, she would watch the other kids and noticed that she was different from them. When she was in school for a short time, everyone treated her differently than anyone else. There were only a few people who even talked to her. Although, after the doctors finally figured out what was ‘wrong’ with her, no one would really even pay attention to her. Her parents slowly began to shun her, and slowly, she had no friends to talk to, other than her brother. This was no different. She had gotten sick a lot lately, and her brother got worried, so he stopped in a small port town and took her to the doctor. And as always, he had to pay them even more money than a human had to so that the doctor would even think to take a look at her. That night, after they got home from the doctor, her brother tried to make sense of all the medication the doctor gave him, while she just went out onto the balcony of the ship. She loved the night sky. She never really understood why, but she did. She always had. It made her feel more at home than anything else on this planet. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the wind blew through her hair, not noticing that the book she was holding slipped from the railing. “Hello up there!” The girl jumped slightly and looked down before blinking when she saw a girl holding her book “This fell on my head.” She blushed faintly from embarrassment before she went over and climbed down the ladder, taking her book from the other girl “S-Sorry…..” “Yeah, well, be careful next time. That really hurt! I don’t want to walk out of my house and have books falling all over me.” as the girl said, her house was at the very edge of the port, where their airship was ‘parked’ She rubbed the back of her head a bit, staring at the ground “Sorry…” she waited. She knew the girl would say something like ‘stay inside, demon’, or just plain ‘stupid demon’ “what’s your name?” She blinked, looking up at the other girl. That wasn’t what she expected “U-Um…. Kiriete.” The other girl made a face “Can I just call you Kiri?” “Um…. Sure?” The other girl smiled “Well, Kiri… that’s a very nice book you have there… even if it did hit my head.” the girl laughed, “I love that author.” and Kiri stared at her before smiling and nodding, “I do, too….” The other girl grinned before looking at Kiri “My name’s Kuro. I hope we can hang out again, later. I don’t go too far from my house, often, so I’ll be here.” Kuro went back in her house after grabbing the bags she got from the store. Kiri stared after Kuro before she blushed faintly, looking down. She never had anyone say that to her before and really mean it. She was happy. Today was definitely not like any other day. --- ~II~ For the next few days, they spent the nights together outside under the star-filled sky. They talked about this, and that together. Kiri mostly let Kuro talk, afraid that if she said something wrong, Kuro would end up shunning her like everyone else. It was nice to hear someone talking to her kindly other than her brother for a change. She may not have been used to it, and it took a bit to get used to, but it was nice. To Kiri, Kuro’s voice sounded soothing. “It’s amazing, though. Even though we’re right on the edge of town, and there’s so many lights, you can see so many stars! I heard that in other towns where there’s so many lights, you can barely see any stars. You’ve been to other towns, right? Is that true?” Kiri blinked before nodding a bit. Kuro frowned slightly, looking at Kiri “Hey, did I say something to upset you? You’re awfully quiet.” Kiri blinked before shaking her head, smiling faintly “no, you didn’t say anything wrong… I’m really not used to talking a lot.” Kuro blinked a bit, looking at Kiri, “Really?” “Really.” Kuro blinked before sighing a bit “I see.” There was a long moment of silence after that. Kuro stared at the stars for a while, and at first, Kiri thought she was the one who said something wrong. After a few moments of pure silence, an older woman suddenly came out of a house next to Kuro’s with a broom, and Kiri looked over at the woman before jumping when she started to swing the broom around at her as if Kiri was a filthy rat “Shoo! Get away from Kuro, you dirty beast!” Kiri covered her head and stumbled back toward the ladder and climbed up quickly. When the old woman finally stopped spitting insults at Kiri and went in the house, Kuro climbed up the ladder after Kiri “I’m so sorry, again. I don’t know why granny does that. She’s usually such a sweet woman… I’m surprised you come out here every night after her doing that…” “It’s okay. I’m used to it.” Kiri smiled faintly at Kuro Kuro sighed before laying back on the wood flooring of the deck of the airship, looking at the stars “I don’t get you, Kiri.” Kiri smiled before laying down on the deck as well “Not many people do, actually.” Kuro just laughed at this, and Kiri smiled. The next day, her brother came to her and told her that they would be staying here a little longer, until she got better, so they wouldn’t have to end up seeing another doctor. Kiri was just fine with this. --- ~III~ “Today is the day that you‘ve finally left me. But I’ve not shed a single tear. I know you’ll come back to me within the hour, my beloved. I continue through the day thinking this, going through the daily rituals of human life, as I‘m expected to. Every so often, I look out at the road, thinking that you really have left me. But before I can let myself think such thoughts, I shake the thought from my mind and continue with my day. I know I‘m in denial.” “…What do you think it would be like to fly?” Kuro flipped around from laying down, looking at Kiri like she was crazy “Eh? Where’d that come from all of a sudden? That’s not in the story.” Kiri chuckled a bit, closing the book she had been reading aloud. She looked at it, smiling “Sorry… It’s been something on my mind for a while.” Kuro huffed a bit, and Kiri smiled nervously before looking down “That’s an odd question… isn’t it?” Kiri sighed before opening the book and reading aloud again “After I’ve repeated this for nearly four days, your absence finally got to me. Today I haven’t left the confines of my bed. I’ve stared out my window at the winding road, wondering what you have left me for. ‘Where are you my dear one? Why have you not come back?’ I cannot help but think that I had done something wrong. Did I upset you? Did I visit with you too much? What is the answer? Tears begin to flood from my pained eyes and I-” “I think it would be nice.” Kiri blinked and looked at Kuro in confusion, but Kuro just looked at the ground in thought “… I think it would be nice… to fly.” Kiri stared at her in shock. She didn’t think anyone would understand what she was talking about. After a moment, Kuro looked up at Kiri, smiling “How about this? One day, we can fly together.” Kiri stared at her with wide eyes before tears started to pool, and flooded her face. Kuro jumped slightly, sitting up quickly and waving her hands “W-Wait! We don’t have to! I was just-” “Thank you. That sounds wonderful.” Kiri smiled with the most happiness she’d had in ages. Kuro blinked before smiling, nodding. Kiri looked back down and was about to start reading, before the old woman came back out, this time with a wet mop. “Time to go.” --- ~IV~ A few weeks passed, and Kiri had gotten sick again, even with the medication from the doctors. Her brother was even more worried than before. Why wasn’t the medication working? He couldn’t figure out why she kept getting sick so much lately. After she didn’t come out for a few hours passed her usual time, Kuro knocked on the door, a little nervous. Her brother jumped, staring at the door with wide eyes. He wasn’t used to this. He swallowed thickly before going over and opening the door, to be surprised by Kuro standing. “U-Um… I don’t mean to intrude… but… K-Kiri hasn’t come out yet, and I got a little worried… Is she alright?” He stared at her with wide eyes before he smiled a bit “So you’re the reason she’s so happy lately…” “Huh?” “Kiri’s gotten sick… but, you can come in if you’d like. Strangely enough, it’s not contagious.” Kuro nodded slightly before coming inside. It was amazing inside. There were so many things around from all over the world. There were maps, paintings, books, statues, sewing mannequins, and nearly everything you could think of. It was obvious her brother got good money. But strangely, there were sticky notes on some of the things with big red X’s on them. “Kiri doesn’t go out too much… so I try and find things that make her happy… unfortunately… there aren’t too many things she really likes…” Kuro looked around, blinking, before looking over when Kiri’s brother led her to her room. Kiri was in terrible shape. She was paler than usual, and she had a very high fever. There was a bucket next to her in case she ended throwing up, but she hadn’t done so yet. Kuro sighed a bit before going over and sitting on the stool next to the bed, looking at Kiri. After a moment, she looked at Kiri’s brother “… what’s wrong with her?” He shook his head, looking down “I don’t know… none of the doctors I go to seem to really understand… I definitely don’t understand what’s going on… She’s been getting sicker and sicker as time goes on…” Kuro looked down “I… see….” Kiri’s brother sighed a bit before looking up, smiling faintly “By the way, my name’s Valierran.” Kuro blinked slightly, looking up at him, before smiling and nodding. --- ~V~ “Tears fall down my cheeks once again, like rain washing over my face, I can barely see. Your absence is truly crushing, my dear. I miss you dearly. I have for about three years now. Yet my feelings for you still haven’t wavered…Is that too strange? A twisted grin breaks across my face as I stare out at the horizon, awaiting the day you return me. I swear, the hole you left in my heart has made me broken within. I think about you every day, wondering if you ever think of me the same. I secretly wish you do, and that you’re longing for me as I do you… Am I going crazy?…” “Kuro? You can go home, if you want to, you know.” Kuro looked up at Kiri, smiling as she closed the book, marking the page with her finger. “Yes, I know.” “Won’t your mother be upset…?” “Maybe. But you’re sick, and I want to try and cheer you up.” Kiri smiled faintly, nodding a bit, before coughing a bit. Kuro looked at her in concern “Try to get some sleep, Kiri. I’ll be here when you wake up, so don’t worry.” Kiri looked at her, smiling faintly, nodding “Do you think you could keep reading to me?” Kuro smiled “Of course.” After Kiri had finally fallen asleep again, Kuro placed a bookmark on the page she stopped, and set it on the nightstand, before going out into the main room. “She went back to sleep.” Valierran nodded before sighing, looking down. “Thank you for doing this, Kuro… There’s only so much I can do, and even then, I can’t make her happy like you do.” Kuro frowns slightly “I don’t understand it… Why do I make her so happy?” Valierran stayed silent for a while before finally speaking up “You’re… the only true friend she’s had… that hasn’t judged her for anything.” Kuro looked down “… Why is that? Kiri’s such a nice girl….” Valierran sighed and looked out the window, not sure he should tell her. He didn’t want to possibly make his sister’s only friend shun her. That would break her heart even further than it already was. After a very long moment, he finally decided to tell her “Kiri’s… Not like others….” Kuro frowned, confused, but let him continue “Her soul doesn’t belong in her body… I don’t know, it’s like it’s from another dimension or something… She’s what other people call ‘Demon’” “WHY DIDYOU TELL HER?!” Kuro and Valierran both looked over as Kiri ran out the front door, slamming it behind her. She just knew that Kuro would hate her now that she knew. She hid behind a crate and brought her knees against her chest, putting her head on her knees After a moment, arms wrapped around her. “Your absence is truly crushing, my dear. I miss you dearly.”Kiri’s eyes widened before tears flowed down her cheeks “How can you not hate me….? Everyone else treats me like a monster…” Kuro smiled, shaking her head “No. To me, you’re just a girl who’s trapped in a place you don’t belong. And… You’re a good friend to me.” Kiri swallowed thickly and tried to suppress her cries, but she began to sob. She had never been so happy in her life. --- ~VI~ “Desperate, I finally decide to look for you, myself. I’ve easily left behind all that I had ever possessed in this torturous world, just to see you one last time before my heart finally kills me. As I sail the world over, the cold winds always find me, scream in my ears. What a wretched sound it truly is. It is amazing how a wind that was once beautiful to the both of us, is now torturing to my heart. A freezing chill passes against me, and I try to get warmer by holding myself… I bet your embraces would be warmer. As this thought passes through my mind, a pain shoots through my chest, one that will forever haunt me.” “Kuro? Do you really think that we’ll be able to fly?” “I’m not sure, actually. It’s possible we’ll be stuck using airships forever. But even then, at least it’s sort of like flying.” Kiri nodded a bit, smiling “I wouldn’t mind never being able to fly… As long as you were with me, I’d rather be stuck on the ground forever.” Kuro grinned widely, laughing a bit “Aw, that’s so sweet, Kiri~” Kiri smiled faintly and blushed a bit. After a moment, Kuro closed the book and looked at Kiri, smiling “Let’s go out onto the deck. The sunset looks lovely today.” Kiri blinked before nodding slightly, and with Kuro’s help, they went onto the deck. Kiri stared in awe at the sunset. The clouds were tinted so many different beautiful colors, it looked like someone had soaked the sky in paint. There were purples, reds, pinks, and all sorts of shades of orange. “Even with you gone, I’ve been able to make it this far just by holding this love for you, my dear. But I bear the weight of this love upon my knees, And I scream your name aloud at the top of my lungs, paying no attention to eyes watching me as I do. I wait, oh how long I wait, but you do not return my calls by crying my own name to me. I‘ve not been able to find you… I suppose you really have left me forever…” Kiri looked up in thought “I wonder if this actually happened to the author… if not, how could they have come up with such a deep story?” “It’s possible, but it might have a different meaning to it, too. But it’s a beautifully sad story, no matter what the meaning.” Kiri nodded, smiling “It really is… I don’t think I could make it if this happened to me… It would be so hard…” Kuro looked at Kiri, smiling “Well, hopefully, this doesn’t end up happening to you.” Kiri blinked and looked at Kuro before smiling as well, nodding “You, too.” --- ~VII~ A month had passed, and Kiri had finally gotten well enough to go outside on her own. She and Kuro spent most of their time on the deck of the airship. “I beg of you, forget me, please! I cannot stand the thought of you possibly thinking of me, wherever you are. It’s too much to bear. If you ever knew that I never moved on, I fear you would possibly come back. I would be too ashamed to let you see me in the state I’m in. Yet I have made it here, where I stand, at the top of the world. I’ve traveled so far, never to find you. Some would say I should be proud of accomplishing so much. But all I can see is the failure to find you, my beloved. I’ve begun to wonder… Why have I ceased to dream? I’ve become void of sweet thoughts. I’m not able to comfort myself anymore… I beg you! Make this pain disappear! I cannot bear it any longer! Only you can make it disappear…Only you…My one and only beloved… Only you…” Today Kiri decided to visit Kuro and show her that she was all better. She climbed down the ladder and went to Kuro‘s door, knocking. There was no answer. After a while of waiting, she decided to go back to the airship. “She must have gone with her mother to go shopping.” She went the next day and knocked on the door. No answer. She went to the window and peeked in. It looked like they weren’t home today, either. “Kuro must have gone to the doctor. She hadn’t been feeling too well last time I saw her” She came back again, the next day. No answer “They must have gone out to buy clothes.” Finally, on the fourth day, she stared at the door, hesitant to knock. She turned when she heard the old woman again. “Stupid Demon. Kuro’s moved away.” Kiri stared at the woman before looking down with wide eyes, tears began to flow down her cheeks. “She’s… Gone?” She was never the same after that. She never left the airship, or even went out to look at the night sky. And tears never stopped streaming down her cheeks. Vallierran decided to leave the town, not wanting to keep Kiri around a place with such a painful feeling. They continued to travel the world as before, only briefly staying in towns for things they need. Kiri became terribly ill, even more so than before. Vallierran slowly gave up on the doctors, and just tried to take care of her himself. --- ~VIII~ A few years had passed, and in every town they went to, she always looked for Kuro, trying to see where she had gone to. Every town, she would always shout the same thing “KURO?!” Even as the humans all looked at her with strange expressions, she ignored them and just looked out, listening, but she never heard an answer… “…Next on the International News: It was such a tragic accident, and such a strange case, that it left local police dumbfounded-” Footage of a few cars that had gotten into an accident around a single traffic light started to play on the screen. “-As you can see here, 3 cars have all crashed into this single traffic light post, for what seemed to be no reason. The weather in the city where this took place has been a high of 75 for about three weeks. No ice, rain puddles, or heat waves have been present in the town for a while. Witnesses say that there were no pedestrians crossing at the time of the incident, and there were no red light runners, or anything to cause the cars to swerve into the light post. 4 were severely injured, but there was only one death. A young woman, about 20 years old-” Suddenly, Kuro’s picture came up on the screen, to show who the newsperson was talking about, and as soon as it did, Vallierran shut the TV off as Kiri’s eyes widened, tears flowing down her face more than usual. Vallierran frowned in concern and hugged her tightly, but she didn’t move, just stared at the screen. “You said we could fly together…Kuro!” --- ~IX~ Kiri never got better after that, and she would just stay on the floor next to her bed, not moving. At night, Vallierran could swear that he heard strange high pitched ringing coming from her room, but when he went to check on her, she hadn’t moved, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Another year passed, and Kiri stayed the same, never moving. After a while, it had gotten so bad that Vallierran had to force her to eat. He was starting to lose hope that she would ever get better. One day, Vallierran smiled and picked her up “Come on, Kiri. It’s a lovely night, and the winds make it feel like your flying without standing on an airship.” He carried her out onto the deck and set her down. She slowly looked up at the sky, but the sky had changed from when she last looked up at it, and nothing was recognizable. She looked down, slowly reaching up to her chest and clutching at her chest as a pain shot through it. Everything that made her feel at home had vanished. --- ~X~He took her out every night, and slowly started to bring her out earlier and earlier, until the earliest he’d brought her out was just after the sun rose. But he never seemed to notice the faint glow surrounding her on some nights, when they stayed out late. After a while, when they went out, rain clouds blocked the sky, and made things even depressing. Vallierran sighed “Sorry, Kiri… It looks like today’s not a day we can fly together…” She smiled ever so faintly, making his eyes widened. This was the first true response he’d gotten from her in a while, and he frowned as she looked at him with pained eyes. “It’s alright…. I can fly on my own now…” “Huh?” He was confused. What did she mean ‘fly on her own’? She slowly stood up and walked over to the balcony “I… I think I can do it now…” “Kiri….?! What do you mean?!” Valier looked panicked as he held out a hand to her. His expression changed from panic to shock as jet black feathers flowed out around them as wings ripped out of her back and stretched. She gave him one last sincere look, and a smile, before she spread her new wings and turned, falling from the ship. He cried out and went to the edge, as if thinking she wouldn’t fall if he did. He watched as she spread her wings out wide and began to fly, climbing higher and higher until she was out of sight. The humans below all stopped in their tracks, as if time itself had stopped, as they all stared at the sky at the demon girl with angel’s wings. Their faces all contorted to fear and hatred. “The demon’s grown wings!” “She’ll kill us all!” “Shoot her down!” “Now! Shoot her!” “We can’t let her have an advantage with those wings!” Even with all the cries from below, Kiri just tried to climb higher and higher, passed the clouds of sorrow, passed all the hatred and loneliness. She would climb higher until she was with her one and only true friend on this wretched planet. Her eyes finally lit up as she saw a hand reach out toward her, and she held out her arms to try and grab it, ignoring the fact that it was a hallucination. She smiled with pure happiness as she was almost able to touch the fingers of the person reaching out to her. “Kur-” Her expression dropped as a loud bang sounded out, seeming to echo through the entire world. Her eyes widened as she frowned deeply, and her tears flooded down more than ever. After a short moment, more of the horrid sounds echoed out into the air. Blood began to flow from her parted lips as she started to fall away from her sweet hallucination. Even as she fell, the humans continued to fire the deadly machines. The moment she finally hit the ground, a final few humans walked over to her, a woman with two children clutching at her dress as their mother aimed a gun at the demon girl. They jumped when the gunshot sounded out before looking back at the girl again, slight fear in their eyes. To them, the girl looked evil. There were tears and holes ripped through nearly all of her body; her chest was completely bloody, her clothes nearly completely torn away, her bones were visible on parts of her limbs from so much skin getting blown away, and her wings, beautiful only moments ago, had been shredded. She truly looked like a demon. --- ~Final~ The humans all returned to their way of life only seconds later, only talking about what had happened over their news shows, and computers. The ones that had helped shoot her all acted smug against their peers, bragging that they were the ones who killed the foul beast. She stared up at the sky with clouded eyes, the blood pooling around her on the cold ground like a sickening sea. Her tears continued to flow down her cheeks as she stared at the sky, waiting for her sweet hallucination to return. Even if it were just a hallucination, as least it was a lovely one. She stayed like this for a few days. Even as all the blood had left her body, and her body began to chip away from existence like a withered statue, she still continued to stare up at the sky, tears flowing from her lifeless eyes. Finally, after the 5th day, a figure gently floated down from the heavens, bearing the purest of white wings. The angel looked down at the demon girl before smiling warmly and holding out their hand to her, as if she would take it to be helped up. The girl’s eyes suddenly lit up, and for the first time in ages, her tears stopped. She reached out and smiled happily before her lips parted to speak as she took the beautiful angel’s hands “This time… We’ll fly together.”
