Sleepless, Unwakeful - 1

He opened his eyes... Or so he thought. He couldn't tell in the blackness.

Then he saw them.

A pair of piercing, predatory eyes staring right into his very soul. The right eye was white, burning with determination... While the left was a sickly, blood red and was soaked with a lust for power and a hunger for destruction. 

"Hello, father..."

The Ninja tried to step back, but it was as if the darkness held him at bay. 

The being in front of him chuckled sinisterly and walked toward him, revealing himself to be the replica of The Ninja's past self.

It was His Shadow, the clone that went rampant, had his eye skewered, and ended up beheaded by the hands of the Ninja.

But here, he was alive and all too real before the Ninja.

"My Shadow..." The Ninja spoke with obvious rage.

"In due time, father. In due time..." The clone crooned while caressing The Ninja's chin with his finger, "Alas, I am no longer your Shadow... My new master now knows me as Sin... Quite fetching, don't you think?"

"And too accurate for my taste." The Ninja grunted as he tried to break free of the darkness, "I do not believe in death unless it is necessary... But I know as a fact that you must die where you stand!"

Sin went quiet, a look of hurt on his face. "Father..." He murmured quietly, rubbing his own neck thoughtfully, remembering his beheading.

The Ninja glowered at the clone. "You may have been created from my DNA, but you are not my son. And I am not your father... You are the spawn of evil, and you must not remain."

"Yet, here I am." Sin laughed darkly and stepped closer to the Ninja, "I must admit, after my execution, I realized that I take on you all too closely... We both have a hard time staying dead."

Ninja grunted as Sin roughly placed his palm on the stab scar on his sternum. 

"You evaded death when pierced by your own katana and left to die in the mountains from which you were raised... It was only by luck that young priestess whom you call Beacon found you and revived you from your frozen slumber..." Sin moved his hand to the scar on the Ninja's abdomen, "You evaded death when I myself nearly took your life within your own sanctuary! But that pesky brat of yours managed to foil my plans for your extinction when she stopped you from bleeding out." Sin suddenly grabbed the Ninja's throat in his right hand, a wicked scorpion blade mistifying into his other hand. "Hmm... I wonder if third time's the charm... Believe me when I tell you that nothing can save you now..."

With that said, he plunged his blade into the Ninja's heart.

 

-----

 

Whisper's eyes snapped open and she screamed briefly, sitting straight up in her bed. She panted, sweating as she scanned the area.

She was in her room. Within the moonlight shining through the window, she saw nothing but her room furnishings and walls. But she couldn't help but feel a sense of uneasiness.

She knew that it was all just a dream, but it felt way too real. She just had to make sure that it wasn't.

Pulling off her blankets and removing herself from her bed, she walked toward her door.

"Maybe I'm just being silly... I shouldn't disturb him at this time." Whisper thought to herself as she opened the door, "It's two in the morning! He's probably sleeping, I shouldn't wake him up just because I had a nightmare.... I'm acting like a little scared child!"

The door slid shut behind her as she walked down the dark hallway. Naturally, she wasn't afraid of the dark, but tonight... Her spirit was disturbed. Whisper felt as if eyes were watching her... Stalking... Preying... No matter how tightly she huddled herself or how many times she reassured herself... she felt utterly terrified.

"Maybe it was something I ate or drank." She said to herself, "And its not settling right... Or maybe I've been working too hard... No. Master has been fair with me, work isn't the problem."

Whisper jumped and froze on the spot when she heard a sound, her heart pounding rapidly in her ears.

It was just the air vent turning on.

She sighed with relief, but her fear did not settle.

Gulping loudly, whisper hurried her pace down the eerie, dark halls.

"This was a bad idea..." Her thoughts were racing... Why was she so afraid?

She gasped as she heard footsteps echoing, but she saw no one.

The halls seemed to stretch, lengthening... the walls seemed to be closing in.

Whisper panted, she was running now.

 

"Interesting... My little replacement has the heart of a butterfly... She even has it's flight, hahaha!"

 

She tripped over an object and fell flat on her front. She jerked her head and looked, but could see nothing that could have tripped her. Whisper was disoriented and terrified, jerking her head to and fro.

She squeaked as something pushed her from the side.

 

"Whoopsies! A little bit of a clutz, if I may be honest... I wonder why he picked you..."

 

Whisper whimpered and scampered to the wall, sitting against it and hugging her knees close to her chest and burying her face in them.

 

"Aww... The little butterfly wants to crying.... Tsk tsk, not a very brave choice he made... cowardly heart and flight of foot.... Hmm... I have yet to test your intelligence and physical-"

 

Whisper choked on a yelp as the door she was huddled beside opened, startling her. She stared at the personage standing in the faint light with wide, teary eyes.

"Whisper?" The Ninja spoke, looking at her with confusion.

Whisper couldn't hold it in any longer and her lip quivered as she broke into tears, crying pitifully.

This shocked the Ninja and worry soon sunk in as well. He had never seen his right hand this afraid before.

Whisper couldn't seem to control herself at this point. She wanted to explain herself and apologize for her unmannerly behaviour, but it was as if the icy cold grasp of fear clenched her spine. She couldn't talk, nor stop crying. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was afraid that it might explode.

The Ninja said nothing, he didn't really know how to respond. Instead, he helped her to her feet and pulled her into his sanctuary and out of the darkness of the hallway.

"Come, sit down." The Ninja said as the door closed.

It took a little bit of reassuring, but Whisper was soon able to process what he said and sat down on a cushion he had set out for her. She was shaking.

Ninja draped a sheet over Whisper's shoulders before turning around.

Whisper quickly grabbed his wrist instinctively.

"Whisper, I'm leaving to the next room for only a moment." The ninja said calmly, "I will be right back."

Whisper noticed that he didn't face her. She frowned and hesitantly let go of his hand. She was ashamed of herself.

The ninja walked into his herb room. 

Soon after, Whisper could smell lavender and other nerve-calming oils being mixed into a tea.

The aroma alone was enough to settle her down just enough to regain most control of her composure.

The Ninja reentered a few minutes later with a small glass, warm steam floating in swirls from the brim. He handed the cup to Whisper.

She carefully retrieved it with shaky hands. "I'm sorry, master." She said.

"You don't need to apologize for seeking me out." He said, "You needed my help."

"I know, but..." Whisper said, holding the tea cup close, "I... I shouldn't have had disturbed you over a silly bad dream like a child."

"You may carry mature tasks and adult burdens, but you still are a child, whether you like it or not." The ninja replied with an unreadable tone, "Also, I believe nightmares to be shards of the true disturbances of the mind." He pulled up a seat and sat across from her.

Whisper grew worried. She couldn't read his facial expression, nor figure out his tone of voice. She averted her gaze, wondering if he was ashamed or disappointed of her.

"Whisper, I’m not scolding you. Nor am I speaking with you as a master or leader." Ninja sounded more sincere and calm now, "I'm here as a friend."

Whisper hesitated before glancing up slightly. "A friend?"

He nodded. "Would you mind telling me what ails you?" He asked, "It would make it easier for me to help you."

Whisper was quiet for a long moment as she thought. She wasn't even sure what was really bothering her, but the dream still had her unsettled. 

"Well, would it help if I told you my dream?"

"Only if you're comfortable with it." The ninja replied.

Whisper took a moment to gather her thoughts, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Alright... Okay." She started, "It was... Kinda strange... The dream was about you and your son."

The Ninja looked puzzled. "I don't have a son, but please. Continue." 

Whisper didn't notice, but the Ninja was hiding something behind his eyes as if he already knew what she was talking about.

"Well... In my dream, I was witnessing everything through your eyes, but I wasn't able to control anything going on." Whisper continued her story, "Everything was dark and black... I was confused and afraid, but it was nothing compared to what happened next."

The Ninja listened intently; everything about him was unreadable once more. He was processing everything being told to him as Whisper explained her experience in great detail.

"... then I sought you out. I was worried for your welfare." Whisper said, shuddering, disturbed, "it felt too real... And I'm more than certain I was being stalked on my way here..." Holding her cup in one hand, whisper rubbed her arm with her free hand, smoothing out the goosebumps.

The Ninja said nothing, even after Whisper had gone silent. He was looking at Whisper, but he still seemed... distant.

Whisper blinked a few times. "M... Master?..."

The Ninja glanced away with his eyes for a brief moment before looking at her again. 

Whisper frowned. "Am... I crazy?..."

Ninja hesitated before shaking his head. "No, not at all." Ninja said, "But I'm afraid that I'll need more time to process your dream to find the roots of your disturbance." 

Whisper looked worried, but was met with a reassuring smile. It calmed her a little more, seeing as the Ninja rarely ever smiled openly.

"You should rest here for tonight. Returning to the environment that frightened you would be foolish." He stated.

Whisper sipped on her tea. "I wouldn't want to disturb you any further... Besides, I'm.... I'm still to shaken to actually sleep." Though she hated to admit, she was quite exhausted, but fear prevented her from sleeping.

The Ninja didn't even have to think of a solution, as if he knew exactly what to do already. He raised his hands slightly. "May I try something?"

Confused, Whisper lowered her cup onto the table and hesitantly nodded.

The ninja gave a slight nod in response before motioning her to close her eyes. “This won’t hurt. And it’s helped me countless of times before when I was young.”

Whisper nodded and closed her eyes.

The ninja placed his thumbs on whisper’s forehead firmly, but not enough to hurt his young friend. He pressed his thumbs together for a moment before spreading them apart on Whispers forehead.

Whisper flinched as she felt her face muscles suddenly relax. She found it a little strange, but it was working. She was beginning to feel relaxed.

The Ninja kept his thumbs firmly on her forehead as he placed his fingers on her temples, moving his fingers in a circular motion.

“Master, who taught you this technique?” Whisper queried.

The Ninja didn’t reply at first. He had never told anyone a about his past before, and it had been a very long time since he actually thought back about his childhood.

He was about to say something, but then noticed that his apprentice was no longer awake anymore.

Carefully and quietly, he helped Whisper lay down on the cushion before pulling the sheet over her like a blanket.

He examined her for a moment to make sure she was truly asleep and safe.

The Ninja’s calm demeanor then turned to one of tensity and furiousness. He moved to his futon and pulled his katana out from beneath it before moving to the door with his blade drawn.

”My Shadow... If you truly are alive.... and you have poisoned yourself into my right hand’s mind... You have made a grave mistake by doing so.”

The Ninja sat down cross legged in front of his locked door, his blade placed neatly across his lap, his hand firm on the hilt.

As if in meditation, The Ninja sat there in silence, keeping a strict focus on the door and everything in his sanctuary.

 

----------

 

A shadow moved from the darkness outside the locked door.

"You can't protect her for long, Father... I'm crawling inside your new protege and am not all that willing to remove myself so easily..." the shadowy being placed his hand on the locked door, "You know how to cleanse her mind, but are you willing to sacrifice your own to rescue hers?..."</span></i>

He chuckled sinisterly before backing away into the shadows once more.His one eye of Sin being the last to fade away into the darkness...