Dreamcatcher , Chapter 2: Battle and Vision

~~ “Do you not recognize me?” The other man says, “Or do you just kill my kind because of who and what they are? That is discrimination, you know. All of my kind knows who you are, and we all know very well what you do. You kill. I also said to watch for vengeful families and for repercussions of what it is you do. Let me show you what I mean by that” With the last few words, the man begins to change. His eyes turn entirely red, almost like blood, and his ears grow long and pointed. His canine teeth become sharper, more pronounced, and slightly longer, and his face is twisted into that of unimaginable hate and pain. ~~1

Koji wastes no time. His mind is instantly focused as he quickly analyzes the situation while the demon transforms fully. He takes in not only the size and power of the demon, but also its deep flowing anger and the vengeance it holds. He adds in the surroundings to the equation, and this seems to him like a slight challenge.2

“You killed my family! My brothers, my sister, my parents! And now, I will avenge them and kill you, Zansatsusha!” the demon snarls. Koji bends into a fighting stance, sword drawn, and narrows his eyes. He gives a gentle grin, this is going to be interesting! The two circle slowly for a moment, the demon lunges powerfully, and the battle begins.3

Though both the fighters are very strong, powerful, and well trained, Koji is even better trained, as well as graceful and deadly. He is quick and agile, and clever on the move. Though the demon is more powerful than him, the battle is over in no more than twenty minutes. After the demon lay dead, Koji hurriedly cleans off his sword. He looks down at the corpse of the demon. No matter if he was a demon or not, he had been avenging his family’s death and defending his own kind. Koji pulls the body over onto the side of the trail, to rest eternally in the plants and bushes. He also cleaned its corpse up as best as he can, but it doesn’t do much as demons decompose exceptionally fast. He will be a pile of bones within two weeks.4

Still on an slight adrenaline high from the quickly ended battle, Koji wants to move, and really move. So he does what he can, speedily gathering up his belongings and running. He runs for a long time, even as the sky begins to darken. He runs though he feels the first raindrops on his face, though he sees the flashes of lightning and hears the low rumble of thunder. He runs until he is physically exhausted, then he finally stops, panting, with stitches in both sides. Looking around Koji feels almost ready to collapse as he tries to find a relatively dry place to settle down for the night. After a few minutes he finds a mossy grove to settle in. It is a little wet, even in the large hole on the roots of a tree that he sleeps in, but he falls asleep almost instantly.5


-_-_-_-_-_-_-
There are flashes of light and color bursting before Koji’s eyes. He is getting dizzy, there are scenes spinning around him. He sees everything as though a movie, skipping scenes as it pleases. He is killing the demon, he is running in the rain, he is in a well-kept city, he is in a strange room, he is walking alone, he is walking with a chattering girl his age following him, he is being ambushed by three demons, the girl looks beautiful sitting by a river, the girl is yelling and angry, the two are walking through a small town market, they are alone walking in the woods, Koji battles and kills a female demon, the girl is crying, he is being taken away by strange robed people, he is alone in a muggy cell, he is running at night, he is walking with the girl again, they are talking, seemingly about something very important.6

Koji is surprised and overwhelmed by all these scenes that are coming almost too fast to tell what is happening, but they keep on coming. There is a dark stone cell with a chained up young man, there is a flash, flying metal, a flutter of wings, a dark shadow spreads over all Vandalia. Smoky red clouds hang in the sky, demons run wild, humans are dying and being worked like slaves, there are flashes, a battle, so much power. Even watching these scenes, Koji can feel the power and emotion surging and rushing through him, pounding in his ears and veins. It thrills him, makes him feel exited, he has an intake of breath, and then all the scenes fade fast. The light fades until Koji is in darkness. He feels a falling sensation, but is still stationary. Then there is a jolt.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-7


Koji twitches in his sleep, waking him up. He opens his eyes slowly, crawls out from under the tree, and stretches, almost animal-like. He breaths in the cool clean smell of rain and forest, packs up his stuff, and heads on his way. While walking, he momentarily chuckles to himself because, for once, he doesn’t remember any bit of a dream from last night, not at all.8