Krazy Kane

Breathe Me

Madi

I was given a breath of life to inhale which brought me the strength to get up. I looked behind me to see the scorched body of my parents and my throat hitched. My eyes filled with water and I couldn't process anything before I started crying.

I held my mother's body in my arms and grazed the hair of my father. The bodies around me were people I knew from my village and it was worse.

I had to get out of the chapel for fresh air and I wiped my tears. I took a deep breath and looked beyond the valley. My stomach rumbled but I couldn't bring myself to eat.

All I could do was a trail through the forest and collect logs of wood. It took me forever in my small size and it was just me. I finished setting up the pyre and dragged the heavy bodies which took some time.

After Praimfaya and being alone, I had all the time in the world. Too bad I wasn't the last person. There were more inside the crypt of the First Commander. Maybe if someone knew I was a nightblood, I would've been taken with my parents along with the hundred our leader chose. But I wasn't.

"Yu gonplei ste odon," I said, and set the bodies on fire. They were already dead but turning them to ash was a way of concealing their death, especially in their home.

I trailed through the night, hearing the returned insects chirp. The birds fluttered in the trees and I looked up at them, knowing they had someone to talk to.

I went back to the main ground of the village and found my box of things. My unfinished dream catcher was there, candles, sage, thread, and some other valuables.

Lighting a candle, I placed them throughout the chapel and burnt sage to change the scent of death. The pipes outside jingled in the wind and I started to move the tables. I grabbed the quilt my mother made for me and used it to cover my body. Even though I wasn't tired, the essence of her comfort made me drift to sleep.

I could hear pecking outside which made me get up and stretch. I stepped out to see the bird was using its beak to stab the wood of the chapel. I quickly shooed it away and my stomach rumble again.

A few weeks had passed since Praimfaya and I knew I hadn't eaten. Now that I was starving and had the appetite, I had to go hunt. Grabbing my gear, I hiked down a passage to reach the river.

I retracted my spear to throw it at the water and when I brought it up, the fish hung on the blade. I brought it out of the water and caught another one for dinner. Returning to the chapel, I made a small fire and grilled it in the pan to eat.

I knew I couldn't survive off of fish forever so I took the bag of seeds. Near the tree line was an area for cropping and grazing but they were all dead. I moved the animals and started to make lines for the plants.

Sprinkling in the seeds, I fetched water to pour on the soil, and soon, I'd have more food. It would take a while so I used that time to start making dolls.

"You'll be Mom and Dad," I said, twining the extra cloth. "And that's me. Of course, there has to be a bad guy, so that's you, Wanheda." I played with them, making a sword to have the Commander indirectly kill my parents. Eventually, that would be me too.

"Ai laik Krazy Kane en ai wan oyu" (I am Krazy Kane and I will kill of you) I said and she ended up killing the other people I made. Now that I thought about it, she wasn't a villain in my story. I may think of her as a hero for slaying the mountain and the woman in red who controlled me. She did kill mercilessly or uncontrollably but there was a brighter outcome.

For some stupid reason, the thought of wanting to be her crossed my mind. She was strong and powerful, without any fears, and ruled over the vicious Ice Nation and the troubling Sky People, nonetheless, she was the Commander.