Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 12 - Old Member

It's been seven months since Bloodborne attacked Red Eye. We ended up moving to a new location so we were guaranteed safety for at least a few more years. The snow was thick and hard to travel in, but having horses definitely helped in carrying the supplies and the people. We settled somewhere in the mountains, pretty close to where my cabin was.

It was hard, but by working together we managed to build temporary homes before making anything bigger. Now, we have a beautiful society. I wandered with Salem around the camp before remembering that I had a cabin near here. I told Haru I was going for a walk. "Alright, be careful!" He called out to me. I smiled. "I will!" I jumped onto Salem's back and we ran. We ran through creeks and caves. I missed going for runs like this with him. We arrived at my cabin. It was still intact. I walked inside, Salem keeping watch.

I touched the couch. "Haha... still the same." I looked to my left and saw the kitchen. As I looked, I remembered the first time Aether was in my cabin. I saw me and him talking and smiling. A single tear ran down my cheek but I brushed it away. I walked outside and said goodbye to my cabin. I hopped onto Salem's back and rode back to the camp. As I did so, I saw a familiar face sitting at a cliff. I smiled and stopped Salem. "Saturn! Want to come back with me?" She turned around and smiled. "UH, YES?!" I laughed. She hopped onto Salem and I turned into a wolf. "Race ya!" As I said this, I ran. She followed close behind as we raced back to camp. I got back to camp first. "HAH! Beat ya," I said proudly. Salem growled in annoyance. Saturn laughed. "No far!"

"Alana! Over here," Haru called me over. "See you later Alana," She gave me a pat and walked away. I walked over to Haru and turned back into my human form. "What's up?" I asked him. He smiled. "Training, remember?" I had been training with Haru for about 4 months now. I wanted to gain more control of the power I wielded, and I wanted to be connected to Salem as much as possibly too.

"Right! I forgot..." I laughed, he laughed also. "Of course you did." Salem, Haru and I walked into the newly built arena. It wasn't big, but big enough for me. It had reinforced walls and flameproof flooring so it didn't burn down. He pulled out his weaponry and so did I. "No Alana, I don't want you to have any weapons today." I tilted my head slightly.

"Think about it. If you go somewhere where you have no weapons you'll be defenseless," He stated. I laughed. "Ok, but I have Salem and my powers, don't I?"

"Yes. But what if the enemy has something that could get rid of those powers? Then what do you have?" He bent down to my level, to which I smirked. "Absolutely nothing," he whispered, tapping my forehead with his pointing finger. I stood back and rolled my eyes. "Ok I get it," I laughed. I put my weapons to the side and put my fists up, Salem growling at my side.

"Come at me then." Haru smiled and went for me. We fought. Jumping over barrels and wall running as we kicked and punched and slashed. Salem finally pinned him to the ground and kicked his sword away.

I went towards his head and crouched beside him, looking over him.

"How was that?" He chuckled. "Not bad, not bad." I called Salem off and helped him up. "Guess we know that you're good without weapons and your powers."

I nodded, "Indeed," I said with pride.

"How'd you get so good anyway? I can tell quite easily that these aren't fighting skills Bloodborne has taught you. That's why you're so unpredictable." As he said these things the room went quiet. A chill ran down my spine. I felt those haunting memories flooding back. I look down at my hand which was shaking. I felt something warm touch my shoulder. "Alana?" Haru had his hand on my shoulder as he looked worriedly at me. "You ok?" I snapped back into reality. When I did, tears started to form in my eyes.

"I... uh... I don't..." I sighed, trying to suck in the tears.

"I don't actually know... at all." Haru looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Your brother doesn't know either?" He asked me. "No... nobody does." I looked down at the ground to prevent the tears from forming again. Haru grabbed my attention again by humming with worry. I looked up at him and gave him a nod. He embraced me in a warm hug. Salem whined. "I'm sorry..." I said. He reassured me that I shouldn't be sorry. He let me go.

"If you ever want to talk about anything, I'm always here. No matter what, ok?" I smiled. "Yeah, thank you."

We walked to the dining area where all the villagers dined together. I stopped at the entrance. "Uhm... I think I'm gonna pass the feast today." Haru smiled. "No problem! I'll save you some food." I walked towards my quarters and entered into my room, shutting the door. I walked to the bathroom door and locked it once I was inside. As I did so I leaned my back against the door and sighed. Tears started to stream from my face as all these haunting memories that I finally forgot came flooding back to me. I cried, so much so that I developed a headache. My hands throbbed from the amount of strength I put into punching the tiled floor. I managed to make a crack in the floor as I cried.

I laid on the bathroom floor, just waiting for death. Instead what I got was a fluffy surprise. Salem had managed to get into the bathroom and dragged me to the couch. I laid on the couch and cried. "I'm so sorry Salem..." Salem snapped at me which made me jump. I just wanted to die, why couldn't he let me? Was I that important to him? Salem jumped onto the couch and laid his head on my chest. I laughed. "Salem, you're adorable." I stroked his head as he wagged his tail looking up at me. We laid there for hours, just enjoying each other's company. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. "Alana? Can I come in?" It was Kuragari. "Yeah," I said sitting up. Kuragari entered with a plate of berries and a slice of bread.

"Thought you might be hungry," He said with a smile. "Thanks..." I took the plate and set it aside. "You alright?" he asked me. I looked down at the ground.

"Why were we separated Kuragari?" He looked down at me with a worried face. He sat beside me. "You don't remember?" I held the side of my head.

"I only remember snippets, my minds still really foggy where that's concerned." He sighed. "Honestly... its probably a good thing," He said to me. I looked over to him with pleading eyes. "Please tell me... I want to know." Kuragari looked at me and smiled warmly. "You're so difficult..." We embraced each other in a hug before letting go.

"Alright...where do I start..."