Arit Packala Nihs

Part Three: Arit vs. The Nagiana Clan

Arit rolled over in bed. It was just about time to wake up. Outside, the sun was already starting to set and that meant duty would soon be calling. However she didn't want to leave; she was too comfortable snuggled under her furred blankets. Her duty to her clan wouldn't simply go away though, nor would she want it to. She looked at the man sleeping beside her. He was the human male she brought back a few months ago. Instead of killing him, she found that he stirred a weird emotion within her. Until she met him she didn't think herself capable of it, but it seemed she was in love. How it happened wasn't something she could explain, but it didn't matter. The only thing that did matter was she was happy.

When she was with him she felt care-free. These feelings were not one-sided. This man was able to look beyond her outer shell and see the real woman beneath. Now she could understand how Ziru must've felt. Oni could not experience such a relationship with each other; it simply wasn't their way. A part of her regretted his death. She may have not killed him with her hands but she is the cause none the less. That was not something she'd forget anytime soon.

Gently she brushed her hand against the cheek of the still sleeping man with her now. The past was the past and it was time for her to focus on her present. Trying not to wake him she carefully slide out of bed and made sure he was still covered. It was winter time and while her kind handle it much better she knew how harsh the cold could be to humans. Her eyes close for a moment as she tries to force out the memory of her forcing those children out of their homes in practically nothing. She made them wander in the snow and cold half naked while she watched as the winter took each one of them. That was her job though; she was simply doing what she was supposed to. No regrets!

Once she cleared her mind she quickly put on some clothes and left the comfort of her personal war tent. It was a bit unusual for one of her kind to wear clothing, but not totally unheard of. She herself had previously had avoided the confinement of clothing, but her time around her human lover had changed her. Now she felt naked without wearing something. Once outside in the cool brisk air she headed down to the spring to get some fresh water. Due to the cold weather parts of the spring were frozen. It was a thin fragile ice which couldn't support much weight.

The first thing she did was gather some water into a bucket. After that she proceeded to take a bath. She let the icy water wash over her. For once in her eighty years of life she felt completely relaxed. Eventually she decided she had dawdled long enough and headed back to the camp. When she reached her tent she saw Shas standing in front. He's too arrogant for his own good. With eyes colder than the weather, as cold as death itself, she glared at him. There better had been a good reason for him to come so close to her tent. If she wished she could take the act as a challenge and kill him on the spot.

Her temper was held in check though. Killing him would be more difficult than she cared to admit. To make matters more complicated Shas had a large following among the lower ranks of masters and One Hundred. While the war chief may have more trust and faith in her, the masses preferred Shas. And though against a mystic they may stand no chance with their own power, when assisting another mystic they could be a fatal difference. There was a great deal of anger and annoyance as she asked, "What do you want?"

Shas smiled and responded, "I just came to say hi."

His smile was devious; he was definitely up to something. She wasn't in the mood to play one of his games right then. Not letting her guard down for a moment she told him, "I'm going inside for a couple minutes. When I come back out, you better be gone."

"We'll see," he responded smugly.

The fact he was defying her so blatantly was proof that he had, or at least thought he had, some trick awaiting. This was just one more reason she hated fox types. Until just a few moments ago she had been in such a good mood; she wasn't about to let him ruin it. After all, he wasn't worth it. Keeping that thought in her mind she walked into her tent. However the uplifting sight she expected to see greeting her wasn't there.

Instead it was far more heartbreaking. Her love was dead and his blood stained their bed. Two of the One Hundred were gluttonously feasting upon his remains. Anger grew inside her until something snapped. The normally cold and calculating Arit lost control and turned into an animal. Her voice was full of venom as she shouted, "DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HIM NOW!"

Even as she shouted the words her body was already moving. For her what would normally be a strategically planned attack was going to be little more than a mindless brawl. It wouldn't even constitute as a fight since she wouldn't be relying on technique, but sheer brute force. Typically her physical capabilities couldn't compare to theirs, but right now nothing could compare to how seriously pissed off she was! Before she could even land a single blow though, something whipped around her neck and held her back. She was like a dog on a leash.

Furiously she struggled to continue forward and reap her revenge. The fact that whatever had her by the neck was trying to do something to her didn't even occur to her. An intense burning rage was all she could feel right at that moment. Pain began to overtake her body. Extraordinary agonizing pain was consuming and all she tried to do is reach the two making her love a meal. Finally the pain became too much. She dropped to her knees. Her vision was starting to blur. With the last of her strength she stretched out, still trying to stop the One Hundred from desecrating the body of her only love. Then everything went black. The last thing she heard was the voice of Shas saying, "Down you stray!"

*****

Arit was held up by two masters. Behind her were third and fourth lieutenants. Shas made sure to be positioned on her weaker side just in case. In front of her sat the lion-headed war chief, Nargs Zalfiar Murk. At his right hand was the first lieutenant, positioned to protect the war chief if necessary. It was clear they weren't taking her lightly. Anyone who could defeat Ziru in single combat deserved that much attention. In truth though, she wasn't the one to beat Ziru and right now she didn't even have the strength to stand on her own let alone kill everyone in the room.

"Arit my dear," Nargs said. "You were one of the best. You never let adversity stop you. Instead of crying you only grew stronger. After your defeat of your former mentor you became one of my most trusted. You had proved your true loyalty." He gave a brief pause before he continued, "Or so I thought." His voice was then full of contempt. "You disgraced your entire clan by being with a human. You walk around dressed in Their clothing."

With a motion of the war chief's hand the One Hundred holding her tore off her clothes revealing her naked body. The tattered remnants fell to the floor. Only a few months ago it would have felt natural, but at that moment it only felt weird and uncomfortable. It was more than just the nudity though; it was the meaning behind it. She was being banished from her clan. For her kind though, being banished did not just mean being forced to leave. In addition she became an enemy of her people, and there was only one type of fate for an enemy.

*****

Arit hung from chains, her body battered and bruised. She was about halfway back to full strength. That meant it would start up again soon. It had been weeks since her banishment; they had been torturing her since. The torment stopped long enough to let her heal for a while to be sure she didn't die prematurely. With the amazing healing powers of her kind it didn't take long to heal. Her healing rate even kept active as she was being tortured, allowing them to continue for far longer than any mortal could survive.

On a table was a rolled up Whip of Pain. It was something her clan obtained from a foreigner unlucky enough to encounter the Nagiana. That tool, perhaps more than any other available, was used to cause her an intense agony that lasted longer than she can remember. In addition, it was the instrument Shas used to bring her down back in the tent. However the physical pain it could inflict was nothing compared to the memory of the man she loved slain. The memory of it haunted her and was not something she could forget, not ever. It was a part of her very being from that day forward.

A smile formed on her face. Despite all that was being done to her, she wanted to laugh at the humor of the situation. When her situation was reversed she just couldn't understand. She would have killed someone for acting as she was now. As she remained there, through weeks of torture, she began to accept all the mistakes of her past. Perhaps this was all some sort of divine justice. That much she was able to accept. Death there, on the other hand, was something she was not ready to yield to. Thoughts of revenge continued to race through her mind.

Her situation was not so different from what Ziru went through. In her case though, she was not as skilled and let her anger get the best of her. She let her guard down and was suffering the grim consequences as a result. There was one major difference however. With Ziru there was only death; with her they left her alive, a mistake on their part. Basic rules of battle dictate that any opponent left alive can later come back and bring death along with them. Showing no mercy was a wise tactic, but being so overconfident was simply foolish. She kept sane by constantly thinking to herself, 'They should have killed me when they had the chance.'

The Nagiana knew the strengths and weaknesses of a mystic. It was easy for them to effectively cut off her power. Through open wounds all over her body they siphoned off her mystic energies, as well as the very energies of her life force. Without these energies she was unable to cast magic. Her third eye could be mostly contained with a simple blindfold. In addition, the constant pain made it virtually impossible to form a psi-sword. Despite all their careful planning though she still had a strategy. The true trick was to wait for the right moment. That was something Ziru taught her. Even in their last encounter, as enemies sworn to kill each other, he had taught her things.

Guna Rimnast Glav, the fourth lieutenant bone demon, entered into the room with a master at her side. Arit recognized the fish-headed demon, it was Norgin. He once served under her and now was one of those to bring torture. She couldn't be mad though; he was simply going with the flow of leadership like a smart master. The two oni carried a silverish-blue metal sword. They were careful not to touch it as they used grips to carry it. Even being as close as they were appeared to bother them, after all using tools was not a common practice among their kind. Their philosophy was that anything that can be done with a tool should be able to be done by them naturally. It was a matter of their pride as oni. Exceptions were always made though. One example was the sword of Ziru. This was another. 

The silver-blue bladed sword looked like that of a samurai. Samurai were a pesky lot, humans capable of slaying an oni. Ziru had battled and killed many in single combat, but with him dead obtaining that sword couldn't have been easy. It meant several had been sacrificed to destroy its wielder. In addition to their training, it was the weaponry, a bane to her kind, which made a samurai so formidable. Their weapons came in paired sets, the katana which was the main sword and the waikasashi which was the smaller of the two. Only the katana was present though. That meant the other was probably destroyed in the battle, or at the very least left behind and probably lost for good. After all, they already had what they needed. 

The samurai blade was pressed up against her naked flesh. Her skin sizzled and blistered at the touch. She screamed out in agonizing pain. It was a tormented wail that could be heard throughout the camp. Not only was her physical body suffering, but also her soul. The sensation was as if the blade was trying to destroy her sins as well as her body. Beyond her control, tears started to come from her eyes. She had already realized her past mistakes earlier; until that moment though she only knew it but didn't feel it. Remorse for eighty years of sins came rushing to the surface.

Her screams of pain lessened, as if she were getting use to the pain. The two pulled the blade off for a moment so they could press it against a different part of the body giving her pain anew. As this happened she gathered what she could have her strength. Patience had waited for just the right moment, and this was that moment. She didn't rush and took as much time as possible to regain more of her strength. It wasn't until the blade made its way back towards her skin that she made her move. When she did, it was fierce and without mercy.

Summoning up a large portion of what little power she had, she released a mental bolt which ripped right through the blindfold and hit true to its mark, the eye of Guna. The attack wasn't enough to kill him, that wasn't the point. It was an attack to hurt, nothing more. This was a dangerous move because if the rest of it didn't work, she'd only have a very angry tormentor, but risks had to be made if she were to survive. As Guna gave a momentary scream of pain his grip loosened on the tools holding the katana. Norgin panicked. With Guna practically letting go reducing the balance of holding it, and Norgin seemingly fearing the same for him, the katana went out of control.

Luck was on her side. Norgin's movements took the sword right into one of the chains restraining her arms. It wasn't enough to cut through, but enough to damage it. Using what she could summon of brute strength she was able to break the damaged chain freeing one of her hands. Norgin ran, fleeing for safety from the tent. A part of Arit wondered how much was luck, and how much was preplanned. She had always planned for the worst case scenarios with Norgin, this type of situation came up. However there were definite differences between this and her plan.

Whether he was clever enough to deviate from it so well was a fact she wasn't truly sure about. Even more puzzling is she never thought Norgin was such a good actor before. Maybe she underestimated him all this time, maybe he really did just panic and she lucked out, or maybe he was following orders but went through with her plan at the last moment. Whichever it may have been, she doesn't have time to think about it right then. The other oni in the room weren't going to simply stand back and let her escape, and there was still Guna to worry about. That bolt to his eye was enough to hurt, but not enough to eliminate him from this conflict. She was going to have to act quickly if she was going to take advantage of the situation.

With her now freed hand she grabbed the abandoned katana. Steam rose from the hand as she took a hold of it. It was burning the flesh off her hand, trying to consume the beast as it was trained to do. She pushed through the pain for now and used the sword to slice through the other chains. For a moment she faltered and almost fell to the ground. Her body was still drained of most of its energies and the sword was only making it worse. She was almost at her limit and keeping a hold of that sword wasn't helping matters. The longer this took the more energy she'd lose, and the more time there would be for reinforcements to arrive. Despite her feeling of weakness, the desire for revenge gave her strength to continue.

Quickly she grabbed the Whip of Pain on the table and used it to hit one of the other oni across the face with it. That one fell to the floor in agony. Before she could turn her attention to another one of the others in the room grabbed her arm stopping her from using it again. With little choice left, she used the sword to run through the one holding her. The body of the oni suddenly tensed up as the sword pierced his belly. As she ran through her former ally, the pain from the sword eased. The katana of a samurai, the bane of her people, was now helping her.

This is the third time she'd done the unthinkable to her people. The first time was when she killed Ziru in one on one combat, then she fell in love with a human, and next she was wielding one of their weapons. Granted, it was still hurting her, but she was holding it better than anyone else in the clan could ever fathom before then. No doubt it was only helping because she was killing other oni. After she was finished it would probably turn on her next. That was just fine by her, as long as she lasted long enough to have her revenge.

One of the other oni made a break for the exit, whether he was fleeing for his life or going to get help didn't matter, she didn't plan to let him leave. While the sword was still in the gut of the one holding her, she twisted the blade until he let go. With her arm freed she used the Whip of Pain to wrap around the neck of the one running, holding him in place for now. It is almost ironic that she was now using the same move Shas used against her against another. Her eyes fixated on Guna next. Of everyone left in the room, he'd be her biggest threat.

*****

Arit stumbled out of the tent. Her body was full of injuries, some from this fight and some from the weeks of torture. She had almost no strength left. Steam was rising from her hand as she still clutched the sword. Heat is escaped her body from all the open wounds as she trudged through the snow. Blood dripped from the blade of the katana. Inside the tent there was not a soul left alive. She killed every last one of them staining the floor with their blood. However there was still an entire camp left of enemies. Her heart cried out for more blood to avenge her beloved, but she was faced with the reality of the situation. Ziru slaughtered their entire sister village by himself, but she wasn't his equal. Even worse she was injured and no where near full strength. Pushing her luck now would only get her killed. Besides, she was no match for the war chief in one on one combat, especially not while he wielded Ziru's sword.

 With her worn out body, she headed into the woods outside the war camp to recover as opposed to continuing her slaughter. It's hard to tell how long she walked. Perhaps it was only minutes, maybe it was hours; she was too out of it to have any clue at all. Finally she collapsed against a tree. Exhaustion took over and she passed out right there. If her clan found her, it would mean she'd forfeit her life and freedom, but she had no choice. Her body had reached the end of her strength and she had nothing left to give.

When she awoke, she found herself in the same positioned that she passed out in. It seemed she was still safe. The sun was shining down upon her. Its reflection against the snow caused it to sparkle as it came through the barren tree tops. She looked down to see the sword still in her hands. It hadn't destroyed her in her weakened condition. Could it be that it was accepting her? No, that's not it. This blade, it wants something else. Its desire is to try and save her. The thought is almost funny. Her heart feels warmed, as if her love sent her this blade from beyond. A smile marked her face as she leaned her head back and basked in the morning's light for the moment. Finally she was free. Truly free, free to do as she wanted. The only thing she found she wanted to do at that moment was to make the only man she ever loved proud.

After everything she'd done in her life, she wasn't going to fool herself into thinking she could ever meet him in the next life. Her soul was just too corrupted. Eighty years of sins just can't be forgiven so easily. Despite that, she wanted to try and seek redemption for her past crimes as best she could. So much of her life was spent killing and ruining lives, she just wanted it to stop. She didn't want to kill anymore, not ever, not even the lives of her former clan, he wouldn't have wanted that. Maybe if she could find a way to help people without killing, or letting anyone die, she could honor his memory in that way. This wouldn't be so much to cleanse her own sins as much as to give all those she hurt some peace in the next life. Perhaps her changing her ways would give their deaths some meaning.

She picked herself up and headed further into the woods. If she traveled far enough, maybe she could find some clothes to cover her naked body. It felt just so unnatural to be without them now. As she headed away she traveled farther and farther away from her former clan. With any luck she'd never see any of them ever again. However her exit was bound to cause at least some to hunt her, and she knew her people were excellent trackers. It's doubtful this it over. But she didn't want to fight, not right then. She decided it would be best if she left the land for a while to try and start her new life in a new land. If she had to face some of her clan there, she'd deal with that when the time came.