The Sun Never Sets | Chapter 2 - The Ruins of Home

Chapter 2 - The Ruins of Home

As the pair of them left the cave the change in atmosphere was immediately apparent, so that Alice felt as though she had been snuggled in a comfortable blanket that had suddenly been stripped from her. Fears that had lain dormant the night before began creeping in from the corners of her mind, and she could clearly skull-like faces of those skeletal creatures in her imagination. Her disposition was not helped by the fact that the day had dawned so overcast, and the sunlight was filtered through the heavy clouds, so that everything was bathed in a miserable grey light.

The rain had ceased thankfully, but it had been replaced by an odd sort of humidity. A light breeze brushed against her, easily getting beneath the ruins of her nightgown, and making her shiver.

“How can it be so close and so humid at the same time?” she wondered.

She pulled the tattered remains of her nightgown tighter about her, in a vain effort to ward off the weather.

A sudden light pressure of her shoulder almost made her jump out of her skin, and she barely held in a little squeak as she whirled around; but it was only Chiyo placing a gently hand on her shoulder. The other woman didn't speak, only looked at her with an expression that she chose to decipher as concern.

Alice's cheeks burned with embarrassment, and she didn't trust herself to speak. Instead she merely contented herself with swallowing her fear, and nodding her head stiffly.

Chiyo responded to the gesture by slowly inclining her own head, but her hand lingered for a moment longer before she finally pulled away. Still, the hand left a comforting warmth wear it had touched her, and Alice clung to it for as long as she could. Perhaps it was because the touch of another person was comforting in the face of such horrors, like when she had used to hug her mother after having nightmares?

They began to walk, and as they did tension began to coil in the pit of her stomach, more and more she began to feel like there was something wrong. Then again, of course there was, after all, normal forests did not have actual monsters lurking in them.

However, it wasn't until her companion stepped on a twig, that Alice was able to put her finger on what precisely was getting under her skin. As the bit of wood broke beneath her feet, the cracking noise it made seemed deafening. It was at that point that she realised she forest was unusually silent, with none of the normal signs of life. There were no birds singing from the treetops, and no rabbits scampering through the overgrowth; there was only that light breeze that drifted through the leaves like a longing sigh.

Alice shivered again, and this time it had little to do with the cold.

Fortunately, they soon hit the open road. Well, it was more of a dirt track, but it was a sign of some sort of civilization, and it meant that the path ahead was no longer blocked by large, imposing trees.

Never had she thought that she'd have occasion to call a tree imposing.

The path was set on a slight incline that gently lead down, and Alice felt some small relief at this tiny mercy. Without any shoes her poor feet were already starting to feel sore, and she did not relish the idea of having to struggle uphill.

However, it wasn't just the struggle of continuing to walk that bother her. The silence between the two of them was also somewhat aggravating, as it somehow added to the sense of discomfort she felt. She wanted to say something – anything – just to break the oppressive silence, but what would be the point in starting a conversation that neither of them would understand?

However, there soon came something to arrest her attention, and temporarily distract her from her troubles.

The path soon hit a stone staircase, and a great wooden arch spanned the width of it, and it was painted a most vibrant scarlet. What looked a little like paper baskets hung from the corners, and a great, black placard was set right in the centre. There was some sort of symbol painted on it, and it crossed her mind to wonder what it meant.

In fact, she wondered what this archway meant in general, because it seemed to her to be too elaborate to be purely decorative, especially when it was in such an out of the way place. Was this path important in some way?

“Alice.”

The sound of Chiyo awkwardly calling her name caught her attention, and when she looked she found the other woman waiting for her at the bottom of the steps. Apparently the archway had caught her attention so much, that she had stopped in her examination of it. Chiyo made a motion with her hand, beckoning her forward, and Alice quickly complied, awkwardly taking the steps two at a time.

However, what they found at the bottom of the staircase made her blood run cold.

Almost instantly she recognised the houses and buildings laid out in front of them, and she swallowed thickly as fear built in the back of her throat. This was the village she had been in last night, the place where she'd met those monsters, she was sure of it.

Had she run uphill last night in her desperate flight? She could not quite remember. The only thing she could clearly recall was how every instinct in her body had screamed at her to run, and how Chiyo had sprung from the shadows to rescue her.

Seemingly oblivious to her concerns, Chiyo confidently strode forward into the remains of the village. Alice followed close behind, because if she must face more monsters, then she would much rather do it with a friend at her side.

She tried to keep her gaze from wandering too much as they picked there way through the village, passing through gaps between houses, and stumbling over the remains of wooden carts; because in the cold light of day she could better see just what the dark had kept hidden. The blood that stained most of the walls, and the broken trinkets that laid scattered across the ground.

Fortunately, it seemed her impromptu guide knew where she was going, as she walked with an unwavering sense of purpose.

As it transpired, their destination was another small hut, almost indistinguishable from the ones around it; on the outside at least, the inside was something of a different story. It was a lot tidier than she would have expected for a start, in that it was almost completely empty, and even the stains on the wall were faded, as though someone had tried to scrub them off. It didn't take her long to discern that someone must have come in here to clean up.

Alice's gaze shifted over to Chiyo as the pieces came together in her head. This house must have held some sort of importance for her. Was it her house? The house of someone she knew?

Given that there was not much there, it did not take Chiyo long to rummage through what remained, and produce a bundle of cloth. As she presented them to her Alice could see that these where clothes, similar to what Chiyo herself was wearing. She accepted the offered garments hesitantly, because in all honesty it felt a little … disrespectful, like she was robbing someone's grave, even if they were being offered.

However, a single look down at the ruins of her nightgown was enough to remind her of her modesty, and that a change of clothes was sorely needed.

Changing clothes turned out to be a more difficult task than it should have been, and it did not help that she had no idea how they were meant to be worn. Well, she could tell what was meant to go where, but she could not quite work out how to fasten the contemptible things properly! She struggled by herself herself for several minutes, growing ever more frustrated, before finally throwing her hands up and conceding defeat.

Then Chiyo was there, her hands taking a firm hold of the edge of the garment, and Alice realised that she meant to help her change.

It was a strange experience, far more so than it should have been, because she was used to having people help her dress. Yet, she found herself far too aware of the feeling of Chiyo's hands against her skin, and just how close she was standing. Perhaps it was merely because she was used to her servants, and the professional, efficient manner they went about their duties? Whatever the case may be, there was something about the situation she found herself in that made her feel strange.

Then Chiyo spoke, and sent her warm breath wafting over Alice's ear, making her shudder.

“Hakui,” she said, helping her fasten the white robe.

Alice nodded, and repeated the name of the garment to herself, as she hoped the distraction would help settle her down.

“Hakama,” Chiyo said, helping her secure the red garment over her legs and around her waist.

Once again Alice began repeating the name under her breath. The distraction was more successful this time, as she realised that the garment wasn't a skirt like she'd initially assumed, but a pair of trousers cut into and interesting shape.

The outfit was almost completed by a pair of the strangest socks she had ever seen, as they seemed to have been deliberately sewn so that the big toe was separated from the rest. However, they made sense when she saw the final article of clothing, a pair of thonged sandals made from some kind of straw. She almost tutted at the sight of them, such footwear was the bane of her existence!

However, despite producing them Chiyo did not hand them over, instead she merely pointed down at her feet. It did not not take Alice long to catch her meaning, after going around barefoot for so long her feet were filthy, she would dirty those socks just by putting them on!

Still, she felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips, as she went about examining her curious new outfit. It was a little snug, but it felt comfortable enough. She did not know what it was, but there was just something about wearing relatively clean and fresh clothes that made her feel a lot better.

- - -

Chiyo took a step back after helping Alice change, and took a moment to compose herself.

As she watched the foreign girl familiarise herself with the clothes, she felt a little twinge inside her chest. It was painful to see someone else wearing the clothes that had once belonged to her sister, and if she had had much choice, she would have scrounged around the village until they found something else, anything else.

Yet who knew how long it would have taken them to find other clothing, and whether it would be wearable when they did?

Not to mention that last night her dreams had been extremely distinct and vivid. She had clearly seen a girl with fiery red hair, and dressed in the attire of a miko. As she thought about it, the amulet concealed beneath her robes started to feel a little heavy.

She had no idea whether that dream had been a vision granted by the kami, or whether it was merely her mind playing tricks on her in her grief. However, she was not inclined to ignore her dreams, not when her dreams were the reason she had been able to survive for as long as she had.

The shrine maiden could remember her first, perhaps only, vision clearly. Her sleep had been troubled for a couple of months by a reoccurring nightmare, in which she had seen a dark shadow creep over the land. Everything the shadow had touched had withered and died, and from that wasteland had been born smaller shadows, that went forth to feast upon the living.

So the question was, how much weight should she give her dreams? How could she tell which were granted by the kami, and which were fabrications of her own mind?

So even though it hurt, she had handed the clothes over.

Yet, despite her resolve in the matter, she found herself needing some fresh air. She left Alice to continue growing accustomed to her new clothes, stepped out into the weak sunlight, and took a deep breath as she tried to settle her conflicted heart.

However, being outside was little better than being inside. Her eyes fell upon a dead husk of a village, but in her head she could still see when this place had been teeming with life. From where she stood she could see some of the places where she had played games with San, and the spot where Rokurou had first met his wife...

It was all too easy to remember how she and Fuku had run around the streets as children, or the time her sister had chased her around with a frog.

Suddenly she clamped her eyes shut, because she did not want to see any more; but it was too late, she could feel her eyes begin to burn behind their lids. She gripped her hakama tightly as she endeavoured to keep her hands by her side, resolutely resisting the urge to raise them to her face.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, it was at that moment that Chiyo heard a noise behind her, that dragged her out of her own head. It seemed the foreign girl had finished adjusting to her new clothes, and is now standing in the doorway, staring at her. She recognised the look in her eyes, worry, pity perhaps, and for just a moment she felt the desire to lash out. However, she quickly mastered herself, as she remembered her duty.

So instead she beckoned the girl forward. It was time for them to go, because they had dawdled for far too long.

Yet, she can not stop herself from taking in her surroundings one last time, as she bid a silent goodbye to her home.

- - -

When Alice saw Chiyo standing in the middle of the path, her eyes clamped firmly shut, and her hands balled into fists, she had not need to speak her language to understand. Sorrow clung to her like a cloak, and her posture had announced her melancholy clearly, rather like that painting she had seen with her uncle once. So she had stood there, watching, as she wondered how she could best approach her.

It was no wonder that she looked so sad, after all, to see one's own home in such a state must be dreadful. She was sure that she would be inconsolable should she ever witness her own home as a lifeless ruin...

Even as this thought crossed her mind, so did a terrible image. She saw a corridor with a threadbare carpet that spoke of faded elegance, curtains billowed in a wind that burst in through broken windows. Something crunched beneath her feet, but she ignored it; instead he gaze was drawn to the cracked mirror at the end of the hall, and the way the broken glass distorted the face of her reflection as it stared back at her.

A dreadful chill came over her, and she struggled to breath, almost as though she was drowning.

However, she is pulled from these dark depths by the feeling of some grabbing her arm. Then suddenly she was back in the ruined little village, and Chiyo was looking at her, her brow furrowed in what Alice assumed was concern.

She gently placed her own hand atop Chiyo's, and offered the most reassuring smile she could muster. It was not much, for the expression felt watery and weak even to her.

“I'm fine,” she said, even though she knew the other woman could not understand her.

Still, she must have caught her general meaning, for she nodded slowly in acknowledgement.

Strangely, Alice felt an odd sort of understanding pass between them as they locked eyes.

The moment was soon broken however, when a dreadfully familiar creaking reached her eyes, and Alice felt her stomach coil up in fear. Chiyo must have heard it too, for she stiffened, and her eyes go very wide. The two of them almost moved in unison, as they turned towards the direction of the noise.

They see it stumbling out of a doorway, one of the same skeletal creatures that had chased her the night before. Yet, under the light of the sun its movements looked clumsy, and it seemed almost pitiable. However, the mere sight of it still sent a chill down her spine, and her heart pounded violently in her chest as its empty eyes locked onto them.

As the first creature staggered out onto the street, another materialised from the shadows behind it. A dreadful question crossed Alice's mind, as she wondered whether a third would emerge, and then a fourth behind that!?

Suddenly there was a sharp tug at her arm. Alice did not need to look to know what Chiyo wanted, and she was very much inclined to agree. She did not resist as the other woman pulled her along, one hand still grasped tightly around her wrist, and together the two of them picked their way back through the streets of the village and into the wilderness beyond.

As they crossed into the shadows of the trees, Alice thought that she heard a raven cawing harshly from somewhere high above them.

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