I awoke with Kora kneeling over me, Shion opened and colored wind swirling about me in hues of pink and blue. The girl was gritting her teeth, her eyes closed in concentration. I felt heavy, and for several minutes I couldn’t even muster the energy to open my mouth to speak to her. It would take several moments to get the strength to groan out her name. The wind stopped and her brown eyes opened and looked down at me in what I assumed to be relief.

“Yoo-zoo-ki! Oh good, you’re awake!” Kora fussed, and I nodded my head.

“Leon?” My voice was soft and weak, and it was then that I noticed I felt like I had been drained of all substances that could have been mistaken for energy or strength. I tried sitting up, prompting Kora to scoot behind me and help lift me up.

“Rachel is working on him.” She murmured in the quietest voice I’d ever heard her speak in. I took in the sight of Leon, lying not too far away on his back, the pretty blue-eyed girl standing over him, shaking her stick-like Soulmate over him. Nakita stood guard, her back to us all as she watched the village carefully.

“What happened?” I asked, looking around confused. “How did I get us out? I don’t… I don’t know what happened.” I leaned into Kora, succumbing to the need for her support in this moment as she shook her head in my peripheral.

“Neither do we honey. You’re crazy. You know that right? That miasma kills us by sapping our spirit energy away. It’s a toxin left behind by spirits who were taken forcibly by Tisin. The theory has it that it’s because they’re fighting the Tisin even when nothing of them is left but energy. You seriously could have been killed… again!” Kora lectured me and I sighed.

“Who saved us Kora? Did you use your wind?” I asked irritably. I didn’t feel patient enough for a conversation where I was being told I was crazy and I didn’t quite care about what that miasma was. I wanted to know what happened. There was an urgent feeling in the bottom of my chest and an annoying empty space in my mind where it felt as if I should know something I didn’t.

“No one. You came crashing out of the miasma with Leon on your own. Flying like something had knocked you into last week. Your entire body was glowing a pretty purple and as soon as you landed and broke off from the Chief you dimmed like a tired firefly.” Kora descriptively told me and I sighed.

I couldn’t even imagine such a thing happening. I looked at her, I could feel the stubborn tightness of my face and I was about to demand she stop messing with me when a long groan came from the space where Rachel was healing Leon. Even Nakita had turned, her dark face drawn in relief.

Kora and I fell silent as we watched Rachel help Leon sit up, both of them looking exhausted.

“What happened?” Leon asked softly, looking around in a dazed fashion. At this, Kora huffed in an aggravated way, and I felt my frustration melt as amusement took its place. Nakita turned and went to Leon, squatting in front of him, and jerking her head in my direction.

“What happens is you gotta crazy girl on your team! And I bet dat dis won’t be da last time ya life be saved by ‘er.” She said simply in her cryptic way. Immediately my amusement faded and was replaced by irritation. I didn’t enjoy being called crazy, and more importantly, no one seemed to be able to give us a straight answer as to what happened.

“Do you mind?” I burst out, glaring in their direction. Nakita turned her dark eyes towards me and studied me with a solemn expression.

“I was complimenting you, girl. Take it or leave it.” She responded. Leon still looked confused and Rachel once again assumed the position of reporter. She informed him quickly of the tale of how he had not made it from the miasma, and I had gone back in for him.

“How she got you two out is still not clear though. It looked as if you guys had been thrown by something, and her aura was making it impossible to see you guys through its brightness.” She concluded. Leon shook his head, looking at me almost reproachfully.

“They went to answer the SOS call. Something made the Tisin here fall back once it had devoured the souls.” Rachel answered. Worry nagged at my gut, and I struggled to try and sit up.

“We must go immediately!” I said, struggling to get to my feet.

“Uh, I got news for you sweetheart. You’re probably not fit enough to sit up straight in your own saddles, let alone go sword-slinging into a fight.” Kora butted in, putting her hands on my shoulders.

“I’m new around here, so let me make sure I understand this. An order came from CiCi, and we don’t disobey her under any circumstances unless we have a good ulterior motive?” I snarked at her, twisting the words she’d said to me on our first meeting.

“This is different and you know it! You need to think of your well-being! You’re not the only one counting on you anymore, and you’re not the only one wounded!” Kora began in an outraged voice.

“And isn’t that precisely why we need to go? More people could get hurt!” I countered, though deep inside I knew the girl was correct.

“That is precisely why you should stop being so bull-” She said, taking a step towards me but Leon quickly intervened.

“Enough. Yuzuki is right. We must go see if they still need us. Kora, you’re a healer but you are also a fighter and Nakita is one of the strongest we have. They will need all the manpower we can get. If there are wounded, two healers being here isn’t going to be helpful.” He directed as he and I both slowly rose to our feet.

Once I was up, it was a brief battle to stay up. My head swam and I felt top heavy, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach threatened to humiliate me. Still, I caught my balance as Kora stood and glared at me.

“Y’all should be headin’ home. Resting.” She scolded me. For some reason and, though I knew it was rational, her words irked me. I felt as if she were chastising me like I were a child and her choice of words rose within me an inexplicable anger. I knew it was irrational but I turned to her. Sometimes when you are in the heat of the moment you do not think, but you can feel the ugliness within you. In that moment I could feel the ugliness of the look I gave her.

“Just because I reside somewhere does not mean it is my home. And I am not feeble-minded. I am more than capable of making decisions for myself.” I snapped. The hurt that crossed the brunette’s features stopped me from any further bite that I may have wanted to add. I immediately felt bad for my irrational anger and I stepped back, looking down at the ground.“ I’m...sorry.” I stumbled. Kora shook her head and brushed past me, heading towards the horses. I let out a little sigh and was about to move towards my own horse when a tap on my shoulder caused me to turn, staring into the blue eyes of Rachel.

“Kora’s abrasive and outspoken. You’re different from everyone here. You’re new. She’s never experienced a newly transcended. Claus, CiCi, Leon and Malakaii. They were here long before she existed here. She was born here so she’d never be able to understand that you may be having a difficult time settling in.” The girl’s voice was almost protective as she spoke about Kora. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

“To be frank with you, if she can’t handle people’s negative reactions she shouldn’t be so outspoken. I’m sure she’s been told that, however, so exactly what is your point?” I asked impatiently, and the girl smiled a bit and laughed.

“So try to have patience. The frustration you’re feeling towards her and… everyone else. It may be being experienced towards you. It’s just an inevitability when people don’t understand each other. When you let yourself be comfortable here, you won’t feel so estranged. Kora cares about you, her words weren’t out of anger. They are out of worry. Sometimes, her love makes her bossy.” Rachel concluded before stepping around me lithely.

What was with people and giving out their unwanted advice and opinions today? I watched the woman go, tempted to walk back into the miasma. Other people were the exact reason why assassins only kept to their small clan. Nakita brought my Arabian and looked at me with a mocking smile.

“Feeling sensitive girl? Why is dat?” She asked as I took the lead of the horse from her.

“No. Not I too. Not mah concern. Eh girl, listen to yourself would you? Not your words. Something is off with you, yes? Listen to the self to right it. You will feel better.” Nakita laughed. I had to resist the urge to hiss nasty words at her as I climbed onto my horse - and then our group began to make its way towards whatever horrors the next village over held for us.

We heard the clamor before we arrived, and we all urged our horses a bit faster. We arrived at a haggard group of bruised and beat-up spirit warriors, CiCi and Claus among them. They were all fighting off the last remnants of Tisin of all sizes and shapes of the group that had ravaged this little village. Leon, Nakita, and I all jumped off of our horses to join the fray. They were weak spirits, and it was easy enough to cleanse them before the last of them scattered into the forest, even in my weakened state.

“Is anyone seriously injured?” Leon asked as Claus began to give orders in his loud accent that purred his “R” sounds.

“Regroup, gather yourselves. I want groups of two to plant themselves around the perimeter of the village to keep an eye out. Keep your Soulmate out and stay alert! You four - begin cleansing the corpses you find. You get into the town hall and check on the people, assure them that they are safe now.”

“That is an especially good idea since there is a big one out there,” I remarked tiredly, the snipe in my voice causing CiCi to shoot her emerald eyes at me as she stopped near Leon. We were in the center of this new village, almost identical to the last - except instead of seemingly endless corpses, there were only scattered ones here and there. I cleansed one as I passed causing a flower to spring up in my wake. I stopped near them as Claus and Leon finally joined me, and I took the opportunity to lean against the wall of a nearby building. All I wanted to do was sleep.

“What is this about a ‘big one?’” CiCi asked Leon, her green eyes turning from me to him, frowning. I looked at him from my spot, searching his face once again. His dark earthy eyes caught mine for a split second - but he jerked his head towards CiCi almost immediately and I was left to wonder for a moment what I had done to cause this reaction. Perhaps it was my words to Kora that had upset him.

“The other village that was attacked. When we arrived they were all dead. No survivors. But the dead had been left as corpses. Not a single soul had been devoured.” Leon began. He trailed off here as CiCi and Claus turned to each other, her face set in what seemed to be angry confusion and Claus’ blue eyes wide. Leon waited until both sets of eyes were on him again before he continued. “We were in the middle of doing the cleanup work when we were attacked. It was the biggest Tisin I had ever seen, CiCi. It was strange. It was able to reach out. It began to feast on the souls left inside the corpses all at once. Strands of dark energy that reached through it. We tried to fight it off, but it completely ignored us and just continued to focus on the dead spirits. We had managed to purify a large portion of corpses, but not enough to keep it from gathering a good chunk of energy from this village. It ate and then it left.”

“Claus, can you explain this behavior to me?” CiCi turned to the elderly plump gentleman who shook his head, reaching up with his giant hands and fixing the comparatively small spectacles on his face.

“I cannot, CiCi. Not once ever have I ever heard of this. And you would know, you have been dealing with Tisin for longer than I have.” He responded in a soft voice, wariness for once clouding the joviality that usually resonated within his booming words. It was then that I pushed myself off the wall. I could feel my heart beating loudly, and a foul taste covering my tongue as I stared hard up at all of my teachers.

“Are you telling me that not a single one of you has heard of this ever happening?” I asked. Claus and CiCi both looked toward me, their faces reflecting the unnatural feeling of fear that I felt.

“I’m afraid so, Lass,” Claus answered simply and I felt my breath rush from me.

“It’s not normal for Tisin to come in such large packs. Generally, they consist of one or two, maybe three. But they are all vying so much for power or trying to sustain their existence that they either end up devouring each other or separating. Groups never stay together long.” CiCi added on. “We will need to gather intelligence. For now, however, we will need to make the effort to double the worldly patrols. Warrior City in the North, East, and West will need to be notified of this. Perhaps they have some insight on this as well. For now, let's get this group home. This village won’t be safe if we leave the villagers here.” CiCi turned and began making her way to the lines of people that had come flowing through the doors of houses gathering around us in the center of the village.

Looking around I saw people who were helpless. Young women holding onto children, clutching at the arms of men. Elderly spirits had clusters of people of all ages around them, hands touching them gently to make sure they were steady, or just for the comfort of their wise presence. Faces were full of fear and grief.

Kora’s words from our argument earlier ran through my mind at an almost painful volume. She was right. There were others counting on me now and not just my fellow warriors. These people were counting on me, and all of us. To get along, to work together, to be safe so that we could make them safe. So we could protect their children or their mothers and fathers. To protect their sisters or those with no family to their name.

Guilt ran through me and I turned, making my way tiredly through the crowd back to the outskirts where my horse was waiting for me. I was lucky that the Tisin had been running away when we had arrived and not launching a full-scale attack. Or my efforts to save Leon and the efforts of Rachel and Kora healing us would have been for naught. I was in no condition to expend any more energy. I owed Kora an apology.

I found Kora with Rachel healing the wounded of the village just beyond the border and I approached, ignoring the brunette next to Kora.

“What?” She asked in a rather impatient voice and I let out a small laugh. I deserved that kind of attitude from her, and she was always so easy to read. It was strange to me how someone could so easily express themselves so freely. Kora had no inhibitions when it came to showing her true feelings with her entire existence.

“I’m sorry,” I said simply, watching her carefully as she paused and looked up at me with almost suspicious eyes that were glowing emeralds from using her soulmate and healing other spirits. “You were right. This is a new place and the consequences of me making rash decisions affect more than just myself now. The team I was a part of before coming to Limbo wasn’t exactly a cooperative unit. So I hope you will forgive my ignorance.”

It was hard for me to spit out my apology. So long had I been detached from myself that these feelings felt raw and sharp against my nerves. I’d lost sight of who I was while I was detached - and as the feelings came rushing in now I was finally free to let them. And they were getting me in trouble. I was rewarded though by Kora who smiled up at me however and stood up, reaching out and touching my arm.

“I wasn’t even mad in the first place.” She said smoothly and I found myself smiling at her. I didn’t buy that for a second. But I said nothing and nodded at her and turned, taking my horse off of a helpful young village boy before mounting up and staying out of the way as everyone rounded up and headed off.

In the days following I had barely any time to breathe or sleep let alone think or try to get in touch with Leon. He sent me out on patrols, day after day. Some days were quiet and some days we would stumble across a freshly massacred village - or we would arrive just in time to save the innocent souls. Slowly large groups of Warriors were being dispatched to patrol more often. The other cities that were founded to cover Limbo knew nothing about these attacks when they were first contacted. Once they were made aware they sent Warriors from other cities to do wider patrols more frequently.

Claus grew more worried with each passing day. The old happy man did not understand the behavior and his only theory was that somehow the large spider Tisin had developed an alpha relationship with a large number of weaker, smaller Tisin. Handing my reports in at the end of the day was a sad time for me. The old man who’d been so kind and happy when I’d first met him had grown into a man of severity.

“Claus, can you tell me exactly why it’s not possible for a Tisin to develop an Alpha relationship with another Tisin?” I asked him one day. He’d simply shook his head, his hands stroking his curly snow-white beard.

“No. I can’t. But I also cannot tell you how it is possible Lass. I’ve studied Tisin behavior as long as I have come into this world. And never once before have I ever seen a bond or kind of kinship between the beasts before. The only way I can imagine such a thing happening is that Tisin has some kind of hold over them…”

“But they are much smaller. Weaker. Is it possible they know that it could devour them as well? So they perhaps listen to it so that it does not eat them?”

“That’s one of the few things that make sense. However, establishing an Alpha relationship would mean this particularly large spider Tisin has intelligence, maybe even sentience. I’ve only ever known Tisin to be creatures of instinct and rage.” Claus pointed out to me which made me frown. Claus had an office and looking around it was furnished with lavish, soft furniture. A wooden desk that was cluttered with beautiful ornaments and pens - and drawings covered the walls of his office as well. Drawings the children had drawn for him. It wasn’t hard to pick out the things that Claus liked. He liked the colors red and green. And he had a thing for bells and bows.

“Perhaps after being able to feed on so many spirits they can gain that intelligence, or rise above the instinct? After all, it was able to reach out and absorb hundreds of souls at once. Maybe you’ve never seen a Tisin that was as evolved or as powerful as this. Who knows what they are capable of when they reach a peak in their powers from how many souls it’s devoured.”

“Yes, perhaps Lass. But again this is...new. The very nature of Tisin doesn’t allow them to survive long enough to get past a certain point. And what concerns me also is that we have not seen it since. It has been almost three weeks.” He said, leaning back into his chair and playing with the hem of his purple and yellow Hawaiian-themed shirt.

“It’s good at hiding?” I suggested pitifully, feeling less and less helpful by the second.

“Or perhaps it’s only coming out during Dark Hours. Coming to feast on souls the smaller Tisin leave behind. We’ve never discovered the secrets behind the Dark Hours. And Tisin are not particularly intelligent creatures and yet this one seems to act like a villain mastermind.”

“Oh, Claus...we’ll get to the bottom of it,” I said soothingly, reaching out and patting his thick arm. He turned and smiled at him, for a moment the old twinkle in his brilliantly blue eyes returning.

“Ah, Lass. Look at all the progress you have made. You’ve been here for such a short time from a dark world. You are turning into quite the kind young lady.” He complimented me and I couldn’t help the grin that etched itself widely on my face.

“Kind or not. It’s after hours and she needs to be resting for her next patrol tomorrow.” a sharp voice said from the doorway. I turned my eyes to see Leon giving me a hard look and a strange jolt of dejection gripped me. It hadn’t taken much in the last few weeks to figure out he’d been avoiding me. I stood and nodded to Claus who stood with me.

I don’t know what his observant eyes had seen across my face when I saw that it was Leon who spoke, but he cleared his throat.

“And our very own Chief Leon would be the kind of gentleman who walked a lady to her room after a long day of exhausting work during the dark hours of the night.” He said sternly. “But yes, it is about time to retire. I shall see you both on the morrow.” Claus said, patting my shoulder as he passed me. “And that was not just a suggestion, Chief Leon,” Claus said sternly as he pressed through the doorway.

I kept my eyes down as I passed Leon who’d remained silent and walked through the maze of buildings I’d come to get to know despite the constant changes to our outside world. As I exited, I saw that our world was a quiet scenery. It was a forest - a common setting for our world. The buildings all looked like huts and log cabins and I quickly began to make my way to my residence, not bothering to see if Leon had followed the order from Claus, and the heavy silence rang loudly in my ears.

“Yuzuki.” A soft resigned voice called out behind me. I looked back at Leon who’d been following me from a small distance.

“What is it?” I asked, not bothering to stop. My hands needed something to do so I reached up and pulled my long braid over my shoulder, and loosened it, freeing it of the restraint. I was still unaware of what I had done to cause his ire at me, and I did not feel I had deserved it.

“Yuzuki. Stop.” He ordered and so I did. My heart had begun to beat in my chest with anxiety and all too quickly my braid was completely loosened, my hair flowing around me freely.

“We… I’m sorry. I know I’ve been rather distant from what I used to be.” He had started out hesitantly and then finished off, his voice tense as he tried to make himself seem collected. For some reason, this farce of an apology irritated me and I felt that careful control I’d been trained to have slid into place as it usually did when I felt defensive.

“Yeah. It’s okay. Once I got the hang of life here, I honestly didn’t expect you to hang around much. I’m one of many and you are a leader. You’ve got things to do. Helping me to adjust to this life was just one of them.” I responded, looking over my shoulder at him as I spoke. The darkness shrouded his face but I heard an intake of breath as I spoke. I turned away from him and began to walk again and I became aware of him as he made his way up next to me.

“So, is that it? You think I was simply treating you like any other subordinate?” He asked, his voice sounding strained.

“What else would it be? I mean perhaps not any other. I am after all different from most of the others. I needed a bit of special care. It was your job to provide it. Now I’m okay on my own, I get it.” I responded, keeping my voice detached from the lies I was spouting. Truth be told I had thought we’d grown to be friends. We were a quiet pair, and we hadn’t really delved too much into each other - I knew nothing personal about him. But the simple fact was I had thought we were friends and his distance and avoidance had hurt me. At this time, I didn’t understand the difference between hurt and anger.

“Yuzuki! You’re kidding, right? That’s not why I’ve been-” He suddenly grabbed my arm, yanking me hard enough to make me whip around to look at him. The action caused a slight pain in my arm, and anger flared within me - my careful control slipping.

“Avoiding me? Then what? Tell me since you’re so interested in having this conversation.  I’d been just fine in the silence but since you have broken it, please. Spit it out. What am I not understanding here?” I snapped, pulling away from his grip and stepping back from him. Why I asked him those questions, I’ll still never know. The last thing I wanted was to hear his reasons. I just wanted to escape from him now. A burning in my eyes was warning me I was about to embarrass myself - and the anger that had been dulled until I’d seen him flared up beyond the point of grasping it once more.

“Yuzuki!” Leon growled warningly, and I let out an angry laugh and began to turn away from him. “Damn it, woman. Stop!” His hand once again found me, but this time it was my hand, and the pull was firm but far more gentle than the first. I was once again tugged around to look at him and once I was there, his hands reached up and placed themselves on my shoulders and then he shook me gently.

“You’re an idiot!” He hissed, causing my anger to rise as I glared at him. “I just… didn’t know how to approach you. You almost died! Yuzuki! Why would you do that? I would never want you to die in exchange for me! How stupid could you be?” He told me in a fierce, low tone.

It was here my anger faltered for just a moment. He was telling me he was angry with me for saving his life. Was he joking? Surely someone like Leon could not be so ridiculous?  I had grown to respect his knowledge, intelligence, and composure. But perhaps I had misjudged him. My anger flared again as he insulted me for the life he was living at that moment.

“Fine. Note to self. Don’t save Leon’s sorry ass again. He’ll only avoid you, then insult your intelligence for doing so.” I snapped angrily beginning to struggle to get away from him but his hands only tightened on me and he pulled me closer to him leaning his face close so he could see me more clearly in the darkness.

“That is not what I’m saying and you know it!” His voice was raised now and I paused. Leon was yelling. I had learned that when quiet stoic men raised their voices that meant they were angry, drunk, or both. None of those things had worked out for me in the past. And I was so much smaller than he was, his hands alone enveloped my biceps.  “I was angry because I’d rather die than someone I care about getting hurt for me!” He said softly, one hand releasing my shoulder and touching my cheek gently. “I was angry that you had put yourself in danger. For me! If it had been for one of the others I don’t think it would have been the same. But it was because of my mistake that you almost died. You have to understand. I have been the one doing the saving almost all of this lifetime. I very rarely make mistakes. Not once have I ever needed to be saved and...when I did someone nearly died for it. My friend, Yuzuki. You.” His voice had grown soft and my heart had calmed.

All at once my anger had faded and in its place, a relief had flooded through me and I couldn’t help but let out a little choked laugh.

“You’re the idiot,” I told him in a voice filled with embarrassing traces of the tears that wanted to escape. “I’ve not had much experience with friendships but it turns out I’m not the sort to just let my friends die if I can help it. I died once to protect people I cared for. I’d gladly do it again. And again. And again. As many times as it takes.” I could hear how fragile my voice sounded - the pain lancing through it was evident as Yuki’s young face flooded my mind. I was glad though, I knew at this moment she was safe and alive in the world of the living.

Leon was still for a moment before his arms wrapped around me and he pulled me into him I could feel the bare warmth of his chest on my face as he took me by surprise.

“Well. Then I guess I’ll just have to be on the lookout for anything that might endanger the people you care about.” He murmured softly in my ear. I let out a little surprised laugh and accepted the hug awkwardly. I didn’t understand our fight at the time, or the resolution, I only knew that I was sure of two things: hugs were very invasive of my personal space and I was sure if it had been anyone but Leon I would have been very uncomfortable, and I was glad Leon and I were talking again, and the stupid meaningless argument was over.

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Memoirs Of The In-Between Table Of Contents

Memoirs Of The In-Between: Chapter 8

Confusion, Chaos, and Communication

Chapter 8

I awoke with Kora kneeling over me, Shion opened and colored wind swirling about me in hues of pink and blue. The girl was gritting her teeth, her eyes closed in concentration. I felt heavy, and for several minutes I couldn’t even muster the energy to open my mouth to speak to her. It would take several moments to get the strength to groan out her name. The wind stopped and her brown eyes opened and looked down at me in what I assumed to be relief.



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Memoirs Of The In-Between: Chapter 8

Confusion, Chaos, and Communication

About the Creator

Hope Martin

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