The Village Hidden in the Sunlight

Kymin blinked, turning to look at Felix when the silver haired shinobi sat up, pulling his pants up the rest of the way. Buttoning them with one hand was always a pain in the ass, but he managed. "I'm fine, I just wanted to go get something from the vending machine," he said, giving Felix a small smile. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back up before you know it," he told him. At least it was easier to force a smile. Actually, maybe a coffee would be better suited for a night of sleeplessness. They had vending machines for coffee, right? Most hospitals did.

Back at the house he'd told Kymin that there was no keeping secrets, but that didn't seem to apply here. It looked like here, now, because of the events that happened, they were no longer in position to be picky about who lied and who didn't. Felix could see the forced smile, it was natural. Kymin was just trying to keep him from being worried. Unfortunately it was too late for that. Felix nodded. "Alright," he said. "Don't be too long. It's not as warm without you over here." It was a weak joke and probably fruitless, but he could at least try. This trip was no longer joyful, but a dirty reminder that nothing ever went as planned.

Kymin smiled, nodding at Felix's joke, and slipped one arm into his shirt, laying the other half over his shoulder, so he wasn't walking around half naked. He didn't bother buttoning it, because it would've been too much of a hassle, and probably would've moved his arm. Just like Kymin said, he went down to get a coffee from a floor below, taking the elevator. When he tried taking his money out, a friendly looking nurse came up to him and offered to pay. Well, not really offered, but moreso...just put her money into the machine and offered him a nice night before walking off with a smile. It left Kymin feeling a bit dumbfounded, but he shook his head and thanked her, pressing a button for coffee anyways.

Really, Kymin wanted to sit in the cafeteria for a while, just so Felix didn't have to see how worked up he was over this. He didn't even know if Felix had seen the creature or not. Ah, but if Felix had, he probably would have understood Kymin's fear. Eyes downcast, he walked back into the room and slid on the bed after putting his coffee down on the table next to his bed. It was still a bit too hot to drink. Kymin lightly pushed hair out of Felix's face. "Hey, you awake?" he whispered. He raised his bed just a little bit, so he wouldn't be laying completely flat. If he didn't, he'd probably have ended up falling asleep again. But he hadn't raised it so much that Felix couldn't use his chest as a pillow if he so desired.

(which he wouldn't because he remembers the burns on Kymin's chest.)

Felix had lay silent in bed. His eyes closed as he listened to the silence throughout the hospital. He hated the quiet of this place. He hated how it meant death. He curled up lightly. Would this have happened if I'd just sent him away like you told me? You spend a lot of time worry about something you had no control over. It was bound to happen. This is not your battle Felix, Kymin is on his own. Felix shook his head. No one should have to walk their paths alone, especially when such horror lies in their wake. The silver haired jonin opened his eyes when Kymin came in, asking if he was awake. "Yeah," he answered. Do you plan on doing something about it then? Felix kept from narrowing his eyes because he didn't want Kymin to get the wrong idea. Don't you think I'd be doing it if I knew how? You're so determined to help even when it's hopeless. You're a lost cause little boy of silver and blue. To think you used to scold Serenity for the very actions you preform now. Hypocritical indeed. Felix really wished Kymin wasn't in the room. His facial expressions would have read pissed off, but it stayed straight with a small smile. Go pester someone else, Felix finally thought. If I want your opinion I'll be sure to ask....

(...oh yeah.)

Kymin was glad Felix was awake. He wanted to ask him something. He wasn't sure if he'd have the guts to bring it up again in the morning. "Good...I wanted to ask...did..." he took a breath, faltering at the memory. "Did you see it..?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper. As if speaking any louder would summon the creature to their bedside. He tried to push the thought from his head. He wanted to tell Felix about this. Wanted the silver haired ninja to know why he couldn't just push this event behind them. With anything else, he would have been able to do so, but not this...

Felix blinked when Kymin whispered. He had to strain to hear what the guy was saying. "No, I didn't see it," he said as he propped himself. He'd wanted Kymin to let him know what was going on, but he suddenly regretted it. Kymin seemed to be struggling just talking about. "Hey, if you're not ready, you don't have to tell me." He gave a small smile, but it didn't stay on his face for long. What horrible secrets was he about to learn. What godawful creature would Kymin let him know had done the damage.

Damn. This might be harder to explain knowing that Felix hadn't seen Batsu. Kymin shook his head lightly. "I'm...I don't think this is something that's going to get easier with time," he said with a half-hearted chuckle. "The thing that attacked me...well...it-it wasn't human. It could have been, but..." He paused. "I think...my clan created that thing..." he said, his gaze on the sheets. "In the village...what I saw...that thing was eating the souls of the villagers...did you feel that pull when we went in..?" he asked, finally looking at Felix. Those green eyes looked terribly guilty.

Felix stayed silent when Kymin said it wouldn't get easier. Felix continued to remain silent as Kymin spoke. He'd figured it wasn't human. What human took a chunk out of a person arm and their hearts! It ate hearts for Christ's sake. Felix's eyes widened when Kymin said he clan was responsible. Felix had to keep from Kymin. Why would the Onihana create such a monster? "I felt it, but I thought it was something else...." He shook his head. "Why do you think it was your Clan that made it?" When he saw the guilty look in Kymin's eyes he blinked. "Kymin, that thing could have come from anywhere, maybe even the Unknown."

The black haired ninja shook his head, looking down again. "No...it only attacked me after establishing that I was of the Onihana clan," he said, his voice quivering lightly. "That pull..." Kymin shook his head. "Souls don't make noise, but it was almost like I could hear them screaming," he said, his eyes shining with the threat of forming tears. He quickly blinked and turned to pick up his coffee, which was a bit difficult considering he had to reach across his own injured arm to do so. He liked the feel of the hot cup in his hand. He took a small drink, only to find the coffee was still too hot to drink easily. He didn't actually care anymore, and drank it anyways. "I think that thing was the soul of one of the newborns," he said quietly, looking into his cup with a shaky breath. With the next thought that hit him, he had to hold back from breaking down. "It might've even been one of the one's I'd had to extract," he said, drinking more of the scolding coffee. That was what was killing him most. What if it knew? What if it had been him to extract that soul, and the creature knew it?

Felix blinked. How could it have know Kymin was of the Onihana? Felix couldn't relate to what Kymin was saying, but he figured it'd been unpleasant. When he saw the green eyed male on the verge of tears, Felix started to reach out to him, drawing his hand back when Kymin to get his coffee. So this is what the water spirit was talking about. He couldn't help Kymin. He couldn't see souls, so he couldn't fully grasp what was going on. So that was what happened to the newborn souls? They became monsters that ate hearts and souls? "Don't just go assuming that you were the one that took it out," he said quickly. "It's not your fault." Felix was silent for a moment.

Kymin could only shake his head lightly, taking a drink of his coffee before putting it back on the table, cringing lightly. He sat back against the bed, letting his hand unconsciously drift to the burn on his neck as he spoke. "That's not really the point...it could be one I took out, considering all souls start out very much the same in the beginning," he spoke softly. "Except for the color. They don't have any knowledge of this world upon arriving in it," he said, looking down. He didn't like what his clan did, he'd admit it. But he didn't mind being reborn. He wasn't afraid of death. He was afraid of ceasing to exist. He glanced at Felix. If Kymin ceased to exist, he'd never be able to see Felix again. The thought hurt. He looked back down. "I just...don't think this is something that I'll be able to get over so easily...but, please try not to worry about me," he said, looking to Felix. "Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later...I just have to find a way to fix it," he said, finally giving a small smile. Yes, he'd made a promise to Felix not to play the hero. But maybe he didn't have to. He could find a way to fix this without endangering his life, right?

....that was a lot to ask for, actually.

The silver haired shinobi looked at Kymin as he reached for his neck. Felix wanted to argue logic. That if the souls knew nothing upon arriving in the world, then this thing clearly wouldn't know if he'd extracted it or not. But he decided against it. He didn't want to fight with Kymin. Felix was silent a a long time when Kymin told him to not worry. That kind of felt like a slap in the face, but Felix nodded anyway. "I'll try not to," he said quietly. He met Kymin's gaze when the guy said he'd fix it. "It nearly killed you Kymin...how are you going to fight something that slaughtered an entire village in a matter of moments?" Felix looked down at the sheets. "It could have killed you...why didn't it?"

"I...I don't think I'll be fighting it," he said quietly. "There has to be another way.." he whispered. It was Kymin's turn to be silent for a long moment after Felix asked why it hadn't killed him. Remembering the words made him shiver, a wave of fear passing over him. "It...wanted me to become stronger...so that I could fight it, as an equal, it said..." Kymin swallowed. "It said I was weaker than the last time it'd seen me..." he admitted solemnly. "I...think..." He paused, another shiver passing through him. "I don't know what to think..." he finally said.

Felix didn't know any other way that fighting, but Kymin was a strategist, he knew how to handle these kinds of situations, right? Felix saw the black haired ninja shiver and he felt bad for asking. Had that been the reason Kymin had said he'd have to fix this. Felix's shoulder slumped and he sighed. "I don't like this...but if it's what you want, then I'll go along with it." He tugged at the bandages on his arms. "Just don't go getting yourself killed, okay?" Felix didn't want to let Kymin go off cleaning up his Clan's mess, but he was in no position to oppose the other male's decision. Felix turned his head to the side. "You should go back to the Sand and tell them of the issue at hand. You'll need all of your ninja training if things don't go over as planned."

Kymin looked at Felix when the other ninja sighed. He felt bad about this. Things had only started going well. "I made you a promise. I'm not going to do anything stupid," he said with a light smile. "Or reckless. Or heroic. Or stupid," he said a second time. He figured Felix could use a joke right now. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, Kymin felt better after telling Felix about this. "This thing can't be beat by any means physical. It knows this, I know this. It...was just taunting me," he said, shaking his head. The thing was going to let him live in fear. "There's no need to go to the Sand right now." He paused and gave Felix a small smile. "I haven't spent nearly enough time with you yet to just go running off."

The silver haired ninja tilted his head when Kymin started naming off the things he wouldn't do. "I get it," he said shortly. "Taunting you? Why?" The way Kymin said it, it made Felix think that the creature had thought of Kymin as nothing more than prey taht could be easily eaten, but it'd play with it's food for a while. Felix blinked when Kymin said he hadn't spent enough to time with him. Why couldn't he be serious? This was serious. That thing was destroying villages. Kymin needed to find a way to stop it now, not later. How many more people would have to die because they chose to stay together? Felix didn't want that on his conscious. "I know, but...." Felix trailed off. "Never mind, it's unimportant, I'm being difficult." He put his hand to the back of his head and gave a small laugh. "You know, we're in the Sunlight Village." Underneath his laughing, Felix had come up with a plan. He'd hate to leave Kymin in such a way, but if it meant saving the lives of hundred he'd do it. They could have the lifetime after next together, maybe.

"It hates me, for being an Onihana I think...but, I think there's more. It's like...the thing knew me personally..." he said lightly, swallowing. "No, what is it?" he asked, when Felix said it was unimportant. It probably wasn't unimportant. Felix probably just didn't want things turning more sour than they were now. Which Kymin could understand, but still. The black haired ninja blinked and turned his attention to the window. "Is that where we are..?" he asked. "I was wondering about that..." He paused, but kept his gaze outside the window. "Did you...carry me all the way here..?" he asked quietly, his green eyes a bit sad. How had Felix reacted, seeing him in such a horrible state? He tried to imagine how he would've reacted if he'd been in Felix's shoes. He would have been mortified.

It hated him? It knew him personally? Felix was feeling worse and worse. He didn't like this feeling of uselessness. He'd work far too hard these past eight hundred years to be this weak against something like this. He decided not to say anything about it or the fact that Kymin had told him to say what he'd been thinking. Instead he gave an eager nod when asked if they were really in the Sunlight. "Convenient huh." He blinked when Kymin asked if he'd carried him all the way here. "No, Vishnu found help. A girl named Kinana helped me get you here. She's a ninja of this village and really friendly. So stop looking so sad, we're on vacation, remember?" He gave a small smile.

Kymin noted that Felix had avoided the question. He guessed that was fine for now. He nodded lightly. It was convenient. Very oddly convenient. "So that's what you meant when you said Vishnu earned his place," he chuckled softly, looking down at the sleeping puppy. Kymin actually smiled when Felix told him to cheer up. He was glad that the guy wasn't going to say anything about him not going to the Sand right away. His reasons for that were purely selfish. But he didn't want to tell Felix that this could be his last life if he wasn't careful. "Kinana, huh. That's a strange name," he said. "Anyways...let's look around the village tomorrow, huh? I'm...kinda tired right now," he said. Despite the coffee, he really was. "I didn't actually notice," he said, stifling a yawn. "Let's go back to sleep," he smiled. "Would you mind holding me again?" he asked, his green eyes glowing ever so lightly.

Felix was happy to see that glow in Kymin's eyes. He seemed so dead without that glow. He nodded lightly. "Sure," he said as he moved closer to the other ninja, sliding his arm under him and then laying the other over his stomach. "Goodnight, Kymin." Felix closed his eyes. Tomorrow they'd keep going forward, but there would always be that knowledge that Kymin would be facing that thing one day. Felix pushed it to the back of his mind, letting Kymin's warmth wash over him. Earlier Kymin had been so cold he thought he'd lost him for real. "I. Love. You." With that Felix drifted off to sleep. He was so ready for this day to be over with and start anew.

Kymin gave a small sigh of relief when he felt Felix's arms wrap around him. "Goodnight," he answered quietly, smiling at Felix's words. "I love you too.." he whispered, turning his head to give his silver haired lover a light kiss before letting himself drift off into sleep. The nightmares were still there, but they didn't wake him up this time.

The next morning, bright and early, Kinana had dropped by the hospital to see if the two from the day before were awake yet. However, when she got to the room, a mischievous grin spread over her face when she saw the position the two were in, and she walked back out without bothering to wake them up. It was pretty early anyways, and they'd had it rough. Once out of the room, the black haired girl snickered and instructed for Oliver to call her when the two woke up.

As soon as the girl exited the room, however, Kymin slowly blinked awake. He didn't feel all so refreshed. The pain in the dream hadn't been as real as before, but he remembered what it felt like all too well. "Was someone just in here..?" he muttered, slowly shifting so he could rub the sleep from one of his eyes.

Felix was nice and warm as he lay against Kymin. The morning came slow to him, because he was out cold, not even noticing when the door open and closed. He only stirred when Kymin moved. "Go back to sleep," Felix mumbled. He pulled his arm from under Kymin and tucked it against his chest, pulling the covers over his head. Felix was clearly not a morning person. He hadn't even bothered to open his eyes or register what the black haired ninja next to him had said. He didn't care. He still had a few hours of sleep to get.

Kymin smiled lightly when Felix mumbled, kissing the top of the other male's head. "Sorry for waking you up," he said quietly, shifting a bit again to get comfortable. He wasn't going back to sleep, but he'd wait until Felix woke up. In the meantime, Vishnu had woken up and was crawling over between the two males to lay down with them. It made Kymin smile, and he petted the puppy behind the ear, before letting it lay down. If it weren't for the night before and being in the hospital, Kymin would've called this a pretty nice morning.

Felix almost swatted Kymin away from him, but decided against it. When Vishnu climbed up between them, Felix grumbled but did nothing more than that. Moments later he'd fallen back asleep, waking up an hour and a half later feeling much better and in a less grumpy mood. He pushed the covers away and sat up with a yawn. "Good morning," he said as he ran his hand through his hair. "Let us commence with our day, as soon as I shower." He glanced down at his shirt and smirked. "Then we shall invest in a hotel and find us some breakfast before I starve to death." Felix was never one to complain about hunger, but when he exhausted himself in such a way he ended up with a killer appetite.

Kymin waited for Felix to wake up, looking outside while idly petting Vishnu, who didn't seem to mind. When a nurse came in, he asked her if she would mind so much heating up his coffee from the night before. It was only a couple minutes before she came back with a fresh cup, which Kymin greatly appreciated, and let her know so. Soon after this Felix had woken up, and Kymin was just about done with the coffee. "Ah, look who came back from the dead," he joked with a smile. "I think we should invest in a hotel and then shower. Hospital bathrooms are gross," he snickered lightly. Yeah, he was in a better mood than the night before. That, and he was just trying to hide the pain in his shoulder. And chest. And throat. God damn it, he hated burn wounds something fierce.