Chapter Text
Crunch. Crunch.
The ice beneath her feet cracks and breaks. She drags her limping body through the mounds of snow and frost, lagging between her right and left foot. "It's so cold, it's so cold." Her brain doesn't seem to be able to think of anything else. Where was she going? The white hills and valleys seem to freeze even her sense of direction for a moment. The journey had been long; it was the fourth day and there appeared to be no end in sight. Her foremothers' strength terrified her. She closed her eyes and inhaled the stinging frost through her nose, allowing the cold air to circulate through her lungs. She accepted her fate yet again. Though death would be preferable to battling the mountain's cold, the faces of her family and friends flash through her eyes dead, and she shivers even more than any amount of cold could make her.
With a flinch and a chill down her spine, the wind brushed against her large cloth, and her face was illuminated in the sunlight. A young and fair-skinned woman, no older than a teenager. Her gaze was sharp; she had a hawk’s daunting and narrow eyes that felt like they would pierce steel just by staring. She had a jaw that was well-defined and thick, like a man’s, though it did not affect the beauty of her face. Her hair fluttered and glistened in the air, and the red-head gave off a fire texture, each strand resembling an unquenchable fire. With a sudden tremble, the girl frantically covered herself once more. With a hard tug on her hood the girl pressed forward, clenching the child in her arms like it was her own life.
~
“Ryo, stay calm now. Mommy’s doing all she can.”
The child sobbed uncontrollably, convulsing in his wrap and pulling on his quilt. It had been hours; hours of her cradling him, hours of her singing, hours of sleep she wouldn’t be able to get back. Squinting with her darkened eyes, she could see the sun rising past the hills. If not now, she would be forced to continue her journey without sleep. Ah, she felt her limbs simply refusing to move thinking that. After all, it wasn’t like she got much sleep the past two days either; each day in the cold, regardless of how much she fed it or sung to it, that child’s screams got louder and longer. It would sleep in the day and cry during the night. It wasn’t a secret she thought about laying down in the snow and dying on multiple occasions.
The child’s screaming muffled as hours passed, her ears seemed to adjust to the sound he was making. The mother laid on the snow. Staring at the sky, blankly dreaming of sleep as Ryo screamed even louder laying on her belly. She did nothing, yet the carnivorous cold enveloped her even further.
The stars seemed beautiful from the ground, glowing brighter and even more vivid at the same time. It felt like she was in the city again, lights of many colors spread everywhere she looked, vibrantly fluttering in her eyes. She felt blessed for the gift of sight for the first time in years. She remembered what life was like not being shackled by fate or her families’ purpose. Hmm, she could even hear the chatter of the city folk; talking about lascivious things, partying, drugs. Her parents were right, it was truly a city of sins. She chuckled unknowingly at that. The life she once knew was gone, deep down she felt her death was only a heartbeat away. She would never make it to the end of this journey.
Still screaming, the child rolled onto his mother’s chest, crying onto her blank face. She simply stared at Ryo, watching his face squish and his small eyebrows furrow, it was almost like he was trying to force her into giving him a warm place to sleep. This child who had been cold for over four days now still tried to find this warm place that did not exist. Instinctively bullying its own mother to get it. It knew nothing of warmth since it was born yet it still craved for this place.
“I did not bring you into this world for this,” She clung to that freezing child with both arms. “Wherever your soul may lead you to in the afterlife, please don’t wonder if your mother brought you in this world simply to freeze.”
She truly felt sorry for that child in the future who’ll wonder why it was born to begin with. A child thinking it was brought into the light to die for the lives of others. Even if she did not live her life til its proper end, she experienced love, having dreams, even bringing a child of her own into the world. Ryo was not meant to end in a field of snow, clutching his mother for dear life; Ryo was not meant to be sacrificed so his elders' lives would continue. He had no control over his own body and could not be held accountable for anything he does; all he could do is rely on his parental love. He did not choose to be born, nor did he have the ability or understanding to refuse it. A child was meant to have its freedom protected by its parents, develop that freedom, and eventually use it to find peace in its mind.
“I failed as a parent Ryo,” She said as drops of tears formed in her eyes. “When your life comes to an end and your soul is reborn, live your life the way you want it. Don’t submit yourself to anyone or comply with rules that were made by someone older than you.”
In the distance the birds of the early morning begin to caw and start their morning routines. As the night came to a close, the weather of the mountain continued its assault of snow on its hilly surface, covering the mother and child like a blanket. Frigid winds assaulted them from all sides, and even as their life forces faded the mother smiled at her son, keeping the child warm for as long as possible.
“This world.. Explore it far and wide, Ryo. Each human being lives a unique experience, mine may have been full of mistakes I can never take back, but maybe yours will be better… Live a simple life, be free.”
Silence.
Both mother and child find peace in their slumber, one eternal, one temporary. A life ends here and one begins.
With an hour between the night and the day time, something emerged from the shadows with their eyes slit like those of a reptile and a bright red glow emanating from all around them as if they had just come into existence. A creature of the night announced its presence.