Lily229

Ok, here's the next chapter @.@. I think it's as action packed as I'm going to get now-a-days. Let me get over a hump and then I'll be back to writing better.

Chapter 17

Lily stepped toward the edge of the woods, trying to remember how to get to the Forest of Cherry Blossoms. "Last time I was here, One led me there." Lily kicked up the dirt. "Stupid me for running off without even thinking about the details." She sighed and stared into the pitch black forest. "Guess I'll just have to close my eyes and go for it."

Lily took a big breath and dove right into the forest. She ducked and jump over passing tree limbs, keeping her eyes open, trying to make out anything that might bring her harm. She didn't stop running until she ran into a large clearing. Looking around, she saw that all the trees were dead and rotting, decaying pieces of a faded pink littered the ground. Lily bent down and touched one with her fingertip, only to have it disigrate at her touch. She gave a small gasp when she realized it was a cherry blossom pedal. She was in the Forest of Cherry Blossoms.

"What happened to this place," she said standing up and looking around at the death. "It looks like someone burned it down."

Lily's ear perked up when she heard a soft rustling around her. "Hello?" She called out, spinning around, trying to find where the noise was coming from and who was making it. "Is someone there?"

What Lily couldn't see was a hundred men and women with bows and arrows, pulling back and aiming directly for Lily. A woman appeared through the brush and held up her hand. "Stop," she commanded. "She's not an enemy!"

"Sa...Sakatsu?!" exclaimed Lily, spinning around and staring, open mouthed, at Sakatsu.

Sakatsu slid her guitar back behind her and smiled. "I didn't think I'd see you here again. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I need some questions answered and you told me that if I wanted to know more to seek you out. You didn't forget did you?"

Sakatsu chuckled. "Nah, I remember. I always keep my word. Come on." Sakatsu said as she led Lily through the forest.

Lily looked over her shoulder at the decaying forest. "What happened to it?"

"Not all that sure really, ever since a few days ago the things here in the forest have been bizarre and almost dead."

"What was that all about anyway?" asked Lily eyeing Sakatsu.

Sakatsu's bright face turned dark and grim. "My people have to be cautious during these hard times. Had I not shown up and told them you were a friend, you probably would be dead right now."

"Ep!" Lily stopped which had Sakatsu turning back and laughing.

"Relax, I was there wasn't I?" She pushed some brush away and stepped aside. "Welcome to the Village, Lily."

"Whoa..." A tiny town, with ruins for buildings. There was fires around the village where people were cooking food or trying to soak up as much warmth as possible. Tiny Virus's like the little red headed one Lily had seen earlier ran around, playing with children. It broke Lily's heart to see those same, happy children, dressed in dirty rags. "This village..."

"Our people have had no source of food or medicine, Tom has virtually cut us off. He has his own problems, hell I bet he doesn't even realize that there are still humans living here."

Lily looked over at Sakatsu as she led her through the dirty village. “This is terrible, Sakatsu.”

Sakatsu nodded. “It wasn’t always like this. It used to be a prosperous town, the streets were paved with gold if you might say.”

“Why don’t you move then if the conditions are so bad?”

Sakatsu stopped, staring at her feet, trying to find the rights words. “This…is our home. This is the only home we know. We can’t just leave it, we have to stand by it and hope for the best.”

“Sakatsu…”

A smile crept slowly on Sakatsu’s sad face. “I was abandoned by my mother just outside of this village. She was from NC but cast me away when she saw the mark on my back as a child, being a Hacker in their eyes is like leprosy. As I grew here, I heard stories of how great life use to be here, and I vowed to my foster mother that I would bring that happiness back.” She clenched her fists tight at her side. “No matter what.”

Lily walked next to Sakatsu and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I understand how you feel, I really do but at the same time you have to realize, people can’t live like this forever.”

Sakatsu’s head shot up, staring Lily down to where she took a step back in fear. “We’ve lived like this for the past twenty five years and we will continue to live it until the conditions get better. Once we take our revenge…” She grew more silent. “Then things will be better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come,” said Sakatsu, leading Lily to a giant white tent. Inside were a table and two chairs in the far left corner, a bed and a pit for a fire in the middle. Sakatsu ushered Lily to the table and sat down opposite of her. “Over a fifty years ago, this village was created by Tom’s father. He was just a normal human who stumbled upon a great land. Soon, others followed him when he returned to the Real World and told stories of a magical land of demons and prosper. Later on, he and his wife birthed two sons, one of them Tom, but their mother died while giving birth to Tom.”

“So that means he had an older brother!” exclaimed Lily.

“You’re sharp one eh?” Sakatsu crossed her legs and continued. “As they grew, the eldest of the brothers fell in love with a healer, born and raised here just as he was. During that time, a terrible epidemic took the lives of nearly 1/3 of the villages. The healer found a cure but soon, she too fell victim to the horrific disease. It drove the elder brother mad, so mad that he killed his own father then took his own life. Tom was the last remaining heir and fled from the village. Since the will from their father had given complete control of the village to the eldest of the two, the will was never change. Tom never gained control of the village, but now, he wants the territory back that he feels is rightfully his.”

“Eh?!” Lily stood up in excitement. “Where did Tom go then?”

“He created NC to keep Virus’s out and human’s in, then it became to overcrowded and he created NL which is where you reside today.”

“Why would Tom want to flee the village so badly?”

“They say that he watched his brother kill both their father and himself and to save his own life, fled.” Sakatsu shrugged. “You know how stories can get mixed up over time.” Sakatsu chuckled and slapped her forehead. “I’m sorry. You came all the way here to ask me something and I’m just mindlessly ranting away. Please, go on.”

“Who is Tom’s older brother?”

Sakatsu blinked, a little taken back. “What kind of question is that?”

Lily folded her hands gingerly in her lap and stared down at them. She spoke quietly. “How exactly did he die?”

Sakatsu propped her leg up on the table and leaned back in her chair. The knives in the heels of her boot gleamed contently before Lily’s eyes. “Hmm…That’s a tough question. No one really ever asked before. Mind if I ask why you’re so interested in knowing?”

Lily wrung out her hands in her lap. “Nevermind, just skip that question. Can you tell me what a ‘Pure Mark’ is?”

“Oh, now see that one’s easy!” Sakatsu sat forward, excited now to spread information. “A Pure Mark is created when a human and a Virus share a bond. Hacker Marks are created when a human receives a Hacker Item, but if there is no Hacker Item present but there is a Virus then what is known as a ‘Pure Mark’ will be created. You’ll see a lot of children around here have them.”

“Is it dangerous to the person’s life? Does it hurt them?”
Sakatsu smiled. “Come on now, we may be poor but we’re not cruel. If it hurt our people would we really let Virus’s live with us? The person with the Pure Mark is virtuously harmless, depending on how strong the Virus is.”

“How strong it is?!”

“Relax, relax. No real major side effects have ever been reported. I mean, hell, it is called a Pure Mark.”

“That’s true.” Lily clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “Sakatsu….Your Hacker Mark. Does it ever, hurt?”

“When you first get it, it can feel like it’s tearing at your skin but it usually goes away.”

“Have you ever touched your Mark?”

Sakatsu’s eyes gleamed over. “You touched it didn’t you!?” Sakatsu stomped her legs excitedly against the dirt floor. “You know that Virus’s can be created by Hackers right?” Lily nodded. “Well that place on your back is where they come from. It’s basically like a birthing place, although it feels more like limbo if you ask me.”

“When you went inside, was it really cold and dark? Did you feel…lonely standing in there?”

“Standing in there?!” Sakatsu’s sudden voice change had Lily jumping slightly. “You’re not supposed to go into there! You can see but you can’t become part of it that could be dangerous. How could you even possibly pull that off? I’ve been in there for hours and alls I can do is looked down upon it like I’m flying.”

“Is it dark and lonely?” Lily asked again.

“Not really. It’s a place of birth, usually people are happy by it.” Sakatsu raised her right eyebrow. “What exactly do you have going on in there?”

“It’s nothing really.” Lily looked around the room. “This is a terrible way to live, Sakatsu. You should change it.”

Sakatsu’s excited stomping ceased. Her face grew cold and stern. “Oh, we will change it.”

"How so?" asked Lily.
"NC is pushing for war against us. They want to take our land and clean it out to make room for an extension on the city and when we wouldn't give it up as easily as they had hoped, they threatened us with violence. Any day now, they could attack us." Sakatsu pushed her chair back and walked over to the pit. "Do you like hot chocolate? It's a little strong and bitter but it makes you feel alive."

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