Well, well, well...it seems we finally meet...girl... Death. That's all I felt around me. For I am the spirit of time, Nyixon Braei. I can control time. My arriving on the planet had been foretold many, many years before I actually arrived. Many were surprised that I existed, many were shocked, but most...were fearful. For it had been said that when I arrived on the planet...mass chaos and destruction was to follow. That was only because I sensed the end of that planet, so I journeyed to it...to try to save it. Now...my first destination on the planet of Ishisumi was a small, countryside town named Dontai. The villagers were panic struck when they heard I was there, scared that destruction would occur if I remained in their village. So, overtaken by fear, the people of Dontai tried in every way possible to suppress my powers. They all failed. They all lost hope...until one brave man stepped forwards, taking his own life to cast a powerful jutsu upon me to change my shapeless form into a solid being. It cost him his life, but he succeeded in changing my form into that of a baby dragon. They kept me hidden from all other villages and people, in hope that in the future, in return of their 'generous hospitality', would protect their village from all harm and danger. They kept me a secret, in order to use me for their own selfish reasons. They thought not that I was a free being, allowed to make my own decisions and live by my own way. But, to them, I was merely a weapon to be used against others. That was what 'destruction' had been foretold before. If I was to be 'used' to create chaos, I would not be able to stop myself from destroying the entire planet. Then, once all life ceases to exist on this planet, I would dissolve back to my previous form, once more roaming the universe in hoping of preventing chaos from spreading. So, Dontai kept me a secret. I grew over a year, becoming harder to tame, rebelling against this forced imprisonment. I did not want to be a slave, a prisoner for my entire life. I wanted freedom. Freedom was not something Dontai was going to give me. So, over the year, my hatred grew and grew for the small village. Eventually, once a war broke out else where, Dontai planned to use me to protect them, to be their guardian angel. Yes, I was a gift from someplace else, but I was no angel. My anger got the better of me and I eventually snapped and burned the village to the ground, killing many people at the same time. Do not judge me for this. I was pushed to my limits. However, just before I could finish what I started, a woman holding a young child ran from nowhere. Fuelled by rage, I gave chase, eventually cornering her and her six month old child. Her name was Jolie Ariyah, the child, Saffron. I was going to use my most powerful attack, Time Compression, when something went horribly wrong and my attack backfired, taking me back to the days of the brave soldier...formally known as Yuri Ariyah, Dontai's Dreamer. Now, I was in shock from seeing the man who made me into this form. The spirit of Yuri Ariyah cast a powerful jutsu on me, making my whole body disintegrate, nearly destroying me completely. But, somehow, out of pure will power, I survived, but only in spirit. So, in a desperate act, I made for the closest living thing to me; the young child. I attached myself to her spirit, joining us as nearly a whole one, minus a few points. Saffron Ariyah's body was young and frail, but she somehow was strong enough to keep my spirit under control while keeping hers alive. She should have died when I joined with her, but she survived. Dontai was destroyed. Jolie Ariyah and her daughter were among the few survivors. Jolie ran off into the night, never looking back, not wanting to remember anything to do with her past. And yet...the past would always be with her, as long as her child, Saffron, remained alive. For as long as Saffron is alive, I am and shall remain, alive with her.
My eyes snap open, and I sit up straight, then frown. "What the heck...?" I'm not longer in my room, but instead, what seems to be a corridor. Not just that. A corridor that has many different passages leading off it. It's dark. It's cold. It's...evil. The last one sounds weird, right? I know too. But this place...it has an evil aura to it. "Where am I...?"
In the heart of your own conscious...
"Waah!? Who's that!?" I yelp from shock, eyes wide, scanning the surrounding area. No one there. "Where are you?"
Just follow my voice, girl. That way, we will become one...
"...Become one?" I ask, doubt in my voice. "Okay, Gaara set you up to this, didn't he? Just because he's become Kazekage recently, he thinks he's in charge of everything-"
A dark growl quietens me. Stop ranting, pathetic human. You're giving me a headache. Now, follow the sound of my voice and find me, girl.
I scowl. "The name's Saffron Ariyah, ass! Remember it!"
Very well...Saffron Ariyah. Now, come to me, let me feel your presence...
Um...yeah. Creepy much? But, my curiosity gets the better of me and I follow the sounds of the growling and...the feeling of evil. The more I follow, the thicker the aura becomes. It's...kind of scary really. I've never felt anything like this before. It scares me. "Okay, I'm "following" your voice...now, where are you? ...What are you?"
I am your past, your present and your future, Saffron. Come to me...stand before my form...and I shall tell you all I know of you...and your home village, Dontai...and the brave one known as "Dontai's Dreamer"...
Dontai's Dreamer? What the heck is that? But, it said it'd tell me about Dontai, and about myself? I need to know. I want to know. What happened on the day of the attack? ...Why did the attack happen? I come to a stand still, three other paths in front of me. "What one do I take?"
...That depends.
"...On what exactly?"
How much you trust in yourself...and in me.
"How can I trust someone, thing, I don't know!?"
You want to make it out of here alive? Trust in my voice. To your left lies a path of despair, one of your past that will show you all you need to know about the blank spaces in your memory, but will cause you great sorrow, and possibly drive you insane. To your right lies a path of mystery, one to your future. You take that one and it will show you the future, showing you images and sounds that are yet to happen. This will give you great power over others, but will change you. You would become a monster.
"I'm a monster anyway," I whisper, then say louder, "What about the middle path?"
The middle path is in-between the past and future; the present. This is where I remain, waiting for you, Saffron Ariyah. I've been waiting to meet you for fourteen years. Waiting for the day to be able to speak with you...and give you powers you could never dream of.
"But wait..." I say, thinking hard. "Knowing my past is something I want more than anything, but knowing what lies in the future...that'd be ace!"
Think carefully, Saffron. For when you choose one path, you can't go back. Make your choice carefully.
"What are you? A fortune cookie?" I mumble, rolling my eyes. "Right, whatever. I'll take my chances...with you, weird voice. So, the middle then?"
The middle path it shall be...
"Do you ever give a simple answer?" I ask, rubbing the back of my head and take the path in the middle of the others. "So, yeah, I've taken this path, now what?" Silence. "Hello?" More silence. "Hellllllloooo!?"
Do you ever keep quiet, foolish girl?
"Obviously not, creepy voice," I say, grinning. "Well, now wha- oof!" My sentence is cut short by me walking into a solid wall. "Ow! A warning sign would've been nice! What the heck is this? I've come to a dead end! Hey, creepy voice, now what?"
More silence. I sigh, about to turn around and walk back the way I came when a bright yellow light starts to shine on the wall. I pause, turning back around to look at it. The closer I go to the light, the thinner it becomes. Then I realise, it's a pair of eyes. "Eh? What the-?"
Do not be alarmed. This is my current state of form, as I am too weak to retain my true form right now.
"Too weak? How can you be too weak? You're a weirded out voice that keeps saying a lot of random stuff to me, and now I have loads of questions for you and you better answer them all, got it!?" I finish, glaring at the yellow eyes. A closer look and I see red pupils within the yellow.
The voice seems to sigh. Now that I'm closer, I can tell it's female. You are tiresome, girl. Do you not want to know what I know about Dontai's past?
"Yeah! Tell me everything you know!" I say, sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring eagerly at the eyes.
Very well. Remain quiet and still, and I may decide to let you live.
"Whaaaat!? What're you-?" I begin.
I can easily kill you right now. If you want to remain in the land of living, then shut up. I shut up after that, glaring at the eyes. Now, relax as the only way I can tell you about Dontai...is to show you...from my memories. Keep still.
A strange tingling sensation reaches my body. A sudden pressure seems to lift off my chest, almost like I'm floating on air...holy crap! I'm floating in the air! What the hell's going on!?
Calm yourself, girl. I shall not hurt you if you do as I say. No harm will befall you, I swear it. Calm. I calm down, relaxing and letting the strange feeling of not, well, feeling, over take me. Very good...now, you shall see all that I saw when I lived in Dontai...
A bright flash and I find myself back in my own body, able to move and everything. I jump to my feet, backing against the nearest wall and breath deeply. Okay, so this weird creepy voice is actually the psychotic dragon that killed my whole village. ...Great.
The yellow eyes appear again, but this time, a weak green light is around them, slowly forming a shape...the dragon's original body shape. Wow...she was really, really quite...uh, big? Huge wings form from the shadowy green light. A long, spiked tail. Long, slender neck. Then her face forms. Bright yellow eyes. Long, sharp horns. Razor like teeth. I feel myself sliding down the wall, making myself as small as possible.
...Do you fear me, girl? I shake my head, staring straight at her. Then why do you shake so much? I said I would not hurt you, as if you die, I die with you. And I won't let that happen.
"But...but why? Why did you destroy the village?" I whisper, trying to keep my voice steady.
...There was nothing else I could have done. Dontai and the world was at war, and using me to protect them would have caused more fighting. More fighting which I was there to prevent, not help. I could not take the pain. The world was in pain from all the fighting. I am one with the planet as you are. I feel it's pain. I did what I could only do to stop it.
"By destroying my home village!?" I yell, jumping to my feet. "By killing innocent lives to stop a war from happening!?"
She growls at me. I didn't want to cause more destruction! I wanted to stop it! What is so hard to understand!?
I snarl at her, my eyes glaring. "Everything! You came along, making everyone worried! My father gave his life to stop you, and then you go and destroy the village he gave up his life protecting! ...You're disgusting."
She snorts at me, lowering her head level with mine, her bright eyes blaring straight into mine. Saffron, listen to me. I did what I had to do. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm asking you to realise the truth in my words.
I groan in frustration. This dragon destroyed my village. But she speaks only the truth. I don't want to believe her. I want to run away, screaming and yelling about how much of a lie it is. But...she's not told anything but the truth, so who am I to judge? In a way...she and I are one. She shares my body with my spirit. I can't change that...just move on and learn to deal with it. I'm not her. I'm Saffron Ariyah. She's the spirit of time...together, we're the perfect monster.
No Saffron...you're not a monster, and neither am I. Together, we are one. I can control time, stopping it...travelling through it...or going back to the past, but I cannot change that of what has already passed. I foresaw the chaos bound for this planet, and decided to try to prevent it from happening. I only ask you accept me for what I am; part of yourself.
I sigh. What choice do I have? She's right, we're one of the same. I then give her a lopsided grin. "Alright dragon! You got yourself a deal. We're on the same side for now, I still need to decide what to think about you. I'll never forgive you for destroying my village, but that's...in the past. ...I have to put the past behind me. Now is what matters, not then. So, dragon-?"
She interrupts me with an irritated growl. My name is not dragon.
"Well, what should I call you then? Nyixon Braei is quite a mouthful," I ask, folding my arms.
...The villagers of Dontai...gave me a name a long time ago. I quite like it. I stay silent, waiting to hear it. My name is Kyron, the spirit of time, young Saffron. I'm glad I finally got to meet you.
"Right, so Kyron?"
Yes?
"...How the heck do I get outta here? My mum's probably freaking out by now," I grin, putting my arms behind my head.
Oh, but Saffron? Surely you've noticed? I frown. Noticed what? You're already gone. Huh?
* * *
"Saffron! Saffron, please wake up!" comes a sobbing voice.
I groan, grabbing my throbbing head with both hands as I sit up slowly, opening my eyes. "Ow...who turned up the lights...?"
I suddenly get hugged very tight, making breathing hard. "Saff! I was so worried! You're okay! What happened!?"
"Ow...mum, let me go, you're making it hard to breath," I mumble, sighing with relief as she lets me go. "'Bout time..." I shake my head, wincing as pain shoots through it again. "Ouch."
"Saff, what happened?? Are you okay?" my mother asks, looking at me with worried eyes. "Answer me, please!"
"Mum, I'm okay! Stop being so loud, my heads banging," I grumble, startling her by a bitter tone.
"Saff, I-...about earlier, I'm so sorry," she whispers, not meeting my gaze. "I didn't mean-"
"It's over with, mum. Don't worry about it," I say, giving her a small smile. "After having a talk with...myself, I realised you never meant any harm to me. So, don't worry, okay?"
My mother blinks back tears, then gives me a death grip hug, "Oh Saffron! Thank you for not being angry. I don't ever want to hurt you. I love you, Saff."
"Love ya too, mum," I smile, getting out of the hard-to-breath hug. "Can I ask you a favour? Can you get someone else to look after the shop instead of me today? I need to go fix that ramen machine, remember? Then I need to talk to Gaara if I get the chance after that..."
"Gaara? Don't be bothering the Kazekage, Saffron!" my mother says sternly.
I roll my eyes at her. "Don't worry about me! I can sneak in without any problems. If not...I'll have to prank my way inside! So, just chill, yeah?"
She chuckles to herself, giving me a hug (not so tight this time!) and gets up off the floor. That's when I realise I'm on the floor. No wonder she was worried. "Hm, well, just don't...cause too much trouble, Saff. You're already wanted for some serious pranks against the Kazekage. You're lucky he's your friend, and that he chooses not to press charges on you with the shinobi!"
I roll my eyes while smiling broadly at my mother. "Aww, mum! You worry too much! Don't worry about me! I'll be fine, and I'll see you later! I need to get to the ramen shop! ...Otherwise he's gonna be after me too...hehe."
My mother smiles once more before she leaves me to get ready. "Hm...what to wear...what to wear...hm? Ah! Perfect...hehe."
I quickly change from my nightwear to my clothes, and run out the door, shutting it behind me. I charge down the stairs, nearly tripping on the bottom one, then through to the kitchen and out the back door, yelling, "Bye mum!" on my way out.
"Saffron! You're breakfast..." She shakes her head, smiling sadly. "You always rush into things...slow down sometime..."
