Aaron's breath, a hold over from his living days, was coming hard now as he went through the practiced, steady motions of the kata's and pinions. Today he was finding that he needed the excersise more than most, for it was these ritualized excersises that had so long held the beast at bay in his living days, and now that he no longer breathed, it was the same rituals that kept his shadow self in its place. His arms and legs were a blur of motion as he flew through the motions, still perfect in every form, that he had learned so long ago.
Even so, he still felt the beast stirring, deep within his being. The burning rage that had followed his existance was still there, stronger than ever it seemed, now that he had returned from the lands of the dead. With a grunt he went faster, trying to banish his demons back to the darkness of his mind.
He found his mind wandering though, and thought back over the last few months. As he had for months now, he questioned his desision to leave New York, to return to Germany and rise from the grave. To return to Cara. He had never run from a war before, and somehow that galled him. He wondered what Wyrmhater, wherever he was, would think.
Ultimatly it had been what that skeletal skank Brianna had said that had made his desision. "What do you know about love?" She'd said. Aaron felt a surge of rage burn through him just at the thought, and he exploded into a series of attack and defense routines that Wyrmhater had taught him so long ago, pushing the rage back down inside him.
What did he know? Aaron had sacrificed everything for his love, Cara. He had faced Fomori and Black Spirals galore for her. He had looked into the eyes of one of the Lords of Hell for her. He had fought the mental proddings of a God for her. And ultimatly, he had sacrificed his life, as his ultimate show of devotion to her.
What did he know of love? He knew enough to pass beyond death, and to return from it. Even if that return was a half existance of pain and doubt, Aaron never for a minute regretted it. For Cara, his one and only true love, he would overcome anything. It was his love for Cara that had driven him back to the lands of the living. To be where he truely belonged, at Cara's side.
But somehow, it still ate at him. Never had he backed away, and when he had, the beast inside him wouldn't let him forget. Aaron's kicks and blocks came even faster now. The rage was still boiling, just beneath his control. Brianna's words still stuck with him, and for a moment, Aaron considered returning to the lands of the dead, just to show that uppity bitch what he could, and had done, for his love.
With a growl of defiance and determination that would have done Wyrmhater himself proud, Aaron fought down the urges, again banishing them to the nether regions of his mind. He called up other memories to clense his mind. He remembered the feel of the dirt and rocks against his body as he'd first rejoined with it. He remembered digging and fighting his way out, eventually bursting out from under the cairn of stone and rock that had covered his resting place.
He smiled at the look on Rock Manripper face as the de facto leader of the Sept of the Blood Fist watched his dead body stand up and walk. Many of the other Get of Fenris has cursed, and called for his blood, but Rock, had held up his hand, silencing all of the others. Aaron and Rock had been members of the same pack, the Bloodletters, under the legendary Get warrior Wyrmhater, and Rock would not allow any of the assembled Get to raise a hand against him.
Aaron had left the Sept with barely a word, only stopping to smile at Rock, and say he had a date in Berlin, before walking off into the Black Forest. It had taken Aaron several days to walk from the Caern to the German capital where Cara had been waiting for him.
He remembered the look on her face, and the tears in her eyes when, dirty and still smelling of the grave, he walked through the hotel lobby and grabbed her, hoisting her into a bear hug that only the recently dead could appreciate. He smiled as he remembered their first kiss, for she hadn't hesitated one second at the sight of his dead and scarred body. He swore that kiss had been the sweetest thing he had ever tasted, on either side of the shroud.
They had fled from Berlin that day. Aaron was still wanted dead or alive by most of the Leeches in Berlin, after he had taken the two vampire princes money to kill off each others supporters. When they had figured out that he'd been playing them both against the other, they had called a blood hunt against him.
And thats how he found himself back in Seattle, where he had first met Cara. She still had all the money he had stashed away from the jobs he'd done for the two princes in Berlin, and that had bought them into a cozy little appartment in the Queen Anne district just North of the Space Needle.
Finally his mind started to calm down, and his nearly frenzied movements started to slow. He heard the door open behind him, and heard Cara's voice.
"Aaron! I'm home!" He turned around and looked into their front room, Cara was standing by the door, holding a huge bag of books that she had ordered from a local book seller last week. Her green eyes sparkled even from across the room. He crossed the room and took the bag from her. "Thanks," she smiled at him, "Those things were stating to get heavy. There are still some more down in the car, will you help me get them?" She reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Boy honey, you smell like the dead." She smiled and he lauged as they walked outside together, holding hands.
Fuck that uppity skeletal bitch. Aaron thought, what the fuck does she know? Because after all.
Aaron was home.
Game 9: "Not All Things Are As They Seem"