LOVE AND RIVENS[Solo]

"Just walk they said..." The soul cussed out her family in her head, though really this situation was her own fault.

It was her fault that she was so gung-ho about sticking it to her father, the old man too blind to notice the worth of his own daughter. It was her fault to want to work so close to him, a man who even the reapers viewed as dangerous if he really wanted to be. Her fault for being so damn convincing to the mooks around her, those dumb, lovable mooks. The job was supposed to be easy, and yet here she was, lost at the edge of the Rukongai.

The drop off point was out in the woods, an abandoned shack. According to the wise guy who gave the brief, the package currently strapped to her back was an old antique. Actually, he called it a "piece of garbage" that just having around him caused more trouble than it was worth so it needed to get rid of as soon as possible. Isn't it just great that the soul decided to take up the job? If she knew she was going to be dumped with some super expensive, cursed item then maybe she would have thought twice about this whole courier thing. But alas, that was in the past and this was the now.

Hours past, and the soul wandered, all the trees looking the same to her as she traveled through the forest. The more time past the more she began to figure that this was a fruitless venture, the thought of turning back creeping through her mind. Maybe this job was a dud, a sort of inside joke that everyone else back at the 80th thought would be funny. Maybe this was just a way to get rid of her for the time being, which would be fair since she was super persistent about getting a job. But could you really blame her? The way that everyone looked at her, they way that they spoke to her, it was like she was a kid. It was demeaning and all she was trying to do was live her life--er, afterlife. Wasn't much of a life for her to live, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let someone else tell her how to live it.

Snap.

The soul was not alone in the woods. She figured as much but didn't pay too much attention to it. For all that she knew, it was probably just an animal curious as to what the intruder was doing. To be honest, she didn't really know herself. That did not stop her, as the soul kept moving forward toward the drop-off point. A light in the dark, a clearing in the woods, she could see it just a few meters ahead of her.

Snap.

This time, closer. As if god made it his mission to distract her from her mission, to see her ultimately fail. Today was not the day that she was going to succumb to divine temptations. For once. Keeping her head straight and her eyes forward, the soul pushed forward with determination. Success was so close that she could taste it, the joy waited deep in her stomach for the right moment to burst. This wasn't exactly a tough endeavor, no, but it was the first journey of hopefully many. This was her way of proving her worth, proving that she could be trusted, proving that she could be more than just the kid that stood in the corner. They would have to pay attention to her now. He would have to pay attention to her, for the first time in forever.

Snap.

"Iki." He spoke in a low, gravel-bathed voice. It was a voice that his underlings feared, one that the people of the north and west districts tried to avoid hearing. It was the voice that she was so familiar with, one that filled her with both love and hatred. But most importantly, at this moment, it gave her dread.

There's very little he asked of his daughter. In fact, there's one thing he asked from her: obedience. It wasn't hard, just do what he said. Dozens of grown men and women understood that simple request and they all followed it to a tee, lest they be relieved of their lives. He knows that Iki has seen what happens to those that disobeyed him firsthand. She's witnessed the murders, the executions, the assassinations, and those who just never returned. So why? Why must she be so determined to foil him? It's not as if what he did for her was out of malice. No, rather, it was out of love in its purest form. The world was full of evil and he was not one of a kind.

"Iki." He spoke louder the second time, his voice finally reaching her ears and brutally ripping her from whatever fantasy she was living in her head. The courier froze in fear, standing at the edge of the opening. Ah, yes, the consequences of her action have finally caught up to her. And the punishment would be fatal.

"You go behind my back." A step closer.

"You go against my wishes." Another step, closing even more distance than the previous.

"You betrayed my trust. You, my only family." By now, he was now right behind her, his presence radiating heat and calm anger. It wasn't one that would naturally lead to rage. No, this was an anger mothering disappointment.

"I can no longer give you special treatment. I can't just watch you do this and go back like I still have some authority. You know the punishment for insubordination."

Death.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

This was quite possibly the worst-case scenario. The soul knew full well the ramifications of her actions and what they would bring if the news were ever to reach her father. She wasn't ready to die. She didn't want to die. She wasn't going to die.

At least not today, if she could help it. The soul, once she was able to find her conviction underneath the mountain of fear, hit the ground running. She ran into the clearing, too preoccupied with the quite literal looming death behind her to notice the great view. The shack was in the middle of the clearing, and since they were apparently on a hill the sky could be seen in its entire glory just above the skyline. It was pretty. Not that she would know.

Ono was faster, Ono was stronger, Ono entirely had the advantage in this situation so one would not be incorrect to assume how this was going to end. Hell, even with the soul's resolve she still recognized that the probability of her getting out of this in one piece was insurmountable low. There was no skill in her, no talent for her to speak of. If she'd die here they'd mourn her for all of 30 seconds because, in reality, she did this to herself.

Anyways, she ran for her life. The shack seemed like the safest place to be rather than fighting in the open or getting lost in the woods. At least if she died, someone would eventually find her here. She hoped. Only a few seconds passed before her hands collided with the harsh wood of the shack door. With all her might she tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ono's fist pull back, and instinctively tilted her head.

That was a mistake.

The soul has seen this attack numerous times enough to be familiar with its effects. The God Shattering Fist, a swift blow that when used by Ono causes supernatural levels of destruction. It was loud, it was powerful, and it just grazed her head and made contact with the door. What happened next is a little hard to explain, at least from her point of view.

The most notable effect was the ringing in her ear. Yes, ear, specifically the one farthest from the fist firmly planted next to her head. The other one made no sound at all and instead spawned a warm streak of liquid that traveled down the side of her head. The feeling on her back went from one among a solid wall to being bare to the wind, the shack behind her not scattered in pieces among the trees. Also, part of the cloth that wrapped the package was now missing, revealing a deep blue leather and... what looked to be a guard? Wait, was this...?

No fucking way. Just her luck that she'd be stuck with the most illegal contraband possible. Perhaps it was better that Ono was the one killing her instead of the reaper lackeys. Anyways, the realizations hitting her one after another finally started to settle in, making her legs weak and dropping her to the ground.