Grief - Saber

The sound of dripping echoed throughout the cavern as those inside stood silent, yet the dripping this time didn't come from the small streams of water leaking through the rock face and off the stalagmites.

A clawed hand stained in red held a scarlet fruit that dripped with juices, as the arm passed through the chest of a beloved.

Tai Min's eyes contained a deep sense of satisfaction, as if a small hint of a deep-seated hunger had been fulfilled, his face contained a grin that was beholden to pure insanity, easily scaring off the weak willed.

*Slush*

A wet sound screeched out as he removed his arm, causing the two that had frozen in place to move once more.

"MOTHER!" Shu He shot forward, the only figure in his eyes was the falling figure of his mom, he cared little for anything else right now.

He slid on the wettened rock face, catching her body before it slammed to the floor like a loose tile.

"M-mother- mother- mom!" His voice croaked as his breathing became laboured, his mind had become a mess, his eyes turning red.

He turned her over in his arms, hugging her to himself tightly as he looked at her 'wound'.

A gaping hole presented itself, torn straight through, he could see through to behind, blood gently dripping through the crevice.

He started shaking.

He couldn't fix this.

In his mind, everything he knew about was spinning as he was thinking of a way to keep her alive.

He remembered, people who have had cardiac arrest can be saved if they're resuscitated, the timing is usually within 10 minutes at the latest, and even at that point severe brain damage is likely; it was probably a similar situation here, there's no heart pumping the blood so the blood loss isn't as great as it would be.

But that's it.

There's no heart.

He looked up at Tai Min who was only a couple of meters away towering above his knelt figure, his cold red eyes staring at the heart grasped in his hand.

*CRUSH*

He gripped it, and it seemed to implode, the red fluid leaking out of its crevices in skin before a dark shadow peeled itself from Tai Min's arm, greedily devouring it like a juicy fruit.

Shu He's neck stiffly turned back to his mother's face like a rusty hinge.

Only a miracle would save her.

He couldn't cause a miracle.

He definitely couldn't fix this.

Her face was still, her eyes only slightly open yet her bronze pupils were glazed over, not a hint of life or recognition in them.

Her body was quickly growing cold.

All the realisations set in.

"AaaAaaa…. Aaaaaaa… Aaaaaaaauuuuugh"

He wanted to scream, yet his throat felt twisted from the emotions he was feeling, a coarse moan filled with sadness was all that bounced through the small cavern.

Tears fell from his eyes endlessly, his heart ached, and his mind became muddled, he could no longer think at all, he was overwhelmed by a river of sorrow.

'Why?' He wanted to ask someone.

'Why me?' He yelled out to the void.

'Wasn't I supposed to be happy in this life?'

'Isn't that the reason I was given a second one?!' He questioned someone that didn't exist.

He had learned as much as he could about medicine since he was reborn, he never wanted to suffer from a body like he had before, and he never wanted anyone he loved to suffer the same.

Yet in the end, it was all futile.

He was still a child, he had barely just started his journey, his skills weren't anywhere near prepared.

But the world didn't wait for him.

Because now, he was cradling the lifeless corpse of his mother.

In the midst of all his emotions he formed a single thought.

'Is this what the world wants for me, is this what the heavens desire of me?!'

…

Tai Man revelled in the feeling of his Qi surging, a feeling he would never get tired of, it was like the extasy of a climax ten times over, the black core in his body bulged ever so slightly as his senses were assaulted with incorporeal moans and screams, it should be torture yet to him it was like music.

An orchestra presented entirely for him, made entirely by him.

A normal human wouldn't generally affect him this much, yet the personal sense of achievement, having taken the life of someone deeply loved by someone he hated, made it feel that much better.

Yet it was interrupted, by a screech.

He looked down at the boy who was cradling a body, his voice letting loose as his tears muddied his face.

He felt a weird sense of pity for this child, he was someone who carried a talent that would give him a bright future, both in cultivation and as a healer.

Yet the history of his family, his father, would be the cause of his death.

A child lost because of a fault not his own.

He had considered taking him in, raising him into someone great just like he had his father, but in the end he wasn't so foolish.

Taking a tigers cub after killing the tiger and expecting it not to attack you when it's grown up?

Only a true idiot would do that.

*Clank* He lifted his arm, his hand, that had a set of metallic claws adorned on them.

They were truly great, he had been gifted them from 'him', and had been making good use of them.

They were harder than steel, didn't get marked or damaged nor rust, they were a masterpiece.

Now they would be used on a child.

He had no qualms about this, it won't be the first time, nor will it probably be the last, he just felt like making note of it in his mind, like a counter he was keeping track of.

He rose the claws up into the air-

And struck.

*CLANG*

A saber intercepted the claws, crossing their blades like a pattern, pushing the hand back and causing Tai Min to retreat few meters.

He then looked up to the person who had interrupted him.

Shu Li stood as still as a pillar, holding a saber in his left hand.

His muscles underneath his clothes seemed to bulge and writhe with every second, the veins threatening to burst through the surface of his skin.

His eyes that were red before now carried a calm, like the raging tempest of emotions that could be seen from them before had been erased like they never existed.

Tai Min couldn't help but glance at the blade he had grasped.

"That's right, I forgot you could use a saber since you always used a bow, but you think that'll be enough for me?" He spoke mockingly.

"…" Yet not a single response was heard from Shu Li, his facial expression remained solid and his stance staunch.

It was like a statue had come to life and wielded a weapon.

Tai Min frowned.

'This man isn't like this, he may seem relaxed on his exterior, but he just hides himself well, this calm is unusual, was this too much for him, did I tip him over?'

The two stood still, one observing the other, each one as if they were fighting a strange beast.

*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*

The water from a stalagmite dripped as the silence settled in, yet to the two it was like a count-down.

*Drip*

Their eyes met.

*Drip*

Their stances shifted.

*Drip*

Shu Li launched off the rocks, his body twisting like that of a tiger's in motion causing him to close the gap between the two in under half a second.

His saber slashed, carrying an impressive destructive force that headed for Tai Min's side.

*CLANK* He guarded with his clawed fist, yet he quickly felt overwhelmed, his guard was broken as his claws were swatted away with the saber, causing the blade to cross his torso.

"?!" Tai Min was completely overwhelmed, he managed to dodge backwards at the last second, but he was left with a slash an inch deep across his chest, black blood began leaking.

"YOU-" He went to speak yet was interrupted by another slash from the saber.

He blocked it again, and again, and again.

He felt like he was blocking a boulder each time, yet he began to adjust as time went on.

Or so he thought.

*STAB*

His guard was pierced by a move he hadn't seen yet, the blade pierced his body through.

He backed off before it could cause more damage, letting it slide out of his body before he was slashed across.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" He yelled with disbelief.

A mortal shouldn't have this kind of strength, right now at the very least he should be equal to a 5th stage cultivator!

There was still no response.

Instead, the saber was raised, pointed directly towards Tai Min's heart.

"Today, I WILL kill you" Shu Li uttered words that somehow felt heavier than steel, an unrelenting sense of killing intent that had never been felt from him flooded Tai Min like a tsunami.

When Shu Li came here, his was in emotional distress, he felt panic, fear, worry, nervousness, anger and even more of the spectrum, they filled his mind like rain pattering away at his conscious.

Yet in that moment, he felt all of that change.

The rain gathered together and formed a relentless river.

A river of pure murderous intent.

That was all that was left in his mind.

---

Shu Li looked up from his grieving, he heard it.

"WHAT ARE YOU?"

There was a hint of confusion in his muddled mind, then he saw his father's figure.

His mind cleared slightly.

'FATHER!' He became torn as he watched the two face off as he cradled the body.

He observed his father, even with Keen Sight, he didn't care about expenditure right now.

And then he saw it, something he hadn't witnessed before.

The Qi in the cavern was acting like water in a bathtub, all being drawn to the plughole.

And that was his father, his body was absorbing Qi like a greedy sponge, creating a bundle inside his body which flowed to his muscles like a flooded river.

Shu Li's pupils dilated, and his mind span even more.

"STOP, NO!" He screamed.