#knyocweek

Legends say, in the span of time between dawn and twilight, when the world is still and quiet, the reaper comes. Undead and soulless, she descends in a flurry of pale snow and vicious red, a whisper of sound barely passing through open lips before life is extinguished and the reaper departs. She leaves an imprint: a fatalistic grin carved painfully onto the ground, and when the sun rises, he looks down upon the carnage she leaves, and sighs pitifully.

She stalks the lands, hands seeking emptily for bare warmth. Her skin is cold and her eyes are slitted. Skin as pale as snow, they say. Lips as red as blood, hair as pure as alabaster — and yet, she is no princess, she is no Snow White. When her lips would kiss another's, all life is sucked away in the vortex of passion. She likes to close her eyes here, likes to pretend the arms wrapped around her are a pair of lover's arms. Not merely another victim, not merely another blurred face to add to the ones which haunt her every step.

If she could, she would indulge in this fantasy forever. But her eyes eventually open, and she is greeted with faces of horror, faces of desperation, faces of hatred. Blood drips from her lips, warm and salty —

No. These are tears. She raises her hand and wipes it away. In the eternal moonlight, her skin glistens. She shakes it off, this strange emotion clawing up her chest, and runs off. She wanders again, alone and without destination. The hunger in her stomach unsatiated, she yearns for more.

More flesh? More blood? More, more, more; until her head spins and her heart jumps to her throat and she throws up. More, more, more, and yet her hunger never seems to be fulfilled; an eternal yearning.

And when the sun comes up again the next day, he sighs and shakes his head at the tragedy that the reaper leaves in her wake. Pale lips part and shape around a name, one that has rusted to dust, so unused and forgotten. The sun speaks of a plea, one he prays the winds will carry to her, wherever she may be.

"Hinami, please come back to me."

🌸 Memories

Ayame was a child born under the Kiyomi family, one of many tragedies caused by blood thirsty demons. She lived with her mother and sister at a small house at the peak of a mountain, the name always escaped Ayame's memory. She was the older sister, so she had to help around the house when her mother became too sick to even move, one day Ayame was in a nearby field collecting her mother's favourite flower as a present, spider lilies. After about half an hour, when she finally had collected all the pretty flowers she found, Ayame returned to her home, but what she found shattered her, the only family she had was gone. Ayame blamed herself for leaving them defenceless, it was all her fault. And so, she left, not wanting to face the cruel reality of her failure. She wandered around the mountain for weeks, the death she caused slowly poisoning her. When she finally made it to the small town at the base of the mountain she broke down, knowing she could never return to there. She desperately prayed for someone to save her, but no one ever came. Instead she had to get up on her own and start from scratch, she became a demon slayer only because it was the only thing she could do, she was sure both her mother and sister hated her by now, by she still wore the haori they gifted her for her 14th birthday. Ayame was hoping to bring them everywhere she went, so they would never suffer again because of her. After a few years she changed her name to Akimitsu Ayame, and Kiyomi Kuriyama, like the rest of her family, was left behind to die.

🎀 Myth / Legend au

Ayame knew what she was doing was wrong, but she couldn't help it, playing with people's heart strings like a twisted puppeteer felt good, something she had never felt before. It drove her crazy, knowing how much power she had over other people. Everytime she tried to stop, it kept pulling her back in, maybe it was karma, since that's what she did to poor sailors that were overly curious, or stupid. It was like looking in a mirror, but instead of seeing her beautiful reflection, she saw all the horrors she's done, and Ayame was fine with that, as long as she got her way in the depths of the cruel and unforgiving ocean, where a simple mistake could cause you your life, or worse, your sanity.

🌸 Demon / Human!!

It wasn't supposed to end like this. Where did it all go wrong? Who knows. at this point it doesn't even matter. Everyone was dead because of her. Standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by blood, glass shards and spider lilies, was Ayame, or well, whatever remained of her. She was covered in crimson, but half of the blood wasn't even hers, did Ayame even realise what happened? What she did? Probably not. Once again, the people she loved had to pay the price of this ugly world, and once again, it proved how cruel it could be if the universe wanted so. Once again, everyone was dead, but this time, it was her fault, she was the one to blame, and she didn't even know it. Ayame was always unlucky, but even in her mindless state, she had to agree this was too much. But its been done, no amount of praying and asking for forgiveness would bring them back and undo her horrid actions. She waited for the sun. it was time to go back to her simple life at the top of the mountain. Both her mother and sister where waiting for her after all. Right?

🌸 I'm suffering for your entertainment!!

The digital clock read 7:54 and Ayame like every other day, was late. Well, she was actually still trying to find a reason to get out of bed, everything seemed so...boring. About 10 minutes later she's running down the stairs of her lonely apartment like a bat out of hell. She's trying to put on her shoes, and failing horribly. The school gate is almost closed, but Ayame thankfully made it in before it shut. Running against time itself has always been a part of her day, and today was no different for Ayame. Imagine her surprise and relief when she opened the classroom door and saw the teacher's desk empty. She sat down at her desk, trying her best to calm down her racing heart, the rest of the day after that is just a blurry mess, but Ayame couldn't care less, all she wanted to do was go home and sleep off the sadness slowly eating away at her. It's been like that for a few years now, its like everyday is the same loop, again and again. Living almost feels like a chore at this point. But it isn't all that bad, Ayame has friends, sure they might be loud, annoying and very energetic, but Ayame loves them non the less. They are actually pretty fun to hang out with!

Author's note... Again!

🎑 Tragic end / new beginning!!

Kuriyama didn't have much time left. The thread holding her in place was seconds away from finally snapping. Who is Kuriyama? No one important. All that's important now is Ayame, she's all that's left. Starting from scratch wasn't easy, but as long as she was a new person rid of all sin, Ayame had no problem abandoning everything she knew once more. Lost in a world of trial and error, Ayame went wherever the path led her, she didn't have anything left to lose after all. That's how she ended up becoming a pillar, of course she started at the final selection like everyone else, but she was one of the few people that made it out alive in the end. From there she clawed her way up the ranks, all the way to the top, knowing very well she was in an endless but graceful dance with death as a Hashira, but she didn't mind one bit. She kept coming to death like a moth to flame.