Chapter 2: The Velvet Sky
-10 years later-
"Remember Ira, you have to stay focused. "A sweet, but mature feminine voice instructed calmly as the sunlight shined off her tan-skinned. Her hand slowly drew for a sword's hilt that rested on her side. "Take a deep breath and then…." Her eyes were closed for a moment. Time seemed to slow down as her eyelids quickly shot open, revealing her light brown eyes filled with determination. "Strike!" She shouted as she brought down the sword. A pile of logs in front of her seemed to be unfazed by the girl's downward strike, only to split in half flawlessly a few seconds later.
A satisfied smile stretched across her face as she sheathes her sword and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Whew…"She turned her attention towards a slightly shorter boy who was barely paying attention to the lesson that he was being taught. "And Ira that's how you prepare firewood…"Her eyes quickly narrowed as she noticed that the boy's attention was not on her. "IRA!" She yelled, catching the boy off guard as she quickly popped him in the back of the head with her fist.
"Owwwwww…Ziva! What's the hell was that for?" He quickly became defensive, getting into the older girl's face. His chestnut Brown eyes meeting hers as the two quickly mashed their foreheads against each other in a comical power struggle. "What the hell did you hit me for?"
"Because you weren't paying attention! If you learn how to stay focus then maybe I wouldn't have to hit you!" She scolded back. Her long Black hair swaying as a gentle breeze passed by. She wore a short-sleeved shirt with tape wrapped around her hands, only revealing her fingers. Her lower half was covered with a brown jacket that wrapped her waist with a pair of light brown workers pants that covered her legs. Her feet were covered by a pair of black boots with a low heel, which stepped forward as she continued to scold the younger boy that stood in front of her.
"How are you going to survive out here in the world if you're not focused? God, Here I am trying to teach you how to survive and protect yourself and you're going off into the dream world or something." She sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead. "What am I going to do with you?" She shook her head as Ira looked up at her in annoyance.
His short Black hair glistened in the sunlight. It was messy with a few bangs hanging on the side of his face. His outfit mimicked that of his Ziva's as they wore matching attire. He rolled his Brown eyes as he crossed his arms at Ziva's comments. "You could have left me at home you know. I didn't need you to bring me out here to teach me how to chop wood, especially when you're here to do it." His eyes shot up in pain as he was whacked in the back of the head again, creating a large lump that spawned in the back of his head from Ziva's fist.
"And it's that kind of thinking that will cause you not to get a wife in the future!" She yelled at him as she quickly turned away from him and began to hug herself. "My little brother alone in this cruel world; shunned by the women because of his disgraceful attitude. How will he sleep?" She asked no one in particular.
"Just fine…" He commented in the background as he gave her a dull dumb look, his shoulders slumping as he watched his sister over-dramatic performance.
"How will he eat?" She asked another question to the heavens.
"I'll cook…" He muttered.
"Who will stay by his bedside and take care of him until his dying breath?" Fake tears began to roll down her cheek as she crumbled to the ground, shamefully.
"Uhh…What?" He quickly stepped back as Ziva quickly rose from the ground with an accomplished expression on her face.
She quickly wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close to her. "Well, that's something you don't have to worry about because where the women will shun you, I'll be there to love you, so you'll never be alone and then I'll…."
"Knock it off!" Ira shouted as he quickly whacked her in the back of the head causing her to the fall face-first on the ground, crying sheepishly.
"Oh, Ira….You're so cruel to me." She cried as Ira only crossed his arms and shook his head at the display that lay before him.
Ira took a deep breath, agitated by Ziva's antics. "And you're annoying." He crossed his arms as he looked down at her.
Time passed as the two walked down a path together. Ziva kept her eyes straight as Ira's eyes seemed to be fixated on the destruction that was all around him. He saw the desolation that lay all around them. The buildings were in debris. The streets were jagged and unsafe for any vehicle at this point. Cars were tossed all over the terrain and mostly old and broken. Nature seemed to be trying to reclaim its earth as plants and grass slowly devoured the cement blocks of rundown buildings that managed to stand after the onslaught that took place years ago.
"It's sad isn't it?" Ziva spoke suddenly, breaking the silence between the two siblings. "Who knew the world would have been affected this much?" Seriousness could be heard in her voice as Ira could only tear his eyes away from the scenery around him and glue his eyes to his feet as he walked.
"We used to live in a world where cities like this flourished with life, but now…" Her voice trailed off as she let out a deep breath. Her walking came to a stop as she lifted her head towards the sky, slowly removing a few strands of hair out of her face. Her eyes took note of the sky and a small sad smile appeared on her face. "Looks like the sky is turning red." She spoke somberly as she turned her head towards her companion. "Come on we need to hurry back before people start to worry." Her smile brightened as Ira looked up at her and nodded his head.
The two continued to walk, silence quickly filling the void between the two teens. "Hey, Ziva…" Ira suddenly spoke, causing Ziva's eyes to glance over towards him. "Do you think the world will ever get better?" He simply asked her. "I mean, do you think this is all we have to live for?" He asked again.
Ziva took note of his question and responded with a smile. "Of course not silly." She spoke cheerfully. "Humans are still alive after all. I mean sure they are only a handful of us in the world, but now we have protection. Don't forget Ira, God is still watching over us and won't let anything terrible happen." She told him as she turned towards him, a smile still bright as anyone could see. "All you have to do is have faith. Besides, your job isn't to worry about such things."
"What?" tilting his head, his eyes blinked in confusion.
"You need to be worried about snatching up a suitable wife so your dear old sister can die in peace, knowing that her little brother will have grown up into a fine young man." Ziva began to drift off into her little world again as Ira couldn't help but look up at his sister in sheer shame.
"We're not related." His response held no sympathy in his remark.
"That doesn't matter, so long as you have a wife by your side and…"
"I'm not getting a wife Ziva." He replied bluntly.
She gasped immediately as she ran up and cupped his hands within hers. "WHAT!" She exclaimed. "Don't say that surely there is someone in this cold wretched world for my dear brother. Sure his attitude is poor and may sometimes need a swift kick in the ass, but all that can be overlooked once the time is right." She drifted off in her world again as Ira couldn't do anything but let out a deep breath of annoyance as he looked away from her.
"Why do you always do this?" He groaned as he walked passed his sister, not realizing she had stopped once again to look up at the sky.
Her eyes quickly narrowed at the oncoming color change as the sky appeared to be eroding as they walked. She looked back down at her brother as he walked ahead of her, still not noticing that she had fallen behind. Her hand gripped the hilt of her sword tightly as she let out a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before she continued walking towards the town that came into view.
"No…Not yet…"The words echoed in her mind as her eyes narrowed at him.
Ira and Ziva made their way to the town's entrance and were quickly greeted with a warm welcome from a few kids that ran up and surrounded Ira, who could only look at the little kids before him and smile as he knelt to greet them.
"Ira! You're back!" One of the little girls shouted as she jumped up, giving him a quick hug before pulling back. "How did it go?" She asked him.
"How did you think it went?" He returned smiling at her as he placed his hand on the top of her head.
Ira gave her a smirk. "I went out and got a good amount of training in so I can keep the big bad demons away." He assured her as Ziva placed both of her hands on her hips, smiling down at the two in front of her.
"You went out and learned how to chop wood, not how to swing a sword." She said jokingly as she knelt beside him to smile at the girl in front of him. "But once he's done with that, he can help take care of the demons that even think of stepping foot in our town." She smiled as a few other kids surrounded Ira and bombarded him with questions.
"Ira, Ira, Ira!" The kid's voices echoed as they pounded Ira's ears, but the smile on his face proved he didn't mind as they jumped on him. Laughter could be heard as he wrestled with the kids a bit as various comments and fake threats could be heard coming from the pile of humans playing in the dirt.
Ziva could only cross her arms and lean back against the metal fence as she watches the spectacle unfold in front of her. Her eyes surveyed her younger brother as he played with kids that greeted them at the entrance. "Well, at least something around here can keep a smile on your face." She said to herself.
She let loose a heavy sigh of her own as her eyes returned towards the sky. "…It's Red." She said in a low voice as she returned her eyes to the fun-filled kids on the ground.
"Ziva…" A husky man appeared his clothes identical to that of what she wore, except his shirt was dirty and had a few light strands of blood along the side of it. His dark brown eyes showed a look of worry as he tried not to alarm her as he approached. "Ziva, thank goodness you're back." He said as Ira quickly caught wind of the man's appearance and uncertainty.
"You look a little worst for wear." She spoke back, turning her attention towards him. "How'd it go on your end? Fine, I hope." She added on awaiting his answer.
"So far so good." He breathed as he tried to catch his breath. "But we're running out of supplies and the brawls breaking out aren't something an old man like me should be breaking up every five minutes." He gave a hefty laugh.
"You're not old, you're just lazy." Ziva retorted as she leaned off the fence, making her way towards him. "So, these guys are still fighting over food huh?" She sighed for a moment placing her fingers on her temple. "These guys know the rules already, kids eat first and then the adults." She groaned heavily. "I swear, it's like I'm dealing with a bunch of kids." She refocused her attention on the man that stood in front of her.
"Yea, you would think they would have learned by now." His thoughts seemed to be lost as he avoided making eye contact with Ziva.
"Argo…Argo, what's wrong?" Ziva asked as Eisen quickly walked up to her and whispered in her ear. Ira quickly noticed and stopped playing with the kids for a second; looking on in curiosity as Ziva quickly nodded her head at Eisen. "Ok, I'll be right over." Her voice showed no sign of the light-hearted girl that he walked with as he could tell that something was up.
Ziva quickly walked up to Ira. "Hey, mind taking care of the kids for the night. I'll be coming home late." She told him, giving him a playful guilty face.
"Again?" Ira retaliated half annoyed. "This is like the fourth time this week Ziva." He ended.
"I know, I know, but this is important and I need you to make sure that you everyone gets home tonight." She pleaded as Ira gave her a questionable look for a moment before releasing a small sigh.
"Is it that important?" He questioned.
"Come on, would I ask you for this favor if it wasn't?' She clasped both of her hands together, almost pleading with him. "This is the last time, I promise." She assured him as Ira couldn't help but give her a questionable look.
"The last time…." Ira repeated, still questioning her with his gaze.
Ziva nodded her head vigorously with her hands still clasped together as if she was praying as she pleaded her request. "Alright…Fine, just don't be out all night like you did last time." Ira gave in as he let out another deep breath before answering her.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Ziva quickly reached in and hugged her brother as tight as she could before pulling away. "You're the best." She said, but her tone quickly changed as she looked down at him.
"Don't stay out for too long." She warned him. "It looks like it's going to be one of those nights." She ended as Ira looked up at the sky, his expression unfazed as he watched as the sky slowly contorted into a different color. "Make sure everyone gets home and their doors are locked," Ziva spoke again. "I can trust you with this right?"
Ira looked at his sister, his curiosity peak even more, but even he knew what was going to happen should he leave the kids out by themselves. "Yea, I can handle it." He nodded his head as Ziva smiled at him and playfully placed her right hand on top of his head.
"Good, you make sure you get home safe too ok?" She smiled warmly at him as her hand ruffled his hair a bit. "I don't want you to get hurt ok?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He assured her as her smile remained on her face. "You just protect yourself; I can handle everything else." His confidence made her giggle a bit.
"Says the one that doesn't know how to swing a sword." She teased as Ira playfully knocked her hand off of his head.
"I can swing one better than you." He retaliated playfully as Ziva gave a slight giggle.
"Tell me that on a day that I don't hold back why don't ya." She turned her back towards him but spoke before she walked off. "I'm serious Ira. Get home safe, we don't want a repeat of what happened last time." Her voice was low as she hid her eyes from sight as Ira lowered his head as well before she ran off towards Argo.
Ira watched his sister meet up with Argo and they both disappeared walked down the path to the far end of town, disappearing out of Ira's sight. "Ziva…" Ira sighed as he turned towards the kids that patiently waited for his attention once again.
"Ira come on, let's play." One of the children called out to him as they tugged on his arm, gaining his attention.
"Huh?" Taken by surprise as the kids continued to drag him away from the town. "Ok, ok, hold on!" He shouted. "Stop pulling my arm!" He whined as he was dragged off with the kids. "Hey!" He shouted again as he was pounced on by the children.
"Come on Ira, show some of your training." One of the small boys shouted happily. "Show us how you're going to stop those stupid demons from coming into our town."
"Yea show us!" Another boy shouted as Ira couldn't help but give them a fake laugh as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"I don't know about all that guys, I don't think I'm strong enough to handle a real demon." He told them as the kids continued to hassle him.
"Oh, don't say that Ira." The first girl stated as she looked up at him.
"Yea, you're stronger than any stupid demon. " One of the boys returned, causing Ira to give the kids a small smile in return as he looked at them as they continued to pull, tug and bombard him with questions.
Time seemed to fly by as Ira was finding it hard to handle a hand full of kids on his own. "Come on Ira, one more time, one more time." One of the younger kids spoke.
Looking down at her, Ira gave an exhausted look but showed her a smile. "Alright one more time and then we….." Ira's eyes shot up quickly as a chill ran down his spine as an agonizing scream broke through the sky. The kids quickly huddled around Ira as his head quickly shook from left to right, trying to decipher where the scream had originated from. "What…What was that?" His heart began to race as his breathing picked up. "That sounded like…." A second scream was heard from the same direction as the first, but this one was more feminine as a loud explosion followed.
The kids screamed together as Ira quickly shielded them from the small debris that fell from the sky. "Come on we got to get out of here!" Ira yelled as the kids didn't give even the slightest protest before they all started to run. The explosion went off all around them as well as the sounds of multiple people screaming for their lives as they tried to escape.
As they ran Ira looked up, his eyes catching a glimpse of something flying in the sky. Terror plastered on his face. "Oh…No…Those are…" Ira quickly slid to a stop and turned around and forces the kids to run the other way as a large fire blast came spiraling towards them, missing them by a few feet.
"Come on don't stop!" Ira instructed as he quickly turned his head to look back at a flying demon coming towards them. Gritting his teeth, he snapped his head back towards the direction they were going in. He quickly knocked over and threw any and everything that he could to slow the flying monster down but to no avail.
"Turn here!" He shouted as three of the kids listened to his instructions and quickly turned left in a nearby alleyway along with Ira, but the fourth kid continued straight screaming for his life.
"Ira!" He cried as he continued to run for his life with the demon in hot pursuit. "Ira help me! Help me!" He continued to cry out.
"Dammit!" Ira cursed as he quickly hid the other kids out of sight and ran back out into the open only to see the demon standing over the crying child with flame igniting in its right hand. "No! Let him go! Leave him alone!" Ira screamed as the demon paid Ira no mind and opened his palm towards the terrified child.
"No!" Ira quickly looked for whatever he could find to help, but the demon spared no time as flames shot out of his hand and Ira's ears were assaulted with a terrified scream. Ira's eyes could only watch as the kid that he tried to save screams died out as his body fell over, motionless. Flames engulfed the boy's body as Ira fell to his knees at his failure to save the life that he watched over. "No….." An evil snicker could be heard from the demon in front of him as another set of screams were heard as the hiding place that Ira just left was set ablaze.
The tortured screams of the children that Ira once played with made itself a permanent residence in Ira's mind as he saw a few demons behind him, taking out any human they saw.
"No…" His eyes settled on the kids that were with him. "This…This can't be happening." He said to himself as the kids were burned alive from the onslaught of the demons. He sat on his knees, his eyes taking in the reality that was around him as he took notice of something else that plagued his vision…A Velvet Red Sky.
The horror began to set in as another female scream was heard, but to him, it sounded familiar. "Ziva…Ziva!" Ira quickly bolted to his feet and ran towards the direction of the scream. He leaped over debris and pushed his way towards the few demons that he saw running towards him, trying their best to add him to the collection of lives that they have already claimed.
Ira quickly ran towards a small house where the scream had originated from. Without thinking, he quickly burst through the door to reveal a horrible sight. Human bodies were slain and blood dripped from the wall to the floor as he could hear flesh tearing from the bone before another body was dropped to the floor.
In the center of the room stood a large demonic figure. One side was human and the other side appeared to have mutated into something dragon-like. "Well, I was wondering when you would get here…." The demonic figure spoke, its dark feminine voice causing goosebumps to appear on Ira's body as he stood there, bewildered.
"It can't be….Zi…Ziva." He finished as his voice was barely able to speak out the truth at the half-human, a half demonic figure that stood in front of him; centered in a room full of bodies as her now gold pupils locked on to his.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone