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Ruegan
Ruegan clenched up his overcoat as he took a final drag from his ciggarette. This night, the wind chilled him to his very core. The wind blowing through the city this night was not an ordinary wind, it was a black wind, carrying with it glimpses of death and despair. Ruegan tucked the rim of his hat down and tightened the scarf on his neck and slowly stood up. His surroundings at the moment matched his emotions. It was a dark ally with a thick layer of mist on the ground. The dumpster was shoved up against the far wall with sewage leaking from its bottom. A garbage can had been turned into a torch in order to provide light and warmth, but no matter of heat or light could seem to penetrate this nights pitch of darkness.
Ruegan tightened his grip on his lapel and started to walk to the end of the ally. It was obvious that he did not want to go to where he had too, but he had made the vow with Shin, and he was a man of his word. Each step Ruegan took fell hard on the ground. Whenever Ruegan took a step, the layer of mist on the ground seemed to instantly rise as if not wanting to interfere with him. Even lifeless things like mist didn't seem to want to be touched by this vagabond character.
"Why did I reveal myself to him?" Ruegan asked himself outloud, though the words came muffled and garbled through the black bandana covering his face from his nose down. "What was I thinking? I shouldn't have answered his damn summons." Ruegan knew why he'd answered Shin though, old habits died hard. Ruegan no longer was forced to help humans, but deep in his being, he still wanted too, despite all that had happened to him.
Despite the darkness around him, and the dark Ray-Bans on his face, Ruegan could see everything with crystal clarity. He could see his filthy surroudnings, the bums passed out from drinking on the ground, and even the spiritual forces that still inhabited the ally. Walking with him on his left was a beggar who'd died of frost one night. Ahead of him was the tormented soul of a woman who'd been raped and killed weeks ago. The negativity of what he saw dampened his soul. He no longer wanted this gift of foresight. He wished only that he could simply let these souls move on to the next stage of existence, but he no longer had that ability. All he could do was walk by them and pretend as if he didn't notice them.
He had once tried to console one of the lost souls, but in the end, caused more bad then good. It was the soul of a murdered priest, he had told him what had happened, and why he hadn't reached heaven, and in the resulting process, the priest had gone insane. He called Ruegan a devil, a sinner, a blasphemer sent by the devil to test his faith. Ruegan had tried to talk him down from it, but it was no use, people only heard what they wanted to hear, dead or alive.
Ruegan exited the ally and entered the hustle and bustle of the busy city street. The buisness men in their 3 button suits would give Ruegan a glance, mutter something under there breath about the homeless, and continue on there way. The women with children would shield their eyes and try and make sure they didn't see him. As for the children who walked by unattended, they'd walk over to this strange man who showed no skin and pull at his jacket, and ask him silly questions like if he was the closet monster. Ruegan would typically try and laugh at these comments and pat the kid on the head and walk by, but sometimes, he felt like having a bit of fun and would stress his diaphram to get the lowest possible voice and make his most horrific sound at the child. It was kind of mean, but it fit Ruegans sick sense of humor quite well.
"Is this civilization?" he thought to himself as a particularly trendy 30 something walked by and spit at his feet. "Is this what I tried to defend for so long? Is this what I'm forced to continue to defend?" Once again, Ruegan already knew the answer. He choose the path that he walked, he was a being of free choice, that's how he'd ended up on the earth.
Ruegan looked over to the street corner and saw two young lovers in a patienet embrace. The two pressed there bodies tightly together and rubbed their hands up and down eachother. There lips connected and Ruegan could feel the aura of their feelings. "Love... true love... thats why I fight."
He then once again tightened his caps hold on his head and started on his journey. One foot after another, slowly but surely. Slowly though, he picked up speed and momentum, until at last, Ruegan was running down the street. An inner warmth began to fill his being and soon Ruegan felt himself passing through the people on the street. The people of the city couldn't see Ruegan though, there hearts were too empty and devoid of emotion. As he passed through people's physical selves, however, a small bit of his aura would mingle with theirs, and for a split second, these people of the city would feel happiness.
Where there had once stood a man shrouded in mystery now lay only a clump of clothing and a horrid stench. No one even acknowledged the fact that a man had dissappeared before their very eyes. They simply continued to walk on, refusing to stop for anything. The city was tough, but the people in the city were tougher.
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