A Web of Broken hearts and Hollow souls

Senshi ran through the forest as waves of undead chased after her; "Come on! Can't you guys take a hint!?"

As she jumped over a fallen tree one of them grabbed her leg, "Ugh- Buzz off!" She yelled, kicking its head, sending it flying into the horde. The swarm of flesh seemed to grow in numbers, moving through the forest like locusts, uprooting the land, carving out the earth.

Senshi turned to the oncoming mass, "Oh, come on..." the wall of dead flesh seemed to encompass the very sky itself.

She spotted a person above the wave, it was the false Tamari- he smiled, holding out his hand the bodies seemed to take shape; the undead bit and carved into each other, merging into a large hand that rose over Senshi. "..." as she looked on in terror.

The hand descended with tremendous force, Senshi stopped at the edge of a chasm "Ah, jeez... Where-" searching for a way across. Before she could think the hand came screaming down with an earth-shattering boom-

She leaped- "Aaaaaah!!" but the force of the impact hit her mid jump, rocketing her across the chasm.

She slammed into a tree on the other side, "Ugh..." lifting herself up, she turned back, witness to the mass gathering once again; "Ngh..."

She jumped to another tree, beginning to run across the hanging branches. "I need to find a way out of here and get back to the others-"

Suddenly the branch she had stepped on grabbed her, "Huh-?!" throwing her to the ground- "Gah!"

The trees loomed over her; coming down with their rotten hands they encased her in a prison of decayed wood. "What is this?!"

Emerging from the trunk of a tree Tamari appeared again, his hair now a grotesque green and purple; his eyes dilated, red like blood. His monstrous grin sneered a set of razor-like teeth.

"This is my nest, remember?" He grinned, "You cannot hope to escape-"

Senshi struggled to break free from her cage, ripping away at the thorny branches as they carved out her hands. "Ngh..." She cringed in pain, her hands trembling. "I need- to get back to them..."

"To what? Your friends? Or…" the trees parted-

"Ngh… raah!" Senshi threw a punch but was yanked out of the air, her limbs strung up.

"Ah… hah…hah…"

"Tamari" placed his hand upon her cheek.

"…perhaps "me"?" He smirked.

"Don't say that like you're him-" she lashed out; "You're nothing like him- you freak!"

"Hm-" he patted her cheek, then he turned away, brushing his hair back; and as he did, it grew out. "How much do you truly know about little Tamari, hm?"

As he turned around, he had changed completely; "she" was now a woman in her early thirties- white kimono with purple web patterns. Her eyes were a plum red with "two" pupils. Her body was finely curved as a red pattern of blood covered her pale skin. Her teeth were fanged as her tongue stuck out like a tail; fat and bloated.

"Mmm, that's better~" she smiled.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Pressed Senshi, her face a mask of confusion and worry.

"The boy that left you all those years ago isn't quite as he used to be, it seems…"

"No- what are you talking about, he hasn't changed! He's still Tamari!"

Her face turned stern as a frown crossed her face, "Memories are an "interpretation" of a past event, not a set-in-stone record." She spoke, licking her lips. "If you're so faithful, why don't we see if he is still "your" Tamari..."

———

Tamari bolted out from the hole running; the spider chasing behind him- "Awww! Don't ruuun~"

He slid under a rock, taking cover once again.

"Come on out…" the spider's arms contorted and twisted, forming scythe-like appendages. "…little Tamari!"

She began gouging out chunks of the rock, clawing her way to him.

Tamari hunkered down, looking for a way out- "Come on, think, think, think…"

He noticed the ground was soft underneath him, he began scraping away at the dirt, digging into a small tunnel.

As he moved through the tunnel it became narrower, his vision became obscured by the darkness as he choked on the dust surrounding him.

His hands felt numb and his arms sore, but he continued on…

"Ngh…" there was an eerie silence that seemed to stalk the tunnel, Tamari stopped, thinking he had heard a voice. He looked back, but only darkness seemed to follow him. "…"

He continued forward, at this point Tamari had come to a slow crawl, but the tunnel only seemed to keep going. He shivered as he felt something brush up against his leg; he stopped, rubbing it he heard the voice again.

It was low and far off but came from behind him. He turned away, picking up speed.

Longer the tunnel grew still, but the voice grew louder- Tamari began to feel an echo of fear at the back of his mind…

"Tamari..."

He looked back, nothing; but when he turned around, he found himself at the entryway of five different tunnels. "..." he gulped, a sinking feeling in his stomach, like he was falling.

Down each tunnel he could hear the voice, "Tamari... Tamari..." it almost sounded familiar.

He felt the touch of a hand on his shoulder, he whipped around to confront them, but no one was there. The voices grew louder, "Tamari...Tamari..." he could hear their footsteps, closing in on him.

Tamari scanned the room, noticing a silent tunnel; "Ngh..." he hesitated but fled into the quiet abyss.

He ran what felt like forever, only to reappear in the entryway. "Wha..." he turned back running again to find himself in the entryway. "N-no!"

He noticed another tunnel and quickly hurried down it, to find himself at the entryway. He couldn't escape the room, he was trapped; just then he felt the pull of a hand on his arm.

He jolted back, his hair on edge, his instincts telling him to run.

Voices seemed to converge, as if they were in the chamber with him; he held his ears as they pounded his head, "Ngh... Aaaaaah!!" falling to his knees.

Like a bell tower, they shouted his name: "Tamari!! Tamari!!" He screamed for the voices to stop, "Aaaaaaah!!"

His ears bled as his mind raced; he pounded the ground, his cries drowned out by the chorus of voices.

When suddenly, they stopped.

The chamber grew silent, Tamari slowly stood. "..."

He saw a light at the end of a single tunnel; desperate and weary he took a single step, when suddenly he was thrown to his knees.

He looked behind him, and what he saw, truly horrified him.

The bodies of hundreds of monks lay at the end of the tunnel. They stared at him with their lifeless eyes; opening their mouths a hot miasma swept through the tunnel, lighting it aflame. "Tamari..." they bellowed.

"Ah...no..." he backed away. The burning bodies began to move towards him, clawing at the dirt they dragged their charred husks closer. "N-no stay back!"

Grabbing at his feet they chanted sutras of death and despair... "Namu Amida Butsu! Namu Amida Butsu!" they howled.

"No! You're not real! You're not real!" Screamed Tamari.

He turned away to the light, "No-" when he stopped in the face of an old man. His white beard stained with blood, as tears fell from his dark eyes. His clothes tattered and his chest ripped open, spewing his intestines onto his feet.

Hushed words slipped from his boney lips; "Tamari, my boy..."

Tamari stepped back, "Master Ataeru..." he whispered; Tamari was then restrained, his arms and legs chained by spoiled hands; "Ngh..."

Ataeru lifted his hand, placing it upon Tamari's chest. "Why...? Have we not suffered enough?"

"No... I-"

Ataeru's body lit aflame, his voice like thunder, his eyes burning in their sockets.

"Why have you abandoned us, were you not satisfied with our blood upon your hands?!!"

Tamari's body lit aflame with scorching heat- "Aaaaaaaaah!!" he burned, screaming and thrashing, his skin peeling off as his fingers blackened.

He called out, "Help! Help please!" as his tongue burned away, "Sens-!" his cries went silent and deaf; turning to nothing, but a voice at the end of the tunnel.