Post by Seito Risa on Sept 25, 2013 19:44:55 GMT -5
Miwa laid on the hand woven mat in her room, looking up at the ceiling. Three days had now passed. Three days of constant vigil. They had traded between the three of them, Megumi refusing to leave her Great-Granddsughter's side except for when the course of nature required tending. She, herself, had just laid down not two hours ago, exhausted. Whatever had happened, it was like nothing she had ever witnessed. Though she would never admit it, even Megumi had to be at the limit of her own teachings. Finally she closed her eyes. She would get rest and get up to tend to things Hikari was too busy to attend to, then return and relieve the younger girl to get some rest. It promised to be a long day...
=====
She had no idea what the figures were, or who, but from the moment she had seen them, she knew she was in trouble. The first had approached her and she had tried a diplomatic approach, a tactic quickly abandoned to a massive right...fist?... to the side of her head. She had risen and faced them again as the first stepped back to its companions. One at a time they walked up to her, she tried to be diplomatic, to use the skills she had been taught to avoid confrontation. Each time she took a shot. By the time the fourth was done, her jaw felt like it had been ripped from her skull, inverted and jammed back into place. She spat, but to her surprise, no blood.
The hell? Where am....the fire...Mi-chan?...
She pulled herself back to her feet again, wobbled, then got a base under her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand...wait...her arm wasn't broken?... she looked at her arm a moment, then back at the shadowy things.
SR: "Okay. I can see we're going to have to do this the hard way. Who wants to be first?"
The was a rumble...laughter?...and the first to strike her strode forward again. It reached for her and she ducked under it's massive paw. Quickly she swung around behind it and jabbed her right elbow into the middle of it's spine. She reached up for it's jaw, but drew only air where it should have bent back to.
SR: "Nani?!?!"
She looked up just in time to see the elbow in answer coming. It slid under her chin and slammed into her chest with force of a charging ram. She fell to the ground..floor...whatever...the air knocked from her lungs. The thing turned, intending to drive its fist clean through her stomach. She rolled and the massive strike hit the floor and caused it to shake. Risa got back to her feet and took advantage of the thing's stooped position, hopping onto its shoulder and driving a series of thrust kicks into the side of its head. Each blow found its mark, but the...thing...merely laughed. She was grabbed by the leg and slung until she hit a wall, that wasn't really there? She slumped and shook her head.
SR: "What is going on here?"
The thing slowly rose to its feet and turned to her. It flexed the hand that had slammed into the ground. The knuckles and finger bones crackled, sending a chill down her spine.
SR: "Oh, hell. And I think I mean that."
Risa used the non-existant wall behind her to get to her feet.
SR: "Think about this, Risa. Where are you. At the Shrine. With Miwa. There's a fire there. These things are in your mind."
She blinked at that realization. She smiled a little and did a cartwheel clear of the incoming kick meant to remove her skull.
SR: "So this is it then. You four are what I have to face. Alright."
She slid again into a ready position. She began to hear voices speaking her name. Her Mother. Miwa. Grandfather. Ichiro. She felt a rush through her veins. She set herself as the thing reached for her and she grabbed the massive arm with both of her hands, spinning, she used an elementary Judo throw, sending the figure flying into his companions, knocking two of them to the ground beneath it. The fourth, still standing, nodded in approval. This one she glared at, though she didn't lose track of the three untangling themselves.
SR: "This is the test then. This is it. If I lose, it's over. If I win, well, that remains to be seen."
The four of them lined up as they reckoned her strength had increased. They approached her together. Risa looked for an exit or an equalizer.
SR: "This is all inside of you, Risa. You can control this. Even if you can't control them."
She took a deep breath. More and more waves of energy were pouring into her veins. Prayers with her name in them were flowing in from all over. The four figures stopped. As one, they silently rushed in on her. She didn't duck this time, but crouched, and took to the air, meeting their charge foot to chins...
=====
Megumi's brow was furrowed. For three days now Risa had laid here in a fever to which even her own considerable skill at healing had no answer. She had one last thing she had been saving. A last ditch item. Something she had heard Risa herself had once used. While Risa had the genki of her youth to spare to guide Ichiro back, Megumi reflected, she herself had no such extra energy. Using the salve would likely be fatal for her. But if her strength would turn the tide, she would. She looked across at Miwa, who had not long ago returned to relieve Hikari. Dutifully, she was taking the cool cloth, wiping Risa's right arm down. She would not be able to use it when one who knew of it was in the room. If things had not gone one way or the other by the time Hikari returned, she would have to take the risk.
=====
The fight had seemed to go on forever. Two of the shadowy figures were down and out, but Risa was wearing down, her own injuries mounting. Yet every time she thought she was done, the waves of energy would flow in again, seemingly healing her injuries and giving her strength to fight on. She knew this fight was one she had to win. Her own life was at stake. The two figures remaining approached her. One suddenly wavered. Eden Morgan stood before her, battered, bruised, her face swollen in an unnatural way. When she spoke, her voice was clear and sharp, as if they were back in the bar together, when everything started going downhill.
EM: "Why? Why did you fail? How could you let them do this to me? I thought you were my friend? The others were right. You just weren't good enough. Not to help us, and not to be my friend."
Risa's eyebrows went up, taken aback by the words. Guilt began to creep in. Doubt. It was true. As soon as she had failed so spectacularly at Outlast, PMN had dropped her and Ichiro like a burned out match. Was she really that much of a failure? It threw her off a moment, the other figure diving in, tackling her and landing a series of lefts before getting up to see if she had had enough.
Not your fault.
The voice was familiar, she looked back toward Eden, but the only thing left was the shadowy beast that had turned into her. Risa shook her head. Behind her another voice spoke.
TP: "We trusted you, and all you did was let us down. We have no use for a failure like you."
Travis waved her off and turned his back on her. She stepped forward, reaching out despite the pain in her face.
SR: "No. WAIT!"
A boot from the thing behind her caught her in the middle of the back. She cried out and staggered forward, dropping to her hands and knees, right hand reaching around behind her back. She looked up to see Jet Somers standing there.
JS: "Huh."
He, too, turned his back. He departed in the same direction as Travis. Risa knelt there, waiting for the finishing blow. An elbow from a height would crush her right now, and she wasn't sure she would bother to move.
Roll!
She heard the voice and did as she was told, dropping to her right shoulder and rolling. The blow she knew had been coming crashed into the ground next to her. She got to her feet. She hurt. She didn't want to fight on.
Hit it! Now!
Risa crouched as if by instinct and unleashed an uppercut that sent the figure into the air, and slamming to the ground. Like the two before it, a could of black, ashy vapor formed and was carried away on some unseen wind. She clinched her fists and turned. As she had guessed, before her stood the last of the dark figures, the one that had nodded to her at the beginning.
It walked slowly to her. She held her ground. She didn't go into a fighting pose, instead just holding her ground. Her body hurt in places it had never hurt before. She hoped for another burst of energy from those voices, but none came. They had been getting fainter and fainter. The figure stopped before her. Its face twisted into that of David Damarest.
DD: "Well done, girl. It is such a shame you must be destroyed. You provide great amusement and sport."
She smirked.
SR: "I would say go to Hell, but for you I don't think that's much of a change."
The face twisted. Zane Scott.
ZS: "You don't know when to stop, do you?"
It growled at her.
SR: "No. I don't. So are you going to try to keep playing mind games with me or are we going to finish this?"
The face again mutated. Cypress Morgan.
CM: "So anxious to die? Just remember, you asked for it!"
He swung a massive arm at her, just as she knew he would. He swung, she went over his head, slid down his back and had a kick waiting for him when he turned. A well placed right foot to the "daddy parts" did the trick. The thing howled in pain. She spun around, pulling it's chin onto her shoulder.
SR: "Get out of my body!"
She dropped down, her Phoenix Rising striking with precision. The thing bounced into the air, vaporizing before it hit the ground again. Risa stood there, breathing heavily, sore, tired and suddenly unable to keep her feet. She dropped to her knees.
SR: "Anyone else!!!"
She called out in defiance. The voice she had heard guiding spoke again.
There is only me, now. Suzume.
Risa looked around. The voice suddenly finding it's place. She saw another figure approaching, shorter than she, bent by years of age and surrounded by a halo of soft light. Her Grandmother stepped up.
Grandmother: "It's time to go, Suzume."
=====
Miwa looked up at Risa's face again. She blinked.
Miwa: "Her face. It isn't as pale as before."
Megumi opened her eyes from a prayer and looked at Risa's face.
Megumi: "The fever is breaking. Now we find out what her fate will be."
=====
Hikari stood with the other attendants around the small fire pit, keeping silent prayer vigil. She had no idea if it was having any effect at all, but she was determined to do all she could. She looked over when she heard the door slide open. Megumi stepped out into the late night air. HIkari got to her feet and moved toward her, another attendant nearby stepping into her place. It had been thus for four days now. She approached Megumi, eyes hopeful. Megumi shook her head and turned, walking wearily away. Hikari looked at the door and began to weep. If that was what she thought it meant, all that they had been doing...had not been enough. She turned and looked back at the people around the small fire. She realized something. Miwa hadn't come out. She turned back and looked at the building, clasped her hands and began to pray on her own.
=====
She had no idea what the figures were, or who, but from the moment she had seen them, she knew she was in trouble. The first had approached her and she had tried a diplomatic approach, a tactic quickly abandoned to a massive right...fist?... to the side of her head. She had risen and faced them again as the first stepped back to its companions. One at a time they walked up to her, she tried to be diplomatic, to use the skills she had been taught to avoid confrontation. Each time she took a shot. By the time the fourth was done, her jaw felt like it had been ripped from her skull, inverted and jammed back into place. She spat, but to her surprise, no blood.
The hell? Where am....the fire...Mi-chan?...
She pulled herself back to her feet again, wobbled, then got a base under her. She wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand...wait...her arm wasn't broken?... she looked at her arm a moment, then back at the shadowy things.
SR: "Okay. I can see we're going to have to do this the hard way. Who wants to be first?"
The was a rumble...laughter?...and the first to strike her strode forward again. It reached for her and she ducked under it's massive paw. Quickly she swung around behind it and jabbed her right elbow into the middle of it's spine. She reached up for it's jaw, but drew only air where it should have bent back to.
SR: "Nani?!?!"
She looked up just in time to see the elbow in answer coming. It slid under her chin and slammed into her chest with force of a charging ram. She fell to the ground..floor...whatever...the air knocked from her lungs. The thing turned, intending to drive its fist clean through her stomach. She rolled and the massive strike hit the floor and caused it to shake. Risa got back to her feet and took advantage of the thing's stooped position, hopping onto its shoulder and driving a series of thrust kicks into the side of its head. Each blow found its mark, but the...thing...merely laughed. She was grabbed by the leg and slung until she hit a wall, that wasn't really there? She slumped and shook her head.
SR: "What is going on here?"
The thing slowly rose to its feet and turned to her. It flexed the hand that had slammed into the ground. The knuckles and finger bones crackled, sending a chill down her spine.
SR: "Oh, hell. And I think I mean that."
Risa used the non-existant wall behind her to get to her feet.
SR: "Think about this, Risa. Where are you. At the Shrine. With Miwa. There's a fire there. These things are in your mind."
She blinked at that realization. She smiled a little and did a cartwheel clear of the incoming kick meant to remove her skull.
SR: "So this is it then. You four are what I have to face. Alright."
She slid again into a ready position. She began to hear voices speaking her name. Her Mother. Miwa. Grandfather. Ichiro. She felt a rush through her veins. She set herself as the thing reached for her and she grabbed the massive arm with both of her hands, spinning, she used an elementary Judo throw, sending the figure flying into his companions, knocking two of them to the ground beneath it. The fourth, still standing, nodded in approval. This one she glared at, though she didn't lose track of the three untangling themselves.
SR: "This is the test then. This is it. If I lose, it's over. If I win, well, that remains to be seen."
The four of them lined up as they reckoned her strength had increased. They approached her together. Risa looked for an exit or an equalizer.
SR: "This is all inside of you, Risa. You can control this. Even if you can't control them."
She took a deep breath. More and more waves of energy were pouring into her veins. Prayers with her name in them were flowing in from all over. The four figures stopped. As one, they silently rushed in on her. She didn't duck this time, but crouched, and took to the air, meeting their charge foot to chins...
=====
Megumi's brow was furrowed. For three days now Risa had laid here in a fever to which even her own considerable skill at healing had no answer. She had one last thing she had been saving. A last ditch item. Something she had heard Risa herself had once used. While Risa had the genki of her youth to spare to guide Ichiro back, Megumi reflected, she herself had no such extra energy. Using the salve would likely be fatal for her. But if her strength would turn the tide, she would. She looked across at Miwa, who had not long ago returned to relieve Hikari. Dutifully, she was taking the cool cloth, wiping Risa's right arm down. She would not be able to use it when one who knew of it was in the room. If things had not gone one way or the other by the time Hikari returned, she would have to take the risk.
=====
The fight had seemed to go on forever. Two of the shadowy figures were down and out, but Risa was wearing down, her own injuries mounting. Yet every time she thought she was done, the waves of energy would flow in again, seemingly healing her injuries and giving her strength to fight on. She knew this fight was one she had to win. Her own life was at stake. The two figures remaining approached her. One suddenly wavered. Eden Morgan stood before her, battered, bruised, her face swollen in an unnatural way. When she spoke, her voice was clear and sharp, as if they were back in the bar together, when everything started going downhill.
EM: "Why? Why did you fail? How could you let them do this to me? I thought you were my friend? The others were right. You just weren't good enough. Not to help us, and not to be my friend."
Risa's eyebrows went up, taken aback by the words. Guilt began to creep in. Doubt. It was true. As soon as she had failed so spectacularly at Outlast, PMN had dropped her and Ichiro like a burned out match. Was she really that much of a failure? It threw her off a moment, the other figure diving in, tackling her and landing a series of lefts before getting up to see if she had had enough.
Not your fault.
The voice was familiar, she looked back toward Eden, but the only thing left was the shadowy beast that had turned into her. Risa shook her head. Behind her another voice spoke.
TP: "We trusted you, and all you did was let us down. We have no use for a failure like you."
Travis waved her off and turned his back on her. She stepped forward, reaching out despite the pain in her face.
SR: "No. WAIT!"
A boot from the thing behind her caught her in the middle of the back. She cried out and staggered forward, dropping to her hands and knees, right hand reaching around behind her back. She looked up to see Jet Somers standing there.
JS: "Huh."
He, too, turned his back. He departed in the same direction as Travis. Risa knelt there, waiting for the finishing blow. An elbow from a height would crush her right now, and she wasn't sure she would bother to move.
Roll!
She heard the voice and did as she was told, dropping to her right shoulder and rolling. The blow she knew had been coming crashed into the ground next to her. She got to her feet. She hurt. She didn't want to fight on.
Hit it! Now!
Risa crouched as if by instinct and unleashed an uppercut that sent the figure into the air, and slamming to the ground. Like the two before it, a could of black, ashy vapor formed and was carried away on some unseen wind. She clinched her fists and turned. As she had guessed, before her stood the last of the dark figures, the one that had nodded to her at the beginning.
It walked slowly to her. She held her ground. She didn't go into a fighting pose, instead just holding her ground. Her body hurt in places it had never hurt before. She hoped for another burst of energy from those voices, but none came. They had been getting fainter and fainter. The figure stopped before her. Its face twisted into that of David Damarest.
DD: "Well done, girl. It is such a shame you must be destroyed. You provide great amusement and sport."
She smirked.
SR: "I would say go to Hell, but for you I don't think that's much of a change."
The face twisted. Zane Scott.
ZS: "You don't know when to stop, do you?"
It growled at her.
SR: "No. I don't. So are you going to try to keep playing mind games with me or are we going to finish this?"
The face again mutated. Cypress Morgan.
CM: "So anxious to die? Just remember, you asked for it!"
He swung a massive arm at her, just as she knew he would. He swung, she went over his head, slid down his back and had a kick waiting for him when he turned. A well placed right foot to the "daddy parts" did the trick. The thing howled in pain. She spun around, pulling it's chin onto her shoulder.
SR: "Get out of my body!"
She dropped down, her Phoenix Rising striking with precision. The thing bounced into the air, vaporizing before it hit the ground again. Risa stood there, breathing heavily, sore, tired and suddenly unable to keep her feet. She dropped to her knees.
SR: "Anyone else!!!"
She called out in defiance. The voice she had heard guiding spoke again.
There is only me, now. Suzume.
Risa looked around. The voice suddenly finding it's place. She saw another figure approaching, shorter than she, bent by years of age and surrounded by a halo of soft light. Her Grandmother stepped up.
Grandmother: "It's time to go, Suzume."
=====
Miwa looked up at Risa's face again. She blinked.
Miwa: "Her face. It isn't as pale as before."
Megumi opened her eyes from a prayer and looked at Risa's face.
Megumi: "The fever is breaking. Now we find out what her fate will be."
=====
Hikari stood with the other attendants around the small fire pit, keeping silent prayer vigil. She had no idea if it was having any effect at all, but she was determined to do all she could. She looked over when she heard the door slide open. Megumi stepped out into the late night air. HIkari got to her feet and moved toward her, another attendant nearby stepping into her place. It had been thus for four days now. She approached Megumi, eyes hopeful. Megumi shook her head and turned, walking wearily away. Hikari looked at the door and began to weep. If that was what she thought it meant, all that they had been doing...had not been enough. She turned and looked back at the people around the small fire. She realized something. Miwa hadn't come out. She turned back and looked at the building, clasped her hands and began to pray on her own.
