The Parting
She gasped, the flood of pain tearing through her veins. She staggered and found the world distorted, as if she had stepped into the reflection of her world. She wrapped her arms about herself and glanced over to her left. They walked side by side, Ā Nú and Xiāo Yáo.
She whimpered quietly. Her hand flew to her chest. Her heart was beginning to race. She glanced out to the sea. The sun was beginning to stain the sky with the blood of its demise. She inhaled sharply and felt the seeds of a great fear sow within her.
She shook her head lightly. Her anxieties were forced far to the outer reaches of her mind. She held her head high and focused on taking each step.
"I wonder if Yì Rú misses her father," Xiāo Yáo laughed.
She smiled up at him. He was glowing with happiness. She hadn't seen him so happy and relaxed in a long time. Her smile faltered. He had been terrible since Yuè Rú's death. She missed Yuè Rú too but the distance between the grief she felt and the grief he carried were worlds away.
She hunched over suddenly. The pain amplified. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no momentary relief. She looked over to Xiāo Yáo with eyes pervaded by panic. Ā Nú glanced at her. She shook her head. He was still oblivious. There was still time to ensure his happiness would remain untouched.
The ground quaked. The three of them crashed to their knees. She barely managed to balance herself by her right hand. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. The rushed conversation between Xiāo Yáo and Ā Nú was distant and lost on the suddenly cold wind.
She looked to find the sun nearing its end. It was invisible to her eyes, concealed by the hazy colours of the paling sky. She winced, hissing with pain and felt something between her fingers. A shiver ran down her spine. Dread knotted in her stomach.
!
The mountain quailed. Stones scattered and earth crumbled. She felt the cracks grow and spread between her splayed fingers. Her unseeing eyes widened. The pain intensified. A wave of dizziness washed over her.
Xiāo Yáo grasped her arm. "Líng'er, come on! We have to go!"
She raced after him, catching the briefest of glimpses from Ā Nú. The world was falling into the furious seas. The waves were rising and thrashing against the shores. As her sight recovered she found boats far in the distance being swallowed. Anger swept through her head and heart and she grew swifter, strength returning at an inestimable rate.
They came quickly to the other side of the mountain. The Black and White Miáo tribes lay open to the ever strengthening tides. Her heart ached for her people and, without looking, knew that Ā Nú felt the same fear, but far fiercer.
"Yì Rú…"
She fled down the short mountainside. She didn't know whether they were following her or not. She didn't know if she stood any chance against the tides. She felt nothing, knew nothing, but fear for her young daughter.
As she descended the mountain shook again. It was worse: far worse. The cracks tore through the ground faster, fiercer. She crashed to her knees.
"Líng'er!"
The terror in his eye was absolute. She met his gaze, felt his fear pierce her. He was human. He couldn't go down and survive.
The next tremor tore away the ground. They screamed as they were flung down. The land flew towards them, hard and unmerciful. She clasped her hands around her staff but the tides were swifter. They flooded the land and devoured them before land could doom them.
In the tumult they were thrown backwards and forwards, together and apart.
Xiāo Yáo surfaced at the White Miáo Tribe. He threw his hands out and snagged onto a rooftop. There, he hauled himself up and collapsed in a heap. His wounds were still aching from battle. His muscles were screaming and his lungs were starved.
He rolled onto his side and coughed up water. To his utter relief Ā Nú drifted past him. He dived back into the water, pulled her close and caught the next house that he could. They both clambered up to safety, but Xiāo Yáo was restless. He forced back his exhaustion and leaped up, staring at the carnage.
The water rushed past. Debris was lost in its chaos. The surface was stained white with froth and the mud and soil snatched up from beneath. Some unfortunate tribesmen are washed past as well. The one person that he longed to see was nowhere.
"Líng'er…" he spun, searching for even the slightest trace. "Líng'er… Líng'er! Líng'er!"
For you…
For her…
For life and all that is equal…
The earth drifted away beneath her. The wind whistled past her face. There was the staff in her hands. There was the rushing, raging water far below. There were people being washed away. Their screams tore at her soul. Their fleeting lives concluding in torment and agony vanquished, bit by bit, every part of her remotely human: remotely powerless.
She flew over the sea. The long green tail denoting her ancestry fluttered in her wake. Her eyes had no need to search. The monstrous priest stood before her in his new body: human and sea serpent bound together in a single, pitiful life by the strength of her blood.
Author's Note: I felt like doing a one shot. This… Well, to put it this way, I know how she died. I've not seen it. In the television series her fate was different at the end, The bleeding was a nod to its idea. I know some of the details so I thought that I would write out a scenario that came to mind. In the end I wanted to leave it here. Since she goes out to sea to commit suicide with the hybrid she doesn't get to say goodbye. He doesn't really know what happened to her. He got her staff back but that was it really. Oh! Yes, Yuè Rú did die before Yì Rú was born even though she becomes her step mother. I'm not going to explain how that works! I'll explore one of the supposedly proposed endings in another story. As for now this will have to suffice.
Oh~ Another thing, I have started a re-telling of this very story! It's in the 5ds section under the title of Little Fairy. I'm so silly. I can't remember if I've mentioned it before!
Thank you for reading! I hope that you enjoyed this. I apologise if I disappointed you. The franchise is so amazing that I cannot possibly reach that level of greatness.
(s-18)