AN: Hello everyone. This is a sequel to Responsibilities, so if you haven't read that one yet, maybe you should squeeze it in. But it's not a must. The water spirit, the apsara, in this story is a loose adapttion of a Hindu water spirit. It can take on any form of water and travel with it. It's usually the companion of a king or God even, and i picked a Thai weapon as the only one that can kill it.
Summary: Sam and Dean are hunting a water spirit when Sam needs Cassie's help to save Dean. Of course, Cadie doesn't want to be left behind...
S*P*N
Sam was stumbling through the thick brush, rain and twigs pelting his face in the thick, near-black darkness. The pale moonlight highlighted the thin whirls of fog that were messing with his orientation. The raging waters of the nearby river roared in his ears.
"Dean!"
The wind carried Sam's voice away and drowned it. Where was his brother? They'd been chasing the apsara through the mountainous Missouri area and got split up when they lost sight of it for a moment.
"...mmy!"
A gust of wind carried his brother's voice over, causing Sam to change direction. How did Dean end up to his right when he had taken off towards Sam's left? The beam of Sam's flashlight caught a low hanging branch just in time for Sam to duck and roll.
"Dean?"
Sam was trying to supress his panting in order to listen for a sign of his brother. Another gust of wind sent a shiver down his spine. Slowly he stepped into the wind, heading in the direction Dean had last called from. The thundering of the water grew even louder and Sam knew he must be close to the edge.
Sure enough a few steps onward, the ground began to slope until it hit an abyss, a cliff. One glance down told Sam it was at least a fifteen foot drop to the surface of the raging waters that were a glistening, foaming, fluid black mass below. Sam took a step back and trudged through the muddy ground at a relatively safe distance to the edge.
"...am!"
Dean sounded a lot closer now, but the storm carried bits of his voice away. Sam lifted his flashlight from the ground but could only see bits of tree, fog and rain still pelting down. His clothes were water logged long time already, feet making swishing noises in his shoes with each step.
"...ch out!"
Closer even. Dean wanted him to shout? No problem.
"De... uhhh!"
Before Sam could finish shouting Dean's name, his brother appeared out of nothing, tackling him to the ground at full speed. The air left Sam's lungs with a whoosh and he could just make out the grisly outline of claws attached to a feminine shaped mix of werewolf, wendigo and mermaid. This water spirit sure was ugly. The sound of tearing fabric and a pained grunt he couldn't make out if it were coming from him or Dean were the last things Sam was aware of before his head connected with the knobbly root of a fir tree and everything turned black.
***spn***
When Sam came to, daylight was starting to seep through the wet branches of the trees around him. His head was pounding and when a probing hand touched the back of it, it came back bloody and muddy. He groaned and sat up. The river below was rumbling at a softer volume, but still gurgling enough to attest the heavy downpour from the night.
Downpour? Sam's eyes widened when his memory reassembled in his brain. He'd been hunting this Hindu water spirit with his brother when they got separated and then...
"Dean?!"
Sam shouted as he pushed himself up to his feet, drenched clothes threatening to pull him back down. He ignored the throbbing in his head which intensified as he stood upright, and stretched out a hand to steady himself as his world began to spin. Squinting, Sam took in his surroundings but found no trace of either his brother or the apsara.
The rain had stopped by now, which was just as well. This water spirit could take on any state of water. No rain or fog meant it couldn't follow him on land. As long as he stayed clear of the river...
"Shit," Sam muttered and then skittered through the mud to the edge of the cliff. "Shit, shit, shit. DEAN!"
His voice boomed over the river but the only answer Sam got was a soft gurgling. There were many boulders in the rather deep water, some sticking out, others barely visible under the water surface. If Dean had fallen down there... Sam scolded himself for thinking that. Dean was fine. He had pushed him out of the apsara's path. Dean had put himself in the line of fire to spare him, again.
"Damnit, Dean, where are you?"
Sam pat his wet jeans for his phone and then sighed. If the phone was as wet as his jeans there was no way it would be working. And that meant Dean's phone would be in a similar stare. Making up his mind to search for Dean along the shore line, Sam took one step and then froze. A glint had caught his eye. A glint from a boulder below, right at the bottom of the cliff, inches away from the water line. He blinked his eyes rapidly and then focused on the object below once more.
"Oh fuck, no!"
Dean's phone was laying on that boulder. Or whatever was left of it. But... if the phone was down there, it could only mean that Dean had to be down there as well.
"Please, no," Sam whispered, pressing a hand against his throbbing head. "Please let him be okay."
Maybe Dean hadn't fallen. Maybe he just lost his phone. Maybe when he tackled Sam to the ground, his phone had fallen from his pants and slid over the edge. If Dean had fallen... Sam shook his head.
"Don't think that, Sam," he scolded himself.
Dean was a great swimmer. Sam had seen him brave a rough sea and save a kid from a water ghost in a lake. His brother knew how to swim. But... the boulders would have hurt him even if he hadn't hit one in his fall. And if he was down there, hurt, then the chances that this water spirit had him were great.
Carefully, Sam climbed down and along the slippery edge, hoping to find a spot where he could get down to the shore. As his foot slipped, Sam's back screamed in pain and he was reminded of the fall he'd taken at the hands of his brother. But if Dean hadn't tackled him, the apsara would have pushed Sam over the edge and down into the raging waters.
Two hours Sam walked and climbed along the shore, hands bloody, clothes muddy and torn, back protesting and head throbbing mercilessly, but he hadn't found another single sign of Dean.
This spirit had to have a lair of sorts where it had brought the other young men it lured to the water. Four men in their mid-twenties had disappeared in this neck of the woods, only to be found a week later, dead. Signs of drowning were on each of them but they were found a good few yards offshore on land, albeit after a heavy downpour.
Although they had been missing for days, they hadn't died right away. The condition of their bodies had suggested they drowned within ten hours of being found. Yet they were found in spots that had been searched after their disappearances.
An apsara was luring young men to a river to test them. Apsaras were the companions of kings and to make sure of their continuing existence they needed to find a man worthy of being a king. The suitable partner needed several qualities: strength, courage, pansophy and fidelity.
The brothers had known they would be targets but hoped to be able to take down the spirit before it managed to test either of them. They had managed to get hold of a daab sword which was needed to destroy the spirit.
The sword. Dean had it with him. Wherever he was, Sam hoped he still had it. Dark spots began dancing in front of Sam's eyes and he felt sick to his stomach. There was no way he could continue searching for Dean like this. He needed help. And help he knew he'd get not far away, a few towns over. It took Sam another half an hour to get back to the Impala and drive off.
***spn***
"Cadie? Have you finished your homework?"
Cassie Robinson skipped down the steps to the bottom floor as her daughter flopped herself onto the couch.
"Mom, it's the weekend," Cadie moaned.
"That doesn't answer my question, young lady," Cassie admonished her, smiling. Cadie took a deep breath.
"Yeah, Mom. I have. It's the weekend. Please don't mention anything school related before Monday. Thank you."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," Cadie rolled her eyes.
"Watch it, sweetheart. You wouldn't want me to call Dean and tell him...," Cassie started but Cadie interrupted.
"You never call Dean about my homework, Mom, because you know he'd take my side." Cadie grinned. "You only call him to tell him you miss him and a whole bunch of stuff a girl my age shouldn't have to hear."
Cassie blushed slightly. "You are not supposed to eavesdrop on my conversations with Dean."
"Conversations?" Cadie chuckled. "Try..."
Whatever Cadie had wanted to say was disrupted by a sharp knock on their door. Cassie looked at her daughter but she just shrugged, meaning she didn't expect any of her friends. Walking over to the front door, Cassie glanced out of the window and noticed the black Chevy in her driveway. A smile lit up her face. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open.
"Dean! I didn't expect to see y..., oh, hi Sam."
Cassie's cheerful expression quickly changed as she not only took in Sam's appearance but also the absence of his brother.
"What happened, Sam? Where is Dean?"
Sam looked at her, pupils blown wide in his soot covered face. He opened his mouth to talk but got dizzy and leaned against the door frame. Immediately, Cassie's hand curled into his muddy jacket, keeping him upright. Cadie had left her spot on the couch at the mention of her father and his brother and a worried frown formed on her forehead as she watched her tall uncle sway like a leaf in the wind.
"Sam?" Both women called out again and Cassie took his chin in her hand to make him look at her. "Where is Dean?"
" 'm s'rry," Sam slurred as his knees buckled and he was only upright because of Cassie's vise like grip on his arm. His chin fell on his chest as his head began spinning more violently.
"It's okay, you're safe here," he vaguely heard Cassie say in his ear before he gave in to temptation and let the blackness claim him.
***spn***
Dean woke up laying on the solid rock of the washed out half cave he had managed to latch onto and pull himself in after he and the apsara had tumbled over the edge of the cliff. The second he realized he was free falling, Dean had twisted his body and curled up slightly, hoping he would be lucky enough to land in the water and not splatter his brains on one of the boulders littering the river.
His wish had been granted and as soon as he felt himself being engulfed by the cold, raging current, he had worked his way up to the surface, ignoring the rocks he hit with his body. He had to get out of the spirit's element sooner rather than later. After what felt like hours, but were probably mere minutes, Dean's hand had found the edge of the cave-like hollow and his freezing muscles had screamed at him as he held on against the strong current, against the odds.
Slowly, he had managed to get his body worked onto the embankment but just when Dean had thought he'd made it, an icy hand of solid water wrapped itself around his left ankle and tried pulling him back under. Dean kicked and struggled, breath coming in harsh pants, and finally used his left hand to pry the spirit's hand off his leg.
The joy from succeeding didn't last long however, when the icy limb now latched around his wrist and managed to pull his head and half of his torso back into the water before his other hand found purchase. Sputtering and gasping for air, Dean had fought his way back up the embankment and with a last gasp of effort he twisted his hand out of the apsara's grip.
The moment he felt free, Dean scrambled back as far as he could, until he felt a solid wall of cold rock stop his flight. In the light of the moon, he saw there were about seven yards between him and the shore, and the cave-like structure sheltered him from the still pouring rain. So with no connection to any form of moving water, he was safe for the moment.
Breathing heavily, Dean lay face down, trying to get his bearings. His head was pounding, his lungs were screaming and slowly but surely almost every part of his body started complaining with pain where he'd hit and scraped along boulders in the water. The pounding of his blood in his skull, throbbing in time with his beating heart, grew louder and louder. As if in slow motion, Dean's eyelids dropped and he rested his head on the cold, rocky ground as consciousness retreated and the void took over.
He could feel all of it now, not sure if he'd be able to move a single muscle in his body. Lifting his buzzing head slightly, Dean forced his eyes to focus. The river had quieted down after the storm and rays of sunshine reflected on the water now. Shifting slightly, Dean heard a faint, metallic scraping. He patted his hand down to his belt and smiled as he felt the sheath with the daab sword still safely attached. His smile, however, froze on his face when his eyes moved across the water's surface until they locked onto the watery ones of the apsara.
TBC...