Oh hurro! It's been a while. So, here's a little something to show that I'm not dead. I whipped this up over night and I hope you like it.
Izumo-shipping
The Death of the Serpent
The last thing Susa remembered seeing was the Serpent blasting a whole in the roof of the cavern opening it up to the sky. As it took flight away from the foreigners, the brown haired young warrior leaped onto the Serpent's tail and held on for his life. Then Susa let his eyes shut and see nothing. He vaguely remembered feeling as though he were being lifted up.
Then he saw her, his beloved, Kushinada. She was standing in a field with cherry blossoms over looking the sea and the sun beaming down; it was their favorite place to be together. He walked toward her with a smile on his face and joy in his heart. Her dark brown eyes smiled back at him. The wind ran its transparent fingers through her hair and her robes fluttered to the side.
As Susa came close to her, the clouds over the sea grew and darkened quickly, unnaturally. Susa looked around, black clouds and descending darkness engulfed the world. The sun was gone, the grass had withered into dust, the cherry blossoms lost their petals and crumpled into nothing; the ground became barren and inhospitable.
He looked to Kushinada, he must protect her. Her eyes did not see him, but beyond him. Fear, terrible fear, unblinking, paralyzing, in her eyes. Susa turned to see; all he saw was the Serpent's gaping maw already upon him. Susa closed his eyes in automatic defence; there was no time to move out of harm's way.
But Susa was unscathed; he opened his eyes wondering why he felt no pain. And then he realized… Kushinada! The Serpent was after her! Kushinada! He screamed as he turned to go to her, but no sound was uttered from him. The Serpent was upon her; she had no where to go; trapped between the cliff's edge and the Serpent's horrible teeth.
He ran to her with all that he had, reaching for his sword. His sword! It was not by his hip; where was it? Each step he took brought him further from Kushinada and the Serpent.
No.
He would not be able to save her.
No!
The Serpent reared to strike.
NO!
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And then Susa woke up.
It was but a dream…or was it? His head was sore. He vaguely remembered in rapid succession: vowing to slay the Serpent of Izumo and save Kushinada from her fate; feeding Dragonsbane to the Serpent; attempting to fight it…and failing; the foreigners coming to his aid; fighting again and then feeling a sharp pain in his head; seeing the dragon fly away and the brown-haired young warrior jump on its tail; and then…
Where was he now? Outside. How'd he get here? The other foreigners carried him. Where was his sword? The mahogany red-haired girl gave it to him. Where was Kushinada?! Where was the Serpent?!!! In the air, the warrior on its back, Felix, was doing battle with it. Susa looked to the sky, the Serpent was spiraling trying to shake Felix loose…no…it was falling to the earth. Felix had managed to wound it. He would defeat it!...no…only Susa's sword could defeat it, deliver the final blow.
The Serpent was falling to the beach. Susa began to sprint immediately down the mountain, sword sheathed and in his hand, leaving the foreigners behind. Trees flew passed him; boulders, grass, and dirt were underneath his feet and then not as he pounded down the mountainside. The foreigners behind him called to him, but he heard them not.
With every thought of Kushinada, his speed increased. He was bent low to the earth running lithe with his arms behind him. If his feet faltered now sprinting down the steep slope of Mt. Mikage, he would surely be injured and all would be for naught. Determined as he was he would not let anything stop him now, especially not the mountain.
He came to a small cliff and leaped off it like a deer, rolling as he landed to save himself injury and keep his momentum. A tree was ahead of him that was bent nearly horizontally. Susa ran along its length and bounded to another tree branch. The same foot landed on the branch and kicked off of it propelling him further through the canopy to another branch and another and another. Soon he was running along the very tops of the trees barely touching them as though he were in fact flying.
He was coming to flatter land, Izumo lay before him. He came to the end of the trees and leaped to the roof of a house. He ran down the middle of the catwalk-like pointed roof, crouched and lithe again. People down below looking toward the beach noticed him leaping from rooftop to rooftop like it was nothing. They shouted to him and cheered him on. He felt a pang of adrenaline from their encouragement and ran faster, faster than the wind itself.
Susa reached the end of town and took one last long jump off the roof flinging himself over the fishing piers and worried fishermen. He landed in the sand of the beach rolling again to protect himself and then he saw them: Felix doing battle with the Serpent at the far end of the beach. Felix dodged around waving sand and boulders at the Serpent with his hand and hiding behind walls of earth as the Serpent retaliated with claws and earth attacks of its own.
Susa knew he had but one chance to finish the Serpent, so he waited. He would have jumped right into the battle and helped Felix fight it, but so far he had been only a hindrance and a failure with his actions. Doubt filled his mind: would he be able to finish off the Serpent, or would he fail for a third time?
Paranoia and fear engulfed him. His momentum and resolve was drifting away leaving him a vulnerable shell. What if he didn't defeat it? The people of Izumo would be killed for his treachery against the Serpent.
Susa was opened to fear and so fear entered him; he smelled of fear and the Serpent picked up the scent. It looked toward Susa, it knew all to well of the danger Susa was to it; and that blasted sword he carried!
Felix took the moment to strike from behind but the serpent whipped him away with his tail. He bounced on the sand losing his sword and getting tangled in his cape; he lay still.
The Serpent's and Susa's eyes were locked in a mental battle. The Serpent was still some distance away, Susa could run if he moved now, get away from the danger. But fear had gripped Susa too tightly now, wrapping around his very soul and strangling any thought of happiness or joy; he was frozen where he stood.
Susa's eyes glazed over and he was back in his dream. All around him he saw darkness; the land had become barren and deserted once more. He saw Izumo in ruins and everyone dead. He was alone in the dark. He saw the Serpent: a big writhing mass of dark oblivion that sucked in light, life and joy. In the middle of that black mass, two piercing red eyes penetrated Susa's soul threatening to destroy him as well. His head screamed RUN, FLEE! Get away from there!! But still he could not move.
Then a voice, distant and indiscernible, rang in his ears. It called repeatedly and Susa looked for the source, but there was none. He looked toward the Serpent, its eyes no longer looking on him but on something to Susa's side. He followed its gaze and the voice became louder. It was Kushinada, she was calling his name, no, more like screaming at the top of her lungs. He could not see her, but he could hear.
Susa! SUSA!!!
Her voice rang in his head and his thoughts began to think of nothing but Kushinada.
Kushinada… Kushinada. Kushinada!
Joy and hope poked their way into Susa's heart. He tried to move his limbs, but he couldn't. What was wrong? He looked at his body; his arms clung to his sides; the darkness was literally wrapped around him and the Serpent was coming toward him!
Kushinada called out to him again and again. With each call his resolve came back little by little. He couldn't let her die; he couldn't fail her again. nooooOOO! He wouldn't let anything happen to her or anyone was else! The serpent must be vanquished once and for all!
A white light appeared at Susa's hip. It shone brilliantly cutting away at the darkness that had him entangled. The Serpent's eyes averted the light; it roared in frustration. The Cloud Brand! It hovered before him and was poised at the Serpent. Susa gazed into the light letting it cleanse his soul. Then he grasped the handle firmly and felt his stomach drop as if he were falling. The light spread magnificently shunning the darkness and causing Susa to close his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, he was back on the beach, the sun shining, the waves rolling… and the Serpent right in front of him! It roared in his face. It looked furious. The Cloud Brand no longer shone white light, but Susa could feel it being drawn toward the Serpent; he could feel its wanting to slay the beast.
The Serpent knew its time was up. Susa gave it a steely glare and readied himself to strike, as did the Serpent. Their eyes met and this time there was no mental battle, they were waiting to see who would strike first. The serpent's eyes darted to something behind Susa, however. He questioned it and then realized…Kushinada!
Susa struck, but the serpent saw it coming and dodged it. Immediately it ran at Kushinada with full force. But Susa was quicker while holding the Cloud Brand. He was in between Kushinada and the Serpent in a flash. Before the Serpent could react, a blaze of white zoomed across the length of the serpent and Susa was by its tail on one knee with the Cloud Brand held behind him in a swung position. A blast of air and sand burst out a second later followed by a tremor that violently shook the branches of trees and people's clothing.
The Serpent screamed in agony as it dissipated into black and gray sand from its lethal wound to the rest of its body.
The Serpent of Izumo had finally been slain.
The people of Izumo cheered as Susa stood up and took it all in. The foreigners came up behind him holding Felix up on his feet and smiled at him. Susa nodded to Felix and Felix nodded back. Kushinada ran up to Susa from the crowd that had gathered stared into his eyes with utter joy and happiness. Susa stared back and then brought her close to him in a tight embrace. They released but continued to hold each other and then Kushinada reached up on her toes to kiss him.
Lady Uzume watched and smiled at the couple as the town rejoiced in celebration of a new age of happiness.
On the Golden Sun wikia it does not mention Izumo-shipping anywhere, so as far as I'm concerned, I just came up with the term. (Which seems unreal if you ask me)
As for my other story, 'The Prelude Chapters' or whatever I'm calling it now, that thing is most likely dead and may in fact be removed from the site due to the fact that I can do better.
I want to thank all my reviewers for their...well...reviews and I hope you'll continue to read whatever other crazy ideas I decide to throw on this site in the future.
Thank you and I'll see you after I've procrastinated for another month or two. Or if I review one of your stories. Farewell!