A/N: Hoo boy, I've been excited for a really long time to write out this chapter and finally FINALLY we are here!

Now I know this chapter isn't as long as the other ones, and there is actually a good reason for that! You see I actually fashioned this chapter after the Theme I tagged onto it. "The Final Song" is from a game called Drag on Dragoon 3 or here in America its known as Drakengard 3 which is... in many cases a pretty weird game. But the point of the matter stems from the fact that the moment I heard the Ending D song... I fell in love with it.

And I knew immediately that it was going to fit into my story, because somehow... SOMEWAY I was gonna make it work. So in actuality this entire chapter is meant to be loosely paced on the songs different parts... if you read fast enough like I do! ;)

Welp, this story isn't going to read itself so I'm gonna leave you to it! And check out the Questionnaire at the bottom of the page!

Love you my darlings~

Chapter 10: Black Flower

Theme: Drag on Dragoon 3 OST – The Final Song

Everything is bared
This song shall meet its doom
Becoming and killing the monster.

All is stolen away
The music is like needles
As I'm reborn again,
Alone.

xXx

The heavens wept frozen tears... a cold symphony as the water struck the still earth. Heavy clouds boiled overhead, spitting and writhing like a pot spilling over. Ground level was motionless however, a literal contradiction to the rolling sea of vapor above. A lone rider passed hastily through the underbrush, their large bodied beast disturbing the foliage minimally as it ran quickly through. Icy droplets stung like a thousand needles against the rider's face as she rode along the trail. Steady huffs grunted from her steed, the rhythmic clop of hoofs and the rush of passing foliage the only sounds she could hear. Fists clenched tightly in wiry fur and head ducked down to avoid hanging branches, the girl fled into the unknown.

It began with the elk and a voice heard within:

"You are not the hunter..." Spoke the creature, a tone both deep and melodious echoing in the child's head.

She had looked upon him in awe and wonder, her eyes wide as she stared into his own. Tentatively, the girl removed her hand from the beast's muzzle and whispered, "Did you just speak?"

Shivering, the rider pressed her body to her mount's back, tucking her face as deep as she could into the hood and collar of her waterproof cloak. The musk of the beast was strong and foreign to her nostrils, a testament to the wilds from whence he came. Yaku was his name, the emissary of Musei Mori's Sage and the last blood relative of a contract that had been destroyed long ago.

Standing up, the girl looked over the creature set before her, "You said that name like it wasn't your own..." She declared, backing away carefully, wary of what this being was, "Pardon my rudeness... but who are you?"

"I am the last... the last Sage of the Silent Forest." Came the whispering voice, tickling the girl's mind like a thousand butterflies.

Tilting her head, she watched as the elk trotted about her, his hoofs clipping through the grass with a sigh. "And what is this place... exactly?" The girl queried, spinning her head to lock eyes once more with the brilliant beast's when he walked behind her.

Jolting awake, the rider tightened her grasp on Yaku's nape and adjusted her seating, having almost fallen off in her tired musings. Her exposed hands were numb in the chilling rain and her damp legs were wracked with cold, muscles quivering so violently that she could barely grip the elk's belly with her thighs. At least the cloak kept her head and upper torso mercifully dry, but at the rate the rain was coming down...

She shook her head to banish these thoughts, 'Don't even think about it, Mukei Sukaira...' The girl chided herself, removing one of her hands from the death-like clamp on Yaku's fur and slapping some feeling into one of her legs. "Swiftly Yaku! We must make haste!" Sukaira commanded, a gurgling grunt was her response and she felt the beast's pace quicken, lurching her back into an upright position. Wobbling slightly, the girl secured her hold on the elk's neck and redistributed her weight from his spine to his shoulders, conforming her body to a more streamlined pose. Her legs burned and ached in protest at the new crouched position, but for now the cloak shrouded them.

The elk touched his soft muzzle to the girl's cheek, warmth flooding her every cell in a euphoric hum. An image entered her mind of colossal trees and ancient presence, a sensation that spoke of decay and life. Venerable beings roamed this massive forest, under eyes of gold ever watchful.

A deep loneliness that broke her heart seeped into her bones.

And a love so profound that it brought her tears...

"It is the final haven for beasts from times long old..." He murmured easily, an unfathomable emotion bore within the elk's glowing eyes. And with this the girl could conclude that this indeed was not "Yaku" but something speaking through him. A being both great and terrible; wild and kind.

"Times long old..?" She asked curiously, gently bringing a hand up to cup the elk's bottom jaw. A lone tear running down her cheek soaked into the luminous fur.

"Giants... like they were at the dawn of time... creatures who borne the waking of the world."

Faintly, the girl smelled the acrid scent of wood smoke...

xXx

Spreading my wings I soar with Death
Love springing forth from the darkest of white
When or how distantly they are heard
Sweetly they whisper, the wings of the past.

The Black Flower
Is the voice,
Within the shattered eyes.

The Black Flower
Is the song,
Within a dreamt-up dance
Of unknown purpose.

xXx

String drawn taut to a cloth-cowled cheekbone, hazel eyes narrowed as they tracked their target, the world around her spinning in a whirl of color. Grey feathers lined her sight, the arrow loosed with a barely audible snap. Blood pounding in her ears, Sukaira clenched her thighs tightly around Yaku's ribcage as the elk deftly sidestepped several black knives thrown in retaliation without faltering in his charge.

A man appeared like an apparition in her vision, a wicked looking blade swinging out. She slackened the grip on her legs and let gravity pull her over Yaku's side, tightening her grasp when she was parallel to the ground. Sukaira heard the wind whistle where her torso would have been, the elk flattening his neck out to avoid the sword swing. The teen let loose a knife of her own at the swordsman's exposed back, a pained grunt an indication that she struck home. Yaku barreled down a cliff face, his nimble hooves finding purchase on every raised rock and outcropping, Sukaira taking advantage of gravity's pull to set herself upright on his back again.

Smoke and ash choked her lungs as she ran into the center of town; Kamaboko Gai was burning, the fire raging high and painting the dawn in rusted hues. Flames licked greedily at the eaves of houses and roared with fervor in the wind. Several times she had to duck out of the way of burning timber, the structures crumbling into coals. The girl made her way to the clinic in hopes of seeing familiar faces, but only grief-stricken strangers greeted her emptily the people busily dumping whatever water they could find in the only safe zone in the town. Frantically, she searched for Ryouichi, Airi... someone she knew, until finally a large hand landed on her shoulder and she whirled around to see Kazuma standing there, his face lined with worry.

"Where is my family?! Have you seen them?!" She asked desperately, searching Kazuma's features for any indication of ill news... His grim expression brought her no solace.

"Airi is performing surgery on the critically wounded," Kazuma began, his eyes holding untold sorrow, making the girl wonder who the victim was. "Ryouichi is helping gather water to put out the fire, I don't know his exact location but that was what I saw him last doing." He put both hands on her shoulders, as if to keep her steady. The girl didn't like this... something was wrong.

"What about Chinatsu?" She asked warily, her verdant eyes searching the man's own dark ones in growing fear. A sudden thought crossed her mind and she turned her head to search around the crowd, trying to pick out any smaller figures. Her voice wavering she questioned, "Where are the children?"

He pulled her into an embrace then, his large bearlike frame easily encompassing her own lithe one. In a choking voice he murmured, "They took them... You are the last. They took our children away and burned down the village. My son... My son is..." Kazuma broke into sobs then, his large body quivering in anguish.

Despite the man cradling her... Despite the surrounding flames... The teen felt something cold coil into the pit of her stomach, numbing her to the chaos. Chinatsu was gone... Stolen away... If the Sage hadn't orchestrated to meet her in the forest, she would have been taken as well, or possibly killed if she had put up a resistance. A knot formed in her throat and a tear dripped down her scarred cheek.

What could they possibly want with the children of an entire village?

Immediately, the girl tensed up and scrambled out of Kazuma's arms, rushing away with determination shining in her eyes. "Wait! Come back!" She heard the man call distantly, her legs pumping harder as she ducked around a burning pillar, vanishing to the raging inferno.

"Sukaira come back!"

xXx

With everything exposed,
This song will freeze over,
And I shall dance in nightmares this day.

With nothing I break away from Death,
Emerging from a crimson forest,
Pregnant with the corrupt child of dread.
A pitiful memory is torn away.

The Black Flower
Is the voice,
Within a prayer for blood.

The Black Flower
Is the song,
Within a day of grief,
Where all shall disappear.

xXx

The carriage was in sight, bogged down in a mire, the rain making travel near impossible for the oxen pulling the weight. Bellowing fearfully from the lashing of their driver, the beasts attempted to walk out of the sludge with all their might but only managed to sink back in to their chests; the steel carriage moving only a few inches at a time.

Shouts and gestures were pointed in their direction as Yaku and his rider nearly flew overhead, shinobi pursuit hot on their tail. Sukaira expertly let loose an arrow, burying it deep into one of her pursuer's eyes, the man dropping like a stone into the swamp below. Yaku lowered his head and shooting forward like a lance gored a shinobi that foolishly jumped into his path, flinging the tangled corpse overhead into one of the man's comrades. Dark blood gleamed off of his antlers and the beast grunted as he cantered around, avoiding kunai and shuriken with ease. Sukaira lowered herself on his back, feeling his muscles shift in preparation for another charge.

He did not disappoint, the elk's powerful legs seemed to glide over water and reeds alike as he dashed toward the cart. Liberally, Sukaira shot several more arrows at the men attempting to get their cargo free of the mud. It became clear to her that these particular men were ordinary and had little to no shinobi training, as they fell like wheat to a sickle.

Yaku trampled the ox driver and Sukaira vaulted off the beast's back, landing heavily on top of the carriage. She had no time to think about the people moaning in pain all around her, only the destination. Rushing to the lid on the top of the cart, Sukaira wrenched the metal hatch open, a brief flicker of relief lighting her face when she saw what was inside.

Chinatsu looked up at her with wide tear-streaked eyes, several of the smaller children bundled up around her. The word "Nee-chan" was mouthed in disbelief and Sukaira felt herself nod. Dark soulful eye flicked over the teens shoulder, widening minutely, "LOOK OUT!" The child shrieked, forcing Sukaira to whip around just in time to feel something heavy crush into her diaphragm, driving the air from her lungs.

Distantly she heard Chinatsu scream in anguish and it took the girl a moment to realize that she was tumbling through the air, already several dozen meters away from the carriage. A shadow fell over her and she saw the same shinobi drive his foot into her stomach, earning a cough of blood. She shot down, careening through brambles that tore and bit at her clothing and flesh; somehow she managed to grab hold of large branch, nearly biting her tongue in half as her jaw clacked harshly against the wood.

Breathing heavily Sukaira saw that she'd miraculously clung to the very last tree on the edge of a ravine, a thick mist obscuring what could only be assumed was a river deep below. The rain was beating down harder now, the wind pushing it diagonally in the open air.

Something grabbed her by the shirt roughly from behind and the teen gagged as the cloth cut into her throat. She only got a glimpse of chilly iron eyes before something cold and sharp ran through her right side and out her stomach.

Sukaira stiffened, hazel eyes wide at the sharp edges of a blade protruding from her gut. Faintly, she felt the man behind her slowly release the cloth of her shirt and she watched in grim fascination as the metal retracted back into her belly, her body falling off the sword. Her blood danced hypnotically in the air and moisture broke upon her limp form as she descended into the ravine mists.

In the distance, thunder rolled...

xXx

This calamity,
Shall wait and fall,
For the time to shatter into a dream.

As this echoes,
We go our separate ways.
You shan't be forgiven, flower of song,
In the final moment.

A/N: Hee! In case you were wondering, the poem is an interpreted translation of "Kuroi Uta" which is a stand alone song among the Drag on Dragoon 3 OST. I tweaked some of the words to make a little bit more sense and to fit into my agenda. :3

INTERROGATION QUESTIONS 1 THRU 3:

Q: What is your individual interpretation of the poem listed in this chapter? (Doesn't have to relate to this story specifically, it can be your own muse.)

Q: Write your own poem in whatever style or subject you wish. (This isn't a question! But I love reading poems... :T)

Q: Has there been anything that has happened in your life that has stunned you because you least expected it? Describe.

scoobycandy: Mmm, that sounds amazing! I didn't know what menudo was at first but the moment I looked it up I wanted it in my mouth. Mouth right now! And yes a dragon can count if you want it to... maybe be a wolfdragon! Also I'm glad you like the setting for my story... I like it a lot too. :3

Bananarock509: Well, unfortunately Christmas is over and I'm not Santa. :T So... you're saying.. your milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard? *is shot* Jaguars are really pretty animals so I can understand having a spiritual or emotional attachment to the beast. :) And as for you question about Skylar she's dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which mysteriously triggered at the most convenient time... :D

RandomR15: Ahaha, yes it is indeed lucky for him that your Grandmother knew him. The perks of living in my own apartment include that no weirdos just walk in unannounced... I also have a plethora of sharp objects always at the ready just in case. ;)

Orokashii: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I wanted to scream with you too! I'm so glad your excited for new chapters!

GiuliaZe: Naw, I generally avoid abandoning stories... I just take a long time to update. :T Sometimes sickeningly long. Yum Yum, tiramisu is delicious in mah mouth! I used to eat it quite a bit when I was in college. My favorite dessert is anything that has citrus in it! Specifically I love Lemon Bars and Key Lime Pie...

Danyele: Aw don't feel bad about reviewing every chapter, everybody does different things! Besides the fact that you took the time to review is good enough for me! :3

Awmahgawd, so many delicious descriptions of desserts! Guh, I wanna eat it all but I'd get so faaaaat~