Ifrit
Chapter Four
Sakura Chi
" 'Stay dead', eh?" Eileen said, looking right into Ifrit's burning eyes.
***Yes,*** Ifrit stated. ***Eileen Shinkai is officially gone from this world. There must be no further connection between yourself and she whatsoever. She is gone.***
Eileen started. She didn't think 'staying dead' meant THAT much. What about her friends? What about her parents? What about...?
"My Pokemon!" she yelled. She glanced down at her belt, which now only had one Pokeball on it. She crossed her fingers as she released the Pokemon, then sank to her knees as she saw just an unhatched egg emerge.
Ifrit merely blinked. ***You may keep that one. It is not Eileen's. It is No One's. The others have fallen off of your belt.***
"Did the Rockets get them?"
***No.*** Eileen did not question Ifrit's judgment. She did not ask how he knew her most trusted friends were not in danger. She nodded to Ifrit. He then half walked, half paced, over to a largish stone.
***Underneath this. Look.***
Eileen ran over to the rock and tried to flip it over with one hand. It went sailing more than fifty feet into the air before finally landing with a "splash" in a nearby river. Eileen paused briefly.
***It is my strength. You are no longer fully human, my child.***
It was almost funny how such a huge message had suck little effect on Eileen. She nodded, then reached into the small hollow below where the rock had been. She pulled out a beautiful knife, made of a shining red stone, on its hilt a carving of Fujiama [1]. As she fingered the sheathless blade in her hands, a strange calm and awareness came over her.
She stared at the weapon a moment, and then silently began to work.
She walked over to Ifrit, and in one deft swipe, severed most of his mane. His throat made a deep rumbling sound, but he did not seem to object. She set the magical white fur down and turned away as it began to weave itself.
She snapped a branch off of a nearby tree, then skinned the bark off with her knife until the branch was practically white. On one end, she made a wicked hook, and the other end, she carved a hole, and through it she looped her bloody bandana. When she tied it, the stick looked like a sinister banner, ready to be carried off into the battlefield.
She turned back to where the fur had been. It its place was her new outfit.. There was a light blouse, silken-looking and rosy-gold, made for a ninja, as were the slacks that lay beside it. Thin, black gloves, ones that would allow free movement of the fingers. The final item was a crimson cloak, the very color of her own blood, thick and heavy, with a great hood.
She took off the dead girl's clothes and put on her new ones, finding they allowed her to move swiftly.
Like leaves in the wind, she mused, thinking about something a trainer had once said to her -No, said to Eileen.
Even the cloak was of little hindrance. She looked all about as her cape flowed like water behind her. She then took her knife and brought its tip right below her left eye socket.
The slash was swift but brutal. A deep, burning gash appeared where the blade had struck, running from below her left eye to her right cheek. The blood cascaded onto her face, then down onto chest as she threw her hood over her head, making her face invisible.
"Eileen Shinkai is dead," she stated. "I am Sakura Chi." Her eyes had begun to glow red beneath the hood, and the blood flowed into her mouth as she spoke.
***THEN COME, SAKURA CHI. NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE OR SKIN. NEVER REMOVE THE HOOD, NOT EVEN WHEN ALONE. FOLLOW ME TO FIND MY BROTHER AND SISTER.***
Sakura Chi picked up the knife and stick, then followed Ifrit into the thick, dangerous forest that ran out of DeathSide Canyon.
([1] What the Japanese call Mount Fuji)
Chapter Four
Sakura Chi
" 'Stay dead', eh?" Eileen said, looking right into Ifrit's burning eyes.
***Yes,*** Ifrit stated. ***Eileen Shinkai is officially gone from this world. There must be no further connection between yourself and she whatsoever. She is gone.***
Eileen started. She didn't think 'staying dead' meant THAT much. What about her friends? What about her parents? What about...?
"My Pokemon!" she yelled. She glanced down at her belt, which now only had one Pokeball on it. She crossed her fingers as she released the Pokemon, then sank to her knees as she saw just an unhatched egg emerge.
Ifrit merely blinked. ***You may keep that one. It is not Eileen's. It is No One's. The others have fallen off of your belt.***
"Did the Rockets get them?"
***No.*** Eileen did not question Ifrit's judgment. She did not ask how he knew her most trusted friends were not in danger. She nodded to Ifrit. He then half walked, half paced, over to a largish stone.
***Underneath this. Look.***
Eileen ran over to the rock and tried to flip it over with one hand. It went sailing more than fifty feet into the air before finally landing with a "splash" in a nearby river. Eileen paused briefly.
***It is my strength. You are no longer fully human, my child.***
It was almost funny how such a huge message had suck little effect on Eileen. She nodded, then reached into the small hollow below where the rock had been. She pulled out a beautiful knife, made of a shining red stone, on its hilt a carving of Fujiama [1]. As she fingered the sheathless blade in her hands, a strange calm and awareness came over her.
She stared at the weapon a moment, and then silently began to work.
She walked over to Ifrit, and in one deft swipe, severed most of his mane. His throat made a deep rumbling sound, but he did not seem to object. She set the magical white fur down and turned away as it began to weave itself.
She snapped a branch off of a nearby tree, then skinned the bark off with her knife until the branch was practically white. On one end, she made a wicked hook, and the other end, she carved a hole, and through it she looped her bloody bandana. When she tied it, the stick looked like a sinister banner, ready to be carried off into the battlefield.
She turned back to where the fur had been. It its place was her new outfit.. There was a light blouse, silken-looking and rosy-gold, made for a ninja, as were the slacks that lay beside it. Thin, black gloves, ones that would allow free movement of the fingers. The final item was a crimson cloak, the very color of her own blood, thick and heavy, with a great hood.
She took off the dead girl's clothes and put on her new ones, finding they allowed her to move swiftly.
Like leaves in the wind, she mused, thinking about something a trainer had once said to her -No, said to Eileen.
Even the cloak was of little hindrance. She looked all about as her cape flowed like water behind her. She then took her knife and brought its tip right below her left eye socket.
The slash was swift but brutal. A deep, burning gash appeared where the blade had struck, running from below her left eye to her right cheek. The blood cascaded onto her face, then down onto chest as she threw her hood over her head, making her face invisible.
"Eileen Shinkai is dead," she stated. "I am Sakura Chi." Her eyes had begun to glow red beneath the hood, and the blood flowed into her mouth as she spoke.
***THEN COME, SAKURA CHI. NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE OR SKIN. NEVER REMOVE THE HOOD, NOT EVEN WHEN ALONE. FOLLOW ME TO FIND MY BROTHER AND SISTER.***
Sakura Chi picked up the knife and stick, then followed Ifrit into the thick, dangerous forest that ran out of DeathSide Canyon.
([1] What the Japanese call Mount Fuji)