And the Earth Began to Tremble...
Bakken's face contorted in confusion as he first glimpsed Einin cradled snuggly in Jin's arms, cooing in response to her newly revealed surroundings.
"What the hell is that puny thing?" he asked pointing, and looking genuinely confused when his gaze met the reddish toned skin of the little girl. "Looks like a red water rat!" Jin nearly exploded at this and he was too stupefied by Bakken's...well, stupidity to make any coherent sentences.
"Wha...yo...tsch...aan...ggfff...oh blimey, flies right o'er your head don't it Biggie?!" He finally managed to say angrily. Touya felt this was another matter he should handle himself before Bakken pushed Jin too far.
"This is a demon from the half-breed village that was ransacked, Bakken. An infant to be more specific, and the reddish appearance of her skin was caused by the fires that engulfed her home and killed her family. She was quite fortunate to come away with only these few scars," Touya explained, carefully watching Reisho's reaction. The earth master seemed unsurprised by the infant's presence. "Jin and I were curious as to what kind of demon she is...and I had proposed to Jin that with your skills, Reisho, we would find out easily enough." The ice master had intelligently left his sentence hanging with a compliment. Reisho's brows raised at this and his usual smug facial expression returned. Jin just grimaced and cocked an eyebrow. 'Jeez Touya, ya' just had to ask him to do it, not make his head any bloody bigger!' the wind master thought after seeing Reisho's reaction.
"Well, I suppose there is no harm in analyzing the infant...the information could be useful in the future," Reisho commented, patting the top of his table lightly to indicate he wanted her to be laid down there. Jin still refused to move, his hands already getting sweaty from knowing he would not have her in his arms for much longer. 'This is a mistake...we should'a just left when we had a three day head start,' he thought helplessly. Touya noted his friend's continued hesitation and very much regretted having to take her out of Jin's arms. Einin whimpered slightly at being removed from such a cozy place.
That sound nicked Jin's heart and his hands clasped slightly for the warmth that was no longer there before he brought his arms down to his sides. He felt cold and empty...only just now realizing that his Light did not come from some forest in the woods on a sunny morning, but from his "little bird".
Touya gently placed her onto the top of Reisho's desk and stood back, pensive and unaware of what Reisho would do next. The earth master stood and leaned over the infant with his hands behind his back...which reassured both of the Shinobi partners. Reisho closed his eyes and his brows furrowed slightly in concentration. Touya looked on closely as Jin's gaze fell poignantly on the earth master, wary of anything that might harm his "little bird".
There was a slight alteration in the aura of the room as Reisho sifted through the infant's miniscule youki with his own. After only a moment or two he leaned back upright and opened his eyes. Touya took back the confused infant and cradled her in his arms gently rubbing her small hand with his in the process. Reisho noted this action with his coal-like eyes.
"Why Touya, I did not know someone with out a drop of warmth in their heart could be so careful with a...fragile creature like an infant," Reisho said mockingly, emphasizing the word "fragile". Touya flinched inwardly at the memories of being thought of as heartless and vicious, but he pushed them aside realizing that soon he would have to make his request. "It was easy enough to see what she is...I am surprised that none of you could smell it on her..." Reisho continued pausing slightly to note the reactions of the Shinobi before him.
Jin and Touya looked more expectant than any of the other demons in the room, but finding nothing out of the ordinary Reisho proceeded, "She is a mixed breed of a bird demon and, oddly enough, an ice demon...quite uncommon even in villages such as that one." Touya's eyes widened considerably and Jin smiled proudly to himself at being so astute as to name her "little bird". "This is actually quite fortunate...rare demons fetch a much higher price at the markets than the ones I have been used to selling and we could sorely use the funds." At this both of the Shinobi's faces vaulted. Touya tried to conceal his reaction but he was too late. Reisho smirked knowingly as he looked into the ice demon's pupil-less eyes and saw panic dwelling within. 'Curse it...I've given us away!'
"Why the strange looks gentlemen? You knew I was going to sell her off...we always do. And you both know well enough that even if we were to take on another trainee we would not have enough food to go around," Reisho questioned teasingly. Jin was not oblivious to what was happening...he noticed the change in Reisho's tone, and its implications made his skin crawl. Touya decided it was the best time to try and make their request, before Reisho became too attached to the thought of extra money in his pocket.
"Actually Sir, I was wondering if...we could take the next day or two off in order to find her a suitable home. A child as small and weak as this would surely be of no use to someone as a servant or laborer," Touya said, silently pleading in his mind. Jin was panicking in his soul at this time, desperately hoping Touya held some trump card that could get them out of this mess.
"No you weren't..." Reisho said almost sweetly. This sent chills down Touya's spine, remembering that tone from unpleasant instances in his past. His eyes met the tabletop briefly almost giving up hope. Reisho's voice then rose dangerously.
"You both wanted to go off with that THING and leave the sect, didn't you?! You would abandon us in a time of great need just like that! I will sell that THING to a demon brothel before I ever let IT leave here with the likes of you two!" At the sound of hearing Einin being called a "thing" Jin stepped further forward to face Reisho who was now standing as well.
"Ya' don't need us Reisho! Once Gama died at the tournament, he got replaced by those two little mini-Reishos o'er there...just let us go already! Ya' have no need for us...just allow us to leave ya' and ya' wont ever hafta see this imp's face ever again, I swear to that!" Jin said looking down at the earth master. Touya just stood there holding Einin close with a helpless expression on his face. His part of this plan, keeping Reisho calm and acting professional, had miserably come to an end...but luckily he still had Jin to keep going with whatever he had. Then suddenly out of the blue, a thought came to his mind as realization hit him in the face nearly making him gasp.
"You watch your mouth imp! Besides there might not be any 'us' once Touya hears my proposal," Reisho announced suggestively. Touya turned, at the reference to his person, and met Reisho's gaze, while Jin just looked suspiciously at the earth master. "Touya...if you hand over that infant to me and promise to stay in the sect, I will make it worth your while living here. I still recall that young ice demon, of not too long ago, who wanted to be the strongest of his kind and with one less mouth to feed, your desire can be fulfilled. You will no longer be an ice demon...but I will make you my equal partner as an Ice Master, with title and privilege! It will have been earned. Help me to bring back that honor you speak so fondly of!"
Touya's pupils constricted and his mouth hanged limp. Jin look astounded and turned to face the ice demon who was still holding Einin close to his chest. He watched as his friend's face contorted into a look of mental anguish. The wind master gasped as a thought sunk into his mind, 'He's...actually considerin' it?! No, that can't be...Touya's not that kind of demon!...Is he? No! He would'n leave us so easily!' The ice demon still stood there looking pained, his eyes now closed.
Reisho was smirking evilly to himself as he sat back in his chair once more. "Well?" he asked with a welcoming tone. "Remember pixie, leave here and who knows how far behind you I will be...even if you should find some sunny sky, I will never let you enjoy it...nor will the master's of other sects, whom I would alert immediately."
Touya still faced downward unable to meet anyone's gaze, as if he had not heard Reisho's threat. Jin could only look on dejectedly, feeling more helpless than ever before, 'Touya truly wants that life in the light...wants a kind of peace, which Reisho's just offered him; he's had such a hard time in the past...che, and what help was I in his times of need...I never was able to protect him from every instance of abuse, nor every heart ache he felt. Most of the time...he comforted me at many a mission with my weak stomach for gore. What must it be like to be the strong one in a pair like ours, who must mind o'er the faint of heart? To always take care of yourself and another being. My only friend's never had his own peace of mind and he'll never have it if he leaves with me...but I don't...want to part from him...I can't...not before I return the favor,' Jin thought as he kept his eyes on Touya and Einin.
"I..." Touya began softly, his voice trembling almost close to the edge of despair and tears. All of the demons in the room waited poised on the ice demon's response. Jin prayed that all of those heart to heart talks in the woods had stuck with Touya and that he would follow his own good advice. "I'm so, so sorry Jin..."
The words fell upon Jin's ears like a rock falling down a well...they echoed slightly in his mind before hitting his spirit with a thud. Reisho beamed and folded his hands together in triumph. Touya then raised his head, eyes glistening and expression angry.
"I'm sorry...for not trusting you when you said to stay clear of this malignant tumor of a sect!" Touya said his voice growing louder and angrier. Jin's fallen face lifted at these words, his ears sprung back into their elfish state as he moved closer to stand by Touya who was now facing him directly. Reisho looked indignant and beyond words. Bakken just looked confused and the trainees looked like they agreed with Touya, but were too afraid to do anything about it save for possibly running away.
Before Reisho could articulate a syllable, Touya turned on him quickly with pure rage in his eyes. Jin had never seen this side to the ice demon before.
"You knew! You knew all along and never did a damn thing!" Touya nearly yelled at Reisho who was now standing to face his opponent.
"Are you mad?! What nonsense is spewing out of that frigid little face?!" he retorted, genuinely perplexed. Even Jin had no idea what his friend was saying, but he decided to stay quiet and let Touya continue. Just at that moment, Jin's superb ears picked up a small cracking sound. It came from above, but he dared not to try and see what it was. He honed his hearing in on the scratching and could only classify it as the sound of a blade being drawn across glass or ice. The wind master listened even harder while his partner silently fumed trying to find the words to express himself. It then dawned on Jin like the fresh golden morning of yesterday. 'Touya's tryin' somethin' with his ice abilities!' Indeed, the ice demon was using his powers to shift the rock above their heads by making the dampness within the cave walls crystallize. This made the rock structure expand and thus easily breakable. Touya was creating a way out...
"You knew the truth about the Light...about what it really consisted of!" Touya yelled again. Reisho looked completely in the dark and Bakken's comprehension had not improved much either.
"What are you saying you fool?!"
"I had always wondered how you could have lost that day to someone like Kuwabara!" At this Reisho's pupils ticked visibly before trying to recover. Jin now knew his friend was onto something. "You let him beat you!" the ice demon finally accused.
Reisho sputtered and retorted, "I would never have jeopardized our victory...all of that money could have been ours if not for that damned human wretch!"
"You coward...just admit it! I already have you figured out. Hn, I was just to naive and overly docile to notice until now," Touya spat back.
"Coward?! I?! Oh, you will pay dearly for that remark!" he threatened, but Touya seemed not to care.
"You are a coward! We had the chance for victory in our grasp, and you lost it for us because you were afraid! All we had worked for and sacrificed...all to support your little farce!" Touya was now yelling full throttle and he handed Einin over to Jin, who was more than happy to hold her close again. He covered her little ears with her swaddling clothes, to protect her from Touya's enraged tone.
"Oh and what was I afraid of supposedly, ice pixie?!" Reisho questioned slamming his fists on his desk in anger. "Huh?! What was I afraid of?!"
"The Light!" Touya screamed. Reisho stopped all motion and just stared at Touya. He then laughed almost nervously and tried to regain his composure.
"That's foolishness! I was the one who demanded what our prize would be in the first place!" he said. Jin noticed his change in demeanor, and waited on pins and needles for an explanation.
"Yes you did request that the island be our prize...but then once you realized what we were fighting for...you began to fear it," Touya started. "It all makes sense now...the fact that you don't want us to leave...how we lost in the tournament...why we are even here now...it's all because you're afraid. You have been a Shinobi so long, you have become too comfortable with the dark and your equally suffering companions.
"When you arrived at Hanging Neck Island and saw what it held for us, sunshine, clean water, actual living things dwelling in the forests, you also knew what it would mean if we actually won." Touya paused for a minute his voice tense. "We wanted so badly to live there, in the sun light...but you wanted something else. You wanted the Light at first...but then you realized what the Light really meant for the rest of us...it meant leaving you!" Reisho just stared at first, his face holding an unreadable expression. He numbly sat back into the chair. Touya decided to go on.
"And you could not take that...if we won then we would all leave you, even Bakken...alone...to your hateful self! That is your greatest fear Reisho...the Light for us Shinobi and the loneliness it was sure to bring you. That is what you knew and did not even tell your own sect mates! You knew that the Light was not a place or time of day or some sparkling, golden morning...the Light lies more in who you share those times and places with. And you knew that even with the island in your possession...you would not have that other vital half of the Light to fill the voids in your life. So you always tried to fill that position...with me in your bed!
"All of these years I never noticed, how forcefully you sought companionship, either by trying to make me come to you or by forcing others to join the sect against their will. You wanted to keep us all here with you, because unlike the rest of us...you were satisfied with this life in the dark, if you can call it a life, as long as you had others to share in your misery! You were selfish enough to ruin our chances at happiness just so you would not have to face the unfamiliar world outside alone.
"I wonder Reisho...how long has it been since you even went on a mission? How long has it been since you truly gazed upon the outside world, save for the Dark Tournament? Months? Years?...Millennia?" Touya asked. Reisho made no move to answer and simply stared at the ice demon. Jin was once more astounded by the ice master's ability to see into a person's very insecurities.
"You were such a coward that you could not bare to depart from this cave or let even Jin leave you alone here. Bakken was the one you sent out to find these two novices! You have kept just enough members here to fill your void...and your fear explains why you took my rejection of you so badly. But guess what Reisho?" Touya asked leaning onto the desk, putting his fists on the hard surface. "I...am...not...you. Not anymore. I used to be afraid of disobeying you...I used to be afraid of the unfamiliar light and even change itself. Even now...hn, I am a little apprehensive. But one thing I know for sure is that my fear of the light does not come close to outweighing my desire for it! I will no longer be kept from having full life because you are too cowardly to step outside. You may think you have kept me from having any hope of leaving this dank hole...but I have had the half of the Light with me, which has eluded you for the past hundreds of years, and I find it ironic that you bringing him here, as your fellow Shinobi has also been part of your undoing." Jin quirked his brow and his mouth hanger open slightly unsure of who Touya was speaking of...at least until he felt a hand smaller than his own place itself on his strong shoulder and give a slight squeeze.
"I will go with Jin and you cannot offer me anything close to what he is worth as my comrade! And another thing..." Touya said as he moved his hand off of Jin's shoulder to close the gap between his face and Reisho's stunned one. The ice demon's face looked drawn tight like he was about to cry, as if bringing forth unwanted memories, which Jin had never seen nor was he sure he ever wanted to witness such an event. "...I am not the one with ice running through his veins or a heart of cold stone. Despite what my demeanor may allude to, and what the rest of my sect may have said to me or thought of me...I am capable of love and am loved...which is why I will be able to conquer my fears, while you will remain trapped within yours. As long as your heart is cold Reisho, it won't matter if you have a single companion or are in a crowd of millions...it will always seem like you are the only one there." Touya pulled back and stood erect before Reisho. Jin just stared, his pupils constricted in stunned awe of his demon partner, until he shook himself out of his stupor and leaned in toward Reisho.
"Yeah...what he said." Touya nearly fell over anime style before remembering where he was and that Reisho had yet to really respond at all. "Wooo wee! Ya' really laid him out didn't ya'?" Jin asked standing back up.
"No one calls me an ice pixie and gets away with it...except for you of course," Touya said a little more light-heartedly. His facial expression then became unreadable as the ice demon turned to face Reisho again. The earth master sat almost slumped in his chair with his left hand hovering over his mouth and his eyes downcast. Touya waited apprehensively for the earth master to make his move. 'I hope my plan will work...only the slightest cue from Reisho and I'll give Jin the signal to get out. Jin may not know it yet...but in this vulnerable state, Reisho is far more dangerous than before. He now feels the need to defend himself, like a snake coiling before the strike...let's hope that Jin shows the same tact I know he is ...'
"Ya' hear that dust bunny! You're finished! He he he, ah I wish I had said somethin' like that long ago ya' lil' Chihuahua!" Jin said getting in Reisho's face while grinning the toothiest of grins. Touya sweat dropped, '...capable of.' The ice demon's gaze then moved up to meet the earth master's face once more. What he saw made him jump back slightly and gasp. At this sound Jin turned around to his comrade with a questioning countenance.
"Wha'?" Jin asked before tracing Touya's stare to Reisho's eyes. The wind master grimaced a little and backed away. Reisho's eyes were now glaring blatantly at Jin, the pupils wide and deep ebony like an abyss from which beasts spring forth. Jin had ever seen them this way before, his eyes normally quite constricted, and the rims of the eyes were now a deep red topped off by his linear eyebrows. Just as Jin backed far enough away to stand right next to Touya, a wave of youki emanated from the seated earth master and reverberated off of the cave walls. A small rumbling from beneath their feet could be heard like a shockwave after an initial earthquake. "Hm," Jin muttered. He then leaned down to Touya's height to whisper in his ear. "Ya' really made him snap this time, eh?"
Touya's face vaulted into a stupor before he whispered back harshly, "Me?! You were the big elf that got in his face just now...he never once reacted when I was speaking!" The ice demon was interrupted when the dust from the cave walls started sifting through the air and the earth began to tremble. Reisho now moved his hands down to the arms of his chair and clenched them until he broke his sculpted throne. He started supporting his weight on the shattered chair arms as he struggled to articulate.
"You...none of you will leave me! If you still plan on escaping then we will all be together in Hell!!" he rasped before making the earth erupt into stronger vibrations. Touya and Jin stood close together and the ice demon held into Jin's forearm to steady himself. Bakken looked disturbed after hearing Reisho's obsessive declaration and he backed toward the wall a little more, though the earth master's attention was hardly focused on anyone other then the pair before his throne. Einin had begun crying and whimpering once the quake had started though it could barely be heard above the deafening rumbling. Jin then placed her in between his own clothes and his chest to keep her secure. He wondered when Touya would take advantage of this commotion to begin their escape. Touya absent-mindedly brushed Einin's hair with his hand to calm her as Jin just kept holding her close to his sternum. The ice demon was waiting for a distraction, something that would bring Reisho's gaze off of them so that he could signal to Jin to begin an escape. He did not have to wait much longer as the two trainees both leapt out of their daze of fear and bolted for the only way out, behind the wind master and ice demon.
Reisho's hand snapped forth as he nearly shrieked, "This disloyalty will cost you!" He brought down stalactites from the ceiling to plunge into the torsos of the petrified novices. Jin scrunched his countenance at the sound of crunching, and as Touya faced the carnage blood met his face and tunic in splatters...stains of dead innocents that would never leave that cloth.
He then flung himself onto Jin's front, and the wind master would have blushed if he had not heard Touya scream, "Up now!!" Jin obeyed clasping Touya and Einin securely to his person as he used his wind abilities to shoot up toward the ceiling above. Reisho had no time to react to this swift movement, as his eyes found no ice demon or wind master standing before him once his attention turned away from the dead apprentices.
Touya furrowed his brows in concentration using his abilities to shatter the earth above his and Jin's heads, and the ice expanded to crumble the hard earth in one burst of Touya's youki. The rocky soils rained down in large chunks as Jin did his best to avoid hitting any of them, knowing that his precious cargo still clung precariously to his body. He flew up past the edge of the top soil ground almost one hundred feet up from the chamber's floor before moving out and away from this newly made cliff's edge. Jin finally set down his comrade, who stumbled slightly trying to get used to the gravity again. He breathed shakily and tried to calm his nerves; as long as he had known Jin he had never let the wind master take him for a flight for very long as it was somewhat of a source of anxiety for the ice demon. Jin held out a hand to steady Touya as the ice demon turned around to face the gaping void in the earth. Dust flew up from within after having all of the heavy rocks and dirt plummet into the cave. It sifted through the air and created a large dust bowl effect around the pair spreading to the edges of the lifeless forest. The void in the ground was lengthening as the earth cracked jaggedly from side to side forming a kind of ravine stretching for over four hundred feet.
Touya squinted into the dense beige fog unable to see much of anything. He held onto Jin's tunic to keep them together as a safety measure...getting lost in this mist was not the best way to escape. The wind master stood perfectly still, sending out his youki to search for anyone that might have made it out of the void. Suddenly Jin tensed and grabbed Touya's hands within his own, bringing them to his chest. This confused Touya at first, but once his hands met the small bundle he knew what his partner was telling him to do. 'He must want me to take Einin so that he can fight whatever he's sensed coming...I guess I am out of this battle...' the ice demon thought as he took the infant gently and, similarly to what Jin had done, placed her in between his tunic and his chest holding her tight.
Jin stood as tall as he could muster as he faced the great chasm in the ground. He was poised for battle with his fists balled as ready weapons by his side and his jaw set determined to win. 'I have more to fight for now...don't be pushin' me...' Jin motioned to Touya to move farther back and the ice demon complied until all he could see of Jin was a shadow in the fog. Einin was still crying slightly, but rightfully so after such a horrendous series of events, and Touya tried to hush her by putting his nose in her hair, nuzzling her head soothingly. "Shhh...it's okay" he whispered lightly, knowing that their silence could be what would save them from an unfortunate confrontation.
Jin still searched through the dust for the trace of youki...then it hit him like a volt of electricity and he turned around to yell with panic evident in his tone. "Touya! Move now!" The ice demon snapped his head up and struggled to decipher which way Jin wanted him to run...then he felt a spark of youki and moved just too late before the hit came to meet his head.
Touya had managed to keep Einin from harm, but at the expense of being hit harshly on the forehead as he turned to the side, and he sailed threw the air to hit the ground, skidding twenty feet from his original spot. The ice demon lay on his back with his hand to his head, pulling it away to reveal red fluid dripping down from the palm upon his face. His vision blurry and ears filled with the sound of both a crying infant and a frantic wind master's calls, Touya struggled to sit up against the waves of dizziness. He then flinched as he felt hands upon his shoulders, only to settle again once he recognized to whom they belonged.
Jin set his head on top of Touya's left shoulder as he wrapped his large arms around his charges. "Gods Touya, are ya' alrigh'?!" he asked before he felt Touya stiffen at the sight of a shadowy figure approaching. Jin growled inwardly, his face scrunched into a sneer, and stood defensively with one leg in front of and one behind the ice demon. Touya relaxed only a little bit when he saw that from the mists came Bakken and not Reisho; though the brown faced demon appeared to be enraged and more fierce than Touya had ever seen him before. "Back it off Biggie before I blow your arms off with gale force ya' hear?!" Jin growled hearing his voice echo within the confines of the mist. Touya struggled to stand behind Jin but found his head too heavy despite the fact that more blood fell from his wound onto his hand. He ripped some cloth from his lower tunic and used it to slow the bleeding. 'Why would Bakken dare face Jin...he knows he's afraid of him...then again he may not be in the most logical frames of mind right now.' Bakken's glare fell not on the strong wind master but pierced through the mist toward where Touya sat.
"You bastard...so beloved and desired..." Touya squinted at this, Bakken making no sense at all to either of the comrades. "Little slut like you taking my rightful promotion from me just because Reisho needed to snag some tail! That position should have been offered to me! I've been here longer you bastard!" Touya did not even have the chance to respond to Bakken's display of jealously as Jin swept himself forward to punch Bakken right in the chest. Touya grimaced at the sound of the sternum snapping and Bakken backed up...he had never been much of a match for Jin in the past and nothing had changed since then.
"How many times do I hafta' say watch your mouth Biggie?!" Jin growled before continuing his assault upon Bakken's person...the Shinobi never had a chance to defend himself and Jin finally sent him up into the air with his Tornado Fists, graciously leaving him his arms. Bakken fell back with a force pushing him earthward as he plummeted off into the forest of broken trees. Jin did not care if Biggie was still alive or not, for he certainly would not be moving his spine for a long while after those attacks. He wiped his hands and turned back to where Touya sat, only to choke on his next words as a stone sword sliced past his ribs. He flew himself to the side just in time to avoid being hit in the back directly by the second armed hand.
Reisho was covered in tan dirt, his clothes torn from the rain of rocks back in the cave...rather fitting for him in Jin's mind but he had no time to dwell on that thought as the earth master made sharp daggers of stone come up from the ground beneath the wind master. Jin flew up and away from these, dodging and swerving as the earth moved up higher. In no time there was a perpetual forest of tall rocky stalagmites and Jin positioned himself on the back side of one of them waiting to catch Reisho off guard...but his chance never came as the rocks suddenly fell to dust and small bullet sized pebbles shot through the air striking their target before the wind master had the opportunity to dodge. Jin grimaced as he hit the ground, the pain keeping him from concentrating his mind on flying to safety. Immediately he felt Reisho's spry body on top of him beating upon his skull with his Armor of Clay. Reisho was frantic and kept ripping at whatever was in front of his fists. Jin, though stronger than Reisho, was struggling to keep his mind from falling into unconsciousness, for the blows were too sharp to fight against even though Jin's hands held Reisho's hair harshly.
"You stole him from me! How many times did that whore lie with you when I offered him a perfectly good deal?! You kept him from being with me you imp! You stole that pixie from my life!! When you are dead I will take him as I should of all those years ago; you hear me?!" Reisho kept screaming as he continued to beat into Jin's face, which was now bleeding profusely. Just as Jin felt he could take no more abuse he heard a piercing whistle through the fog. Reisho turned abruptly from his assault to face directly behind him.
"What now?!" he asked heatedly as blue bullets of ice and light hurdled toward the earth master without mercy. Touya's Shards of Winter sprung from where the ice demon knelt on the ground, only now gaining back his full vision. Reisho's eyes widened before he could process the pending danger...the ice shards ripped through his form propelling him away from the wind master who was still reeling from the attack on his head. Touya then found the adrenaline rush from his anger to get up and run swiftly to the other side of Reisho near the chasm's cliff. Touya then shifted his attack so that Reisho was being forced into the ice shards as they shot against him. The earth master was being torn apart like a body left to a pack of wolves, each shard bigger and sharper than the last, as if he had fallen through many a broken windowpane. The shards stuck into his flesh as Touya's attack finally ceased, and the earth master fell to the ground struggling to breath despite the visibly bleeding wounds in his chest. "Jin could not have stolen something you never owned in the first place, Reisho," Touya said harshly standing his ground thirty feet from the fallen master.
"Where is your heart...Touya..." he asked scratchily, as Touya looked thoughtful.
Jin had found the strength to get up, and began making his way over to Reisho and stopped right over the gurgling body. Reisho was trying to breath and did not seem to realize that he was creating a large puddle of blood, nearly five diameters outward from his body, every time he attempted to draw air into his lungs. 'Touya must of hit every vein in his body...really is the only way to stop Reisho when he gets started,' Jin thought.
The ice demon visibly relaxed at seeing Jin standing and he bent his knees slightly to take a much-needed breath, his hand now holding his head once more in pain. Jin just looked at Reisho, who was obviously dying from his innumerable injuries as blood came out from his throat. Jin felt an ever so slight bit of pity for him, and decidedly raised his hand to bestow some merciful and eternal sleep upon the earth master...but Reisho hacked up more air and blood in protest as Jin struggled to hear what he was uttering.
"You...cannot kill me...that ice pixie...has...already ripped...my heart from my chest..." he rasped, raising his only remaining arm into the air toward Jin. The wind master looked suspiciously at it before moving his own hand back toward Reisho...then the earth master's face contorted. "But if I...can not have him...neither can...you," he finally managed, as Reisho's hand fell backward over his head to hit the ground with his last bit of strength. This sent a shock wave through the ground as a jagged crack toward Touya and Einin; Jin's world became utterly silent as he watched like a movie with painfully slow motion, as the ground surrounding his partner cracked and the expanse of the earth beneath his feet slid into the ravine shattering as it dropped. Touya plummeted downward out of the wind master's sight. The wind master lost all thought in his mind as his only friend fell to his death...Jin took only one second more to jolt out of shock and flung himself toward the edge. Jin propelled himself down the cliff's face moving with gravity and his own wind abilities to catch up with the falling ice demon, who reached upward too shocked to comprehend he was plummeting. Jin used one last gust of strength to force himself down to Touya's level and grasp him close with Einin in the center. But by this time Jin knew they were moving too fast to pull back up and that he would have to use the length of the ravine to slow down. Touya held to Jin for dear life as he felt them become more and more parallel to the ground. Jin was using his abilities to move side ways but was having trouble slowing down as they came closer and closer to the hard rock bottom. Jin finally managed to pull up slightly and now the trio was skidding dangerously close to the rocky ground. The wind master knew he would soon hit the ravine's end and if that happened...he might lose more than his own life. He then knew what he had to do and turned mid air with his back facing the ground to look at Touya before he let his back crash mercilessly into the rocks below. Touya was pulled out of his shock when he felt the jolt and heard flesh tearing. 'He's using his own body as a brake!'
They were skidding at 40 miles per hour across the jagged floor and soon came to a final stop with a thud, just ten feet from the wall of the ravine. All was now silent as a trail of dust was left in Jin's wake and the dirt began to settle once more.
Touya coughed in the dust cloud and blinked his dirt-covered eyes. His faulted frantically as he felt down his chest for Einin. His heart leapt when his ears registered that she had been crying for quite some time, but miraculously remained unharmed. Einin tears mingled with the dirt on her face as Touya rubbed his face upon her own.
"Like...music to me ears..." Touya heard a raspy whisper and gasped remembering Jin. He got off of his comrade to let him breathe better and held back a gulp at seeing how much blood was on the rocks beneath the wind master. Touya then turned his gaze behind him, and grimaced at seeing a long trail of red and wetness streamed along the ravine floor. "Can...I hold her?" Touya snapped back his attention to Jin, amazed that his friend could still be conscious let alone speak.
"Jin, my friend, you need to rest now. You've sustained numerous injuries and we need to get you some medical atten..." Touya began listing off before a hand met his mouth gently. He looked at his partner's face and though it held signs of burning pain from his torn apart back, which Touya was afraid to like at, it was also very calm.
"Touya...I got me medicine right here...so pipe down and let's enjoy this victory..." Jin said lowly as he pulled Touya down to his left side. The ice demon complied, blushing slightly at how he was laying his head next to Jin's chest, not wanting to hurt his back anymore, and Jin gently took the still whimpering Einin from his friend to hold her close in one arm with his other around Touya's head. He sighed contentedly at feeling the warmth around him.
"Jin?" The wind master turned his head a little to the left.
"Hmm?" he asked, his eyes now closed.
"I really would prefer it if you let me tend your wounds...your nose looks broken and there is little of you that is not covered in blood," Touya stated looking up at Jin's face. He really was worse for wear and needed some medical attention if his wounds were going to heal properly.
"Ah, but I would rather lie here and listen..." he sighed contentedly. Touya looked perplexed and, as usual, almost kept himself from asking.
"Listening to what?" he asked now leaning on one elbow, facing the wind master. He wondered what could be so important after such an ordeal of excruciating events and possible heartache.
"...to the sound o' both o' your hearts beatin'...lettin' me know I'm not alone anymore," Jin answered genuinely. Touya's eyes widened at this admission and wondered if Jin's head really had lost too much blood to be thinking straight. "Ya' know...I really used to be...no better than Reisho..." Jin began, struggling to find the right words.
"My friend, please rest...you've been through a lot today and..." Touya protested before being quietly interrupted.
"No...this needs to be said...and I have been through no worse than what you had to go through when my friendship failed ya'..." Touya knew Jin was referring to Reisho's violent temper. "I...was never afraid of bein' alone...I actually felt the opposite, no need for it at all. My spirit was too...flighty to hold anythin' dear to me heart. I was as shallow as my personality comes across to others...just some one-dimensional bungler who could leave any relationship without remorse or missin' anyone. Like Reisho often said...I am the wind ever movin' and blowin' passing o'er everythin' with out much o' a thought, nothin' holdin' me down...cause that way I felt freer...but..." he paused holding Einin closer. "You've grounded me...the both of ya'...and I don't feel any less free nor would I ever want to fly away from ya'." Touya looked at his friend unsure of what to say.
"Ya' may never have noticed Touya...but I often listen to your heart beatin' with these ears o' mine, cause it assured me that you hadn't up an' left me behind like I would've in the past...ya' made me better than what I used ta' be, people are important ta' me now and I'm a changed demon because of it...thank you." Jin looked like he was close to dozing off with his lids feeling heavier and heavier with each passing moment. Touya grinned genuinely and placed his hand on Jin's over Einin's small torso.
"Hn, and you have changed me you big elf...but never failed me," the ice demon said as he looked up to the clearing dust cloud. They had both changed, surely for the better...neither were alone and both felt more fulfilled after even this harrowing experience.
Jin chuckled at being called elf and moved his other hand to clasp over Touya's before muttering "ice pixie" as he finally drifted off to sleep. Touya smiled looking at his pair, the smaller one now sleeping atop the larger snoring one. He then remembered the last thing Reisho had ever said to him and felt that, despite the earth master's wrong doings, he should at least honor the dead with an answer, 'It was here Reisho...my heart was here...and always will be.'
TBC...eep sorry about delays....i just don't like writing action scenes...so much to keep my mind on...but ah first book of my long story done....now to just keep writing.....be ready for the next installment!!! HD