Underwater Savior
Chapter 18: The Incident
by: LadyRainStarDragon
Not mine. I can only wish. If you've seen the movie, then you know which characters aren't in it. Hey, at least the plots in my stories are mine!
I thought about saving this for a few days later, but last chapter was a rather cruel place to end it, so here it is for those in need of resuscitation
Koji woke to watch the grass pass by. It was a lovely shade of green really, and each blade was superbly shaped. He didn't often take the time to admire grass, except when his grandchild was with him. But where was she, hadn't they been on the bicycle?
Paying more attention, he saw two feet flash in and out of his vision, along with the occasional flash of white. Come to think of it, there was something sharp digging into his stomach.
"Chihiro!"
"Be still! There is a large disturbance down river according to the trees. We don't need that crazy wind kami accidentally carrying our voices. My son and your grandchild may be there. Just be glad that I found you before the storm broke."
So that was why he was wet. For some reason, Koji thought he had fallen in the river.
"Your energy signature is in an abode that we are approaching. Daitoku, are there any kitoshi supplies that you need to procure before we arrive at the disturbance."
"Staff and bow, my packets and vials are fully stocked. Thank you for finding me Lord Tatsu."
A grim smile settled on the dragon's face, one that had seen many battles in youth and been witness to many calamities.
"Don't thank me just yet, Daitoku. This kami fears what we may find."
Nyuuhakushoku gasped in horror at the sight before her. Her son, her only child, lay bleeding before the little girl who was bound and gagged behind him. She struggled valiantly, but what could a child do against such a monster as now encroached upon her very essence?
The child got to her knees somehow, strength born of determination no doubt filling her body. Hope flared briefly in the ryu-onna's breast, but was silenced once again. The innocent did not try to get away. Instead, she did something highly unexpected. She attacked, ramming her head into the demon's soft parts, doubling him over in agony.
Her aura flamed stronger as her eyes fell again upon the one she had befriended. Voice muffled, but still somewhat understandable, the child of the long abandoned Kohakugawa Shrine, called upon her kami.
"Haku! Get up! Please! Don't die!"
Pure white light then formed a shell around the girl, a single beam lancing its way to the dying dragon. At the same time, the demon hit the child in the head with a stick that had been nearby. He too, was temporarily enveloped by the light, reeling back from the burns the energy was giving him. The child however, fell back down into the ever-hungry blackness.
The fading heartbeat picked back up, a result of the water now washing over his body and running into his river. Another flash of light, white laced with silver, temporarily blinded the observing kami, as she hid her head in the clouds.
What she saw when she looked once more, filled her with both joy and sadness.
Ten coiled himself by the entrance to the above-ground world, nearly half-dead. Scales lay where they had fallen, chipped and broken, leaving behind exposed and abused flesh. His horns, too, were broken and chipped, marred by the number of lunges against the lodged rock sealing him in. He was aware of another blockage above, which would be simple to break, if only he had the strength left to move the boulder in his way. He would rest, then try again.
A white light filled the cavern, emanating from the statue that Ten could have sworn Kohaku had taken with him earlier. The essence of Kohakunushi that had been stored in it was now but a weak lingering, a half-ghost refusing to leave.
'What did he do?'
Kohakunushi felt himself coming back to his body, but something was terribly wrong. It wasn't that Chihiro was in danger, he already knew that. He didn't feel quite . . . whole.
'Am I dead? No, this hurts too much to be dead.'
Silently as possible, he sat up. For him, it was like having gotten caught in a net that could not fully be disentangled. He saw his charge unconscious, yet another bruise forming at her temple.
'She's probably not going to remember this with two head traumas. I've got to get her to a healer somehow.'
His sword was missing, if he could find it, one quick cut while the mongrel was bent over would end this. Whatever had happened, it must have been painful for the dog. Having made a swift search, where he found his sword was not what he was prepared for.
The boy could not have been more than twelve. Seeping wounds covered his body, sluggish streams of red seeking the greater river. The flesh, normally pale, was a shock-white and made paler by the contrast of raven-wing locks. A small moan escaped his blue-tinged lips, barely slipping from the child's throat. The eyes were closed, but something about the extreme similarity in the clothing between himself and the nearly dead boy before him made Kohakunushi positive that the eyes would be green.
'Is that me as a child? Oh, Kami, this is bad!'
Quicksilver fast, Kohakunushi wrenched the blade from his own fading hand, feeling chills pass up and down his spine at this act of robbery against himself. Rushing towards Greed, the dog had already straightened up, and although wounded, was able to block.
Changing tactics, Kohakunushi summoned the last of the river's flagging strength and called upon the waters of the storm to sustain him in this last desperate attempt to protect the human child as he had sworn to do.
After the dog demon had given chase, the she-dragon descended from the clouds to give what aid she could to the two children now before her.
Nyuuhakushoku was proud of her son, sacrificing himself so in the line of his duty. His actions brought great honor to his name and his family. The human girl would live, her only injuries mild scratches and the two blows to the head that she seemed to have suffered.
With a heavier heart, she turned to her son, now looking the way that she had last seen him all those many years ago. Carefully, she doctored him as best she could, but there was nothing that she could do for the now broken heart. That injury, resulting in a complete split between two parts of himself, would only be healed with time. With the trauma he had suffered this day, including blood loss, she did not think he would consciously remember it. If he did, it would most likely be a suppressed memory only visited in nightmares.
When she had done all that she could, it was time to sever this part of himself from the river. He would stand a better chance of surviving with a healthier energy source. Looking around for a suitable idea, her eyes fell on the girl. Spinning within her body, was a perfect white pearl, a direct channel of the energy of love. That would be perfect.
Carefully, the bond was made between the two beings, the formerly weaker of the pair now supporting the one who once was the stronger. In a sense, the unassuming being now was the Heart of the River.
"Rest my Children. Destiny is not done with you yet."
Sensing the approach of two beings, she pulled the human into her lap while casting a simultaneous invisibility spell on her son. It would not do for her mate to see their beloved child in such a state. When it was safe, she would take him where he could heal and be fairly safe.
Tatsu rushed to his mate's side when he saw her cradling the little human whose name did not come to mind. Koji was still tossed over his shoulder, not unlike a bag of vegetables except for his occasional hisses when a shoulder found its way into his gut. Shrugging a few feet away from her, the daitoku who had formerly been trying to see where they were going, was deposited heavily on the ground, complete with weaponry.
"Mate! Are you unharmed? What has happened?"
"Our son led the monster away from this child. She needs a human healer though, once who can better attend to her head wounds than I."
"Chihiro! Oh, my baby grandchild! I'll take her to the hospital right away.!"
A frown spread across the Mountain Lord's face as a drop of ink will bleed across paper.
"Daitoku! You have a responsibility to your people. This seems to be the demon's power center. Purify this area, when my son kills the beast we will purify the site of the slaying. I will take the child to a healer."
"Lord Tatsu! You aren't allowed to interfere according to rules of conduct. How would it affect the people's perception of their reality?"
"How would it affect their reality if an unrestrained mononoke with the power to assume human form decided it wanted to run rampant and eat them all? You brought the child to me in a time of distress, now I at least have the rights to influence her future."
The mountain dragon gathered the child from his mate, not noticing the bond of fate now running from the child to a point beside and behind the sea dragon. With barely a glance at the priest, he broke into a swift run, his feet following unseen lines of chi telling him just the way that he was to go for the hospital.
"He is right, you know. If you cut off its power base, not only will it be easier for Kohakunushi to fight it, it will be easier to cleanse the other site as well when this is over. I have an errand to run now. Fare well, Daitoku."
Nyuuhakushoku turned to scoop up a burden that was not visible to Koji's eyes, although the way she held herself made it seem rather heavy. Then, she became one with the clouds again, moving her storm farther inland and towards an objective only she knew.
"Somehow, I think the Lord and Lady are trying to hide something from me. Tatsu-sama is correct though. I will cleanse this site, then we shall see where I am to go."
Reviewer Corner:
Katsy Kat: That was quite the cliffhanger wasn't it? Thanks for the well wishes. I made it to evil authoress, must have really been a good chapter.
Fyraga: Does he or doesn't he? That would depend on your definition of life I guess. ::Hands Fyraga a big box of tissues.::
Every Bishounen's True love: Ok, I updated. Who choked to death here though, you or the cat? That was a confusing sentence (then again, I write those too).
NitenGale: S'all cool. Parental units do make the rules after all.