I won't leave you hanging! I hate that being done to me! All right!
WHOPEEEEE!
Ithiell
The wall on the right of me crashed to pieces, and in stepped an assortment of animals. The elephant stayed outside as a gorilla, a wolf, and a black panther all entered daintily. The humans ran at them!
TTSSSSEEERRR! Tobias! He swooped in, attacking the first one he saw! The guy went off, howling in pain. Then… the others attacked!
The humans tried to fight, but it was obvious even to a blind man who would win. They were soon all incapacitated. Some for good, and some… some not.
Marco dragged them into a corner, then the netting that they'd used to grab me was removed, and he worked on putting that over them, to keep them in. Still… I seemed unable to move…
(You all right buddy?) It was Robert, and he nudged me with a cold nose.
"Not… really. Amanda…"
(Got her right here Ithiell. Don't worry, we'll get her back somehow) Marco said, and I saw she had him over her shoulder.
"But… but I…"
(Rtaia?)
(Come Ithiell. We must escape now) Rtaia was beside me, a horse, and Marco gingerly picked me up and put me on her back. She took off, and soon…
No, not soon. A little while later, I was set down in a clearing. Ax was there, looking uneasy.
"All righty" Rachel said, rubbing her hands together, making me realise she was human again "What next?"
"What do you mean 'what next?' we find out how to cure Amanda, that's what!" Robert snapped, then rubbing his eyes with his fingers.
"She feels dead. She's so cold" Cassie said, and when I looked I saw her holding her wrist limply. I went over to look down at her. Touched her neck to feel for a pulse… she was right, so cold…
But I felt a pulse, and that's what mattered.
(I'm going to check on Jade and Jake)
"I'll come with you. I know where they are" Robert was shifting to wedge-tailed eagle, a form he'd only done a couple of times because he didn't like the way it felt in the air, compared to the sleek little falcon. An alarm bell was ringing from far off, but I hardly noticed as I stared down at my beloved, wishing I knew the cure to get her back.
"Oh Amanda, I'm so sorry. If I had known…" I picked her top half up, holding it close to me. She was so limp… so dead…
I placed a small kiss on her forehead…
She jerked! I nearly had a heart-attack!
"Holy! What was that!" Marco cried.
"I…I don't know. But… no, she's not awake" Cassie observed.
It was at that moment I met Rtaia's eyes… and she half nodded. The frown on her face was obvious. She knew I had to, but still didn't like the thought of me doing it.
I shifted to human, still holding Amanda.
"Ithiell? What are you doing?" Rachel asked me cautiously.
"Curing Amanda" I said once my human mouth was in place, and I slapped Amanda's cheek lightly… she had to be fully awake for this…
"Hey, don't-" Marco started, but Cassie stopped him, clamping a hand over his mouth. The rest were silent.
"Come on Amanda, wakey wakey" I said gently, slapping her cheeks a little harder. She stirred, opened her eyes…
And jerked violently! I held on tight, gritting my teeth and praying I was right and not about to become like her. Rtaia would know what to do if I failed.
She struggled, but I was stronger, and managed to hold her still long enough to press my lips against hers, putting all the love I could into it. She jerked violently, struggling harder…
I managed to deepen it, hoping all the love I felt towards her was breaking through… jerked madly… held on…
I felt something cold enter my mouth, sending a definite shiver down my back…
Then it was gone, and I heard someone gasp.
I pulled back to look down at Amanda… and saw nothing but the brown-eyed angel I'd fallen in love with.
"Ithiell? What happened? The last thing I remember is…"
"Don't worry Amanda. I promise you, from now on, it'll all be ok"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
((((A/N: This part inspired by Evanescence; Going Under & Bring Me to Life
Jade
Blood was everywhere. On me, on him… and all over the ground. My left ear was missing, pooling blood down into my eye, and across the fur on the left side of my head. My haunches trembled as we stood, facing each other again. He was tired. So was I.
And it wasn't looking good for me. My smaller size was going to work against me from now on. There was nothing I could do. Jake was going to end up killing me, in the end.
(Jake, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough. I… I can't save either of us) I muttered, my eyes closing for just an instant.
Ribbon. Neck.
My eyes snapped open. The words had just come to me, like I'd been in a dream. I realised what they meant, but… how could I do it when I was at a disadvantage?
HWWWRRROOOOOAAARRRR!
He attacked! I dodged to the side, swiping his right eye. He backed away, howling in pain. Now was the time!
I jumped further away from him, then started to shift back.
As soon as I had fingers, and my waist reappeared, I grabbed the ribbon, which was easily two or three metres in length, and wound it around each hand, ready to strangle the beast in front of me if I had to.
When I was almost fully human, I saw the tiger turn its head, and that single eye fixated on me. It leaped!
I couldn't jump away, but feigned a fall, and Jake landed over me, growling and baring his teeth, still dripping with blood. I might have done a lot of damage to him, but in the end, a tiger will always win against a defenceless human.
As quick as I could I managed to loop the ribbon around the back of his neck, with him barely missing my arm with those sharp teeth. He growled, then pressed a gigantic paw on my chest, pushing down.
I screamed in pain, but managed to keep a hold of the ribbon, and with the last of my strength, criss-crossed them, pulling as tight as I could, screaming in pain and terror as the claws started to come out.
HHHRRRRROOOWWWWWRRRRRRR!
A sudden scream from Jake, and I managed to open my eyes just enough to see I was… I was strangling him!
NO! He was demorphing! He was becoming Jake again!
No, not Jake. Not entirely, anyway. His eyes were still red, and his hair white, but at least he was going human again.
I tightened the ribbon around his neck as he continued to push a hand hard into my chest, shutting off my air and making me gasp and cry out in pain. After all, he still had the advantage over me in weight.
I grew just enough, and managed to flip him over onto his back, sitting above him. Now, with more weight, I easily held him down as I tightened the ribbon, not entirely knowing why I was doing it… but it had to… to work!
The ribbon! It had to do something!
"Come on Jake. Don't make me do this" I whispered. Wished he knew how much I loved him… wanted him to know before one of us died… because that's how it was looking…
I felt a tear slide down my cheek, dropping off my chin and landing on his cheek. The reaction…. oh god, how could I describe it? It was like it hit him with acid!
He screamed and jerked violently. I kept hold of the ribbon around his neck with one hand, wiping off my tears with my free hand and spreading them across both of his cheeks. He kicked and fought, and I realised I was on to something…
"Come on Jake. That's it. Fight it!"
He tried to backhand me, but I grabbed his hand, holding on tight. I kissed it, letting him know I was here…
It got even worse! I was nearly bucked off!
I managed to hold on, suddenly seeing what could possibly break this… this poisoned kiss. The kiss of someone who loved him. I loved him…
I became just human enough to lean down my upper body, kissing him and praying I was right… god let me be right…
He struggled against me, but I held on, deepening the kiss as much as possible… letting all the love I felt flow from me to him.
There was an instant… and just an instant… where I felt a coldness enter my mouth, spreading through my body… but then it was gone, and I felt Jake's cold lips begin to warm. And soon, I felt him kissing me back.
I puled back, looking down at him. It was Jake again!
I quickly unwound the ribbon, tying it back at my waist as he stared up at me, half-smiling. Then I guess he remembered what had happened.
"Jade?" His eyes turned cold and afraid "What… what happened? I feel as if I've been strangled"
He touched his neck, then leaned up and touched my face as fresh tears flowed freely from my eyes. I was laughing and crying all at the same time!
My pain and joy mixed, and I leaned down and kissed him again, deeply, trying my best not to shake as I realised I'd come close to killing him. So close…
I felt his arms go around me, gently, as if he didn't really understand why I was crying, but wanting to comfort me anyway.
(Guys, get a room!) I heard someone moan, and when I looked up I saw a red-tailed hawk swoop over, landing beside us. A wedge-tailed eagle landed beside it seconds later.
I rolled of Jake, and we both got up.
"Hey, guys… are… where's everyone?" I asked as I wiped away the last of my tears.
(Waiting) it was Robert's voice this time.
"Oh. Ok, let's get out of here"
"You two grab the others and meet up at the waterfall. We'll catch up in a minute" Jake said, shocking all of us. I looked up at him. He was in leader mode again.
(All right. But don't be too long) Tobias said, then lifted off, with Robert beside him.
When they were gone, Jake turned to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms and kissing me deeply. Even more so than he'd ever done. He pulled away quickly, gently lifting a strand of hair off my face with his finger.
"Jade, when we get out of here I'm going to show you how much I love you"
"Does that come with dinner and a movie"
He laughed "Very funny. Now let's get out of here"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
You should not leave.
"Oh yeah, and why not?" Rachel asked.
Because you have no-where else to go.
"Anywhere is better than being stuck in here" I snarled.
We'd met at the waterfall, to find our 'unicorn' had beat us there. Now, we were… negotiating…. our way out. Ax was ready to attack, slowly moving in on the thing, and Ithiell and Rtaia weren't far behind him. Tobias was carefully hidden from its sight, ready to swoop at the first sign of trouble. And the rest of us…
Well, the rest of us were peeved beyond imagination.
You are not stuck. You are guests.
"Then step aside and let us go" Ithiell said.
I welcome you to stay, if you wish.
"Sorry, but we don't"
The thing stepped aside, and we walked into the cavern behind the waterfall, with Tobias flying in after us.
Suddenly…
"The gap's closing!"
"Quick! Run!"
So we ran, going full-tilt. Ax, Rtaia and Ithiell soon pulled ahead of us, and then Jake, Rachel and Robert pulled ahead of the short people. Amanda was in between… we were going… going…
"HHHEEEEYYAAAAAA!" The others leapt out! One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six!
Tobias blew through!
Eight! Nine! Ten!
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed, leaping through, landing hard in the shallow water.
C-C-C-C-CRRR-AK-K-K-K-K-K!
The hole closed!
"Is everyone here!" Jake yelled.
Thankfully, we all were.
"Good" Ithiell muttered, he flopped down on his back in the shallow water, his chest heaving.
And then, we were no longer in shallow water.
"OH FUCKING HELL!" I screamed.
Um… um… I'll leave it there.
More surprises to come!
