Summary: Memories of Yakumo rejecting her friends in favor of Kiri haunt Sago's dreams. With the nightmares affecting him, will Sago be able to save his friends or himself when the group is attacked?
Disclaimer: All recognizable Shinzo characters and situations are the property of the Toei Animation and Saban Entertainment. This fiction is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: You might notice some initial similarity between this story and Krumsthedmg's story Forgive and Forget which is posted here. LiveJournal's Shinzo community was discussing fanfic story ideas. One of the ideas discussed is the basic premise behind Krums' story and mine. We both decided to tackle the idea and see where our imaginations took us. Krums knows that my story is based on the same premise as hers. In fact, she encouraged me to write my version. In return, I encourage you to read her story if you haven't already done so.
Chapter 1Sago sat on a branch of a tall sturdy oak tree; Kutal sat beside him on his left. Yakumo and the human child Mushra had discovered — Kiri was her name — were hiding on the branch below them. Mushra was on another branch on the same level as the humans. Sago looked below to make sure their vehicles were safely hidden. Yakumo's robotic transport Hakuba, his scooter, Mushra's hoverboard, and Kutal's automobile were nestled in the crooks of various branches. The insect-like Enterrans searching for them on the ground would never spot them through the dense tree canopy.
Sago sighed softly. According to Kiri, Shinzo was a castle fortress where the last surviving humans on Enterra were held prisoner. Yakumo had convinced the young girl to lead them there. Now the three Enterrans and the two humans were hiding in the oak tree located on the lakeshore across from the castle. They hoped to find a way inside, but it wasn't going to be easy. Patrol guards riding giant caterpillars were looking for them. Mushra pointed out that more soldiers were landing on their side of the shore.
"What do you think we should do?" Sago asked quietly. His companions' answers were predictable. Kutal wanted to eat. Mushra wanted to fight. Kiri who was terrified of all Enterrans including him found Mushra's comment as proof that all Enterrans wanted to do was fight each other. Sago ignored Mushra's protestations and Yakumo's reassurances to the child; he concentrated on getting into the castle. "There're too many for us to fight them," he said watching the patrols pass below them again. "We're going to have try to get into the castle without them noticing us."
Mushra was skeptical. "Right. And how are we going to do that?"
"I don't know," Sago admitted. "But Kiri does!" he added looking at the girl expectantly. Kiri had escaped from Shinzo before Mushra found her. If she knew a way out, Sago reasoned, she must also know a way in.
After some prompting from the others, Kiri confessed that a secret passage was the only way past the guards and into Shinzo. However, she refused to tell them where. "Not unless the Enterrans stay behind!" she added.
Sago and Kutal exchanged dismayed glances. Enterrans had killed Kiri's parents when she was younger. Now the child hated and feared all Enterrans. Sago understood the girl's anger, but he was frustrated by her insistence that all Enterrans were evil human murderers. Mushra, Kutal, and he cared deeply for Yakumo and extended that concern to all humans. Sago didn't consider himself a threat to humans. For months, he had journeyed with Yakumo and the others to reach Shinzo and find other humans, often at a risk to his own life. To be intensely distrusted by a human child now that they were close to reaching Shinzo was a hurtful feeling. Sago's attention returned to the debate below him just in time to hear Yakumo announce that she and Kiri would go together to Shinzo without the Enterrans. Sago was shocked.
"I see. So that's how it is, huh?" Mushra asked scornfully. Yakumo didn't understand his meaning. "You feel just like she does. Even after all we've been through, you don't trust us! You think we're all monsters, don't you?" Yakumo stammered in her confusion. The hurt in Sago's heart grew.
Kiri answered for Yakumo. "Of course she does! She's a human being, and all humans hate Enterrans!" Despite Yakumo's protests, Kiri would not stop. "Why don't you go away and leave us alone!"
Sago couldn't remain quiet any longer. "Is that how you feel, Yakumo?" he asked worriedly.
"Is Kiri right?" Kutal added.
Again, Kiri answered when Yakumo could only stammer. "Please say that's how you feel. You're a human being, and Enterrans destroyed our world. Oh, please say you're on my side cause if you don't, all hope is gone!" The sobbing child buried her face in Yakumo's chest. Yakumo stroked her hair.
"So what's it going to be? Kiri or us?"
"Mushra, please don't force me to choose," Yakumo begged. "I …"
"Tell them, Yakumo. Tell them you want them to go away. Please."
Mushra was insistent. "Well, Yakumo?"
Yakumo looked at the girl in her arms and then at each Enterran in turn. "This is so hard. You are my friends. But to join humans again and find out what happened to my father … Please understand. I must do this." The hurt in Sago's heart burned his spirit.
"You're with her," Mushra spat. The Enterran ignored Yakumo's call as he turned around. "Who needs you?" he muttered. Jumping from branch to branch down through the oak tree, he landed on the branch holding his hoverboard and prepared to fly away.
Mushra has the right idea, Sago thought. "We'd better get going as well, Kutal," he said to his friend.
Yakumo looked up at him. "Sago?"
He couldn't look at her. Her warm blue eyes had always been a source of welcome and comfort to Sago. Now, he was afraid they might hold rejection instead. "I've always made it a practice of mine never to stick around where I'm not wanted," he said with more bitterness than he had intended. Without another word, Sago turned and leapt from his perch to the branch below him. He overheard Kutal and Yakumo exchange words, but he no longer cared what they were saying. He had heard enough.
Reaching his scooter, Sago sat down and started it up. He heard rustling in the branches on the other side of the tree. That must be Mushra leaving, he thought. My turn's next. Moments later, he heard Kutal's automobile start up followed by rustling branches. Below the tree, the guard patrols were shouting. They had been spotted. At least, we'll provide the girls a diversion. The bugs can chase us for awhile while they go to Shinzo. Alone.
Sago cleared the branches. He wasn't worried about escaping the Enterran guards on their caterpillar mounts. His scooter could fly higher than the caterpillars could reach. Right then, a weight landed on Sago's back. The scooter wobbled from the impact and the uneven weight distribution. Thin hands reached around his neck and began to squeeze.
"Land now, Enterran. Or I will strangle you to death!" a voice hissed in his ear.
"Kiri?" Sago sputtered. "What are you doing?" he cried while trying to steady the scooter and keep it airborne.
"Land!" The grip on Sago's neck tightened.
"Okay! Okay! But the guards will catch us!" he gasped.
"Do it!"
Completely confused, Sago landed the scooter. Kiri didn't increase the pressure around his neck. Neither did she ease up. Once they were on the ground, the girl wrapped her legs around Sago's waist and ordered him to get off the scooter. To the Enterran's surprise, none of the patrols came near them. They were alone on the ground except for one other who walked out of the mist to join them. Sago's confusion increased when he recognized the person. "Yakumo? How did you get down so quickly? What's going on? We've got to get out of here. The patrols will be here any minute!" His sentences came out in a panicked rush.
"Quiet, Enterran," Kiri ordered.
Sago felt Kiri's legs leave his waist as she dropped to the ground. She removed her hands from his neck. Before he could react, however, the girl had gripped his arms. What happened next caught Sago off guard. He felt the human child behind him grow rapidly. Kiri grew until she nearly twice Sago's size. Based on the grip she had of his arms, Sago guessed that her strength had increased along with her size. "I didn't know humans had a hypermode," he said, too stunned to realize the absurdity of the thought.
Yakumo laughed. Sago tore his attention back to the human woman he thought he had known so well these past months. Never before had he heard her laugh so coldly, so calculatingly, so cruelly. "Yakumo?" he whispered.
Yakumo approached the Enterran slowly. With her every step, Sago's confusion grew and turned into a rising fear. What's going on? he thought. Or maybe he had said it aloud, Sago wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything at the moment. Finally within arm's length of the Enterran, Yakumo reached out, pushed aside his cloak, and laid her hand flat on Sago's chest. Without thinking, Sago stepped backwards to avoid her but backed into Kiri who still held him firmly in place. He had no where to go, no way to escape the madness that was happening.
Sago felt Yakumo's fingers curl against him until only her fingernails rested on him. He couldn't imagine what she planned to do. He only knew that her actions scared him. "Yakumo, please! Don't!" he begged. Yakumo's nails tore through his shirt then dug into his skin. Her hand followed her nails deep into his chest. Pain ripped through him. Sago screamed. Yakumo was relentless. Deep into his body, she pushed until she found what she wanted. Sago felt her grab something inside him and then withdraw her arm. He screamed again as her bloody hand left his body holding her prize.
His vision blurred by tears, his thoughts racked by agony, Sago stared at Yakumo and tried to comprehend what had happened. With effort, he focused on what Yakumo held in front of him. His sight cleared enough for him to make out a small thin rectangle — a card actually. The side facing him was covered in an intricate design. The card looked familiar. He had seen similar ones before.
"My … my ... En card!" Sago gasped in realization. Yakumo had removed his En card from his body. The En card contained an Enterran's spirit and kept him alive. If that card were destroyed, Sago would die.
Behind him, Kiri laughed wickedly. "Do it, Yakumo. Do it for all humans," she urged.
Yakumo nodded. Holding the card in front of her as if it were something disgusting, Yakumo grabbed one edge of the En card with both hands. Blood from her hand dripped down the card. Sago shuddered, cold with the knowledge of what was to come.
"Please, Yakumo! No!"
"For the sake of humanity," Yakumo declared. Her voice echoed with the power of vengeance. "Death to all Enterrans!"
Yakumo ripped the card in two. Sago felt the pain in his chest intensify. Agony spread throughout him. His body shattered into millions of fragments. The pieces hovered in midair for a moment as if reluctant to submit to their fate then dissolved into nothingness.
Sago was gone.
To Be Continued …