hey guys, i'm posting the last three chapters for for whom the bell tolls before i start the third installment. I'm so sorry this has taken so long, but it's been next to impossible to get to a computer with internet access. right now i'm going to be using the computers at school so updates will be slow.
much love,
RR
Chapter 20: Burn
"Run," her body urged, "run." Breath coming out in shallow pants, she could hear her subconscious trying to tell her something, something important. Desperately she tried to get a grasp on what it was saying. "They're behind you, it screamed, they're getting closer. Don't let them catch you!"
Oxygen was becoming a commodity for her deprived lungs. She could feel them burning as they desperately tried to gather the oxygen necessary to maintain her body. Her legs burned and her back gave a twinge of pain. She had long ago ordered her little sister to climb onto her back, because she couldn't keep up with her superior speed. She could feel her knees trying to give out on her, but she willed them to continue holding her as she raced for their lives. The voices in her head kept urging and encouraging her to continue. She was so close to safety.
Run. The wind urged, whipping her hair and clothes about her body. Run. It seemed to be gently pushing her along as she made her way down the mountain. Run. it urged desperately. Run. In a near fatal mistake, she looked back. She turned back in time to see the tree she was about to run into and barely dodged, but it was enough for her to lose her footing on the steep slope of the mountain and tumble headlong down, down, down.
Get up. Get up! the earth urged her. Flee whilst you can. We have been prisoner to this beast for centuries, as we shall continue to be, but you must go. you must escape.
She could hear the invisible creature crashing through the trees, seeing some of them snap under the weight of the creature. It was quickly gaining and would be upon them in no time. Weakly she struggled to rise, but to no avail. Her back began to spasm and her legs ached and cramped from overuse. Her arms trembled, trying valiantly to hold her up, but they too eventually collapsed under the strain. Her sister stood beside her, trying to help her up, but her fledgling strength was not enough. She tried to use her powers to help her sister and found that something was blocking her, she couldn't remember how to do it.
With a deafening roar the creature was upon them. In vain Rin tried to protect them, her strength on par with that of a human child. With a deft swipe, the creature knocked the child away with a massive paw. She hit a nearby tree and slid to the ground. The contact was brief, but enough for the creature to materialize slightly at its' paw. Slowly red eyes also began to materialize, leaving only gleaming angry eyes and a large hairy paw visible.
With a sudden burst of strength Kagome leapt to her feet, her eyes blazing as she watched her sister slide to the ground. Her anger burned wild and slowly grew out of control. Flames that could only be from hell whipped around her, as she slowly began her transformation. Her face slowly began to elongate and her body began to contort as the flames enveloped her in an opaque shield.
The creature turned to her with indifferent eyes as it watched her transformation. It watched the swirling shield of flame with a look akin to curiosity. The flames tore at some invisible foe as it flared out and then imploded. As the flames were pulled back to their source, the creature let out an ear piercing howl as it reared back. The monster before it was like nothing it had ever seen or encountered. It began to tremble slightly before it regained control of itself and howled again in outrage.
She stood tall, her chin held high. She stood slightly shorter than Sesshoumaru in his true form, her gleaming black coat a perfect compliment to his pristine white. Her form was lithe and beautiful, being built for speed and agility but belying her strength. Her beautiful azure eyes, which in her human and phoenix forms are wide, are narrow, having an almost feline grace in their beauty. The crystal depths of her eyes glittered and shone with her fury.
As the smoke cleared from her vision, she looked out at the creature with a ferocity that could only be rivaled by one. In her towering inu form, she was truly a formidable foe, a force to be reckoned with. Her sharp gleaming white teeth were bared as she growled low at her adversary. Slowly, she began to circle around the beast in a wide perimeter, slowly bringing it in closer and closer. She had no clue what abilities this body possessed, but the need to protect her sister at all costs threw caution to the wind as she viciously attacked.
The creature was slow and unwieldy, giving her an advantage, however, being unsure and untrained in this form she was quickly tiring. She jumped back as the creature swiped at her with its half visible paw. She yelped in pain when the other, still invisible paw, tagged her in the side, leaving four red gashes that were leaking out blood in a steady stream. This creature also had excessive strength, the strength of a thousand souls on its side. She fell on her uninjured side, panting heavily as she struggled to get up.
I'll tell you now you can't win this
A livid glow began to envelope her body as she desperately tried to stand. Her irate crimson eyes carefully watched the glowing eyes of the creature as it circled round her. The blood flowing from her wounds began to turn to a stream of fire that curled up and around her body. Slowly, with a sudden surge of strength that filled her to her very core, a strength not her own, she rose to her feet, her massive paws finding their was under her and holding. For a brief moment, the fire around her flared and her eyes flashed sparkling golden and then in a burst of speed she was gone.
You're way too slow
"Use your senses," a voice urged in her ear. She came to a screeching halt, frozen in her tracks. Listening intently, she cocked her head to the side, not believing what her ears had just told her. When she had all but given up hope on her sanity, the voice sounded again in her ear, this time more impatiently and urgently. "Use your senses," the voice urged again, as the beast who had been looking frantically around for her, finally found her. Panic welled in her heart, and her mind went blank as she frantically tried to do as she was bade.
"How!" she cried, as she tried to dodge an attack she knew was coming, but didn't know from which direction it was coming.
"You should know all of the sounds and smells of the forest by now! Use them to your advantage. Listen... There! To your left, dodge!"
"How can you hear him? He's so quiet!"
"Focus! If you can't hear him, then sniff him out. You can do this!"
"But, I can't!"
"Then you're not the woman i fell in love with! She could do anything she put her mind to. If you don't focus, then you and your sister are as good as dead. Focus and fight!"
"... ok."
I'll tell you I'm gonna take this
With a grim determination born from sheer will of mind, she overcame the ailments of the body through the weight of her desperation. Five words were ricocheting around in her conscious mind, fueling her body, pushing her beyond her limits as she rose above her physical self. Empowered by something she didn't know she needed until now, she rose and glared her assailant in the eye, not even needing to consciously focus her power to find her enemy. She gathered the immeasurable strength she derived from those words and placed it all into a single attack. Her eyes flashed with platinum lightening as white smoke, curled and poured forth from her mouth.
Her eyes flashed golden for a moment before a noxious green gas poured forth to join the white smoke that was filling the area. The creature stumbled and began to scream in agony as the invisibility that cloaked the creature from sight wore away showing its flesh boiling and sizzling from both the purification and the poisonous gas. With its last dieing breath it uttered an ear piercing screech that echoed for a moment before all went silent. A moment passed before the giantess that was left standing in the clearing alone wavered a moment on her massive paws and then collapsed, returning to her humanoid form. a single tear escaped her as the connection with the man she loved faded. All around her went black and she could feel the world falling away from her at alarming rates.
Tentatively, she tried to move, but found she could not. Panicking, she struggled to move as she began to call for her little sister. That panic was short lived, only to be replaced by full blown unyielding fear. There before the backdrop of ethereal black and raging purple, in the clutches of her aunt, lay her little sister. Desperately the fledgling struggled for life as the ancient strangled the life out of her. She tried again and again to move but nothing was happening. She watched as the struggles of her little sister became weaker and weaker, until they ceased.
"NO!"
Did you come here to watch me burn?
Trembling, Kagome slowly sat up, clutching her head. Desperately she tried to figure out what it was that caused her so much fear but found no recollection. Slowly opening her eyes, she gasped as she realized that she needed to find her sister. Looking around, she found Rin sitting quietly next to her.
"Sister! You're awake!" the young girl exclaimed. "I was afraid you would never wake up!"
"How long was I out?" Kagome asked, still clutching her throbbing head.
"Not long," the former answered, "but I can't hold them back much longer."
"Them?" Kagome asked, finally releasing her head and looking at her sister with a puzzled expression. She turned her head at her sister's bidding and found a shimmering yellow barrier surrounding them. Although she couldn't see beyond the barrier, she could see the spots in which the beasts surrounding them pounded on their sole protection.
They were completely surrounded.
I'll let it show that
Panic started to well in her breast. She didn't know if she could stand let alone fight anymore. On the other hand, if she didn't do something, then the barrier would eventually fail and then both she and her sister would die. Taking a moment to think, she noticed the increasing look of panic on her sister's face. Nodding once to the young girl, she closed her eyes as she felt her sister's power recede and prepared herself for a fight.
As the barrier dropped, her eyes opened to reveal stormy gray eyes. Somehow, she had managed to converge both her dark powers and her holy powers without destroying them. They had agreed to work together for the sake of survival at the moment.
As the two opposing forces merged and mixed, Kagome could feel herself being revitalized.
I'm not always flying
She struggled to rise, still feeling weak. After a few moments, she stood strong, unwavering. She narrowed her eyes at the approaching demons, assessing what it was she had to do to win. It would take everything she had just to defeat the demons she could see, not to mention the untold numbers that lay beyond. She closed her eyes for a moment, clearing her mind, as she kept track of the demons with her other senses. Taking a cleansing breath, her eyes snapped open as the demons approached.
The masses of demons hit her like a wave pounding the beach. They attacked from all sides, relentlessly trying to bring her down. Many of the demons that approached died before they could even get a hit in, but many others did manage to land a hit.
She attacked with a ferocity that frightened even her, leaving no room for thought beyond strategy. She allowed her instincts to take control, guiding her movements and fueling her attacks.
She fought with everything she had and more, but there seemed to be no end to the sea of demons. To make matters worse, her powers were quickly draining under the strain of combining two conflicting powers. She felt herself weakening, slowing down. She began to panic when she found that she was just barely able to dodge the attacks being thrown her way.
In an effort to capture a few moments respite, she jumped high above the tree tops, her wings sparking to life and carrying her up just a little higher when she began to lose altitude. She looked down at the sea of demons as she hovered there. Her wings flapped occasionally, keeping her aloft as she assessed the grim situation. It seemed there was no end in sight to the mass of demons. In fact, however, there was, but she was nowhere near it.
Come all the way down
She lingered there for several moments, as she tried to calm her heavy breathing. Even that was becoming a chore. She remained completely unaware of the danger flying her way. It seemed like she could vaguely hear someone calling her name, trying to say something to her but she couldn't hear them. Brushing the voice off as her imagination, she was about to jump back into the fray when she was hit from behind.
Her breath left her in a gasp at the impact. She tried to intake more oxygen, but found she couldn't with the winds rushing by her. Somehow she couldn't breathe. An eternity seemed to pass as she fell. In those moments she found a sense of peace that she had never before attained.
That peace disappeared as she hit the ground, the weight on her back making the impact that much worse. She felt the earth give beneath her and vaguely wondered if this was what it was like for Inuyasha every time she had subdued him.
If there had been any oxygen in her lungs it was now completely gone. She lay there under the crushing weight of the demon, unable to do anything. She felt like every bone in her body was broken, but knew that wasn't the case.
Blankly she stared ahead, feeling her consciousness slowly slipping away as black spots began to cloud her fading vision. She could feel herself slipping away. Before she could, however, a searing pain tore through her already scarred back. Her eyes opened wide as the pain tore through her, the comforting black of unconsciousness ripped away for the moment.
And watch me burn
She could feel each bit of flesh tear as the demon tore at her back and sides. She began to thrash about, trying to free herself from the weight of the demon, but found that to be fruitless. She tried desperately to rise; to do anything really, but found that she was completely immobilized. She needed to do something soon or she would die.
She attempted to gather power when she heard the demon atop of her shriek in pain. Several moments passed before the weight on her back suddenly disappeared. Not a moment later she was covered in a shower of ashes. The ashes completely enveloped her and began to glow, covering her in a comforting yellow light. When the light receded, she was healed.
The demons around her backed away in slight fear as she slowly rose. A fire sparked in her eyes as she looked in the direction in which she knew that attack to have originated, and her sister to be. She knew her to be safe for the moment.
Looking to the demons around her, a slight smirk crossed her face for a moment before it disappeared behind a look of determination. A black and white flame sprang to life in the palm of her right hand and slowly spread up her arm and around her body until she was completely enveloped by it. She gathered the last of her power into one final attack. She wasn't sure this would work, but she prayed it would. If this didn't work then she was dead, along with her sister.
The demons began to back away when the flames began to creep from her body over the ground. They seemed to move in slow motion for a moment before they flared out at unimaginable speeds.
The flames moved from demon to demon, melting them away into oblivion. The cries of the demons caught in the crosshairs of the attack was deafening. Many fled, but many more were destroyed. Kagome held the attack for as long as she could maintain it without killing herself.
When the last of her energy was expended, the flames rushed back into her. She stood there breathing heavily, as she surveyed the damage she had caused. A majority of the demons had perished at her hand, but a great many still had escaped and were still lurking around. She couldn't linger long in the area, because they were bound to regroup and attack again, but she didn't have the energy to move.
As a matter of fact, she didn't even have the energy to stand. She quickly realized this at her sisters cry. It took her a moment, but it wasn't until she had hit the ground that she realized that she had fallen. She looked over at her sister, and had just enough energy to assure her that she was okay before she passed into blissful slumber.