Recalling The Spirit
Part #2
Chapter 12
Hi everyone! By the way, if you were curious about the old Irish, I'm revealing what they mean in this chapter.
I have been getting really nice, sweet and kind reviews, and I want to thank everyone. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT...well, as of now I own quite a lot of the characters in Recalling the Spirit, BUT I DON'T OWN MIYAZAKI'S NOR DO I OWN HIS SPIRIT WORLD BATHHOUSE...thingy...
Suggestion of the Chapter: I suggest you watch Millennium Actress, an anime by Satoshi Kon.
PART #2 IS GOING TO BE SOOOO COOL!!!!!!!! NEAR THE END THERE IS GOING TO BE THIS HUGE BATTLE!!!!!
I'm sorry about the super-long update. I had eight pages typed and then Riding Girl gave me some suggestions that I really liked, so I changed the story chapter. I altered her ideas a lot, so they are a bit weird in ownership, but that's all right. I'd just like to thank her for the help..
Waiting
Akira raised his hand to his mouth to wipe away a trace of blood. He had bruises up and down his arms, some bleeding, and all a nasty blue-black colour.
"Why weren't you home earlier!" the man roared, his voice thick and loud. Akira could smell the pungent stink of alcohol in the air, and tried to ignore it.
"I'm sorry. I stayed in a bit later to talk with a teacher about a report..."
"...And I had to mow the lawn! YOUR job! You 'falsa stochach!' You lazy boy!!!" the man grabbed Akira's arm, dirty, unclipped fingernails digging into Akira's arm, drawing blood, and leaving harsh red marks.
Akira opened his fist, and for a moment, a small burning flame flickered there, before he closed his hand, smothering the fire.
~I could stop this with one burst of flame. But then everyone would know...~
"Dad, I'm sorry. Don't you think you should go sleep and..."
The nails dug in deeper. "Don't you boss me around boy." The voice was slurred with drink.
Akira muffled a cry of pain and mentally shouted the first name that came into his head, the person he always thought of, the one he wished he could turn to when things went wrong.
~TAMIKO!!!!!~
+++
Tamiko's head snapped up from the Biology textbook she was reading. ~That sounded like...Akira! Akira, can you hear me?~ There was no reply. The voice was so sudden, so harsh...maybe it had just been a memory. Akira hadn't contacted her in three years, and he lived in Ireland, whereas she lived in Japan.
Her glance wandered from her work to the English-Irish dictionary sitting on her desk. She pulled it over, opened it to its well-worn pages and began to read. "Mo stor. My treasure." She flipped a few pages slowly; feeling as though the deep emotional wound of leaving Akira was fresh again. Not that it had ever really healed. "Mo croi-my heart. Mo bheith..." Tears began to well up in Tamiko's eyes. ~My...love... Akira, where are you now? Why didn't you tell me that you...how you...until it was too late?~ She bent over the book, shoulders shaking with silent sobs and tears splashing on the open pages.
~This isn't doing me any good. I have to go find him!~
She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair, and pulled out her large watertight book bag, into which she shoved: twenty-dollar bills, a change of clothes and the Biology book (she was planning on studying it over the summer break, before she went to grade 12). With tender care, she carefully lifted the dictionary that Akira had given her and put it in the bag as well. She then closed the flap, making sure it was sealed.
She left her small apartment, locking the door on the way out, and strode down the halls towards the elevator. Pressing the button, she remembered when she and Akira had been doing a similar thing while trying to rescue her mother. Tamiko gently brushed her hand down her cold metal elevator door. The doors slid open, seemingly to her touch. She walked in, and did not notice the time that was spent going down to the first floor from the third. As soon as the elevator doors shot open Tamiko exited and left through the front hallway.
She blinked at the bright summer sun. She was wearing a deep red sleeveless, and her hair was bound in a tight raven-black braid down her back. She was wearing jean shorts, and stylish sneakers with ankle socks. She wiped her forehead with her arm. ~Oh my gosh. It's so warm out!~
She made her way to the pond, a place near her apartment which was clean, and also a place where she loved to sit and think.
She knelt by the edge of the pond and splashed her face with cool water. ~What should I do? I don't even know Akira's last name! I'll never find him!~ she looked sadly at her reflection, floating on the top of the deep water. Leaning over, she brushed her hand through her mirrored self, dissipating the image, sending it rippling away. A fish suddenly jumped out of the water, startling her. It did nothing much, except to cause Tamiko to momentarily lose her balance...
...and topple headfirst into the deep waters of the pond. Tamiko opened her mouth to scream, but water rushed through her mouth. ~AKIRA!!!!!~
+++
Akira left his house as soon as possible. He wore a sweater against the summer sun, covering the deep bleeding wounds that marred his arms. He didn't know where he was going. He just needed a break. From everything.
~AKIRA!!~
His name echoed through his mind, screamed by a familiar voice ~Tamiko?!?!?!~ he called back. There was no reply. ~I'm probably just imagining it. By now, Tamiko's probably moved on with her life, found someone else...~ He closed his mind against that thought, and then let it leak through. ~I've got to face reality.~ he realized sadly.
Sirens echoing through the street interrupted his thoughts, along with the smell of smoke. "FIRE!!!" Akira shouted. He began to run towards the smoke rising in a nearby forest. Once he arrived, he realized it was a large forest fire, most likely caused by a cigarette. But it was almost as if the fire was echoing suffering...HIS suffering.
He began to stride towards the flames, feeling the fire rekindled in him once again.
"Wait, stop! You're not allowed past here!" A man dressed in the large, bulky fireproof suits held out an arm. "Not until our crew have put out the fire."
Akira pushed past him, barely even realizing that he was being stopped. For the first time in almost two years, he felt like he HAD to do something.. He was compelled to. He came to the heart of the fire without being burnt in the slightest. ~Oh yes, you know who I am.~
And then all went up in a burst of fire.
Two minutes later, the fire suddenly flickered out, as if it had never been. There was no sign of the strange boy who had walked into the heart of the flames.
+++
Tamiko burst out of the lake, and crawled to shore. She flopped down on the grass, coughing and choking in an attempt to empty her lungs of water.
Standing up rather shakily, Tamiko looked around her. Trees. OLD trees, towering above her. She walked up to one and slowly brushed her hand along the bark. Her fingers touched a scorched mark, and a memory flowed back to her, crystal clear in every detail.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Taiko!" Akira said frustrated. "Didn't I tell you to take it EASY!" He threw open his arms in an exaggerated gesture, and was completely surprised by the result. Pale flames flickered just above his palms. "Oh sidhe! What the...!" His eyes widened. He was scared. He flicked his hands, to no avail. He rubbed them, panicking as this made the fire larger. He blew on them, and seeing this blow into massive flames, ran around trying to find a cure. He was trembling, scared near to death. Finally, finding none, he turned to Kyu. "Help me!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tamiko snatched her hand away and the echoes of the past slowly faded. "I'm...in the spirit world..." she closed her eyes, feeling her eyes stinging. "...alone."
"SEN! I WANT SEN!!!!!"
Tamiko whirled around, letting out a scream. Above her, a huge blob of a shadowy substance flowed, towering above the trees. A white dot was just visible from where Tamiko was standing. ~No...No-face?!?!~
It bent in half to bring it's masked face to Tamiko's own. "I want Sen..." it whispered dangerously.
Tamiko glared at it, feeling sweat bead on her forehead. "Leave me alone." she retorted, trying to keep her voice steady, but failing. It was hard enough just trying to remain standing, what with her knees failing on her.
She closed her eyes, trying to summon the power she knew she carried within her, but it just wouldn't come. She felt empty, deserted, and completely mortal.
She would have sworn, if she could make a noise past the hard lump in her throat.
No-face drew his head back and opened his mouth, licking his lips. Shooting his head forward, he opened his mouth wider so he would be able to swallow the girl whole.
Tamiko winced, closing her eyes, and let out one last scream...
...the next thing she knew there was a blast of heat hitting her face. ~What...?~
Her knees finally gave way, and she fell to the ground with a soft thump. She tried to open her eyes, but they stung with smoke, and she had to shut them against the pain.
"Are you all right, miss?" a voice called from somewhere. Tamiko opened her mouth to speak, but choked on ash and fell into a coughing fit.
"As for you..." the voice growled angrily, obviously talking to the No-face. "Apparently you need to learn a lesson!"
There was a sound like the crack a bonfire makes when it goes up in a flurry of sparks, and a cry of pain. As if this was a signal, furious noises of fighting came, and continued, a fierce battle unseen by Tamiko unfolding.
Tamiko cursed her momentary blindness, and wiped at her eyes, clearing them of smoke and ash. Her eyes cracked open just in time to see No-face hit its opponent off his their feet with tremendous force, sending them crashing into the ground ten feet away.
Propping herself on a tree, Tamiko shakily stood up. No–face was towering over the fallen figure, mouth opening.
"STOP!!!" she screamed. "Don't hurt them!!!" No-face turned away from the person, towards her.
Tamiko smiled grimly as she felt the beginnings of a strange flame burning within her. Spreading her hands wide, she welcomed the surge of power.
Her hair, freeing itself from its braid, whipped around her face. Nails elongated into claws, and a pattern of silvery-white scales seemed to ripple across her skin for a moment.
"Don't. You. Dare." She growled clearly. No-face scrutinized her for a moment, and whispered: "Chihiro...I want..." before he once again opened his mouth and dived for her.
Tamiko threw herself to the side, just missing No-face's attack. From the ground, she thrust up her hand in its face. "Water!" she cried.
A powerful torrent rose from the lake, a cyclone of whiling water. Suddenly, it oriented itself on No-face, and with one quick motion from Tamiko, blasted it with the heavy force water has.
Dripping wet, No-face took a step back, turned, and left, whispering: "Sen's...daughter..."
Tamiko walked over to the fallen man. "Are you all right?" she questioned him, looking him over for wounds.
"I'm fine, are you? I gave the flames rather a lot. Sorry. Maith mo. Forgive me."
Recognizing the sound of the Irish, Tamiko's head shot up, and she stared at the man's face. It suddenly all came together. The flames, how this mortal man managed to get into the spirit world...
"...Akira?" she whispered, unbelievingly. After all this time, what it possible that...
The man blinked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. It was his turn to look her over. The hair, suddenly so familiar, the stubborn features, the eyes, brown with gold flecks...
"Tam...Tamiko?" he replied softly. "Is it really you?"
Without warning, Tamiko flung her arms around her old friend, sending him back into the tree with an 'Oomph' of surprise. "Akira! We hadn't seen each other for ages, so I thought...that maybe..." she drifted off. Akira wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. "...that I'd never see you again." He finished for her, his voice hoarse.
Tamiko drew back from him and Akira noted the tears streaking down her face. "It was a promise, remember?"
"I still can't believe it though..." Akira drifted off. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up. Tamiko caught his expression. "Akira...are you all right?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I guess..." he said, tugging his sweater sleeves farther over the cuts and bruises unconsciously.
Tamiko gazed around her. "It's...almost like a dream..." she muttered, echoing Akira's own thoughts.
"Well," Akira stood. "Let's make the most of the dream while we can."
Tamiko nodded, and stood as well. After she had gone and got her bag (which had miraculously escaped without harm to it or the things inside) the pair began to walk, heading for the bathhouse.
After a few minutes of silence, Tamiko ventured to ask a question. "So, how are...things?" Akira grinned. "Fine. How is your...place." He frowned, bewildered.
Tamiko burst out laughing. "You realize how pathetic we sound, right?" Akira chuckled.
"So," he asked her, a teasing sparkle in his eye. "Who have you lost your temper with lately?"
"Oh get lost!" she replied, surprised by the sudden comment. She raised her hand to pretend to smack his arm, and was shocked when Akira winced momentarily, cringing at her upraised hand. "Akira...something's wrong. Tell me." She demanded, letting her hand drop. She wouldn't admit it, but she was worried for him.
"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry ab-"
Tamiko interrupted him. "You screamed my name, a while ago. I've heard it before, but I thought it was my imagination. Something was wrong all those times, something was happening."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Tamiko, it must've been your eccentric imagination." Akira finally said, lightly.
"My..." she growled, and then stopped. "I promised I wouldn't lose my temper with you all the time. Remember? Only sometimes, when you really bugged me."
"Yeah, why did you do that anyway?" he questioned her.
Tamiko flushed a light pink. "I was tired of you teasing me and..."
Akira frowned. "Tell the truth, Tamiko." His eyes scanned her face for any trace of a lie.
Tamiko turned an interesting shade of red. "You...you didn't deserve the way I was acting to you, so I promised to try and keep my temper with you. I felt horrible for the way I was treating you and I knew I should stop it but it seemed like I couldn't because every time I did then you just did something to make me more mad and I would lose it again and then Taneesh said how you were only teasing and how you were really nice..." she drifted off, realizing she was babbling.
Akira looked down at her, shocked and surprised. ~To think I never knew that...~ Tamiko raised his eyes to meet his and said defensively "What?"
Akira grinned. "Personally, I thought you had a bet with Nile or Taneesh. Good thing it wasn't, because you would be 'briste'!"
Tamiko frowned, pursing her lips, and then the word came to her. "Um...BROKE!!!...hey! That's not very nice!"
Akira gaped at her. "But...that's...how did you...?"
Tamiko rummaged around in her bag, pulled out the hard cover dictionary, and waved it in front of Akira. A slow smile spread across his face. "I had forgotten about that."
"You had...forgotten?" Tamiko's voice was soft. ~Maybe...maybe he forgot about me too.~
"Well, not really forgotten. It's just with the No-face and everything else that's been going on lately..."
"Oh." She said coldly. "I see." She quickened her pace, so she was a bit ahead of Akira.
The Irish boy was staring at the back of her head. ~What did I say? Why is she mad at me...?~ "Tamiko...?"
~...after all, it has been three years.~ she thought sadly. Something struck her out of her sorrow. She sniffed the air, and turned to face Akira. "Do you smell that?" she said, frowning at the scent.
He blinked as if she was crazy. "I...don't smell anything." He replied. She stared at him. "Do you have a cold or something? It's so obvious...come on!" She snatched his hand and began to run, dragging a bewildered Akira after her. Up the stone stairway the pair ran, and took the main path through the deserted, unlit stalls. ~That's weird. The sun's already set! Where is everyone?!? And what's that smell?~
The reply came out of nowhere, and pushed its way past Tamiko's lips. "Fear." She whispered. Akira looked down at her. "Tamiko. What is it?" The girl turned to him her eyes gazing vaguely into his own, but she seemed...changed. There was a force there that wasn't before. "Something's...wrong." She suddenly began to run towards the bathhouse, fearing what she might see. She was gasping for breath, dashing across the bridge with Akira behind her. Her instincts were arisen, and she felt an animal protectiveness. She was panicked, her hair wild in the wind, sweat beading on her forehead. She had a cramp in her side, and a massive headache, but she still continued
Akira swore under his breath. He finally too, could sense something in the air. Tamiko, ahead of him, sped up, her long legs covering the distance far faster then she would have been able to normally. As she came over the final hill before the bath house, she stopped short, quivering and shaking. At last her knees gave way and she collapsed with a soft 'thump' on the grass.
Akira quickened his pace to catch up with her, worried by her actions. The month and a half he had been with her before, he had never seen her submit herself to such weak actions. She had always been headstrong...
The nineteen-year-old Irish boy came beside the fallen figure of Tamiko, and stared in horror at the still scene before him, illuminated by the full moon. He realized now why Tamiko had been so shocked. Horror, fear and sadness swept over him, all at once. He slowly slid down, his knees buckling, until he was kneeling beside a sobbing Tamiko.
"No..."
+++
Weee! Now if THAT isn't a cliffhanger I don't know what is!
Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I'll try to make up for it in the next one. The hardest chapter of any story is the beginning, for me.
Anyway, the great secret of the Irish names is revealed! YAY! Part two has so many cool plot twists, and just a really cool plot in general. I've got it all planned out, and it is so neat!
Thank you sooo much for continuing to read my work.
Josie (Everyone can call me that. Frankly, I find Jo-chan-ANIME a tad stiff and formal.)
Part #2
Chapter 12
Hi everyone! By the way, if you were curious about the old Irish, I'm revealing what they mean in this chapter.
I have been getting really nice, sweet and kind reviews, and I want to thank everyone. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT...well, as of now I own quite a lot of the characters in Recalling the Spirit, BUT I DON'T OWN MIYAZAKI'S NOR DO I OWN HIS SPIRIT WORLD BATHHOUSE...thingy...
Suggestion of the Chapter: I suggest you watch Millennium Actress, an anime by Satoshi Kon.
PART #2 IS GOING TO BE SOOOO COOL!!!!!!!! NEAR THE END THERE IS GOING TO BE THIS HUGE BATTLE!!!!!
I'm sorry about the super-long update. I had eight pages typed and then Riding Girl gave me some suggestions that I really liked, so I changed the story chapter. I altered her ideas a lot, so they are a bit weird in ownership, but that's all right. I'd just like to thank her for the help..
Waiting
Akira raised his hand to his mouth to wipe away a trace of blood. He had bruises up and down his arms, some bleeding, and all a nasty blue-black colour.
"Why weren't you home earlier!" the man roared, his voice thick and loud. Akira could smell the pungent stink of alcohol in the air, and tried to ignore it.
"I'm sorry. I stayed in a bit later to talk with a teacher about a report..."
"...And I had to mow the lawn! YOUR job! You 'falsa stochach!' You lazy boy!!!" the man grabbed Akira's arm, dirty, unclipped fingernails digging into Akira's arm, drawing blood, and leaving harsh red marks.
Akira opened his fist, and for a moment, a small burning flame flickered there, before he closed his hand, smothering the fire.
~I could stop this with one burst of flame. But then everyone would know...~
"Dad, I'm sorry. Don't you think you should go sleep and..."
The nails dug in deeper. "Don't you boss me around boy." The voice was slurred with drink.
Akira muffled a cry of pain and mentally shouted the first name that came into his head, the person he always thought of, the one he wished he could turn to when things went wrong.
~TAMIKO!!!!!~
+++
Tamiko's head snapped up from the Biology textbook she was reading. ~That sounded like...Akira! Akira, can you hear me?~ There was no reply. The voice was so sudden, so harsh...maybe it had just been a memory. Akira hadn't contacted her in three years, and he lived in Ireland, whereas she lived in Japan.
Her glance wandered from her work to the English-Irish dictionary sitting on her desk. She pulled it over, opened it to its well-worn pages and began to read. "Mo stor. My treasure." She flipped a few pages slowly; feeling as though the deep emotional wound of leaving Akira was fresh again. Not that it had ever really healed. "Mo croi-my heart. Mo bheith..." Tears began to well up in Tamiko's eyes. ~My...love... Akira, where are you now? Why didn't you tell me that you...how you...until it was too late?~ She bent over the book, shoulders shaking with silent sobs and tears splashing on the open pages.
~This isn't doing me any good. I have to go find him!~
She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair, and pulled out her large watertight book bag, into which she shoved: twenty-dollar bills, a change of clothes and the Biology book (she was planning on studying it over the summer break, before she went to grade 12). With tender care, she carefully lifted the dictionary that Akira had given her and put it in the bag as well. She then closed the flap, making sure it was sealed.
She left her small apartment, locking the door on the way out, and strode down the halls towards the elevator. Pressing the button, she remembered when she and Akira had been doing a similar thing while trying to rescue her mother. Tamiko gently brushed her hand down her cold metal elevator door. The doors slid open, seemingly to her touch. She walked in, and did not notice the time that was spent going down to the first floor from the third. As soon as the elevator doors shot open Tamiko exited and left through the front hallway.
She blinked at the bright summer sun. She was wearing a deep red sleeveless, and her hair was bound in a tight raven-black braid down her back. She was wearing jean shorts, and stylish sneakers with ankle socks. She wiped her forehead with her arm. ~Oh my gosh. It's so warm out!~
She made her way to the pond, a place near her apartment which was clean, and also a place where she loved to sit and think.
She knelt by the edge of the pond and splashed her face with cool water. ~What should I do? I don't even know Akira's last name! I'll never find him!~ she looked sadly at her reflection, floating on the top of the deep water. Leaning over, she brushed her hand through her mirrored self, dissipating the image, sending it rippling away. A fish suddenly jumped out of the water, startling her. It did nothing much, except to cause Tamiko to momentarily lose her balance...
...and topple headfirst into the deep waters of the pond. Tamiko opened her mouth to scream, but water rushed through her mouth. ~AKIRA!!!!!~
+++
Akira left his house as soon as possible. He wore a sweater against the summer sun, covering the deep bleeding wounds that marred his arms. He didn't know where he was going. He just needed a break. From everything.
~AKIRA!!~
His name echoed through his mind, screamed by a familiar voice ~Tamiko?!?!?!~ he called back. There was no reply. ~I'm probably just imagining it. By now, Tamiko's probably moved on with her life, found someone else...~ He closed his mind against that thought, and then let it leak through. ~I've got to face reality.~ he realized sadly.
Sirens echoing through the street interrupted his thoughts, along with the smell of smoke. "FIRE!!!" Akira shouted. He began to run towards the smoke rising in a nearby forest. Once he arrived, he realized it was a large forest fire, most likely caused by a cigarette. But it was almost as if the fire was echoing suffering...HIS suffering.
He began to stride towards the flames, feeling the fire rekindled in him once again.
"Wait, stop! You're not allowed past here!" A man dressed in the large, bulky fireproof suits held out an arm. "Not until our crew have put out the fire."
Akira pushed past him, barely even realizing that he was being stopped. For the first time in almost two years, he felt like he HAD to do something.. He was compelled to. He came to the heart of the fire without being burnt in the slightest. ~Oh yes, you know who I am.~
And then all went up in a burst of fire.
Two minutes later, the fire suddenly flickered out, as if it had never been. There was no sign of the strange boy who had walked into the heart of the flames.
+++
Tamiko burst out of the lake, and crawled to shore. She flopped down on the grass, coughing and choking in an attempt to empty her lungs of water.
Standing up rather shakily, Tamiko looked around her. Trees. OLD trees, towering above her. She walked up to one and slowly brushed her hand along the bark. Her fingers touched a scorched mark, and a memory flowed back to her, crystal clear in every detail.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Taiko!" Akira said frustrated. "Didn't I tell you to take it EASY!" He threw open his arms in an exaggerated gesture, and was completely surprised by the result. Pale flames flickered just above his palms. "Oh sidhe! What the...!" His eyes widened. He was scared. He flicked his hands, to no avail. He rubbed them, panicking as this made the fire larger. He blew on them, and seeing this blow into massive flames, ran around trying to find a cure. He was trembling, scared near to death. Finally, finding none, he turned to Kyu. "Help me!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tamiko snatched her hand away and the echoes of the past slowly faded. "I'm...in the spirit world..." she closed her eyes, feeling her eyes stinging. "...alone."
"SEN! I WANT SEN!!!!!"
Tamiko whirled around, letting out a scream. Above her, a huge blob of a shadowy substance flowed, towering above the trees. A white dot was just visible from where Tamiko was standing. ~No...No-face?!?!~
It bent in half to bring it's masked face to Tamiko's own. "I want Sen..." it whispered dangerously.
Tamiko glared at it, feeling sweat bead on her forehead. "Leave me alone." she retorted, trying to keep her voice steady, but failing. It was hard enough just trying to remain standing, what with her knees failing on her.
She closed her eyes, trying to summon the power she knew she carried within her, but it just wouldn't come. She felt empty, deserted, and completely mortal.
She would have sworn, if she could make a noise past the hard lump in her throat.
No-face drew his head back and opened his mouth, licking his lips. Shooting his head forward, he opened his mouth wider so he would be able to swallow the girl whole.
Tamiko winced, closing her eyes, and let out one last scream...
...the next thing she knew there was a blast of heat hitting her face. ~What...?~
Her knees finally gave way, and she fell to the ground with a soft thump. She tried to open her eyes, but they stung with smoke, and she had to shut them against the pain.
"Are you all right, miss?" a voice called from somewhere. Tamiko opened her mouth to speak, but choked on ash and fell into a coughing fit.
"As for you..." the voice growled angrily, obviously talking to the No-face. "Apparently you need to learn a lesson!"
There was a sound like the crack a bonfire makes when it goes up in a flurry of sparks, and a cry of pain. As if this was a signal, furious noises of fighting came, and continued, a fierce battle unseen by Tamiko unfolding.
Tamiko cursed her momentary blindness, and wiped at her eyes, clearing them of smoke and ash. Her eyes cracked open just in time to see No-face hit its opponent off his their feet with tremendous force, sending them crashing into the ground ten feet away.
Propping herself on a tree, Tamiko shakily stood up. No–face was towering over the fallen figure, mouth opening.
"STOP!!!" she screamed. "Don't hurt them!!!" No-face turned away from the person, towards her.
Tamiko smiled grimly as she felt the beginnings of a strange flame burning within her. Spreading her hands wide, she welcomed the surge of power.
Her hair, freeing itself from its braid, whipped around her face. Nails elongated into claws, and a pattern of silvery-white scales seemed to ripple across her skin for a moment.
"Don't. You. Dare." She growled clearly. No-face scrutinized her for a moment, and whispered: "Chihiro...I want..." before he once again opened his mouth and dived for her.
Tamiko threw herself to the side, just missing No-face's attack. From the ground, she thrust up her hand in its face. "Water!" she cried.
A powerful torrent rose from the lake, a cyclone of whiling water. Suddenly, it oriented itself on No-face, and with one quick motion from Tamiko, blasted it with the heavy force water has.
Dripping wet, No-face took a step back, turned, and left, whispering: "Sen's...daughter..."
Tamiko walked over to the fallen man. "Are you all right?" she questioned him, looking him over for wounds.
"I'm fine, are you? I gave the flames rather a lot. Sorry. Maith mo. Forgive me."
Recognizing the sound of the Irish, Tamiko's head shot up, and she stared at the man's face. It suddenly all came together. The flames, how this mortal man managed to get into the spirit world...
"...Akira?" she whispered, unbelievingly. After all this time, what it possible that...
The man blinked, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. It was his turn to look her over. The hair, suddenly so familiar, the stubborn features, the eyes, brown with gold flecks...
"Tam...Tamiko?" he replied softly. "Is it really you?"
Without warning, Tamiko flung her arms around her old friend, sending him back into the tree with an 'Oomph' of surprise. "Akira! We hadn't seen each other for ages, so I thought...that maybe..." she drifted off. Akira wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. "...that I'd never see you again." He finished for her, his voice hoarse.
Tamiko drew back from him and Akira noted the tears streaking down her face. "It was a promise, remember?"
"I still can't believe it though..." Akira drifted off. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up. Tamiko caught his expression. "Akira...are you all right?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I guess..." he said, tugging his sweater sleeves farther over the cuts and bruises unconsciously.
Tamiko gazed around her. "It's...almost like a dream..." she muttered, echoing Akira's own thoughts.
"Well," Akira stood. "Let's make the most of the dream while we can."
Tamiko nodded, and stood as well. After she had gone and got her bag (which had miraculously escaped without harm to it or the things inside) the pair began to walk, heading for the bathhouse.
After a few minutes of silence, Tamiko ventured to ask a question. "So, how are...things?" Akira grinned. "Fine. How is your...place." He frowned, bewildered.
Tamiko burst out laughing. "You realize how pathetic we sound, right?" Akira chuckled.
"So," he asked her, a teasing sparkle in his eye. "Who have you lost your temper with lately?"
"Oh get lost!" she replied, surprised by the sudden comment. She raised her hand to pretend to smack his arm, and was shocked when Akira winced momentarily, cringing at her upraised hand. "Akira...something's wrong. Tell me." She demanded, letting her hand drop. She wouldn't admit it, but she was worried for him.
"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry ab-"
Tamiko interrupted him. "You screamed my name, a while ago. I've heard it before, but I thought it was my imagination. Something was wrong all those times, something was happening."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Tamiko, it must've been your eccentric imagination." Akira finally said, lightly.
"My..." she growled, and then stopped. "I promised I wouldn't lose my temper with you all the time. Remember? Only sometimes, when you really bugged me."
"Yeah, why did you do that anyway?" he questioned her.
Tamiko flushed a light pink. "I was tired of you teasing me and..."
Akira frowned. "Tell the truth, Tamiko." His eyes scanned her face for any trace of a lie.
Tamiko turned an interesting shade of red. "You...you didn't deserve the way I was acting to you, so I promised to try and keep my temper with you. I felt horrible for the way I was treating you and I knew I should stop it but it seemed like I couldn't because every time I did then you just did something to make me more mad and I would lose it again and then Taneesh said how you were only teasing and how you were really nice..." she drifted off, realizing she was babbling.
Akira looked down at her, shocked and surprised. ~To think I never knew that...~ Tamiko raised his eyes to meet his and said defensively "What?"
Akira grinned. "Personally, I thought you had a bet with Nile or Taneesh. Good thing it wasn't, because you would be 'briste'!"
Tamiko frowned, pursing her lips, and then the word came to her. "Um...BROKE!!!...hey! That's not very nice!"
Akira gaped at her. "But...that's...how did you...?"
Tamiko rummaged around in her bag, pulled out the hard cover dictionary, and waved it in front of Akira. A slow smile spread across his face. "I had forgotten about that."
"You had...forgotten?" Tamiko's voice was soft. ~Maybe...maybe he forgot about me too.~
"Well, not really forgotten. It's just with the No-face and everything else that's been going on lately..."
"Oh." She said coldly. "I see." She quickened her pace, so she was a bit ahead of Akira.
The Irish boy was staring at the back of her head. ~What did I say? Why is she mad at me...?~ "Tamiko...?"
~...after all, it has been three years.~ she thought sadly. Something struck her out of her sorrow. She sniffed the air, and turned to face Akira. "Do you smell that?" she said, frowning at the scent.
He blinked as if she was crazy. "I...don't smell anything." He replied. She stared at him. "Do you have a cold or something? It's so obvious...come on!" She snatched his hand and began to run, dragging a bewildered Akira after her. Up the stone stairway the pair ran, and took the main path through the deserted, unlit stalls. ~That's weird. The sun's already set! Where is everyone?!? And what's that smell?~
The reply came out of nowhere, and pushed its way past Tamiko's lips. "Fear." She whispered. Akira looked down at her. "Tamiko. What is it?" The girl turned to him her eyes gazing vaguely into his own, but she seemed...changed. There was a force there that wasn't before. "Something's...wrong." She suddenly began to run towards the bathhouse, fearing what she might see. She was gasping for breath, dashing across the bridge with Akira behind her. Her instincts were arisen, and she felt an animal protectiveness. She was panicked, her hair wild in the wind, sweat beading on her forehead. She had a cramp in her side, and a massive headache, but she still continued
Akira swore under his breath. He finally too, could sense something in the air. Tamiko, ahead of him, sped up, her long legs covering the distance far faster then she would have been able to normally. As she came over the final hill before the bath house, she stopped short, quivering and shaking. At last her knees gave way and she collapsed with a soft 'thump' on the grass.
Akira quickened his pace to catch up with her, worried by her actions. The month and a half he had been with her before, he had never seen her submit herself to such weak actions. She had always been headstrong...
The nineteen-year-old Irish boy came beside the fallen figure of Tamiko, and stared in horror at the still scene before him, illuminated by the full moon. He realized now why Tamiko had been so shocked. Horror, fear and sadness swept over him, all at once. He slowly slid down, his knees buckling, until he was kneeling beside a sobbing Tamiko.
"No..."
+++
Weee! Now if THAT isn't a cliffhanger I don't know what is!
Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I'll try to make up for it in the next one. The hardest chapter of any story is the beginning, for me.
Anyway, the great secret of the Irish names is revealed! YAY! Part two has so many cool plot twists, and just a really cool plot in general. I've got it all planned out, and it is so neat!
Thank you sooo much for continuing to read my work.
Josie (Everyone can call me that. Frankly, I find Jo-chan-ANIME a tad stiff and formal.)
