Flights Of Fancy
Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.
Chapter Twenty Two: Soul Takers
Traba seeing the number of hideous, shadowy Black Bucks added an extra call to his howl, but he hardly had a chance to finish the call before the Black Bucks leapt for the two turtles and the toshe as a single unit. Mike kept one nunchuk spinning in a continuous motion pushing back any of the beast who got too, close in the front or on one side, the other nunchuk he was swinging to bash in the heads or sides of the Black Bucks.
Don jabbed his staff end into a leaping Black Buck and bent a bit as he sent the beast flying and crashing into a tree, he then had to stand upright quickly and use his staff to push back or strike at the demons who had taken advantage by closing in around him.
Traba jumped onto a Black Buck's back biting at the demon's neck, but he quickly released the creature, while hacking and pistoning his tongue in and out of his mouth in utter disgust "They don't taste very good." he complained as he scrunched his face up.
"Yeah but I bet you anything they figure we'll taste just fine thank you"Mike retorted as he bashed his nunchuk down on the snout of a Black Buck there was a strange squishing noise, and Mike grimaced at the sound, as his other chuk swooped down to connect with another demon who was leaping at him
"Don't you toshe have venom?" Don asked hopefully, as a Black Buck chomped down hard on one end of the staff, he tried to wrench the weapon out of the Black Buck's mouth, only for a second beast to chomp on the other end of his bo suddenly the bo staff caught on fire at both ends, the flame traveled quickly towards the middle and Don dropped his staff, watching in horror as his weapon was reduced to a pile of ash and cinders. "Great! Now I really wish I brought a sword with me." an unamused Don grumbled.
Trina and the rest of the toshe pack came running from around the surrounding trees, the lithe shapes seemed almost a blur of colour of varying shades of white and grey as they sweeped past heading for the Black Bucks, "They are immune to toshe venom, some call us devil dogs but we are not of the netherworld, or the heavenly one, and so our poison can not harm them." Trina answered, or more likely she was advising her pups not to rely on that aspect in this particular battle.
The Black Bucks whirled to face the newcomers and for a moment the white and grey forms suddenly clashed with the black shadow shapes. Five of the Black Bucks leapt towards Don intent on bringing him down now that he had no weapon to hold them off with. Mike not caring for how close the Black Bucks were getting to Don urged his brother to take one of his nunchuks, "One weapon is better then none with these things. Besides I don't think these creatures are going wait while we throw bombs or other throwing weapons their way."
Don gratefully accepted the nunchuk and swung the weapon quickly left to right striking many of the demons back, the Black Bucks cried out in pain and anger at suddenly being deprived of their prey. "Thanks Mike I owe you."
"Thank me later, like when and if we get out of this" Mike retorted.
The Black Buck that looked very snake like was trying to throw it's coils around Dawny, the toshe pup nimbly leapt out of the way, jumping up and over coils when and where necessary, while doing his best to dart in and bite, but the Black Buck avoided the strikes from the toshe with ease.
"These things don't seem to be dying if anything they are growing stronger" Don observed, as he made a mental tally of about thirty of the demons.
Shea cocked his head "You can't kill demons, we can banish them to the netherworld for a time but that is the best you can hope for" he informed them quickly, the Black buck he'd been tangling with moved in to strike but the toshe was too smart to be caught off guard and he leapt a few feet back to avoid the blow.
"Great any idea or suggestions in how we can banish them then? I'm having trouble keeping these monsters back" Mike complained his one nunchuk was a constant blur of motion and yet the Black Bucks kept coming on, ignoring the blows that Mike gave them. Mike was starting to feel the ever so subtle urge to be afraid, to panic. He took a couple of deep breaths holding his ground knowing that if he left Don's back then he'd be opening himself and Don to serious injury.
"You're having trouble?" Don echoed as if in disbelief, "At least you are more familiar with the nunchuk as a weapon then I am" Don could use the nunchuku, he had been trained in it, but being as it wasn't his preferred weapon, his moves were not quite as fast or efficient as what Mike was capable of doing.
Shea yelped and dived rolling to one side as another Black Buck, that looked like a large bird swooped from the sky moments after the strike of the bat like Black Buck had failed, the toshe laid back his ears and snarled.
"Where's Raph?" Mike wondered, looking around as if in hopes of seeing the arrival of the Calvary, or better yet Raph.
Noharn leapt onto the back of a Black Buck "He ought to be along soon. He couldn't keep up with us."
Nomac, Noharn's twin, leaped for the Black Buck's belly as it struggled to get his brother off " We couldn't exactly plod along at his pace" Nomac snickered.
Don swung the single nunchuk in a figure eight pattern moving the weapon to front and side as needed bashing the demons down and back with that effortless move "I think I hear him coming now."
Sure enough over the frantic barks, growls, snarls and other noises of battle was the sound of cussing that was becoming increasingly louder by the second.
"Hurry up Raph you're missing the fight" Mike goaded his brother.
"I never miss a fight" Raph corrected he scowled at the toshe "Ya coulda waited you know" he accused, paying little attention to the shadowy forms of the Black Bucks, Traba was almost ready to bark a warning at the red masked turtle, as he saw a Black Buck set to pounce but before he could do so the black toshe was distracted by his own opponent, so Traba didn't see the Black Buck leap for Raph, nor did he see the flash of metal as Raph's sai caught the demon in the chest.
"What?" Trina was so startled by Raph's words she paused in battle letting herself become distracted "And let your pack lose their souls to become one of the soulless ones? Do you care so little for your pack?" She barked in sheer astonishment, the snake Black Buck swung a coil about her, hauling her back to the present, she ducked her head slashing the Black Buck with the small curved horn on her forehead. Something reached down from above grabbing hold of the Black Buck and lifting it with ease off the female toshe, before flinging the demon hard into a tree trunk.
Leo leaped down, landing crouched with his swords unsheathed and ready, his eyes narrowed. Marina flapped down to land on Don's shoulder yowling her complaints in a very vocal way that caused Don to give her a withering stare. The catafly smirked and tickled Don's cheek with her tail tip and wings.
Gimod landed down by his friends catching several Black Bucks in his hands, the dragon squeezed watching the demons writhe and howl complaints. 'These are my friends,' Gimod rumbled in a threatening way, 'You will leave them alone.'
The Black Bucks who were not caught in the vise grip of Gimod's grasp saw no need to obey the dragon's orders, if anything the demon creatures were all the more determined to hit into these strangers who had invaded their home and planned to steal their food. The Black Bucks dived, jumped, lunged and charged en mass at their quarry, while the toshe and the turtles did their best to put a dent into the Black Bucks one way or another.
Suddenly Leo managed a killing blow on one of the Black Bucks and the animal seemed to evaporate into a puff of oily black smoke, leaving behind an eerie drawn out wailing noise that pierced the ear drum. The toshe stopped ducking their heads under paws as if in hopes of protecting their ears from the brutal noise. Even Marina flattened her ears against her head and howled along with the Black Buck's tortured screams. Luckily for all those involved the noise also seemed to cause the Black Bucks themselves to pause for a moment or two. Perhaps being on the unlucky side, all the Black Bucks now eyed Leonardo with a great deal of suspicion.
While the battle paused and everyone took a deep breath, tension quickly mounted causing an almost electrical current into the air, and by the time the ringing in their ears had ended it was clear the Black bucks were now going to refocus their attention strictly upon Leo.
"This isn't good be ready to move when they do" Trina cautioned in a low whine.
Gimod snaked his head left and right, as he moved a little closer to Leo his nostrils flared and black smoke rose thickly from each one.
Leo gritted his teeth and rounded his shoulders a bit as he took a wider stance "You want me, then come and get me!" he challenged the demons.
Hardly were the words out of his mouth then the Black Bucks charged full strength running in hard and fast like a swirling wave of death and destruction. Leo swung the two swords managing to kill about eight of them with a blow from each sword. The sudden shrieking noise that resulted from that multiple death was ten thousand times worse then the screech of nails dragged along a black board. It was enough to put everyone on edge and made it almost impossible for anyone to move or think, or even think about moving for that matter.
The remaining Black bucks seemed quickest to recover as they swarmed around Leo pushing him away from Gimod and slowly dragging him down in the dark wave of their bodies. Raph snarled angrily as he saw Leo pulled under the mass of shadows and leapt after the demons managing to grab one in the crook of each arm and jamming a sai into them.
Don and Mike fell back on using poison tipped shuriken from their belts as they could throw further and hopefully take some of the demons down, or at the very least slow them down. The toshe separated into small groups leaping on and bodily tearing apart the shadow demons.
Gimod roared in fury, chowing down on any Black Buck he could grab hold of, though they weren't that eatable and they tended to leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Marina flew into a tree to supervise and, to see exactly what was going on, typical catafly she preferred to observe rather then participate in the melee from her vantage point she could easily see, a single Black Buck bend over Leo as the others helped pin him down, or kept the others at bay. Then the Black Buck, that was bending over Leo positioned it's mouth near Leo's, the demons eyes took on a different glow, a silvery orange and the beast inhaled long and sharp.
Leo's eyes bulged, his plastron heaved as if something was fighting and then Leo shuddered violently and his body suddenly went limp, the Black Buck growled as he whirled leaving the collapsed victim where he fell, the remaining demons then headed off into the woods.
"LEO!" Mike yelled frantically as he and his brothers made their way to where Leo's limp form was sprawled on the ground.
Traba whined his tail hung down tight between his legs "Its too late."
"You mean Leo is dead?" Raph snapped gripping his sai tightly, he gritted his teeth and grumbled something about going after the demons.
"No, but he might as well be," Lobo replied, "His soul has been stolen."
"Well how do we go about gettin' it back then?" Raph demanded to know, "Nobody steals from us, not unless they want to be ninja kicked into the next century and I plan on going after those ..." his voice trailed off into a long string of curses, which definitely don't bear repeating here.
' You do not understand my friend, no one can get a soul back from the soul takers. Not even Shanza could help him now.' Gimod replied morosely
"Yeah well, I've done a lot of things people said couldn't be done" Raph shot back undaunted, "Mike, Don ya wit me?"
"You bet" Don agreed without hesitation.
"For sure dude" Mike nodded firmly.
Marina flew down from her perch, "You will only end up having your souls taken" she informed them.
"He is our brother we aren't about to leave him to this sort of existence" Don declared emphatically as he gestured at Leo who was now in a sitting position propped against a tree, the turtle leader was staring vacantly into space not responding to anyone or anything around him.
Marina licked one paw, "Well if you feel that way I might be able to help." She allowed, "But it will cost you, cataflys don't do anything for free you know."
" You!" Raph gave a disparaging snort, "Don't make me laugh putty tat."
Marina flicked her tail as she fuzzed up a bit "Why not me?" she demanded.
"You don't even fight for one thing. For another you spend most your time sniffing drugs while we handle the fighting. You are a useless little hocked up hairball." Raph replied smugly.
Marina bristled her hair and her eyes narrowed she hissed loudly "You ingrate, you canine lover." She darted over and lashed out with a paw scratching Raph's head.
"You stupid cat. I'll drown you yet" Raph vowed as he swung his arm at the hovering catafly.
Marina avoided his strike and took off into the trees, feeling in a surly disagreeable mood the catafly took off further into the bushes, until she spotted the Black Bucks.
I'll show them. I will. I'll teach them I'm not useless, that I can do whatever I want, and do it better then they can. She told herself . She dived down and landed in the center of the Black Buck pack, she could feel the glowing eyes of the demons settle upon her but didn't so much as twitch a whisker or a hair for that matter. In stead she stood her ground and gave a low hiss.
The Black Bucks gave a strange noise, and Marina answered with a yowling sound, she fuzzed herself up as she moved in closer to the Black Bucks staring them firmly in the eye, until each one could not meet her gaze and looked down or away from her.
"So what is your plan Raph?" Mike asked, after Raph had calmed down from being scratched.
" Easy we go after them and beat those things until they decide to reverse whatever it is that they did to Leo" Raph stated. "Are you and the toshe with us Gimod?"
The dragon had been watching the place where he'd last seen the catafly ' Cataflys are so easily insulted, they are such sensitive creatures.' Gimod said aloud then noticed the others staring at him, he smiled a bit in dragonish embarrassment, though Gimod was aware there were few inhabitants of Necron who'd make fun of a dragon, ' I suppose we can try to help you, but remember Raphael we have our own mission to see through and it is worth more then your brother.'
"Who says?" Raph snarled.
'Our world, our lives are at stake. I'm sure Leonardo would agree that Shanza's mission ought to come first, but I am willing to give some of my time and services to you, just don't expect me to stay for long.' Gimod answered
Don bowed "Of course we understand Gimod and we thank you for what ever you can give us."
Marina landed on Leo's lap, "Sure be grateful to an overgrown worm but not to a catafly." She sneezed, "I'm baaaaaaacccccccck" she announced as she flicked her tail from side to side, she seemed to strut before them.
" No one caaaaaaaarrrrrrrrresssssss" Raph taunted, "You should have stayed away."
"Why? I can't make your life miserable then. Besides you better care because I can help Leo, but if you don't apologize to me I won't." Marina insisted.
"Yeah right like you know anything that can help Leo" Raph grunted as he crossed his arms over his plastron glaring at the tiny hairball known as Marina.
"I can" she assured him, "But if you don't believe me then maybe I'll leave you to run around like complete idiots. It would be amusing to watch" Marina stated, " I can always leave him like this, he makes a good scratch post this way" she purred,and arched her back with pleasure.
Don scowled, and cut off Raph just as his more aggressive brother was about to lunge upon Marina lashing her with his fists, " Hold it Raph. Marina you can face all those Black Bucks and help Leo too?" Don's tone though holding a hint of doubt also sounded slightly impressed and definately curious.
Marina nodded " Of course I can. Only a part demon or a full one can ever hope to face another demon and come away unharmed. They do say there is a bit of demon blood in us cataflys." She boasted.
"Big surprise there" Raph muttered.
"Not only that but it is said we cataflys can take souls too if we wish." She concluded ignoring Raph's snide remark.
" Like Hell!" Raph snapped.
'Both cats and cataflys have magical powers and abilities that are not fully understood by the other inhabitants of Necron. They are not the most common familiars for nothing you know.' Gimod allowed.
Don nodded " On Earth there is an old wife's tale concerning cats stealing away the souls of innocent babies for black magic purposes, that is why they say to never let a cat into a baby's crib. Only now that is known..." Don paused as he reflected, "Perhaps Marina can do as she says."
"Aw you can't believe that load of..." Raph began.
"Raph!" Mike interjected resting a hand on his brother's arm, "We have to try it could save us a lot of trouble" He hinted, " I mean what have we got to lose."
The red masked turtle shot a dark glare Mike's way, but Mike just gave one of his large charming smiles that he knew could undo any one. "Okay this is for Leo" Mike pointed out.
Raph looked over to where Leo was " I don't know I could get used to Leo like this." He decided, though he was sort of teasing.
"RAPH!" Don yelled.
"All right" He relented, "Maybe Marina can help but I'm not about to say I'm sorry."
Marina smirked, "Then I won't do anything." She said in a teasing fashion.
Gimod dropped a taloned hand onto Marina's back 'You have your pride, he has his' the dragon pointed out,' but another should not suffer for your stubbornness because of it.' The dragon growled to let it be known what he thought about the whole thing.
Marina winked " Of course, you didn't think I would do that to Leo know would you, why a Leo is a lion, which means he is like family." Marina stated acting as if she had never meant to do such a thing, " I'm so good I will show you what I can do!" She turned so her face was right in front of Leo's face then she breathed out very slowly, right into Leo's mouth. She seemed to do this for a long time.
A dim light slowly sparked in Leo's eyes and grew steadily stronger, until Leo began to move, he shook his head and raised a hand to rub his head, " Oooh, I feel... just..terrible" he groaned wearily.
Marina smirked and winked at the others "See Cataflys are better than dogs."
"Are you all right Leo?" Don asked as he hurried to Leo's side.
" I will be I guess, but I feel really woozy" Leo complained weakly.
"At least you are feeling Leo" Mike grinned.
Leo blinked a few times, "What's that supposed to mean?" He wondered.
"Uh nothing Leo" Don answered casually, "We'll tell you later" He smiled Marina's way, and she flaunted her tail, looking very satisfied indeed. Don felt for that, she had more then earned catnip for the rest of the journey.
TBC