There is nothing in the world of art like the songs mother used to sing.
-Billy Sunday
The gnarled bark looked black in the firelight. The lanterns were like strange fruits hanging from the twisted branches. They cast deep shadows into the boughs but lit the grass a harsh ethereal green.
Surrounding the trunk were five creatures—humans, once, Garry corrected. Unlike the creatures back in town, these ones were more animalistic looking. They still looked human at a glance, but their skin was stained a dirty rust colour and their skin was stretched too tightly over their bones. One caught Garry's attention for how it's legs were sharp, stubbed points unlike the others surrounding it. It laid prone and face-deep in tree roots, but Garry still shivered. 'It was once human,' he told himself, but it was hard to remember that.
Garry gripped his bandaged left arm. He could feel a dull ache, but the sutures were keeping the wound together for the moment. After taking a quiet breath, Garry looked back at Soaru and smiled.
"We can do this."
Ib and the others had. Garry had faith.
Soaru looked down into the grass and paused. He looked back up at the lantern-light just across a gap in the grass. He took a step closer and peered into the swale were there were piles of rocks. The dip was a dry river bed used for drainage. His mother had one in her garden that she used to redirect rain. But this bank was deeper and could probably fit most of Soaru's height. Soaru looked over the banks and spotted flat spots in the grass going to the right before disappearing into the river bed.
"These are from Amelia's shoes." Garry came over and saw the imprint of a familiar heel.
Soaru stood up. "They followed this dry riverbed to avoid the creatures."
Garry nodded. The bed of rock was deep enough that the lantern light couldn't reach it, but there were still spots where it reached the opposite side of the ridge. He and Soaru would be in danger in those areas, but it was do-able.
Garry and Soaru kept in the grass, tracing the footprints of their friends. Finally, they reached a section where the lantern's light touched their side of the ridge. Garry held his breath and indicated for Soaru to step into the rock bed first. The creatures were clustered a good distance away, but one wrong sound and it wouldn't matter. The creatures could also catch their scent at any time. Going around the left was a suicide mission. The river bed was shallow and there was nowhere to hide from the light. To make matters worse, Cycloptic Smile knew the area better and could appear at any time. The creature with the strange legs was also an unknown factor. In all, there were five sensitive creatures, one Soaru, and one frazzled Garry with a crippled bat.
The odds were not good.
Soaru's geta skid against a rock and both boys froze. Garry stared over at the creatures, but they did not stir.
With one last glance at the creatures, Garry stepped down into the rock bed, pebbles crunching underneath his sandals. While the swale covered all but Soaru's shoulders and head, it barely covered Garry's upper arms.
The two moved forward with Garry keeping an eye on the creatures while Soaru navigated the rocky terrain. They did not speak to one another and relied on looks and motions for directions. Just 11 yards and they would no longer have to worry about the light anymore.
Rocks and pebbles skidded around them with every step. Garry had never related so much to an elephant before. Every step felt like an earthquake and an asthmatic kid running laps had possessed his throat. It was hard to breathe. He had to balance looking for obstacles in front of him and glancing at the creatures for any signs of aggression.
He nearly clipped a large rock, his geta skriching against the surface. Garry glanced back and saw one of the masculine creatures shift its cadaverous arm to splay across the dirt in their direction. But otherwise it remained still.
Garry clamped his lips together and tried to focus on the remaining distance. 9 yards.
Rocks were like legos—they came in big or small, were annoying, and loved to appear from the depths of hell. It was pure luck that Soaru had managed to notice the mine-field of rocks and had stopped in his tracks to motion to Garry, who stepped next to him. The ridge to their left had a large hole in it, which let the lantern slip in. For three yards they would be unable to avoid that light.
Garry looked at Soaru.
Soaru looked up at him.
They both took a small, regretful breath, and walked into the light.
7 yards.
Sweat dripped down the side of Garry's face. From the corner of his eye he saw one creature's shoulder blades stirring. Rocks skittered from under Soaru's steps and Garry accidentally launched one of those rocks deeper down the rock bed. The loud clashing echoed. The same creature's back trembled and then the creature sat up.
A loud snotty sniff sound cut through Garry. A throaty sniff joined in. And then the whimpering moans began.
Garry stupidly watched the creatures move. Then, Soaru's breath hitched and Garry saw it, too. The largest creature had started to stir.
Sweat beaded on Garry's upper lip. 'Run' flooded his thoughts, but his legs were stuck. His gaze snapped back to the creature who was moving faster than the other four. It looked feminine, or so Garry assumed from the physique and the remnants of a dress clinging to its body. The she-creature placed her webbed hands on the ground and started to turn to look at Garry. Her eyes were closed, but that saving grace was ruined when she opened her maw and revealed jagged teeth.
"I'm sorry."
Four more heads snapped in Garry's direction. The most horrifying and captivating of them was the largest with the strange legs. Its head was bald and bashed in at the top. It did not have ears, eyes, or a nose. The skin of its face warped towards the center and came together like a bad sewing job. And then it stood up.
Garry and Soaru grabbed each other's arm at the same time and took off running.
Wind appeared at Garry's back and he dragged Soaru with him to the ground just as two sharp legs flew past where his head would have been. The large, strange creature landed off to the side with a heavy thud and both boys gaped at it. It was leaned over, torso dangling, and it swiveled its head to blindly look back at them.
Garry and Soaru scrambled up to take off again, rocks breaking and tumbling around them as the other four creatures appeared, belting out apologies and screams. The feminine-creature and one of the masculine ones cut off their escape route.
5 yards to safety, 1 yard until the creatures could no longer chase them.
Garry smashed his bat into one of masculine-looking creatures before kicking it back. The rock he was on broke and Garry slipped, narrowly dodging the sharp talons of another creature behind him. To his right, Soaru was trying to make himself smaller, hands tightly gripping something within the chest-area of his yukata. He was shaking. Garry cracked the talon sporting monster in the head with his bat and turned to see the feminine-creature running at Soaru from behind.
Garry chucked his broken bat at her head and lifted Soaru under his arm and bolted. Air whipped by Garry's face and he flinched as the sharp leg grazed his cheek. The strange creature landed before him, crushing the rocks and gaining the attention of the other creatures, and Garry tried to sprint around, but was swept off his feet.
Garry rolled and landed awkwardly on a large stone. His hand tightened into a fist as he bumbled to his feet. Warmth slipped from a cut in his hairline down his forehead to curdle against his nose. Garry stared at the strange creature, who's leg was stuck in the ground. It moved faster and was stronger than the other four creatures, but it couldn't control itself.
Soaru stirred by Garry's feet and sat up. He shook his head to rid himself of the green and black dots and looked up. Garry was standing before him, staring down the strangest creature, which was howling, while the four other creatures were tearing at the wall of the ridge.
"They're trying to get more light? But-but why? They aren't supposed to be intelligent." Soaru said.
Garry laughed.
Soaru looked up at his trembling back and felt heat rush to his eyes.
"I'll distract them" run away.
Soaru sputtered, "What? But—"
Garry ran into the thicket of creatures and punched one of them in the arm. The feminine-creatures propelled a leg at Garry and caught him below the ribs. Garry fell hard on his back and the noises bombarding Soaru suddenly stopped. It happened in slow motion. Garry kicked one of the masculine creatures away but the feminine one jumped on him, and Garry barely held her back with his arms. The strange creature finally freed itself and looked at Soaru, sniffing, and then turned back to where Garry was struggling.
And Garry was looking at him, had spared him a glance, and was shouting at him. "Run away!"
It's all you can do. Run away, like you do from everyone else. Run. From your Father, your Mother, your friends. Poor little Soaru, all alone.
Soaru got up and ran.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" The creatures chanted. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Forgive me forgive me forgive me. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry."
.
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Garry redirected his weight and rolled, scrambling away as the feminine creature collided with the rocks and scratched at the air between them. He smacked his shoe into her face and started to get up, but the increasingly familiar feeling of air at his back stopped him. He swiveled to the side as the strange creature soared past him, nicking his arm this time. Garry went to stand but froze as the strange creature lurched toward him. From this close, Garry could see that the red hue on its skin was blood.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"
"Forgive me!"
"I didn't mean to look!"
Its hand latched onto Garry's wrist and he fell.
"Get away from him!" Soaru ran at the creature, pulling out the knife he'd hidden in his yukata. With a cry, Soaru plunged the iron into the creature's wrist and wrenched it out, over and over.
Garry kicked the strange creature in the chest, it's wrist disconnecting as its body flew into the wall. Soaru suddenly lunged at the feminine creature, who had come up behind Garry to strike him, and tackled her to the ground. She nicked Soaru's face as he drove the knife into her chest. She warbled one more time and then stilled.
Soaru stared into the creature's dead eyes, panting and crying. Garry was next to him in an instant and wrenched him up as the other creatures started screaming. The strange creature was gearing up to launch itself at them and the other three creatures were starting to gather and try to cut off their escape route.
But Soaru tugged back on Garry, who looked over. On the ground was no longer a creature, but a girl with the lightest orange hair either of them had ever seen. She had freckles and her grey eyes were staring at nothing. She was dead.
"I-" Soaru started, staring into the dead girl's face.
Garry gritted his teeth, grabbed Soaru's arm, and ran.
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OMAKES:
*Soaru is in the kitchen stirring tea with his knife*
Soaru: Knife-kun and I have bonded.
Trivia: The girl/creature Soaru killed was also a half-rose, who was mentioned in a previous chapter of this arc.
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Author's notes:
I split one really long chapter into 3 parts. I'm still editing a scene in each of the next 2 parts, but the next chapter should be up tomorrow at the earliest or Wednesday. Have a great New Years, everyone.