Ushio & Tora Fan Fiction ❯ The I Of the Beholder ❯ Elemental Things ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: Elemental Things
By Ysabet

"Thunder's good, thunder's impressive----- but it's lightning that does the work!"--- Mark Twain

Everything seemed to happen at once.

One moment the girl and the bakemono were waiting, cold and tired and drenched to the bone by the predawn rain; next, a whirling mailstrom of hellish scarlet was pouring across the darkened yard towards them, teeth snapping, hideous eyes shining in spots of evil luminescence, an acrid cloud of acidic HATE-----

----- and there was Ushio too, running ahead of the monster, speeding towards them in his own crackling, brilliant firestorm of Spear-born lightning-----

Asako cried out; she reached for him as he staggered, stumbled, fell with hands outstretched. Splashing forward to help him, she was abruptly jerked back by a large, rough hand that closed about her head like a vice.

"FOOL!! Do you want to be destroyed, Girl? *Look* at him!!!" Growling furiously, the bakemono shook her until her teeth rattled, then dropped her unceremoniously onto the wet ground; Asako's ears rang with the force of his grip, but she staggered upright and turned back to Ushio.....

..... who crouched, tiny lightnings playing across his muddy form in miniature blue-white echoes of the storm overhead. His long black hair quivered out from his head; sparks spat and popped between his fingers, arced across his bowed back as he gasped for breath. Snarling more like a beast than a human being, he pivoted to face the Donshoku, rearing up on his knees and brandishing the Spear before him in widespread arms. In answer, the blade lit up from within, incandescently bright: CRACK!! Power broke the night into pieces as lightning spiderwebbed the yard from the Kemono No Yari, burning paths from tree to roof to stone wall.....

BOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!! Crackle-KRACKkkka-BOOM!!! Pop-pop-CRACKCRACK!!-SIZZLE----- the sound was deafening; it blotted out the world.

Asako shrank away, heart pounding wildly in her ears; she had never seen Ushio like this before----- he *blazed,* white tongues of force outlining his shape against the dark. The Donshoku boiled in the air, drew back and retreated in a rush into the stand of trees; it hung there half-obscured by the pounding rain (but not enough, not enough..... the eyes still blazed forth in a hundred windows into Hell.....)

The girl stood transfixed and frozen, water running down her face; those eyes--- they were looking at HER. The Spearbearer's lightning blazed in a wall of protection between them, but they were still fixed on HER, *all* of them.

And so were Tora's, hot silver against his rain-darkened face. "GIRL!!" he roared, his rough voice nearly drowned out by the heavy downpour and the continuous electrical fire: "Can you do what's needed?!? CAN YOU DO IT, GIRL??!?"

Could she?

..... Yes. *Yes.* She could; it was now or never. Asako nodded hard, wiping her eyes (rain? sweat? tears?) with the back of one hand.

"THEN STOP COWERING, DAMN YOU!! YOUR FEAR WILL KILL US!! DO IT!!!"

Drawing a deep and final breath, the girl let herself have one long, last shiver of fear; it worked its way down from her scalp (how the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck tried to stand on end!) through her spine (and oh God oh God how her heart pounded), flowing across her body to the very soles of her feet.

And that..... was that. No more time for fear. No more time for *anything* now but the fight. Nothing else..... mattered.

..... Asako drew herself up, a hard light in her eyes. "Nothing else..." she whispered, a mere breath of sound. Then her gaze sharpened and fixed on the bakemono. "You just do YOUR part and I'll do MINE!!" she hissed, her voice no less fierce than his. Tora growled in approval, his teeth flashing briefly in a sharp white smile.

The girl turned and pelted back towards the old shrine. Behind her, above the din, she could still hear the Donshoku shrilling its hunger out.... for her. For her.

Shigure was ready; the priest crouched beside the stairway, a rusty metal bucket in his hands. From beneath the pail's dented lid tendrils of smoke wisped up, and a faint red light flickered welcome and warm. *Good; he found something he could burn.* Skidding to a stop, Asako stared down into the black pit of the stairwell--- if you could call it that; the ancient wooden steps were so steep that they were scarcely more than a rough ladder.

But where they lead..... Asako could smell the strong, chemical reek of the trap, could see the faintest flash of light far below as fire from the storm above reflected off dull silver. All lay ready, then..... She whirled back to Shigure; grabbing up the soaking wet robe that he held out to her, she shrugged it on (it was far too big, but that was just as well, really) and hissed out: "HIDE!!!"

He nodded wordlessly and sank down to settle behind a crate which he had already marked with his careful wards, pulling the bucket close against his under-robes. The girl hoped he wouldn't get burned.

So; ready here. Asako almost laughed out loud for one strange moment; when she had given up her fear a few minutes before, given up everything except the battle, she hadn't expected to fee like this. She felt charged, was filled with a terrible elation, a wild and eager desire to end this, end it NOW!!!

(filled..... like a cracked bowl, stained and holding a single sharp shard of glass)

With a satisfied snarl of her own, the girl turned and ran back out into the rain, towards the monsters that awaited her there.

Shigure watched the young woman he had known from infancy run off into the rain; for the barest second a fleeting expression of wonder flickered in his grey eyes.

Had she but realized it, Asako's face had resembled Tora's for a moment; his fierceness was no greater than hers--- her eyes had gleamed no less terribly than his.

Shigure shivered and held the metal bucket a little closer, waiting. The timing would have to be *perfect* if this was to work. His lips moving silently, the priest prayed and clutched the hidden fire in his hands tightly, tightly. Waiting-----

Back out in the yard, Ushio stood beside Tora, Spear held butt-down, point forward. The silvery glow had dimmed a little from the blade but stray threads of blue-white energy still popped and crackled across its length; every now and then Tora would glance sideways at it, his lips drawing back a little in an uneasy snarl. Each time he would visibly calm himself, pull his attention back to the scarlet thing that hung back from them half-hidden in the trees.

At last Ushio had had enough; eyes still fixed on the Donshoku, he muttered "Hey, fuzzball; what's your problem? You keep looking at the Spear like you expect it to bite you, not the Donshoku. What gives?"

The monster rumbled a little, low in his throat; he sounded almost embarrassed. "..... Just remembering the last time I saw the Spear like this, in this place. It's... been a while, but----- Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I remember."

Ushio did a double-take as he understood: a while..... five hundred years! "My ancester, huh?" The bakemono's only answer was a louder growl. Before them, the Donshoku swirled uneasily, occasional tendrils of thick red fog coiling across and around branches and treetrunks; where they touched, a sharp acid-and-burnt-wood smell arose. Tora's muzzle wrinkled at the bitter scent, and Ushio's lips drew back from his teeth in distaste. *If we live through this we'll have a lot of rebuilding to do..... Some of those trees will have to go; this'll kill them.* He had climbed in the ancient almond trees as a child. *Just one more thing that this bastard has destroyed. I wonder how many of those poor archaology students it got?*

Behind them rapid footsteps were splashing through the puddles. Without breaking the line of his stare, Tora muttered "See to the Girl, Brat. I will keep watch." Ushio hesitated; that was..... rather unlike the bakemono, that small kindness. But..... As he stepped back (a wary eye still on the Donshoku), he felt Asako come up beside him; she was breathing hard, her heartbeat actually audible over the rush of the rain to his hypersensitive ears.

What the hell was she doing anyway, coming so close to that thing? Wasn't she the one most in danger? He frowned as he recalled Shigure and Tora's 'plan' of a little while earlier: They were to build a trap, he was to lure the monster into range, and..... they were to spring the trap somehow. He wasn't too clear on the 'somehow' though..... "Asako?" he asked, making the single word a question.

She stood there, enveloped in something so soggy and wet that it took him a moment to figure out what it was: his father's long robe. The girl wasn't looking at him just now. Instead she was staring steadily at the scarlet haze of eyes and teeth a little beyond Tora, who had both huge hands outstretched and spread wide, his talons glimmering uneasily with threads of lightning. The spatters and pops of electricity reflected off of Asako's eyes, fierce and determined in the darkness; the rain streaked her dark hair unheeded across her face.

She looked beautiful.

He shook the thought off; now was not the time. "Asako?" he said again, a little more strongly. She turned to stare at him then with her dark eyes, and he started a little at the strange resolve so evident there. For a moment she said nothing, just looked..... Then, almost hesitantly: "Ushio..... in a minute, I'm going to--- I mean, I've got to--- " She stopped, blinking down at the ground and frowning. Then she glanced slantwise up at him from under her tangled hair and began again. "..... Look. Don't be too hard on your Dad and Tora, okay? They thought this up, but I agreed to it..... It was my decision too."

A horrible, apprehensive coldness was beginning to creep its way into his bones. Ushio reached out with his free hand to touch her shoulder. "Asako??"

She sighed, then shook her head. "Give me a minute....." Drawing back a few steps, the girl stepped up towards the bakemono. Ushio watched as she leaned close to Tora, speaking a few words to the monster that he couldn't quite overhear; he grunted once, shooting a glance over his shoulder at the Spearbearer, and then said quite audibly: "Now, Girl?!?"

"NOW!!" said Asako.....

..... and Ushio found himself suddenly grabbed up bodily, wet furry arms pinning both his own limbs and the Spear close to his body; the weapon belled and sang in its own metallic alarm. He struggled, cursing: "TORA!!! What the GODDAM HELL are you doing, you asshole?!? LET ME GO!!!"

"Can't do that, Brat--- you'd interfere-----" grunted the rough voice in his ear. The bakemono dragged them both a little to one side of the yard, away from the entrance to the shrine. "Stop struggling, you fool! Let her do what she has to do!!" And the arms held him tighter, pinning him against the wet, shaggy pelt.

*'Her'? What she 'has to do?!?' What----? Oh no, no WAY in hell-----*

"ASAKOOOO!!!" he screamed-----

*Now or never, now or never, now or never.....* The words throbbed in her head like a drumbeat.

All the frustration, all the fear and guilt and pain of the night seemed to build up and build up and build up, growing and transforming into anger, into FURY----- Asako sprang forward towards the Seki Donshoku Mono, waving her arms over her head.

"C'MON, YOU BASTARD!!! COME AFTER ME, COME AFTER MEEEE!!! YOU WANTED ME, NOW COME GET ME, DONSHOKU!! COME ON, COME ONNNN!!!"

The creature seemed to hesitate, confused by her wildly gesticulating figure..... Then, as Ushio struggled hard in Tora's harsh embrace, it boiled forward, a rush of slitted eyes and open mouths and hissing, burning fumes-----

Asako was running, running, running! Splashing through the puddles between the narrowing corridor of charged objects, catching one in particular up as the fled towards the only haven left her: the dark, gaping hole in the shrine floor-----

And the Donshoku followed!! As it passed him, Ushio brought the Spear around in a screaming arc to strike HARD against Tora's shoulder; the bakemono yelped, cursed and released him. With a roar of rising panic, Ushio charged after the monster; "ASAKOOO!!!"

"DON'T JUST SHOUT AT THEM, BRAT, PURSUE THEM!!" The orange monster snarled loudly and loped after the rushing scarlet cloud, fire crackling between his claws. He slashed at a trailing vaporous limb and was rewarded by a loud hiss.

"But, but ASAKO----!!" He could just see her; she had paused at the shrine entrance, was shouting something and waving her arms---

Tora hissed in pain as the Donshoku lashed out with another misty tentacle, scoring the bakemono's foreleg with a trail of acidic burn. "There is a trap awaiting this bastard; she is the bait! If all goes as planned, she'll be well enough--- now help me drive this thing towards her!! Don't waste her courage, Brat!!!"

With a snarl that was very nearly a moan, Ushio charged forward to slash at the Donshoku's flanks, driving it forward.....

The holy things made it nervous; the Donshoku had slowed its rush a little, flinching off from the obviously painful touch of the items to either side. Now it slowed, hovering in midair before the entrance to the shrine. Asako waited at the top of the stairs, trembling with exertion and adrenaline--- and with something else: A strange, strange euphoria, a fierce joy at the thought of *finishing* this, finally *finishing* it-----

Behind the creature Asako could see and hear the Spearbearer and the bakemono as they tormented and tore at the Donshoku's rear defenses, and that seemed to finally make up the monster's mind; and yet, and yet--- still it hesitated. It HAD to follow her--- A cry of pain from behind the creature made her bite her lip and swear; *Ushio-----!*

Furiously she waved her arms and shouted again. "Come ON, DONSHOKU!!! You want me, Red Devourer?!? WELL, I'M HERE!!! Come on, I'll make this EASY FOR YOU-----" And she brought up the single item she had grabbed from the line of holy objects as she ran past: A single, stained shard of glass.....

One swipe across her bared forearm brought a hot, red line of blood running in streams to drip onto the wet, stone floor. In front of her the monster seemed to coil, to gather in the air like a predator sniffing out wounded prey; then it lunged-----

Only, Asako wasn't there.

She was charging downwards, taking the wooden stairs three at a time, oddly surefooted in the near total darkness---- as the scarlet cloud charged through the opening in the floor, the stones around it hissed as acid ate away at them-----

"OJI-SAN, OJI-SAN!!! NOW!!!" she screamed, rushing across the floor towards the length of dimly gleaming silver that lay against the wall-----

And, just as the boy and the bakemono arrived in their own rush at the entrance to the stairs, Shigure rose up out of his hiding place and threw the hot, smoking bucket he had been hiding down the stairs to burst upon the floor below---

--- the kerosene-puddled floor-----

Flames exploded, roaring up from either side of the fuel flooded room, from the base of the ladder, from everywhere except the narrow circle of dry stone at the far end of the room where the girl crouched beneath a sheet of dull silver; the blank, shining surface should have reflected everything, every blossom of flame, every screaming mouth and writhing scarlet tentacle, every wild and frantic eye--- but it did not. It showed only the fire. The monster wavered back, trying to retreat, but the flames were behind it and around it and arching towards the ceiling, burning the very air; the Seki Donshoku Mono surged forward like a deadly tide, searching for some haven, some place to hide..... surged forward until it met the thing which reflected it not at all but ate it instead, drank it up like a hungry, empty mouth-----

-----just as the Spearbearer charged forward with a single frantic leap and a roar, Spear burning like the hand of a god-----

But the Donshoku was no longer there, and the kerosene was burning away, the fire was dying down. There was only the sheet of silver, not empty now at all, but full of a raging, wildly beating blood-red THING that quivered just below the surface..... And there was the girl; she moaned and shifted behind the shining barricade that had saved her both from the fire and the Red Devourer, drawing back the sodden cloth of her sleeve from her face.

Panting, Ushio knelt beside her; she was sweat-drenched and sooty; the ends of her hair emitted tendrils where the heat had made them smoke. But Asako was alright, gasping for breath and sobbing a little with the aftermath of adrenaline--- and right then and there the Spearbearer decided that she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen-----

Shaking and coughing a little, she shoved the makeshift mirror away from her; belatedly the Spearbearer realized just what it was.....

Aluminum foil, rubbed smooth and then wall-stapled over an old sheet of plywood.

(He recalled, once upon a very distant time, complaining as his father had sent him into the old shrine to clean out all the old junk..... if he had actually done that little job, instead of tripping over a strange old trapdoor in the floor.....)

Ushio shuddered once, hard. Then he realized that he was holding Asako in his arms, just holding her for a moment or two, or perhaps she was holding him; who could tell? And who cared, anyway?..............

"BRAT!!" He started; that was Tora. Coughing a little on the smell of burned kerosene Ushio turned to look over his shoulder. The bakemono had stopped at the top of the stairs, was staring down large-eyed into the room. "Before you start celebrating, don't you think we should take care of THAT, Boy?!?" said the monster, pointing at the makeshift mirror that lay beside him on the floor.

Ushio looked down, yelped once, and pulled himself and Asako back away. The dull metal surface boiled with red, bubbled over with it like a forge; the Donshoku beat with tentacles, bit with teeth, frothed and railed and tore at its prison..... The mirror held, but for how long?!? Frantically Ushio glared back up at Tora. "So what'll we do with it now? Got any BRIGHT IDEAS, bakemono?!?" He reached for the plywood sheet, then cursed and yanked his hand back as his fingers blistered.

Smelling strongly of kerosene smoke, Asako shouldered him gently aside. "You--- " she coughed, "you've got too much of the Spear in you to hold this--- I'll do it---" and she carefully caught up the sheet of plywood by its edges. Beneath her fingers the Donshoku shrilled silently in its prison, and she hissed a little with pain. "It-- it's all right, it's not too bad--- let's get OUT of here---" She scrambled to her feet, holding the board at arm's length before her and stumbling towards the scorched wooden stairs.

Up, UP and back into the clean air----- For a moment they both wavered on their feet at the top of the stairs, blinking at the darkness and the continuing rain.....

Was that light off to the east? The night had lasted forever; but surely dawn had to come sooner or later, didn't it?

Never mind. The girl let out a squawk as Tora grabbed her around the waist, pulling her against his sodden fur; he grabbed Ushio up and threw the Spearbearer onto his back, leaping into the air. "Break the Seal on this place, Boy! Break it, or I can't fly above the rooftops! BREAK IT NOW!!!" And the Spear swept up, gleaming; it swung once, twice, three times across empty air, trailing light behind it.....

*NNNNNGGGG*

.....and something *broke* open, something split, spilling the three of them up and up and UP into the soaking air above the Aotsuki compound. Asako choked once and held onto the board hard, gulping as the bakemono surged in a rising, racing spiral higher, higher, HIGHER..... The low clouds were just above them now, soaking all three with their burden of unshed rain; and now they were passing through in grey, soggy darkness. And now.....

Now they were above them, rising into clear brightness studded with stars. Slowing, the bakemono reached the top of his arc, arms widespread. Asako looked up into his face; the silver eyes were fierce and shining. They looked down at her, full of a terrible approval; "You did WELL, Girl!!..... Will you give us our enemy now?"

In answer, she held out the makeshift mirror. Tora glanced up at the Spearbearer, gesturing with his free hand. "Take it, Spearbearer....."

The Spear darted down, impaling the wood with a single echoing "CRUNCH!!" With a snarl, Ushio raised the trap containing the Seki Donshoku Mono above his head towards the Stars; below him, white fire began to crackle at Tora's brow, shivering the air, splintering and popping, radiating out and around.....

.....wreathing up the Spear and mixing with the golden lightings that were spidering out from the blade, writhing across and around the mirror..... Within its prison the Donshoku screamed, the sound actually audible there in the space above the clouds; Asako swallowed hard and held onto Tora's forearm, burying her face in his fur for a moment. Then she raised her eyes to witness the end of her enemy.

Ushio was standing on Tora's back now, a living lightning rod; his long black hair streamed out from his face, crackling straw-stiff and straight as power quivered through him upwards into the silver sheet that writhed in its impalement----

----- writhed----

----- screamed again----

----- and exploded into a rain of tiny sparks, a miniature storm of woodash and molten aluminum and nothing else at all, not the faintest trace of scarlet-----

The Donshoku was gone.