More fight...
Just one more scene for now; the next one is even more intimidating to write...
When I realized we'd never seen Suboshi's power, I also thought there should maybe be a reason we hadn't seen it, and, um, here that is. Without his brother backing him up, he's a danger to himself and others; hey, maybe they're twins for a reason... (Fascination with the idea of a teke accidentally flinging themself around like this has actually been knocking around my head since even long before my FY phase, maybe even middle school.)
I'm not sure Chiriko ever, like, gets a big plot point, but I'm pretty satisfied with how much he's getting to do. We may never see that scroll Taiitsukun gave him, tho...
Nuriko’s opponent could hardly be Amiboshi, although it looked just like him---could there be something to his power he had hidden before? And why wasn’t he attacking? Nuriko had charged him, only to be picked up and put back on the path, unharmed. She had hurled rocks and trees at him and seen them caught in mid-air; after he had torn an entire swath of timber off the slope, surely he could throw them back at her, but he only placed them back on the roadblock or dropped them directly to the ground. And what was the music doing? Even when the stuffing had come loose from one of her ears, Amiboshi’s song coming from the trees didn’t put her to sleep this time or hinder her at all, so what was it for? Was this all an illusion he was creating with his music?
She had begun working her way gradually up the slope toward Amiboshi’s double, grabbing what he had let fall and tearing up trees herself to throw enough at him to keep him busy. The air was filled with hanging detritus and Nuriko was staring at the boy on the slope above her seemingly holding it all up with his hands, when suddenly, with the slightest chirp as if in surprise, Amiboshi’s flute went silent.
Her opponent’s face snapped open with shock. Everything fell out of the air in front of his hands, and his face whipped to the side. “Onii-chan!”
Chiriko must have gotten to Amiboshi; Nuriko knew she couldn’t leave him to deal with a Sei of Seiryuu alone and ran up the slope again. The other boy turned on her, lashing out with one hand, and that unseen force took hold of her again, but this time it didn’t lift her; it dragged her straight down the slope, where she could catch hold of a crag and resist. Her bracelets glowed and her fingers dug in securely as he stared her down with gritted teeth.
That’s it! He can’t control his powers without the music! she realized. A moment ago he had held up a half dozen trees and plucked thrown rocks out of the air; now she was watching him pour everything he had into crudely pushing her straight back. Following his earlier glance, she could see motion among the trees; Amiboshi was there, wrestling with Chiriko for his flute.
His twin couldn’t sustain his growl of effort; his power fell away as he gasped to get his breath. Suddenly free, Nuriko tore a fist-sized rock off of the stone she’d been clinging to and threw it---with controlled force that was to her only a light toss---into the trees.
The other boy was already running toward Amiboshi when the rock struck his face and knocked him back. Two voices cried in pain. As Nuriko dashed in behind Chiriko---he had the flute now---the boy reached Amiboshi and seized him protectively. “Onii-chan!!”
For a moment she could see their two faces right together---identical twins; somehow both of their noses were bleeding---before the younger brother turned on her.
“GET AWAY!!”
Chiriko was hurled back against her, and she curled around him to shield him as the invisible force sent her flying. A roar of snapping wood and rending soil drove the trees out before them until they hit, the blow on Nuriko’s back softened by the tangled branches. When she looked up, she saw the trees torn away and thrown out into a crater-like ring with the twins at its center. They had lost hold of each other; Amiboshi was sprawling, flipped head over heels, while his brother was flung high into the air. At the crest of his arc, he twirled in the air like a rag doll, then dropped limp into the tangled trees at the downhill edge of the circle.
“Suboshi!” Amiboshi cried, picking himself up and running to where his brother had fallen.
“He... He pushed everything away,” Chiriko muttered. “Even the ground.”
Nuriko couldn’t help being chilled by the scene of destruction in front of her. One of Seiryuu’s Seishi could do this by accident...
*******
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡
When I realized we'd never seen Suboshi's power, I also thought there should maybe be a reason we hadn't seen it, and, um, here that is. Without his brother backing him up, he's a danger to himself and others; hey, maybe they're twins for a reason... (Fascination with the idea of a teke accidentally flinging themself around like this has actually been knocking around my head since even long before my FY phase, maybe even middle school.)
I'm not sure Chiriko ever, like, gets a big plot point, but I'm pretty satisfied with how much he's getting to do. We may never see that scroll Taiitsukun gave him, tho...
Nuriko’s opponent could hardly be Amiboshi, although it looked just like him---could there be something to his power he had hidden before? And why wasn’t he attacking? Nuriko had charged him, only to be picked up and put back on the path, unharmed. She had hurled rocks and trees at him and seen them caught in mid-air; after he had torn an entire swath of timber off the slope, surely he could throw them back at her, but he only placed them back on the roadblock or dropped them directly to the ground. And what was the music doing? Even when the stuffing had come loose from one of her ears, Amiboshi’s song coming from the trees didn’t put her to sleep this time or hinder her at all, so what was it for? Was this all an illusion he was creating with his music?
She had begun working her way gradually up the slope toward Amiboshi’s double, grabbing what he had let fall and tearing up trees herself to throw enough at him to keep him busy. The air was filled with hanging detritus and Nuriko was staring at the boy on the slope above her seemingly holding it all up with his hands, when suddenly, with the slightest chirp as if in surprise, Amiboshi’s flute went silent.
Her opponent’s face snapped open with shock. Everything fell out of the air in front of his hands, and his face whipped to the side. “Onii-chan!”
Chiriko must have gotten to Amiboshi; Nuriko knew she couldn’t leave him to deal with a Sei of Seiryuu alone and ran up the slope again. The other boy turned on her, lashing out with one hand, and that unseen force took hold of her again, but this time it didn’t lift her; it dragged her straight down the slope, where she could catch hold of a crag and resist. Her bracelets glowed and her fingers dug in securely as he stared her down with gritted teeth.
That’s it! He can’t control his powers without the music! she realized. A moment ago he had held up a half dozen trees and plucked thrown rocks out of the air; now she was watching him pour everything he had into crudely pushing her straight back. Following his earlier glance, she could see motion among the trees; Amiboshi was there, wrestling with Chiriko for his flute.
His twin couldn’t sustain his growl of effort; his power fell away as he gasped to get his breath. Suddenly free, Nuriko tore a fist-sized rock off of the stone she’d been clinging to and threw it---with controlled force that was to her only a light toss---into the trees.
The other boy was already running toward Amiboshi when the rock struck his face and knocked him back. Two voices cried in pain. As Nuriko dashed in behind Chiriko---he had the flute now---the boy reached Amiboshi and seized him protectively. “Onii-chan!!”
For a moment she could see their two faces right together---identical twins; somehow both of their noses were bleeding---before the younger brother turned on her.
“GET AWAY!!”
Chiriko was hurled back against her, and she curled around him to shield him as the invisible force sent her flying. A roar of snapping wood and rending soil drove the trees out before them until they hit, the blow on Nuriko’s back softened by the tangled branches. When she looked up, she saw the trees torn away and thrown out into a crater-like ring with the twins at its center. They had lost hold of each other; Amiboshi was sprawling, flipped head over heels, while his brother was flung high into the air. At the crest of his arc, he twirled in the air like a rag doll, then dropped limp into the tangled trees at the downhill edge of the circle.
“Suboshi!” Amiboshi cried, picking himself up and running to where his brother had fallen.
“He... He pushed everything away,” Chiriko muttered. “Even the ground.”
Nuriko couldn’t help being chilled by the scene of destruction in front of her. One of Seiryuu’s Seishi could do this by accident...
*******
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡