Ark 24 Episode 33: Survival of the Fittest

Solo is a WIP

Amongst the Ruins
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToGyQDGlJic ) Sian stood alone on top of a metal beam which was all that remain of the building that once was apart of a place that bore more history for her than anything else in her life. The infamous Lion’s Den of District 1, a place that spawn one of the many legends that Kasaihana would forever now hold in silence upon her lips as she herself; the city was nothing more but a hunk of smoldering scrapes and heaps of ash thanks to what Sian herself believed and had been told was the power of Sector Olympus. Which the young raven hair woman still found so hard to be true even standing here amongst what little remained of the once proud city so many had called home as smoke still rose from the fires that the blast had spurned ‘I wished for this to happen…’ Sian thought to herself her long sultry lashes lowering themselves as she turns her head back in order to look down at the hand full of survivors she and Zack had manage to find that were in make shift tents they were able to create below. Most of which were still asleep where as the hour was still early while the other’s were helping one another to either find breakfast or tending to the other wounded. One of which, Sian hadn’t really expected to find. ‘But I didn’t realize to what price having such hatred in my heart at that time would be.’ Suijin would allow her astral state to solidify itself at her side. “Most mortals do not but at least you are able to make some atonement in this matter. Speaking of mortals…where has the Ryoji boy gotten off to this morning?” Suijin asked once Sian begins to show signs that she was ready to become mobile to the day, taking several meager steps to the right then left before starting to make some very high intensified jumps down from the remains of the buildings in which she stood towards the earth below.

“Most likely fighting off any monsters or mutants that are making their way in from Old New York now that the wall has been decimated, I wager. He was gone when I got up.” “Twas not the homecoming he’d been expecting I take it?” “Nor was it mine’s, I’m just grateful Mom didn’t put such a fuss when I told the pilot to take her and Mel, what fuel he had left, head for the Terriwell’s air field in England, refuel there and then proceed to Roanapur.” Sian tells the oni somberly recounting the events that had happened two week prior when their shuttle arrived from Africa into the New York Harbor curling her body up into a ball as she tumbles down towards the next beam, her form unfurling itself in order to land on the ground. Suijin would agree with this her attention along with Sian’s turning towards those who were still so badly injured and hanging on by a thread, despite the usage of her regenerative abilities on them. All the young onihoruda could do now was wait and pray that Death would be as merciful and painless as possible for them. But at least till then she would try to make them as comfortable as one could get in a place like this as she checked on the hand made IV bags of cleaned and sterilized animal skins that were attached to a few more people who had relative with them willingly enough to let a rookie like her help them donate blood. Lamenting on all the traps and other things she had built around this tiny community of people just barely holding on by a thread. And more and more were coming by the days, which begged Sian to ask would any sort of help or relief come as she was sure that California and Florida both knew of what had happened by now walking towards a circle of small children now orphans by the blast. Her hand motioning towards a small makeshift pillow that lay up under a child’s head as she herself kneeled beside him humming softly a song Moko herself sung to her and Akira when they were little. As it was the only thing that seemed to help most of them sleep, though Sian found their gravitation towards her a bit strange, since most people her age and older found her to be such a bitch all the times. Suijin told her that it was because of their innocence that they could see the spirit of a lost child around her and they all found comfort in that having lost their parents as well. It was thought that brought tears to her moon blue colored eyes as with them she did feel the mourning of her first born’s lost finally coming to an end with each tiny touch of their hands and small embraces over the past few days. So much that Sian finally got enough courage to sit Zack down and lay out the scattered pieces of a story that held more hurt in her heart than love. His reaction to most of it outright surprising her as she was hugged tightly, the tears that flowed from her eyes softly kissed away by his lips, and a solemnly promise that nothing like that would happen again to her as long as he was around. A promise, that help the 19 year old beauty fall asleep peacefully until she awoken a little while ago before dawn…as the sound of 4 aircraft carriers flying very low over head with several massive crates attached containing everything from food, water, medical supplies, and other things that would be needed hanging below (it’s a months worth of stuff) them.

A Final Farewell
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3ZTYoIuOC0 ) With the sound of planes so dangerously low over head Domini found herself unable to sleep any more, her lavender hues fluttering open quickly then wincing at the brightness of the light hitting her iris’ after having been unconscious for a while due to the blast. “Hey everyone, the hime she’s waking up!” she’d hear a woman say to her left as she tries to raise her right arm up towards the her face in over to shield her eyes from the sun’s morning rays but only to receive a massive ton of pain for her efforts instead. “Don’t try to move Domini-hime, you were badly injured in blast….I am surprised that you were even able to survive after that cave collapsed in on you.” The woman would go on to say taking a damp cloth and moving it over her ivory skin while Domi herself tried desperately to make sense of just what she was being told her as thing were still a bit scrambled inside of her head as those who were able to move in the camp suddenly began to make their way over toward where they were. All she could remember was being in the mist of her prayers inside of the owatto as she had done since the day, Leon and the other fighters had boarded the ship when suddenly there was a loud rumble and the cavern around her begins to crack….. “Jinzhou!” the oni’s name suddenly flow over her lips as she remembered before the ceiling caved in completely seeing the massive demon that belonged to her grandmother dive in over her protecting her from rock slide, her word catching the attention of the lady was attending to her. “Hime?” Domini realizing that her mouth had done it again immediately begin to try and deter the woman from it as while fighting to remember what else had happened. “Please ignore me…I’m still a bit shaken by what has happened.” She replied. The woman would only nod her head, “And rightly so…Olympus has indeed dealt Kasaihana a fatal blow, those who were able to escape with their lives did so without so much as thought to the rest of us.” Domini would hear her say her own memory of what had happened when she’d awaken trapped in the cave coming back to her full circle in her mind. Her right arm was indeed broken as it is now, there was blood everywhere from her left leg with a bone pushing through its skin which explains the well made split that garter it so, and above her was the towering form of the large deformed looking oni who she thought was the most sinister son of bitch ever to walk the earth stood over her holding up the massive rocks that threaten to take her life (http://img01.deviantart.net/c672/i/2014/364/9/0/rashomon_no_oni__ogre_of_rashomon_gate__by_vulpes94-d8bxh3k.jpg ). In the oni’s eyes the young miko could see concern coming from him or dare she say it love before hearing the beast speak. “Domini are you alright?” She never knew he was capable of speech. “Hai I am.” Jinzhou went on to say his voice weak in strain, “Good I’ve sent Ryo for help, they should be here soon.” “I don’t understand…Jinzhou why? Why use your powers to save me? Ive been nothing but a brat towards you if not worst.” She asked him. “Because at one point…when I was alive….I took what you have chosen given so freely to that Leon boy away from you.”

The redhead’s would widen in ultimate terror at the realization of what she was hearing…Jinzhou…was in fact Keigo, her father’s former best friend and the man who raped her as child. “But I thought…” “I was jail…no Tomasaburo in all her rage killed me the night before I was to be sent to prison and then placed my soul into this body you see now as punishment for my crime…the crime of love I had towards you Domini…but I have come to realize that I could never have won your affections through force. I only wish I could have said I was sorry to you long before now.” Though as sickening as his words sounded toward her the priestess couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity towards him for the fate the Oshino elder threw up him as penitence for his deeds the rocks around them suddenly began to move due to someone trying move those that were at the mouth of the owatto as Ryo returned in his massively large form (http://www.quiztron.com/images_quiz/2008/10/17/full_539591058.jpg ) kneeling just low enough for Domini to latch onto his dark black fur with other arm that was only nicked with scratches before standing again. “They’re outside the owatto now….and would you believing it one of them is an onihoruda too.” “That’s even better. Once the mouth of the cave is opened I want you to take her outta here Ryo.” Jinzhou would say as he fought with all his might to keep the roof from caving. “But Keigo-san what about you?”

The oni would only lower his head sighing, “I’ve exhausted all of power Tomasaburo gave this animated corpse in making sure that you stayed alive, so it won’t be long now. I’ll get to join the others in the depths of hell where I belong.” The sounds of rocks being sent flying everyone outside getting louder as a bit of light could be seen poking through inside of the cave and getting bigger by the moment. “Now Ryo go!” Ryo wouldn’t hesitate at Jinzhou’s words darting off like lightening towards the opening of the cave with Domini holding on for dear life as the okami did his best he could to keep them both from being smashed to bits while Sian continued to hurl the rocks both right and left with that enhanced strength of hers. From there everything else seemingly went black in the young princess’ world more than likely due to the lost of blood from the gash on her leg as she’d really had no ideal just how long she’d been out of it inside of the owatto or what might have cause it to collapse until now. All that she could remember was Jinzhou’s parting words to her long after the cavern itself had caved in and she’d been brought to this place:

“Good-bye my princess, protect him always and forever more from the darkness.”

“Hmm, protect him from the darkness? By him, did Jinzhou mean Leon?” Domini asks herself out loud her lavender eyes looking up to see the symbol overhead that was on one of the carriers overhead (they’re from Tokyo) a smile plastered broadly on her soft lips as each made several passes in order to safely land the crates of supplies they held before landing to themselves to reveal the faces of four people that Domini knew and four more dressed in lab coats. All of which began getting to work unpacking the crates and tending to the injured while she and Sian looked on complete relief.

The day was saved…at least for now…