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Ch19-8: Desperate Flight
Posted on November 6, 2008 by Aywren in Chapter 19
He struggled and howled, face streaked with black tears as he fought.
Lucci didn’t realize that he had drawn his sword until he saw the quivering tip of the blade pointed at TsuYa. His hands were shaking. Tears stung his eyes. The whimper of Suzume rose to his ears from where the little girl hid behind his legs. JouKa sat, collapsed against a crate, her head covered with both arms, sobbing and hysterical.
KoGuRai had stood no chance against the Marked form of TsuYa. Already his remains were decaying, sinking into the puddle of black oozing blood. It flaked away into dark dust… nothing left but the sheen of silver helm that sat pinned under TsuYa’s heavy boot.
What do I do? What do I do? I can’t fight Master TsuYa! But… he’s become…
One Marked Champion had fallen… only for another to take its place.
Maybe that has been Zeromus’ plan all along? Maybe he never wanted KoGuRai as his Champion at all. He was just using him… like bait… to push Master TsuYa into turning Marked.
A low growl rose from TsuYa’s throat as pure black eyes focused on them. He reached down and picked the helm up, shaking it free from the clinging darkness.
And it worked…
Lucci readjusted his grip on the blade, keeping himself between the girls and the newly Marked Champion of Zeromus. Something in his chest ached terrible. He knew if he had only been a little faster… if he had gotten the sword to the Inner Realms sooner… that maybe TsuYa would have been spared this horrible fate.
But something else was there. Something that Lucci could sense still boiling, battling, struggling under the mask of shadows that had encased the warrior. Perhaps it was because TsuYa had become Awakened before Zeromus managed to take him. Or perhaps it was because his will and desire for freedom was simply that strong. No matter the reason, Lucci could feel it still, something of TsuYa was there. Aware.
And he was not attacking them.
Even, physically, TsuYa’s body fought to preserve itself. Though his hair and wings had grown dark, Lucci could see that there was still one light streak running through his bangs, a shock of white that fell down into his eyes. Something left from before.
Zeromus chose a difficult spirit to try to capture…
Somewhere in the distance he could sense it… the feeling of the Arweinydd Zazo and the Watcher Aur. They were coming, no doubt, called there by the release of energy, both Awakened and Marked. The smallest inkling of hope rose in Lucci’s chest. The thought that if there was something still left of TsuYa… that maybe he could still be saved. That he could be returned to his rightful form. That the Marked might be contained.
If I can just keep him here, peaceful, long enough for them to reach us.
“Master TsuYa?” Lucci’s voice quavered as he took the chance to lower his blade just a little. “Master TsuYa… do you remember me? Do you know who you are?”
Dark eyes watched the young Sygnus, a low growl the only answer.
Please Lady Zazo… come quickly…
Lucci took another chance, slowly moving forward. His breath came in frightened gasps, eyes never leaving the dark, Marked Champion. He froze as the growl grew into a fierce snarl. Then the snarl somehow managed to form words.
“LuShi… stay back! Stay away from me!” TsuYa grated through bared fangs.
“Master TsuYa?! Please… just stay calm… we can help you!”
“Nooo…” he moaned. His voice was very much like his voice always was. Just more frightened. More strained. “Nooo…. It’s over. I’m… one of them. I’m…”
“Not yet! You can’t give into him,” Lucci encouraged, taking another step forward. “As long as there’s part of you still aware, we might be able to–”
Suddenly, TsuYa broke out in a terrible yowl, clutching his head between clawed hands. He buckled over, screeching in pain. “Get him out of my head! Get him out of my heaaaaad!”
Lucci jumped back in shock as the warrior began to stagger around, slamming himself against the stone walls. Suzume gave a cry, huddling next to the glassy-eyed JouKa, covering her face with her hands. The young Sygnus reached forward, trying to intercept, only to be shoved away.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!” the half-scream, half-screech was chilling. The sound of a soul being consumed. “GET HIM OUT OF MY HEAD!!”
-TsuYaaaaaa!!-
The glowing form of the white wolf sprung over the pile of crates at the far end of the passageway. Running all out, her green eyes held a look of worry that Lucci had never seen before. With one great lunge she leapt up, landing square on TsuYa’s back. It took all of her force to wrestle him down and keep him pinned, even as large as she was.
He struggled and howled, face streaked with black tears as he fought. Choking and gasping, the words became less words as the darkness began to twist and taint his mind.
-TsuYa! No! Hold on to me! I can fix this! I can fix this! I promise! Just don’t go!- Frantic, the she-wolf shoved her muzzle down into his face. As if her will and words alone would be enough to save him.
“Nooo! Noooo!!” He responded with terrified hisses and raking claws. If she had been a physical being, he would have shredded her face in his struggle. “Stay away from me! Stay away from meeee! Arweinydd! Stay away from meeeeeeeee!”
-TsuYa! Please! It’s me! It’s Zazo!-
But her words could not comfort his panic as his body began to convulse again. More spikes began to shred through his skin… the transformation slowly growing worse.
Aur and Oren arrived, not far on the heels of the she wolf. The Watcher stood for a long moment, observing the pleading Arweinydd and the struggling Marked. And for the first time, something like true emotion washed over his face. Pity. Sorrow. Sympathy. He seemed to be having trouble breathing as he gathered up Suzume in his strong arms, covering her crying face protectively.
Oren had also come quickly, his ruddy face horrified as he recognized the Marked creature before him. Without so much as a word, he retrieved JouKa’s limp form and carried her away. He murmured quiet words of concern under his breath as he gently brushed the hair out of the winged girl’s face.
-He’s not calming down!!- Zazo was frantic as she fought to keep the Marked pinned under her paws.
“LET ME GO!” TsuYa’s voice cracked, half shrieking as his back arched in pain. With a gurgling sound, he turned the dark claws on himself, leaving long trails of dark gashes along his face and chest.
The Arweinydd gave a defeated cry, watching as he maimed himself, shoving her nose between his head and his claws. Doing everything she could to stop the unstoppable. Finally, with a great heave, TsuYa cast her off. The moment he was free, he leapt to his feet, wings spread wide. One hand clamped around the grip of the scythe that had been left, lying in the street.
-Tsu!!!-
“Sta..aay… baack…” he hissed, holding the scythe in front of him as he crouched, ready to fight.
-Please don’t do this. Please… come back with me. Zem and I… we can fix this! You have to believe me, Tsu!-
But the Marked Champion could only reel back, face lined with pain. The howl escaped his lips again, as he was driven to mindlessness, “He’s in my head! Get him out of my head!”
“Lady Zazo! Be careful!” Lucci gave a warning call. It was hard to tell if TsuYa was going to actually use the weapon – of his own free will or not.
Before either of them could say a word, the black wings spread wide into the air. With an agile leap, the Marked warrior launched into the sky, dark scythe held between his fists. One bound had him on top of the nearby roof. The next cast him up towards the dimming clouds.
“Waaait!” Lucci called.
But it was no good. The Marked instinct was driving him. With nothing to lose. Nothing left to hold him, TsuYa fled, leaving nothing but a stream of black along the stone wall.
For a moment, it seemed as if Zazo might follow. But as the winged figure grew smaller and more distant over the lilac trees, she did nothing but stand and watch. With a startling sound, the she wolf threw her head back, shattering the air with a long, mournful howl.
Lucci, too, could only stand and watch as shock numbed his body. Realization began to flood over him. Realization followed by a deep, rending sadness.
They had lost Ceiswyr. They had lost TsuYa. But they had not yet lost the war.
I still have the sword.
Lucci looked down at the flat of the blade. The silver steel reflected his image coldly. Suggestively. And he knew exactly what he needed to do.
No matter what. I’m going to pay him back for all the people he’s hurt.
The young Sygnus’ hand tightened on the blade’s grip.
I’m going to destroy Zeromus.
Yeah!! Go Lucci!! You get ‘em!
Poor Tsu. I will definitly NOT be turning Marked anytime soon. The descriptives here are awesome.
Zreti: *howls mournfully with Zazo*
Poor Tsu. He just doesn’t get a break…well, not until Wayrift…
Though I admit to being curious as to how KoGuRai lived…
Well… KoGuRai actually didn’t live through this.
But if your question is “How did he end up in Wayrift?” the answer goes something like this:
Syn: Wren, you need to play a bad guy again! It’s always more fun when you play a bad guy with me!
Me: Well… uh… I don’t know. I’m not really good at playing bad guys. And I don’t have any who are well designed or need to be fleshed out. Well… I guess except KoGuRai. But he’s dead.
Syn: So?
We’re all still wondering exactly what that Dark Elf magic did to bring him back… XD
TRUTH!
Heh.
But I wonder if this is the last we’ll see of Tsu in Dreigiau? Or are you posting that intermission bit you put in Coming of the Darkstar? Tsu has to deal with way too much misery, and it won’t get better for a long time.
No… this isn’t the last of Tsu you’ll see in Dreigiau. But the question is… does anyone really want to see him after this? : o
No… this isn’t the last of Tsu you’ll see in Dreigiau. But the question is… does anyone really want to see him after this? : o
yes.
well, on the other hand i don’t, because all what will happen is going to be worse (for Tsu and the others). But i think he’ll be a great bad guy.
Much has been planned.
Oh now you’re just being mean! I can’t wait to find out exactly how KoGuRai was revived. And by dark elf, are you referring to the Daear and their corrupted lot?
Jenna: No, not the Daear, but actual Dark Elves (as in your traditional Dark Elves in fantasy). I can safely say there are no Daear that survive Darkstar.
In the FFIV game, there was a Dark Elf in the cave that you had to fight for the Crystal of Earth in Troia. Though you never see any other Dark Elves, it can be assumed there is a race of them somewhere on the Blue Planet… though they aren’t quite as messed up as the one you fought. Syn’s spent some time developing them over the past couple of years.
In fact, one of them is pictured in the old Baronian Teacher Artwork here (if you can guess who it is). They are good at disguising themselves as humans… And the one pictured in that art happens to have been best friends with the Darkstar Dimension KluYa when he was alive. It was a story Syn and I had actually started scripting out… but it got wiped when my PC crashed last year and I just didn’t have the heart to try and revive it.
Hey, Aywren!
I stopped by here, because I believe I am now a full-fledge fan. I think I remember you saying something about revisions and taking the first chapters down or something, but I can’t remember. All I know is I can’t seem to read the first chapters!
I didn’t want to start Darkstar without reading this one first, unless it doesn’t matter. Does it matter? I read Wayrift, and that’s after both of these (I think?) so maybe I’ll just start Darkstar, unless I can’t get to those first chapters, either ‘^.^
Sorry about putting this in the comment section. I wasn’t sure where else to put it.
Thanks, and I love Wayrift!
Hey, Stormcloud!
I’m a little puzzled when you say that you can’t read the first chapters here. Is it an issue of not being able to see the pages or not being able to find them? I’m a bit confused — can you clarify?
These chapters are posted and have been rewritten. But I haven’t heard anyone else having trouble reading them.
The very first chapter starts here:
http://www.dreigiau.com/introduction-1
If you use the arrows along the top to navigate, it will take you chapter by chapter through the story.
Besides that, there is a menu along the sidebar of this site. Is that giving you issues? Please let me know because if you are having trouble, other people might be, too!
Hope this helps!
Oh, and it doesn’t really matter the order you want to read these in. Dreigiau isn’t finished yet anyhow. Darkstar is getting very close to having the final chapters posted, however.
Darkstar is also almost directly linked to Wayrift — it takes place a year before the events in Wayrift. So it may be a little more close to home if you enjoy Wayrift (thank you!). It’s also shorter!
Dreigiau is a bit more epic… far longer… and has a lot of evolution from start to finish in terms of my writing and drawing skills. Since this will be the seventh year I’ve worked on Dreigiau during NaNoWriMo, you may have to endure some of the older writing before you get to the better stuff. But you will see lots of connections in this story to both Shimmer and Wayrift!
Either way you choose to go, I hope you enjoy. It seems most people read these stories side by side without any problems as updates come out every other week for each site.
Thanks again for your kind words. I’m glad that you’re enjoying the work enough to look into the writing!
I’m gonna ditto Khatz on the question of Tsu’s reappearance. Mean as it may sound, I am sort of fascinated to see more of Tsu, even the bad bits. We’ve seen him before his days as Zeromus’ champion, and we’ve seen him after, when he mostly hangs around in Zot. I want to see a bit of the in-between.
By the way, I’m feeling really bad for JouKa. Her life is so massively unfair.
Maybe it’s just my computer. I went to the links on the side bar, I pushed your link, I even went backwards from this chapter because I could see IT, but it seems that before chapter nine-three the chapters won’t load up. I only see the title and the navigation arrows. I keep clicking on the title and it doesn’t load up.
Hope that clarifies my problem a bit. I can see the first chapters of Darkstar, though, at least! Yay! I’m very excited about reading about Ben and Cecil. Also, poor TsuYaaaaaaa! *cry* yes, I read this chapter. I’m terrible.
Thanks! Also, IS there a better place for these kinds of questions? I don’t want to post in the wrong area.
Hmmm.. I’m not sure what the cause of this could be. No one else has ever expressed trouble with this.
However, I did tweak some code on the very first chapter. If you have a moment, could you possibly visit it again and tell me if you can see the writing now? If so, I have an idea of what is causing the trouble.
http://www.dreigiau.com/introduction-1
It’s alright if you discuss site problems in the comments, but if you’re looking for a better place, it would be in the forums:
http://www.sygnus.org/phpbb/
Dreigiau has it’s own forum there that you can post to for site problems.
Ah, yes, I can see the writing now from that link. And chapter two is still unseeable, so whatever you did to chapter one, it must have worked.
Great! Thanks for letting me know. I have a good idea what is causing the problem then and I will be working on fixing it chapter by chapter as time allows. Sorry for the trouble!
I’ve gone through and edited all of Chapter 1 for you. Let me know if you can see those now, too!
Yay! I can see all the way to chapter three!
It was quite a surprise. I read the introduction from your link, then decided to push next and BOOM! The next part of the story was there! Then I came back here and saw your comment. Thank you for going out of your way to do that for me.
^.^
Great! Great! I’ve just finished editing them. Seems like some coding from old MS Word files got jumbled up in there and were blocking your view for some reason. Glad we can figure out the trouble — let me know if you run across anything else.
Thank you Aywren! Now I have lots of fun stuff to read. I will let you know if something else acts up. Glad it was a pretty easy fix, and not something that would take forever, I know you’re participating in NaNoWriMo.
Go NaNoer!!! Write more, write more!!! YAY!
Thanks again!
*to herself* Don’t cy, don’t cry don’t cry.
I’m at work (I know, I’m horrible, I’m at work – I shouldn’t be reading!), and now I’m trying not to cry :’(
Poor poor Tsu
I’ve been drawn to him since Wayrift – and then again in Shimmer, ESPECIALLY after he confrots Aur and is like “did Zemi send you for me?” all broken and whatnot, it broke my heart and I didn’t even know his backstory! And now….my poor Tsu
And really, poor JouKa.
I, like Tearle didn’t know the backstory of Shimmer. Now I do
*Soooob*
Cruel. You give hope only to take it away.
Well done. Excellent way to end this chapter and Book 4. I’ll re-read and proof chapter 19 tomorrow, or after a decent break. Might catch more that way, but maybe not too. After all, these last few scenes have been very very good.
Also, Dark Elves are good at disguising themselves as humans?
Browning isn’t one, is he? Neah, seems unlikely.
Browning is not a Dark Elf (he’s not 100% human either, though)… but he does have associations with them! It’s interesting how that all comes about….
But I say too much! XD
Proofing:
“nothing left but the sheen of (the?) silver helm that sat pinned under TsuYa’s heavy boot.” Maybe, maybe not… I dunno.
“Something in his chest ached terrible(terribly?).” -I don’t know for sure with this either. While “ached terribly” works for sure. “ached terrible” might too.
“One hand clamped around the grip of the scythe that had been left, lying in the street.” -I’m not so sure of the comma again. “that had been left lying in the street.” I don’t know at all for this one.
There. Done! Heh. Of course, I can’t stop here. No, I might just go on to the next book. Just for kicks! I might as well! But later, not now…