A low rumble filled the air and the ground beneath his feet trembled. Bewildered, he glanced at his brother but gained no gaze in return. His brother was already looking towards the source of the sound. Another low rumble rolled past them, the ground quaking beneath them with greater force as his other brother stepped up to his other side. Together, the three of them watched as something large miles away rose into the air only to come back down. The subsequent rumble and quake made him think whatever it was, was hitting the ground with tremendous force. Repeatedly.
"Solaris, can you make it out?" he asked. He certainly couldn't.
The younger of his brothers shook his head. "Luran?"
The older brother pulled off his glasses, cleaning them. "Not enough to make out what's going on."
Another rumble.
The quake that followed shook the ground hard and plenty of things got dislodged. A number of the bystanders that had exited their homes in search of the noise were knocked off their feet. He surprisingly kept his foothold.
A sharp wind slammed into him and an all too familiar chill ran down his spine. Immediately his hand went to the top of his head but he knew what would be there long before his fingers buried themselves in the thick mane he now sported. His gaze drifted right and found the older brother's appearance had changed from a lion to some sort of reptile. His brother was staring at his scaled hands with a look of concentration as if he was trying to will the kuro back into the depths of his soul. Turning his gaze from his now scaly brother, he focused on his other brother to see that feathers had replaced fur and those eyes were now honed in on the source of the chaos without any outward show of concern for the forced kuro shift.
All around them were shouts and cries of confusion as the kuro that many had suppressed – be it to keep themselves safe or due to the strict laws in place – had been brought into existence.
"Solaris?" he asked, voice quaking but with what, he couldn't tell. There were too many things and far too many emotions that he was choking on them. No longer a lioness but a lion, able to be in the kuro he had desperately wanted to live in but couldn't, it was like a bitter dream he didn't want to have disappear. "What do you see?"
"Trouble." His brother's gaze flicked to the other brother. "How sure are you on your wings, Luran?"
Those leather wings spread wide, stretching their full length. "As sure as you are on yours."
The brothers grinned at each other as Solaris opened his own wings. Those eyes still ever his brother's focused on him. "You able to keep up, sis?"
His grin was sharp. "I'll be right behind you."
Solaris nodded.
It was easy for him to coax his kuro to trade places with a different one and he felt the muscles in his body stretch and move in a way he hadn't been able to feel in far too long. With all four paws on the ground, he stretched a bit before shaking himself. Even in this kuro he could tell that the lioness one he had been born into was no longer in his reach, regardless of whether it was bipedal or not. He turned his gaze to the trouble who knew how far away and dug in.
"Let's go," Luran called out and Polaris kicked off.
He felt the brush of both winds kicked up by his brothers' wings and he knew that both had raced after him looking for lift.
They found it at the same time, the wind from their down strokes buffeting him from either side till they were too high for their wind to reach him.
His paws hit pavement and he dug in harder, giving himself to the sensation of running as hard and as fast as he could using every muscle in his body to keep himself moving forward. Luran and Solaris settled far enough ahead of him that he could keep an eye on them without looking away from where he was running. Another rumbled and he kept running through the quake, grateful and mildly impressed with himself that he hadn't been tripped up by the shifting earth. His brothers slowed as if worried but he kept going, kept pushing forward.
The rumble's tone was still low but it was loud enough that he felt it just as much as he heard it and this time the ground rolled, the streets breaking as buildings toppled and he leapt from one wave crest to the next, his brothers coming in to aid him as they could. The closer they got to the source of the whole mess, the more clearly they could see what was going on and it was making the hair on his back stand upright in fury.
Luran dived in first belching fire at what lay in Polaris's way. Solaris was right behind him, talons sharp and well-aimed as they dug into the creatures that were getting between them and their target.
Polaris dived through the mess, eyes wildly searching for the figure he and his brothers had seen.
The ground beneath his feet quaked savagely as the section of earth rose again. The piece was massive and it was all Polaris could do to keep his foothold as he found himself on the piece of earth rising into the sky.
"Laris!"
He turned, seamlessly shifting to his biped form and with sure feet, he wrapped his arms tightly around the body that slammed into his. His feet left shallow gouges in the earth from the force of the catch and as he came to a stop, he took a step back and spun, flinging the body in his arms skyward and farther into the center of the top of the mass. The little fluff ball of a body shot through the air with a squeal of laughter, before their kuro gave way to one incredibly larger. The earth that was smoothly rising into the air quaked beneath him as the massive kuro punched the ground, splitting the massive piece of earth into several pieces.
Polaris kicked off racing towards the center of the mass as that massive kuro changed again. Two new bodies landed on either side of him and kept pace with him, both ready for a fight.
"Who we up against, Laris?" the one on his right demanded, his code name rolling off their tongue with habitual ease.
"Kyor."
The two bodies jerked to a stop and he skidded to a halt, spinning in the motion enough to be facing them when his body stopped moving. They were both giving him looks they didn't have time to deal with. He straightened, stating plainly, "If you can't keep a clear head, you don't have to stick around. You are more than welcome to leave this fight to me and the others."
"Do they know?" the one that had been on his left asked.
"Solar and Lunar are aware," he appeased, wondering briefly if his brothers were aware of his and each other's code names. "I don't know who else knows."
"Have they worked together before?" the first asked with a frown.
He shrugged, shifting his stance so that his body left him more open to move towards the center again as it felt like the ground beneath his feet was coming to a stop. He felt almost weightless and it sent a thrill through his system. "They're family, Cryo. Even if they haven't on the field, they'll work well together now."
The ground started to fall.
The two before him reacted to the change in direction with a hint of panic but he just turned his head as two shadows overtook him. "Get Cryo and Hermes," he directed calmly. "Make sure they'll be in fighting order when this ride stops."
"What of you?" Luran asked, feet barely brushing the ground.
He gave a sharp grin. "I'll be fine. It's not like we haven't been in this situation before."
Solaris laughed, joining them with the duo clinging to him for support. "Certainly not to this magnitude."
Luran walked over and took Cryo from Solaris. Both of his brothers look at him, expressions professional, determined, and barely concealing their worry. "You gonna be alright, Laris?" Solaris asked, answering the question he hadn't had the chance to ask.
He nodded. "Get them to safety. I'll go punch Kyor in the face."
Solaris kicked off as Luran grinned. "Don't go taking all the fun for yourself."
He laughed. "I'll try to leave you something but I make no promises."
Luran nodded. "Stay safe, Laris."
"You too, Lunar. Watch each other's back for me."
"Always."
He turned as Luran's wings spread wide and started for the center of the mass where the one he had thrown was still fighting against Kyor - the same person he and his brothers had caught sight of before the others had joined them. Thankfully the one he had thrown had assistance because Kyor was kicking all of their asses.
He wasn't sure if it was just good timing or if someone had seen him but as he leapt to join the fray – arm back ready to punch Kyor in the face – the bodies between him and his target hid him from sight before abruptly moving, giving him the opening to follow through and actually land the hit.
Kyor's head snapped to the side and the ground quaked as some of the villain's control fractured. He reached back to have another swing but Kyor retaliated faster than he anticipated and he turned his punch into a block against the chuck of earth that tried to collide with his face.
He spun with the force of it and transferred it all into a kick. Kyor's shin met his and the pain was fleeting as Kyor countered with being the one with a better stance to do so.
Quickly and ferociously, they threw attacks at each other with as much power as they had in a chaotic dance on that falling chunk of earth. He knew they were running out of time but as long as he kept Kyor from lifting everything into the air again, then it was enough.
He heard the first of the chunk of earth hit the unrelenting ground and he ducked under Kyor's attack in order to throw them both into the air. He had to trust the others had gotten off safely, if not at least out of harm's way. The entire things fractured and broke apart, shattering as Kyor lost hold of the massive piece of earth. His desperate leap didn't stop their downward motion but it countered it enough that there wasn't recoil from the chunk of earth, no injuries sustained from the landing beyond what Kyor dealt him. He twisted, forcing Kyor to hit a piece of earth that had shifted so that the flat surface was more of a hall now than the ground they had just been fighting on.
Kyor coughed from the force and he couldn't help but admit the landing hurt. The villain beneath him didn't seem to care, recovering quickly enough to try and kick him. He pinned the other down, one leg tangled around Kyor's to force the other's weight onto the knee he had pressed into the makeshift wall between the villain's legs. He managed to get both of Kyor's hands pinned with one hand and Polaris used his free arm to put pressure on the villain's throat.
"Enough," he spat.
Kyor scoffed. "Oh please. It's not like there's anything you can do to stop me, Laris."
It felt like Kyor had reached into his chest and gave his heart a good squeeze as those blue eyes glared at him with the fury of a black hole sun - and if that wasn’t a thing, he was certain Kyor would invent it if need be. Kyor was egging him on and he didn't - couldn't - react to it now. He added a bit more pressure, wondering where the others were at. He was going to get backup to make sure Kyor went into custody this time, right? "Trust me. I can try."
He felt Kyor's hand flex with the grip on the other's wrists. It was the only warning he got before a massive, very solid piece of earth slammed into his back. It shoved him into Kyor but did nothing to free the villain. Polaris tightened his grip on the other's wrists threateningly, growling as he put his full body weight on the other's throat. "Do that again and you'll probably break your own neck with my arm."
Kyor's eyes flashed at the challenge and Polaris braced for another attack.
This time the attack came from the right. If he had been standing any other way, Kyor would have knocked him free. Instead, all the villain did was scrape and bruise Polaris's right side, which inclued the arm pressed against Kyor's throat. It pushed him into the villain and he felt the other's hot breath against his neck. But he could still feel Kyor's arms flexing and before he could get back upright, another chuck of earth slammed into him from the left.
Attack after attack slammed into him and a few slammed into his head so hard, he wasn't sure if it had made him black out for a few seconds or if it was just all happening too fast for him to keep up.
"Yemnal."
The attacks stopped.
He wasn't sure when they had stopped but they had stopped. It took far too long for him to focus back in on where he was at, what he was doing, as it felt his entire body had been thrown down the side of a stupidly tall mountain. As he started to recenter himself, he became aware of the fact that he was pressed up against Kyor, head nestled on the other's shoulder where blood was making skin contact tacky. He wanted to push away, to put distance between them, but it seemed too much.
There were arms wrapped around him anyways. It wasn't like Kyor was completely pinned anymore.
"What did you call me?" the other demanded, breathless. He frowned even as just one blink seemed to take longer than normal. Fingers scrapped at his back as he felt Kyor shift under him but it wasn't in an attempt to dislodge him. Why wasn't Kyor taking this chance to flee? Kyor shook him, agitating a number of wounds. "What did you call me."
His slip of the tongue came back in a hazy sort of way. "Yemnal."
He found himself on the ground. It seemed that Kyor finally threw him off.
"Why did you call me that?" the other demanded.
He couldn't tell if it was due to the head injuries he had sustained or if it sounded like Kyor was actually scared of the answer. "A slip of the tongue," he offered in what he could coherently create as honest.
The fur at his chest was fisted and he was yanked upward. He hissed in pain as Kyor brought their faces together and it was all he could do to get one eye cracked open. "That's not good enough!" Kyor barked. "Why did you call me that!"
Confusion pulled at him as his vision swam. Where was he again? And why did the other look so....so worried? "Because that's your name," he ground out. Why was he in so much pain? Was Yemnal pissed at him and had taken it out on him during their spar? "Yemnal, what's going on? Why are you mad at me?"
The ground was unforgiving when he hit it again and he couldn't help the grunt that escaped him. He couldn't find the strength to push himself up enough to look for Yemnal. "Damn," he hissed. He took a shaky breath in, floating through the pain enough to open his eyes. He couldn't focus on how his body was laying without getting swallowed by the pain but he was glad that his head was at least angled skyward. White, puffy clouds drifted by lazily beyond the haze of dust.
"How do you know that name?"
He frowned at the heavens, not understanding the quaking of the other's voice. He wanted to move, to look at Yemnal's face, but even the thought of moving caused pain to shoot up his spine. He tried to grin but he wasn't even sure if a smile made it onto his face. "What are you talking about? Of course I know your name. It would be rude to not know my partner's name."
Silence.
It lasted so long that he had let his eyes close and was contemplating sleep even as, at the edge of conscious thought, he wondered where Yemnal had gone.
"Hey," that familiar, warm voice coaxed, a rough hand against his cheek. "Don't go to sleep."
He let out a huff in a laugh but it caused him to start coughing.
The pain was excruciating.
When he finally came out of it, his breathing was shallow and every muscle spasm sent pain flashing through his body.
"You can't sleep yet, Polaris," that familiar, warm voice cut through, shattering the darkness that had been overtaking him. "You've got to stay awake."
"Yemnal?" he asked, the word coming out in a croak. It hurt his throat but his desire for answers pushed him through it. "What happened?"
A breath of silence.
"A mess of things," Yemnal answered, though there was an odd quake to the words. "But help's on the way. You'll be fine."
He'll be fine? Wait, what had happened? What about Yemnal?
He forced his eyes open but he wasn't able to make anything out. The world was nothing more than a kaleidoscope of colors. "What about you? Are you ok? Did you get hurt?"
The desire to check Yemnal – to make sure the other was uninjured and safe – drove him to try and push himself up but his arm flared in pain and gave out under him. The cry was involuntary as he crumpled to the ground.
Hands, shaking and careful, pressed against him as Yemnal urged, "I'm fine. Just a few bruises. You need immediate attention, though, so try and stop moving."
He let out a shaky breath, grateful. "Ok," he ceded. "Ok," he sighed.
Someone was shouting but he couldn't make out the words.
He hoped the kid across the street who had a hidden kuro like him would say yes to going to the river tomorrow. He felt so isolated and the other kid – his name was Yemnal, right? – looked just as lonely as he felt. Polaris hoped they could be friends.
That would be nice. Then he wouldn't feel so lonely when his brothers hung out together without him.
Prompt #1 - "Black hole sun" (July '19)
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks