| [Jul. 7th, 2008|04:33 am] |
Six hours earlier
Water closed over her head. She tightened her grip in Kuromaru's fur and yanked on their chakra pathways. Rock rained down on them. Something struck her shoulder. Chakra strengthened muscle and bone, like a shield under her skin. She plastered herself over her familiar, all too aware that he wouldn't think to do the same. Right now, he wasn't thinking about anything.
Tsume could feel the pounding of the waterfall and struck toward it, drawing more power down her pathways, making it flash whipcord fast between her and Kuromaru. They still had a predator on their trail, though the fall and the rockslide had hidden them.
It took more chakra to lend her the speed and strength she needed to haul a nearly two hundred pound beast through the river, under the falls, and up. She stuck her hands to moss-covered rocks, gasping for air as she dragged herself out of the water. Muscles flexed. Chakra sang. She pulled her familiar up by any part of him she could grab.
The skin at her temple prickled uncomfortably. She ignored it and yanked harder, until he was vomiting up riverwater, halfway out of the falls. Claws scrabbled for purchase. Muscles bunched and writhed as he struggled up.
His black coat was plastered to his body, relieved only by the swath of meat above one eye. The edges blackened as she watched, sliding into an ooze. It smelled like a kill three weeks old and fur gone rotten. She tried to ignore it, staggering farther from the falls and into the cave behind.
It would be fine. It had to be fine.
Kuromaru lay on his belly and whimpered softly, pupils blown to their fullest with fear and pain.
Blood sleeved her arm. She ignored it. Her temple and ear burned. She ignored that, too.
Somewhere beyond the crashing water, a ninja was still after them. It wouldn't take him long to realize they hadn't surfaced and start looking. Time was limited. |
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