Along Came The Wind

Part 2

Leaves crunched, moist between her toes.
Deer and wild cats raced by her side as she ran to the edge of Magnolia forest, bounding down hills, leaping, bolder to bolder, swinging from vines protruding out of its side to a valley of trees.
Her heart unsettled. She couldn’t feel it.
Since in the atmosphere, something was off. Nothing in the Outskirts whispered without her knowing. Grew without her feeling the change in seasons first. Before a root poked its way through the soil. A stem gave birth to a bud. Deep in her spirit, Shu had always known what was needed to care for the land and the lives she’d been given. How to protect and watch over what she’d been called to. She was their First. Guardian and leader. A wall between, keeping out what comes to harm. But, Ashura changed that. Affected her connection to all things, in a way she hadn’t known to watch for. Her sensitivity to nature. Plants and Animals. Nomads who lived in the Outskirts, building villages, pruning fruit trees and flowers. She was naked. Exposed in a way she’d never been. She’d always had a connection to Soul. Unlike most, her understanding came naturally, born with the ability to move what couldn’t be seen. To feel what couldn’t be touched. Before the jewel placed in her solar plexus gave her the expression she has today, Soul was an extension of her body. What she willed it to be — shaped in her imagination. Formed in the atmosphere of Yohanan. Who she once was.
Now, worry. Frustration.
Tears she wiped. Her stomach grumbled in pain.
Anger she fought to hush. A sour taste crept from the back of her throat and lay on her tongue. Vibrant colors swayed on branches, in fields of grass that felt like silk on the bottom of her feet as she sprinted toward charred wood. A breeze puffed, lifting cinder above what was once green in the distance. How could she leave Hu alone after everything that’s happened?
A Second with barely any experience, struggling to use Soul. Tame his emotions. He didn’t know what to look for. To listen. Touch currents. Notice shifts. Feel the outline of a body bumping against the wind. Scent seeping from their pores. How could she leave him? Her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach.
Blue skies. Stars piercing through white clouds.
What others found beautiful was daunting to Shu. For her, the autumn of Ashura was a time of mourning. Not of celebration like it was for most lands. The Showing of Stars. The honor of teachers and more to humanity.
Another explosion. “Hu!” She trembled. Shu planted her feet in mid-motion, pulled two metal rods from the holster on her back, and slammed them together forming a javelin.
A deep breath.
Power streamed from the jewel, flooding her muscles.
Pain thudded over the top of her body, screaming for her to stop.
She bit down mustering through. Wind gathered from the dale and compressed around her weapon. Her chest swelled and she hurled forward, letting out a heavy breath. The javelin thrust, a gale swirling, convulsing from her palm. Lightning splintered from the rod. Thunder burst, clapping against the ground, scattering animals here and there. Blue leaves scooped from the valley floor by the strong force funneled behind it.

Fire blazed from Bison’s back bursting him forward.
Embers. Leaves turned to ash the closer he got to Him.
Hu, stiff, barely able to move, hunched against the base of a tree.
His mind. Voices. Screams that stole his power every time he tried to use Soul, haunting him with the idea of anger. Gorged on his connection, leaving him with little strength, watching as an inferno, consuming air, hurled its way passed blackened bark. The heat touched Hu’s skin before the flames. He wasn’t afraid. Just angry. Sweat down the side of his face. How could he let Bison get this far? He should have been stronger, he thought. “Dad would have been.” He said to himself. Flames illuminated, whipping in the air around Bison’s body. A cool breeze cut through the heat and brushed against the bottom of Hu’s feet. “…Shu!..” With what little energy Hu had left, he pushed himself to the side and grabbed a root sticking out of the ground next to him.
Thunder grumbled. Lightning crackled.
A javelin blew through the forest wooshing past him.
A blast of wind tore behind it, taking Hu into the air, feet dangling.
He gripped the root as tightly as he could.
Blue leaves swooshed against his face, scattering through the forest, covering the ground. Branches and bushes bent without breaking, away from the weapon as it split its path dangerously toward its target.
The firestorm around Bison, snuffed by the gale before the weapon hit, stabbing him in the shoulder. Armor burst from Bison’s body, shattered by the blunt force followed by a clap of thunder and a blast of lightning slamming against him. Bison flung, folding backward out of the forest, skidding across the grass on his back, unconscious.
Hu’s chest touched the ground before his feet did.
Shu stepped out of a gathering of greenery next to him.
Her hands shook. The aches. The pain. Burning that took hours to stop. All, back like it never left. She looked down. Blue leaves in his hair. Dirt clumped inside of his tattered shirt. Blood down the side of his cheek. He was more important than how she felt. She was good at pushing through pain. Even better at hiding it.
Leaves fluttered from His shoulders. Hu sat up, propping himself up against the base of a tree as best he could. “…I’m sorry…” He leaned his head back.
Her heart dropped further into her stomach. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” A weight, heavy on her shoulders. If she had been with him…she should have been here to protect him. Her thoughts judged her. Blamed her for how he felt. “I’m the one who-”
“No!” Hu grumbled. She could hear it in his voice. Parts of him breaking. “It’s my job to protect the Outs and I failed. I’m the Second over this land. I should have been able to keep my composure long enough to stop him.” Hu looked up. Stars. Brightly shining. Clouds that couldn’t stop their brilliance from being seen. Vividness. Luminosity. Their luster. Radiance held his gaze longer than he knew to look away. “…I thought Ashura would have helped me… But, It happened again…the voices. The needle-like feeling in my chest. This time, all at once.” Hu scrunched a handful of his shorts and clenched his jaw. His eyes, still set on the stars. Fixed like every passing second may be his last to see them. “No matter how much I pray. How many times a day I meditate, it doesn’t seem to cut the tension. It’s always too strong. My understanding of Soul has grown. My body can hold up under the pressure, but, I still can’t…” His lip quivered. He swallowed the anger. The rage that boiled in his chest moments ago, stopping it before it could grab hold of him again. “…The voices show up…and…” Hu looked at his hands. Caluses. “The training isn’t working.” He folded his fingers into a fist. “…It’s not Granddad’s fault…It’s me.” He said glancing at the mountains behind Shu.
Her eyes stuck on his, admiring who he once was.
Excepting who he was becoming. The color of them.
Light gray, slightly shaded by a darker tent.
Something that could only be seen up close. Gentleness she failed to protect. Innocents that reminded her of him.
“What do you think Dad would do?” Hu asked.
Shu Smiled. “Place his faith in Ahava, as always. Say something prolific, like, this too shall pass,” Shu giggled. “…Because it will…”
“Tell that to Granddad.” Hu staired. Mountain tops poking above the trees. “I’m sure he saw it all.” Giant clouds loomed over rocky hills miles away. Snow-covered peaks as a backdrop. “My Loss of focus…everything he’s been working on with me. By now I should at least be able to hold it together long enough to defend the Outs…there’s no way he’s not disappointed.” Hu mumbled the last few words under his breath.
“And if he is, what’s new? Let the impatient one, be impatient. Even if you could do all the things he taught you, he’d find something to complain about, that’s how he is.” Shu swiped her hand in the air. “Trust me, I’ve been the First over the Outs for a while now, making peace with the other lands, and he still finds something. It’s like Mom said, if it’s not his way it’s the wrong way. That’s how Granddad is. Don’t be so hard on yourself, It takes time to learn how to use Soul and everyone is different. We’ve talked about this, remember?”
Hu spat. “Tell that to my chest. I’m sure no one else feels like they’re going to explode when they try to use Soul. At least they shouldn’t. Especially if they’re linked to a jewel.”
Shu took ointment and a clean cloth out of the pouch from around her
waist bent down and wiped some of the blood from his face and neck.
Hu slapped her hand away from his face. “What are you doing!?”
“What’s it look like, wiping the blood off of your face.”
“Now isn’t the time for that, we’re in the middle of a fight.”
“What fight? he’s unconscious.” Shu jerked Hu’s face back towards her.
“So, go finish him off before he wakes up!” Hu wrenched his head out of her grip.
“This is more important.” Shu jerked his head, this time squeezing him into half a headlock so he couldn’t move.
Hu slapped his hands against her elbow.
“That’s too tight, I can’t breathe!” He squirmed.
“And yet you speak.” Shu squeezed harder. “Now be still so I can finish.” She wiped the rest of the blood from his cheek. “One thing’s for sure, he’s the only person you’ve had trouble with. You took out his Numbers without any help. That’s pretty good if you ask me.” She let him out of the headlock.
“Yeah, well,” Hu gasped. “That’s not saying much when you still had to save me. If I was able to use Soul-” He coughed. “-If it wasn’t for you showing up when you did-”
“You were ready to lay your life down for everyone in the Outskirts, that’s what matters. Our job as Numbers is to protect the land and lives we’ve been given to watch over. Not how well you can use Soul.”
“What about the Elders?” He coughed. “When they hear about this-” He rubbed his neck. “-I see how they look at me.”
“They’re looking at you like that because they’re old and can’t see well. Except mom. That’s just her face.”
Hu snickered and rubbed his neck some more. “Yeah, she does have resting-”
Shu slapped her hand over his mouth before he could finish what he was saying, and dabbed ointment over the cut on his cheek. “It doesn’t look that bad now that I’ve cleaned it. You won’t need stitches just bandages. Can you stand?” Shu placed a bandage over the cut, smoothing it over his cheek with two fingers.
Hu winced, “My legs are a bit shaky but I should be able to now.”
“Really!?” Shu laughed “I just gave you a compliment about beating up twelve people without any help and you flinch when I put a bandage on your cheek?!” Shu punched Hu in the arm.
“Ouch,” Hu chuckled. “You know I hate bandages. They always pull my skin in a weird way. And my cheek’s already sore.” Hu rubbed his arm.
Leaves ruffled in the grass outside the tree line.
“…Shu…”
“I know.” She buttoned her pouch.
“It’s the guy in the picture we saw, Bison. The one who killed Brooks.”
“…I know…” A throb shot through her body. Ripping and tearing.
“…Shu?…”
“Yes?” She straightened her shoulders and stretched her head from side to side.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, why would you ask that?” She giggled.
“…Because…your hands.” Hu gripped her wrist. “There shaking.”

Bison drug himself to his feet.
Vision blurred. Stars sat over smoke that billowed from the burnt forest under it. To him, each one, color of its own.
Trees, their representation when spoken about.
Thoughts and emotions, fruit hanging from their limbs.
Turquoise. Lavender. Emerald. Cobalt blue, twinkling in a horizon unmoved. The autumn of Ashura. The sign of a new beginning. The rebirth of Yohanan. Bison pulled the javelin out of his shoulder. A guttural grunt. Blood bubbled outward, sliding down a metal plate seared around the left side of his body, protecting his heart and lungs. The Jewel of Flame, embedded in the bottom of his chest, crimson, the color of his eyes.
“Like the stories I heard about your father. You, too, make hard things look easy.” His voice grumbled into what was once a lush forest. “And, like he would have done. You aimed for my shoulder…Oh, what a soft heart you have.” Bison said, still gazing at them. Little lights, as if diamonds, floating in an ocean. Steady between day and night. His hand quivered upward unannounced. “How close we are. To a freedom we could have never imagined.” He whispered to himself — a smile. One of somberness and dejection spread. “We are the same in most ways, you and I.” His eyes fell from the stars onto the ashes of what used to be an array of green and brown. “Children born in a world of transgression, we had nothing to do with. Prodigies in using Soul, living amongst those we’ve had to raise under the umbrella of our understanding of the spiritual. Denouncing the Stars chosen for us to worship…and, that’s where we are different… in the ones we worship…” Bison hurled the javelin. Flames exploded into a swirl around it, blazing through the tree line. He fumbled his way to the center of the field where pieces of his armor lay scattered. His chest plate tapped against his foot. He picked it up. “If I could move my arm, I would applaud you. The autumn of Ashura seems to have not affected your connection to Soul. At least not enough for someone to notice, I should say. Either way, I’m impressed.” Bison covered his chest with the armor. A respirator clanked around his face.

The Javelin rushed through the trees, funneling soot into the air.
Shu held her arm out behind herself.
The fire around the weapon snuffed, cooling before it slid into her hand. She spun her javelin, pulled it apart, and stabbed the rods into the ground next to her. “You did good, Hu.” She smiled. “I got it from here.” She stood up.
“Wait!” Hu grabbed her wrist. “What’s he talking about, Shu? Why would Ashura affect your connection to Soul? I thought it was supposed to make it stronger. I mean, I know I’m having a hard time, but, why would you? Is that why-” Hu stumbled to his feet as quickly as he could without falling back down. “ Is that why your hands are shaking?” Hu took a step. “I won’t let you fight him alone.” He fumbled over his feet.
Shu swivled her hand. A gust caught him, placing him on the ground against the base of a tree. Shu knelt and placed her forehead against his. She ran her fingers through Hu’s hair. What Bison said about her was no longer. Only his inability.
“I’m fine. I promise, Hu.” She said softly. “Thank you for caring.” Her fingers combed through his hair one last time.
Shu made her way to him.

Bison stood in the distance, face covered, halfway rejuvenated.
His eyes, burning. Watching as she got closer.
He took a deep breath and flames appeared, searing the wound in his shoulder closed. He snatched the chest plate from his body and tossed it to the ground. “It is done.” He gasped. Blood crumbled from his torso into dust. “Why, with all your understanding of Soul, haven’t you done anything? Why not be bold instead of hiding away in the Outskirts of Zo? What happened to the love your father had for Yohanan? Did he not pass it on like I heard?” Flames huffed from Bison’s nose. “Am I truly the last one who loves our world?”
Wind swirled around Shu. “When did persecution become love?”
“Purification.”
“They both start with P. I can see how you got confused. No matter what legacy followed the Jewel of Flame before you, people fear it now because of what you’ve done. Once known as a symbol of peace and healing. Now a jewel known for being the same color as blood. That’s what you want for the next generation? To live in fear of being persecuted because they don’t believe in the same Star as you?”
“Fear? There will be no fear for them. The next generation will be the first to be born after the rebirth of all things once I get done.” Bison looked up. “When the eclipse starts. We will have seven days. And then, we will all be made new. We will be one with our savior.”
“No Star has the power to restart humanity.”
“Yet, you follow what you call a God, saying it can wash away all transgressions anyone has ever had, and all they have to do is believe?” Bison tilted his head. “If you believe your God can do that. Why can’t I believe my God can bring the rebirth of Yohanan.”
“By killing First and stealing their jewels?”
“Zo has taken a step backward because of the Council of Stars and no one seems to be bothered by that except me. They’ve taken into consideration Imperial’s offer to trade minerals for technology. Do you know what that could cost us?”
“Yes, we could lose everything. Not just the land but who we are as a whole. Every step we’ve taken to get closer to some understanding of peace could be lost. It’s more than likely that Imperial would try to draw the lands into war against each other, using that as a cover, while draining Zo of its world blood. Depriving the content of its nutrients. Killing the land we’ve given our lives to protect. After that, they would lead an open attack against anyone that was left on Zo. The Outskirts is the first line of defense against them, meaning they’d come for me first.”
“Then why ask why?”
“There’s a better way. The lands may be able to reunite and be at peace again, we just need to set up a meeting. A conversation-”
“A conversation?” Bison scoffed. “The Council of Stars is driving Zo to its death. We’re one of the last continents free from the rule of Imperial. If we allow them in now…Yohanan…our world…” He shook his head. “…The flames would eat us alive…We would burn in eternal fire. We’ve learned nothing from the past so we repeat it. A conversation won’t put us back on the path to peace…our savior will…” Bison placed his hand over the jewel embedded in his solar-pluxes as if pledging. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done as worship, making way for the one to come. My only concern is for the health of humanity. I will save us from the fire in my dreams. The judgment that awaits us for all the sins we’ve placed on the world….before you judge me, think of what’s to come if I don’t do this…Why stop me when I’m only doing what you’ve been too afraid to do? I’m healing the planet. Healing humanity. It takes more than prayer and meditation to make a change. At some point, someone has to get their hands dirty. This time we will have a God that won’t fail us. One from new history, not old. What I’m doing is the greatest act of love anyone could do.”
“Taking away our free will by making us submit to a Star?”
“Yes, will have one mind. One heart with our savior.”
“We’ll be slaves to its will if were lucky…or worse…much worse.” Shu grimaced, shivering at the thought of being controlled.
“Look at what we’ve done with free will. Why should we be allowed to have it when all we’ve done is kill the ones next to us and destroy the land given to us?! What world is safe from humanity?!”
“You’re wrong, Bison! Freedom is a gift, not some toy you can just take away because you’ve decided humanity’s miss using it. We have to work through our problems together. That’s the only way we can become one. There is no Star that can do that for us. Killing only takes us further away from peace.”
“Everyone I sent to the other side is waiting for the new beginning next to our savior. They feel no more pain. Only love.”
“No savior is waiting. And love isn’t control.”
“The one who loves us saved us once before and will do it again.” A tear rolled down Bison’s cheek. “I will offer you the same that I offered them. Hand over your jewel. Bow, and make way for the one to come, or be placed with the rest in waiting.”
Shu balled her fist. “Life. The choices we make, whether good or bad, is the gift we’ve been given.” Clouds formed. “I won’t let you take that from me or anyone else. And I will die before I let you unleash hell on Yohanan.” Shu stopped at the edge of the forest. Thunder rumbling above her head. “You knew that before coming here,”
Bison stood in the field of grass. His followers spread here and there around the two of them. “…I used to be like you…Romanticize about this life Yohanan could have, thinking a conversation would be enough.” His tears turned to flames. “Until I saw the black flames. And, now I understand what must be done.” Flames lifted from his body “Because of that, I’ve learned to be ok with my compassion being misunderstood.”
Fire exploded from Bison’s back shooting him forward.
Shu leaped, thunder clapping under her feet.
They launched violently gliding towards each other.
Clash!
Shu pattered through combos, blocking and pushing her way into his guard, using how small she was against him, staying as close as she could to his body.
Bison’s attacks cut through the air, flame blazing their surroundings.
Shu skipped, thrusting to the side out of the way of the fire, and then launched back into his guard parrying more combinations. Legs, fists, and blasts grazed her as she danced between each attempt.
Bison swung, and Shu rolled, his forearm skimming the top of her head.
He threw a kick, a wave of fire behind it. Shu blew into the flame, snuffing the wave before it could continue.
The ground under Shu transformed right as she finished rolling.
She spun out of the roll, twisting from side to side, gliding in and out, pirouetting into back flips, and somersaults, dodging spikes that shot from the ground like missiles toward her.
Bison grabbed his chest in pain, grimacing trying to stay on his feet.
Shu leaped, high into a flip avoiding the last spike, and bounced off the air as if a wall. She corkscrewed forward, hit the ground, slid between Bison’s legs, and swept him before he could gather himself.
She threw a palm strike into his back shoving him above her.
Wind scooped her from under him.
She twirled upward as he fell back, drifting around his body.
Bison winced and balls of fire formed in his hand, illuminating different colors.
Shu spun until she was above him, thunder grumbling around her.
Bison raised his hands to attack.
Shu threw a punch into the middle of his chest.
Her fist touched his skin. Thunder rumbled.
The ground folded behind him.

Bison lay in a small crater unconscious.
Stars pierced gray clouds dissipating in the sky above Shu.
Lightning pulsed, jumping from Shu’s muscles.
She sat on the edge of the crater, heaving.
Heart racing. Hands and feet, numb.
Stomach turning more than before. Bitterness.
The taste of vomit creeping from the back of her mouth.
Steam rose from her palms. The jewel in the bottom of her chest burned. Bleeding.
“Are you ok?” Hu hollered from the treeline, using burnt bark to balance himself as he wobbled his way through the forest as quickly as he could. The rest of his words, muffled by the pounding in her ear. She could feel Soul leaving her body at a rapid pace, more than earlier.

A Sail-ship floating on clouds came down from the sky and landed on a hill.
Soldiers wearing blue and silver armor stepped out of the back of the ship.
“I can smell them through my helmet! They smell like feet! I can’t believe Jasira calls these animals friends!” One yelled, fighting his way to the front of the pack. His armor more silver than the others beside him. “It’ll take three days to get this smell out of the ship. I don’t know why we have to let these dogs ride with us, can’t we put them with the luggage!?”
Hu hollered a question she couldn’t hear.
The pounding, less but still there.
“Mecca.” A voice said from behind the others answering the question Hu asked.
Her heart jumped. Her body tingled, in a good way this time.
A soldier moved through the small crowd and stepped out. “Ayana got sent to the land of Flatonia with Meto.” They removed their helmet.
His eyes were the first thing she noticed.
Even from where she sat she saw them. Glowing.
The color of honey when the sun touched them. His skin, sienna.
Soft brown. Beautiful and smooth. His hair white like the flowers on the magnolia trees they used to climb. And, just like that, Shu was a kid again, standing with him on the tallest hill they could find reaching out to touch the belly of a sky whale. A smile warmed her cheeks.
Flutter in her heart. Butterflies in the pit of her stomach.
For a moment, she couldn’t remember the pain.
She could only hear him. Soothing and soft.
His voice, velvet to her ears. She was safe…
She was home like she’d never left…
“…Amare…”