Animation Source Forums

Rue's restraint broke then and there. Raised in a family where she was used to actual fighting with her siblings, she found it hard not to aim at her once-friend, instead hitting a nearby tree. It split the skin on her knuckles, but she ignored the blood, anger washing out any other feeling, including pain. She stalked closer to Setsuko, careful not to touch Li as she jabbed her with a rigid finger. "It doesn't matter how you feel, or what you would like to do, Setsuko." The name was spoken with surprising contempt. "What matters is how you act. And when it comes to that...well, you suck."

Without giving her a chance to reply, Rue took a step back and flared her wings. She leapt into the air, and was soon high above the ground, the night air tangling her already knotted hair.

Setsuko gritted her teeth agrily, face contorted in horrid patterns of paint and anguish mixed in with splashes of wild horror and anger. Li stirred again and began to struggle.

But Setsuko hardly noticed in her rage. It took all she had, all she was capable of to keep her emotions held in, and she could feel a few leaking out. And she didn't even have anyone left here to vent to, or Rue to explain to.

And then the seams burst.

Setsuko screeched into the air, expression still plagued with the horribleness of the situation. "No!" she snapped, "No, no, no, NO!" Her teeth gnashed, her eyed squinted. Several stinging tears burned her reddened face as the spilled like a river from the rainstorm in her gaze. Her skin, her very being, trembled with ferocity. Bursts of adrenaline began coursing through her heated body, and she began kicking and hitting everything withing reach...those stones, that tree, this fallen log. Another screech, this one a bit hoarser, sounded before she passed out cold, a hurt and pitifully wailing Li still in her arms.

Rue had misjudged the distance somewhat, and Tariq heard Setsuko's angry shrieks. He looked startled, and glanced at Kuilak. "Maybe you should check if she's okay..." he ventured cautiously.


Rue didn't even feel a bittersweet explosion of joy as she flew; no matter how angry or sad she was, she usually did. But this...well, it was just different. She had viewed Setsuko as a close friend, but couldn't take her melancholy attitude anymore. And then things....exploded. The word was actually fairly accurate. Things had exploded. And tears blurred her vision as the thought occurred that their friendship might never be the same again.

Kuilak could feel his heart pounding erratically as he heard the screams that sounded somewhat like Setsuko's voice. He nodded numbly at Tariq's suggestion. "Yeah. Maybe." But he hesitated, almost afraid of what he might find if he went after her.

Tariq mistook the reason for his hesitation. "I can keep an eye on the kids," he assured, though he wasn't positive that would end well. He didn't let it show. "Go on and check up on her."

"Ok," Kuilak mumbled, though he was still nervous to take a step. But then, in his thoughts, he remembered that Setsuko still had Li.

And if she was yelling like that...

Uh-oh.


Kuilak dashed off in the directions of the sounds, heart, if possible, beating even faster with anxiety.

Tariq sighed as the sounds of an argument reached his ears; Maddy and Gale, no doubt. He turned, trying to look like Rue when she handled these situations. "Break it up," he ordered....or tried too.

Maddy yelled out an insult at that exact moment, drowning out her father's voice. It was followed by a cry of pain as her hair was yanked hard, and she kicked him in the stomach without thinking.

Gale doubled over, wheezing for breath as he glared at Maddy.

Tariq chose that blessed, brief moment of silence to repeat himself. "Break it up!" he said, as sternly as he could.

Maddy looked at him in surprise. "Dad....you sound like Mom. That's just weird."

Gale nodded, agreeing with her for once.

Well, Tariq thought, I at least succeeded at something.

Kuilak look around frantically for any sign of his wife and son as he ran. Where could they be? Had he gone the wrong direction? He tripped in his nervousness, flopping across the ground like a fish out of water. Panting heavily, he scrambled onto his knees to see what he tripped over.

He nearly had to do a double-take. And then, the fear really began to set in, like a stab to his heart.

"Setsuko?" He mumbled. "Setsuko? Oh, Setsuko, no!" He scuttled over as quickly as he could and took his unconscious wife's hand in his. The skin was cold, but he could feel burning pulses of blood rushing through it at the same time. "No, no, no, no..." he mumbled again, over and over.

But then soft whining caught his ear. Li! The young child was still curled up by his mother's body, cold and shaking. Words could not describe the absolute shock, worry, and pain that clouded Kuilak's expression just then. He reached out as carefully as possible, though his hands were shaking terribly, and lifted his tiny son. The child's breathing was panicked, but also slow and infrequent, exhales coming as broken whines. "Oh, no," Kuilak whispered, voice cracking slightly. He held his son up to his chest and rocked him slowly, a few lone tears escaping the deep blue eyes that he shared with the child, hoping that his horse lullaby would put Li to sleep and heal all that he felt:

Close your eyes,
Go to sleep.
There is no
need to weep.

I am here,
right by your side,
to you, I always
will preside.

So close them, now,
let your dreams,
Take you fr...fr...fr...

Kuilak could not bring himself to finish the gentle song that Setsuko had once sung to all the children each night. Rather, he himself began to weep as he noticed that Li's ragged breaths had all but stopped.

This had been the child's last lullaby.

Kuilak sniffled as drop after drop of hot vinegar tumbled down his face. He held his late son as close as possible, sobbing as softly as he could manage, and took Setsuko's still cold hand in his. The blood was still rushing. At least she was not lost.

But a young child was still a heavy toll to pay.

Ooc:// Holy....moofpants, Natti. o.o I suspected it...but still. Wow. Talk about depressing.

----------

Rue decided she had been in the sky long enough...besides, the temperature was dropping along with the sun. Memories of their argument lingered, tainting her mind. Maybe she should check on Setsuko...and possibly apologize. Giving up her pride was surely worth keeping their friendship. Besides, she really had started it.

The avian-hybrid made a slow, wheeling turn back to where they anger and frustration had spilled out. She took a deep breath, forcing her tears away. She reached up and wiped them with a chilled hand, promising herself she wouldn't cry again, forgiven or not.

Once she had landed....she broke her promise. She caught the last strains of Kuilak's trembling lullaby. She saw Setsuko laying limp, but as her chest rose and fell evenly with her breathing, she could tell her friend wasn't cause of the tears. It was Li, the young child who had unfortunately been caught in the midst of the horrible argument. He was limp as well, but his chest didn't rise nor fall. He stayed abnormally still, and Rue could tell that the spark of life had left him.

And she sobbed.

Kuilak sat in his metal isolation for what felt like hours, too shocked and despaired to notice Rue's sobbing behind him. When he was finally able to pull himself together enough to move, he stood slowing, hoisting up Setsuko and Li. Since Setsuko was scarcely smaller than Kuilak, he found it difficult to lift her in such a limp state, but he managed, keeping hold of Li's unmoving corpse as well. In standing, he at last noticed the figure crying behind him. He turned, and his tear-stained face and desperate reddened eyes said everything. Slowly, Kuilak began to drag his feet into the lonely path towards the camp.

Rue felt rather empty inside. Was Li dead...because of her? She had started the argument after all. The avian-hybrid shook away those clinging, horrible thoughts, stepping closer to Kuilak. He was struggling slightly with the combined bulk of Li and Setsuko, and Rue helped support her friend somewhat, carrying a portion of the bender's weight in her own arms.

She looked at Setsuko's still face - what had happened?

Upon entering the camp, Sumi, Kya, and Misaki ran up to Kuilak, Yuumi lagging slightly behind. It didn't take long at all for them to realize that something was seriously wrong. Kya glanced back and fourth between her father's pained expression and her mother's limp body. "Wha..."

But Sumi was the first to notice their little brother, bruised, broken, and unbreathing. The color quickly drained from his face. "Oh, no..."

Tess was close behind Misaki, and noticed Li shortly after Sumi had, having followed his gaze.

Maddy walked closer, argument forgotten. Her curiosity soon changed to a sense of sadness as she noticed Li. It wasn't hard to see that he was the reason for Kuilak-and her mom's-tears. The small child was limp like Setsuko, but Maddy could see he was far worse off than his mother was. He looked....battered, and his tiny chest didn't rise nor fall with the pattern of his breathing. It stayed frighteningly still.

Tariq was surprised to see tears streaking his wife's face, still pouring out of her red-tinged eyes. He quickly stood, and walked over. He knew Rue rarely cried, and when she did, she had good reason to. He placed a hopefully comforting hand on her back, rubbing the area between her wings the way he usually did. She didn't react beyond giving him a weak, watery twitch of her lips in a failed attempt at a smile.

Kya's mind finally registered what happened. "Oh, no," She mumbled, echoing her older brother, not wanting to believe it. "Oh, no...he's not...?" She glanced up at her father, a sickly worry painted on her expression. Kuilak nodded numbly, a few more straggling tears making their way down his cheeks.

Kanna, also noticing the reason for the mayhem, clasped her hands over her mouth and her eyes widening, letting out a faint squeak.

Misaki, being younger, was not so sure about all this. She tugged on her sister's sleeve. "What? What happened." She mumbled. "It...it...it's Li..." Kanna mumbled before her eyes rolled back and she passed out of shock. Still inquisitive, Misaki persisted to Kya. "What about Li? What's wrong?"

Kya thought it over, trying to decide the best way to explain to her little sister what had just happened. But Sumi quickly jumped in, and he was not one to tone news down just for younger ears. "He's dead." He said flatly, trying to keep what he felt inside.

"WHAT?!" Misaki squealed in shock, running up to Kuilak and trying to see Li, hoping desperately that Sumi was only joking. "No! He...he can't be!"

Rue set Setsuko down. While she wasn't all that heavy, and Rue was a lot stronger than an ordinary human, her friend was slightly awkward to carry. She wrapped her arms around Tariq, burying her face in his chest. Her tears were sure to leave wet marks on his shirt, but she didn't even think about that, sobbing softly.