Starring:
Date: Month Day, Year
Summary:
None given.
"The Saddest Thing"
Unknown location
(Former player of Rurohashi Ruri here. This is a 'Song fic' I wrote a few
months back. Basically the saddest thing I have ever written… And yet
everyone who has read it has remarked how moving it was regardless. Hope
everyone enjoys.)
Song: "Tears Of An Angel"
Everyone returned to shore alive who had left it alive. That ancient,
living-and-yet-not monster had sunk back into the ocean depths. Team 01
was victorious. Ruri, Kara, Shemri, Nai… And where was Rinako? Ruri is
weak, wobbly, exhausted… And yet one thing drives her to keep on going
for the moment. She has to find her sister. She approaches the giant
beetle nick-named 'Junior' and asks him where her twin is. Then Junior
explains.
He explains how Rinako is dead.
Ruri's smile freezes where it is, hollow and mirthless. She raises a hand
when Junior moves to block her, but it is not to strike him, but to place
her palm over the covered right eye that has been restored with Sheex's
removal from her being. They're finally twins again.
And now Ruri has no sister.
- Cover my eyes *
- Cover my ears *
- Tell me these words are a lie *
Ruri looks at the bloody blanket that covers her sister's form. She feels
sick inside. She feels like she was on some stairs and thought there was
one more step left, but when she tried to plant her foot on it… She
found it wasn't there. It's a lurching sensation, like the ground has been
torn out from under her. It's the feeling of losing the one she loves.
- It can't be true *
- That I'm losing you *
- The sun cannot fall from the sky *
Rinako was the light in Ruri's life. Rinako was the only thing that kept
her going. Rinako can't be dead. She can't be. The sky full of storm
clouds is clearing, but rain still falls. It feels like the entire
universe is crying alongside the younger of the Rurohashi twins.
- Can you hear heaven cry… *
- The tears of an angel? *
- Tears of an angel… *
Boss-Beetle looks down upon Ruri, Kara, Shemri, Shiikaa… And the
motionless, lifeless body of his human friend. If he had tear ducts, he
would be crying too. But there's a solution.
He gives his life and the sisters are reunited by his sacrifice.
- Tears of an angel *
- Tears of an angel… *
— Elsewhere and elsewhen, the same twins, but different people, and on a
different world —
Other-Ruri is kneeling in the sand as the temperature of the desert drops
so quickly that air moisture is turning to snow in the sky above. One hand
is pressed to the side of her face following Other-Rinako attacking her.
She can't believe it. Her sister attacked her. Her own nee-chan refused to
answer where she was going, why, or even reply to Other-Ruri's calls…
Only to turn and strike her to the ground.
Other-Rinako tells her little sister that she's going to go join the side
of the same one causing this bizarre weather change, the dome of black
fire over Sunagakure, and everything else. All for power. Power to punish
this ninja world that has made life so awful for everyone.
Power? For POWER!? Other-Ruri can't believe it. So she denies it.
"You're LYING, nee-chan!"
Other-Rinako recoils from the words as though struck herself. Then she
snarls out that she's doing it because of the people who have tried to
make Other-Ruri into a monster. She's doing it for a good reason! She has
to make everyone see how wrong they are! She's not strong enough alone!
"You should know better than anyone, imouto-chan… What kind of villains
we're dealing with. They can't be allowed to keep hurting people like
they've hurt us. I need to become stronger to punish them. Misu Yane has
the strength I need, and he has promised it to me!"
"This isn't the right way, nee-chan! You're going to hurt even MORE people
just because they hurt us!? How will THAT fix anything!?" Other-Ruri
demands. Other-Rinako has no answer. "If you think this is the right
way… I'll follow you. If this guy is really as great as you say, take me
with you! IF YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH ALONE, THEN WE'LL DO IT TOGETHER—!"
"'WE' CAN'T, BECAUSE -YOU'RE TOO WEAK!-" Other-Rinako screams out in
interruption. Now it's Other-Ruri's turn to look like she's been hit. It's
more like she's been stabbed, really. It feels just like that. Like she's
been stabbed in the heart by her own sister. It hurts so much she forgets
to breathe the freezing air.
- Stop every clock *
- The stars are in shock *
- The river would run to the sea *
The creeping ice is beginning to break the land apart, freezing
underground water sources, and cracking the earth. Other-Rinako glares at
Other-Ruri, and inside she hates herself for what she's doing. But she
knows she needs to get close to this bastard after what he revealed to her
before. She needs to offer her loyalty so she can crush him and protect
her sister. Even if her sister hates her for it, she can't let the monster
have Other-Ruri. That was his condition for letting them live.
Hand over the Lord of Water, and he'll spare the twin sisters.
Other-Rinako won't let him have her sibling… So she'll go to him and
kill him herself.
"I won't let you," Other-Ruri rasps out harshly as she resumes breathing.
The tears on her cheeks are already turning to ice. "I won't let you go. I
don't care about punishing people. I don't care about what others may have
done! YOU are the only one who matters to me!" Other-Ruri stands up, as a
shroud of Chakra engulfs her, forming into a tail that rises above her
head. "I'll stop you, even if I have to do it by force."
- I won't let you fly *
- I won't say goodbye *
- I won't let you slip away from me *
The twins lunge at each other, and there is a clash of powers. The first
tail of the Three-Tails and the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates Technique. A
flash of light blanks out everything else.
- Can you hear heaven cry… *
Some time later, the sky is shrouded in clouds so dense that high-noon
during summer has become midnight in winter. Dead Winter has begun.
Other-Ruri lies on her back in the sand and snow, bloody, beaten,
bruised… and alone. Her twin's erratically placed footprints lead off
and away through the snow that continues to pile up.
- The tears of an angel? *
Other-Rinako continues to cry uncontrollably as she makes her way to the
place she was told to bring her sister. It is there that the Ghoul of the
Desert waits for her.
- Tears of an angel… *
Misu Yane poisons the elder of the Rurohashi sisters. He poisons her with
his own twisted soul. For he is Sheex, inhabitating an undead body, and
partial possession is within his power. She screams out her hate for him
and her terror of what he's going to use her to do, right up until she
STOPS being HER.
- Tears of an angel *
…And even then, buried deep inside her own mind, she keeps fighting to
regain control.
- Tears of an angel… *
— In the future of that Other-World —
Other-Ruri with mastery over her Bijuu, Other-Rinako with partial control
of her poisoned body… Ruri and Rinako with similar developments of power
and determination… All four have battled the Dead King TOGETHER and
WOUNDED him so grievously that Sheex attempted to flee his undead form in
a desperate bid to survive… Only to be eaten, body-and-soul, by the
Ghoul from Ruri and Rinako's world. Now the Citadel of Eyes is crumbling
around them, they are fleeing, and a bridge of stone falls away beneath
their feet. Other-Ruri hangs from a ledge by one hand, the sister she has
hated as a traitor for years hanging from the other hand. Other-Rinako
looks up at her younger sister, uncomprehending.
- So hold on *
"Hold on, Rinako!" Other-Ruri calls out, as she grips her sister's wrist
tightly.
- Be strong *
"I'll get us out of here!" Other-Ruri doesn't look down, too busy forming
three tails of Bijuu Chakra to aid her in scaling the crumbling cliff
one-handed.
- Everyday… hope will grow *
Other-Rinako remembers their training as ninja. When she, as the older
sister, was weaker than her sibling thanks to the Three-Tails. She is
supposed to be protecting her little sister! The whole reason an older
brother or sister is born first is to protect the little brothers and
sisters that come after! So she trained as hard as she could to become
strong enough to fulfill that role. But she also resented that her
imouto-chan could surpass her so easily. It was that seed of resentment
that the Dead King had used to control her.
- I'm here, don't you fear *
She remembers comforting her sister in the night. She remembers saying she
would protect her imouto-chan no matter what she had to do. Then she comes
back to reality. Black fluid runs from her eyes, nose, and mouth. The Dead
King's poison, leaking out of her as she regains her memories and
full-control of her body.
The ledge crumbles. The entire mountain shakes. Other-Ruri loses her grip
on the stone. Both women fall.
- Little one, don't let go *
Then Other-Rinako is the one supporting them as she punches her fingers
into the stone with strength alone. It's time she starts acting like a big
sister for once. All resentment is gone, and only love remains.
- Don't let go! *
"DON'T LET GO, RU!" Other-Rinako calls out over the rumbling that is like
the voice of the God of the Planet as he awakens in anger. Other-Ruri
looks up at her sister with wide eyes as she sees her mirror-image's flesh
flushing, changing, green energy flowing from her in an aura of pure
Stamina-derived power. 'Rinako the Traitor', saving the same sister she
has been struggling so very hard to capture for her master all these
years. Now she's struggling to save Other-Ruri.
Other-Ruri tries to call out the words, '…Nee-chan!' as she realizes
this is her real sister now. The sound of the earth collapsing around them
is so loud she can't even hear her own voice. But it doesn't matter,
because Other-Rinako is herself again! Everything will be alright! They're
finally twins again! Other-Rinako is NOT the thing the Dead King was
controlling all this time ANY MORE!
"The Eighth Gate…" Other-Rinako intones, voice unheard. "THE GATE OF
DEATH!"
White power engulfs Other-Rinako as she becomes so gloriously, blindingly
bright, that she looks like an angel. A pair of feathered wings seem to
flow from her shoulders. She runs up out of the depths using nothing but
the air-pressure generated by the force of her footfalls upon that same
air. The ceiling of the mountains begins to fall down on them even as
Other-Rinako streaks through endless tunnels and passages. The dark sky
lies above and the bridge is gone. Not even she can span the chasm that
lies before her as Other-Ruri is cradled in her arms.
Other-Rinako doesn't hesitate. She swings herself around and hurls her
stunned little sister towards safety, literally MILES away.
- Don't let go! *
Other-Ruri screams out, unheard, all three of her tails failing to help
her as she reaches back down towards the blazing Other-Rinako. The older
of the twins just smiles up at the younger as the latter rapidly recedes
to a pin-point in the distance.
The mountain shatters completely, and the elder sister then falls into the
darkness and smoke.
…
- Cover my eyes *
…Other-Ruri wakes up in the warm arms and comforting embrace of her
older sister. She opens her eyes and smiles as she looks up, only to
find… It's not 'her' Rinako. Ruri stands nearby, holding a broken arm.
Rinako, already healing from her own injuries, has Other-Ruri sprawled
across her lap. All three women are on a snowy plateau overlooking the
cavernous pit that was once a mountain and once had the Dead King's palace
atop it.
- Cover my ears *
Other-Ruri's eyes fill with tears as the realization sets in. The mouths
of the other two are moving, their expressions filled with emotional pain
of their own… However, Other-Ruri can't even hear the words being spoken
by the other two. Then she screams out her anguish, and she can't hear
that either.
She's deaf.
- Tell me these words are a lie… *
They're finally twins again…
But now she has no sister.
…
A column of golden sunlight shines down upon the Earth for the first time
in years from beyond the cloud layer as those clouds dissolve. Dead Winter
is over.
The End
