Point of No Return 6/8

[Nightheart]

Sorry it took me so long... I went on vacation, then after I got back I immediately got the order to move and so spent the duration of that week packng my things then hauling them inot the truck, then unpacking them, then cleaning the old place; and to top it all off work got a hold of me an one of our guys just quit so coulld I come in? Just my luck. Okay, I'm done here on wih the fic!

Warning: cliffhanger alert!

Lobo Canem looked up at the skies overhead in appraisal. It definitely looked like there was a real monster of a storm starting up; that was a bit unusual for this time of year, the spring storms had been over with for weeks and they should have been entering into the dry spell for high summer. The clouds that were gathering in the twilight of early evening were were dark and ominous looking; heavy with rain and streaked occasionally by long powerful braids of lightening that seemed to stay for far longer than a flash of lightening should. The accompanying rolls of thunder boomed through his chest even from a distance. It was going to be a violent storm; Lobo could smell it with his very sensitive canine senses. The nose of a dog-man could smell bad weather on the wind coming from a long way off; he?d best finish his repairs to the terrace stones and return home to his wife and family.

Theirs was an unusual union; a dog-man and a cat-woman. There had been many detractors from among the other Beastiarii, (or if one wanted to use the politically correct term ?non-human sentients,?). It was a long standing tradition that held the weight of law that dogs intermarried with dogs and cats with cats and birds with birds and so on. Going against tradition even to this day was not easily done. There were still many who were violently against the cross mating of two different kinds of Beastiarii. Their antipaghtyhat had not mattered to them when they fell in love, nor when they married, nor did it matter now. They had lived together lovingly through hard times and through good, through prejudice, through wars, through fire and through storm; she was his harbor and his strength and despite the problems with their being wed in the first place he would not have chosen anyone else to walk the difficult path beside than his wife. Sometimes it seemed like there had been more hard times than times of joy because of the prejudice not just among their own people who were against the union but the prejudice of some full-humans for his kind. He didn?t understand that unreasoning hatred some (certainly not all, but some) humans had for his kind; there had been a time thousands of years ago on old earth when his people and the rest of the Beastiarii had been worshipped as gods by an entire civilization. In fact, the name for the specific type of beast-cross that Lobo belonged to derived from the name of the god that he resembled? Anubis. The colloquially named ?dog-men? were called the Anubi, just as cat-people were called the Basteti, hawk-people the Horusi, ibis-people the Athothi, there wasn?t an ancient god that looked like a dolphin but the dolphin-people called themselves the Delphini. Collectively all groups of non-human crossbreeds fit under the category Beastiarii. Generally the different types didn?t mix, there were no quarter cat quarter dog half human crossbreeds; those who paired off with types outside their species could not mate to bear children. At first this fact had distressed them both early in their marriage after they had purchased their land and built their home with room for a family but the war with Zaibach that had burned down the capitol of Fanelia had solved the problem of the lack of children for Lobo and his wife Felicia. They had taken in a mixed litter of Anubi and Basteti and settled in to raise the orphans as their own. It had been a hard road, the other Beastiarii that were against their marriage had shunned Lobo, his wife, and their children, but fortunately there were always those who were open minded and of generous hearts to counteract that particular element of society.

Lobo supported his family by hunting and trapping animals in the mountains where they had built their home. He sold the fine furs and the excess meat that his family did not require (feeding a family of carnivores required a lot of meat) to traders that passed through on their way to the capitol. His wife liked to stay at home and watch over the children, a job in itself for the wilderness of Fanelia had many dangerous creatures roaming around in it, not the least among them the Fanelian Land Dragon. Lucky for him his wife was a warrior in her own right and a crack shot with a cross bow. Any creature thinking to make a snack out of any of the children she protected reconsidered after finding a bolt in its eye and another aimed at its throat. That was one of the reasons he?d fallen in love with that gal. When she wasn?t scaring off predators or supervising the children in one of the many tasks required to keep their household in order, she liked to make fine bows and fletched arrows; a weapon made by her in the hands of an experienced marksman never missed its mark. He could attest to that, the bow he had slung over his shoulder had been made by his wife?s own hands and it was as fine as any he had ever held or used before. Their two combined strengths of hunting furs and crafting fine long-ranged weapons had brought in a comfortable amount of income in years past and this year looked to be especially fruitful; they had received an unexpected windfall in the form of several coveted beasts being caught in a landslide and killed earlier that spring.

Lobo had taken their skins and as much of the fresh meat as he could carry easily home with him and left the rest for the scavengers to pick at; the next day when he?d passed by that same spot he?d seen a Dathi (a medium sized land/avian predator with an especially valuable pelt) and shot it on the spot. He had caught the usual animals for the rest of the season but with addition of those creatures to his regular catch, he looked forward to a very prosperous year indeed. So prosperous in fact that he was taking his wife and children to the great festival that was being held to commemorate King Van?s rather unforgettable coronation. He could not only sell the furs to the townsfolk directly and save on the traders taking out their percentage, but his family and he would have a joyous holiday together.

?Welcome home dear!? his wife called habitually as she saw him at the crest of the hill that led to the lovely house that he and his wife had built with their own two hands. She was out in the yard with the eldest girl, a Basteti of the age ten, chopping up extra firewood.

?Hello the house!? he called back. The two eldest boys dropped their tasks and raced to attack him from either side. Gamely, Lobo pretended to go down.

?Oi! I swear, you two get heavier every time you try that,? he said laughing. His wife helped him up with a peck on the cheek, her sandpaper tongue preening one of his whiskers.

?How went the hunting?? she asked as he wrapped an arm comfortably around her waist and they walked together into the comfortable interior of their home herding youngsters before them like so many sheep.

?Well enough. I caught three coonies and a realth so it wasn?t a total waste of time,? he replied. The scent of cooking food filled the interior of their home and four little ones played on the floor with their two massive hunting-dogs (not really a necessity for Lobo to have for hunting as his senses were more than keen enough to track a scent but he liked to have the dogs around for extra protection around the house).

?I worry about that weather though,? he continued glancing back up at the clouds as they boiled together in angry blackness. It looks like it?s going to be a monster of a storm tonight, I hope there isn?t any flooding, it?ll make travel more difficult if the path gets washed out.?

?I?m glad you came home when you did then,? his wife said finishing off the last of the chopping and directing the two eldest to store the fire wood in its shed. ?I wouldn?t want to have to go and look for you darling.?

?No fear of that. I wouldn?t want to get caught out in that mess, just look at that lightning.?

?Pretty pretty,? the youngest girl said toddering out along the porch steps and reaching for the threads of light that sliced open the sky with their luminence. Felicia scooped up the child and admonished her that lightning was not to play with. She then ordered the eldest girl, Catra and the two eldest boys Canis and Lupe to prepare the house for incoming blow; close the shutters, secure the gate, check the doors on the sheds, make sure all equipment was properly stowed and so forth before coming in to help with dinner.

Safe and secure inside their sturdily built roof and four walls, the family contentedly ignored the gathering storm outside in favor of gathering around a pleasant dinner and sharing the news of their day. They didn?t always get along so well, especially the youngest twins, but for now they were all in harmony and life was good.

* * *

With the setting sun the forest along the narrow and treacherously winding mountain trail seemed somehow more frightening. It didn?t help that the wind had chilled so suddenly and picked up, now it literally seemed to howl with rage through the branches bending the trees at what looked like an odd and unnatural angle. The wind was so strong! At he back it felt like it was pushing her along, tugging her this way and that like a toy boat in acurrent. It hadn?t even started to rain and already Hitomi felt chills of visceral fear. It was ridiculous, in her experience there was absolutely nothing to fear from a storm; they blew for a little while, dropped a little rain and then went away. She had lived in Tokyo city all of her life and had yet to hear of any real life threatening damage caused by a little bitty storm, they blew newspapers across the yard and the occasional leaf here and there but they were no real threat in the perfectly controlled environment of the city.

Thunder boomed over her head; causing her the duck and almost crash her bike as she tried to cover her ears. She had no idea that thunder could be that loud! Leaves from the wind that blew at her like a force of its own nearly knocked her off her bike. Perhaps she?d better get off her bike and walk now. She fished her flashlight out of her bag and clicked it on; at least she would still be able to see the trail. The rapidly cooling wind grabbed her clothes and flapped it against her back, then changed directions and came at her from the right and then the left. She stumbled as its inconstant moods made her hesitant to brace herself against it, but pressed forward pushing her bicycle along beside her and making her way over the bumpy mountain path.

Another roll of thunder shook through her and lasted for entirely too long. She had been counting the time between lightning flashes and booms of thunder to keep track of how close the storm was and by her count? it was almst upon her. As if to verify that supposition the sky opened up on her. It wasn?t the gentle almost misty rain she was accustomed to, no; it was a hard stinging rain that pelted at her like little rocks thrown by the tumultuous wind. Within moments her clothes were completely soaked through and weighted by the fat droplets of water. The material clung to her skin and the high winds bore away the heat of her body. It wasn?t long before she was shivering from the cold.

Hitomi continued to press on. She didn?t have anywhere else she could go, so the best thing to do was to keep moving forward right? The road was made muddy and slick by the pounding rain that stung at her face. It was so bad she had to cover her eyes, and she couldn?t see anything out of the circle of light provided by her flashlight. Due to the mixture of wind which knocked her about from all directions causing her to lean on her bike for balance more than once, rain which soaked her through to the skin and stung at her eyes, darkness which impeded her vision despite the frequent flashes of white light from the sky; which coincidentally afforded her a lovely view down the steep side of the mountain and a glimpse of her painful fate should she stray off the side of the path? Hitomi?s pace had slowed to a crawl.

<I don?t think this was such a good idea!> she thought as she squinched her eyes shut tight after another lightning flash lingered for longer than it should and showed her a particularly terrifying drop, which in turn caused Hitomi to freeze up completely. She stood there in the bend of the road on a mountain path like a stature, frozen in fear. The winds raged around her, screaming at her and tearing at her clothes, stealing away the heat of her body until she could only stand there and shake.

She suddenly had a very bad feeling? Hitomi found herself swept into the grasp of another vision. Light? a terrible white light. Danger!

* * *

Allesin fought against the howling winds and blinding rain of the storm he himself had created by tapping into the power of the Atlantis Machine. Where was she? Where was she? He knew that little psychic whelp had to be in these mountains somewhere. She had to be here! He sent another bolt of lightning lancing through the sky to turn night temporarily into day so that he could see enough to locate the girl. He had to destroy her and he had to do it tonight, otherwise she would ruin everything!

His eyes frantically scanned along the mountain road which dipped in and out of the trees as it wound along the side of the mountain. He was about to change direction and try for another pass when his eye caught a Human-looking silhouette on an outcrop of rock to the side of the mountain path beneath him. Perfect, he need not even confront her to kill her directly.

Gathering the mighty force of the energy the Atlantis Machine granted him he focused the lightning of the storm, harnessed it to his will, and with a great resounding crack that seemed to break the very heavens itself he sent the bolt streaking to the earth below him. Rock, dust and debris exploded upwards from the force of the shockwave her sent to the fore of the actual lightning bolt itself. Another minor bold lit up the sky soon afterwards? to his satisfaction all he saw was a smoking crater where the path had been a moment before. Allesin allowed himself a small smug smile and winged back the way he had come to go warm himself by the fire and eat a good meal. He had earned it, now nothing would stand in his way.

[Kaili Charmer]

EEP!! You come back and give us THIS??? Gosh, i hate cliffhangars....you need to get over with your vaca and moving and start posting again! I'm entirely too apprehensive as to how this will end!!

[Nightheart]

Why yes. *smiles* Evil, aren't I?

[Lara Winner]

That sneaky, coniving, cheating, cruel, heartless, BASTARD! How could he do that to Hitomi? *shakes fist* You'll pay for this you jerk!

Uh... got a little carried away. Great chapter, but... Hitomi must be alright. She HAS to save Van. Ooh, I must know what happens.

[athena]

You're so evil, Nightheart!

*starts twitching* Post more soon! I don't know how much more us poor readers can take.

Great chapter though. Let's hope Hitomi can fight her way out of this one.

That sneaky, coniving, cheating, cruel, heartless, BASTARD! How could he do that to Hitomi? *shakes fist* You'll pay for this you jerk!

I agree, Lara. *shakes fist too* JERK!

[Kaili Charmer]

Oing...where's the rest of this fic, eh??? I'm trippin here...