Don't Let Me Fall(closed, Inu)

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

On another night after her cubs were asleep, Sorreessa laid down on her bed. She didn’t fall asleep for a bit as she thought of times passed and stared up at the ceiling. Gradually her eyelids began to feel heavy as she started to doze off. It wasn’t long before she was out and breathing softly and rhythmically as her tail swished lightly back and forth before becoming still. A short while later, she wasn’t so peaceful as she tossed and turned and growled in her sleep, the obvious signs of a nightmare crossing her dreams present in her whole demeanor.

[Inu]

She finds herself standing in a barren wasteland, dressed in her night clothes, hugging herself against the frigid air and the bitter winds howling and whipping her clothing around her as it whistles through the shallow gorge of her nightmares. The sky above is pitch black, and in the distants, flashes of lightning and bass waves of thunder can be heard. Above her on the ledge stands her husband, eyes burning with a slow, smoldering rage. He grins, a smile twisted with malice, and folds his arms contemptuously.

"What brings you out here, wife?"

The way he spits the word "wife" is exactly the tone he took with her when first they'd met, and he had been taunting her across the table in the bar. He raises a brow, his mad grin spreading broader across his face.

"Well?"

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorreessa hugged her clothing a little bit tighter around herself from the cold but also from her husband's tone as she bit her lip lightly. She shivered as an icy gust of wind swept past her and over the sparse undergrowth nearby. Her ears fluttered as she tried to figure out what was wrong and what was the matter with Inu. Closing her eyes briefly as another gust of wind swept past, this one carrying some dirt along with it, her eyes then searching her husband's amber ones. She stood where she had stopped upon hearing his voice, wondering if she should move closer, something wasn't right afterall.

"Not a clue..."

She said simply, not liking the way he had said wife, was he mad at her?, she wondered, still frozen in place as her tail swished just barely at the tip. Her ears swiveled about a bit, listening for someone else, he couldn't be mad at her, it had to be somebody nearby that was the source of this rage burning in his eyes. Upon hearing nothing but the sound of the wind whistling around them, she waited to see what he had to say back, wondering all the while, what was wrong. Had Armaiil gotten to him and made him what he was before? Her thoughts raced with questions but she looked up at him all the while as her heartbeat quickened in the beginnings of fear.

[Inu]

Not a clue, she says.

"Well that figures, since when did you ever have any idea of what you were doing? I engineered your escape from your job, helped you hide because YOU had no idea what to do next, always asking 'Inu, where can I stay?'...'Inu, what do I do?'...you're weak. The weak deserve death."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorreessa bit her lip lightly as he spoke, her ears going back a little as he mentioned death. She looked up into his eyes once again, not believing what she was hearing as she studied his face. It had never bothered Inu helping her as far as she knew of, he had always offered, she didn't remember ever asking.

"jI neverrr asked that jI can rrrecall...."

She said quietly as she continued to look up at him, she had always tried not to be weak around him.

[Inu]

"No...I suppose not. But then, if I hadn't offered, you'd never taken the initiative on your own. Your fatalistic attitude toward your damned intelligence work is proof enough of that."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"Neverrr knew jit botherrred you, jInu..."

Despite that she wanted to look away in slight shame of that, she didn't, it would only make her look worse. Instead she continued to look into his eyes for the look she saw from him most of the time when he was with her.

[Inu]

If she sought the warm, comforting smile that he wore only when with her and the children, she was in for disappointment. He truly, with all his heart and soul, despises her.

"Your pathetic behavior is enough to make a man sick. Look...it's even rubbed off on the children..."

Kalia crawls around from behind her father and he lifts her by the back of her baby pjs. Instantly she starts to cry, filling the air with sobs and cries that pull at the heart of parents.

"You've allowed them to become cowards, Sorreessa. Look at her. At one time she would have defied her elder brother...now she fears her own shadow. They say children pick up on their parent's behaviors...I suppose watching you mope around without me and getting half-killed by your son has rubbed off on her."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorreessa looked up at him, her ears fluttering, thinking to herself, this isn't real, just a dream, he would never say that.

"jI know that you don't mean that..."

[Inu]

"Weak...here, child, is your reward for your cowardice!"

He releases the child and draws his sword. The blade flashes and the child squeals, then silence overtakes the land. At Inu's feet are two Kalias.

"As it should be..."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorreessa bites her lip to keep from screaming, keeping her eyes still level with his as she refuses to look.

"Thjis jisn't rrreal.....thjis jisn't rrreal......"

She repeats to herself, knowing in the back of her mind it's a dream and Inu would never say or do such things, he loved Kalia and he loved her, he would never cause any harm to them. But the look in his eyes was getting to her.

"What jis gojing on? Thjis jisn't you! You would neverrr do thjis!! I know that you love herrr and that you love me as well..."

She fell to her knees, she didn't have to be strong for this fake Inu in her dreams, it wasn't him saying such things and she would never think otherwise.

"Stop thjisssssss...."

She said, seemingly to the ground since her eyes had dropped to there, she couldn't look at his fake anymore nor would she give him the satisfaction of seeing the pain in her eyes as tears began to well up in them but her hair covered most of her face from view. She knew this all wasn't real but the sight of it still got to her as her claws dug into the dirt beneath her.

It finally became too much for her, gathering herself, she jumped up at him and knocked him over. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. She knew this was not her Inu but she did it anyway, the pain of it all becoming too much.

"Stop this! You are not my husband! Wherrre jis the man jI love? You arrre not hjim! jI rrrefuse to beljieve you! He would neverrr do thjis!"

She yelled as she dug her claws into his shoulders but not quite hard enough to break the skin. By now, she didn't care what happened, let this one do whatever it was that he planned for her, it wasn't her true self, she just wanted it all to end so she could wake up from it.

[Inu]

He reaches calmly around her and takes hold of the back of her head. He pierces her and wrenches backward, tearing her off him with a painful, neck-wrenching pull.

"It could be worse..."

Hiroaki floats up and begins to circle them, followed by his twin sister.

"Far worse..."

His blade begins to rotate around its hilt, slowly at first, like a buzzsaw just starting up, then begins to orbit Inu's body. In a sudden burst, Inu and Sorr are soaked with blood, their children's screams ringing in their ears.

"Still don't think it's real? Still believe it's all a lie? Do you still believe that your darksider husband could never be so evil, so callous, as to kill his own flesh and blood?"

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorreessa growled, her ears going back as her tail lashed back and forth.

"jI don't believe any of this jis rrreal! jInu may be a berserker but would not cause any harrrm to those he loves. jI know he loves hjis children, he looks at them the same way he looks at me."

Sorreesa growled some more as she realized what this dream was, it was the fear she had had of him the first time he had spoken of the other side to him. But by all accounts, she no longer had such fears, she hadn't feared him when he had drawn his sword or when he had told her what he did on the day they found she was with child, their second Kalia. Sorreessa shook her head to get rid of the thoughts.

"jI'm not afrrrajid of any of this! My husband would never cause hjis famjily harrrm! jI rrrefuse to beljieve otherrrwjise!"

[Inu]

As she's finishing, Inu cocks his arm back and slugs across the face, hurling her to the desert floor. Her landing is softer than she would have imagined. She's landed on a dead body. The dead body of her oldest son, Anuberis. A giant gash has opened him from collarbone to navel, running all the way through his body.

"I killed him too." he answers before she can ask.

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"Hmm, djidn't the tjimes he had the chance beforrre, why would he now? At any rrrate, you arrren't hjim..."

She still looked bravely up at the false Inu, wondering what this dream aimed to prove. She knew her husband would never do this so why was her mind torturing her with these images?

[Inu]

"No, I'm not him. I'm worse."

He leaps down off the gorge and drives a fist into her stomach. He lands in a low crouch, his face next to hers.

"Why do you fight the truth? No good can come of it."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorr winces a bit as she tries to deal with the pain, surprised a little that it hurt and a lot. Still she fights the urge to hit him back, wondering what good it would do, but she doesn't shed any tears or cry out.

"Trrruth? Therrre jis no trrruth to any of thjis!"

She stopped talking briefly to cough up some blood then spat it to the ground nearby and a thin trail of blood ran down from the side of her mouth as she looked up at him once more.

"jI love and trrrust jInu, jI gave up my fearrrs as soon as jI kjissed hjim that fjirrrst tjime. jI wjill neverrr agajin fearrr hjim, so feel frrree to do as you wjish, jI won't change my mjind. I told hjim that jI would love hjim no matterrr what and jI hold to that vow!"

[Inu]

"As you wish."

He shoves her back and takes hold of his eldest son's arm, yanking hard on it as he stands. The arm comes away from the body and Inu deals her a heavy blow with it.

"Handy, ne?"

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

The blow smashes her head to the side where she growls lowly before glaring up at her attacker.

"What do you seek to prrrove!? How does a fake kjilljing my chjildrrren and beatjing me up do anythjing! You are not my husband and jI know he wouldn't do thjis so what does thjis ljittle game jintend to prrrove?"

[Inu]

"Nothing, I suppose. It doesn't have to prove anything to you. It has to do with ME, Sorreessa. All things have an end that benefits ME. Marrying you? Not because you are attractive. Because it serves a purpose for me? Four children? They mean nothing, merely a potential army to fight my godforsaken creator. But it appears I didn't need them after all..."

He kicks her back toward the gorge's opposite wall, then takes a fistful of her hair and shoves her face into it. Or rather, into the entrails of the mad scientist who hangs dead on the cliff wall.

"Success. At long last...It's maddening. The ecstasy of vengeance!"

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

Sorr winces but ignores her revulsion since she's too angry at the moment.

"jIf jInu was ljike thjis, he wouldn't have even helped me, he would have kjilled me that day but he djidn't. And what good would marrrrryjing me serrrve jif he djidn't love me? By that tjime, we alrrready had two cubs. Nothjing you say jI wjill beljieve!"

[Inu]

"Because once I finished with him, you were next in line. An ally you were, though a temporary one."

He wipes her face in his guts and wraps his intestines around her neck, creating a blood soaked noose and leaps to the top of the cliff, hanging her in mid air.

"I'll KILL you. You've been as much an obstruction as you have an assisstant."

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"Ljies, what good would jI even serrrve to you jif jI was so useless as you say? Why would you botherrr to save me jif jI am as weak as you say?!"

She yelled then unsheathed her claws and slashed through the instestine noose. Unlike she planned though, she didn't fall which would have woken her up, she landed on a small outcropping in the rock. She cursed her luck but it seemed her mind wanted to mess with her a bit more before letting her go.

[Inu]

"Still you resist? Fine. Believe what you will. But if what you say is true, why then did I leave you to find my murderous intent?"

He draws his sword and walks to the edge.

"Sleep on it."

He leaps from the cliff, sword aimed for her neck, and swings...

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

That finally did the trick as Sorr jolted awake, breathing as though she had just run a marathon. Her body was covered in sweat as she tried to calm her nerves. She hunched over slightly as she put her hands on her knees while her heart seemed to beat a million times per second. The last few words of her dream came back to her.

......Still you resist? Fine. Believe what you will. But if what you say is true, why then did I leave you to find my murderous intent?"

Sorr shook her head at the words, Inu had left to train again so he could get back at Armaiil. Other thoughts such as "Is that the real reason?" taunted her thoughts for a moment until her eyes drifted to moonlight glinting off her wedding ring. She shook her head, no Inu would never leave her except to train, he loved her and she loved him. Her eyes then drifted to their children who still slept peacefully oblivious to the horrors their mother had just faced in her dreams. Sorr smiled at them before lying back down, nothing could change her mind about Inu and she soon drifted off again.