11-11-2009, 11:02 PM
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!
An immense, fuzzy, horrible, monstrous bear was face-to-face with Sophia, who stood frozen in place before the gigantic animal. Sage had backed away, and tripped backwards over an exposed tree root. From her place on the floor, she wanted to scream at Sophia. To tell her to run, to move. To do anything but just stand there.
But she couldn’t find her voice. Every time she made to speak, or to shout, nothing came out. A strained squeak replaced any intelligible commands she might have wanted to give, and left the blonde at the mercy of her own wits, which, too, seemed to have taken an inappropriate moment to go on holiday.
The bear reared up, towering over the little priestess and roared again, menacing her with its humongous claws and rows of sharp teeth. The thing wound up and came crashing down with one of its deadly paws.
A sharp burst of gunfire shrieked out, and the vicious animal recoiled with a groan, and furiously shook its head. A large energy burn radiated out from around the creature’s left eye. The fur around it was black or missing, and a scorch mark marred the flesh beneath.
Sage, still on the ground, lowered her rifle, and immediately felt a twinge of sadness for the bear. It had terrorized them, but it was just an animal, and was now blind in one eye. The blue haired girl leaned back and rested against the tree, her eyes still trained on the mighty animal.
Sophia backed away from the animal, which was now pawing at its eye, still pathetically moaning at its predicament. She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder, nodding to the doctor behind her. Sage kept her focus on the bear, afraid it would strike out again.
Climbing to her feet, the hybrid raised her gun, readying herself in case the thing suddenly became irate again. Unfortunately, the act of raising her gun had exactly the opposite effect she had intended. The bear, recognizing the ki rifle as the source of its pain, roared a thunderous roar, eliciting a shriek from both of the girls, before it propelled itself forward.
Dropping her gun to flee, Sage chased after Sophia as they began to run as hard as they could through the brush. Very quickly, they realized they were in trouble. Where they had to weave around the brush and other obstacles in their way, the bear merely crashed through it, even felling a thin spruce tree on its pursuit after the terrified women.
“Keep running, Sage!!” the blue eyed girl shouted. Her younger friend didn’t have to be told twice. Sage was running as hard as she could, and wasn’t prepared to let anything change that, lest she become a messy pile of cold cuts.
The two of them pounded their feet over rough ground and dead leaves, leaping over roots and fallen trees as best they could. They were doing well, but they failed to notice the steep drop ahead of them. Sophia was the first to tumble forward over the incline, eliciting a sharp curse that would have deeply embarrassed her in almost any other setting. Sage was too close behind to stop in time, and she, too, slipped over the edge, and the two of them tumbled down the steep slope, crashing into the forest floor about fifteen or so feet down.
Sophia made it to her feet first, and helped the coral eyed girl up. “Do you see it?” the fallen one asked, frantically searching for the bear. “I don’t see it.”
“I d-don’t eith- um- th-there!!” she exclaimed, pointing past her friend. Sophia turned around to see the gargantuan creature pick its way down a slightly less aggressive drop. As soon as it was down, it bolted once again, and this time it was too close to run.
Charging a sphere of ki in her palm, Sophia hurled it at the bear. It exploded on its forehead, but did nothing to slow the creature down. “Look out!!” she finally cried, and tackled Sage into a bush, narrowly evading a swipe of the furry bulldozer’s claws.
The blonde leapt to her feet and rushed away from the animal, drawing its attention from the quarter saiyan. The bear was too quick, though, and gained on her faster than she had hoped. “S-Sophia!!” Sage called after her.
No! I won’t let you! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me again!
She hauled herself to her feet and chased after the bear. Billowing clouds of steam, as white and pure as the snow from the highest mountaintops poured from her closed fists. Extending her arms, Sage released a torrential blast of freezing cold energy, and missed the bear entirely.
Instead, the elemental ki crashed into Sophia. Or rather, all around her. Almost immediately, the priestess found herself trapped in an enormous block of ice. The bear crashed into it, released a grunt of pain and surprise, and bounced off the frigid structure harmlessly.
Undeterred, it scrambled to its feet and slammed its claws into the ice, scratching and scraping at it, but making no effective headway. The cracks spider-webbing on the surface belied how strong Sage had actually made it. She wasn’t going to let the bear make a meal out of her friend.
“H-Hey, bear!!” she shouted, trying her best to sound as authoritative as she could. The creature turned to face her and rose up on its hind legs, immediately removing that illusion. “G-Go away!!” she shouted, ignoring the color rapidly draining from her face, and the horrible shivering sensations going up and down her spine. She was quaking. “Go away!!” she demanded again.
A defiant roar thundered the bear’s response. “Go away!!” Sage shouted, louder this time. She threw her hands out at the creature, and a flurry of painfully sharp flakes rushed at the creature. It was huge, and had thick skin, but the constant barrage of the little pinpricks in its flesh confused and frightened the bear, and Sage poured on the snowstorm, obscuring herself and the forest around her, adding to the bear’s confusion. Finally, it ran, turning away from the source of the storm, and catapulted itself into the forest.
Sage’s storm died away as she watched the bear run much faster than she assumed such a large creature could. It was huge. Her furiously beating heart attested to that. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She had surprised herself. Her hands shook uncontrollably, but she had taken charge of the situation, for once. If only her sister had been there to see it.
And then she gasped. She had forgotten about Sophia! Racing back to the big block of ice, she willed the glacier to recede, and it rapidly evaporated into nothing, revealing her friend. She wore an expression of relief, and seemed frightened.
“A-Are you... okay?” Sage ventured.
“Yeah... I just... I didn’t know what to expect when you, uh, froze me,” the girl replied. “That was... different.”
“Oh... I didn’t mean-”
“It’s alright, Sage,” she sighed, and then suddenly recalled the bear. Immediately, she scanned her surroundings, and then her brow knit with worry. “...Did you...?”
The doctor just looked at her with a blank expression. Sophia sighed again. “Did you beat the bear?” she asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
“I... chased it away. Sc-scared it with a-a storm, I think,” Sage explained.
“Huh,” Sophia replied, taking in a deep breath. “Nice job, Sage.”
The hybrid couldn’t help but smile. She was a lot more excited with the results than she hoped to let on. “Thank you,” she managed.
“So, what happens now?” the wayward temple dweller inquired, brushing the hair from her eyes. “There’s just... trees in all directions. After that bear chased us who knows how far, I don’t really know where we’re at, anymore.”
“Well...” Sage pondered the question for a moment. “Um, well, we don’t have to go to a bunker any time soon, so we can go ...wherever we want.”
“And where would that be?”
“...I don’t know,” the girl admitted, exhaling at length. Her hands were still shaking. She looked around, and then her eyes flicked back up to Sophia. She held them there for a while, until finally, the blonde shot her a concerned glance. “Sophia...” she paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase the question. “I-I’m sorry if this is rude... but... um, ...wh-what can- I mean, what...” she scratched her hair in frustration. “What’s it like? To, um, to be dead, I mean.”
An immense, fuzzy, horrible, monstrous bear was face-to-face with Sophia, who stood frozen in place before the gigantic animal. Sage had backed away, and tripped backwards over an exposed tree root. From her place on the floor, she wanted to scream at Sophia. To tell her to run, to move. To do anything but just stand there.
But she couldn’t find her voice. Every time she made to speak, or to shout, nothing came out. A strained squeak replaced any intelligible commands she might have wanted to give, and left the blonde at the mercy of her own wits, which, too, seemed to have taken an inappropriate moment to go on holiday.
The bear reared up, towering over the little priestess and roared again, menacing her with its humongous claws and rows of sharp teeth. The thing wound up and came crashing down with one of its deadly paws.
A sharp burst of gunfire shrieked out, and the vicious animal recoiled with a groan, and furiously shook its head. A large energy burn radiated out from around the creature’s left eye. The fur around it was black or missing, and a scorch mark marred the flesh beneath.
Sage, still on the ground, lowered her rifle, and immediately felt a twinge of sadness for the bear. It had terrorized them, but it was just an animal, and was now blind in one eye. The blue haired girl leaned back and rested against the tree, her eyes still trained on the mighty animal.
Sophia backed away from the animal, which was now pawing at its eye, still pathetically moaning at its predicament. She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder, nodding to the doctor behind her. Sage kept her focus on the bear, afraid it would strike out again.
Climbing to her feet, the hybrid raised her gun, readying herself in case the thing suddenly became irate again. Unfortunately, the act of raising her gun had exactly the opposite effect she had intended. The bear, recognizing the ki rifle as the source of its pain, roared a thunderous roar, eliciting a shriek from both of the girls, before it propelled itself forward.
Dropping her gun to flee, Sage chased after Sophia as they began to run as hard as they could through the brush. Very quickly, they realized they were in trouble. Where they had to weave around the brush and other obstacles in their way, the bear merely crashed through it, even felling a thin spruce tree on its pursuit after the terrified women.
“Keep running, Sage!!” the blue eyed girl shouted. Her younger friend didn’t have to be told twice. Sage was running as hard as she could, and wasn’t prepared to let anything change that, lest she become a messy pile of cold cuts.
The two of them pounded their feet over rough ground and dead leaves, leaping over roots and fallen trees as best they could. They were doing well, but they failed to notice the steep drop ahead of them. Sophia was the first to tumble forward over the incline, eliciting a sharp curse that would have deeply embarrassed her in almost any other setting. Sage was too close behind to stop in time, and she, too, slipped over the edge, and the two of them tumbled down the steep slope, crashing into the forest floor about fifteen or so feet down.
Sophia made it to her feet first, and helped the coral eyed girl up. “Do you see it?” the fallen one asked, frantically searching for the bear. “I don’t see it.”
“I d-don’t eith- um- th-there!!” she exclaimed, pointing past her friend. Sophia turned around to see the gargantuan creature pick its way down a slightly less aggressive drop. As soon as it was down, it bolted once again, and this time it was too close to run.
Charging a sphere of ki in her palm, Sophia hurled it at the bear. It exploded on its forehead, but did nothing to slow the creature down. “Look out!!” she finally cried, and tackled Sage into a bush, narrowly evading a swipe of the furry bulldozer’s claws.
The blonde leapt to her feet and rushed away from the animal, drawing its attention from the quarter saiyan. The bear was too quick, though, and gained on her faster than she had hoped. “S-Sophia!!” Sage called after her.
No! I won’t let you! I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for me again!
She hauled herself to her feet and chased after the bear. Billowing clouds of steam, as white and pure as the snow from the highest mountaintops poured from her closed fists. Extending her arms, Sage released a torrential blast of freezing cold energy, and missed the bear entirely.
Instead, the elemental ki crashed into Sophia. Or rather, all around her. Almost immediately, the priestess found herself trapped in an enormous block of ice. The bear crashed into it, released a grunt of pain and surprise, and bounced off the frigid structure harmlessly.
Undeterred, it scrambled to its feet and slammed its claws into the ice, scratching and scraping at it, but making no effective headway. The cracks spider-webbing on the surface belied how strong Sage had actually made it. She wasn’t going to let the bear make a meal out of her friend.
“H-Hey, bear!!” she shouted, trying her best to sound as authoritative as she could. The creature turned to face her and rose up on its hind legs, immediately removing that illusion. “G-Go away!!” she shouted, ignoring the color rapidly draining from her face, and the horrible shivering sensations going up and down her spine. She was quaking. “Go away!!” she demanded again.
A defiant roar thundered the bear’s response. “Go away!!” Sage shouted, louder this time. She threw her hands out at the creature, and a flurry of painfully sharp flakes rushed at the creature. It was huge, and had thick skin, but the constant barrage of the little pinpricks in its flesh confused and frightened the bear, and Sage poured on the snowstorm, obscuring herself and the forest around her, adding to the bear’s confusion. Finally, it ran, turning away from the source of the storm, and catapulted itself into the forest.
Sage’s storm died away as she watched the bear run much faster than she assumed such a large creature could. It was huge. Her furiously beating heart attested to that. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She had surprised herself. Her hands shook uncontrollably, but she had taken charge of the situation, for once. If only her sister had been there to see it.
And then she gasped. She had forgotten about Sophia! Racing back to the big block of ice, she willed the glacier to recede, and it rapidly evaporated into nothing, revealing her friend. She wore an expression of relief, and seemed frightened.
“A-Are you... okay?” Sage ventured.
“Yeah... I just... I didn’t know what to expect when you, uh, froze me,” the girl replied. “That was... different.”
“Oh... I didn’t mean-”
“It’s alright, Sage,” she sighed, and then suddenly recalled the bear. Immediately, she scanned her surroundings, and then her brow knit with worry. “...Did you...?”
The doctor just looked at her with a blank expression. Sophia sighed again. “Did you beat the bear?” she asked, a hint of incredulity in her voice.
“I... chased it away. Sc-scared it with a-a storm, I think,” Sage explained.
“Huh,” Sophia replied, taking in a deep breath. “Nice job, Sage.”
The hybrid couldn’t help but smile. She was a lot more excited with the results than she hoped to let on. “Thank you,” she managed.
“So, what happens now?” the wayward temple dweller inquired, brushing the hair from her eyes. “There’s just... trees in all directions. After that bear chased us who knows how far, I don’t really know where we’re at, anymore.”
“Well...” Sage pondered the question for a moment. “Um, well, we don’t have to go to a bunker any time soon, so we can go ...wherever we want.”
“And where would that be?”
“...I don’t know,” the girl admitted, exhaling at length. Her hands were still shaking. She looked around, and then her eyes flicked back up to Sophia. She held them there for a while, until finally, the blonde shot her a concerned glance. “Sophia...” she paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase the question. “I-I’m sorry if this is rude... but... um, ...wh-what can- I mean, what...” she scratched her hair in frustration. “What’s it like? To, um, to be dead, I mean.”
![[Image: Sage.jpg]](http://rebecca.florizone.com/sig/miscsig/Sage.jpg)