Through the Clouds

They entered the cloud barrier. The dark, choking atmosphere wrapped around them instantly. Nobu felt that all too familiar weight pressing down on his chest - the suffocating pressure of magic and malice. He pushed forward at top speed, wings slicing through the dense clouds, clutching tightly to Himari and Sachi, refusing the let them go.

But the barrier fought back.

The wind howled like a living beast, screaming with rage. It lashed at them with invisible claws, doing everything it could to rip them apart. Nobu gritted his teeth, shielding the girls with his wings and will. He wasn't going to let the wind win.

But the cloud barrier grew crueler. The winds twisted into cyclones - violent, whirling tornadoes that spun around them in chaos. Nobu fought to stay close, but the storm had a mind of its own. With one more powerful gust, they were separated.

Nobu spun midair, trying to reach out to either girl, but both girls were pulled too far in opposite directions.

Then came the shrieking. The evil Yokai.

They appeared in swarms - grotesque flying beast with their distorted wings, glowing eyes, and snapping jaws. They flew at all three of them. Nobu drew his sword with one hand, slashing at the nearby Yokai. His other hand burned with magic, hurling bolts of energy towards the ones heading for Himari and Sachi. He fought for all three of them.

Himari and Sachi tried to reach each other, but the wind wouldn't allow it. It battered them back, driving them further apart like some twisted will was guiding it. Then, with a sharp, electrical crackle. Sachi's body glitched.

Nobu and Himari froze for a breathless moment as they saw her flicker like a broken projection. Then, she was gone. Vanished completely. No sound. No movement. No fall. Just erased.

"Sachi!" Himari cried out, not understanding what happened to her friend.

But the wind quickly struck again - a brutal blow like a whip of air. Himari cried out, flung downward by the force, tumbling through the clouds. Nobu dove after her, but the Yokai closed in, surrounding him. Nobu fought desperately, cutting and slashing, each second costing him distance.

Below the clouds, a vast ocean raged. Himari fell hard and deep.

The ocean swallowed her in an instant - cold, dark, violent. The shock hit her like a wall. It wasn't just the temperature, though the cold bit into her bones like teeth, it was also the weight of it. All the water pressing in from every direction. She had never felt anything like it before. She had never been in water so vast, so deep, so alive. It's so cold... I hate the cold...

Himari kicked and flailed, but nothing worked. The current tugged at her like invisible hands dragging her further down. Her limbs felt heavy. Her mind and heart raced. Panic setting in. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to swim. No one ever taught her. No one had ever told her that water could be so violent. 

The cloud barrier disappeared above her like a distant memory. She tried to fight her way out, but the ocean fought harder. Her air finally ran out, water rushed in - icy and merciless. Her chest burned. Her body spasmed. Everything inside her screamed to live, but the ocean didn't care.

Himari's strength gave out before her panic did. The fight drained from her muscles. She sank slowly. It's not cold anymore... I wonder if Sachi and Nobu are okay... 

Somewhere between the silence and darkness, Himari faded away. 

Nobu finally broke free from the countless Yokai that were swarming him. He broke through the cloud barrier only to be met with a dark storming sky and an ocean that reflected it.

Nobu scanned the area quickly. He knew Himari fell around here, but there was nothing but water around. Nobu's heart sank. Could it be that Himari fell into the water? He didn't have time to think, he knew he had to act fast. Nobu dove into the water without a second thought. 

The cold bit into his skin like a thousand needles. His eyes burned as he forced them open, the murky depths blurring everything around him, but he had to find her.

Panic threatened to consume him until, at last, he spotted Himari, drifting motionless within the depths. His heart lurched. Nobu summoned the winds to his aid. Invisible currents swirled around him, propelling him through the water at a fast pace.

Nobu finally reached Himari, wrapping his arms around her limp form, he reached towards the surface, breaking through with a desperate gasp. Without pausing, he unfurled his heavy and drenched wings, flapped them hard, lifting them both out of the water.

Nobu held Himari in his arms as he made his way to the nearest form of land, dreading the worst. They landed on the shore moments later. Nobu collapsed to his knees with Himari in his arms. Her skin was pale. Her lips tinged blue. Her body listless. Himari wasn't breathing.

"No... Come on Himari, stay with me..." 

Nobu laid her on the ground, hands trembling as he began chest compressions. He breathed into her, pushing air and magic into her lungs, coaxing her heart to beat again. The wind stirred around them, not with violence or malice, but in response to Nobu's desperation. 

But Himari didn't move.

He tried again. And again. And again.

Nothing.

It was too late.

"Himari wake up..." Nobu's voice broke as he pleaded. "I know you like to sleep, but I need you to wake up for me now..."

Himari's lifeless body laid there with no signs of waking up. 

Nobu stared down at Himari's still face, wishing for her to breathe, to move, to laugh like she used to. But her body remained still, and her warmth was nowhere to be felt.

He clutched her to him, pulling her close as if his body heat alone could bring her back. "You hate the cold. I'll keep you warm..." Himari's head lolled against his chest and that terrible stillness - so wrong, so unlike her, clawed at Nobu from the inside like a beast trying to break free.

"I was supposed to protect you..." Nobu choked, his tears threatening to fall.

The guilt hit like the waves, heavier than the ocean he'd just pulled her from. He should've been more prepared. He should've gotten there faster. He had magic. He was strong. But what good were his powers and strength if it couldn't save the one he wanted most to protect. He wasn't strong enough, fast enough, good enough. He couldn't do anything. He was a failure.

With a scream, he slammed his fists into the ground, wind bursting outward in a violent shockwave. He wanted to destroy something, anything, everything. The ocean, the clouds, the sky, the fate that took her from him. But then Nobu's eyes fell onto Himari again. All the anger drained from him, leaving only a hollow ache in its place. With trembling fingers, he brushed the wet hair from her face and held her as close as possible.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."

On the shore, with the dark clouds looming and the ocean roaring, Nobu bowed his head and wept.