It's Never Too Late

Himari stared in shock as she watched the islands of her home plummet to the ground. "We're too late..."

An evil Yokai rushed in shrieking and swiping its claws at Himari. Hayato stepped in, destroying the monster in its place with his large sword. "It's never too late."

Hundreds of evil Yokai approached the mountain in a wave of storms. 

Hayato's large silky black wings emerged from his back. "Tengu! We have a duty to uphold!" He turned to Soma and nodded before flying up into the sky to meet the Yokai head on.

The warrior Tengu followed their leader into battle with their cry of war resonating through the air.

Soma called to his people. "The Tengu are fighting a battle that does not belong to them. We will not let their strength go to waste. We shall evacuate our people from the islands. I don't want anyone left behind!"

"Yes, your majesty." The soldiers cried as they mounted their birds and soared into the sky towards the falling islands.

Himari turned to Soma. "What's the point of evacuating when everything will be destroyed?"

Elder Tsubasa spread his wings. "We will do our best to prevent that from happening. We will use our wind magic to try to slow the fall in hopes to minimize destruction."

Soma nodded. "Once everyone is off the islands, I will have my people contribute into holding the islands up."

The other elders and remaining Tengu outstretched their wings and charged towards the falling islands. 

"I'll go with the Tengu to help slow the fall." Himari's wings sprouted from her back.

Soma stared at Himari's wings. "I supposed this is what they meant by you being blessed by their comrade... I will see to the safety of the civilians and then join you right after."

Soma jumped onto this bird and took to the islands.

Himari took a deep breath and spread her wings to follow the other Tengu.

She stumbled through the air but before long caught up to the other Tengu.

Trees, buildings, and chunks of floating land broke apart midair as gravity clawed them down toward the surface below.

The Tengu sliced through the air, feathers flashing like blades in the broken sunlight. Wind gathered in their wake - not wild or angry, but shaped and together. Bent to will and purpose. The Tengu channeled streams of magic through the air itself. Gusts surged upward like invisible pillars, slamming against the undersides of the sky islands. The momentum slowed - only just slightly, even as dozens then hundreds of Tengu joined the effort.

Below, on the surface where the islands would soon crash, another group of Tengu landed in concentric rings. One Tengu had carried Natsumi along and they landed together on the surface, Himari landing along with them. They lifted their arms in unison, their talons digging into the earth as they summoned a towering spiral of wind. Dust, leaves, debris, and air twisted into a rising tornado - a vertical storm punching up into the sky like a defiant fighter. 

Himari took a deep breath, concentrating on the new power that flowed in her veins. But before she could try to release her magic, the possessed Yokai landed on the surface with too many teeth and eyes that burned with hunger. They surged towards the spiral of wind where the grounded Tengu stood - vulnerable.

Himari's body moved before she could think.

In one breath, her hand closed around the hilt of her sword, and in the next, she was between the wild Yokai and the defenseless Tengu. 

Her blade hummed with her determination as she cut the first down, then the next, and another. She defended the Tengu from any interference on her own. She may not have known how to use the magic given to her, but she knew how to put her fighting trainings and technique into practice. 

But Himari's breath came in ragged gasps. Her arms trembled under the weight of her sword. Every muscle crying. Blood staining her clothes and skin. Her vision blurring with sweat. She didn't know how long she could keep this up for on her own.

Still. She fought.

The evil Yokai were like an endless flood of nightmares. Himari cleaved through another, spinning to block a strike, but she was too slow - she barely parried it, stumbling backwards. Another came from her side. Then another.

Then a hiss from behind.

She turned, hands and teeth clenched, knowing she wouldn't be fast enough.

Then, a howl and a sudden crack of air.

A massive spear of jagged stone pierced the Yokai mid-lunge, the creature shrieking once before crumbling to dust.

"You didn't think you'd have to do this alone, did you?" A familiar voice called.

Himari spun around.

Itsuki stood at the crest of the hill, arm outstretched from the throw. Behind her, dozens of villagers surged forward. From the soil, pillars of stone burst forth to intercept the Yokai swarm. The ground shook with the force of their magic. Boulders lifted and hurled like missiles. Stone shields rose from the ground to protect the wind focused Tengu, encasing them in a barrier of protection.

Itsuki ran to Himari's side. "I got your back."

They turned back-to-back. Himari's blade and Itsuki's fists of magic at the ready.

The sky groaned with strain as it pushed harder against the Tengu's magic. 

The soldiers of Motokami came flying down with civilian after civilian, evacuating the islands of life.

Soma finally arrived at the surface screaming to his people. "Aid the Tengu! Don't let the islands fall!" Before summoning his magic to join the pillar of wind against the falling islands.

The people of Motokami saw their leader's actions and followed in the aid with however weak or strong magic they had to offer.

But the sky islands resisted. The islands were not pushed back; they weren't even stopped. Just barely hesitated in its crushing demise. The wind magic of the Tengu and people of Motokami straining to keep the colossal masses aloft. The islands continued to unrelentingly fall at a quick pace. It wouldn't be long before everything and everyone was destroyed.

Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed from below the earth.

The plains cracked and shuddered. Tremors - not like the intense tremors that shook the ground before, but rather a subtle lull of the earth. They rolled through the ground as the very terrain shifted, reshaping itself. The land itself was moving. Molding. Vast chasms opened beneath all the falling islands, carved from the earth itself.

Then. Pillars.

Massive columns of earth, thick as towers and rooted from deep in the crust, erupted upward, reaching like hands towards the islands above. The pillars met the islands undersides and pushed, stabilizing their descent with force.

From the horizon, they were seen. The Tsuchigumo.

The Tsuchigumo rushed below each falling island, forcing the earth to catch the islands.

Queen Fumiko stood atop the giant Daichi's shoulders, extending all her eight hands, molding the earth itself to make way for the crashing sky islands.

Himari, Itsuki, and the villagers continued to fight off the cursed Yokai on the surface, protecting those who were holding the islands back.

The army of Yokai seemed like it would never end. Another flood charged towards the exhausted Himari and Itsuki, but before they could react, a sharp gust of wind tore through the cluster turning them into ash. From the ashes, Sachi appeared, clutching in her hand Nobu's handheld fan. She didn't flinch. She didn't hesitate. Fire glowed in her eyes. Sachi was not going to run.

Sachi twirled the fan, the wind bending to her command as she sliced through the army of Yokai with an invisible force.

Himari sighed. "I'm embarrassed that she can use magic better than me..."

Sachi approached Himari and Itsuki on the battlefield. "I'm sorry I'm late!"

Itsuki laughed. "I think you're right on time." Itsuki called to the villagers. "Help with the islands! We'll handle the Yokai!"

The people of the surface saw how the Tsuchigumo raised pillars to slow the islands descent and used their own magic to contribute.

"We'll handle the Yokai." Himari mocked. "I'm tired you know."

"You're tired? I had to run all the way here from basically the other side of the world." Sachi whined.

Itsuki chuckled. "I know the three of us can handle these creatures. We need all the help we can get with the sky islands though."

Sachi's voice wavered. "Maybe you two can handle this but I don't know about me..."

Himari smirked. "Are you saying you can't do it after how far we've come?"

Somehow Himari's simple words sparked something in Sachi's heart. She wasn't going to let up after all they've done to get here. No matter how tired and no matter how hurt. She was stronger than that. They all were.

"I can do it!" Sachi's voice no longer wavered. She was determined not to run away anymore. She wasn't going to let her doubt persuade her. Not now. Not ever.

-

The faint sound of a bell.

The faint sound of a crack.

-

Sachi, Himari, and Itsuki fought off the evil Yokai that covered the surface. Sachi's fan of wind knocked the Yokai away for Himari's blade to slice through them and Itsuki's punches and kicks of stone to crush them. The three of them fought together in perfect harmony. Covering each other's weak spots and complimenting each other's strengths.

-

Across the surface, village after village, and the capital of Motonari itself, the people fought against the Yokai as the Tengu forced their wind magic against the islands. When the Tsuchigumo arrived and launched their earth magic to slow the islands descent, the people of Motonari followed their lead.

Far and wide the Tengu and Tsuchigumo had scattered to aid the humans. 

They didn't fight amongst themselves. There was no hate among them. Just a sense of unity to save their world.

-

Sachi noticed the sky islands were still falling at too quick a pace. She looked up into the sky at the warrior Tengu who fought through the swarming evil Yokai and then at the surface at the birds used by the people of Motokami that stayed loyally next to their companions. Sachi fought her way over to Soma who continued to pour his wind magic into slowing the islands. "Soma, tell your people to let us use their birds."

Soma's magic didn't waver. "What?"

Sachi gestured to the Tsuchigumo. "I have an idea. Can you let the Tsuchigumo use the birds?"

Soma nodded, turning to the soldiers around him. "Continue your efforts, don't let up! And give order to your birds to let other riders guide them."

Sachi raced over to where Fumiko and Daichi stood towering over the battlefield. "Fumiko, I have an idea! Have your people ride the birds and create resistance above the islands!"

Queen Fumiko paused her molding of the surface, understanding Sachi's meaning. "Tsuchigumo, ride atop the bird creatures and pull the islands from above!"

The Tsuchigumo queen's orders echoed across the field. Yasu and the other Tsuchigumo that were near the Motokami birds hopped on and clumsily flew into the sky. Once gathered, the Tsuchigumo summoned their unbreakable silk, attaching it to the islands. The Tsuchigumo and the birds pulled in upward resistance against the falling islands.

The warrior Tengu cut through the last of the cursed Yokai, flying to the islands to use the last of their strength into creating a layered wind that coated the islands.

The sky islands, once plummeting towards ruin, now hovered, suspended in the grip of countless hands, hearts, and wills.

On the ground, the Tengu stood among the people of Motokami, their wind magic rising in tandem. Together, they conjured the vast pillars of wind beneath the islands. Next to them, the Tsuchigumo and villagers of Motonari crafted the vast pillars of earth, touching the crumbling undersides of the falling islands, bearing the weight with reverence. Above them, the Tsuchigumo on the backs of the giant birds from Motokami, latched their silk to the sky islands, tugging upwards. Amid it all, the warrior Tengu now fought their wounds and exhaustion to circle the islands, forming a spiral of air, wrapping the islands in rings of controlled air. 

The sky islands were no longer falling. 

They were being held. Guided. United.

Every hand, every breath, every heart fought - not in resistance, but in harmony.

The sky islands moved with grace now, descending slowly into the vast, open chasms that Fumiko had shaped. The pillars of earth that were holding the islands aloft cracked and crumbled away as the islands descended.

With a deep, resounding tremor, the sky islands settled into the surface. The chasms embraced them perfectly. The earth magic crumbled away, and the wind magic faded in the air. Silence fell over the battlefield - awed and exhausted, relieving a breath that had been held for too long.

Two lands, for so long divided, now one once again.