From: <CyraLin@aol.com>
 Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 06:24:12 EDT
 Subject: You wanted a fight?

      "I said she's fine" Clip told Shinji coldly. That sharp tone
 prompted
 Stana to action. She reached forward and pulled Teri away gently. The
 girl struggled for a moment, but at Stana's insistance came away. The
 older girl ignored teh tears coarsing down Teri's cheeks and
 concentrated
 on sitting her down.
      She turned just in time to help catch Clip as he swayed violently
 on
 his feet. They staggered for a few steps before she had him braced.
      "Not here." she murmurred urgently, "come sit down away from the
 others."
      He shook his head to argue when he began to cough harshly. Stana
 held a rag to his mouth to try and stifle the sound. His lanky frame
 shook with the effort to hold them in as they made an uncertain path
 away
 from Teri and Ian-- both of whom were watching with different,
 unreadable
 expressions. When she got him seated she leaned him forward over
 his knees, watching the spasming slowing down after a brief intense
 spell. Finally she took the cloth away and noticed that there was more
 than a little blood on it.
      Panic set in. She hated the sight of blood, especially coming again
 from Clip after the last incident.
      "What happened!?" she inquired. "Clip why the blood!?" She looked
 up
 at
 the other two, far away now, for safety-- and saw Teri talking heatedly
 with
 shinji.
      "I'm mortal now." he replied scornfully, drawing stana's attention
 again.
 "or didst thou not yet realize this? Yet mortal and Unicorn still. The
 ability
 to heal others has always come with a price. That is why the horn is so
 much
 more
 valuabe than the beast. The horn has no limitations, yet the body may
 weaken and die. I am not old for my kind, human, my limitations are
 many,
 abilities few. My body still contains some magic, which sustains me, yet
 that is slowly deplenishing. Soon there will be nothing left but a
 wasted
 mortal shell that remembers not that the shell once housed a Unicorn."
      Flabbergasted was a word she hated to associate with herself, yet
 Stana
 couldn't think of a better one. Clip losing his memories of being a
 Unicorn? Losing his magic completely? She couldn't picture this.
      "The Alicorn?  If we found it-?"
      "Aye." he replied without real hope "that would stop the decay- yet
 the child is more important."
      "Who WAS she?" Stana pressed her advantage, Clip's brush with Teri
 had left him open and vulnerable. He had said more in the last minutes
 than in the whole day.
      "It matters not now. I have no means to find her-"
      Suddenly the light left the small glade--
 ***

 It was suddenly very dark.

 "Company?" said one female voice..

 "one is the loneliest number--" replied the other, wryly.

 "two's company"

 "three's a crowd"

 "four's an org-"

 "TERI!"

 "Sorry! sorry.. heh heh." There was a thud--

 "AAAAAAAAAH!"

 "Stanaaaa!"

 A flash of light illuminated what had previously been a silly
 conversation in
 the instant-darkness---  and revealed Stana on the ground, unconscious.
 A few
 feet forward, where it had landed after leaping over the girl, stood
 another
 of those awful looking monsters.

 Teri tilted her head in thought. Her eyes widened-- "Noonsa!" she
 exclaimed,
 "That's what you were reminding me of earlieeaaaaaah!" she, too was
 knocked to
 the ground, this time as Clip plowed through, running his sword through
 the
 monster next to stana. "HEY! watch it next time!" she yelled, rubbing
 her
 ankle. Clip paid her no attention as he moved to the next... Teri looked
 around her for the first time, and the color drained from her face.
 There
 were
 close to twenty of them-- hardly a joking matter.

 THe air crackled and rang with the sharp sound of metal meeting claws,
 and the
 soft slick of sword tearing flesh.. the pounding of fist against body.

 Teri held her eyes closed and touched her stomach for a moment-- her
 head
 was
 too clear, she needed more tea...  she felt the heat coming on slowly...
 the
 same heat she had felt moments earlier-- before Clip's touched had
 erased
 it..
 When she next opened her eyes, her vision was red-filmed, and she tried
 not to
 think of the death she was feeling. She crawled to Stana and shook her--
 the
 girl's chest was rising softly, and her eyes fluttered at Teri's touch.

 "Teri?"

 "Shhh!" Teri whispered urgently, almost laying on top of Stana.. "stay
 down...
 be quiet.."

 Stana's eyes flew open and she craned her neck towards the sound she was
 hearing... Teri could feel Stana's gasp of breath against her neck.
 "What.. "

 Teri shrugged and continued watching, trying to remain as inconspicuous
 as
 possible... trying to remain in control of her breakfast.  Her head swum
 with
 every arch of blade... She searched for anger-- but found none through
 the
 thick-slimy death haze surrounding her.  She shouldn't be able to feel
 those..
 those monsters...  not them, why could she feel THEM? She looked at the
 Jiy
 whirling above her and glared-- fine Kill-Me-Beacons they were turning
 out to
 be-- she wished they would come lower to the ground.. Teri's eyes
 widened
 as
 they suddenly complied to her unspoken wish..

 Stana had struggled to a sitting position, and was rubbing her forehead
 while
 she watched the carnage with a drained face. "Holy hallelujah.." she
 breathed in horror.
 Teri tried to sit up-- succeeded, but the nausea increased. The jiy
 whirled
 close to her shoulders, one, a sickly green color.

 "Feeling useless?" she murmured, closing her eyes against the red film.

 "I guess, yeah-- What good are we agai--" Stana's voice ceased and her
 mouth
 clipped shut as one landed near them with a soft thud.  Teri's eyes shot
 open.. She blanched.

 "T..teri.." stana whispered..

 Teri gulped. She took a deep breath against her roiling stomach as the
 creature took a step forward-- "HEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!" she screamed--

 the clanging stopped...

 her voice echoed in that one, paused moment...

 as stana and teri clamored to their feet and started running, yelling--

 ****

 Clip had had his sword out before Shinji had spoken-- there were
 something
 things a Unicorn just KNEW, and there was no way a mortal could sense
 evil
 before a unicorn.  The mortal was slow. Clip's lip curled in disgust as
 he
 slashed the first of the dripping creatures across the middle.  He
 wasn't
 good
 with a sword; he had never thought he'd ever need to use this dying
 body--
 much less to slaughter (he  sliced the claws off of one as it tried to
 stop
 his sword, then brought the sword down into its shoulder. the arm came
 quickly
 off.)...

 These creatures were made of.. what seemed like... mushroom to him.  One
 slice
 of the blade, and the body was severed--  aim or use wielding the heavy
 sword
 was hardly necessary--

 He spared a glance to his ... companion....

 The dark boy was a flash of movement, sinking fist and boot into the
 tough
 hide of the creatures. Clip sliced the wrist off one while sniffing at
 Shinji.
 Imagine the uselessness of all the boy's aggression--  with steel, the
 tough
 skin was pierced, revealing nothing but muscle inside. No bones--
 nothing
 hard
 save the skin, which Shinji was beating himself against.  Humans. How
 wasteful, how useless-

 But for the first time the real tradgedy of it all seemed to touch the
 scorn.

 ****
 Shinji was panting, hard--  after having spent most of his energy
 fighting the
 two underwater, he was not prepared to take on another... twenty.  The
 bodies
 were piling up, but it was proving more and more difficult to take the
 monsters out of the game, so to speak.  Without a weapon, he was left
 with his
 body--  and it was difficult to kill these fast-moving, slippery devils
 with
 his bare hands or a well-placed foot. As it was, he was working on his
 fourth-- but could see that Clip was finishing them off much faster,
 despite
 the clumsy way he was holding his sword.

 Shinji scowled. No way he'd let that arrogant highborn snob beat HIM in
 a
 fight-- Shinji roundhoused to his opponent's head, and watched the
 fish-man
 slump to the ground with a slosh.  Nodding with satisfaction, Shinji was
 distracted enough to miss the blow to his shoulder-- until it hit him.
 Grunting with pain, he whirled to face another-- much too close. He
 grimaced.
 "Damn, you're ugly," he muttered as he punched it in the gut. He wasn't
 sure
 whether its widened eyes were because of the insult, or because of his
 now
 burst-stomach.

 He was about to turn to the one approaching his left when he heard a
 scream,
 and felt the wave of terror drive him to his knees--

 ***

 Clip froze-- it wasn't the words, the scream that had paused him in
 mid-swing,
 but the icy-sharp fright that slammed into him from the side, seeming to
 tear
 at his heart as it passed-- and as quickly as it came, it was gone-- his
 arm
 continued in its arc, but he was already running towards the source of
 the
 scream before his sword could take another life.

 "Move!" he screamed as he saw Shinji stand to his feet in Clip's
 path--  the boy narrowed his eyes as he, too, turned and ran towards the
 girls... Clip was gaining, though, and shouldered the younger man aside
 as he
 passed. "Mu'ahrada" he spat as he passed, lifting his sword.

 Shinji pushed his muscles, keeping pace with clip, albeit a few steps
 behind... the man had spat some strange word at Shinji as he'd passed--
 from
 the complete derision in it, Shinji was sure it didn't have a pretty
 meaning.
 He was about to retort when another wave and a scream made him falter a
 step--
 and earned him a face full of dirt.

 He cursed and hit the ground with his hand as he scrambled to his feet--
 and
 had to spin to face three creatures who were closing in.  There would be
 no
 running to the girls' rescue for him, it seemed.  Needless to say, he
 was
 quite infuriated by being unable to help-- by having Clip seem the hero
 instead of him... Rage bubbled in his throat as he turned slowly in a
 circle,
 keeping eyes on the three creatures... "Let's dance," he whispered with
 a
 half-grin.

 ***
 Clip was about to ask himself why he was bothering to save a few human
 lives--
 especially the lives of two overly emotional girls (one a bit more
 emotional
 to the other, and with more power to convey it, too). More importantly,
 he
 worried over the immediate response to the call for help-- he had leapt
 to aid
 without thinking.  Leapt to the aid of mortals. He was about to become
 uneasy
 as to this fact when the second wave flushed through him. He grit his
 teeth
 against it-- more fiercely felt because of the magic he had always had
 in
 his
 blood, and, well, because a unicorn was always highly receptive to the
 emotions of young girls-- but refused to falter.  He was becoming good
 at
 this
 ignoring-the-emotions bit, since he seemed to be the only one who
 constantly
 felt Teri's sending, and therefore had more practice ignoring it.

  Teri was screaming incoherently and kicking a monster who was trying to
 sink
 its jaws into Stana's shoulders. Stana, too, was screaming between
 muttered
 prayers, and slamming a black book against the creature's head....  Clip
 leapt over a
 tree trunk and sliced the creature's head off in one broad swoop--

 The screaming was cut off by the arc of the blade.  Then, as Stana was
 confronted by the oozing neck-- she let out a peal and then fainted.
 Teri
 caught her, and was nearly pushed to the ground by the weight. THe
 monster,
 wriggling without its head, fell to the ground, spraying gore on both
 the
 girls

 Both Teri and stana were white as parchment-- except where they were
 bathed in
 blood. Teri's eyes, half glazed over, were locked on Clip's. Her lips
 moved
 slightly, but no sound came out.

 Clip looked over his shoulder, to see Shinji run his hand right through
 the
 last creature. As it slumped to the ground, he felt a rush of gratitude
 from
 behind him, and turned to see Teri still looking at him.

 Color was returning to her face-- "Thank you.. i said.." her voice was
 hoarse
 from screaming, and she was shaking as her knees buckled and she slumped
 to
 the ground under Stana's weight. Cradling the older girl, she shook
 Stana
 gently, still not taking her wide eyes from Clip.

 Clip was suddenly aware of the blood all over him, dripping from his
 sword,
 matted in his hair-- aware of the horror he must look like-- and turned
 towards shinji, away from the girl's strange eyes. Better now to face
 the
 mortal man he didn't understand than the mortal woman he couldn't begin
 to.
 ***

 "Stana... Stana..." Teri was shaking-- shaking more herself than she was
 shaking Stana-- but trying to wake her friend nevertheless.

 Stana flew awake, and bolted upright, nearly knocking Teri on the chin--
 The
 colored Jiy was circling the two, rotating on three axis as it remained
 a
 dull, flat grey.  Just as Teri felt, too. Grey-- a stunned, blank grey..
 what
 had happened?? The Clear clicked as it hovered above their heads.

 "Oh my good God...." Stana quavered, looking at the decapitated body
 twitching inches from her. The gore clung to her clothes in clots of
 blood and mucous. She felt like she was going to throw up...empty
 stomache or no. She glanced horrified at both Clip and Teri, lower lip
 shaking. The Unicorn was gazing at himself in bemusement, Teri staring
 at
 him like she was having some kind of religious experience. Stana had a
 hard time thinking Teri was going through a conversion, and hoped this
 wasn't wht it looked like.

 She broke out into hysterical tears at that thought. All three heads
 whipped about at the sound and Teri looked anxiously for a wound before
 her eyes began tearing up too, she fought them bravely, an
 expressionless
 look on her face, refusing to give in....what resulted was a low gasping
 sound preeceding the water coarsing down dirty cheeks.

 Stana contined to sob uncontrollably, not looking up, her eyes seeing a
 sight not of this world. She was seeing her father slowly bleeding to
 death at their home while she could only watch.  She would never know
 what he had wanted to tell her-but she could see his eyes turning to her
 with a plea for something.  She would never know what he wanted from
 her.

 She hugged her teddy closer and began to rock back and forth. Teri made
 a
 move to touch her thinking she could see an image looming on the edges
 of
 her sight, dark and forbidding. The jiy grew brighter and brighter as
 Stana pulled away. Suddenly the sensations dimmed. Clip looked from one
 to the other and didn't go to them. But he didn't turn away either.
 Shinji just looked uncomfortable. then he looked at the bodies scattered
 around. He nudged Clip who snarled at teh touch of a mortal.

 "we have to get them away from here. We aren't safe."

 "What would you suggest?" Clip responded sardonically, indicating the
 two.

 Teri was sitting up and starting to calm, until she looked at herself.
 Then she lost her control of a totally opposite way.

 "LOOK AT ME!" she yelled.

 Stana was startled out of crying and looked up sniffling. She saw Teri
 gazing at herself in horror and covered a hiccough.

 "Bath." she demanded, gettignto her feet unsteadily. "Water, wash." She
 motioned at Stana "you too." She was not going to let this be a debated
 point. Stana got reluctantly to her feet and followed her to the edge.
 Shinji and Clip shuffled uneasily. But the girls only stopped at the
 edge
 and began to scrub clean.Neither were eager to take a leap into the lake
 after what had just happened.

 "So" Teri began casually "want to talk about it?"
 "Not really no." she replied shortly, scrubbing furiously at her hair "I
 just don't like blood."
 "No kidding."
 "I said I don't want to talk about it." Stana's voice had gone
 deceptively mild and flat. She was controlling herself and shutting out
 anyone else.