Ruki’s desperate desire

Ruki’s mind went blank, blinded by the light that had just shot straight past her into the High King, who was lifted into the air by the force of it. He slammed into the shed, breaking the wood with the prana he had managed to summon to shield him from the impact. Shanjahen fell on the ground, but managed to get up quickly. Another beam was send towards him, but this time the High King was better prepared, and he managed to make himself a shield before the prana hit him, sending it right back where it came from.

However, Takato was not stupid either, and he managed to dispel the prana back into the earth before it hit him. “Takato…” Ruki whispered, wondering why now of all times her heart began to beat so fast. “So, after all these years you finally mustered enough courage to show your face here again, Takato.” Shanjahen said, staring at his son who had approached the group of ponies now.

“Yes, father. I am here to claim your throne.” Takato said, his voice calm but filled with anger.
“You are no son of mine.” Shanjahen spat.
“Oh, but I am.” Takato replied, lighting up with prana once more, ready to assault his father. Shanjahen, however, was the faster one this time, forcing the prana from the ground underneath Takato to stop him from moving. Ruki could see Takato struggle with this for a bit, but he managed to literally jump out of it.

“You can’t stop me, father.” Takato said.
“Damn well I can.” Shanjahen said.
Once again, purple began to flow around Takato, this time chaining him to the ground completely. Ruki could see Takato struggled to get loose, but his father’s spell was too strong to simply shake off; he needed to counter spell it with his own. By the time Takato was loose, however, Shanjahen had summoned more prana from the ground, which was now crawling towards Takato like a group of snakes.

“Takato look out!” Ruki screamed, realizing this was more dangerous than the simple beams they had been shooting at each other before.
Takato turned and saw the prana creeping towards him. He instantly tried to force it away, but only succeeded partially. One of the prana snakes managed to crawl up his leg and towards his neck, and Takato was unable to stop it in time.

The snake strangled his neck, effectively stopping Takato from breathing, and thereby from casting any spells to ditch the snake. Soon, Ruki could hear Takato’s attempts to breathe.
“No!!” Ruki screamed. “Don’t do this!”
“He is your son!” Another voice said, but Ruki barely registered it belonged to her mother. She had to help him, She just had to… Shanjahen could not do this to her. Her gaze shifted from Takato to Shanjahen, and within seconds she stood next to the High king, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

Shanjahen collapsed, coughing, which released the spell he hast upon the prana. Ruki was relieved when she heard Takato breathe in deeply. In an instant, Shanjahen was back on his feet, launching some prana right at her, forcing Ruki a few feet back.
“RUKI!!” Taira yelled. How it happened Ruki did not know, but a moment later her mother was out of her prana chains and standing next to her.

“Taira, take her away from here.” Takato said.
Ruki stared at him, seeing him summon prana once again, ready to launch himself at his father once more, barely recovered from the previous attack.
“What? No!” Ruki yelled. “I’m not leaving you here Takato!”
She got up on her feet which hurt, but she refused to admit that even to herself.
“No, Ruki! There is nothing you can do here to help. We need to get out of here.” Taira said to her daughter.

The guards had all but backed off now, and Ruki saw the unicorn had disappeared; had she already run off? Well, seeing how Shanjahen was after her life, that was the best decision. The blue pony was still unconscious, but safely out of the way of the two fighting ponies. If they left, it would be just Takato and Shanjahen. Shanjahen was ignoring them now, focussing on his son. If they wanted to sneak off, they had to do it now. “Come on Ruki. Don’t put yourself in danger.” Her mother said.
Slowly, Ruki got back on her hooves and followed her mother, her mind completely blank. Ruki heard the prana flowing behind them, she could hear the silent screams of the nearby plants and trees as their prana was so forcefully taken away from them to be used for such violent reasons. This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right at all… but nobody listened to them.

They had almost reached the castle door when Ruki heard a scream. She stopped and turned, and her heart all but stopped when she saw Takato drowning in a purple haze. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Takato was able to push the prana back to the earth, instantly shielding himself for the next attack his father would launch at him. This isn’t good, Ruki thought, this isn’t good at all. Takato is only defending himself; how does he ever think he will win this way?

“Ruki! Come on, we need to get you away from here!” Taira begged her. Ruki glanced at her mother.
“No.” She stated and ran back towards the battlefield.
“Ruki!” her mother yelled, and a moment later Taira was standing in front of her, blocking her way.
“You can’t help him, Ruki.” Taira said. “He needs to do this alone.”

“Oh, what do you know? You told me to get away from you, you told me to stay away from you! You told me… you told me you never wanted to see me again! So stop acting as if you’re suddenly a caring mother!” Ruki screamed.
“But I…” Taira started, but Ruki did not want to hear it.
“No! No more buts! Stop telling me what to do!” Ruki yelled, and she ran towards Takato, ignoring her mother’s further pleas.

“Takato!” Ruki yelled, and both men stopped their attacks to look at her.
“Ruki! Get OUT of here!” Takato yelled, realizing Ruki was still there.
“No! I won’t let you face this alone!” Ruki yelled, charging at Shanjahen. Shanjahen, however, instantly launched prana towards her, forcing her to stop.
Within a flash of a second, Takato stood in front of her, shielding them both with prana, which absorbed the blow of Shanjahen’s attack.

“Go away, Ruki! There is nothing you can do here. You’ll only be a burden as I will be forced to protect you, too! Go, run away and hide! This does not involve you!” Takato told her desperately.
“You can’t do this alone, Takato.” Ruki sobbed, suddenly aware of the tears that were leaving her eyes.
“Maybe not. But you can’t help me here.” Takato told her as he once again summoned prana to come to his aid.

“Don’t tell me to run away when you know I have no where to run to.” Ruki cried as she watched Shanjahen dodge yet another attack Takato fired.
“Don’t tell me to run away when you know I want to be by your side!” Ruki yelled, but Takato was not listening as he prepared a shield to defend him from the prana his father would send towards him within seconds.

A flash of purple sped towards him over the ground. Maybe Takato could have dodged it, but he was still guarding Ruki also and he knew it would hit her in full force if he moved away now. Having faith in his shield, Takato did not move. His shield, however, disappeared the moment Shanjahen’s attack hit it, blasting Takato into the sky and making him crash a few meters away. “Takato!” Ruki yelled.

Before Takato could get up, he was chained to the ground by prana. Takato screamed as if someone was tearing out his insides.
“You are mine now, Takato.” Shanjahen laughed. “But first, I will deal with this little pest here. Sit back and enjoy the show.”
“Ruki!” Taira yelled, realizing her daughter was in danger, but there was nothing Taira could do as prana slowly began to move up Ruki’s legs, freezing her completely.

“You should have listened, you know.” Shanjahen said as he approached Ruki. “Run away, hide…”
As she stood there, chained to the ground by a force she could not feel or touch but only see, Ruki could do nothing else but stare at the purple prana that surrounded the High King. That untouchable force that ruled this part of the world…

“No.” She said, defying the High Kings words. “All my life, it’s what I have been told. All my life, ponies told me what to do. Run away, hide… I WON’T DO IT ANYMORE!” Ruki screamed, unaware that by doing so she was breaking down the chains that held her.
“I don’t NEED any of you! Not you, mother, who never told me anything else but to run away! Who told me I was no child of hers! You know what, if I am not your child I will no longer do as you say!

And you, Takato! All this time, you chained my heart to yours, knowing I could not get away from you! Knowing I loved you more than anything, you could not even send me away and be clear about it! All you did was forcing me to stay in your own heartless way! How can you… how could you… HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?” Ruki yelled at Takato, who was still lying on the ground, staring at her with wide eyes.

As Hikary got up, she felt as if someone threw a brick at her head. It hurt, it hurt… but a little further away ponies were fighting, and she knew she had to get there. Once she was steady on her hooves, she approached the prana-lit area. She saw Shanjahen, wrapped in purple, and a little further away Takato on the ground, caught in Shanjahen’s power. But what surprised her most was Ruki, Taira’s golden daughter, standing right in between them. Taira stood a little away, frozen to the ground.

First, Hikary thought that Ruki was captured by prana, like Takato. She thought Ruki’s tears were those of pain, that her cries were those of a girl under torture from the High King. But once she got closer, this image got shattered. Ruki’s eyes did not reveal fear and pain, but anger and desperation. The prana was not capturing her, but it was obeying her, floating around her awaiting her command. Prana does not act like that, Hikary realized. What on earth was going on?

Shanjahen seemed to realize this too, as he suddenly took a step back.
“YOU!” He yelled. “The prophecy… Asana… no, it can’t be…” He stammered, losing all focus he had only a moment before. Takato felt this moment of weakness and managed to break free from his prison.
“Ruki!” He yelled as he got up, not yet realizing Ruki was no longer captive here. “Ruki, stop this! Get out of here while you still can!” he screamed.

Ruki turned her head, staring at Takato who was walking towards her, obviously in pain.
“No. I will no longer listen to you, Takato. No more! Or to you, mother. From now on, I will decide what to do myself!” Hikary was taken aback by the anger she felt coming from Ruki.
Ruki turned again, facing the High King once more, who had taken yet another few steps back.

“You, Shanjahen, High King of the west.”  Ruki said to the now shivering man. “You took your own daughter’s life, you are forcing every woman in the west into hiding, you force your son to run away from his own home, and now you are trying to break a Guardian’s stone? DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH!” Ruki yelled, unleashing a force Hikary knew only too well.

There was no mistake about it. The prana that now flowed around Ruki was commanded by her every emotion. It sped towards Shanjahen in a brightness Hikary had never seen before. But this was not what made her gasp. This was not what made her sister scream, or what made Takato stop where he was.

For what was commanding this Prana was not just Ruki… it was Ruki’s eastern power, the power to command, the power of the soul, that guided this prana, this power of the earth, combining the strength of the east and the west. The True Heir… Hikary thought, She who wields the power of the East and the West. Ruki’s words Echoed not only through the air, but also through Hikary’s mind, connecting everyone here in a way prana alone could not do.

Ruki’s beam hit Shanjahen straight in the chest, but he was not forced back. Instead, it passed right through him, straight into him, blasting not just his body but assaulting every part of his entire being. Hikary did not think she would ever hear anyone scream that loud ever again.