Wrath Reincarnated

<span style="font-family: " open="" sans",="" sans-serif"="">JULES

Jules froze in both terror and guilt. A pack of Wargs approached him from far behind; to his side, a horde of Leshens wandered through the woods. And at his front, some massive beast waited to fight him—some distorted and unrecognizable version of his fox Familiar, all while having lost all but his sense of hearing.

She told me to save her, but I'm supposed to fight her?

THUMP…

And her heart beat is slowing down. Can Rukia die here, too? How do we both get out of here? Could I have saved her earlier?

"GGRRRRrrrrr….." The beast's growl grew further away from Jules. Is she running away from me? No—she must have already struck me. Jules felt no pain, but doubled down on trying to read his surroundings. He concentrated on his body, and shifted his feet around. Combined with his meditational awareness, the sounds he made helped him echolocate the ground below his feet. Firm dirt. No roots around.

The sensation faded, so he tapped his foot again. Tap tap tap. What Jules thought must have been the Shrine Boss stood beneath a towering tree, not too far away, though he couldn't tell how far exactly. Tap tap tap.

The ground is solid and flat about ten feet around me. I'm not sure if the elevation changes there, or there's a tree, or if that's as far as I can manage to "see" right now, but that Leshen's shrieks are getting closer, and so are the Wargs.

Jules focused on his arms; he felt the reverberating outlines of the broken Sound of Fury pieces, still in each hand. They were an extension of himself just as much as Rukia and Kaizen were, and one of his only tools left. But I'm not sure how to use it yet.

The beast snapped its jowls, and Jules took a step back. The light thud of his footstep created a sonar effect for him in his mind that faded away. Hmm, as long as I keep moving, perhaps I can see after all. The beast leapt forward a few feet, and Jules could make out a rough shape of it, though it was mostly a blur. Time to run again.

Jules fled like a coward with a plan. He took off in the direction of the Leshens, as he figured he could maneuver around them better than the Wargs as they were both slower and fewer in number. With each step he saw what laid ahead of him, and in addition, each step provided another half-foot of so of spacial awareness as he adjusted to his new sense. The growling beast closed in on him from behind, and the thumping sound quickened again. Maybe it's the Boss' heart beat? It's still faint, but now that it's moving, it's picked up pace again.

He released one of the final Inked Arts he'd been clinging onto, and in his 360 field of echolocation, he both saw and heard the earth explode behind him and slow down the monster that chased him. Jules leapt over a fallen long just in time, ducked under a low-hanging branch, and spun around a tree stump, each just in time as they came into view.

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OK, what are my options here? How much Ryoku do I still have left? No matter how hard Jules tried, his Menu wouldn't pull up any information—or at least none that he could see. In his distraction, Jules stepped into a hole and twisted his ankle; when he crashed to the ground he harnessed that forward momentum to roll forward and get back to his feet. At least I can't feel that pain. Not much worse than a rolled ankle—

A Leshen to his left shrieked at him, and Jules lost all of his new sense for a few precious seconds until the echoes faded away. The heart beat grew closer, and now, louder. It grew so loud that, like the Leshen, it began to interfere with the rest of his hearing, and his circle of awareness shrank back down.

Is that really Rukia? The closer it gets, the more it feels like her, but at the same time, it feels like someone else's. Up became down in an instant, and then Jules felt the presence of a tree against his back, and the ground quickly approached his head. Fuck, something hit me! I've got one Inked Art left, but if I kill it, two more will just take its place. The closest Leshen's wooden body creaked a few feet away, and Jules sensed it reach back a long, thing arm to strike him. No choice.

Jules released his final Inked Art, and the Fire Rune engulfed them both. It was a massive gamble, to get away in the moment, only to have to face more enemies, and now that his Sinful powers were stripped and his Resist Fire Potion had run out, he had no idea how much damage he'd take since he couldn't see his remaining Ryoku Pool.

But all that worry faded away when, even through the crackling flames, the Boss stalked toward him, seemingly unfazed by the fire. Its slow footsteps, combined with the snapping and popping of wood and timber all around, drew an image of the monster in Jules' mind.

A bear? No, a tiger? Some type of massive cat or wolf. One, two, three… Nine tails in total? Reminds me of Whiskers—but I better get out of the flames!

Jules forced himself to his feet—I'm definitely slower, probably taking nerve damage—and felt the edges of the Sound. Are you on fire yet you piece of shit!? No?? How the hell not!?

The beating heart grew deafening; Jules' imaging of even the Shrine Boss blurred out with the rest of the surroundings. Damn that heart!

THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

Blindly, Jules slashed around the broken pieces of the Sound. The constant pumping of blood drew him closer and closer to madness, and further and further away from any remaining options. I'll rip it out—Even if it's Rukia, I'll rip it out!

HELLO, JULES TIDESHAPER. HOW GOES YOUR QUEST FOR THE SOUND?

"Whey da heh—" Where the Hell have you been!?

YOU HAVE ANSWERED YOUR OWN QUESTION, CHILD.

Dammit, can't I beat one of these Shrines alone!?

FOOLISH. YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO FACE IT ALONE. NOT EVEN I COULD HAVE ASSEMBLE THE SOUND BY MYSELF…

One of Jules' legs buckled under the pressure of internal damage and its burns, and he dropped to a knee. The Sound was buried deep inside the blazing flames, and still wouldn't catch fire. I am stronger than you—I am stronger than Kaizen. I will stop this monster's heart! Wrath's harsh laughter echoed in Jules' head. Too many sounds clashed with it—the snarling Wargs, the groaning Leshens, the growling beast and its relentless fucking heartbeat—and sparked a crazed fury inside him. I will kill you all! Wrath's laughter finally faded.

DO YOU NOT RECOGNIZE THE SOUND OF YOUR OWN HEART, JULES TIDESHAPER?

Jules' heart skipped a beat, and so did the relentless thumping. Sweet Salvos…

THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO ESCAPE, AND YOU KNOW IT ALL TOO WELL. INTEGRATION. SHARE YOUR POWER.

With you? Fuck off. Never again.

THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP.