The scene shifts once more - this time, they find themselves standing near the shore of Swan Lake. The swans drift languidly on the water for the moment, long, elegant necks swiveling in the group's direction, though for once, they do not move to attack them.
The Narrators are urged to step to the side as the suits of armor usher Akechi forward. As he walks, he is engulfed in a shimmering white light - and by the time he makes it to the water's edge, he is transformed. Clad in an elegant white dress, with a cloak of white swan's feathers draped across his shoulders and a tiara adorning his head, Akechi walks on the water, not into it.
One step after another, and he walks across the water to the center of the lake. The swans arrange themselves around him as if they are a part of his court.
There is a beat, then two. The swans watch Akechi expectantly as his feathered cloak flutters at his feet, then shifts of its own accord and engulfs him, wrapping him from toe to neck. His eyes widen and his body shakes with spasms as his knees buckle and he drops to the surface of the lake. The feathered cloak falls away, revealing bare arms from which feathers begin to sprout, fingers clutching and clawing at his chest as he gasps for air. One, after another, after another - golden droplets of ink drip out of his skin onto the water from each point where the feathers sprout.
Until, suddenly, the ink is red. And suddenly, Akechi's features twist and change - his face rearranges itself into Eichi's, and his hair lightens from brown to blonde… His eyes widen at first, and then close, almost in relief.
The Narrators standing near Eichi will note that it is now Akechi who stands within their midst, expression wide-eyed and slack. Eichi is trapped on the water, bleeding ink as more feathers sprout themselves out of his skin, doubled over in pain. His expression wrinkles out of its relief and into something desperate, his feathered arms clutching at himself. On the opposite side of the lake, a hunter lumbers forward, heavy crossbow out and at the ready. He takes careful aim at the figure on the water.
There's a crack in the air, and Akechi finds himself able to move. He cries out a single word, strangled and panicked-- NO!-- and then breaks away from the gathered Narrators. He sprints across the surface of the lake, throwing himself down to shield Eichi like a blanket just as the hunter's crossbow bolt would have pierced flesh. It strikes him, and the two of them sink beneath the surface of the water, Akechi's arms wrapped around Eichi, Eichi's feathered limbs clinging just as tightly to him.
The hunter turns away and retreats back into the woods.
The surface of the water remains still - until, miraculously, somehow, Akechi's head breaks the surface, hair soaked and matted against his forehead as he gasps for air. It's followed by Eichi's. Akechi swims for the shore, tugging Eichi along with each stroke, and both of them collapse in the dirt when they reach the beach. Akechi is crouched on all four limbs, head bowed as water drips from his hair and chin and arms, breathing heavily. And Eichi is barely breathing at all, coughing up water, a weak hand reaching for Akechi...
EXECUTION...?
The Narrators are urged to step to the side as the suits of armor usher Akechi forward. As he walks, he is engulfed in a shimmering white light - and by the time he makes it to the water's edge, he is transformed. Clad in an elegant white dress, with a cloak of white swan's feathers draped across his shoulders and a tiara adorning his head, Akechi walks on the water, not into it.
One step after another, and he walks across the water to the center of the lake. The swans arrange themselves around him as if they are a part of his court.
There is a beat, then two. The swans watch Akechi expectantly as his feathered cloak flutters at his feet, then shifts of its own accord and engulfs him, wrapping him from toe to neck. His eyes widen and his body shakes with spasms as his knees buckle and he drops to the surface of the lake. The feathered cloak falls away, revealing bare arms from which feathers begin to sprout, fingers clutching and clawing at his chest as he gasps for air. One, after another, after another - golden droplets of ink drip out of his skin onto the water from each point where the feathers sprout.
Until, suddenly, the ink is red. And suddenly, Akechi's features twist and change - his face rearranges itself into Eichi's, and his hair lightens from brown to blonde… His eyes widen at first, and then close, almost in relief.
The Narrators standing near Eichi will note that it is now Akechi who stands within their midst, expression wide-eyed and slack. Eichi is trapped on the water, bleeding ink as more feathers sprout themselves out of his skin, doubled over in pain. His expression wrinkles out of its relief and into something desperate, his feathered arms clutching at himself. On the opposite side of the lake, a hunter lumbers forward, heavy crossbow out and at the ready. He takes careful aim at the figure on the water.
There's a crack in the air, and Akechi finds himself able to move. He cries out a single word, strangled and panicked-- NO!-- and then breaks away from the gathered Narrators. He sprints across the surface of the lake, throwing himself down to shield Eichi like a blanket just as the hunter's crossbow bolt would have pierced flesh. It strikes him, and the two of them sink beneath the surface of the water, Akechi's arms wrapped around Eichi, Eichi's feathered limbs clinging just as tightly to him.
The hunter turns away and retreats back into the woods.
The surface of the water remains still - until, miraculously, somehow, Akechi's head breaks the surface, hair soaked and matted against his forehead as he gasps for air. It's followed by Eichi's. Akechi swims for the shore, tugging Eichi along with each stroke, and both of them collapse in the dirt when they reach the beach. Akechi is crouched on all four limbs, head bowed as water drips from his hair and chin and arms, breathing heavily. And Eichi is barely breathing at all, coughing up water, a weak hand reaching for Akechi...
But they are both alive.