Kenji was trying hard not to call out again as Gabriel worked on his leg, sure it was a relief to get it fixed, but it hurt like hell no matter Gabriel did until it was no longer a bloody mass of shredded flesh. Kenji's eyes were closed, his head pressed against a tree he had leaned against. He heard the cry and sound of tearing skin distantly, feeling extremely groggy and slow, the pain and blood loss affecting him, looking up to see Gabriel hurt.
"Alice, don't," He tried to call, failing to call it out and only resulting with a faint whisper, or mumble, he wasn't quite sure. He knew she would freak at seeing Gabriel hurt, sure he was someone she looked after, but that was just because they were guild mates he figured. He wished it were more, but now wasn't the time to be thinking that. Kenji felt his skin finally knit closed for the most part, his vision became less blurry and his head cleared. He was drained from so little, and there were so many hellhounds left, they were running out of options, and time, fast. Kenji heard Gabriel mutter his fear and groaned in frustration at the situation.
Kenji watched Alice anxiously, hoping Gabriel would just speed up. Alice was using her special power, to the limit. Kenji watched, his mouth tight in his anxiety. Alice wasn't being Alice right now, she was a deadly force to be reckoned with. "You know me well enough to know you don't have to worry," Kenji managed as he stood, following Gabriel without hesitation. He drew his knives, being weary of Alice's power, but preparing to hold of hellhounds, praying silently that Gabriel could subdue Alice in this form.
There was a terrible roar that Kenji just knew was Alice, then the shadow monster was gone. While Gabriel morphed, Kenji ran to Alice, looking her over. He looked up and around. There were at least a hundred, possibly hundreds hounds from where Kenji was sitting. He silently prayed yet again, asking that none of the other guild members were nearby. He hadn't prayed this much ever, two prayers in the two minutes. Two of the three he'd ever done.
"Gabriel, get out of here. Get out of here now! There's going to be a lot of debris here in a few seconds. Warn the others to take cover just in case something goes wrong," Kenji called to him, knowing he'd understand once he thought it through and saw Kenji start.
Kenji breathed deeply, cradling Alice in his arms before he held her to him tightly, closing his eyes as he stood, staying off of his still weak leg as much as possible. He focused, pulling the winds around them. A hellhound charged at them but Kenji only heard a yelp before the creature was thrown to the opposite side of the clearing. He looked up for a moment, only liking this part of the destruction. The clouds were getting pulled in, the sky turning from it's bright blue to a dark, grey green color, swirling crazily.
The winds picked up around Kenji and Alice. Kenji held Alice to him tightly, not wanting her to fall. He floated higher and higher, not being able to help it as he became the eye. The eye of a tornado that continued to grow stronger and stronger. There was screeches and yelps and growls and howls surrounding Kenji as he held Alice tightly to him, covering her as much as he could with his body, knowing the debris was coming.
There was a ripping sound and Kenji felt a large chunk of wood slam into his arms encircled around Alice, he grunted but didn't do anything else. "It's going to be okay. I got you, I won't let anything hurt you. It's going to be okay. I got you, I won't let anything hurt you," Kenji whispered fiercely to Alice over and over again. He wondered how many times he said it. His hair was whipping faster than it ever had before along with Alice's. Kenji held her tightly, feeling another piece of debris hit his face this time. Kenji tried to protect Alice's head the most in the tornado.
He pictured it in his head, a grey or brown mass, huge in it's size and appearing like hell was reaching out of the ground. Kenji could feel the wind tugging at his clothing, whipping around him and Alice. He breathed deeply, keeping his focus on destroying the hellhounds. He tried to centralize the pulling of the winds. He could hardly pick out the scents he was trying to pull in, the ruined forest pieces' scents mixing and causing confusion in his senses. He extended the tornado, then pulled back nearly as soon as he had pushed it out, fearing that he'd destroyed the forest if he didn't.
Kenji feared for a moment he wouldn't be able to control the monstrosity he had created to try to destroy the hellhounds. "Alice, I promise I'll keep you safe. I care too much for you to let anyone or anything hurt you ever. I promise you're safe," Kenji whispered, figuring she wouldn't hear him over the winds. The winds were probably going at around two hundred fifteen miles per hour now, Kenji didn't dare open his eyes since his face was exposed and he didn't want debris in his eyes. He hoped Alice was alright.
All these thoughts, all of his power, conducted and done within two minutes. Kenji had never used his ability in this way. The wind slowly faded, he began to sink as the tornado lifted from the ground. He was probably two hundred feet off the ground, the tornado not surrounding him anymore. He was exposed, anyone could see him if they didn't have something obstructing their vision of him.
With that, he fell. Kenji's energy was gone. His eyes fluttered and he was unconsciousness, but right before he was killed by crashing into the hard packed earth, Kenji managed one last gust of wind, cushioning it enough to not kill him, but still hurt. However, he was already unconscious in that three feet off the ground he had summoned his last bit of power to not kill himself or Alice.
Lucca had grabbed Ami upon seeing the tornado get so large and strong. It wasn't moving, but the wind pulled at their clothing. He formed a shield of shadows as it began, knowing Kenji might not have full control over the impossibly strong wind. He held Ami there, wondering what was going on outside of their shields of shadows with the hellhounds and the other guild members. The howling wind surprised Lucca under the shadows.
It was rather suddenly that it stopped. He waited a moment longer before releasing the shadows, looking up and around, standing. The hellhounds were gone, the trees around them gone. Debris all around them. There were leaves, wood chips, and the disaster only a tornado could produce surrounding them. "Oh, my God... Kenji just destroyed all of this," Lucca whispered, awed at the destruction that was caused. He looked around, not seeing Kenji or Alice anywhere nearby. He realized there were trees nearby.
They were in a circle about a hundred feet wide, the entire area around them destroyed, yet everything outside untouched, the tree line beginning right outside of the circle as if nothing had touched the area. Kenji had focused his tornadoes where he knew the others were surrounded by hellhounds... He'd destroyed the hellhounds. "We have to find them now," Lucca managed as he looked over at Ami. Lucca caught sight of a small dot in the distance falling rapidly and nodded in the direction, thinking that was where they needed to go.
