Warnings: some violence

Pairing: ...none!! (see my M-rated stuff for smut ^_^)

Summery: Darc gets into trouble in the flying castle and an unexpected ally comes to his aid

A.N. I don't write non-smut related fics very often, so please review and let me know what you think ^_^

Disclaimer: sadly, the boys do not belong to me, they belong to Sony/Cattle Call. I make no profit from this.

Darc cursed himself inwardly as he cast his gaze over the group of monsters that surrounded him. He was vastly outnumbered and out of spirit stones, the last three rooms he had entered all being similarly occupied. The flying castle was a veritable maze of darkened rooms, dimly-lit corridors and hidden passageways, most of them patrolled by strange and deadly creatures; he should never have allowed himself to become separated from the others.

He growled fiercely as another sharp wave of pain washed over him, spreading outwards from the deep and savage rents torn into his left arm. He had been trying to convince himself that the wound was superficial and could be tended to later, once he had been reunited with his comrades. However, as he felt the sticky warmth of blood seep across his flesh and the circle of monsters around him continued their steady advance, he reluctantly admitted to himself that the situation was bleaker than he had originally assessed it to be.

Gritting his teeth determinedly, Darc decided there was only one course of action available to him. He knew that his chances of battling though a band of monsters this size in his current condition were slim, but he'd be damned before he gave up without a fight. With a vicious snarl, he launched himself furiously towards his enemies, his sword sweeping outwards in a swift and fatal arc as the monsters rushed in around him.

He felt the impact as his blade met flesh, the air suddenly filling with bright crimson jets of blood. Whirling round as his first opponent hit the floor, he drove his sword fiercely through the chest of the monster closest to him, ensuring its speedy elimination. However, as each one fell it seemed another immediately took it's place and, with his attention focused on the opponents before him, Darc was unable to defend himself as an enemy drove it's claws ferociously into his back.

With a roar of pain, the half-breed turned to face his attacker, running it through with one ferocious thrust. As he moved to pull his blade from it's dying body, a creature just ahead of him cast a fire spell, hitting him hard in the chest and causing him to stagger sideways. Dark clouds were beginning to rush across his vision as he continued to lose blood, yet his enemies kept coming; it was starting to look as though he would not make it through this alive.

'Darc!'

The half-Drakyr turned sharply at the sound of his name, a wave of relief rushing through him as he realised his allies must be close at hand. However, his eyes widened almost imperceptibly in surprise as a monster to the left of him dropped to the ground and his brother stepped towards him, ruby droplets of blood dripping from the keen edge of his blade.

'You?' Darc snarled incredulously as the blond male moved towards him.

'Yes, me. Now just hold still a second,' Kharg replied calmly before muttering the words he needed to cast the vital energy spell.

Darc closed his eyes as the soothing light washed over him, his mind beginning to clear once more as the fierce pain that had plagued him swiftly receded.

'Don't just stand there,' Kharg's lips curled upwards in a mischievous smile, masking the tension that laced his voice, 'we need to get out of here.'

'You think I don't know that?' Darc spat, focusing once more on the fight.

The air was quickly filled once more with the sound of metal striking flesh, the half-breed standing with his back pressed firmly against his twin's as their opponents rushed ruthlessly towards them. As each monster succumbed to the kiss of his sword and fell in a lifeless pile at his feet, the heat from his brother's body radiating through him with a fierce intensity, Darc became aware of a curious feeling beginning to overcome him, something startlingly close to exhilaration.

*******

As the battle drew to a close, Darc pulled sharply away from his twin and glared down at the blood-smeared ground, a multitude of confused thoughts running through his mind. He had witnessed what humans were capable of; the way they ruthlessly despatched the Slothian elders on Cragh Island despite the fact they were clearly defenceless and the monstrous experiments the deimos on board the Megist had been subjected to. Humans and deimos despised each other, there was no getting away from that fact, and although he knew Kharg shared his deimos blood, he was also aware that his brother had renounced that heritage as completely as Darc had buried the human part of himself. They should be destroying each other, not fighting together.

'Why did you do that?' Darc questioned quietly, his gaze still fixed firmly on the ground.

'Do what?' Kharg replied, a note of confusion colouring his voice.

'You know what,' the darker male retorted, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

'I'm afraid I don't,' the blond reiterated.

'Why did you help me just now? You'd have been better off if you left me to die,' Darc replied, glaring up at his twin.

'I'd never leave an ally to die, that's not the human way,' Kharg shrugged, 'Besides I...'

'What?' the half-breed growled impatiently.

'Never mind. Come on, let's get out of here before any more monsters show up.'

'Hmm,' Darc grunted, 'don't think this means I owe you anything.'

Darc turned sharply on his heel, attempting to stamp out the tiny voice in the back of his mind that reminded him how good it had felt to be fighting alongside his brother, how for the briefest of moments he had considered the possibility that there might be something other than hatred between them. Forcing back the faint flicker of longing he stubbornly refused to acknowledge, the half-breed ignored the voice that told him this man might be the only person who could ever truly understand him.

With his attention focused firmly on obliterating these traitorous thoughts, crimson eyes fixed on the path ahead of him, Darc failed to notice the look of hopeful curiosity etched across his brother's face as the blond watched his retreating form.

'I wouldn't want you to die before I had the chance to get to know you,' Kharg finished his sentence in a whisper before moving to catch up with his twin.

'Did you say something?' the darker male muttered irritably without turning to look at his brother.

'I said the others are this way, they'll be wondering where we got to.'

Without another word, they continued in the direction Kharg had come from, possibility hanging thickly between them whether they chose to acknowledge it or not.