Disclaimer: Neither Redwingblackbird nor Megalord own any of the following: The YuGiOh Cast, any songs that are mentioned or quoted (or both or neither). Megalord, however, owns a good bit of the original text, so I have to give him credit. It'll be pretty obvious cuz his style is NOTHING like mine. AT. FREAKING. ALL.
Redwing: I'm working on this to fill in plot holes. Me and Megalord started this a LONG FRIKING TIME AGO, but the original copy not only sucked, but we lost most of it due to a raging mom attack on his compy. He barely made it out alive! Isn't that right, buddy?
Megalord: in full body cast yeah...
Redwing: Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo this should probably explain the epilogue of YaKa (you didn't really think he was just gonna vanish, right?), the start of ShaKa, and stun Megalord by how strangely I can conclude this thing. OMG I LYK GAVE YALL SPOILERS! stabs self Now, before I start, you need to know: the first bit is the original opener, edited somewhat due to a bunch of the charries never showing up again, and whenever there's a double line, it's a change of view. I HATE writing whose view it IS, so... I'M NOT DOING IT! IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT, YOU'RE A MORON!
Megalord- Now... its time 2 MAKEFUNOFYOUALLFORMAKINGMEGAY!!
Torch- +sweatdrop+ I don't know what u are talking about...
Megalord- True...BUT THEY DO!! +points to Kath, evie, and kels+
trio being pointed at-+shiftyeyes,shiftyeyes/speaks in unison+no we dont...
Torch- Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Ok, Shadow, can we start now?
Shadow- oh fine. TIMETOSTART!!
Kath, Evie, and Kels- WOOT!
Shadow- Ok, dont do that anymore.
Evie-
sorry.
--
--
I'm so Bored... Shadow thought as he sat on the floor of his room. I think Ill go annoy Torch!
He got up from his room, and snuck to Torch's bedroom/pigsty. he slowly turned the doorknob, and lunged into the room, just to get broken teeth and a mouthful of cement. Huh, he's usually here...
And then he heard it. HE'S PLAYING MY GAMES!!
Shadow used his dark energy to sink into the floor and come back up behind Torch, all while creating his darkblade. "WHATAREYOUDOINGINMYROOM!" he yelled, making torch jump 50 feet into the air and start running.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!"
"MOMMY!"
--
--
"C'mon, it doesn't take that long to pack!" Kath screamed up the stairs, pulling her long brown hair back.
"Yeah,yeah." yells another girl from up the stairs.
"Kels, we're finally getting out of this place cuz we finally found a house worth moving into. Move your freaking ASS!"
"COMING! DAMMIT!" Kels stumbled down the stairs, suitcases in either hand.
"EVIE, THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO!" A cat demon slumped down the stairs, looking somewhat dejected.
"But Kaaaaathyyyyyyyyy, it's only 8:30! And you KNOW my mornings start at the crack of noon..."
"Look, this move is going to take 5 hours," she started, rubbing her temples with long fingers. "I don't want to be doing it at night. Let's go."
--
--
" I'm sorry, Torch can't come to the phone, he's a bit tied up today." Shadow said tying his idiot brother up, then frustrated himself with one of his black-as-death locks. Torch was watching all this as he slowly melted the iron binds and ran off in a torrent of flames. Got to get away, but to where? He then saw his greatest hiding spot, his secret passage, of course!! He opened the hidden door and rushed in, nearly forgetting to close the door.
--
--
"Finally, we're here!" Evie sighed as she turned toward the door. "OMG! I locked myself in the car!!"
"Pull the shiny thing, dip wad!!" Kath growled in frustration.
"oh, I knew that..." Evie said as she flopped to the ground and headed to the front door.
Kath opened the door. The birds here were friendly. A bit spooked for a reason she would have to explore later, but friendly.
"ONWARD
TO VICTORY!" Evie screamed and ran through the now open door.
Kath sighed. Could
they be any more stupid?
She thought hard. NO.
Then
Evie's scream pierced her ears. WTF??
She ran inside. A kid was curled up in one of the corners. He glared at her, his eyes cold fire in the empty house. Kath couldn't explain her fear of the child to herself at all.
Then he flung a fireball at her, burning the side of her arm before she could so much as blink, much less dodge. Before he knew what was going on, she had his wrists tied behind his back with his floor-length red hair and demanded where he lived. With that information in hand, she dragged him across the street by that hair, not caring how much he kicked, screamed, and threatened to kill her. She rung the doorbell and waited, but she didn't have to wait long. Soon, the creaky door was opened by a teen her age, maybe a little older. His hair was as stupid-looking as his brother's- the family resemblance was obvious- and his eyes were dark, black almost. A chill went up her spine, but she ignored it, lifting the miscreant so his brother could see.
"Did you lose this?"
--
--
For the second time that day, Torch was being dragged by his hair between the same two houses- but this time in the opposite direction.
"You IDIOT!" his brother growled. "You just HAD to go off and pss off the neighbors, so you're going back to apologize!"
"No I'm not!" Torch screamed, squirming to try and escape. Shadow's grip, however, was like iron, and Torch would have to cut his hair before escaping, which he was not willing to do.
At length they reached Kath's house and knocked on the door. A girl with a purple stripe in her shoulder-length dirty blonde hair answered. Dragon, Shadow recognized immediately from the magical signature on her cloak-spell disguise.
"Yes?" she asked, standing so that they couldn't see past her into the house.
"We came to apologize, right Torch?" Shadow kicked his brother, who nodded dejectedly. The girl opened the door wider and called back into the house.
"SISSY?"
"WHAT?" the response came from the upstairs.
"SOME PEOPLE HERE TO SEE YA."
"BIT BUSY." The girl at the door turned back to them.
"So nice of you to come by, but you're gonna have to go-"
"KELS-KELS, DON'T BE INHOSPITABLE. I'LL BE RIGHT DOWN." The girl sighed.
"May I offer you some tea while my housemate finishes her bandaging?"
"Was she hurt?" Shadow asked, looking for another reason to punish Torch.
"She's been hurt worse," the dragon returned unhelpfully as she led them through the entryway and into the kitchen in the back, where a kettle was already streaming.
They sipped cups of floral tea and waited patiently. A third girl with long black hair and two black cat ears atop her head stared at the brothers and Shadow stared back. Cat demon, not even bothering to disguise herself.
The girl that had brought Torch home entered silently and walked around the table to her friends. Shadow looked at her properly: shoulder-length brown hair, gray eyes that had become steel. He sensed she was more than she appeared, but could not pinpoint what. Like his own concealment spell, hers was of a high level that protected her from even those who knew what to look for.
"My brother wanted to apologize," he explained, and glanced to her arm when she turned her attention to Torch beside him. Her left arm was bandaged tightly from shoulder to elbow, and she was favoring it. How badly had his brother burned her?
Torch apologized in a mumble and Shadow smooth-talked their way out of the stares of the three. The injured one showed them the door. He turned to her.
"Here, let me heal that," he offered. "It's the least I can do." He rested his hand on the shoulder and sent his power into it. She shuddered away from him, but not before the bandages fell away, the injury gone. Anger crossed her face before she bid him good day and closed the door.
--
--
Who did he think he was? No one was allowed to heal... but it didn't matter. He couldn't have known.
For that matter, what was he? He was using a cloaking spell as strong as her own, so she had no idea what he was under the human facade.
His face was enchanting- an honest one, with a strong jaw and deep amethyst eyes. His black hair, like his brother's, reached the floor easily, and she found it ridiculous.
He was only trying to help, Kathy told herself, rubbing her shoulder.
--
--
Kathy was walking home the next day when she was joined, unexpectedly, by the older brother from across the street.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we were properly introduced yesterday."
"Kathy," she said. "You are?"
"Shadow. Not one for pleasantries, eh?"
"Not particularly."
"So... do you duel at all?" She abruptly stopped beside him.
"Duel Monsters?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "Do you play?"
"Yes," her answer was a wary question, gray eyes sharp- ready to roll with whatever he threw at her.
"Great!" he smiled. "We'll have to duel sometime!"
"Yeah," the girl answered with forced levity. What was wrong with her?
"So, Kelsey said you were out looking for a job."
"Yeah?"
"So, how'd it go?"
"I got a job," she said, her tone daring him to pry further. "What about you? Do you work?"
"Yes, I have to support myself and my brother." A surprised look crossed her face. "What, you think you're the only ones who manage on your own?" She shook her head. They walked the rest of their way in silence and Kathy went inside. Shadow stood on the sidewalk a moment more.
'I got a job,' she'd said. But where?
--
--
It was the dream again. The same dream. The cage, the light, the flash, the stifling blackness...
Kathalita jolted awake and sighed first in relief, then in frustration. Though she was happy to be free of the nightmare before it got too unbearable, the noise that had woken her was coming from downstairs, and it sounded like Evie was throwing another of her crazy parties.
We haven't even been here four days and she's already... The girl grabbed a wooden pole she kept nearby for just such occasions and thumped the floor with it. "EVIE, KEEP IT DOWN!" The racket only got louder and she slammed the shaft into the floor as hard as she could. "EVELYN! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO MAINTAIN THEIR YOUTH THROUGH REST! SHATAP!" When the noise continued, she sprung out of bed in fury and dashed to the top of the stairs only to freeze in horror at the sound of her friend's screams.
Demon hunters...
--
--
Shadow was already well a part of the fray by the time Kathy showed up. She flew through the air and kicked one in the temple, knocking him out instantly before turning on two more, wielding a long wooden shaft as a weapon.
There were twelve hunters. Shadow felled two, Kelsey four, Kathy another four. Evie was cornered by the remaining two and was obviously not trained to protect herself, and a sword plunged through her gut before the hunters ran like cowards.
"EVIE!" the girls screamed and ran to their friend's side as she fell to the floor.
"It's alright," she croaked. "It's alright..."
"Evie..." they murmured in shock.
"I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away..." the cat demon chanted, her voice growing weaker with every word. "I know I can stop the pain..."
--
--
A week had passed since Evie's death. Kathy and Kelsey had only mourned in private, unwilling to give Shadow the satisfaction of their pain. They were sitting in the mall at midnight, across from each other with milkshakes sitting unsipped in front of them.
"Guess it's just you and me now," gray eyes observed.
"Yeah," amethyst chips agreed.
"Sisters to the end," hollow voice vowed.
"How else?" tapping claws questioned.
They knew Shadow was skateboarding around the deserted building, and he returned every once in a while because he wasn't sure that they were as okay as they kept assuring him. Funny how he hardly knew them, but was looking out for them because he knew no one else would but themselves.
--
--
And he didn't trust them to look out for themselves at this point. He had seen the two of them at the quiet funeral and knew they had lost a sister- maybe not in blood, but in spirit. He mused as his long hair blew behind him, remembering how they had fought.
They were specially trained fighters. But who had trained them and where? Kathy had sustained a big bruise in her side that would be slow-healing, but hadn't let him near it. In fact, she had been avoiding him period, as if she were too wary of him to be close.
He was beginning to distrust her. She seemed nice enough- like a snapping turtle. And trusting enough- like a beaten mustang. He just couldn't see what she was under the cloaking spell, and it was killing him.
He caught movement up ahead and brought his board to a quick stop. The shadows rustled and three men stepped from the darkness. Shadow turned tail and raced back to the girls full speed.
--
--
Kathy stood when he came back gasping for breath.
"What's up?" she asked, startled to see him flustered.
"We've got company," he managed. "Get your duel disk." She slipped it on her arm and walked to stand next to him, peering into the shadows from whence he had fled. She noticed he carried a Chaos Dueldisk, and knew he wouldn't recognize hers- it was one of a kind. Lightweight titanium instead of bulky plastic and steel, it curved even smoother than the Chaos model managed.
Three figures walked beside each other out of the shadows. Two were roughly the same height, the third a few inches shorter. They all had dark, distrusting eyes and thin bodies. One of the tall ones had metallic golden skin and white hair that sprouted upward, defying gravity. The other had white skin and matching hair that reached his waist. The short one had pale skin as well, but his multicolored hair resembled a hedgehog's spikes.
"We heard there were duelists of high caliber living here," Yami Bakura called across the space that separated them.
"We're here," Kathy called back coolly, gray eyes unperturbed.
"We came to duel," Yami Yugi said. "But we were told there were three."
"The third is dead," her voice cracked on the fourth word.
"A shame," he offered.
"Well, Bakura and I will challenge you anyway to a tag-team duel, to see if you're really as good as they say." Yami Marik's voice made the blonde hair on the back of her neck and arms stand on end, but Kathy wouldn't let him see.
"I'm in," she replied.
"Let's do this," Shadow agreed.
"It's time to duel!" Marik screamed, activating his Dueldisk.
--
--
I was efficiently keeping Bakura busy, draining his lifepoints every turn. However, that left Marik up to Kathy. She was doing a good job of wiping his tributes off the field, but she just couldn't get to his lifepoints.
And then he activated Scapegoat.
His next turn he summoned Ra, but it was in Sphere Mode. The laughter was giving her goose bumps, but she wouldn't let him see how scared she was. A good soldier.
"You have been a brave fighter, but now it is time to end this duel!" He spread his arms to the creature above him and began: "Great Beast of the sky, please hear my cry..."
His main opponent froze, still trying to calculate a way out.
"Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight..."
I crunched the numbers as well. It wouldn't take him long to clear the field of her attack position monster.
"Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe..."
But in another turn I'd be there to aid her, and we could bring him down together.
"Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win..."
I looked at the sphere now, knowing I might not ever see Ra transform in person again.
"Appear in this Shadow Game as I call your name..."
Kathy seemed to have the same idea and was now gazing at the dragon with rapt attention.
"Winged Dragon of Ra!"
The wings of the creature opened and it's legs swung free. The beaklike jaw dropped and a ear-splitting screech echoed through the mall. A fireball reflected in Kathy's eyes as it wiped out her Guardian Iantos and damaged her lifepoints, but she wasn't through yet.
Bakura, on the other hand, was. My stall-and-burn deck had all but destroyed him already, and he was nowhere near completing the Destiny Board. He was out of the duel the instant after Marik's turn, so I turned my attention to Ra, and the master turned his attention to me.
Kathy's turn. "No monsters," I heard her swear softly in Latin. "I will place one card face down and end my turn," she declared.
"For some reason, you'll get the second chance you need so badly to recover," Marik laughed darkly. "I will transfer all but one of my lifepoints to Ra, for a grand total of 5999 attack." The thin form fused with the dragon and he laughed more evilly still. "Now, my creature, take out Apprentice Magician and remove the staller from our game!"
The world moved in slow motion as gold scales and red eyes fixed on my monster, still in attack mode. My lifepoints would be wiped out, and Kathy needed more than one turn to get back on her feet with Ra staring her in the face. We'd lost.
The fireball curled in the back of Ra's throat and I was frozen in place.
"Not so fast, Marik!" A familiar voice called from my left. I turned. Kathy looked calm, sure, victorious even.
"You forgot all about my facedown card. Reveal trap!" the hologram turned face-up. "Shift!"
"Magic and Traps don't apply to God cards, fool!"
"This card might be too common for you to associate with, so I'll explain. Shift doesn't effect your monster, it affects the attack itself, switching it to any other target on our side of the field." But all my monsters were in attack mode! "Ra!" she called. "Take me instead!"
My jaw must have hit the floor. I knew Bakura's and the Pharaoh's did. Kelsey was watching nonchalantly.
Marik's monster wheeled and blasted her directly, throwing her back hard against a wall. She was out of the duel, but it was over.
"Marik!" I called up to him. "My monsters' effects all kick in at the end of your turn, destroying your remaining lifepoint several times over."
We'd won. The holograms faded and I turned to my partner, hurrying to see if she was okay- she hadn't moved since Marik's last turn. The Yamis came as well, worried of a major injury.
She shook her head and held it. I reached out to see the damage, but she recoiled from me and flinched. "Don't touch me," she growled.
"Are you alright?" Yami Yugi asked, genuinely concerned.
"The world's spinning," she replied, her words slurring. "The back of my head hurts..." Bakura helped her to her feet.
"You just fought one hell of a fight," he complimented.
"Thanks, but it was Shadow that whooped your asses into next Tuesday."
"It has never taken me so long to summon Ra," Marik corrected. "I don't care what you say, you have to come to our tournament."
"Tournament?" I asked.
"Yes, we're staying in Hell, challenging all the toughest trainers around to come for a tournament. We heard about you there and came to Nowhere for a challenge. Guess we got more than we'd bargained for," Marik laughed more good-naturedly this time.
I chuckled. We lived in Nowhere, Texas. Literally, that's the name of the town. Our nearest neighbors were Heaven and Hell, larger metropoli that lived up to their names.
"Maybe when I can walk in a straight line..." Kathy suggested and we headed home, laughing our arses off the whole way. The girl seemed to recover as we walked, and laughed with the Yamis. Relief washed over me to see her smiling like nothing had happened, at peace- but I couldn't figure out why. I still didn't trust her. After all, what was she?
--
--
--
Redwingblackbird: End part 1. That was the modified version of all the original I had. From here on out it's my memory or my mind coming up with what happened.
Megalord: out of the cast You changed the shit out of this thing, didn't cha?
Redwing: Yeah, but it makes SENSE now.
Megalord: Er, no. It doesn't.
Redwing: BUT IT WILL! ONWARD!
Kathy: It makes MUCH more sense than the other, it was just unbelievable how quickly we were attracted to each other.
Shadow: Speak for yourself. hugs
--
--
--
A month had passed since the move when the full moon rose. Kathy sat on her roof, gazing up, unable to sleep as usual, letting the moonbeams soak into her skin. A movement in the shadows of the street caught her eye and she turned slowly, not letting it know it had caught her attention. She blinked in confusion- what were Shadow and his brother doing running off like that?
Kelsey joined her a moment later. "You coming or what?"
They followed cautiously, silently, undetected, to a wide field miles from town, surrounded by dense forest on every side. Kathy jumped into a tree to get a better look when the unthinkable happened.
Torch, in the moon's light, convulsed as one who is becoming a werewolf would, but instead of fur, he grew scales. His neck lengthened and his face stretched. Hair became mane, fingers became claws, a red tail writhed as the creature roared.
Dragon. The girl froze. Shadow? Her eyes darted over. The age difference was obvious- the older brother was leaner, as though he had grown out of his baby fat already. The five horns on his head- three on the forehead, two on the corners of the jaw- were more pronounced and gleamed silver against his ultraviolet scales. No. It's an illusion. But he had his eyes...
"We have an audience," the red monster cackled before a massive fireball launched from his jaws straight toward them. Paralyzed with fear, Kathy barely managed to throw up her arms as a defense before Shadow intervened, swatting the flame up into the air with his tail as it imploded.
Slowly she opened her eyes and the adrenaline in her system jumped another three notches. In panic, she had dropped the cloaking spell, reverting to her true form.
--
--
Every full moon Torch lost his mind to the dragonrage, and now the girls knew his secret. Standing between the two onlookers and his crazed brother, he looked back.
"Are you alright?" escaped him before he saw her- gray eyes wide in terror, arms still crossed in front of her curled legs. But what sent him reeling were the wings that spread from her back and were tucked around her protectively- bird's wings, stormcloud gray. Another fireball came and he caught it in his horns, but when he looked back she was gone.
--
--
Kathy flew sideways, dodging trees, mind blank as stone. She watched without recognition as the two dragons clashed. Once, they stood on their hind legs in a wrestling match the younger won. Shadow landed nearby, crashing and lying still.
--
--
Torch had gotten the best of me. I thought I was dead. The world spun and I tried to steady it.
A hand rested on my nose. "You can't give up," a familiar voice called. "You can get bashed up much worse that this." I rolled back onto my feet and turned to face my brother. I threw a ball of purple fire and he coughed one of red. They collided and fire exploded everywhere. I opened my wings an instant too late, and a jet whizzed past.
One of her wings caught fire badly, and she screamed as a tortured eagle would, crumpling in pain. Red edged my vision and I whirled in blind rage. Torch was unconscious in a minute, head struck against the ground. I turned again to see Kelsey over her friend, stamping the remnants of the flames out with dirt. I transformed back into my human form and raced over, falling to my knees beside them.
I rested my hands on her wing and healed it- as good as new. A sigh of relief escaped me as I gathered Kathy in my arms and started home. Kelsey followed right behind, not saying a word and glaring at me the whole way. Once home, I laid the girl down on the sofa and went up to the roof, needing time to think.
Why had it surprised me so much, her true form? Hadn't I been curious all this time? And why had my first response been to protect her? That last sent me in circles for quite a while and I was just dismissing it as primitive instinct (protect the female) when I sensed something behind me and turned. She stood there with her head just out of the hatch to the roof looking dazed and confused.
"Er, is this your roof? I'll just be going now..." she headed back down and my words rushed a little on the response.
"No! Please stay, I want to talk to you." She paused, then climbed back up the ladder and sat next to me.
"Why did you heal me?" she asked, gingerly flexing the wing in question.
"You were in pain," I answered, voice softer than I'd meant it to be. "I don't like to see people in pain, especially when it's my fault."
"But it wasn't your fault, I was standing in harm's way."
"I could have protected you."
"I don't need your protection." I was unable to stop myself from turning quickly, her voice was so sharp. "Do you not understand what you've done?" her gray eyes narrowed as if focusing on her point. "Where I come from, there are few who can heal. Those who can don't go around healing everyone in sight, especially people like me."
"Avians."
She turned, the scowl on her face deepening. "That's right, half-birds." I realized only then that I'd struck a nerve. "That kind of intimacy doesn't come easily to people like me. Having another person's magic in your system..." she shuddered. "It's just messed up. Besides, now I owe you a life debt. My wings wouldn't have healed up so perfectly on their own."
"You don't owe me anything, I got you hurt!"
"No, I do because I went out onto the battlefield!"
"Why'd you come after me then, when I fell?"
She looked away, color creeping into her face. "I don't know. The adrenaline was so high in my system that I wasn't in full control of myself." We sat in silence. Finally, she spoke again. "You aren't... repulsed... by this form?" she asked, looking into her palms as though they held an answer.
"No," I answered softer than I'd meant to. "Not at all..."
"But..." I struggled to hear. "I'm a monster..." A short laugh escaped me and she looked over out of her reverie, curious. I looked away out of reflex.
"Au contraire." One hand ran over the wing beside me, which tensed under my touch. "I can't find anything monstrous about you." The wing shrugged away from me and she seemed to ignore that it'd happened.
"I'm of both earth and sky, yet I belong fully to neither. You are all one creature and have no idea how easy you have it." As she ranted, she began to yank burnt feathers out of her injured wing and let them fall to the ground below, where they disintegrated almost instantly.
"Not quite," I responded, sliding into my demi form. Her gray eyes widened as she saw the pointed ears and draconic wings and tail, and the full extent of my elven features came from hiding. "I can be all one thing, but this is what I truly am: half dragon, half elf. A mutt to both and truly accepted by neither."
The blush reddened on her face and she looked quickly away. "It's late," she allowed at last. "Kelsey probably thinks I'm dead or you raped me or something. Of course, she'd probably think the latter'd do me good..." The gray wings stretched, even with the huge patch of feathers missing.
"Didn't that hurt?" I asked, pointing to the carnage.
"Yeah. But if I didn't do it, the new ones would never grow in." With that, she jumped off the roof. She slowed her fall with her wings, but she couldn't properly fly across the street and down to her house. All the same, I watched until she was out of sight.
--
--
Ho. Ly. Shit.
He was gorgeous under the spell. The high elven cheekbones and fair skin turned his dark eyes into pools that I'd fallen into the moment he'd turned to me. I'd seen the deep purple scales of the wings and tail before, but hadn't realized they matched his eyes so perfectly. Didn't he know that with the moon behind him his hair seemed blacker than the sky itself? He must have. He was flirting, after all.
Watch yourself, Kathy. Don't get attached, don't even consider crushing.
He said he couldn't see the monster in me...
The burnt feathers on the back of your wing still need to be taken out. Do that tomorrow.
Purple eyes...
How did I fall asleep? Kathy asked herself in the dream world before darkness swallowed her surroundings.
A pair of all-too-familiar amethyst eyes and all-too-familiar words in a voice that brought back horrid memories.
"Pharai, humnat nintas."
--
--
What's happening? Shadow asked himself as he floated in a black void. I was fast asleep not a few seconds ago, and now I feel out of my body altogether and unable to find it.
Gravity slowly bid him to stand instead of float, though he couldn't see what he stood on. Looking ahead, he saw Kathy. Perhaps she knows what's going on. Suddenly, a pair of familiar Egyptian eyes opened from the gloom, though their owner remained hidden.
"Pharai, humnat nintas." The figure said and a mirror appeared. Kathy's face was full of terror, but she walked through the glass all the same. Shadow followed, unable to believe what was happening. On the other side, the girl's appearance had changed dramatically. In place of her t-shirt and jeans she wore a golden gown, and her skin was bronzed as though she lived outside every waking moment. Her eyes were closed as angel statues' often are in patient prayer, and golden chains hung limply around her. A man with black and red spiked hair stood behind her and bent to whisper at her throat:
"Pharai, humnat nintas."
"Never." The word rang clear and true and the chains jumped to life, binding her fast.
"You will submit to me. You belong to me. One day I will have you even if I have to force you."
"I will sooner die." Her eyes opened to challenge her captor, narrow slivers of silver fury.
"That can be arranged," he threatened.
"But then you would lose your prize," she reasoned. "And you don't like to lose." The chains became lightning and she screamed in pain before a mirror opened beneath her and she fell through, Shadow on her heels.
Or, rather, wings, as it were. The portal dropped them from a dizzying height over a forest and as Shadow spread his wings to help himself, he saw Kathy ahead of him. Mirrors must be transitions between dimensions, Shadow realized. So with every mirror comes a new world, a new scene.
Only in this scene, the avian's wings were broken. She was back in her normal clothes, but she was tumbling out of the sky faster than Shadow would have thought possible. He dove after her and somehow caught her before she hit the tree line.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Do you know what's going on? I mean the void and the capture and the mirrors have me confused as all-" she put a finger to his lips.
"It's a dream, Kage. It started off horribly, but... It's alright now..." the avian's head tucked against his chest and his heart stopped for a moment before beating wildly out of control. Delusional, he thought. Lost her mind from the pain.
Suddenly he woke, bolting to his feet as sunlight streamed through the windows of his room. What happened? He wondered, sitting again. How could I have been awake while I was sleeping?
A dream, she had said. A dream? I've never dreamt before...
--
--
The next two nights similar escapades happened and Shadow became more used to the dreamworld. He saw that with each mirror came a new world, and each new world changed them to fit in perfectly.
Then suddenly the dreams stopped and he was left to his thoughts- after he'd healed her, a part of his power must have remained in her body, as she had mentioned before. Then he was pulled into her subconscious through that.
He held his head in his hands. This was so terribly confusing.
It was later that day that it suddenly occurred to him.
"Kelsey, where does Kathy work?"
The other half-dragon shrugged. "I can take you there tonight so you can see for yourself, if you want."
And so the plans were made. Kels lead him to a coffee shop in Heaven called Spill the Beans, that also served ice cream and old-fashioned fountain drinks. It was a family friendly place, and they got there around eight in the evening. The owner, a little man with thinning hair and a pointed beak on his wan face, came up on a stage that was fitted against the back wall.
"How's everyone doing tonight?" he asked, and the audience answered with more vigor than Shadow had expected. "Good, good. Well, I'll go ahead and hand the mike over to Leo. Just remember that if you want to request a song, the cards are on your tables."
The mike was indeed handed over to an older teen who stood nearly six feet tall, including his combat boots. He was dressed all in denim, but the inside of his jacket was lined with faux fur that jumped out of the upturned collar like a lion's mane. His shoulder-length hair matched the brown eyes that gazed out at the floor. "Hello Heaven Texas!" he called. The crowd howled back. "It's Friday night! Guess who's here!"
The floor began to chant, "Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! Cloud!" And a slightly shorter teen with all the years of the former came onstage, wreathed in a spotlight. His long black trench coat almost hid the black bass guitar strapped across his chest, and it was only then that Shadow noticed Leo's guitar as well. A live band?
Again, the chant. "Napoleon! Napoleon!" This one appeared younger, but was taller. He had bright orange hair that sat in curls atop his zitty, pockmarked face. Bright blue eyes gazed out of rectangular glasses with bronze rims as he took his seat behind his drum set.
A final time: "Raven! Raven! Raven!" This time a girl walked onstage. Her gray eyes were lined thickly in black that matched her almost-shoulder-length hair. Her shoulders and midriff were bare, left so by her jet black tube top and skirt. She wore knee-length striped stockings in black and white and black platforms. She walked confidently into her circle of four keyboards and took a ready position, fingers hovering expectantly.
Now Leo turned back to the mike. "Alright, alright. We have a request right off the bat guys." The band dove into a cover of Nickelback's "Hero", Leo and Cloud sharing the vocals. Girls screamed and fainted nearer to the stage, and Shadow looked around uninterestedly.
"You said she works here," he said, the statement demanding an answer.
"She does." Kelsey's eyebrows were raised as if in questioning. "How can you not see her?"
"She's not here."
Kelsey's mouth became a thin line and she grabbed a blue card from the middle of the table and scribbled something on it, handing it and a five dollar bill to a passing waitress. The Used's "Liar Liar" came and went, followed by "I've got friends in low places" by Garth Brooks. Then Leo was handed the little blue card and he gave it a look before handing it to Raven.
"Well would you look at that, they want you to sing, Raven." The crowd began to chant. "Take it easy, guys, this one's all her."
A simple piano melody passed under Shadow's subconcious as he checked over all the faces- the soda jerk, the waitresses, the janitors...
"I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me..." the dragon jumped about a mile in the air. "Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why," he turned and looked at the girl in the spotlight more closely. "Without you, it's hard to survive." How had he not recognized her? It was definitely her face, the gray eyes set on high cheekbones. Her already pale skin seemed white as porcelain from the contrast to her outfit.
He was spellbound at the sound of her voice and felt a twinge in his chest. The rest of the room fell away and it was as though she was playing for him and him alone. The longer he looked at her, the more he saw things he hadn't allowed himself to notice before, or perhaps she was the one who was hiding. What stunned him the most, though, was the tattoo on her right shoulder: a dragon whose tail curled down her bicep and whose head rested on her collarbone.
The song ended and he was released and he was suddenly very aware of Kelsey's snickering. "It's not just you. Every time she sings that way, every guy in the room goes to Pluto."
"What's with the tat?"
"Henna. She has her makeup artist do a new one every week. It wears out of her skin after a few days. Mao Mao really outdid herself, huh?"
"Yeah," he agreed absentmindedly. "Why do they call her Raven?"
"Because that magic only works when she's singing something sad. They're all great musicians, and she can sing, but her dark powers are most noted when she feels what she says, and generally it's something depressing."
--
--
"Great job," Cloud said, ruffling my hair as we went offstage. "Long night, huh?"
"Yeah," I agreed. "But it was fun."
"I can't wait to go home," Leo whined, as usual. I smiled, wondering if his fangirls would love him so much if they knew he was such a lazy arse.
"Rae," Cloud said before I got into my dressing room. I turned in the doorway. "You get the Magic Mike next week. Know what you wanna sing yet?"
I shrugged. "Do I ever?" Another noogie at his perfectly-shaped hands attacked me.
"Well, Napoleon gets it the next week after you, so keep that in mind, kay?"
"Alright, alright!" I laughed, trying to get free. "Come on, you know the black doesn't come out of my hair all that well! Lemme go!"
"You should just dye it red. Our little Irish Raven." Then he gave me a gentle shove into my room and I shot a fake glare at him before shutting the door.
Geez. Older brotherly figures...
--
--
I couldn't get the image out of my head- the sweep of her fingers, so sure of themselves across the keys. Her strange gray eyes, half closed as she sang from the depths of her soul.
I rolled onto my left side, trying to leave the image behind, but was left with my own thoughts instead. The longer I'd looked...
Right side. Homework I hadn't done, chores that needed doing, things at the shop to be handled tomorrow.
On my back. The image again.
Left side. Finally quiet and sleep begin to find me, but not fast enough. The longer I looked, I realized, the more I saw her. It was like seeing her for the first time.
The more I saw her as a girl.
How'd I end up in here again? I thought frantically. A scream. I ran toward it and found her chained to a dungeon wall, her same captor with the same demand: "Pharai, humnat nintas."
"I will sooner die!" she repeated. Another shock was delivered to her through the chains and she screamed again. She hung her head, sweat beading her hair as it fell before her face. "My brothers and sisters," she murmured. "Help me." Then he raised to cry to the darkness spread above her. "HELP ME!" Six birds dove from the dark and landed before her in a defensive formation: in the lead, a phoenix, beside him, a thunderbird. Then a tawny owl and a kingfisher. Finally, two swans: one white, the other black. Each glowed with a vibrant color that, when it touched the aggressor, drove him back.
But the birds soon disappeared and I was falling once again out of the sky. This time, however, the girl's wings were fine, and she hovered nearby, waiting for me to regain my balance.
I jolted awake and sat up in bed, cold sweat sticking to my body. Another of her dreams. But I hadn't touched her with my magic for weeks... wait- she had touched me with hers.
I ran my fingers through my newly-cut, shaggy hair. This was becoming a real problem.
I sat for a long time, unable to free my ears from her screams of agony.
--
--
Why? And how?
Why couldn't Yami leave me alone? I'd broken up with him long ago.
And how could he remember what he forced us to be? I'd wiped his memory with a Shadow Game.
I sighed and glanced at the address Kels had given me. She swore it was the best weapon shack in Heaven. I wasn't so sure, but my old knife had shattered and I might as well give it a shot.
I walked in and was mystified. The walls were covered in swords, axes, pikes, bows, and shields. At the far end of the shop was a glass case in which smaller weapons hid, and the owner looked up from his book.
"Ah, Kathy." I froze. Shadow? "What an unexpected surprise."
"That's usually how surprises go."
"What can I help you with, now that my secret's out?"
"You OWN this place?" I asked as I walked toward him behind the counter.
"Yep. What'cha looking for?"
"Uh..." I shut my eyes and reprimanded myself: how could I forget? "A concealable, lightweight, six-inch blade."
His beautiful eyes looked at me hard. "Paranoid by the dream?" I blushed. I'd heard of dream walkers, but I hadn't expected him to be one. And I thought he wasn't real, but a figment of my imagination- I always knew when Yami was slinking in my subconcious.
"The dream was brought about by a real threat."
Now his expression hardened into concern and anger. My heart flipped over and trembled in fear all at once.
"Who is threatening you, and what does it mean?" I knew what he meant, I knew what he wanted to know. I hardly knew it was my voice telling him:
"It is Arabic for 'Queen of Pharaoh, accept your destiny'. My stalker is-" Just then, the door opened behind me and the bell rang. And in stepped my worst nightmare.
"There's my little songbird." I tensed up, resisting his mental attacks with every molecule in my body. He snaked an arm around my waist and I recoiled from the bastard's touch. Anger sparked in his violet eyes, but he smiled at Shadow. "What were we talking about?"
Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived.
"Oh, nothing."
"Nothing at all."
"I was just about to invite Shadow to my show Friday night. I have the Magic Mike and all."
"Oh, goody. I think I'll come too." Fire and lightning cackled in the back of my throat, but I resisted the urge to just kill him there. "Shouldn't we be going, my dove?"
"Go on," I replied icily. "You'll catch up eventually." He scowled and stalked off, and when I turned back to Shadow, he had a dagger in his hand.
"On the house," he said, handing it to me carefully. He had matched my description perfectly, and on the thin carbonized-steel blade was etched a tiny dragon. When he caught my glance, he explained, "Smith's mark."
"Thanks."
He smiled. "Just sing and we'll call it even." The blush on my face darkened and I ducked my head.
"Don't try to hide it," he chastised gently, "you're cute when you're flustered." That only made the blush worse.
"You and Cloud would get right along..." he laughed.
"Say, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Depends, what's the favor?"
"Well, I have a day once a month where I wheel my whetstone outside and sharpen everyone's stuff for free. However, while I'm doing that, the store goes unmanned, so could you watch it for me Saturday?"
"I have another show Saturday night."
"That's alright, I usually close up around 5:30 anyway." I sensed another motive and tried to discern it from his face. He sighed and looked at me sadly. "And you'll be safe here, away from him."
My heart fluttered. "Alright, I'll be here."
--
--
Friday came fast, and I found myself in the audience again, waiting anxiously for the show to begin. Leo came first, then Cloud, then Napoleon, then Kathy (excuse me- Raven). She was dressed in red tonight, from her Chucks to her goggles perched in her spray-painted hair.
She had the Magic Mike, which meant she chose the songs they sang in between requests- it passed between all 5 of the crew (their sound man, Sparks, was backstage, and got his chance too), switching hands every week. They opened with Weird Al's "Another One Rides the Bus" before they got swamped with the little blue request tickets.
About an hour and a half in, Leo had a ticket in his hand and a shadow passed over his face. He turned and walked over to Raven, handing it to her. She read it and her expression hardened. She nodded to Leo, who went back to the microphone. "Sorry bout that, folks. This song's been dedicated to Raven."
I had no idea what the song was, though later I would be told it was by Nightwish. The guys' chorus had me searching the crowd for the only bastard I knew would choose such a song:
"I wish I had an angel for one moment of love, I wish I had your angel, your Virgin Mary, undone; I'm in love with my lust, burning angel wings to dust; I wish I had your angel tonight."
Kathy only had one line, and she sang it with such ferocity her words might have burned a hole through the microphone: "Old loves, they die hard- old lies, they die harder."
"Greatest thrill, not to kill, but to have the prize of the night..."
There. In the corner sat Yami, staring intently at her. I felt a growl rise in the back of my throat. The song ended, and Kathy took a deep breath before beginning one of her choice. Every word was a weapon again, and each resounded in my ears though I knew they were meant for the Pharaoh. The song of choice was "Angels" by Within Temptation, and Yami frowned only after the tenth or eleventh line:
"I see the angels, I'll lead them to your door- There's no escape, now, no mercy no more..." His scowl deepened as he stood and left, and I looked back up to the girl. She seemed frightened now, but desperate to hide that fear.
I picked up a blue card from the center of the table.
--
--
Leo walked up to me again, another card in his hand, his face unreadable. I read the scrap of paper and froze. A blush crept up to my face as I read:
I wish I was singing this instead of Leo, because I'd mean every word.
I smiled up at Leo and nodded, and he went back. "Another one for Raven. Geez, girl, so many admirers..."
"Oh, and you're one to talk," I teased back before starting Stephen Speaks' "Out of my League".
"It's her hair and her eyes today," he began, "That just simply take me away..." I sent my thoughts out with the music, trying to catch who had requested this for me. "And the feeling that I'm falling further in love makes me shiver, but in a good way..." My heart beat madly when I received an answer, but passed it off as wishful thinking: not Shadow. "All the times I have sat and stared as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair..." I closed my eyes and floated away on the song I loved so much, fingers on autopilot over the keys.
"Cause I love her with all that I am, and my voice shakes along with my hands, cause it's frightening to be swimming in this strange sea, but I'd rather be here than on land. Yes she's all that I see and she's all that I need and I'm out of my league once again..."
After the show, I was walking back to my dressing room when Napoleon stopped me.
"Are you okay?" he seemed genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, why?"
"Cause during that one song you were crying. The love song sent to you." I looked down. It had been one tear. "I'd hate my sis to be sad." I had to laugh. Napoleon could be such a golden retriever sometimes.
"Naw, I'm good. Just wishing one guy had been the one to send it, and it probably wasn't him."
"Crushing much?"
"Badly."
"Okay then. Just checking. Night."
--
--
I watched her walk in that morning, a bit worried. She seemed unperturbed, if a bit tired. That's good, right? I demanded of myself. She's not freaked out... or she doesn't know it was you.
"Morning," she greeted. "Need help with the stone?"
"Nope," I smiled. "I've got it."
"Alright." She stood behind the counter and observed her surroundings. She clearly had an eye for weaponry, the strange gray eyes silently appraising the better pieces.
I wheeled the stone outside and started it's spin. Before long, many of my loyal customers came with their knives, katanas, kunai, and shuriken. Though the majority of them had merely bought them for show, they were excellent pieces, and the owners wanted them in top condition. Occasionally I glanced inside the window to check on Kathy. She had gotten her energy back and was doing a great job. I smiled and went back to my sharpening.
--
--
A girl walked in and I wondered why she of all people on the Creator's green Earth was in a weapon shop.
Her blonde hair was straight and shoulder-length. Her skin was perfectly tan without any blemishes. Her blue eyes glared at me from their perch on scary-high cheekbones. She was tall and curvy and dressed to kill with a low neckline and tiny skirt, balancing delicately on stiletto heels.
"Can I help you?" I greeted with a smile.
"Don't give me that. I see what you're trying to do."
"Excuse me?" I attempted to remain civil.
"Shadow. The guy who owns this place. He's mine, you hear? You're trying to get on his good side, working for him, but I see you're just some desperate bitch who's trying to steal my man." I stammered for a moment, trying to get my head back on my shoulders. "Look at you. You're not attractive at all and you know it. You've resorted to stealing other girls' men. Well I'll tell you something, hon." She leaned in close and I wanted to recoil in absolute horror from the face. "Girls like you have only one purpose: exist so guys can appreciate true beauty when they see it- they want girls like me, not like you."
With that, she whirled on her atom-thin heel and walked out the door, shuffling in her purse for something. She found a small knife and handed it to Shadow outside.
No one else was in the store, and I slipped into my own little world. I knew I was gazing like a lost puppy, but he was so perfect I couldn't help myself. He was kind to me as well, a true prince charming. I slapped myself to snap out of it. This attraction was getting way out of hand. Idiot, I chastised. She's right, you know. About your purpose in life, anyway.
--
--
I really saw nothing at all appealing about Victoria, though I heard other guys claim jealousy of me for her attention. I swallowed my pride and sharpened the pocketknife she never used- I knew for a fact she wore it down on rocks the night before my sharpening days because of the chips on the blade length- and remained unaffected by the cleavage she was promoting right by my left ear.
"All done," I said, handing it back. She pouted a little.
"Who's your helper, Shadow?"
"A friend. A good friend."
"A girlfriend?"
I burst out laughing. "No, no. She'd deny that completely, even if it were true."
"Listen here, Shadow," her voice dripped acid instead of words. "You must be absolutely blind to not see how I feel for you and how I feel about her."
"That really doesn't bother me, Victoria," I replied calmly, "because your entire purpose, as far as my life is concerned, is to make me appreciate true beauty when I see it."
"She's not even remotely cute."
"I would hope you wouldn't think so."
--
--
When I watched her storm off in a huff with a red face and tears streaming out of her over-outlined eyes, it took a lot of self control to not have a little personal celebration.
It was almost time to run over to Spill the Beans, so I closed up shop and said goodbye to Shadow before hurrying off.
--
--
It was as though every time I saw her, she became more beautiful. That night she was in blue- a matching midnight shade for the long-sleeved shirt and bellbottoms of her choice. Egyptian-style blue eyeliner and glitter accented her eyes, and streaks of her hair had been turned blue.
The theme of the night was disco. She had gotten the guys dressed up in spandex, and all their sleeves widened and tattered as much as their bellbottoms.
The first time one of her chosen songs had the familiar trance in it was, surprisingly, Abba's "Take a Chance on me". I was, typically, spellbound:
"You know that there's so much that I want to do, when I dream I'm alone with you it's magic..."
I closed my eyes and let myself believe she was singing for me for a moment, that it wasn't an illusion. My heart and soul ached- was it really so impossible? Couldn't she love me in return?
The next song was a request, and I growled, recognizing it instantly. I could hear Atem in each of the Phantom's lines:
"Sing once again with me, our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet. And though you turn from me to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind."
As Kathy sang, it was as though she was screaming for help, barely restraining that need in her voice. My gaze became daggers thrown across the room into the bastard. How could he? How dare he? I would make him pay. I rose to find reinforcements.
--
--
I must have looked really panicked, because after I had changed, the whole crew was waiting for me inches outside the door. I tried to assure them I was fine, but Sparks followed me out to the alley where I parked my bike (the bus stop was across town, and I had to get there somehow).
A silhouette stood in the only way out to the street and I knew it was just my luck he'd decide to stick around. I put my hand on Sparks' blonde, spiky head and looked down into his beady, near-translucent eyes.
"Run," I murmured. "He's not after you." I saw a glance of tears before he did as he was told, and then I turned back to my tormentor.
"I told you," the dark voice growled,. "that there would be no more running."
"Am I running?"
He approached me and I slipped into my ready position- right foot in front, knees bent, arms loose but up to protect my stomach and sides. He rushed forward and I slipped back before throwing my right leg up into his face. Momentum carried me around, left heel connecting well in the same spot. His head smacked into the brick wall to my left, but he recovered and stepped back.
"I told you," I growled. "That there would be no more visits from you."
This time I attacked, dashing forward and grabbing his left wrist and pulling him to my right. My left hand popped the shoulder out of it's socket with a sickening snap. I used my strong lower body to my advantage, twisting it the other way entirely, knocking him off his feet. I spun, letting the speed run out of me. Now I stood between him and the opening to the street. He was down, but rising, and I had disabled his strong arm (lugging around a Duel Disk makes for a great workout).
A flinch later the arm was back in action. The resulting fight was so fast and furious I couldn't give you concrete details to save my life. But all it took was one bad landing from a missed kick and I was pinned in an instant.
I did a quick inventory: arms, pinned at the wrists; legs, locked at the ankles; wings, crushed between me and the wall; I had nothing to use, nothing up my sleeve (the knife was in my bag, abandoned to the side). Dammit, I thought before I began to panic. No way out.
"You will learn," he murmured. "A queen always submits to her king." I struggled in earnest, hoping to find one of his holds weak- no luck. His eyes held true anger and his lips crushed mine. Pain exploded behind my eyes as my head smashed into the brick behind me, but I became as stone: cold and unyielding. When he pulled back to look back at me the anger had become full-out rage as he growled again:
"You will learn." His fingernails dug hard into my wrists and I flinched.
I began to scream insults at him in every language I knew: Arabic, Japanese, English, Elvish, and Draconic to name a few. In an attempt to silence me, Atem bit into my throat and I began to scream in earnest.
"Let her go." Yami paid no attention and my savior spoke again with greater force: "Let her go!"
Irate, the Pharaoh looked to the street, and I did the same in terror. Three forms were outlined by the streetlights. Yami spoke to the centermost.
"What, Shadow? Do you enjoy burning angel wings as well?" I flinched. Shadow hunched over slightly, his hackles up now.
"Release her this instant or so help me God there'll be nothing of you left to bury."
At this, my captor stepped back and I dashed forward, behind the protective line. The fires diminished as Shadow asked gently,
"Are you alright?"
I nodded. "I will be." His eyes smiled.
"Run," he said. "Find a safe place and stay there. I'll deal with him." I nodded, turned, and darted off.
--
--
I turned back to the underling, bloodlust humming in every cell, fiber and pore of my body. I had seen what he'd tried to force her into, and I wanted his head for it.
"You will pay for tormenting and harming her," I said, advancing. Bakura and Marik were flanking me, preventing any form of escape. Yami was backed into a corner before he began to beg for mercy.
"W-wait! I can be reasonable!"
"That time is past."
I stripped him of all his dark-aligned magics and each and every one of his memories. He screamed in pain before blacking out and I walked away, satisfied. He would darken our doorsteps no longer.
Back on the street, I found the scent I was looking for and followed it. I started at a walk, but soon I was worried enough to run. Here she cut through an alley; here she crossed the street a few times to dodge pursuers; and here... I stopped. The scent had disappeared on the edge of town and it took me a minute to realize she had taken to the air.
I followed. She kept at the tree line, avoiding sight, heading for home. Suddenly she stopped just outside Nowhere and hovered for awhile. There were no other scents, so she was alone. What was she thinking? She turned quickly, flying now instead toward the mountains and forest to our northeast. She gained altitude once out of foreseeable sight of humans, then dove into the forest below.
I smelled blood- her blood- and began to panic. But here among the trees she crossed and recrossed her path so many times deliberately that I finally dropped to the forest floor in defeat. I sat with my head in my hands, mind racing, needing to know what was happening. A thousand scenarios raced through my mind and just as I got up to run and try to find her again, motion in my peripheral vision drew my gaze.
A wolf ran to a nearby spot. It was jet black, but had pure white fur on it's chin, chest, mask, inner ears and belly. He looked left, then right, then straight at me, and came running right at me. I took a step back, but it stopped a few feet away. It's eyes were chips of the sky and they looked straight into mine. I sensed a strange power and felt myself fall helplessly into it's mind. There were no words there, but through his eyes (I knew then it was male) I could see Kathy, crushed under a fallen tree.
I snapped out of the trance. The wolf gently took my hand in his mouth and tugged.
"Do you want me to follow you?" it seemed like a stupid question only after it had been asked. The wolf ran off into the woods and I followed. Soon we arrived at the place I had been shown. I saw the blood spattered on Kathy's broken body, but I could also see her breathing. She was still alive!
My guide growled and I looked to the top of the tree. A white cloaked figure lounged there, waiting patiently for, it seemed, me.
"You."
The man pulled his hood back and smiled at me. His white hair was spiked into a single, flamelike spike atop his albino head. His pale blue eyes looked me up and down for a moment before he replied.
"Shadow."
"Hikari." A moment of silence passed.
"You have a strange affinity for this girl, my friend. At first I wondered why, but now I see. She has a spark of life that refuses to be put out, no matter the situation." One of his long clawed hands ran through her blood-caked hair and I growled as much as the spirit beside me. "What do you say, Shadow?" he asked, taking a fistful of that same hair. "Join with me and I will release her. I will even guarantee that she will be healed once Chaos is resurrected. Refuse me," he pulled hard, yanking her head back, inducing a horrible scream, "and I will kill her right here, right now."
If I thought I had been angry before, I was wrong. I lost all control over myself, changing into my dragon form. Hikari did the same: my doppelganger with white instead of purple and black. Our fight was lightning quick and brutal. Hikari took all the major damage, and after I had sunk my teeth into his neck, he teleported away. Coward.
I turned and tossed the tree away effortlessly. I dropped to the ground, changing again, this time into my true form. I eased Kathy onto her back and cradled her broken body gently. A small stream of my magic told me the extent of the damage. Tears stung my eyes and blurred my vision. My power was running low- I couldn't help her on my own. But who else could help? I bowed my head in despair.
Cyan light exploded behind my closed eyes and a surge of strength ran through me. Draconic power that fueled my own. A motherly voice murmured to the edge of my mind:
"This is all I can do for you. Let it aid you."
"Who are you?"
"She will tell you, someday. Now hurry."
I didn't need to be told twice. I turned the two of us into shadows and glided on other shadows until we reached my home. I carried her up the stairs and set her down on my bed and started to work.
--
--
Waking up was an interesting experience. I was fully aware that I was somehow indoors. Then, that it was not my home. After I opened my eyes, that it was not my room. Then, that I was in someone else's bed.
"Where am I?" I croaked.
Then the pain hit me. I moaned and felt movement by my right side and then Shadow was looking down at me.
"Thank God, you're awake." He sat down beside me, eyes full of relief. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
"What happened?" I managed. Moving hurt. For that matter, breathing hurt.
"You were running away when one of my enemies decided to drop a tree on you."
"Big tree?" He nodded.
"He was using you as a trap. He threatened to kill you if I didn't give myself up. I took him out instead and brought you here to heal you."
"Where is here?"
"My house. To be most specific, my room." Blood rushed to my face and I wished I could jump up and run away, but my legs felt like...
"Why do I hurt so badly?" His face grew dark.
"You were beaten up pretty drastically." My eyes demanded the extent of the damage and he sighed. "Both your arms are broken in two places. Your legs are broken in three. Most of your ribs broke, but I got some of them fixed up before I collapsed last night. Kathy..." his voice had the tone doctors used for bad news and my heart raced. "Your spine was undamaged because you folded your wings and they absorbed the shock. Almost every bone in both of them shattered completely." Tears started running down my face and I turned my head away, ashamed that he'd see me cry. "Kathy," he begged, cupping my face in his hand, "I'm going to do everything I can..."
"Will I fly again?" I demanded.
"I don't know," he whispered honestly. A silence passed between us.
"Why?" I asked finally. "Why would anyone do this?"
"Because of something I've been meaning to tell you," he admitted, "for what seems like the longest time." I looked back up at him and he tucked stray strands of my hair back behind my ear. His amethyst eyes looked into my gray ones and he whispered just loud enough for me to hear:
"I love you." The words hung in the air between us and I could see in his eyes that it was true. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
"Shadow," I whispered, but he gently set his fingers over my lips.
"Please, don't. Not yet. Wait until this is over at least, that would be less cruel." I kissed his fingertips.
"I wasn't about to reject you." Now he froze, eyes searching for a joke, but I hid nothing in mine. "I love you." A smile spread across his face and I never wanted to see it leave.
The rest of the day was spent, for his part, healing broken bones. He started with the rib cage, so at least I could breathe easy. He helped me drink some horrid-smelling broth at nighttime before he bid me a weary goodnight. I insisted on being moved to the couch so he could have his bed back, but he wouldn't budge on the subject, saying he was perfectly happy on the couch himself.
The next day, we decided to try healing a wing. He stretched out the right one and I bit my lower lip holding in a scream. He looked at me guiltily before he admitted to having no idea where to begin.
"Have you ever seen a raptor skeleton?" I asked. He nodded. "Did you study the arms at all?" He nodded again. "Alright. The four fingers of a raptor's hand turned into flight bones of birds." He nodded. "But you wouldn't know how to place the bones in the right spots, right?" He shook his head.
We had figured out by this point that as long as a fragment of his magic remained in my system (or vice versa), we could send images back and forth through each other's minds- all it required was contact. He gently set his hand on my wing.
"Show me." I closed my eyes and sent him a mental X-ray of how the bones were supposed to go. He nodded. "Got it."
Watching him was torture. He would run his hands over my wing, healing as he went. The going was slow. Many times he stopped altogether and was very still. If not for the black energy emanating from his hands, I would have thought he had given up.
Things continued this way for several days until I was all in one piece again. The pain still lingered, and Shadow asked me to stay and rest there one more night.
"Only if you'll let me move to the couch!" I insisted, trying to get up.
"No!" he retorted, pushing me back down.
"You're exhausted and it's been four days since you had a decent night's rest. Take the bed back!" He sighed.
"Compromise. We'll both sleep on this creaky old thing, alright?" A blush started to creep up on my face again. "Don't worry," he added. "I won't hurt you. I won't even touch you." I nodded.
"Deal."
It was the first peaceful night I'd had in a long time. My only dream was of floating in an endless blackness, a comforting blackness.
--
--
I lay awake for a long time, thinking.
Do you enjoy burning angel wings, too?
No. I would never, could never, hurt her.
I'm a monster.
Impossible. Rodwen is an angel. I rolled onto my side and looked at her sleeping face. Stroking her cheek, I wondered how she could think so little of herself. She murmured in her sleep, as I had found she often did:
"Kage..."
It wasn't always my name, sometimes she mumbled song names or gibberish, but my heart beat a little faster when it was me. Slowly, I fell asleep.
Angel wings...
When I woke up, something seemed wrong. It took me a moment to realize Rodwen was cuddled up in my arms and was using my chest as a pillow. Remembering her reaction to my suggestion the night before, I had to assume that this had happened by accident. All the same, I wasn't complaining. I shifted slightly to make us both more comfortable, she sighed happily, and I sighed happily.
--
--
He probably knew damn well I was awake.
At least part of the time. But I didn't want to end the moment, the instant of warmth between us- I had never felt more safe than I did that morning in his arms. I knew he wouldn't let any harm come to me, and that was an all new feeling for me.
That afternoon, we stood out in the field where I'd seen Torch transform. Shadow had told me on the way that he'd sent his brother back to the dragon home island- a little place the elementals had fixed up for them where they'd never be found. Apparently he was having trouble controlling his powers, and the elders there could help him.
Shadow nodded after a moment. "We're cloaked. You can fly as high and as wildly as you want, you can't be seen." I nodded back.
"Thanks for this."
"No problem. I just want to make sure I did the right thing."
I stretched, waking up the muscles that had fallen asleep during my four days of rest. I stretched my wings out to their full length, flexing each muscle in preparation. Nothing felt wrong, but you never knew sometimes.
I hopped on the balls of my feet once, twice before launching into the air with one powerful downstroke. I started off slowly, concentrating on finding any kinks in my flight. Finding none, I started simple maneuvers like gliding on updrafts and turning in varying degrees of sharpness. Finally, I darted around in loops and corkscrews, my laughter being carried away by the wind: I could fly. As well as I always had before!
By this time in the day it had started to rain- sweet summer rain. I flapped on over to the nearby mountaintop and stood there, letting the water run over me.
Kage landed beside me after a few minutes and enjoyed the rain as well, but something seemed to be bothering him.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.
"Are you happy?"
I broke out in a grin. "How can I not be happy? I'm free, thanks to you."
His smile sent a wave of warmth through my chest. "Then I'm happy."
With that, he set his hands on my shoulders and pulled me closer. He gazed into my eyes as he hesitated, but then kissed me, his lips gentle and undemanding. My hands rested on his shoulders and his slipped down to my waist. His wings wrapped around me, shielding me from the rain, though both me and my clothes were already soaked through. I opened my eyes again when he pulled back, not letting go of me nor I of him.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" I cut him off with a quick kiss.
"Don't apologize," I murmured. "You'll make me think you didn't mean it."
He smirked. "I meant it alright."
We lost track of time up there, sure of only one thing: that we were both madly, helplessly in love.
--
--
--
Megalord: God, it sounds like a bad chick flick.
Redwing: That's what you get for letting me finish it. Besides, I thought you'd be happy: Shadow got to totally kick ass!
Shadow: YEAH! thinks But it wasn't really manly, it was all for love.
Megalord: WHERE'S THE TESTOSTERONE?
Redwing: It got kicked with the vast majority of useless charries you put in the original of this thing.
Megalord: Hey! Most of the YuGiOh cast got kicked too, and they were YOUR idea.
Redwing: But I had to completely end YaKa. It was a pairing doomed from the start.
Kathy: Most people are saying the same for ShaKa.
Shadow: Now that's not fair. They don't know anything, now do they? cuddles
Redwing: Oh, yeah, and for those not in the know: 'Rodwen' is 'Kathy' in elvish, so it's Shadow's petname for her. And 'Kage' is Japanese for 'Shadow', so that's her petname for him.
Megalord: Why did we even look those up to begin with?
Redwing: Because Shadow's a mouthful to say in your sleep and Kathy's an unattractive name to write over and over and over again.
Megalord: Point.
Redwing: Well, I think I've completed all my mission objectives. I really wanted to finish this quickly, because there's a chance Megalord (and consequently Shadow) will be moving this summer. This was kind of a going away present (or maybe a good luck charm that'll get them to stay. Either way works!). Love you, you knucklehead. Hope you're alright with how I finished it off.