A/N: Hi there! I think this is my fifth ever FF ... so any advice would be very helpful!
Ok so obviously there are a lot of FF about Fai and Kurogane in the six month period in the Shura Arc but I really wanted to write one myself ... and here's the result. And also I ship Fai and Kurogane like nothing else so there's that too.
In any case, I hope you enjoy ~
Fai wasn't completely sure how he had ended up where he was. All he knew was that he had seen the heavens split apart from Souseki Temple, felt himself being dragged towards some location in the familiar pull he now associated with Mokona taking them to a new world (even though Syaoran, Sakura, nor Mokona were anywhere to be seen), spiraling through the flurry of colors and sensations, and landing heavily onto packed dirt.
He gasped as he felt the wind being knocked out of him as he hit the ground. He hissed a little and rubbed his head. The dull throbbing was rather excruciating-exactly how hard had Fai hit the ground?-but eventually, he gingerly sat up, his eyes still half shut in pain.
And promptly felt the tip of a blade press into his slender neck. The pounding in his head was forgotten as his eyes flew open in shock, and he looked up to see a military man pressing a spear into his throat. The man's hair was pulled back tight in a bushy ponytail, and was outfitted with dark, thin cloth reinforced with sparse armor. He had what looked to be a leather chest plate, arm bands, and thin, rectangular plates flaring from his waist to protect his legs. To Fai, it looked like half of a ridiculous skirt-and he would've laughed if not for the severe look on the man's face and the pointy thing in his neck. He cast his eyes around for Kurogane, praying that the unruly ninja, at least, had made it to this new world with him. Usually, Fai was amused by Kurogane's violent nature. At the moment, he would've considered it extremely helpful.
Fai was seized by his armpits into a standing position, and his arms were lashed together with rough rope. There was very little sympathy from the men who were tying him up. He gritted his teeth and focused through the pain to look for Kurogane. It seemed they had landed just outside some sort of compound, just inside a ring of watchtowers, and a group of soldiers had already captured Fai. As far as he could tell, there were only soldiers around here and no ninjas in sight. Fai felt his heart pounding loudly in his chest. If he was alone here-if he had no one with him...
With a burst and a clash of metal against metal, Kurogane erupted from an encirclement of soldiers, brandishing Sohi and shouting something unintelligible. With a start, Fai realized that he could not understand what Kurogane was saying. He strained his ears, but all he could hear was the harsh, monosyllabic language he had heard only snippets of once before in Hanshin Republic. No Mokona then, clearly.
Still, even without being able to communicate with each other, Fai was stil able to call to him, and Kurogane spotted Fai, captured by their assailants. Kurogane charged forward, shouting something at Fai-probably something about being an idiot or a bother or something similar-knocking soldiers aside like they were flies and sailing over their hands in a flurry of twists and expert swordsmanship. While Fai never liked that he noticed, he found Kurogane's fighting ability nothing short of beautiful. There was a distinct agility, preciseness, and deadly purpose behind every subtle movement that Fai's eyes could hardly ever keep up with. It was fearsome and terrifying, and Fai had had never seen anything quite so elegant while being so efficiently dangerous at the same time. And Fai hated that he saw the killing machine part of Kurogane and admired it. He shouldn't be admiring something like that. He didn't want to.
Kurogane was only a few paces away from Fai now. The soldiers were slow to react, panicked and intimidated by Kurogane's seemingly demonic aura about him. Fai felt his heart leap in hope-perhaps they could get out of this alive after all!-but in the next moment, some soldier from behind him snorted impatiently and drew a sword. He stepped just in front of Fai, still bound, and indicated for the men at either side of him to push Fai down. He collapsed to his knees as the men put their weight on his slender shoulders, and the soldier in front shouted something to Kurogane. The ninja turned his attention from the man he had just knocked back with a sharp kick just in time to see the soldier raise his own sword and Fai on the ground, completely at their mercy.
The sword arced down towards Fai's neck, the metal shining eerily under the silver moonlight. Fai felt a flare of panic. He couldn't die here! But as soon as Kurogane had seen the soldier's sword rise, he threw Sohi to the ground, and as it hit the dirt, the soldier's blade stopped just at the nape of Fai's neck. He could feel the fine edge of the blade there, hanging menacingly and pressing almost imperceptibly into his skin. It was a close call. Fai caught Kurogane's eye and smiled faintly in apology. Kurogane's expression was unreadable, but Fai knew he was much less than satisfied that he had to give up the fight.
The soldier, who still had a sword on Fai's neck, barked an order, and the few soldiers that hadn't been completely bruised and battered (but those who had were still alive and more or less well) mobilized, seizing Kurogane's arms and legs and shoulders and forcing him to the ground into the same position as Fai. He felt a flare of indignation. Kurogane was giving no resistance, no anger, and no demands, instead quietly accepting their unnecessarily rough treatment and presumably disrespectful mutters. Their manner was completely uncalled for.
Fai was now allowed to stand again, and when he had been bound to their satisfaction, Kurogane was also dragged up by his shoulders. One of the soldiers picked up Sohi and whistled, impressed. He waved for the scabbard still on Kurogane's hip, and one of the ones holding him obliged to take it off and throw it to the one holding the sword. He swung it around playfully, making mocking swishing noises as the dangerous weapon whistled through the air, treating it like some sort of toy or stage prop. He was lucky he wasn't cutting off his own finger with the way he was handling the blade. Fai spotted Kurogane's eyes narrow imperceptibly, and his shoulders tense, but he didn't say a word. Fai felt a stab of guilt as the sword was snapped carelessly into its scabbard and hung at the soldier's side. He should've been quicker to react to his surroundings. No doubt, as soon as they had landed, Kurogane had awoken and immediately taken a stance at the soldiers surrounding him. No cradling his head and whining, no wondering where they might've gone to, just observation and reaction.
At an impatient push and a string of unintelligible words from one of the men at his back, Fai began to wordlessly move forward. Kurogane's group joined his, and the two of them, now prisoners, walked side by side through what looked like a military compound. The buildings were made of wood and constructed with a particular preciseness, perfectly rectangular and very straight. Men cast their gazes out of the doors of the buildings, and a few of them sitting on the stairs of some of these buildings laughed and whooped at Kurogane and Fai as they passed. A few of them threw food and trash bits. Kurogane took it rather graciously, which surprised Fai, who would've expected him to at least growl at the men at either side of them. It was actually Fai who was most bothered, spoiled fruit sticking in his fine blond hair and splattering all over his clothes. He glared reproachfully at the men who threw them as he passed. They made whistling noises at him, in response.
It occurred to Fai with a jolt that none of the men here looked anything like him. In fact, they all looked like variations of the same man, with stocky build and brown or black hair and toned skin. They came in various types of armor and held different types of weapons, but Fai stuck out like a sore thumb here. At least Kurogane had the same hair and skin color. Fai must've looked like an alien to them, and he was suddenly hyper aware of the looks he was getting, the openly curious gazes at his hair and fair skin and slender frame. He glanced at Kurogane so he wouldn't have to, at least, look at the jeering looks of everyone else in the encampment, and it was clear he had noticed something similar. His expression was growing darker by the minute every pace they made. But when Kurogane felt Fai's gaze on him and caught his eye, Fai only smiled softly and turned away.
At last, they approached a distinctively built building, it's roof a dome instead of a triangle, and its walls curved instead of angular. There were no windows and only one entrance, and it was guarded by two men. They snapped to attention as the group approached, and the one that had held the sword on Fai's neck stepped forward to say something to the guards. Apparently, this man was in charge in these parts, although he didn't seem to be particularly embellished with medals or markers with particular rankings or otherwise gave off much of a powerful aura. Perhaps he was simply a low ranking commander.
Fai and Kurogane were pushed unceremoniously into the building, which was unlit and completely open. There were no rooms in this place and it smelled of sweat and salt and the distinct, metallic stench of blood. There was straw pushed towards the sides of the building. Fai tried not to linger on what it might've been used for. There were also multiple wooden posts positioned throughout the place along with a chain of shackles for each, although for the moment, they were all empty. Fai thought to himself with amusement, We get first pickings before they were brought to their knees again and shackled to two posts, one next to the other. Well, at least Fai would be able to stay close to Kurogane. In this worst possible situation, he didn't want to be separated any more than they had to be. He had been worried they might've been put in separate cells or otherwise unable to see each other or know how the other one was doing. With a few mutterings to the two of them, even though Fai had no idea what they were saying, the men exited the building and shut the door behind them, throwing the pair of travelers into darkness.
Immediately, Kurogane said something to (he assumed) Fai. It sounded angry and frustrated and impatient. Then he paused, as if waiting for Fai to respond, and when he realized that too late, Kurogane launched into another rant.
At the next break of silence, Fai reflexively smiled cheerily, even though Kurogane couldn't see him, and said, "Kuro-tan, I can't understand a word you're saying."
There was a pause, and Kurogane said something again.
"I don't understand you," Fai repeated, still smiling. "Sorry for getting us into this mess."
Another pause. Then Kurogane said slowly, "Syaoran? Sakura? Mokona?"
"Mokona's definitely not close by, at least," Fai shrugged, dropping his grin. "And I didn't see Syaoran-kun or Sakura-chan out there." The metal rattled at his wrists as he moved his arms. In response, Kurogane ferociously shook his own shackles. Then he muttered something.
"No use, huh?" Fai smiled. "Well, it's okay. They won't leave us in here forever."
Kurogane said something with a short sigh. Then Fai heard the shackles rustle against the dirt floor and Kurogane shifting into a different position. Fai assumed that he was making himself more comfortable, and he followed suit. He gingerly unbent his legs, which had now gone numb from his kneeling position, and stretched them out in front of him. He leaned back against the wooden pole and flicked his sticky hair out of his face. Then he started humming to himself, and then whistling. Kurogane grumbled but didn't shout at him, instead moving around a bit more and sighing with irritation. This was going to be a painfully long night.
