Family Ties

by Lashana Inferno

When a powerful stranger comes hunting for the Chaos Knight with the intention of killing her, Tvashtar and Kadrith end up facing off against someone from their past. All the while the life of a certain Elf hangs on the edge of oblivion.

1. Family Ties

Disclaimer: Lashana and Telca belong to themselves. The three dragons (minus their names.. well.. except for Korin) Tvashtar, Kadrith and Rrylsan belong to Lashana. The rest of the characters in the Harem belong to whoever created them in the first place. ^_^

Family Ties

Yawning, Lashana softly treaded down the Main Stairs, being careful to avoid the steps that creaked as she did so. She usually wasn't the one to wander around the Palace at three in the morning, heck until today, she hadn't been aware that a three in the morning existed, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And despite her fear of being alone at night, she had left the comfort of her Bonded's arms to calm her thirst that had been brought on by the way too salty supper the night before. Granted, the fireball she was using to light her way did wonders for pushing her fear aside...

A part of her nudged at her conscious mind, telling her that she really should have just woken Blackwargreymon or one of her other Guys up and dragged one of them with her, but the other part, the more stubborn, willful and independent part, smacked the first portion into silence and urged her onwards. I wish my mind didn't have to do that, it gives me such a headache....

Knowing that Xellos patrolled the hallways at night for any unlucky sleepwalker - granted living here quickly cured any and all people of that particular ailment - she made sure to move with utmost silence as she pulled her black housecoat closer to herself and padded barefoot into the kitchen. Cursing at the coldness of the linoleum, she let the fireball fizzle out as she flipped on the light-switch, then waited until she could blink the spots out of her eyes before opening the fridge door.

As usual, the moment it sensed freedom, the Thing that lived in the back of the fridge surged forward, sensing that this tired and half-asleep person might just accidentally give it an opening to make a break for it. But, as usual, it's attempt at escape was short lived.

"Get back in there ya ugly gooping mess," the Elf growled, giving the Thing a Look of Death before grabbing a carton of Five Alive and closing the door, smirking at the very real sigh of disappointment that came from the occupant of the Palace appliance. We've really gotta find out how every fridge we get ends up with one of those Things.... Yawning again, she paused to pluck a glass out of the cupboard and hopped up onto a stool to sit at the island counter, pouring herself a drink and smiling as she sipped at the cool juice. Mmm, just what I needed. Ugh, that's the LAST TIME Telca and I let Duncan try to imitate Kentucky Fried Chicken.... That was just downright gross....

"L'S'ana?"

The low sleepy mutter made her raise her head from her contemplation of the island counter, her gaze darting to the obviously still partially asleep form that was standing in the kitchen doorway, blinking dazedly from the bright light. "Tvashtar? Hun, what are you doing up? Go back to bed."

Shaking his head, the Guardian walked/stumbled over to her and sat on a stool across from her, rubbing at his eyes before shoving his right hand through the mussled mess that was his hair. "What're you doin' up?"

"I was thirsty. Go back to bed."

"M'awake now."

"You call this awake?"

He made a face at her. Something between a grimace, a yawn and a sneer.

"Oh, that was lovely, Tvashtar," Lashana snickered before taking a sip of her drink. "Why won't you just go back to bed? I'm quite capable of taking care of myself."

"Mrrn. Something's coming."

She frowned and set her glass down, meeting his sleepy yet serious gaze. "What do you mean? Another challenger? Please, if it's anything like the last one who knocked himself out with his own spell, I don't think that's going to pose much of a problem."

"No," he muttered, shaking his head as much to emphasize his point as to wake himself up completely. "Something different. Kadrith and I have been sensing it for the past week, getting stronger every day. We don't know what it is, M'lady, but it's enough to make us start to worry about you. You see...." The Guardian paused and glanced away from her for a moment before raising his sky blue gaze to meet her dark blue one. "Whatever it is... it's as powerful as you or Telca. Powerful enough to maybe beat you."

The shock of that froze any retort that she could have thought of, and she looked away as the thought that she might have to lose her Guardian... one of her best friends... ...the one she thought of as a brother... to some stranger. "They won't beat me."

"Lashana...."

"No," she growled, meeting his gaze and seeing him blink at the determined tone she had put into her voice. "I promised you that you'd be safe here. If whoever's coming here is here to challenge me, and they win, you'll have to go with them, right?"

Tvashtar nodded silently, surprised by the intensity of her gaze.

"Then I won't lose. It's as simple as that. You're a part of this rag-tag insane family and I'm going to keep you here... well, as long as you want, anyway. If you want to leave, I can throw a fight--"

"No! ....I-I mean...." He paused and smiled sheepishly, a lock of his golden hair falling into his eyes as he looked at her. "I don't want to leave, Lashana."

"Good. Then it's settled. Now go back to bed, you're making me tired just looking at you."

A low chuckle left him as he reached out to tug at the sleeve of her housecoat. "M'not leaving you down here all by yourself, silly. I know how much you hate to be alone at night. Besides, I'm pretty much awake for good now.

"Ugh. I think I might be to." She grimaced at the thought and took another drink of the juice, closing her eyes when she felt Tvashtar reach out to tuck her hair behind her pointed ears. It was just something he did now, the light touches, either on her face or her arms, always making sure she was alright. Black did that too, though he usually just used the Bond to brush his thoughts against hers, never intruding, just touching.

The first few times Tvashtar had done the same, she had nearly decked him, but after a long tense moment of trying to keep Blackie from gutting him and the Guardian's frantic explanation of how his people tended to do the same for everyone they cared about, she had merely shrugged and accepted it. Black however, being who he was, took that as meaning that Tvashtar was interested in her, which set about another round of 'dodge the Terra Destroyers'. It was only after the Guardian had sworn on his life that he had no overly intimate feelings for the Elf that the Digimon had relented his attack, seemingly mollified that the other male viewed his Bonded as a sister and not as a potential mate.

Granted no one had ever thought to ask her how she felt about all this. I'm so sick of Blackie treating me like I'm some prize he won and has to defend from all the others. One of these days I'm gonna...

A low concerned rumble from Tvashtar made her open her eyes to blink at him curiously, noting that he had seemingly frozen in place. "What?"

"Your aura flared."

"Did it? Sorry." That had also been another thing she had had to get used to. Apparently, being the Guardian of the Chaos Knight, he too could use and tap into the Chaos, though not as easily or fully as she could. But since he had a good millennia's worth of practice, he was able to read her emotional state and 'see' her aura through the use of the Chaos. It unnerved her a bit, how open she was to people despite the fact that she had tried so hard to put walls up around herself. Well, after living with the Harem for over a year, those walls have pretty much been smashed to teeny tiny little scraps by now... heh... "I'm alright, Tvashtar. I was just... thinking."

"Oh?" The curve of a talon lightly slid down her right cheek before he pulled away and folded his arms on the countertop, leaning forward to look at her quizzically. "About what?"

Lashana lowered her gaze from his and stared into her nearly empty glass of juice. "'Bout how Black keeps treating me like a prize.... I know he loves me, but it's like he doesn't trust me to stay true to him. I care about you and the others, but not in the same way that I care about him..." she trailed off and shook her head. "I wish he'd realize that."

"I take it this was a tried and failed conversation with him?"

"Hmm."

Worried at the solemn tone of her voice, he reached out and grabbed the carton, refilling her glass as he spoke. "Want me to try, my Avatar? I'm pretty sure I can out run him if he gets the wrong idea."

"Thanks, but no. It wouldn't work. You'd have to practically beat it into him."

"I can do that."

She blinked and looked at him, seeing the deadly seriousness in his eyes. "Um, no."

"Well, what would you have me do? I can't just ignore what this does to you, Lashana. And it's not like you hide it very well from the others." At her wince, he sighed and shook his head, his tail weaving behind him. "You know I won't get involved in your personal business unless you give me permission, but I'm guessing that the others, especially Kang, won't hesitate to dive right in."

"Kang... that draco sticks his snout in places where it doesn't frakkin' belong," she grumbled sourly, frowning at the idea of the draconian taking it upon himself to get Blackwargreymon to realize what an idiot he was being. "Gods, if Kang does that, Blackie will really take that the wrong way."

"Oh, I know," Tvashtar chuckled, stealing her glass and taking a drink from it. "But at least we know that those two, being evenly matched in the battle sense, will tire themselves out before they kill each other if things turn physical."

"Oh good lords.... 'Shtar, that's not even funny."

"It wasn't meant to be," he winked as he got to his feet and stretched, tail snapping behind him. "Now, since I'm disturbingly awake, I'm going to go try to get my high score back onto the Diablo game. Care to join me?"

She shook her head and guzzled down the rest of the juice. "No. I'm just gonna go watch a movie or something." At the slight hesitation in his stance, she rolled her eyes and got to her feet, shoving him towards the doorway. "Go wage war on the demon skeletons and all that stuff. I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. Besides, you said so yourself, you can sense when I'm in trouble, right?"

"Right....."

"Then get goin'!"

~*~

"Ugh... informercial, informercial, informercial.... Ew. Don't wanna know... Informercial, infomercial.... Gods, you'd think that with fifteen hundred channels via satellite that there'd be something good on," Lashana grumbled as she flipped through the stations from where she was comfortably seated in the reclining Lazyboy chair. "I mean honestly, what's the point of hacking and stealing free channels if there's nothing decent to watch?!"

Still grumbling, she leaned back against the cushions and flipped through all the channels a second time, scowling in disgust when that venture didn't turn up anything decent either. Ugh. The heck with this... The remote flew in a perfect trajectory across the room, landing heavily on a shelf hard enough to hit the proper button and turn the TV off, plunging her into darkness. Ooo. Bad idea.

She sighed and staggered to her feet, cursing as she slammed her knee on the coffee table before she shuffled over to the side table and turned on one of the lamps, cursing again as the bright light momentarily blinded her. This is going to be a bad day, I can feel it.... Actually, she could feel something. Whatever it was was making the small hairs on the nape of her neck stand up as goosebumps broke out over her arms, a shiver winding it's way down her spine. Oooh, that was new. What the frak was it?

The sound of the doorbell nearly made her shriek in fright, but she quickly reined in the cry before squaring her shoulders and stalking out of the living room, heading for the Main Hall. At least Telca had Beast fix that doorbell so it doesn't sound like a giant gong... Else everyone would be up by now...

"Alright, bub. I don't know who you are, but you'd better have a damned good reason for showin' up here at three thirty in the frakkin' morning," she snarled as she threw the front doors open and glared at the stranger, taking a step back in shock when she saw that the creature there was akin to Tvashtar and Kadrith. What in the worlds....

"Are you the Chaos Knight?"

Momentarily stunned by the low bass growl, she could do nothing but blink for a few seconds before replying. "I am. What of it?" she retorted, taking another step back when the creature stalked forward into the light of the Main Hall, her eyes widening when she saw that he was exactly like Tvashtar and Kadrith. The only differences was that he was a good foot taller than either of them, his colouring a dark midnight blue that shimmered iridescently into the pitchest black as he moved, his silver hair a stark contrast to his dark colouring. Shockingly light blue eyes fixed on her, sending another shiver down her back as she stared up at him.

"Your Guardian. Tvashtar. Where is he?"

"Him? Oh, he's off fighting a demonic skeleton horde or something like that," she muttered, making a vague gesture in the air as she vainly hoped that said Guardian wasn't going to beat her high score. A yelp of surprise escaped her seconds later when the creature snarled, baring rows of fangs as he lunged forward, talons reaching for her throat. "Ack!"

Reacting on instinct, she threw herself aside and rolled to her feet, rising into a fighting stance as she glared at the stranger that had now been upgraded into an unwanted intruder. "What the hell is your problem!?"

"You are!"

The cold hiss made her eyes widen, and she barely managed to avoid the next attack, relying souly on what Tvashtar had taught her as she ducked a punch and then hopped over the tail that tried to trip her, backing away as she gathered her wits to herself. Lovely, it's not even sunrise and I'm already being attacked.... Whoa!

Moving faster than she thought possible, the creature darted forward and viciously backhanded her across the face, the force of the blow sending her sprawling backwards to smash into a wall. Dazed, she tried to pull herself to her feet to defend against the next incoming, but instead, she felt strong fingers wrap around her throat as she was lifted until she was at eye level with him, her feet dangling a good three feet off the floor. Okay, time to call in the cavalry--

"It won't be that easy," he growled, narrowing his eyes when she tried to lash out at him in an attempt to get free. "You can't call for help, bitch. And even if I wasn't preventing you from mentally calling out to someone, who in their right mind would care enough to help the likes of you?"

This is not good.... Black spots started to dance across her vision as a greyness seeped into her line of sight. Unable to breath as the talons slowly dug into her neck, completely cutting off her air supply, she drew on pure desperation as she called on the Chaos, transforming with the remainder of her strength and lashing out to sink two sets of talons into his arm.

Screaming in surprise and pain, he dropped her to the floor and delt her a savage kick to her ribs as she tried to regain her breath, grinning in twisted joy at hearing her own ragged cry of pain as he picked her up again and slammed her back against the wall, cracking plaster. "Nice try. But if you think that I'm going to let you escape me, you're wrong. You have to be stopped, and for the sake of Tvashtar, I'm the one who's going to put an end to you!"

What the hell is he talking about?! Blackness exploded across her eyes as she was pulled away, then slammed into the wall again, over and over until the sheer pain and disorientation made her lose her tedious grip on the Chaos, leaving her to revert to her Elven form. No....

Raising his free hand, the creature held it over her face and growled softly as he started to gather Power to himself, eyes narrowing as he watched pure panic take hold of her. "A fitting end, isn't it? To die by the same spell you used on countless others?" Bright yellow energy gathered in his palm, crackling like lightning as he started to lower his hand towards her face. "I'd imagine that L-Sama may actually thank me for ridding her of you."

No.... Black! Tvashtar! Someone! Anyone!! HELP ME!!! She felt the Chaos within her rise slightly as pure panic seized her, making her use up her remaining strength as she thrashed wildly, trying desperately to get free as the taloned hand lowered ever closer to her, the gathering spell actually singeing her bangs....

"NO! Get away from her!!"

Started by the yell, the creature froze and turned towards the stairwell in time to see a black form launch itself from the bottom step and bodyslam him away from the female, forcing him to stagger backwards as the woman collapsed to the floor, coughing violently.

"Lashana!"

Hands grabbed her, and she yelped as she scrambled to get away, trying to defend herself even though she was in no shape to do so. "...no.... leave me alone...."

"Shh. Shh, it's me," Tvashtar rumbled, seeing her eyes lock onto his for a moment before she slumped forward, clinging to him desperately as he lifted her in his arms. "Hold on, I'm going to get you somewhere safe."

"What are you doing?! She's an abomination!"

Snarling, Tvashtar rounded on the intruder and bared his fangs, glaring at the other person that was standing in the shadows. "Lashana is no such thing! She's my Avatar and my Blood-Pact Sister!"

".....what?" There was genuine shock and horror in that bass voice as it's owner stepped forward into the light, seeing the Guardian's eyes widen as he frowned. "Lashana? Not.... Serenica?"

Tvashtar gasped and took a few frantic steps backwards, tightening his hold on Lashana as he stared at the intruder that had just revealed himself. "....Dad?!"

~*~

"Lashana? Lashana, wake up. Oh Gods, sis, please.... please wake up.... I need the stability right now...."

The voice that was bordering on panic tugged at her consciousness, and Lashana fought her way through a haze of pain and disorientation until she could weakly open her eyes, blinking up at Tvashtar dazedly. "....'Shtar? What...." She coughed, wincing at the agony that flared through her ribs and throat, her voice scratchy and ragged. "....what happened? Where's--" The sight of her attacker leaning over the back of the couch to look at her sent a wave of adrenaline through her, enabling her to shove Tvashtar aside as she lunged to her feet, a energy crackling at her fingertips as she snarled. "Kisama! Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that--"

"Lashana! Don't!"

She yelped as strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides while being careful of her ribs as she was pulled over to the far corner of the room. "Are you insane?!" she growled, looking back at Tvashtar. "He tried ta kill me!"

Her Guardian frowned and met her gaze. "I know.... but...." Sighing, he closed his eyes and hugged her a little tighter. "He's my father."

"He's your WHAT?!"

Wincing at the high-pitched shriek of disbelief, he slowly released her and gently turned her to face him. "Do you remember what I told you about the previous Chaos Avatar?"

"The bitch that I would have loved to beat to a bloody pulp?"

He chuckled a little at that. "Yeah. Her. He thought.... he thought you were--"

Eyes flashing from blue to gold, she jerked away and spun to send a scathing glare at Tvashtar's father, pure exhaustion, pain and anger bringing her accent into life as she stalked over to him. "Ya're outta yer mind if ya think I'd ever hurt Tvashtar like that. Blasted git, now I cannae even beat the crap outta ya as payback! Argh!" Throwing her hands up into the air, she shoved past him and headed for the kitchen, needing a dose of caffeine, painkillers and an ice pack. Not necessarily in that order.

"....Nice Avatar you've got there."

"Shut up, Rryslan." Tvashtar snarled, seeing his father jerk when he called him by name. "Because of you, she's practically dead on her feet. Believe me when I say that I really do not want to have anything to do with you."

Rryslan frowned a little when the Guardian shouldered him aside and clenched his jaw for a moment before snapping his tail and turning to follow him, blinking as he entered into the brightly lit kitchen in time to see Tvashtar guide the Avatar over to a stool at an island counter and tenderly stroke the Knight's right arm, where a line of black runes were glowing slightly. "Chaos Knight."

Hearing a low warning growl from Tvashtar, Lashana rose the ice pack off her aching jaw and narrowed her eyes at the creature that was standing in the doorway, completely filling it. She held his light blue gaze for a long moment before snarling under her breath and replacing the ice pack. "Sit tha hell down, ya git. It's hurtin' mah neck ta look up at ya like tha."

"Lashana...."

"S'okay 'Shtar. He did tha same thin' Ah woulda done if tha bitch were still alive...." Wincing at the pain in her voice, she closed her eyes in a grimace and swallowed thickly, not liking the burning pain in her ribs that was constantly making itself known. "Mebbe ya'd better go wake 'Rith."

"'Rith?" Rryslan looked at Tvashtar in surprise. "Kadrith is here?!"

Fighting to keep herself from lashing out at him, she cracked an eye open and glared. "If ya'd bothered ta do yer homework, ya'd have known tha the Gaia Avatar an Ah both live here."

"I'll go wake him in a little while. First things first, hold still," Tvashtar whispered to her as he stepped behind her and slid his hands over her sides, feeling her tense a little and suck in a breath before the bluish glow that was enveloping his hands slowly seeped into her body, the Healing spell quickly undoing any major damage to her ribs. "There. How's that?"

"Better. Thanks," she muttered, shivering a little as she let Tvashtar tuck her housecoat more firmly around her.

"Your accent's fading again," he noted, relieved that she wasn't about to go postal. The only times he had heard her accent truly surface like that was when she was extremely stressed or seconds away from firing off a Giga Slave.

"Hmm." Deciding that she was as well as she was going to get, Lashana sighed heavily and looked at Tvashtar's father who was seated across from her. "Explanation. Now."

He frowned. "Would it kill you to show a bit more respect?"

"Don't try that with me, bucko," she snarled, fangs bared. "Because of you, I'm low on energy, I'm hurt, exhausted, and Tvashtar's in a right emotional mess. So if you don't like my tone, then you can either cope or get the hell out of the Palace. Comprende, gringo?"

"That matters a lot to you, doesn't it?" he murmured, glancing at his son. "How he feels."

"Of course it does!" she snapped, slamming the ice pack onto the counter hard enough that she cracked a tile. "What kind of a question is that?"

"A valid one, considering what some of the other Knights were like. You may call me Rryslan, Lashana."

"You can call me Chaos Knight until I figure out if I'm going to fireball you or not."

"Lashana," Tvashtar whispered, sighing when her gaze softened a little as she glanced back at him. Seeing her eyes fade from gold to dark blue relieved him somewhat, knowing that it was an outward sign that she truly was trying to control her anger. "Will you be alright for a few minutes? I'm going to go get Kadrith."

She nodded, sending a warning glare at Rryslan. "I'll be fine. Go." She held Rryslan's gaze for a long minute, until she was certain that Tvashtar was out of hearing range. "You are so lucky that you're his father, else cracked ribs or no, I'd be showing you exactly how much of a bitch I can be. Now, what the hell are you doing here?" A part of her mind scoffed at her, wondering if one of those blows to her head hadn't addled her brain. Not only was she not in shape to follow through with her current mindset, but even now, Rryslan still towered over her, his aura constantly exuding Power that even she could barely achieve without letting the Chaos fully meld with her.

"I was hunting. For the Chaos Knight named Serenica. The only other female Chaos Avatar that L-Sama had taken on."

"The one who accidentally tapped into the Chaos and magickally fused it to her soul?"

He blinked at her in surprise. "You know of that?"

"What Tvashtar didn't tell me, L-Sama did. So you basically came here to kill her so 'Shtar would be free?" When he nodded, she sighed heavily and softened her glare. "I can understand that. When he told me what she had done to him, I was ready to hunt her down and kill her myself. If it pulled those emotions from me when I barely knew him, then I can't even imagine what you must feel."

Rumbling softly, he met her gaze again and frowned. "When you said that he was off fighting a demon horde, I was certain you were her. Do you always send him to fight battles for you?"

"Fight...." She trailed off and laughed, wincing at the pain in her ribs. "Oh Lords, is that what you thought? No, no, no. He was playing a computer game. It's called Diablo. It pits your character against a legion of demons and such, and you have to figure out all the death defying puzzles and mazes in order to master all the levels and win the game. He was trying to reclaim the high score."

".....a game?"

"Mm hm. Perfectly safe. Well, except for the fact that the game's addictive," she shrugged, smirking at his dumbfounded expression. "If you only believe one thing that I say, then believe that I'd sooner kill myself than harm any of my friends and family....or let anyone else harm them. That's how I got to be the Chaos Knight in the first place, I sacrificed myself to save my Soul-Bonded."

Rryslan jerked. "You're Bonded?! But.... only the Elves can...." He trailed off in horror when she reached up to run her hands through her hair, exposing the points of her ears. "By the Highest Gods.... what have I done?!"

"Eh?" Lashana blinked curiously as he groaned and clutched at his head, shoulders slumping in defeat as he stared at the countertop. This is new. "Um.... what?"

"Ciana is going to kill me...."

"What? Hey, yo! Explain this to the Elf, what the hell are you babbling about? Who's Ciana?"

Still holding his head in his hands, he closed his eyes and droned morosely. "She's one of the Earth Spirits. She's taken a fondness to Elves since their Souls are always tied to her forests, so she's named herself their protectors.... I'm what you could call her Avatar. When she finds out I tried to kill you, she's going to kill me!"

There's Earth Spirits now? Gah, I have got to get L-Sama to tell me about these sort of things. In the meanwhile.... "Technically, I'm just half-elf. And get a grip. No one's gonna kill you." Lashana poked at the icepack she had slammed onto the counter and growled in annoyance when she discovered that it was completely melted. "Mostly because if you're Tvashtar's father, then you're automatically family. And I just told you how I don't let people hurt my family."

A halfbreed?! Eyes snapping open in shock, he sucked in a breath and held it as he rose his head to look at her, meeting her dark blue gaze and holding it for a long moment. "I nearly killed you."

"Yeah, trust me, I'm very aware of that little fact," she grimaced as she slowly got to her feet and went to throw the defrosted ice pack into the freezer before grabbing a 'fresh' one. "I hurt in places I didn't know I had. But that's not the point...." Sighing softly, she turned and leaned back against the fridge, looking over at him. "You're my Blood-Pact brother's father. Whether he's pissed at you or not, I can't imagine what he'd go through if you died."

Rryslan snorted. "He and I have never seen eye to eye, Knight. I doubt he'd shed any tears at my passing."

Lashana frowned and was about to counter that little bit of stupidity with a retort of her own when frantic footsteps caught her attention, the sudden appearance of Kadrith running through the doorway making her blink. Oh. He does not look happy.

The bronze hued Guardian glared at his father for a moment before turning to look at the Elf, grimacing at the bruises over her throat and the one on the side of her jaw. "Lashana... Oh Gods, are you alright?"

"Peachy. Where's...." She cut herself off as Tvashtar walked into the kitchen, the tenseness in the way his tail was weaving telling her that things were about to get rather heated in here. "Nevermind." Moving quickly despite the now dull ache in her ribs, she pushed away from the fridge and shot a hand out to grab her Guardian's arm, stopping his forward motion. "Tvashtar."

"Let him go," Rryslan sighed as he slowly got to his feet, the horns on his head brushing the ceiling as he solemly looked down at them. "Let him speak, Knight."

Having seen this before, Kadrith gently pulled the Elf aside and let her lean against him to keep her balance as they watched his father and brother face off against one another. This is not going to be pretty.

"You have no right," Tvashtar growled softly, his voice cold and menacing as he glared at Rryslan. "You have no right to be here."

"You're my son, I have every right."

"The hell you do! You lost any rights you had when you left! And you certainly have no right to come rampaging into my life and beating the living daylights out of my best friend!"

Lashana winced. I wish he'd phrase that differently....

Rryslan growled lowly, fighting to keep hold of his temper. "I'm sorry for attacking her, but I thought she was Serenica. Did you truly expect me not do to anything when I heard what she had done to you?"

"It wouldn't have surprised me," Tvashtar spat, hearing the Elf's soft gasp at the hatred in his voice. "You turned your back on Kadrith and I too many times, 'father'. Everytime we needed you the most, you always found somewhere else to be, something else to be doing. There are days where I hate L-Sama, for creating me from a piece of your Soul. Just because you were once a Chaos Priest doesn't mean that you're worthy of fathering life."

Chaos Priest? Well, that certainly explains why he was able to block most of my Powers, and how he was able to tap into it to block my Link to Blackie... Lashana frowned and started to step forward, glancing back at Kadrith when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Let this play out. It's been half a millennia in coming," he murmured to her with a sigh, seeing her eyes widen in shock before she returned her gaze to the other two.

"Watch your tongue, youngling. Just because you're a Chaos Guardian doesn't mean that you can speak to me in that manner," Rryslan snarled, fangs bared as he scowled his son. "Being draconids means that we can adapt to any magicks, that is why L-Sama created you and your brother from me... it was a rather simple task for her considering that she created me three millennia ago. Personally, I didn't want kids, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you."

Fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, Tvashtar let a low wild growl escape him as he took a single menacing step forward, ignoring the dangerous glint in Rryslan's eyes as he did so. "Well, you certainly found a lovely way of showing it, didn't you? Leaving us to raise ourselves while you vanished for months on end. It wasn't until Gaia found us half-dead one morning and dragged your useless tail back did you ever even acknowledge that we existed. And even then, it was only to say that you were disappointed in us!"

"I thought you two would have known better than to get caught outside in a blizzard without protection!"

"We were eight!! Kadrith almost died, and all you could say was that you were disappointed in us! And now what? You think you can come charging to the rescue and be welcomed with open arms?! Have you even apologized to my sister for almost killing her?!"

"She is not your sister!" Rryslan yelled, his hold on his temper snapping. "She's just some halfbreed that managed to get herself killed just at the time when L-Sama was looking for a little entertainment!" He regretted those words the second they left his lips. Regretted them even more when he saw the sheer hatred in his son's eyes as the smaller draconid cocked an arm and slugged him, sending him crashing backwards through the patio doors.

"Shit! We have to stop them!" Kadrith cried as Tvashtar roared and lunged after Rryslan, talons extended to rend and tear as the two grappled on the deck. A quick glance at Lashana made him gasp in shock, and he slowly backed away from her, frightened by the look in her eyes. Then it hit him. Exactly what his father had said. Oh dear Gods.... "Lashana! Lashana, don't!"

Ignoring him, she gently but firmly pushed him aside as she stalked towards the deck, a golden aura flaring up around her and growing in intensity with every step she took, the energy that was crackling around her making the electric lights in the kitchen flicker wildly in reaction.

Neither fighter paid any attention to her until Tvashtar managed to unbalance his father, immediately moving in to deliver a solid uppercut just as Rryslan lashed out with his own fist to deal a powerful blow to his jaw....

...and both draconid's eyes widened in shock when black taloned hands shot out and caught both of their wrists in an iron grip.

"Enough!" Lashana growled, her voice reverberating with rage and power as she turned her glare from Tvashtar to Rryslan, seeing an expression of shock flit their faces as her hands tightened on their wrists, talons lightly pricking them to draw blood for a moment before she shoved both of them away from each other. Aura blazing, she turned to look up at Rryslan, dimly aware that Kadrith had darted over to stand by Tvashtar as she pinned the large draconid with her gaze. "I think it's high time that you remember your place, Rryslan, exPriest of Chaos."

He snarled at her demeaning tone. "Stay out of this. This doesn't concern you."

"I beg to differ, bakayaro." Narrowing her eyes, she crouched slightly and threw herself forward, moving faster than anyone could see as she slammed her elbow into Rryslan's stomach, doubling him over until he was kneeling on the deck in front of her, fighting to reclaim his breath. "That's for earlier. This," she lashed out and punched him square in the jaw, "is for calling me a half-breed."

Moving slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, she reached down and cupped his muzzle in her right hand, tightening her hold just enough so that he couldn't pull away as she forced him to meet her gaze. "Now, you have a choice. You can either stop acting like such a heartless bastard....." she leaned forward and bared her fangs in a feral grin, "or I can drop-kick you through a portal and let L-Sama deal with you directly."

"You're bluffing."

"I don't bluff when it comes to dealing with bastards that hurt the ones I care about."

"Kelestra...."

The soft call made her pause, glancing back over her shoulder to look at Tvashtar as he slowly walked over to her to lie a hand on her right shoulder. "He's not worth it, little sister."

"You'd side with her?" Rryslan growled, jerking out of the Knight's grasp when her distraction made her grip on his loosen a little, just enough for him to get free.

Tvashtar frowned and looked at his father emotionlessly. "She's more family than you ever were."

Kadrith groaned in exasperation and rose a hand to his forehead in a smack, muttering under his breath for a moment before slowly lowering his hand again, screaming out a warning when he saw Rryslan clench a fist and start to cock his arm.

"Move!" Lashana yelled, spinning to shove Tvashtar out of the way and crying out when she ended up taking the blow, the force of it sending her sprawling across the deck to smash through the railing and fall to the ground below, her body impacting with the concrete stepping stones that lead from the deck stairs down to the pool hard enough to shatter them.

"Get Beast! I'll meet you in the infirmary!" Tvashtar roared to Kadrith as he summoned his wings, letting them rip his tee shirt to shreads as he threw himself off the deck and flew down to her, panic welling up in him when see saw her hair revert from it's bright gold to a dull lifeless grey. Landing heavily, he quickly knelt next to her and checked to see if she was breathing, his fingers probing her neck and spine to check for a break, something that he had been taught how to do a few hundred years back by a shaman in a village that neighbored where one of the other Chaos Knights had lived.

Satisfied that it was safe to move her, he quickly scooped her into his arms and spread his wings again, throwing himself into the air and flying up to land on the deck, not even bothering to glance at his father as he folded his wings against his back and dashed into the Palace, roaring loudly in a bid to wake everyone. Hold on, kelestra, little sister. Fight.... please....

"Put her on the table!" Beast ordered the moment Tvashtar burst into the makeshift infirmary that was in his lab, the last edges of sleep leaving him as he looked down at the Elf, worried at her ashen complexion. He had always guessed that Telca and Lashana were not invincible when they were in their Avatar forms, and now, here lay the proof that even they had their limits. It was the first time that he actively hated to be right.

"What happened?!" Telca demanded as she stormed into the lab, her hair completely disheveled, matching the rumpled state of her tee shirt and grey jogging pants.

Kadrith turned from staring at the Elf and looked at his Avatar for a moment before returning his gaze to the form on the table. "I'll tell you later.... this isn't the time."

Telca slowed to a stop next to him and frowned as she followed his gaze, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of her best friend. "You'll tell me now."

"....it's my fault...." Tvashtar whispered, his wings curling around him as if he was trying to hide from the world. "I shouldn't have let her push me aside.... it was meant for me.... he was aiming for me...."

"'He'?" The sorceress turned Avatar narrowed her eyes, knowing that her rising anger had probably already changed them from their usual dark purple to a bright amber, completely ignoring the questioning looks that Remy, Kang and Wolverine were giving her as they ran into the lab. "Tell me. Now."

"Lashana!"

Any reply either Guardian could have made was cut off by the entrance of the resident Digimon as he shouldered his way through the small doorway and made his way over to the Elf, his expression unreadable as he reached out with a shaking hand to touch her cheek. "How?" When no one answered, he snarled and rounded on Tvashtar. "What happened?! You're supposed to protect her!"

"I-I didn't see.... I was trying to calm her down.... I didn't see him...."

Blackwargreymon growled and grabbed the Guardian by his shoulders, shaking him. "Who did this to her?!"

"I did."

Kang whirled at the voice and roared in anger, loosing half a dozen flare arrows and following them up with a savage punch, sending the stranger crashing to the floor.

"Take it outside!" Beast yelled as he ran a scanning device over the Elf, trying to get a fix on her vitals and frowning when the readings came back less than encouraging. "Telca, I may need your help since you can Heal what could usually be termed fatal. You may remain, but everyone else must wait outside."

Telca nodded silently and gestured for the others to leave, smiling slightly when Remy shook his head and instead moved to take her right hand in his, giving her a gentle reassuring squeeze.

Nodding in acknowledgment to Beast's order, Wolverine gladly grabbed the intruder's right arm and bodily threw him out of the lab, snarling as he led the angry mod out into the hallway. "Ya shouldn't have hurt tha darlin', bub," he growled, adamantium claws unsheathing from between his knuckles as he stalked towards him.

"He's mine."

The canuck paused at the low rumbled and glanced back over his shoulder, eyes widening when he saw the expression on Blackie's face. "Sure thin'. But I wanna piece o' him when yer done."

"I'll think about it," the Digimon said as he reached down and grabbed the male by his throat, effortlessly lifting him off his feet and slamming him back against the wall. "Who the hell are you?"

Kadrith looked up from where he was trying to calm Tvashtar down and sighed. "He's our father."

There was the unanimous sound of blinking. "He's WHAT?!"

~*~

By the time Kadrith had finished explaining everything that had happened, the small gathering had turned into a full meeting of the entire Harem. Rryslan was sitting on the floor with his back against a wall while Blackwargreymon stood next to Kang where they both leaned back against the opposite wall. Both had their arms folded over their bare chests while they glowered down at the large draconid. Mewtwo was too busy restraining the three dragons from trying to go to Lashana to do anything but throw nasty looks at him every few moments, while Malcho was fixing him with the most unsettling predatory look, a low continuous hiss leaving his partially open jaws.

Tvashtar, meanwhile, had joined Zelgadis and Duncan in pacing in front of the lab door, his tail lashing violently in an outward sign of his turmoil. Nightcrawler had teleported into the lab a few minutes before, and returned moments after to the expectant looks of the gang only to hang his head sadly and avoid all of their gazes as he slowly moved over to stand next to a solem Kenshin. Even Xellos had joined them, the Mazoku strangely serious as he listened to Kadrith's tale, his fully opened amethyst eyes never leaving Rryslan's from.

"Lashana-chan will pull through," Xellos muttered, just loud enough for everyone present to hear him. No one disputed the 'chan' part.

Rryslan, however, jerked a little in shock and rose to his feet, ignoring the glares of everyone present as he stared at the Mazoku. "I know you... you're the Beastmaster's General Priest, aren't you? Why should you care what happens to the halfbree-- urk!"

Blackwargreymon snarled lowly as he closed his right hand around the draconid's throat and brought him close to his face, his voice unnervingly calm as he spoke. "If you call her that one more time, I will personally render you limb from limb. Is that understood?"

He nodded, grimacing as the Digimon shoved him away. "You must be the Bonded." When all he got was a malicious snarl, Rryslan frowned and folded his arms over his chest. "If she had minded her own business, she wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"We are her business, bub," Wolverine snapped. "We're her family. She'd do anythin' fer us, and we'd do tha same fer her. Though judgin' by the way 'Shtar and 'Rith ain't happy ta have ya here, I'd guess that ya have no idea what that means."

A loud trio of shrieks jerked everyone's attentions to the three dragons that were huddled in Mewtwo's arms, their gazes falling on the smallest of the gang before going to the Digimon as he groaned and clutched at his chest, his eyes closing in a grimace of pain as he dropped to one knee.

~They're losing her!~

"The hell they are!" Zelgadis grabbed Xellos by his shirt collar. "You can reach L-Sama! You have to bring her here!"

The Mazoku closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "It doesn't work that way. I can't teleport to the Sea of Chaos, and if I could reach her through magick, don't you think I would have done so already?"

Kang slammed a fist against the wall in pure frustration. "We have to do something! We can't just stand where while she...." His throat constricted, and he closed his eyes as he rested his forehead against his clenched fist. "We can't lose her again."

"Telca will think of something," Nightcrawler whispered, drawing everyone's gazes as he rose his eyes to look at the lab door. "She has to."

~*~

"I have no clue what to do," Telca cried as she clenched her hands into fists and pressed them against her temples. "The Healing spell's not working! And I don't know why!"

Remy sighed and gathered her into his arms, rubbing his hands over her back as she buried her face against his chest while he gazed over at the Elf on the table, anger building up in him at the thought that someone had dared do this to one of this 'petits'. "Chere? Telca? Chere, remember dat time when Remy spar wit de Wolverine, an you call Gaia to help? Can't you do dat now?"

"What do you think I was doing?" she moaned, her hands curling around fistfulls of his tank top as she leaned her forehead against his right shoulder. "I don't know why it's not working...."

I do.

Startled, Telca whirled out of Remy's arms and blinked at the Goddess that was standing next to the Elf's bedside while Beast moved around her, setting up IV lines and a heart moniter. "Gaia! Why didn't the spell work? I've used it before without any problems, why can't it work when I need it the most?!"

It's not your fault. You can't Heal her. Not injuries as grave as this. The Goddess sighed and looked over at her Avatar. The powers of the Avatars of Life and Chaos... when used against or on each other, have no effect what so ever. The Powers cancel each other out.

"And you didn't think to tell us this little important tidbit before?!"

You didn't ask.

Her left eyebrow twitching, Telca slowly moved forward until she was right in the Goddess' face. "Then you'd better have a way of saving her, else you're losing one Avatar and gaining a major thorn in your side."

Surprised at the audacity of her Avatar, Gaia actually moved away from her. L-Sama is the only one who can save her now.

"Then. Go. GET. Her!"

Remy blinked as the Goddess vanished and looked at his sorceress. "Chere? You sure yellin' at de Goddess is a good idea?"

"No. But at this point, what do we have to lose?"

~*~

"Ack! Someone catch him!"

Kang yelped and rushed forward to catch Blackwargreymon before the Digimon hit the floor, grunting slightly in exertion as he struggled to support the heavier male. "You need to lose a few pounds."

"I think I'm about to lose about a hundred and thirty five that I wasn't planning on losing for another six decades or so...." Blackie muttered deliriously.

"What's he--?"

~He's talking about Lashana,~ Mewtwo sighed, looking from the chimera to the Digimon as Kang carefully lowered him to the floor, propping him up against the wall. Despair threatened to overwhelm him for a moment before he shoved the three dragons into Zelgadis' arms and teleported into the lab, startling Telca. ~Let me try something.~

"Feel free. We're out of options until Gaia finds L-Sama," she whispered, watching the Pokemon as he silently padded over to the makeshift bed, his tail drooping until it was lying on the floor when he reached Lashana's side.

Lashana..... Forcing his hands not to shake, he slowly reached out and lay his fingers on her temples, ignoring the questioning look that Beast was giving him as he carefully eased his thoughts into her mind, nearly collapsing at the pain he sensed. ...concussion.... and at least three broken ribs.... ~Her left arm is broken,~ he murmured, seeing Beast move to check her arm, his eyes widening in surprise.

"How did you know?"

~I'm in her mind. I can feel where she hurts. Concussion, three broken ribs.... no... four. Three on her right side, one on her left. One of the ones on the right is out of place.... dangerously close to puncturing her lung...~ He trailed off and closed his eyes as he called on his power, using his reserves of energy as he used Recover on her, nearly sobbing when all his efforts managed to do was to partially repair her ribs. He was moments away from simply using the technique until he passed out when he felt a hand lie on his arm, making him turn to look at Telca.

"She'll be okay."

~How do you know? Your magicks don't work on her, she's practically comatose.... ~

Telca glanced at the Elf and sighed, then looked at Mewtwo again. "Do you know what happened?" At his nod, she frowned. "Tell me."

What happened here?!

Everyone in the lab jumped at the yell, turning to stare at the Lord of Nightmares as she merely appeared in the middle of the room, her golden aura swirling wildly around her.

~An old acquaintance of yours, I believe,~ Mewtwo said. ~Rryslan.~

Rryslan? Tvashtar and Kadrith's father? He's still alive?! Ugh.... damned idiot. I'll deal with him in a moment. Her golden gaze fixed on the form on the table, L-Sama walked forward until she was standing next to her Avatar, the expression on her face unreadable as she gently brushed the Elf's bangs off her forehead. Tvashtar shouldn't have let this happen.

"I do not think it is any fault of his, L-Sama," Beast said, drawing her attention. "From what I heard, Lashana is the one who tried to halt a fight in progress. I believe that she may have saved his life by doing so. The force of the blow must have been tremendous. If she had not pushed him aside, and had she not been in her Avatar form at the time, either one could have very well died instantly."

"Wait wait. Kadrith's father is the one who did this?" Telca frowned, tensing when L-Sama nodded. "I hope they're not a close family, because I'm going to kill him."

Wait your turn, Avatar of Gaia. L-Sama murmured while reaching out to lay her hands on the Elf's solar plexus, closing her eyes as her aura pulsed, then extended around the prone form. I can only Heal part of the damage. Any more, and my Chaos could corrupt her Soul. She will be sore for many days, but her life will not be in danger.

"Dat's more dan we could've hoped for, chere," Remy whispered, walking up behind Telca and loosely wrapping his arms around her waist.

Her Bonded, L-Sama frowned, looking at Mewtwo. How does he fare?

~Last I saw he was semi-conscious and slumped on the floor.~

Not surprising considering how he's somehow managed to use the Bond to tie her life to his. Gods, that male is simply too stubborn for his own good.

"We tell him that on a regular basis," Telca said, leaning forward a little as L-Sama nodded to herself and stepped away, her aura fading from around Lashana. "Is she?"

"She's sleeping," Beast announced as he ran the scanner over her again. "Mild concussion, two broken ribs and a slight fracture in her left arm. Other than the other minor bruises and scrapes, she should be fine in a couple of weeks."

~Oh thank the Gods.~

You're welcome. L-Sama chuckled, winking at the Pokemon before turning to walk to the door, a slight gesture in the air in front of her making it open of it's own accord.

As soon as she stepped out into the hallway, Tvashtar dropped to his knees, a shudder winding through him as the Goddess looked at him. "M'lady..."

You're not to blame for the actions of others, Guardian. Go see to your charge, and be a dear and help Blackwargreymon as you do so, hmm? I have to have a 'chat' with your father.

He growled softly and rose to his feet, going to help the still dazed Digimon to his feet. "You're not going to kill him are you? Because I don't want to miss that."

No. I am not going to kill him.

"Pity," Kang grumbled.

~*~

"'Shana? Can you hear me?" Blackwargreymon sighed as ran the curve of a talon over her cheek, wishing that she'd wake up, if only for a moment. It had been three hours since L-Sama had Healed her, and while Beast had told him many times that her condition was stable and improving with every hour, he wouldn't be convinced of that until she woke up.

"No change?"

"No. Nothing," he murmured, looking up at Tvashtar and forcing a smile as he reached out to accept the glass of water the Guardian had brought him. "Are the others still out there?"

"Only Mewtwo and the dragons, the rest have taken Rryslan somewhere." Wings twitching, he sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the Elf and looked at her, feeling his heart wrench at the sight of dark bruises over her throat, temple and jaw. "I should have--"

"Stop that. There's nothing you could have done. We both know how far Lashana is willing to go to protect her.... no.... our family. It's just the way she is."

Tvashtar sighed and rested an elbow on the side of the makeshift bed, sinking his cheek into his palm as he reached out with his free hand to lightly run this talons through her hair, smoothing it away from her face. "She's the only Chaos Avatar that's cared, you know," he murmured, drawing Blackwargreymon's curious gaze. "All the others treated me like a pet, a thing that was only good for learning new attacks from. There was one Knight that actually sent me out into oncoming attacks to draw fire while they ran away. She and Telca.... I never thought anyone would have accepted me like they did...."

"They do that for a lot of people," the Digimon nodded as he took Lashana's left hand into both of his and gently nuzzled at her fingers, being careful of the IV that was in the back of her hand. "I think it's because, unlike the other Avatars, they've seen and lived the dark side of life, and vowed never to be like the ones who tormented and hurt them."

"Hmm.... She loves you, you know." His gaze was still fixed on her face as he continued to stroke her hair. "It hurts her when you don't trust her. When you constantly act as if you think she'd cheat on you."

"I don't--"

"You do. You treat her like she's some prize you won and have to constantly guard from others. She does care for the others here, Blackwargreymon. But differently than how she cares about you. You have to realize that."

He growled softly and looked away. "I didn't.... oh hell.... How bad?"

"She was ready to fireball this morning," Tvashtar said with a weak smirk. "But she still loves you."

"There's something amazing all in itself." Sighing, he looked at her again and lightly stroked the thick bandage on her left arm, where a splint was securely tied to her forearm. "So.... her Blood-Pact brother, hmm?"

"Yeah."

"You do realize that means that you're stuck here forever, right?"

"Oh, yes."

"Good."

~*~

"I say we just kill him," Kang muttered sourly as he leaned back against the main stairwells banister, watching as L-Sama ushered Rryslan into the Main Hall.

"But he's Kadrith and Tvashtar's father!" Nightcrawler frowned as he bamfed over to the draconian, looking at him worriedly. "We can't kill him."

"Watch me."

Wolverine growled lowly in agreement. "Tha draco's right. I say we gut 'im here an now."

"No!" Kadrith glared at the Canuck when he turned to look at him and narrowed his eyes. "Nightcrawler's right. Despite what Tvashtar an I feel, he is still our father. We can't kill him."

There are worse fates than death. L-Sama mused, cocking an eyebrow at Xellos when the Mazoku moved to stand by her side. I'd imagine that you'd know of a few.

"Hai, L-Sama. Though I believe that Blackwargreymon would like first dibs on him." He turned to look at Rryslan as he spoke, fixing the draconid with a menacing stare. "Granted at the moment, I wouldn't mind having a crack at him myself."

"Didn't think you cared," Zelgadis frowned, joining the others in looking at the Mazoku in surprise.

"Lashana-sama is the Chaos Knight. I'm sworn to protect her if she needs it.... On a personal note....," he caught himself and paused for a moment before rising a finger to wag it at the chimera as his Trickster's facade came into play. "Sore wa himitsu desu!"

Malcho rolled his eyes skyward. "I knew that was coming. Still, amigos, me must do something about this situation. This gringo nearly killed the muchacha, we cannot merely let him go."

I never said we would, the Goddess smiled, turning her gaze to Rryslan who had been listening to all this and slowly backing away from them. I can understand your anger towards my former Knight, Rryslan. But I cannot forgive your treatment of Lashana, or of her Guardian. You're three millennia old! You should have more control over your temper than that!

"Things always get physical when he and Tvashtar get near each other," Kadrith sighed, his tail tip twitching against his leg. "It's just always been like that. But no one ever got seriously hurt...." He let his voice trail off and lowered his gaze to the carpet, staring at his feet for a moment before he squared his shoulders and rose his head to meet Rryslan's gaze. "I was always inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. I thought Tvashtar was simply taking things too seriously when it came to you, that you'd just made a few mistakes. I was wrong."

Rryslan jerked as it he had been physically hit. "Kadrith...."

"You nearly killed Lashana! If she hadn't pushed Tvashtar out of the way, you would have killed him! Doesn't that mean anything to you? You haven't even asked how either of them are, all you've done is sit there as if none of this has anything to do with you. Are you completely heartless, or is it that you never really cared about anyone except yourself in the first place?!"

A loud sharp crack of sound sent Rryslan flying backwards into the stairs before he even managed to finish his first threatening step towards Kadrith, and Malcho hissed loudly as he reared up to his full height and readied himself to give the draconid another blow with his tail. "Stay down, gringo. What mi amigo has just spoken is truth. You do not seem overly concerned about any of this, however I feel that I should warn you..." Muscles rippling, he lowered his head until he was only inches away from Rryslan, his wings slowly opening and clenching into fists. "We protect our own here. And I am very, very, fond of Lashana. If you provoke me again, I will not hesitate to repay what you have done to her. Tenfold. Is that understood?"

Confronted with the sight of a snake that was not only borderline homicidal, but quite capable of crushing him to a pulp and swallowing him whole, Rryslan merely nodded.

I'd imagine, L-Sama murmured into the silence that followed, that Ciana would find this rather interesting.

"Why? She's never cared about halfbreeds before." A sound of a sword being drawn caught his attention, and Rryslan blinked as he stared at the leanly built human that was holding the tip of his katana inches from his throat.

"Do not speak of her in that manner," Kenshin said softly, his gaze hardening.

Zelgadis and Duncan exchanged looks of shock and took steps back from the Samurai, knowing that his cold tone of voice usually meant that he was close to going battousai. Granted, the sheer surprise of seeing Kenshin actually lose his cool was more than enough to send them stumbling backwards.

I agree, Rryslan. And Ciana has never shown anything towards Halfbloods because she does not know that one exists so close to her own domain. Like it or not, My Knight is half-Elf. If you care to discuss this further, however, I do believe that Telca would be more than happy to rise to her friend's defence.

"Screw that," Telca snarled as she stomped into the room, her battleaxe cradled in her hands. "Stand back, I'm gonna fry him."

"You're the Avatar of Gaia! You can't kill people!" Kadrith yelped as he moved to stop her.

"'Rith, I'm also not supposed to stand by when said people nearly beat my best-friend to death. Get out of my way."

"Telca...."

She met his gaze for a moment, then growled and threw her weapon to the floor. "Well what the hell do you expect me to do?! I can't Heal her anymore because we're both Avatars, so I'm forced to just stand there not able to do a damned thing, and now you won't even let me go after the bastard that did this to her!" Her eyes flashed silver as she ranted, her anger triggering her transformation, making everyone take a step back from her as a battle aura flared up around her.

L-Sama gazed over at the Avatar coolly, noting how much more powerful she was as her rage fueled her strength. The Gaia's Avatar is more dangerous than my Knight... Making up her mind, she finally stepped forward, brushing past Telca as she walked over to Rryslan, who immediately dropped to one knee and lowered his head. Perhaps you need a lesson in humility. So that you can learn exactly how much damage and pain you truly have caused here today....

~*~

Tvashtar sighed for the fifth time in as many minutes as he leaned back in the chair and tried to get comfortable, hating how the chair was cramping his tail and pinching his wings. As he watched, Beast took a small blood sample from the Elf, the mutant's attention divided between his patient and the ever protective presence's of him and Blackwargreymon. "She should be awake by now."

"I know," Black muttered, worried at how he could barely sense her through the Bond.

"Patience, gentlemen. Her body has been through a lot, and L-Sama could not Heal her fully without jeopardizing her Soul." Beast carefully extracted the needle from the inside of her right elbow and deftly placed a small pad of gauze and tape over the slightly bleeding incision. "We all know how stubborn she is, that alone will should reassure you that she will be perfectly alright in a few days."

"You're saying she'll be unconscious for days?!"

"Certainly not! I'd imagine that as soon as the painkillers that I administered to her a few minutes ago take hold, that she may awak--"

"......can y'all keep it down? Some of us are trying to stay unconscious...."

"Lashana!!" Relief flooded through him as Black grinned into her weary blue eyes, the chair toppling over as he shot to his feet and ever so gently leaned down to wrap his arms around her. "Bonded.... I was so worried."

She closed her eyes again, merely taking comfort in his embrace for a long moment before a light touch on her right arm drew her attention, making her blink up into Tvashtar's tear-filled eyes. "Hey...."

"You idiot," he whispered, the anger in his voice a complete contrast to the immense joy and relief in his eyes. "Don't you ever scare us like that again."

"I love you too, bro," she chuckled, immediately wincing at the pain in her right side and the sudden pounding in her head, sighing when a blue furred hand lightly brushed over her right cheek. "Beast? How bad is it?"

"Your left arm is broken, three cracked ribs, two on the right one on the left, and a mild concussion. The bruising around your throat is extensive, but thankfully your windpipe isn't damaged. I'd force you to stay down here to rest for at least a week, but considering how everyone's been reacting, I believe that you'll be forced to take it easy for at least the next three weeks."

"....everyone?" Worried, Lashana shot a look at Blackwargreymon. "How long was I out? Where's Rryslan?"

"You've been unconscious for almost six hours," the Digimon rumbled, feeling her left hand tighten around his fingers as a wild look of panic crept into her eyes. "And the others are dealing with Rryslan."

Oh boy, that guy is going to be so dead.... Sounds of frantic shrieks and muted clawing at the door to the lab made her heart skip a beat, and she grimaced as she gingerly pushed herself into a sitting position, hearing Tvashtar's worried growl as he moved to help her. "Let them in."

"I do not think that's a wise..."

"Mewtwo?"

Blue light preceded the pokemon's teleport into the room, and he yelped as the three dragons that he was holding his in arms roared and fought their way free, flying over to Lashana and literally attaching themselves to her. ~Well, that makes the rest of our greetings look rather pitiful, doesn't it?~ he chuckled as he walked over to her and rested a hand on her right knee, not daring to hug her lest her hurt her. ~You gave us quite a scare. How do you feel?~

"Like I've been run over by an eighteen wheeler hauling three tons of cargo." Shh, littlings. Calm down. Ow! Watch the arm! Watch the arm!

::Sorry!:: Korin yelped, taking to the air and hovering near her while Kalamadea curled around the back of her neck, nuzzling at her cheek as Akhor landed in her lap and clung to her shirt. Seeing that landing on her shoulders or left arm was out, he grumbled slightly and was about to fly back to Mewtwo when she reached out with her right arm and pulled him into a weak hug, letting him sink his talons into the front of her shirt as he carefully rubbed his cheek against her throat. ::Almost couldn't sense you. We were worried.::

"I know," Lashana whispered, sighing as Akhor hopped up so that he was next to Korin, the three dragons crooning softly as they snuggled close to her. Arms wrapped around her then, and she shuddered as Tvashtar pulled her into a tender hug, his chin resting on the top of her head as he held her. "Are you okay?"

He pulled away and held her at arms length, staring at her incredibusly. "You almost get killed and you're asking me if I'm okay?!"

"Um.... yeah?"

He chuckled softly despite himself and rose a hand to wipe at his eyes before hugging her again. "You're insane, you know that?"

"Hmm..." She closed her eyes and leaned against him, feeling Blackwargreymon's protective presence in her thoughts as the Guardian gave her a tender reassuring squeeze, then slowly backed away. The urge to simply lie back down and sleep was too inviting, and she was seconds away from doing so when a ripple in the Chaos grabbed her attention. "Oh dear gods...."

"What?" Black frowned, lunging forward to try to stop her as she pulled the IV from her hand and tugged the heart moniter wires from herself. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm gonna go stop L-Sama before she does something stupid!"

"My dear! You're in no condition to move around!" Beast scolded her as he moved to try to keep her on the makeshift bed, eyes widening when the three dragons hissed at him warningly.

"Either one of you help me or get the hell out of my way."

The pokemon automatically reached out and helped her to her feet, very aware of the angry glares from Blackwargreymon and Tvashtar as he curled his tail around her hips, supporting her when her knees threatened to buckle. ~Sorry. But I have to side with her on this,~ he stated, turning to look at Tvashtar. ~You and your father may not see eye to eye, but do you really want him dead?~

"I...I don't know..." The Guardian paused and glanced away, staring at the far wall for a moment before meeting the pokemon's gaze again. "No."

~Then come on!~ Holding Lashana to him with his right arm, he reached out with his left and grabbed Tvashtar's wrist, seeing Blackwargreymon's eyes widen as he pulled on his Power, readying himself to do a teleport. He's going to kill me for this later... I just know it.

~*~

I'm sorry, Rryslan. But you've condemned yourself with your actions. L-Sama said as she rose her right hand, palm pointing towards the draconid that was looking up at her in fear as black energy swirled at her fingertips, gathering into a sphere that she immediately launched at him.

"No! DEFENSE!!"

A bright flash of white light blinded everyone as the attack impacted with a hastily risen shield, the cry of pain and surprise that followed and the resulting sound of someone hitting the floor making everyone try to peer through the spots that now danced in their vision.

Rryslan half rose to his feet, tail lashing as he looked from a stunned L-Sama to the form that was crumpled on the ground nearby, her eyes clenched shut in pain as she clutched at her left arm, three small dragons glaring at him balefully from their perch on the banister of the stairs. "Why'd you--"

"Lashana!" Shoving people out of her way, Telca ran over to her friend and dropped to her knees next to her, reaching out to gently but firmly grip her shoulders as she helped the Elf sit up. "Are you out of your mind?! Did you addle your brains when you hit the ground or something!? He tried to kill you! Why'd you save him?!"

~Black's going to kill me,~ Mewtwo sighed from where he had teleported them into the Main Hall, raising a hand to cover his eyes as he contemplated running now before the Digimon made it upstairs.

"He may be a moronic, bastardized, son of a bitch.... but he's still Tvashtar and Kadrith's father," Lashana rasped, partially doubled over as she tried to push the pain in her arm and ribs aside. "Someone help me off the damned floor."

"Here."

Familiar scaled hands lifted her, and she shivered as Kang scooped her into his arms and wrapped his wings around her, his low worried rumble making her twist to bury her face against his left shoulder. "Gomen..."

"I'll yell at you later," he promised. "For now I'm too relieved to go into a rant."

Thank the Gods for small miracles.

Lashana.

Another shiver made it's way down her spine at the sound of L-Sama's voice, and she slowly rose her head from the draconian's shoulder, looking over at the Goddess tiredly. "L-Sama."

She frowned and shook her head, gesturing to a still shocked Rryslan. I don't understand.

"Yer not tha only one," Wolverine growled as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at the Elf. "Darlin', he coulda killed ya."

"I'm extremely aware of that," she muttered sourly, wincing as Kang's wingtip hit her arm. "Put me down."

"But..."

"Kang. Please."

Despite his better judgement, he reluctantly agreed, crouching to carefully set her on her feet before folding his wings and releasing her. His tail twitched agitatedly as he watched her walk over to Rryslan, tensing in preparation of lunging forward to either catch her if she fell or to pummel the draconid into a bloody pulp if he did anything.

"You really are a piece of work," Lashana sighed as she came to a stop in front of Rryslan, meeting his slightly catatonic gaze for an instant before he slowly lowered himself onto one knee in front of her and ducked his head submissively. Another sigh escaped her as she reached down with her good hand and gently raised his muzzle, forcing him to look at her. "You and Tvashtar are so alike it's almost eerie. You're both too hard-headed for your own good."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," came the grumble from her Guardian.

"I heard that," she smirked, glancing over at him before returning her attention to the draconid in front of her. "I can almost understand why you're such a hardass. To be living on your own for almost two millennia, and then suddenly have two kids to look after... must've been a shock. You didn't know how to be a father and you still don't, do you?" When he glanced over at Kadrith and Tvashtar and shook his head, she smiled slightly and released him. "Rryslan, there is nothing more important than family. You have to understand that. I'd think that my rag-tag bunch should have proved that. Actually, I'm amazed you're still alive."

"Kadrith wouldn't let me kill him," Telca muttered sourly, eyeing the kneeling draconid angrily. "I'd still like to rip his tail off and beat him to death with it."

"That's my job," Blackwargreymon snarled as he stalked over to them, sending a scathing glare at Mewtwo as he did so.

"Black, enough. You're radiating and it's giving me a bigger headache." She rose her hand to massage her aching temple and grit her teeth as a wave of dizziness hit her, almost making her collapse right then and there. Only the knowledge that if she did that she'd send the entire Harem into a panic kept her on her feet, waiting until the fit had passed before looking at Rryslan again. "It's Tvashtar you should thank, by the way."

My Knight, you will never cease to amaze me, L-Sama smiled as she walked over to the Elf. But you should go rest. Even I can sense your weariness. Besides, it will give the two Guardians time to speak with Rryslan in private and time for the Harem to properly welcome you back to the land of the conscious.

Lashana smiled a little at that last part as she felt her Bonded's presence at the edge of her thoughts, a solid dependable wall of strength that she gratefully drew upon. "Hai, L-Sama."

The moment the Goddess vanished, the entire Hall burst into activity as everyone grouped around the Elf, either yelling at her for being a total idiot or yelling at her for scaring them or yelling at her for being on her feet when she was obviously unwell. Granted, while the sheer volume of it all did absolutely nothing to help her headache, having everyone around her did wonders for her current mindset.

It was Malcho that first swept her into a relieved hug, the giant quetzacoatl lifting her completely off her feet as he wrapped his wings around her and rose to his full height, cradling her against him. "Come amiga, before the yelling deafens us both."

Blackwargreymon blinked as the snake slithered backwards into a portal. "Since when can he open portals? .......wait a minute. Malcho! Get back here with my Bonded!"

"Well, he's still sharp as a tack I see," Telca smirked as watched the Digimon barrel up the stairs for a moment before turning to walk into Remy's open arms, relieved that her Cajun hadn't been far from her side all day. "This has been a memorable morning that I never want to re-experience."

"Oui. On dat we agree, chere," he whispered into her hair as he watched Kadrith and Tvashtar guide Rryslan into the livingroom. "C'mon, petit. Remy make you his famous omlettes for breakfast."

"No tabasco?"

He chuckled. "Non. No tabasco."

"Deal."

~*~

Lashana yawned softly from where she lay nestled on a bed of coiled muscle and sleepily buried her face against the wings that were curled around her, hearing Malcho's soft rumble as he automatically shifted to better cradle her. "Gomen. I thought I could handle Rryslan by myself."

"Amiga, if anything, I can truthfully say that your intentions were good," he murmured, his tail curling around her bare feet so that the plumed tip warmed her. "But it is as you said. Drawn from over a dozen worlds, you and Telca brought us here, and somewhere along the way, the entire Harem became a family. Unlike some of the members of your blood relatives, and those of Telca's, everything that affects the two of you affects the rest us. You know that, si?"

"Si."

He smiled at that and gently nuzzled her shoulder, being careful not to jar her splinted arm. "Bueno. Then I do not have to lecture you any more. Besides, I believe that Kang has quite a long rant planned out for you." At the groan that comment elicited, he chuckled and tightened his wings around her, glancing up to make sure that he had locked the doors to the library before hissing at her reassuringly. "Sueno, mi amiga. I can keep them away for a few hours."

"You sure?"

"Si," he whispered as he rearranged his wings and coils so that she was nestled comfortably, making sure that nothing was aggravating her cracked ribs or broken arm as he watched her eyes flutter closed. "Ach, mi amiga. You're going to turn my scales grey one of these days."

"....s'my goal in life...."

"That's not funny, amiga."

"Not to you."

WHAM! "There you are!"

Lashana groaned and weakly pulled one of Malcho's wings over herself. "No.... go away.... I want to sleep."

"Not right now you don't. Trust me, you'll like this," Telca grinned as she fearlessly walked over to the quetzacoatl and reached into the nest of coils and feathers to gently pull the Elf out. "C'mon."

"I don't wanna."

"You'll like this."

"Uh huh. The last time you said that I ended up having to fight off a horde of Lesser Mazoku."

"You're still whining about that?"

"Malcho! Make her let me go! Ow! Watch the arm!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

"Telca, kindly let mi amiga go before I have to do something drastic."

"Hah! I fear you not." Telca smirked and stuck her tongue out at Malcho before opening a portal and pulling Lashana through it, grinning as she emerged in the middle of the kitchen. "Found her!"

"Telca! She's dead on her feet! I thought you were going to leave her alone if she was sleeping!" Kang yelped as he rushed over to gently wrap the shivering Elf up in his wings, looking down at her worriedly as she moaned thinly and leaned against him heavily.

"She wasn't sleeping!"

"Untrue! She was almost asleep when you barged into the library," Malcho grumbled as he slithered out of the still open portal and coiled himself in a spacious corner, glaring at Telca in annoyance.

"Don't get yer tail in a knot. She'll like this."

"Can I trade it in for sleep?" Lashana muttered, wearily raising her head from Kang's chest to look at Telca.

"No."

"Damn."

"Lashana!"

She winced. "Enough with the yelling already!"

Kadrith winced, ears lying flat against his skull as he slowly approached the Elf and the Draconian, glancing at Kang for a moment before pulling her out of his arms and gently ushering her towards the hallway. "My father wants to speak with you." When he felt her tense, he rumbled at her reassuringly and dared to give her a slight hug. "It's alright. Between Tvashtar, Xellos and myself, he won't dare do anything."

"Oh... wait. Xellos?!"

"Hmm. He's worried about you."

"You have got to be shittin' me." But no, true to his word, Xellos was indeed waiting for them in the Game Room, and she blinked at him in surprise as he looked over at her, his amethyst gaze taking in the bruises over her throat and jaw and the bulky splint on her left arm before he frowned and walked over to her.

"Knight-sama." He rose his right arm to press his fist against his left shoulder and bowed to her formally before straightening and reaching out to place his hand against her cheek, his gloved fingers lightly tracing the scrapes near her temple. "He won't hurt you again."

"Xel..." She shivered and winced when the movement jarred her ribs, catching a glimpse of a dark shadow in the Mazoku's eyes as he helped Kadrith usher her over to the couch, carefully lowering her down onto it. "When'd you turn serious?"

"When I first sensed your pain."

Taking a moment to lean back against the pillows that Kadrith had set up to support her, she frowned and looked at him as he sat next to her. "Since when do you care, Xellos? I thought we were just a food source for you."

He smirked at her, though there was no real emotion behind it. "You and Telca. Your anger, annoyance, and frustration, those I enjoy. But I do not like feeling your pain. I suppose somewhere along the line, you two corrupted me."

She was still trying to get over the fact that he had actually given her a straight answer when Tvashtar and Rryslan walked into the room via the connecting door to the livingroom, and she instinctively tried to lunge to her feet and summon up a spell to defend herself with, only Kadrith held her down, giving Xellos the opportunity to rise and tighten his hands around his staff, the red jewel at the top glowing dully.

"Lashana..." Tvashtar sighed and moved to sit beside her, his hands lightly running over her shoulders and up to trace the bruise on her jaw, his talons glowing a faint blue as the mark Healed. "I wish I could do more than that, kelestra."

"S'okay. What's this all about?"

"Chaos Knight."

She frowned at the soft bass rumble and turned to look at Rryslan as he walked over to the couch, towering over her for a moment before he knelt and lowered his head. I could get used to this.

"I.... I can never apologize enough for my actions. Nor can I ever repay you for saving my life.... despite my stupidity. I cannot undo what has been done, M'lady. But if you allow it, I'd like to try to make amends... somehow. I see now why my sons view you as their sister. You, the Gaia Avatar and the others, have given them what I never could... what I didn't know how to give. You have given them a home. For that.... you have my thanks, and my Life Debt."

Moving carefully, she slowly pushed herself up so that she was sitting up straight and reached out to lightly rub her knuckles over his left eyeridge, something that Tvashtar had told her was a gesture of comfort among closest friends. "I don't want your Life Debt, Rryslan," she said, smiling when he jerked his head up to look at her in surprise. "The only thing I want you to do is realize that it's never to late to make amends... and I don't mean with me."

"You're just letting him off the hook? Just like that?" Xellos frowned, looking at her disapprovingly.

Lashana smirked and met his gaze. "Oh, and I suppose you'd like me to have you torture him for a while, hmm? Sorry, bucko, that's not the way the cookie crumbles."

"Hmfpt."

Rryslan looked from the Mazoku to the Avatar and blinked. "I don't understand. You're just.... letting things go?"

"Hardly," Tvashtar smirked, playfully ruffling the Elf's hair and then using his talons to smooth it out again before she got mad at him.

"It's called mandatory visitation," Lashana grinned as Rryslan frowned at her curiously. "Every second Sunday for the next six months, either you come here and spend time with your pain-in-the-arse kids, or I'll have Xellos hunt you down and drag you here. And it just so happens that it's Sunday today, thought today you can spend your time plastering the holes full in the Main Hall and then repainting everything."

The large draconid blinked slowly, then nodded. "To be honest, I thought you were going to have me killed."

"I don't kill unless I have to. Besides, you still have to deal with the others."

"The....others?"

"Mm hm. I'm too tired to explain this to all of them."

There was a pause. Then. "You are evil."

She grinned, fangs bared. "Thanks. Now get goin'."

A slow smirk spread over Kadrith's lips as he watched his father reluctantly head for the Kitchen chuckling as he turned to look at Lashana. "Blackie's not going to like this."

"And your point is? Go on Xel, there ought to be plenty of rage you can enjoy."

The Mazoku looked at her. "You're sure you'll be alright, Knight-sama?"

"What is this? Are you drugged or something? When'd you start caring so much?"

He blinked at her for a moment, then gave her his Trickster's smile and playfully tapped his index finger on the tip of her nose. "Sore wa himitsu desu, Lashana-chan," he murmured, winking at her as he teleported to the Kitchen.

Tvashtar slowly looked from where the Mazoku had been a moment before to the Elf. "Okay. That, was weird."

"Tell me about it," she whispered, stunned by the very real emotion she had seen in his eyes. Shaking her head a little, she sighed and leaned against her Guardian, closing her eyes as he immediately wrapped his arms and wings around her. "Any other members of your family I should be worried about?"

He chuckled softly. "Just Kadrith. He's been swiping things from your candy stash."

The bronze hued draconid glared at his brother. "Traitor."

Lashana smiled slightly and snuggled closer into the safety of Tvashtar's arms, cracking an eye open when the sound of muffled screams and explosions caught her attention. "You think I should have warned Rryslan that everyone in that Kitchen had rather homicidal tendencies coupled with a magickal or attack ability of some sort?"

Tvashtar and Kadrith exchanged glances, then looked out the open door to the hallway as their father bolted past it, closely followed by Telca, Kang, Malcho, Blackwargreymon, Zelgadis, Mewtwo and a grinning Xellos. "Nah."