Disclaimer: I do not own then, although I wish I did.. then I would kill first Van, Hiltz, and Fiona and make RAVEN the RULER OF THE PLANET ZI!!!!!!!!!!! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!!!!!!!!!!! *sigh* this is why they will not let me eat chocolate sometimes¡¦
WARNING: THIS IS SLASH/SHOUNEN-AI. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ IT, CLICK THE BACKWARDS ARROW ON THE TOP LEFT HAND CORNER. THIS IS THE LAST WARNING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Love or Hate: What is the Difference?
Chapter 1: Day –1 [minus or negative one]
-by Firemoon
¡°Ra-ven-¡±
¡°Gods, what?¡±
Raven¡¯s irritated voice came from behind the piece of zoid part he was trying to fix. He had taken off his gloves, but the black smudges of oil had covered the scars on his palm. Shadow looked at Ryss questioningly before handing Raven the spanner. Ryss crossed her arms, huffing and looking totally pissed off.
¡°Raven, look at me when I talk to you!¡±
Raven sighed, and, spanner still in his hand, raised his head from behind the part. He simply raised a single dark eyebrow.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Well, seeing as it is weekend, I thought that we could go out and have some fun..?¡±
She trailed off as she saw Raven¡¯s expression, and quickly made it into a question, not a statement. A good deal of scorn and cruel amusement flashed through Raven¡¯s violet eyes, and his gray head again disappeared behind the zoid part he was fixing. His voice, slightly muffled, came out from behind it.
¡°No.¡±
¡°But-¡°
¡°I said NO, Ryss. I¡¯ve got more important things to do than ¡®going outside and having some fun¡¯ with a hideous psychotic obsessed bitch like you.¡±
Shadow looked at her a moment longer than he should with his sapphire eyes then turned away towards his master. Ryss turned away and left the hangar, ignoring the low chuckle from Raven and the tears that were now blinding her.
----------
That evening, Ryss made a decision.
A plan. A dangerous plan, but still effective.
She hummed silently to herself as she prepared the ¡®special¡¯ stew for Raven. She would leave it on the fire, and go to her room. If Raven comes in, he is bound to eat it. No suspicion of poisoning, for she would leave an empty bowl, wet and obviously freshly washed, on the sink, along with a spoon. Raven would still be gloating over his spiteful comment made on her, and probably wouldn¡¯t give a damn about her for the rest of the day. And¡¦ it would work.
She was sure of that.
----------
¡°Raven?¡±
Ryss called as sweetly as she could, flopping down into an armchair in front of him who was sitting on a matching couch. He looked a bit paler than usual, and she grinned inwardly to herself. He snarled.
¡°You. What did you put in that thing?¡±
¡°Oh, nothing. Just to test who you really have a strong emotional link to.¡±
¡°WHAT?¡±
She was satisfied to see a horrified expression come over his features. She leant back, leisurely.
¡°You have until tomorrow evening to find her.. or him,¡±
She grinned wickedly, her green eyes dancing with mischievous light.
¡°Of course, it wouldn¡¯t work if you didn¡¯t like anyone, but as seeing you pale and sick, I think the potion¡¯s taking effect, and therefore, you do really love or hate someone in an extreme way, and he or she is, currently, alive.¡±
She softly added, and standing up, announced to the still sitting Raven.
¡°If you don¡¯t go to him or her by tomorrow nightfall, you¡¯ll surely die. From tomorrow noon the Craving would start. I don¡¯t know exactly what happens, but by the record, they suffer¡¦a little breathing problem and extreme weakness.
¡°So if you want to live, go. Go now.¡±
She cheerfully waved back at Raven, his visage now mask of hate, horror, and shock, as she went out. She called out as she went into her room.
¡°Bye-bye, Raven, let¡¯s see you fly.¡±
----------
The red zoid – Genobreaker – ¡®s cockpit opened and Raven leant back in the seat, the breeze caressing his cheeks and hair. Then he gasped as he felt another invisible grip squeezing his lungs, and he nearly doubled over, gasping for breath. Shadow growled, and Raven managed to say between the gasps.
¡°Just¡¦shut- up¡¦Let¡¯s..go.¡±
He straightened up, hate burning in his eyes, as he looked back to the direction where Ryss was currently located, probably cackling with delight. He turned his eyes to the base, just before the horizon, and checked the sun for time. 2 hours before the sunset, give or take. The cockpit closed, and the zoid burst through the desert towards the base, where the one who could help Raven to live was situated. Raven snarled to himself as another wave of nausea hit him, making him feel dizzy and weak.
He can last for a couple more hours. He was not weak.
----------
Van Flyheight of the Guardian Force was currently being held by one named Irvine, who was looking very disapproving of the youth, proven with a glare of his lavender eye.
¡°I told you to clean out your goddamn zoid after the mission. Now look at it. Sand everywhere! I never saw a person who took care of their zoid like this.¡±
¡°Irvine! I came back at 2 o¡¯clock in the morning today and I woke up just an hour ago! Would you clean out your zoid in that situation?¡±
Irvine opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say was drowned by the alarm and the shouting of people.
¡°Hey, hey! What is it?¡±
¡°An unidentified zoid is approaching fast. The monitors are yet to identify the z¡¦¡±
The soldier¡¯s face fell as he brought the speaker close to his ear. Irvine snatched it from his hand and shouted into it.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°¡¦a Genobreaker. Repeat, the zoid is a Genobreaker.¡±
Irvine swore violently, and turned to the dark-haired youth.
¡°Raven.¡±
----------
Raven swore as a few zoids came out from the base, aiming their ammo at him. He just couldn¡¯t waste his time in them. And, his time was running out. Fast.
¡°Out of my way!¡±
Raven shouted as Shadow controlled the Genobreaker, leaping clear off the first two zoids and running headlong towards the base without even glancing at the others. Raven, with the corner of his eye, saw the sun beginning to drop back into behind the horizon, glinting sinister in red and bright orange. Raven then felt Shadow enveloping him into his cool metallic innards, and lost consciousness. His time was up.
----------
Van watched, fascinated, as the Genobreaker, its armour as red as the sun now setting, suddenly stopped and a blue light came shooting out of it. Maybe it¡¯s a diversion, he thought, and then corrected himself. No, it can¡¯t be. Raven¡¯s Genobreaker was one of the most powerful zoid, and he certainly would never abandon it to be mutilated. Then, van realized that the blue beam was coming right at him.
¡°AARGHHH!¡±
Irvine turned his head away just in time to see Shadow, Raven¡¯s black organoid, drop something heavy onto Van. It was hard to see because the sun had just set, and the organoid stepped between him and Van, blocking the view. But he could still hear Van¡¯s voice, and by it he certainly wasn¡¯t in danger.
Dr. Di and Fiona appeared from between the gathered crowd, their concern deepening as they saw the organoid and the tip of Van¡¯s right boot showing between the organoid¡¯s legs and tail. Fiona called out.
¡°Van! Are you alright?¡±
The voice was slightly muffled, but nevertheless okay.
¡°I¡¯m OK, Fi. But I think Raven¡¯s hurt..¡±
¡°Raven?¡±
Soon, Van appeared from behind the black organoid, looking at it warily although it did not make any move to attack. Raven looked unconscious, his arms loosely around Van¡¯s shoulder, and Van looked decidedly uncomfortable with it. Irvine chuckled lightly to himself. It was an amusing sight.
¡°He kinda passed out on me.¡±
¡°No blood? Anything?¡±
Dr. Di tried to take Raven away from Van and to the infirmary, but Shadow stepped between them, growling menacingly. Fiona tentatively stepped forward while others moved back, and asked softly.
¡°Why, Shadow? Is there a reason why you stopped Dr. Di?¡±
Shadow looked at her, almost analyzing her face with his sapphire eyes, and without a word opened his compartment. Fiona looked into its eyes, and felt, for a second, that Shadow wanted to explain the whole thing to her. She would be safe. She motioned towards Van and the others, smiling a little.
¡°It¡¯s alright. Shadow wants to explain everything to us, but since he can¡¯t talk...¡±
She stepped into the space without the cords wrapping around her. She understood that the organoids had the cords especially for their masters. She glanced at Van as the metal clanked shut.
----------
They waited anxiously for her reappearance, and when the finally impatient Thomas started threatening the organoid that he will ¡®make him into tiny fragments and melted¡¯, it opened and Fiona stumbled out.
¡°Miss Fiona! Are you alright?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine, Thomas. Thank you.¡±
She left Thomas looking slightly more red and turned towards Dr. Di.
¡°It seems that Ryss pulled another prank on Raven again, but I think, this time, there is another who¡¯s deeply involved in this.¡±
¡°Who¡¦oh, I see.¡±
Fiona¡¯s scarlet gaze was resting upon Van, and her face was, for once, serious without any traces of pity or fear.
¡°Me?¡±
----------
¡°¡¦so Ryss mixed something – Shadow said that she said ¡®potion¡¯ – into his food and it sort of made him go to the person he most love or hate in the whole world. And it¡¯s you, Van.¡±
Van sat there, dumbfounded, with Raven sitting beside him, his gray head lightly resting upon Van¡¯s shoulder. He pointed at the general direction of the contact, and asked.
¡°Then why exactly does he have to be so¡¦close to me? It¡¯s kind of disturbing, rather.¡±
Irvine chuckled, and Van glared at him until the bandana-ed man noticed.
¡°Er, sorry.¡±
¡°Shadow said that Ryss said he would suffer from some breathing problems and extreme weakness if he doesn¡¯t reach Van in time, but I¡¯m not exactly sure why Shadow stopped Dr. Di.¡±
¡°Perhaps the potion doesn¡¯t take effect when he is close to Van?¡±
¡°Can we try it out?¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous for Raven? I mean, he¡¯s suffered that for 6 hours before he found Van.¡±
¡°And, will the or..er, Shadow let us?¡±
¡°Please, Shadow? We don¡¯t mean any harm to Raven. We just want to see.¡±
Shadow growled lightly and stepped back. They all sighed for relief, and Irvine and Dr. Di gently supported the gray haired youth while Fiona held a measuring rope, calling out the distance.
¡°Irvine, check his pulse to see whether he breathes difficultly. Call out stop when he does.¡±
¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±
Fiona mock-huffed at Irvine¡¯s answer, and held out the beginning of the rope to Van.
¡°Hold it still. Don¡¯t move.¡±
They, with Raven, stepped a pace back from the couch where Van was sitting.
¡°30 cm-¡°
Another.
¡°60-¡°
This time, a little half a step.
¡°80-¡°
¡°Stop.¡±
Irvine quickly carried the youth back onto the couch, where he sighed contentedly and snuggled up against Van, who immediately became red from the base of the neck to the roots of his hair. Irvine watched the two, his eyes shining with suppressed laughter.
Oh, this could be very interesting.
----------
A/N:
Firemoon: Hello!! *waves hand enthusiastically*
Raven: *unenthusiastically* Hey.
Van: Where¡¯s my papaya? *sees Zeke running away with it* HEY! GET BACK HERE!
Raven: Never mind about the goddamn papaya. *coyly* I guess that you just have to make do with me.
Van: *gulp* er, Raven? I think you¡¯re being influenced by the psychotic girl..
Raven: *blink blink* But I¡¯m n¡¦
Firemoon: Shut up, both of you! *cough cough* Ahem, er, this is really embarrassing¡¦ Raven! Get back here with Van RIGHT NOW!
Raven: But you said that I could do whatever I wanted with him! *grips Van¡¯s shoulders tighter*
Firemoon: Well¡¦ this is NOT so low a place! Now get back here and sit. *wipes her glasses on her t-shirt* But you can do whatever you want with him as soon as this fic is over. OK?
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