It was a dream, surely... just a dream...
A splash of water, a sickening rip, a scream... The scream rang in his ears, shaking Fai from his slumber. He woke in a cold sweat, as if it were he who'd arose from the water. And in a way, he had.
He couldn't hide it forever.
She was gone. In her dying moments, she saved his life. Well- maybe. With each passing minute, he knew one less world remained between him and the man who was determined to kill him and burn the remains. This, he realized, massaging his throbbing head, was something his companions should not see.
He glanced down at Kurogane, who was still asleep next to him. He had gotten in the habit lately, and the kids didn't question it, especially after they walked in on them last month. The ninja's arm was draped over his waist. Fai moved it gently and rolled out of the tangled mass of blankets and onto the hardwood floor. It was cool, and he recoiled from it, jumping. He eyed the sleeping figures, checking for signs of movement. The boy had his arms wrapped protectively around his princess - this seemed to happen more and more, as time passed, and she was certainly sound asleep. How cute, he thought, smirking.
The white thing, as usual, was rolling about in his sleep, near Syaoran's foot. He'd need to be careful of that. If need be, he could knock it out, but that would cause awkward questions.
Kurogane was the most trouble. Fai's eyes swept over his form, searching for any indication of awareness. To his relief, all seemed to be well in that thick skull of his, though one could never be sure with that ninja. It would be a potential threat, if he noticed this little outing. The only threat among these innocent people, anyway. Thank god he was still sleeping.
Fai threw his head back, knocking the light blonde strands from in front of his eyes, and crossed to the door of the one-room cabin, where he slipped on his shoes. He swallowed hard as he slid the door open. He closed it soundlessly and whispered into the damp night air.
"Well… here goes."
And then he ran.
It wasn't the storm that woke Kurogane. It was the door banging open and shut, blown by the strong winds. He scowled and made his way across the room to shut it, trying not to slip on the rain-slick floor. Whoever left the door had it coming in the morning… He padded back to bed, with the vague sense that something was missing.
Oh. Fai.
He frowned, scanning the cabin for any sign of the mage, but his shoes were gone and the sheets on his side of the futon were already cold. Dammit. Of all nights to disappear, he had to chose the night with thunderstorms. Kurogane forced the door open against the wind and stepped outside, throwing his arms in front of his face to protect it from the hail, and stared down at the mud in dismay. There was no way he could follow footprints in this weather. He'd have to rely on Fai's presence.
A bright flash of blue split the sky over the horizon, followed by a monstrous crash. Kurogane eyed it warily, because he didn't recall lightning being quite that blue. A series of red bursts of light flashed from the same direction, and a muffled scream. Kurogane's eyes widened.
"Shit!" He took off running. The lecture could come later, including such fascinating topics as 'why the fuck did you pick a fight tonight', 'why didn't you wake me up', and 'shouldn't you be using your magic', but for now a rescue mission would suffice.
A few hundred yards up the dirt road and around a corner, he found the source of the flashes of light and froze. A patch of trees blocked his way out into a clearing where two silhouettes were locked in a great clash of red and blue.
The first was a well-built stranger, glowing red. He was obviously a skilled fighter, using physical punches and kicks punctuated with red fire, but he'd already taken some damage from his opponent. He recognized the second as his mage, Fai, surrounded in an ethereal blue glow. Each time the red one stumbled, Fai collected into a bolt of the light and sent it straight at him. They were shouting, but he could barely catch snatches of it over the gale.
"-left without-"
"-kill you-"
"-betrayed me-"
"What the hell is he doing?" Kurogane's affection for the man created a constant monologue in his head consisting of 'Kill the bastard, kill the bastard, get the fuck away from my property, I'll kill you. Kill you...'. The more logical side of him told him Fai had it under control. Though for him to resort to magic, after all this time, was not a good sign.
In a flash of light, matched by a bloodthirsty cry, Fai, bristling with the electric blue energy flew at the other.
"Die!"
Kurogane's eyes widened, as the typically smiling, naive, blonde, struck this fallen opponent with his hand. The force of his blow sent the hand straight through the man's chest, and in a flash of red, it emerged out the other side.
There was half a moment where the two figures hung locked in a gruesome embrace. Then the red glow faded and the larger man sagged backwards, falling into the mud. Fai remained standing, breathing heavily.
"Oi!" Kurogane shouted, jogging through the trees. "Oi, Fai!"
The figure tensed and whirled to face him.
Fai was a wreck. His pale skin was smudged with mud and streaked with rain, wide blue eyes staring at Kurogane in unmasked shock. There was blood everywhere, staining the front of his white shirt, dripping from his arms and forming red rivulets at his feet. He faltered, and for a moment, Kurogane was afraid he might faint. Fai stared. Kurogane stared back, because he couldn't figure out what to say first. Fai saved him the trouble by collapsing into his arms, trembling and breathing in ragged gasps.
"…There's blood all over you," Kurogane said.
Fai looked up at him, managing a weak grin. "Don't worry, it's not mine."
A twinge of doubt rose, but Kurogane pushed it back and nodded at the dead man.
"Who was that?"
"…Ashura-ou." Fai's voice shook, almost too soft to be heard. "It's ok. He's not a danger to me anymore."
"…That's the guy you were running from?" He stared at the corpse. "Well if you coulda killed him before, why did you go through all this trouble?"
Fai buried his face in Kurogane's shirt.
"It's complicated… please, can we just… go home?" His grip on Kurogane clenched painfully tight. Kurogane hesitated- they really ought to get out of the storm, especially Fai. At the same time, the body…
"Let's bury him first," Kurogane said, moving towards it. This Ashura-ou may have messed Fai up, but respect for the dead was important no matter who they were.
"NO!" Fai clung to him. "Please, let's just go."
"It won't take long," Kurogane pointed out. "We can't just leave him."
"Yes we can."
"The locals will talk." Kurogane eyed the blood-stained corpse. They'd do more than just talk, the way this one was beat up. They'd probably try and run them, the conspicuous newcomers, out of town. Which would result in him and the kid having to go and kill everyone, which, for Syaoran at least, wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
"I...I can't. It's just..." Fai's trembling worsened. Kurogane knew he had to get the mage out of the rain, or he'd surely catch something. And that was the last thing he wanted to share a bed with. Fai looked up at him, his blue eyes full of fear. That goddamn look always made him cave.
"Fine. You need to get out of this. Can you walk?" Kurogane placed a hand on Fai's shoulder, and squeezed it, an action that caused the man to jump, startled. Fai nodded weakly, but as he did so, Kurogane saw his feet slip, in the mud from the storm. With a sigh, he grabbed the thin man by his waist and threw him over his shoulder. He'd come back and bury him later.
Jenx: XD Aww man, you all have NO idea how much we fought over the title. She wanted it to be Excuse Me, and I wanted Something Wicked, and she won the poll but I whined and bitched enough that we used Something Wicked anyways, and she got to write the summary as compensation. Or something like that. Anyways, we tossed this back and forth for a while, came up with it at about 3 AM, and have been working pretty hard on it. Hope you like. Trust me, it's gonna get MUCH more interesting in the near future.
Suu: I still think it should've been "Excuse Me"... But meh. Yesh, there will be angst in the future. Cause angst is love. And this has a plot, as well:D Meaning we may actually update on a regular basis! If we can get on at the same time, that is.