Disclaimer: I do not own Double Arts or its characters, they belong to the mangaka Naoshi Komi, although I wish I did so that it could be finished.
AN: Hey guys, it's just little old me! I just joined and here I am already on my second story :P Here is my first attempt at a one-shot! I wanted to write for a fandom that had not had many fan fictions uploaded to it. I noticed that some of my favourite mangas aren't very popular on and I wish to help change that! I hope you enjoy my reasoning behind Fallan's promise for not protecting anyone.
Fallan Denzell sat watching his two students and their crazy friend celebrating their recent victory. He was astounded that in under a week they had taken the simplistic dance lessons he had taught them and mastered an entirely new form of martial arts during a battle.
They were all at the fortune teller, Tessera's house. She had been expecting them and had since spent every second trying to force food and her own private stash of alcohol down their throats. The food the accepted, the drink they didn't, with the exception of Sui. She was still feeling reckless, and with no more enemies to fight, she fell to underage drinking to satiate her rebelliousness.
The other girl, the Sister, was excited and flushed with success. She was babbling happily to the spiky haired kid about how well they had worked together and he replied with as much enthusiasm, both of them giving the other their own detailed account of the battle and even arguing happily about the finer details. Her smiling face reminded Farran of another young woman he had known many years ago. This Elraine Figarette was the bigger part of the reason for his reluctance to help these kids. And the other kid, the one whose hand she couldn't let go of, Kiri Luchile, reminded Farran of himself from all those years ago.
The woman he knew then had been a Sister sympathizer and had dedicated her life to hunting down the 11 Gazelle.
Eyrn Kenara sat idly by a river bank, waiting patiently. She was about to go on another mission and would be gone quite awhile. She wanted to say goodbye to him properly this time; he'd been angry with her the last time she hadn't.
Of course, she had every confidence that she would return. But Eyrn did not want to needlessly worry him yet again by suddenly disappearing.
She had offered him many times if he wanted to join her cause. It was a noble one, in her opinion, worthy of the man she loved. Hunting down the Gazelle and killing them before they could kill anymore of the order of Sisters dedicated to healing those infected with Troi.
She did not see what she did for a living as protecting the Sisters, in fact, that's not what is was at all. She hunted the Gazelle in order to save the millions of lives – herself included – that the Sisters fought to save in their search for a cure. She believed in protecting no one; no single person would be saved by her in favour of a larger group of people. Troi endangered her life and her life was important to her. To others as well; she had a greater purpose that served the entire race of human beings. In order to see her dream come to pass, she would turn her back and even sacrifice another to save herself. Even the only one she had ever loved.
Eyrn stared out peacefully at the gently flowing water beside her the man in question approached.
His breath caught in his throat, taken away by the sight of her leaning against a tree at the usual place they would meet when she was home. The setting sun behind her danced off the river like a thousand tiny moving mirrors and set her red hair on fire in a blaze of orange and yellow light. Knowing that she was leaving, the sight was achingly beautiful to him.
Eryn glanced towards him when she saw him in her peripherals. She had known he was coming long before now, she always did. Not just with him, of course, with everybody. You needed to have excellently tuned senses and reflexes when hunting the Gazelle, and even then it more often than not didn't help.
She smiled warmly up at him when he stopped next to her, "Hello, Fallan Denzell. You're late." Eyrn took his hand and pulled him down beside her. She kissed him on the lips and the grim expression on his face vanished momentarily, quickly replaced by anxiety.
"Must you go? Why can't you stay here and be happy with me? We could get married, buy a house, have – " Words spilled from Fallan's mouth in earnest. He knew before she interrupted him, before he had even mouth what she would say. What she always said.
"Fallan, please. How many times must we go over this? This is my job, my calling. Don't ask me to choose between it and you. You know what the answer would be." Eryn spoke gently, even though the words she said, and the meaning behind them, were harsh. Yes, he knew the answer: she would pick her job. Fallan had long ago accepted this about her; in fact it was the reason he had fallen in love with her in the first place. Her strong independence that could not be tamed, he burning passion for her cause that could be tempered by no man.
Because he knew this, Fallan didn't argue back and simply dipped his head. He wasn't willing to push the issue today, she would soon be gone. As he stared into her violet eyes, his heart swelled with pride for his woman, whilst his stomach clenched with the pain of the possibility of losing her. Love, he thought, is a complicated emotion.
Eyrn regarded him with caution until she was sure he had backed down. She didn't want to get into this with him again.
Pushing her thoughts to happier topics, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it and started chattering happily about what she wanted to do with when she returned. She hated to admit it, even to herself that she would miss him.
Fallan returned the gesture and soon they were both absorbed in each other, drinking in their time together like it was water to a dehydrated man. So absorbed in fact, that they were both caught completely by surprise off guard when Fallan suddenly crumpled to the ground and blacked out.
For a moment of rigid shock she watched a trickle of blood come out from underneath the natural X that his bangs formed and drip to the ground off his nose. Then Eryn flashed to her feet and rounded on a tall, imposing man dressed in black leather with red edges the colour of blood. In one hand he carried a club and in the other, a hand-and-a-half sword. Not that he needed them. His deadly aura that surrounded him in a thick, suffocating fog could only mean one thing: a member of Gazelle.
She drew her own weapon – a soldier's sword – in the blink of an eye and lashed out with it in one smooth motion. The Gazelle side-stepped the blow and pinned her blade flat against the tree behind her with the tip of his sword.
Eryn was momentarily shocked at the man's immense strength as he leaned over her, and was frozen in terror by his appearance. His white hair just brushed the top of his ears and hung in front of his eyes, but did not manage to hide them. What would have been the irises were blood red except there was no whites to his eyes. Black pupils stared out at her unblinkingly. If that wasn't frightening enough, there was a thick knotted scar running from his right temple to the left side of his chin, disfiguring his lips and twisting them into an ugly, perpetual grimace. A face of horror, completed by the expression of glee as he watched her fear flash across her face as she writhed in the little room she had to wrench her weapon free.
But just like any pure-blooded Nagin, the warrior race, her own fighting strength unlocked itself and unleashed her power as a warrior in her time of need.
Eryn's blood boiled in her veins with power and anticipation for the fight she knew was coming. Before she could strike, he spoke in a voice so chilling it froze her rapid beating heart in her chest.
"Hi, female whelp. I'm Arden Dee. I will be the last thing you know. I am your destruction come to pass."
Eryn had never killed a Gazelle before. She had fought three, two had almost killed her and another had been taken out by another warrior like her with the same cause. She disregarded his words as she made a decision. This one, this one will be my first.
In a flash, she drew her other weapon, this time a long-bladed dagger and opened the inside of his arm from the wrist to the inside of his elbow. Arden didn't cry out, he merely flinched in surprise more than pain. But it was enough for Eyrn to get the leverage she needed to wrench her sword free. She launched herself at him and attacked.
For a while there was nothing but the blur of motion and the clang and flash of steel. Eyrn was so absorbed in the battle that she almost foolishly overlooked the sudden presence of another. Not a Gazelle, but no doubt one of Arden's lackeys. Just as she was about to twirl around to block the blow she knew was coming, she was distracted by a black mass throwing itself at the Gazelle and knocking him flat on his back. In her moment of hesitation, a long sword was driven through her gut from behind.
With a scream of pain she half fell, half turned to face her attacker, swinging both of her blades as one and taking off the man's head.
As Eyrn lay on her side, she heard a roar of agony as if from a great distance. Turning her head with what seemed like the last of her strength, she saw Fallan, hand-and-a-half sword sticking out of his shoulder standing over Arden's dead body. He stumbled over to her and nearly fell on top of her. Wrenching the weapon free, he threw it aside and placed her head in his lap.
For her part, Eyrn was shocked that he had managed to kill a member of the 11 Gazelle with virtually no training what-so-ever. But she felt herself fading fast, so she focused on a more pressing matter.
"You…fool," she croaked out, "Why did you do that?"
Fallan blinked at her, confused. "Because I love you. I wanted to protect you, help you. I failed." His face darkened in a cloud of grief as he watched her eyes grow dimmer by the moment.
"if you love me… promise me… you will never protect another again. Those… who cannot pro…protect themselves are not worth your time, my strong dear Fallan. Treasure your own life above others. Because… I couldn't do that for you. For me… promise me…" The effort of speaking drained her of all her strength, but she remained agitated.
In a panic, he did the only thing he could do to sooth her. "I promise, Eyrn. I promise. I love you."
She smiled, nodded, weakly and whispered those three words he would never hear again.
Fallan grabbed her hand and held on tightly, desperately, "Don't leave, please don't leave me. Stay with me. Eyrn! I love you! Please, Eyrn!...No…"
As Eyrn's last breath faded out of her chest with a sigh, he held her to him and buryed his face in her beautiful hair in sorrow greater than any he had ever known. To numb to even cry, he didn't know how long he sat there, holding the woman he loved.
Fallan blinked a few times to clear his vision as the memory ended. Looking over at Elraine – who resembled Eyrn so much when she was younger – and Kiri, he smiled. They would have a future together that he and Eyrn never did.
A promise made is a promise done, he thought.
AN: Did you guys like? Let me know in a what you thought with a review or even add it to your favourite story list. I apologize, but this will not be continued, although I have another idea for a series for this fandom. And also, a small request from moi, help those small fandoms grow :P