Disclaimer : I don't own Kiba. If I did there would have been heavier romance between Noa and Diana.
Title: Wind
Chapter 1: Calm
They say theres a city where the wind doesn't blow. Where the air is so stale that lungs can not breath and oxygen doesn't ventilate. This city is adorned with many run down shacks, that the desolate call home. The building quality and air quality mimicked each other. Tall buildings and cramped streets housed many different levels of humanity. The upper regions were reserved for the rich and foreign dignitaries. Which of neither ever graced this industrial shanty town. The mid regions housed schools and the middle class. While the ground level housed public officials and hospitals, the lower utmost levels housed the slums. And no where in this city was there the slightest whisper of the wind. A city with pollution, high crime rates, high caliber diseases, and no wind. This was Calm.
And this is where our story begins or rather where and old story equips a new chapter with fresh lead roles...
Somewhere in the near future a beautiful brunet danced through the air alongside red flames that sought out her prey. A prey just as ferocious as its huntress. One whose desire to live materialized through the air as a weaker duller red flare hoping to create distance, if only a small gap for escape. Its huntress added a twirl here, and leap there, as she and the flames danced amongst the dark polluted night sky. Her flowing hospital gown swirled at her midsection creating a slight distraction for her prey . Creating a slight opening for a direct hit to the chest with a bolt of fire. He crumpled below her, a smoking heap of trash. As she landed next to him bound him with shards of magic. She smirked slightly. Even if it has been a few years I still have it. Her smirk would have became a full blown smile at the thought, however she felt something amiss at that exact moment. Wind. Wind that carried the scent of a far off lover, another world. Her bright eyes widened in anticipation as the desperately searched for source of the scent. The creator of the wind.
Up! Left! Down! Left! Right! Everywhere they darted but they could not find their target. She began to pant as the wind increased. A stream of drool replaced her calm exterior, her eyes filled with lust as she caught a glimpse of her obsession. White feathers danced in his wake. Behind him a boy approached, cautiously and unsure. Her eyes darkened and her face contorted a sight full of hate and envy. The boy leapt into a fading light and transcended calm. He followed her passionate would be lover. The name of the boy escaped her lips like venom. Zed...
A few hours prior to this event, a boy with gray hair slept in a green house which was housed in the upper level of calm. The boy was dreaming a dream which he had had a thousand times before. The one in which he was surrounded by a greenish-white light. The light engulfed him and carried him. Or rather guided him towards an unknown path. In this dream he could feel the wind. Wind which blew from a different world, one outside of calm. The wind of his destiny. In the dream he was alone falling towards a figure. One whom he assumed wasn't human, a man, no a spirit with wings and feathers. The spirit beckoned to him before turning around. The boy gasped and stretched his arm and attempted to grasp at the spirit to no avail. The figure flew off into a second brighter light and left the boy to fall by himself. And fall the boy into a soul shattering darkness, he plummeted down, down, down...
"AH!!" the boy screamed as he shot upright and clutched tightly onto the fence in front of him. Gasping for breath he questioned the late noon of the polluted city. "What the hell!! What the hell is going on in my head", he screamed.
"Damn it to hell with these dreams!!", the boy stood up and dusted off his clothes. Which consisted of a black zipper vest with a hood which was over a yellow t-shirt that was a bit loose. It was tucked into his black pants which ended somewhere around his black sneakers. Rubbing his eyes he yawned, he experienced a few shots of pain to his lungs which he was accustomed to. His eyes burned a little, he glanced into a piece of reflecting glass that he had hung on the fence. He took in the dark bags which he outlined by a faint red shadow. The doctors had said that it was a sign of "the sickness", but he didn't care. He always thought that if he was going to die than he would just die. He returned his gaze to the city and instantly became bored again. Deciding against returning to sleep he resolved to take a stroll around the lower levels.
Almost an hour had passed, and he was still bored. Not that was the only emotion he was experiencing at the moment. Behind gray eyes anger and exhaustion danced with the fore mentioned boredom. The eyes bored in to table as the voices of the fellow board members drowned in his ear.
"If this continues to go on then it will damage the schools reputation."
"Lets expel him"
"He's good for nothing anyways"
"If this situation becomes any larger than the school will go bankrupt"
"Expel the damn kid"
"Do you think that you can solve every problem though expulsion. If you let him be the damage will only increase. You have to be harder on good for nothing delinquent kids with bitchy attitudes.", the board member Takenawa had soothed every beast in the room with this one statement. Although it didn't purpose a solution it seemed to have put the table on the right track. Yes, every beast was soothed and one was awakened. Slowly gray eyes took in the smug expression on Takenawa's face. He sat with back to the board leader and had his arms folded. He was very smug indeed. The gray watcher cleared his voice and spoke with a strong yet meager voice.
"If I may just say on thing", clearing his voice once more for effect he sat upright and caught Takenawa's eye. "Zed doesn't have bad intentions", he breathe in a little and continued. He would defend his friend no matter what. "I can't say for certain but I'm pretty sure that Zed is following something. There must be a reason for it", it may not have been the best defense but it was a defense none the less. He would save his best friend no matter what.
"It's ok to do whatever you want as long as theres a reason?", Takenawa had once again opened his smug little mouth. His sneak attack on the gray watcher had succeed slightly; for he was taken aback.
Riding the band wagon the humble Kayima-Sensei had further attempted to discredit him. "Even if you two were childhood friends, we can't overlook this any longer"
A short stubby man adjacent to the gray watcher spoke up, " Your the student council president, you should try thinking about the school more as a whole rather than the defense of one of your childhood friends." The gray watcher smiled and stood up. He passionately exclaimed, " Ah. While it may be true that I am the student council president, how can you say that its not my job to care for each individual student. Regardless of the fact that he may be a childhood friend he is still a student. A student which helps to make up the school as a whole. So by helping him I'm helping the school, am I not?, also I wasn't stating that if you have a reason you can do anything, I was merely saying that if you have a reason that you believe justifies your actions than its worth being heard." The gray watcher breathing was ragged and he began to feel sharp pains along his spinal cord.
"In any event we need to locate Zed before we can take anymore deliberative action. And before he can cause anymore damage. In any case Zed's always thinking of his mother so he'll most likely turn up there...eventually", with that Takenawa rose and left.
The gray watcher sighed and wondered where his best friend was and what he was doing.
Only four?? Two gates two doors. I need more, damn it I need more another give me another. The gray haired youth desperately begged the nothingness. I need to be- his thought were disturbed by sirens. They were loud, they where...here. Damn was I that lost in thought that I didn't hear the squad cars? He glanced to his left and right, they had caught him. Two squad cars blocked each entrance way to the small alley. With no where to run he didn't bother to resist arrest.
Some where between being caught and being arrested and hour had passed. It would appear as if youth caught a break, the police weren't allowed to do anything besides restrain him until a representative came down from the school. The youth how ever didn't have a chance to contemplate escape due to the appearance of the school reps. Damn it, he thought, Damn it! Why him? He looked up from the wall just brief enough to see his best friends face house a look of saddened disappointment.
Between the arrest and negotiations another hour had passed. The officer had accidentally continued to grind the youths face into the brick wall. The youths legs were beginning to hurt from the awkward position he was being held in. Now only two cops remained, the one holding him and the one in front of him. He could easily overtake them if he wasn't there, he didn't want to hurt his friend anymore for the remainder of the day so he finally relinquished his thought of escape.
"Kayima-Sensei as a police officer its my duty to uphold the peace, if this continues to keep up I wont be able to overlook it anymore", the blue clad captain which held the gray haired youth bound was closing the negotiating session of this conversation.
"I'm terribly sorry", the teacher sighed out. "But if this gets any bigger than it will only cause problems for the school", adding a bow he finished by saying "we'll repay you for the damages soon, however just this once could you..."
"There wont be a next time", the officer mad his point a little bit more clear by grinding the youths head into the wall a final time. The other officer took a step forward and sternly chipped in, "Instead of just standing around you should think about what you've done"
After releasing him they drove off with out another word. Now the trio were currently walking down another alleyway back towards the school.
The teacher walked with his head hung low. "Goddamn I can never relax because of that kid", he spat out a double meaning. The gray watcher glanced at him, "I'm sorry sensei". "Don't worry about it, anyways its not you who should be apologizing its him", he turned around to offer the other youth a piece of his mind however what his eyes met with as nothing but empty air.
Sighing the teacher looked up to the gray watcher and added, "There'll be another conference tomorrow, I don't care anymore" The teacher turned again and allowed a few wisps of his brown hair to fall over his eye. "Take care of this quickly", "Sensei..." the gray watcher started, he met the eyes of his teacher, "There's something that only Zed knows"
"If he sees a door he starts destroying everything, on the surface it seems that Zed doesn't know why" he fiddled in his pocket for his mask, placing it over his mouth he continued, "Although his mom is like that so i sympathize with him, either way at tomorrows conference they'll decide what to do with him" Turning his back to the gray watcher he began to walk away all the while saying, "theres no wind blowing in this town, there air here is so still that ventilation is impossible. Even breathing the air can make someone ill. Damn I really came to a crappy town." The gray watcher stood and watched his sensei walk away. As his sensei dissipated in to the distance his eyes moved just above the horizon to rest upon a tower which shot out multi color light above Calm.
The heavy hammer was brought down swiftly onto the wooden fence, demolishing it in one quick strike. Zed began to pant as he discarded the hammer. His left arm felt warm, considerably warmer than the rest of his body. His palm had a fire raging beneath his skin. A tingling sensation ran down the opposite side of his arm. Turning it over he noticed his birthmark the weird circle pattern that on the backside of his hand. Which felt as if it were pulsating with energy. What the?, Zed thought, how ever he wasn't able to finish the thought as a small gust of wind rolled against his foot. Wind eh.... He began to slip into a tranquil state, and he would have remained there if it weren't for the blaring sirens that were approaching. He turned his attention to the door he had devastated prior to the fence. Suddenly two sleek police cruisers came burrowing into the alley. Zed turned in the other direction and broke into a run.
Down the dark corridor he ran, as swiftly as he feet could carry him. The sirens were growing in strength. His feet had carried him to a metal gate which blocked off another alleyway. Hoisting himself over he continued his escape. The lead cruiser had not foreseen this event and crashed into the brick wall. The second however managed to turn in time and keep pursuit. Zed kept running, he could feel the warm glow of the lights on the nape of his neck. Making a sharp turn to the left he exited the alleyway and made towards some stairs. He knew that the cruiser would be able to follow him however it would do so at a slower speed then a head on pursuit. Zed ran for his life.
The policeman had abandoned their vehicles to chase him on foot. They knew Zed had no idea that he was running towards a dead end. They would finally catch him and put him away. Zed chanced a glance backwards to see just how far his pursuers were to catching him. Not to close, he thought as he returned his gaze forward only to see two more officers heading his way. He couldn't brake left cuase there was a wall; and he couldn't brake right because of the rail over nothingness. In short there was no escape, or rather no time to escape as the two sets of cops closed in on him He converted his run into a slow moon walk as he contemplated a new escape route.
"Give up, theres no where left for you to run to", there nearest officer cooed with club in hand. That same officer grabbed Zeds wrist and clutched his birth mark rather hard. This caused a slight oof to escape Zed's mouth. An officer closed in behind and made for his other arm. However before he could reach it Zed reacted to the pain from the first touch, he quickly rammed his head into the gut of the first officer. Causing him to stumble backwards, quickly shifting his weight and turning around he did the same to the officer behind him. He had created a slight opening in only one direction. Down. He jumped on top of the rail and jumped off into the oncoming darkness.
Suicide... Damn not the brightest idea. Down he plummeted into the darkness. Arms high in the air, he gazed down onto the many railways of the sub levels that he flew past. He was gaining speed, he felt the pull of gravity as he descended farther and faster. His eyes darted through the darkness, until the came to rest on a greenish white light that was in front of him. The light didn't engulf him, it sprinkled the air around him and brought his mind to peace. Uh. This feels like my dream ,he thought. The lights began hum quietly and Zed could of sworn he felt the wind slow his fall. Zed began to relax into the wind, inhaling the scent. Until it dissipated, a slight "Ah." escaped his lips as he fell a few feet and landed in a dumpster.
Garbage flew around covering him his eyes along with his body relaxed. With any luck they'll think that I'm dead. Zed exhaled, before realizing that he was in a dumpster. Damn it, now i need a shower.
Sometime after his shower he returned to his private sanctuary. Feeling a little bored he climbed a tree and hung upside down from a branch. He heard the oncoming foot steps and did not budge.
"You don't even come over to my house to eat anymore.", The gray watcher remarked before parting his own legs, bending over and gazing through them. The both of them allowed the silence to wash over them for a few minutes. After a long day they would often times come to this spot and gaze out at city in this fashion. The gray watcher smiled he knew that a stranger would have thought the two boys to be a strange sight. And honestly the gray watcher would have to. Who stares out at the city in such a way? Why do we do it? These were just a few of the questions that he sought to figure out about Zed. Although he would never voice his select questions he knew that he would find answers eventually.
The gray watcher was the first to break the silence, "Moms depressed...she thinks she it might be her cooking. She worries about her other son that doesn't come home at night to sleep. You shouldn't worry our mother like that" He waited for Zed to respond, and was met with the soft thud of Zeds boots as they hit the ground.
"Was there something you wanted from me?" questioned Zed.
Standing upright the gray watcher turned his face and body towards his younger friend. "Wont you tell me?..." he started in a slow caring voice. "Whats your reason for breaking all the doors..." Zed looked into his the sad gray eyes of his best friend. To him it always seemed as if his eyes were losing more color with each and every passing day. The gray watcher adjusted his glasses as his friend walked a few feet away. Zed reclaimed his jacket from its perch and draped it over himself. "What are you trying to do? You can't even talk to me?", the gray watcher stood there with a feeling of defeat as his friend adjusted his jacket and began to leave. The gray watcher's eyes begged for and answer losing his calm composure he cried out, "Does this have anything to do with your mother?"
Turning towards the gray watcher he sternly replied, "No, it doesn't". Adjusting his collar he reassured the both of them by adding, "It doesn't have anything to do with my mother"
A few minutes of silence had passed . They were both currently standing side by side behind the metal gate. They were over looking the city. Zed allowed the events of the day to replay in his mind. He knew that his friend had a weak body, and yet he still felt a sense of pride in him. That even though his body was weaker than most he still came so far. He hadn't succumb to the pain.
"Your body hurts doesn't it? Why don't you wear a mask?", Zed's voice was filled with genuine concern for his friend. "I know", the gray watcher had gave the shortest meekest reply he could muster. Two pairs of exhausted sad eyes overlooked the suffocating city. Zed felt as if he owed his friend an explanation, for the slightest fact that he had fought for Zed on more than one occasion, chased Zed with the police, and even put Zed before his own health. Zed always payed what he owed. Sighing he started.
"About what you asked earlier", his face contorted into the utmost seriousness that usually accompanied it. "If I break a door, I feel as if I can go anywhere" his gaze peered past the fence into the far off horizon. He felt the gaze of the gray watcher on his cheek. "Beyond that door, it feels like theres a world where I should be" The gray watchers lips moaned out a quiet caring, "Zed"
"There was a conference at school today, they were deciding what to do with you." he paused to calm his body down before he continued, "There thinking about expelling you. Zed its better to go back to school." His body was racked with pain now, he knew he shouldn't have gotten so worked up about this but he didn't care. "You'll probably get some leniency there, and protection from the police." Zed only shook his head, "Whats the point in going back now?"
The gray watcher tried to appeal to his friend, "But if the situation becomes any worse-". "Than I'll be expelled and handed over to the police, it's no different than hanging out on the street and waiting for th e police to arrest me. Its just a different path with the same end result, I'm not free either way, so whats the difference?" Zed stuffed his hands in to his pockets, and took a breath of poisonously stale air. "But", "Noa" Zed angrily cut his friend off again. "I want to be free to do whatever I want, I don't what that is exactly but being captured, abiding by the rules. I can't take that!! I can't be free if I'm subjected to rules as stale as the air we breath"
Noa reclined a little, sighing he smiled. Instead of feeling defeated he felt inspired by Zed's speech. Zed whom hardly ever talked could inspire crowds if he just felt motivated enough to do so. "Sounds just like you Zed" Zed's face bore the most bewildered expression at Noa. Noa reached into his pockets and retrieved an item that was coveted and rare. Smiling even broader he added, "Hey, here", Zed stared at the golden emblem with pure curiosity; it had two long white black tipped feathers protruding from its bottom. It took a second but then it dawned on Zed on what exactly what it was. "Its a falcon feather", he handed it to Zed. "Falcon is the God of the sky also the reincarnation of Horus, it symbolizes freedom"
"Freedom..." Zed repeated. "Here happy birthday" Noa said with a smile as broad and warming as ever. "Noa you...you remembered..." Zed looked at his gift with sad eyes. "Thank...- Noa" Zed screamed as Noa fell to the ground. Noa's fist were balled up, his face broken into seizures of pain. Zed draped his arm around him, "Noa, get a hold of your self! Noa!! NOA!!" Zed's voice screamed into the night.
A/N: Please read and review. Flames are welcomed.