Ravenous

People are quietly vanishing, whisked from their homes, spirited from the streets, danced right out of the arms of loved ones. The guilds and the Empire stir with unease. In the aftermath of a certain night, Raven might have an idea as to the cause and culprit. But he's torn and a little scared. He might have to pay the ultimate price whether he's truthful or not.


Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Namco Bandai Games and Namco Tales Studio, because they made and published the game. I claim nothing other than original characters, original locations, original premise, etc., basically all the original shit, used herein this fanfiction.

Warning: Certain things. Eventual things.

Characters: Everybody still living post-game, plus an OC and an assortment of minor/background characters, so on and so forth. Raven's at the fore, however. Hence the title.

Pairings: None, really. Or... you never know. If anything, I may toy with notions.

Annnnd the Author's Note: Here I am. How many years has it been since I posted something seriously? Or semi-seriously? Or, even a fraction of serious... Quite a few, or quite a while, I should say. So, here's my attempt at trying to climb out of the rut I've been in all this time, and may forever return to should the need arise. Here's an attempt at something remotely worthwhile. Maybe. Yes. I've got nothing to lose, everything to gain, although I know I couldn't compete with all the yaois and the delicious smuttles and the general... shipping of things. Heck, fandom in general. Still... I thank any and all in advance for... whatever you shall do in the time that follows my submission. Stay frosty.

Building off of Caveat. Here I goooooo~~


_o_O_o_

It didn't take long for Raven to realize one thing.

"My knife!"

He swore under a quick, broken breath and patted every inch of his body for the usually ever-present oblong that was his truste tanto. Why now would it choose to leave his side when he needed it most? Did he drop it back at Union headquarters? Or... there, at the Crimson Star?

Forget the Crimson Star, he thought in finality. It'd be a long time coming before he stepped foot in there again. Not after what had happened, no. His body still felt so... unclean. Instead, once he finished his booze, Raven would make the trek to headquarters once more, a fist clutched tight against his chest, unsure whether the palpations of the stone heart resting there were still a blessing or a curse.

"Wait. One more drink... I can still see straight; gotta remedy that."

Raven ghosted to his feet within the Don's old office at the Sagittarius, now Harry's— though the boy hadn't taken getting used to it just yet, hence the light dust on the desktop, the barrenness of personal effects. He dragged himself to the doorway and signaled one of the waittresses to him. "One more" was all he managed to croak before returning to stretch himself out on the rich red plush of the settee against the wall. Apart from the creak of wood beneath his weight, Raven made no other sound, barely even a whisper of breath.

Here he was, steeped in some sort of colorless void, his companion for years, gone, and some wayward menace threatening the tattered fabric of his world. Raven had hoped to various unnamed spirits and gods that it wasn't in Dahngrest anymore. Even so, if its words were true, he wasn't safe anywhere in Terca Lumireis.

He wasn't safe at all.


_o0o_


The stars shone brightly upon the sleepy rooftops of the capital of Zaphias, further brightened by the spirit-lit lamps that lined the streets, and the struggling rings of the makeshift barrier as it patterned blue-white aureoles in the bruised night sky. As the week of the usual hustle and bustle drew to a close, a lazing few mingled on the marbled cobblestones of the Upper Quarter, enjoying the crisp, cool evening air. It neared midnight but for some, fetes were just beginning.

At the gates to the castle, a quarter troop stood guard, several off to the side cavorting with young noblewomen. They chitted and flirted while the others could only scoff or ignore all but their sworn duties. These were reformed from the Cumore Brigade long disbanded, and with more than enough catching up to do. If they wanted to maintain a place in the rich bosom of their mother capital, there was little room to err anymore, what with outright treason on their heels if they dared step further out of line.

"Why not come away with me for a while, dear sir? Can we be alone to better get acquainted with one another?"

Of the noble gaggle, a blonde trimmed in green and gold appeared the bravest of them all. Her eyes seemed to glow with intent beneath the moonlight and her chosen quarry couldn't help but get lost in those shimmering discs peering up at him.

"I really shouldn't," replied the guard, lifting his visor to half-mast. "If any of the higher ups saw my post empty, they'd have my head. I'm already under strict probation..."

"Oh but please," the young woman said, latching onto his hand and pulling it to her waist. "Just for a moment. No one will ever know you were gone..."

"For heaven's sakes, just go so she can quit begging, it's getting annoying," barked one of the other guards.

"How rude," the girls grumbled.

"Well, if you insist..."

"Do not wait up," said the blonde to her company, all the while pulling on her chosen one's arm. Together they skittered down the street curving east by northeast, pausing beneath an arch when the guard was about to drop his spear. She danced circles around him as if she were a spirit and less the noble she played with the others. It didn't help that this girl, this woman, had a face about as unfamiliar as an unmarked grave. Beautiful, even a bit solemn, but it begged for an audience.

Or an investigation.

They neared city limits, where the cobbled street started fading to earth. The noblewoman stopped the guard at the foot of a lone streetlamp that flickered madly upon their presence, then dimmed to a dull, fluorescent blue. She wrapped her arms tight around his spear-wielding arm and pressed close, nuzzling him like a pet hungry for attention.

"Oh, it has been ever so long since I have been so near a man like this," she whispered. "To be so near a, shall I say manly, sir such as yourself. Yes..."

"Well..."

"Have you been claimed?"

"Huh?" The guard stood dazed for a moment, his expression veiled by the shade of his helm. With a nervous chuckle, he replied, "Clai— Ah, uh, not since I've been mixed up in some trouble a while back. Rich girls like yourself don't normally get involved with the Knights, especially the grunts, and lower quarter wenches appreciate us even less. All I've been doing is working to pay off my bad stock."

"Is that so? What an interesting story you have made for yourself. And you are not even lonely?"

"Well, of course I get lonely, I—"

"I will let you in on a secret. Here." The girl grabbed hold of the guard's helmet, lifted it up, forward and off of his head. She touched a gloved hand to his cheek, which forced a weak quiver out of him from the knees up. At last the noblewoman rose upon her tiptoes to put her lips to his ear. "I am lonely, too."

The guard quivered again, this time at the sensation of something wet curling against the side of his face. He fought the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl, assuming that it could only have been her taking further initiative to push intimacy with him. The wetness even managed to push its way past his chain hood and curl into the shell of his ear.

"Ohhh... man..."

"Be mine?" the girl whispered. "Come with me."

"B, but I—"

"No buts. None."

"Ho-ohhhh..."


With the slow rise of morning, the streetlamps dimmed and cooled to nothing. The evening spirits flitted off to rest, abandoning the old blastia shells to glare down eyelessly upon the cobblestone. With their departure came the change of the guard. The night shift reported to the courtyard for roll call and debriefing, so that they may finally retire for the day.

"Hey, where's the other guy?"

"Other guy? Oh, you mean Jules? He never came back, did he?"

"Maybe he ran off with that girl. This isn't going to look good to the captain, or even the Commandant. He was in deep shit as it was for being part of the Cumore fiasco."

"Somebody's going to get court-martialed."