)*(Chapter 2:Confrontation. Pwned.)*(
-)*(-
The rosy morning came quickly and with it came school. Daisuke had the usual trails of rushing and then finally blew out a breath as he reached his desk. Riku, Risa, and even his best friend Takeshi were already present as the bell rang. Their teacher came in, closing the door behind her with a click.
"All right class, today we have a pop quiz, so don't bother getting your books out just yet," Mrs. Izumi said, way too cheerfully.
The class groaned in response. Daisuke's shoulders drooped. This is just what he needed to drag his grades down. His crimson orbs took a moment to search the classroom for a certain blue.
'Hiwatari's not here. Dark, are you sure he's back in town?' asked the redhead, linked to his inner kaito.
'Yes. So what if Commander Boy isn't here? He could be using the absence to rest. He did just get back from a long trip. Jeez.'
Dark started regretting having told his Tamer of the good news. Friend or not, the boy was just too curious about every single thing. Daisuke sighed as he slid into his seat and gathered the needed school materials, just like everyone else was currently doing.
"Psst! Daisuke!" a very familiar feminine voice whispered from a few desks in front of him.
"Huh?" Daisuke looked up with a curious tilt of his head toward the shorter-haired of the twins. "What is it, Riku?" he asked as the teacher began with role call.
"If you earn a high score, I'll bake you a chocolate cupcake in cooking class today," Riku promised with a playful wink, then turned forward to sit properly again.
The redhead laughed softly and nodded when she turned back to smile at him.
"Okay, then."
He arranged the paper and pencils on his desk with a happier note and admittedly with a slight bit more motivation than he previously had. That is, until he glanced at what Mrs. Izumi was writing on the board. The entire class groaned again, rather loudly, and Daisuke gasped. Even if he gave the exam his all, and didn't worry about maintaining average grades for appearances' sake, he still didn't understand the – what language is that anyway? – problems that the teacher was giving them.
'I don't believe I've ever seen that gibberish before,' Dark helpfully commented.
'Well, at least that makes two of us.'
'Actually, by the sounds of the grumbling happening all around, I'd say that makes about nineteen of us.'
The few that were absent were lucky indeed.
-.-
The Next Morning:
A single, slow, almost distant sounding beat made azure eyes flutter, but not quite open. The quickly brightening dawn filtered in like a flood and Satoshi whipped his aching head away to face his gray wall. Wasn't it already supposed to be noon, or so? Surely he hadn't fell back asleep and slept a whole day and night away, no matter how sick he felt. However, he could remember waking and it had been later in the morning than this, and he'd stayed still because of a pounding headache. Combine that with his extremely sore throat and weary muscles, and he'd figured he had caught the flu while out of town.
He blinked confusedly when finally noticing all the new differences adorning his wall. It was a gray wall, nothing more, nothing less. But the shades and textures present were vibrant, even if he didn't know their names. Which shouldn't be so since he was both an Hikari and an artist.
A burning comparable to a torch blazed to life inside his innards. Satoshi gave a ragged gasp. It even seemed as if a wooden handle might be roaming and twisting inside him, leaving painful, sharp splinters in its wake and sending fire shooting down his veins. To say it hurt would be a severe understatement. The Hikari choked and tasted something terribly nasty and slimy on the inside of his cheek. He somehow managed to spit whatever it was out and lifted himself up, viewing the blood-encrusted covers around him as his heart thrummed in a singular beat once more. The fires swirling inside eased off a little.
Frightening, erratic images played in his mind. He lifted his hand across the dried blood on his newly healed throat and he knew this wasn't the flu he had. There may be many legends and myths behind the mythical vampire, but there were also constants throughout most of the recollections of the particular curse. He'd been covering many curses in his time away from Azumano, in hopes to understand his own better. But it appeared as if he now held two for himself.
Could it all possibly have been just a nightmare spawned from all the frustrating dead-ended research?
The fire twisted and burned hotter in his stomach, denying this to be any form of illusion. The bluenette hunched over, closing his arms around his abdomen and squeezing his eyes shut. He leaned sideways and fell off the bed with a thump. Feeling extremely weak, he grabbed the wooden frame of his bed and struggled to stand. His fingertips cracked and dug into the hard surface easily, and he regarded this with wide eyes. Maybe weakness made the uncommon strength in a vampire hard to control? His heart gave that weird single beat again and he abstained the efforts of getting up.
Blue eyes lanced with molten red-gold glanced up at the ceiling. It looked the same and yet was different—just as his wall had been—and then he released the bed's crumbling frame beside him. He almost felt like crying, but an invisible barrier kept him from it; probably shock.
If he were a vampire –
He paused.
– Then blood would be appeasing to him now.
A quiver raced through him as his heart instantly sped up to an almost normal pace, and multiple sharp pains lanced his gums, engulfing his incisors and a few others beside them in hardness. Just a thought of the red liquid had them out and made him dizzy with excitement? What kind of evil was he? Satoshi balled his fist and slammed the floor, putting small dents on either sides of him.
Fine, if he needed blood then he'd just take his own. The Wing Tamer glanced at his left wrist and then bit it. The fangs immediately receded. It didn't matter if he forced his skin as far up as it would go against his incisors, they seemed to go higher still and refused to do any damage. So he bit with his regular teeth, but since when was his skin so resilient?
He gave up after a while of the useless gnawing and let the limb flop back down. He hadn't even left a single bruise on himself after all of his efforts. Clenched hands rested in the new dents of the floor and he sighed.
So, now what?
He didn't know, but the fire in his system seemed to be morphing into a black hole. What energy he did have was being quickly sucked dry.
Satoshi was on his wobbly feet before the fact had fully registered. The urge to do something to keep from dying pulled strongly.
Strange, Krad hadn't had one thing to say about all this. Where was the homicidal angel, anyway? Perhaps the curse was trapped within the chaos of this new one? That could be a good thing out of this.
But, what to do? The question held no answer for the bluenette. There was no research that he hadn't already done covering curses and cures. There was no one he could rely on. And, facing the facts, even if either option were available, he was in no condition to try them. His body required an outside source of blood and until he got that he was a danger, wasn't he? He wasn't so sure, because he didn't feel like a killer just by being a vampire.
The term sounded so foreign, or more like a bad joke. Unreal, yet there was nothing unreal about how depleted he felt. Taking care of that issue would be top priority, and then would come the more emotionally involved act of dealing and determining just what all had changed about his life. As usual, with a focused path to keep himself anchored to, logic became a way of defeating, or at least putting off any emotional uproar. But how would he get a supply of blood delivered to his house? Perhaps the Internet could help.
He swayed, but caught himself and started with small steps toward his door while he continued to think. Next on the list of handling his situation would be finding ways to track down whoever it was that had done this to him. He'd undoubtedly have much knowledge and many answers about the subject.
Satoshi made it to his bedroom door and dragged it open before the slight sounds and the smell of another alerted him. He knew that smell – that sweet scent – even if he hadn't been able to decipher it with such a keen nose before. Molten red flared bright, rimming hugely dilated pupils with thin, glowing circles.
Niwa was in the dark, narrow hall just a few short yards in front of him. Satoshi dared not look up. Instead he froze, battling the unexpected rise of bloodlust with the desire to keep his only friend intact. It was as if a tide was trying to rip him apart where he stood rooted to the spot.
"Hiwatari?" Niwa questioned feebly within the darkness of the hall.
He sounded scared – probably was from being caught sneaking where he didn't belong – but he had a whole lot more to be worried about. And a new sickening part of Satoshi reveled in that fact.
He was a monster in every sense of the word. It couldn't be enough that Krad was a part of him that needed to be fought against, but now his regular self was warped too? How disheartening, he thought, and yet oddly freeing at the same time.
He trembled, most of him wanting to slam the bedroom door shut so as to at least provide that thin shield for the Niwa. Maybe that would be rude enough to make the redhead leave. But he couldn't make himself move an inch. The temptation was just too great. He only had to step forward some, then –
"Hiwatari?" Niwa questioned a little louder and sterner, as if he'd not been heard the first time.
Footsteps lightly made their way in Satoshi's direction. It was obvious something was wrong with how heavily the blue-haired boy leaned against his door.
The bluenette's head flung upwards, he couldn't help it. The sight of prey closing in had Satoshi releasing the door frame. Crimson halted, facing the unfamiliar searing red of the other. Fear swirled strongly and then Satoshi noticed the scent changed to a spicy musk – Dark's scent. Crimson dissolved into amethyst and Dark sprang, plowing into Satoshi, knocking them both passed the bedroom doorway and slamming them to the carpet, hard.
'DARK?' Daisuke cried through their link in startled confusion.
"Don't fight me on this, Dai!" Dark ordered out loud, not bothering to concentrate on an internal debate.
Satoshi hissed and bared inch-long canines, his eyes feral and strength incredible. It took all Dark had to keep himself from being slung off like a rag doll, and it wouldn't be long until Satoshi managed it.
Dark chanted a basic spell of restriction and fought to press Satoshi's wrists over the teenager's head and against the floor, leaving the struggling teen with bright bracelets of magic bolting him down. Satoshi gave a strangled note as Dark moved to do the same to his ankles. This time, he wasn't so successful, as he got kicked and flung out the bedroom and down the long hallway. He crashed into a roll and finally thudded at the opposite end of the hall.
Slowly, the thief picked himself up, spitting some blood from his busted lip and dusting himself off. Then, he barreled back into the bedroom and captured Satoshi's two flailing legs. The bluenette resisted, but in the end Dark overpowered and shackled him.
The kaito stood, staring down sullenly at the hateful red eyes glaring balefully up.
'Dark...what is this? What happened here?'
Through Dark's eyes Daisuke saw the rusty color staining a good area of the sheets and covers on Satoshi's twin bed.
'Haven't you seen enough science fiction movies to guess?' Dark questioned as he looked around the ordinary room. Nothing else appeared out of place. The dull carpet held no tracks of dirt, the wooden dresser and nightstand only had the usual knick-knacks on top of them.
'That's movies, this is—'
'Yeah,' Dark interrupted, 'real life, I know. But, things like me exist and I don't even have a movie. Remember all myths have a truth somewhere. Let's just hope this isn't Hollywood.'
Satoshi fought against his bindings, bowing upwards, but getting nowhere. The glowing magic would not yield in the least. He huffed and pulled harder until finally calming a little, seeing as he couldn't get anywhere. Though the red heat in his eyes was far from dulling any – they were fierce as he looked at Dark with renewed hatred.
"Yo, do you recognize me, new fang?" the phantom thief asked.
When all he got was a growl and a gnashing of teeth in return, Dark blew out a frustrated breath. Well, this explained Krad's anger the other night. Kosuke was going to have to do some major research on this.
"You might either want to strengthen your restraints, or get out of my way," said a smooth and dominating female dialect from directly behind him.
Dark spun around to face a sassy and gorgeous looking woman, complete in all leather with a utility belt mostly hidden by a long overcoat. Oh, but what a fine utility belt it was, he noted with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
The kaito was completely caught off guard by this savory image. His wandering eyes lifted and roamed the short soft spikes that framed a firm jaw and high cheeks. The unearthly brown shades set off pale ivory skin with a heavenly contrast. Sharp set green eyes looked back with impatience, but all that skintight black leather sure fit those curves well.
"It means move your ass, or I'll move it for you," rich tones snapped and a petite nose twitched.
"I don't fight with women, but I wouldn't mind seeing yours move, or shake a little."
Dark grinned. He may have been flirting, but as he did so, he shifted his stance to a sturdier one. He wasn't going to let her near Satoshi.
It must have previously been a good friend. How tragic, she thought.
"Listen, I'm here for my target's little side creation. If you don't back away now, I'll fight you just as I do all the others that stand in my way. I have limited time and you're protecting a beastly killer. Your friend deserves release before what remains of him is destroyed by the hunger."
Her tall frame crouched, posed to pounce.
What a straightforward way to attack, Dark thought.
"Last chance," she warned with blatant anticipation.
Dark studied her intensely before he gave a slight huff of disappointment. She didn't move, didn't breathe. It was as if she were a statue – one that radiated cold, hard and lethal determination. The twinkle of light in his purple eyes hardened and at that exact moment she chose to attack, and he didn't just get pounced on.
A compact, spinning gale of wind came out of nowhere and smashed into him first, sending him spiraling over Satoshi, who struggled with restored vigor in his bindings. Dark's chest hurt as he slammed back first into the wall and his left arm dragged what was left standing of the nightstand's items to the floor. Somewhere in the space of his mind he'd figured he'd been kicked, but he never even saw the attack issued. What serious speed this woman had!
She wasn't finished. Before he could so much as slide to the floor, he was being held up by one of her hands. She lifted him where the toes of Daisuke's school shoes couldn't even graze the carpet. This was going to be a tough battle, wasn't it?
"I tried to warn you. You have no idea what you're messing with, and I always collect my targets."
"Aren't you just a little cold-blooded?" Dark wheezed past her squeezing fingers.
It felt like corded steel wrapped around his neck.
"Of course," she agreed.
She couldn't do anything else, as there was a blinding flash and a current suddenly hammered into her gut, sending her flying backward. Seeing spots, she barely caught herself in a practiced back-flip, landing on all fours. She shook her vision clean, and then hesitated where she was since Dark was no longer near the wall. She stood as she scanned the room carefully, but couldn't see, nor hear anything except for the young fledgling fighting madly to free himself.
The woman breathed deeply, flaring her nostrils. Dark's scent was still strong within the room, so how could he be hidden so thoroughly? Was he a spirit wraith? Hoping not, she decided the thrashing vampire bolted to the floor was of more importance at the moment. Considering his bindings were made with magic, she was going to stay highly cautious for any sign of Dark. He'd crossed into dangerous boundaries in her books, just for being a magic user.
She gracefully made her way to stand beside Satoshi, her senses taut and on high alert. The teen stopped his efforts and studied her. He was panting and he really didn't seem very healthy. It wasn't just him having not fed for the first time; he wasn't in the best shape before having been turned. What had made her target choose this one, then? A familiar pang entered her heart when she saw the humanity shine behind his intelligent eyes. It glimmered even with the battering of urges.
She reached behind her, underneath her long overcoat and unsheathed a thin silver wand, complete with a lead handle. She carefully watched her surroundings as she did so. The shadows within the far left corner of the room stirred lightly. Her acute senses pricked a warning, but by that time Dark already had a hold of her wrists from behind. She struggled to yank her armed hand free and succeeded, pointing her silvery weapon behind her and directly at his face.
Dark called up a translucent shield just in time to avoid a stream of deadly looking yellow sparks.
"You have your own magic, I see."
Dark fought harder to contain both her renegade hands, even though she was a few inches shorter than he was. He didn't really want to hurt her.
"You are a bloody fool! You should fight to win!"
She punctuated this by pulling him forward against her back, using her captured hand to do so, and lifted her leg straight up to kick as he came partially over her shoulder. Dark's hold weakened as he blanked from the direct hit to the head. Blood spurted from his crushed nose as he snapped backwards. He had not been expecting such a quick, devastating and utterly beautiful move.
She wasted no time in twisting out of his hold and directed another one of those forceful gales into his chest. All it took was a flick of her wrist. He slammed into a second wall and curtains fluttered about as something snapped. Purple irises dulled as he slumped to the floor.
"Punk! You should have stayed out of my way! And I don't know what you are, but you're not human. I'll be taking you with me to see if I can't collect a reward for your troublesome ass!"
"N-niwa!" Satoshi called out urgently. The woman glanced down at him, searchingly. The bloodsucker still had enough decency in him to care. That was surprising.
"Can I ask your name, bounty hunter?" Dark asked fairly steady as he swiped at his gushing nose and clambered back up with an arm supporting under his ribs.
"I say, it's been a long time since I ran into someone like you." She almost smiled. "My name is Ariana, and it has been a pleasure beating you."
She gave him a salute, then aimed the silver wand at Satoshi's heart. The blue-haired teen just studied the odd weapon, neither fully tense, nor fully calm.
"Wait!" Dark shadowed and sped for the two.
"I'm on to that trick!" The bounty hunter yelled an incantation and a wide beam of light fell across the darkness from the tip of her wand. Dark was forced back into his solid form and made a little dazed from the unexpectedness of it. Ariana grinned, but it faded when movement caught her sight and she looked back to Satoshi. His bindings had disappeared. Dark had diverted her attention in order to release him!
The two both realized this at the same time. The bounty hunter lifted her wand back towards Satoshi. He didn't move. What looked like purple lightning blasted Ariana in the back and she flew forward with a startled cry. Yellow sparks accidentally spilled forth as she went over the teen, dusting Satoshi on the left forearm, stinging him slightly. He merely glanced at them with an unsure expression. He was coming and going out of his regular self, and it was disorienting. So much so, that he wasn't sure whom he wanted to win in this fight.
"Damn idiot! You're supposed to move when someone aims at you!" Dark yelled in his ear as he hauled the teen up by his blood stained t-shirt and yanked him down the hallway to the nearest door, which turned out to be the bathroom.
"Escape out the window," Dark commanded as he pushed the bluenette towards the heavily draped curtains.
Satoshi just grunted as he staggered forward and toppled over.
"Get your lazy—" Dark strode toward him angrily.
"Son of a bitch!" The bounty hunter cursed and scrambled to her feet, clumsily knocking over the dresser in the other room.
Satoshi just managed to shakily rise to his knees before Dark had him again. It was so tempting to just –
Satoshi had his lips to Dark's soft neck before either of them knew it. Ariana thundered into the bathroom. Dark didn't move – he was too preoccupied with the hint of fangs he'd just felt. Satoshi gazed from over the kaito's shoulder as Ariana stopped and raised her wand. Satoshi was sure that is what gave him the strength to resist as he tore free from Dark's hold and pushed the other down. Again, yellow sparks missed them.
Dark grunted from the impact of the floor, but he was right back up again and he grabbed Satoshi once more by the neck of the shirt and this time flung him toward the curtains. Glass shattered and fell like shining rain as Satoshi landed hard on the ground outside. The blue-haired teen gathered himself and stood back up, feeling as though he was going to be sick, but he had nothing in his system to give up.
He had no clue what to do. Whether transforming into another species had scrambled his brains, or what, he just couldn't think of a single thing he should or could do. So he just rubbed the back of his sore head and tightly closed his watering eyes. The increasing light was reeking havoc with his vision.
Everything looked covered in a blanket of blinding white to him. And on top of sensory overload, he was only half conscious of what was going on due to his self-awareness coming and going. Maybe that's why he couldn't concentrate. He was worried about Niwa. He knew the redhead needed help, but help like Satoshi's might hurt even more.
Sounds came through the broken window. The curtains blew strongly until they were flapping in tight circles on the outside of the apartment. Something crashed and broke inside. Probably the sink, judging by the sound of heavy porcelain.
"You're a tough mofo, I'll give you that much," Ariana half praised, half complained, though she wasn't even out of breath. "Do me a favor and die already."
She raised her wand and shot another batch of yellow sparks. Dark tilted to dodge the attack and within the single motion leaped forward for her. She ducked his oncoming fist, her hair blowing from the force of it, and countered with an upper cut from where she crouched. Dark twisted into the air and out the way of it, landing firmly on his feet away from her, and then grunted as he immediately twisted back to plant his forearm across her face. It struck and she reeled to the floor.
Dark took a black feather between his fingers and started whispering. He managed a few patterns in the air above her before a sweeping foot forced him to stop and retreat.
"What the hell are you exactly?" Ariana spoke vehemently. "You're not a spirit wraith, and you're not a siphon. Could you be a sorcerer? A demon, maybe?"
She leapt to her feet and resized her opponent. Dark kept muttering under his breath, only paying heed to her movements. He swiped at his bloodied nose again. Thankfully it had already stopped bleeding.
"Whatever you are and whatever it is you're doing, you obviously need time to pull it off. I'm not going to give you that," she announced, then blurred with incredible speed.
Dark spared an instant to summon another translucent barrier. Unfortunately, the bounty hunter stopped herself before she could ram into it. So much for an easy K.O.
Dark tried hard to keep both his barrier up and finish his sealing incantation, but it didn't look as if he could do them at the same time. There was too much power to direct the two different ways, and yet not enough for either. Sweat began dripping down his temples and passed his chin.
The bounty hunter tapped on the light bubble of a barrier, testing it. Each tap resounded inside his head, making his brain feel as if it was the object being touched. He flinched from the unpleasantness. She smiled deviously and made a fist.
When she reared back, Dark dropped the barrier and moved, but she was too quick and she sent him down with a well-placed kick to the side. It made him lose the power of his sealing ritual as his fingers accidentally snapped his own feather and the glow receded from it. He grimaced from off the floor. A heavy boot came down on the back of his neck and he swore it snapped his spine.
"What? That's it? No more spectacular moves?" she taunted.
"Jeez. You're wearing me out, and not in a good way," Dark panted, and then chuckled.
It earned him a grind from that boot on the back of his neck. She bent down, but kept firm weight pressed on him.
"Learn who is superior and who is not to be trifled with," she said in a low and dangerous voice.
The next thing she knew, she was sailing up and away and landing in a heap in the small bathtub. A few bottles fell with a clatter from a holder above her. She lifted up with angered annoyance, and then paused. Black feathers littered the bathroom floor and she stared at the sprouted wings on Dark's back. They were glorious, giving off a lustrous sheen from the incoming morning light.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You are an angel?"
Dark rose to his feet, barely sparing her a glance.
"Last time I checked, angels had white wings. Well, most of the time, anyway."
He bolted for the broken window and a bar of soap kept Ariana from catching him before he escaped.
'There is not much more I can do. Satoshi is in danger and is dangerous. If we manage to evade that bounty hunting witch, we still have the seriousness of a vampire problem on our hands and I just don't have the energy to deal with it all.'
Dark took to going as high as fast as he could in the sky, wanting to make sure he was hidden from sight in the low early morning clouds; although it was more like high fog at this altitude. He quickly took notice of the land below before it disappeared in the thickening wisps under him and saw that Satoshi was nowhere to be seen. That was good for the moment, but where could he have gone?
'One thing at a time, Dark,' Daisuke said, pain evident in his voice.
He'd felt blow for blow the fight right along with the phantom thief. And though it was clear that they had been totally outclassed by her, he was going to ask Dark where he'd learned to fight so well. But that was for later, after his heart settled down a bit.
'We look for Hiwatari and take him to our home. And you can call With to us and send him back with a warning to inform the family about everything.'
'That sounds all nice and good when you say it like that, but if that witch interrupts, or worse, tracks us at any point, we're finished. And in case you haven't noticed…' Dark trailed off and abruptly started losing altitude as his head lowered.
His eyes seemed to close all on their own.
'Dark!'
Dark jumped and willed their body into gear. He stretched his wings out and coasted, not wanting the effort of flapping them to go higher or move faster. All the previous fighting and magic had been bad enough, but now that his true wings were out, things were going down hill, fast. Daisuke's body just couldn't take it all at once.
'Maybe you shouldn't have climbed so high...'
'There was no other choice. If I hadn't, she would have spotted and more than likely pursued.'
'Do you think we can make it until we find Hiwatari?' Daisuke asked tiredly.
'Tell me if you think we can,' Dark said sarcastically.
The blue-haired teen could be anywhere, albeit not too far.
'We have to,' Daisuke muttered fearfully. 'He'll be killed if we don't.'
'I've done just about everything that I want to do for him,' Dark grumbled, but the determination that came through their link told Daisuke that, no matter what he said, Dark was far from giving up.
All of a sudden, the wind picked up greatly and the clouds dispersed from around them. Dark straightened to hover where he was and raised his arms to cross and protect his face.
"This isn't my favorite mode of transportation," Ariana voiced as she lifted higher in front of them, riding the strong currents underneath her feet, "but it gets jobs like this done!"
Before he could defend, she had her wand out and a blast of yellow absorbed straight into his chest. The breath rushed from his lungs. Black wings wilted and feathers scattered in a dark flurry. Arms went loose and rose high above his head as he fell straight down. He quickly crumpled sideways into a lax free fall, eyes closing and features shrinking as red replaced purple.
"Shit! It's a possession case!"
Meaning she wasn't allowed to kill, because the host was technically considered innocent until proven otherwise. Unconscious, Daisuke's body closed in on the ground. The wind rushed passed him, pulling at his spiky hair and tugging at his stretched school uniform. He started falling into a more headfirst position.
Wearily, he peeked open a single crimson orb and saw the rotating Earth coming up fast. Numbly, he wondered if he'd ever make it to school again. What a weird thought to be having when about to die.
The wind became stronger, almost enough so to push him back up skyward. It sure slowed his decent. He looked down, which was currently up, and saw the witch far above attempting to command sufficient amounts of the powerful element underneath him. She was trying to save him? But didn't she –? How confusing to the redhead.
Even with her help he was still falling. He sprawled his arms and legs, hoping to maneuver and save his head and neck from the brunt of impact, but instead of meeting the ground, he fell levelly into a pair of pale arms. One wrapped under his shoulders and another came up underneath his knees. Daisuke blinked at azure blue eyes as he settled into the hold. They looked hard as crystals and just as icy, yet the arms held him fairly gentle.
"Hiwatari?" Daisuke croaked.
His chest felt like it was scorched from where it had gotten struck by the witch's magic. Satoshi gave a curt nod and laid the feeble redhead on the grass.
"I would be tempted to call you what is known as a Noble Vampire, had you not had such a rocky start," Ariana directed toward Satoshi as the swirling wind dispersed from underneath her, and she touched down neatly on the grass nearby. "But, I'm not willing to give you a chance to prove yourself capable, or worthy of life."
She pointed her wand at his chest.
"Then so be it. I also don't see anything else that can be done about the situation. Just get the bastard who did this to me."
Satoshi faced her, fully exposing his chest to her line of fire. He just didn't think he could stay sane if he fell into another wave of bloodlust. It was enough fighting Krad on a daily bases.
"N-no!" Daisuke hauled himself up to his knees and wrapped both his arms around one of Satoshi's, wanting to pull him out of danger.
The effort was weak. Satoshi didn't even budge.
"Don't you dare act like you deserve to die! There has to be good vampires, too!"
"Niwa – Daisuke," Satoshi restated.
The redhead didn't remove himself from the other's arm, he just shook his head violently.
"Please move. That blood decorating your face is– " he swallowed, " –enticing."
Satoshi looked the other way, but a glimpse of red had already been spotted glowing in his eyes.
"You'll let her kill you?" Daisuke asked incredulously as he wobbled to stand.
"Just leave—"
"No!" Daisuke shouted firmly.
Satoshi yanked his arm angrily out of the other's grasp and that's when the air thickened. A thin torrent of blazing yellow fire erupted. Daisuke instinctively jumped back from it. Satoshi hollered horribly, the sound ending on a keening note. It was over as quickly as it had started. Daisuke looked at the side profile of his friend. Satoshi twitched where he stood, mouth agape, eyes completely engulfed in that strange searing red, then they faded to a completely blank white as he fell back.
"SATO—" Daisuke became horror-struck and fell to his knees.
He could see the green grass poking through a clean six-inch hole in the middle of the other's chest. All the inner parts where glazed as if they'd been lightly cooked yet not quite cauterized. Blood trickled from the gruesome sight. Daisuke covered his mouth. He wasn't sure if he was going into shock, or if he was going to be sick. Footsteps traipsed over to the two.
"I suggest you go home, little boy. I've got something worse than you to hunt, so I'm letting you go for the moment."
Truth was, she figured Daisuke and the angelic creature within didn't mean anyone any harm, but she'd be back to make sure of that later. She just didn't trust anyone at her headquarters not to jump and kill on sight. Course, hadn't she been preaching to the entity possessing the kid not to hesitate?
"You—" Daisuke started as he removed his hand from his mouth to put it on the ground.
He stared at his friend with unshed tears. Not wasting anymore time, he crawled right up to Satoshi and shoved his wrist to the other teenager's open mouth.
"Here! This should work, right?" he questioned to the unmoving body hysterically.
"Stupid fool!"
He heard the shout a second before a hand smacked him across the face, causing him to lurch sideways and see swirling stars.
"Even if that brought your friend back, what type of life would you be sentencing him to? You'd be no better than his maker!"
"Hiwatari wasn't evil! He didn't deserve this!" Daisuke argued, somehow finding the strength to rise and stand. He brought his face as close as he could to Ariana's. "Something would have worked out! Death is never the right answer!"
Emerald green stared right into burning crimson. The red was different but too similar to a vampire's for her liking. Ariana crossed her arms.
"You are a naive innocent that has no clue what the curse of a vampire entitles."
Daisuke looked for a second as if he might hit her when he raised a fisted hand, but he contained himself and fell to his friend's side again. The only way he could handle this situation was to believe Satoshi would be okay if he had some of what vampires needed. That's how they were in the movies; they could come back from anything. He took a quick look at his hand before trying to bite the fleshy part of it open. Gentle him never carried a knife anywhere.
"Crazy twit!" Ariana stopped his desperate efforts by jacking him up by his collar.
Daisuke choked some, but the pain radiating deep in his chest kept him from fighting her hold.
"Do you know what it is you are wanting to do, exactly? If your friend does come back, are you prepared for all the changes that means?" Because she was so tempted to let him have his wish. "You and him would be connected by a psychic thread, both of you two would be joined on an emotional level. When it's at its peak, you would feel the vampire's urges and you would have to overcome them. You would have to be strong and prepared, always lending your strength when it is called for. Your life would revolve around giving him blood. It is much more work than having a dog as a pet."
Daisuke glared at her with something akin to hatred on his features. Human beings were never to be considered 'pets' around him. Ariana searched the passionate expression on the redhead's face.
"You're not even close to giving up on him, are you?" she asked with a light smile. When Daisuke shook his head in answer, she blew out a breath.
"Fine," she said, suddenly exasperated, "I'm glad I trusted my instinct and didn't actually give your vampire a killing blow. But remember this–" her tone dropped to one of warning as she planted Daisuke on his feet, " –if he bites anyone other than you, I'll be back immediately to kill both of you. And don't think I won't know about it. I'm going to take measures now to ensure that this works as best as I can."
She promptly grabbed Daisuke two-handed by the face and bent to his level, kissing him unexpectedly full on the lips. Crimson eyes widened and pupils shrunk to the size of peas. Before he could even struggle, a brief buzzing went through his body from the point of their contact and then she pulled away.
"There," she said, as though that explained why she did what she just did. "Now share your blood with him and haul-ass before the neighbors wake up and see you two."
Daisuke stared stiffly at her and blinked a few times. He wanted to ask what it was that she had done, but turned for his friend.
"Here," she said, as Daisuke hurriedly knelt over Satoshi.
Ariana knelt beside him and took one of his hands into her own. With her wand, she touched the blunt tip across Daisuke's open palm. He hissed as a thin cut sliced as if drawn by a knife, neatly parting his skin and blood welled up to form a small pool.
"Keep feeding him until he either latches on himself, or his wound stops bleeding and looking glazed."
Daisuke had turned slightly blue in the face as she mentioned the part of possibly latching on.
"It's going to be unsettling being as connected with him as you're going to be. I hope you don't regret it. I'll be back one day soon to check up and talk with you guys again."
She smiled warmly and got up to leave. Daisuke watched her walk to the nearby simple road that merged into the town. What had made her change her mind about them? It didn't make any sense. She'd been so determined in their destruction.
Amazing, he thought.
You would never guess what she was by looking at her from behind. She was just a regular citizen, even if her clothing did stand out a little. The buildings of the town were just starting to show signs of activity. A few lights by windows where switching on and the opposite side, front doors opened and shut for their morning newspapers. He'd have to hurry and do what he had to do.
Dark stirred sluggishly as Daisuke put his overflowing hand to Satoshi's mouth. The sight was weird and the pain frozen on the bluenette's face was making him tear up, so he focused inwardly on the kaito to keep his attention from being wholly on the disturbing scene.
Satoshi will be fine, he kept telling himself.
He had no idea how with the magnitude of the injury, but he didn't let himself think like that. Ariana said this would work, therefore it must.
'Are you okay, Dark?' Daisuke asked.
He already knew the answer, but he figured the anger stirring in the kaito needed an outlet.
'Just dandy!' Dark raged, but then collected himself. 'What was that magic I felt enter you earlier? I wasn't aware enough to catch – WHAT ARE YOU DOING GIVING CREEPY YOUR BLOOD!'
Daisuke jolted as Dark practically rammed across the wall of the redhead's consciousness in surprise.
'Dark!' Daisuke admonished as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand to ease the bruising it felt like was taking place there.
'I DO NOT WANT A CONNECTION WITH KRAD!'
'What makes you think you're going to be connected to Krad by this?'
A trickle of scarlet running from the side of Satoshi's open mouth snatched Daisuke's attention. Daisuke's brows knitted worriedly as he hunched closer over his friend, studying the other's features.
'He's not taking my blood! Why not?' Daisuke panicked, 'This was supposed to work! Satoshi can't really be dead! It's impossible!'
More impossible than him being a vampire, even.
'Easy, Daisuke,' Dark swapped quickly to being the steadying voice. 'Get some down his throat and see what happens.'
Daisuke sniffed back his tears and slipped an arm under the bluenette's head and neck, cradling Satoshi to him. More blood sloshed out the side of his mouth.
Daisuke closed his bleeding hand to staunch the flow, and then moved to rub a knuckle and thumb over the exposed pale throat, trying to coax some of the liquid down it. It didn't seem to help and Daisuke noticed this right away. Lines of tears tracked down the redhead's cheeks again, but he kept trying, working at the throat with a mumble of pleas tumbling from him.
"Come on, come on. Don't die. Please don't be dead..."
He wasn't sure what moved first, whether is was the deceivingly fragile cords in the neck he'd been stroking, or if it was Satoshi's lips latching onto the center of his palm, or even if it was the hand that had snatched to hold his more steadily, but suddenly the bluenette was gulping. There was no recognition, no hint of awareness in the tinted whites that were Satoshi's eyes, but there was no longer any pain etched onto his countenance.
'Mother of—'
"Ouch!" Daisuke exclaimed when fangs slid and buried into his cut, widening and deepening the wound by a fraction.
Satoshi's grip became like iron as Daisuke tried jerking away by sheer reflex.
'Um, Dark?' The redhead asked the kaito as a new worry presented itself. 'How will I stop him from…taking too much?'
'How should I know? I'm no expert on vampires,' Dark remarked with attitude.
'I'm being serious! If you know of a way—'
'And I'm being serious, too.'
Satoshi continued to drink and Daisuke let him for the time being. All the while, Satoshi's bruising grip kept lessening until he was gently clutching unto the limb and his eyes softly closed in peace.
'How will we know if he's taking too much?' Daisuke asked after a few minutes.
'We'll know. Trust me on that. Did that bounty hunting witch give you any tips on this sort of thing?'
'As far as how to stop him, no,' Daisuke replied a bit sheepishly.
'But she did tell you when to stop and we've already passed that point, haven't we?' Dark asked, guessing correctly.
'Yeah, but there was no way that a single mouth full of blood could repair all that damage done to him!'
'Stop him now, Daisuke,' Dark's commanding tones let it known that this wasn't to be argued over, but acted on immediately.
Daisuke shifted to look at Satoshi's wound. It was still a gaping hole, but it wasn't bleeding, nor did it have that glazed appearance. According to the witch, he should stop Satoshi from feeding.
"All right, Satoshi," he figured they could be on a first name bases now, "I need my hand back."
As he said this, he tugged at the limb lightly. The embedded fangs hurt and after a quick wince, Satoshi didn't appear to have noticed a thing.
Just what I was afraid of...
'Something is different here,' Dark suddenly stated.
He didn't sound happy with it, either.
'What's wrong?' Daisuke's heart quickened on account of the fresh fear lacing his system.
Satoshi's hand gripped harder once more.
'You don't feel it?'
'Feel what?'
The redhead started trembling, but there was something that felt happy, sated almost.
'Don't give me that. I know you're perceiving emotions that aren't yours. It resembles a weaker channel of what we have, and I'm the third party picking up on it,' Dark grumbled.
'Now that you mention it, I can barely feel it. And it's kind of…flat. Like I recognize the feeling, but I'm not experiencing it myself.'
'You're so oblivious that sometimes you scare me.'
'Hey!'
'Now listen to me, Daisuke,' Dark ordered sharply, 'concentrate on that third link. I want you to wipe out all sense of fear and fill yourself with authority, then command Creepy Fangs to stop. Muster all you can.'
Because you sure need it...
Daisuke gave a nod to seemingly no one then glanced at Satoshi's face. His expression was blank, as if he was sleeping. The young thief's hand was starting to throb, though. He searched his mind for that strange, weak, almost intrusive link. Finally zeroing in on it, he mentally wrapped a firm hold around it. Now, he had to be strong. He had to put on a tough demeanor to protect himself and keep them both safe. He felt anything but tough as he spoke.
"Satoshi, stop. That's enough."
Unseeing, searing red eyes abruptly snapped open. Satoshi appeared to be in a trance of sorts as he slowly pulled his fangs out of Daisuke's palm, but didn't let go, and looked up at the worn redhead. He skimmed over the young thief's weary features, lacking focus like a blind man. Daisuke attempted to pull his still bleeding hand back and succeeded for the most part, until it got snatched again.
Daisuke held his breath. He really didn't want Satoshi to "latch on" again. But the bluenette merely looked at the redhead's sore hand. Before Daisuke could tug it away again, Satoshi leaned up some and brought the appendage the rest of the way to his face. Daisuke was about to try commanding over the link again and Dark was rearing up to help him when Satoshi stuck out his tongue and drew it over the line marring the palm. Dark mentally turned right around inside of Daisuke's mind with a shiver, losing all of his anger at once in a sweep of disgust. The kaito backed off, leaving Daisuke alone to deal with the odd sensation tingling through his limb.
"S-s-satoshi!" Daisuke stammered as he snatched his hand out of reach and put it behind him.
The bluenette just lolled his head to stare with those red eyes again. He seemed a tad confused about something.
Blushing like a wildfire, the redhead asked, "Are you feeling better now?"
Satoshi blinked, keeping quiet as he eased back down on Daisuke's supporting arm. Evidently, the Hikari wasn't all there just yet. Daisuke sighed heavily, but then whined as Satoshi's eyes started to close.
"No! Don't go to sleep, Satoshi!"
Daisuke brought his other arm back around and lightly shook the other teenager's shoulders. It didn't help. Satoshi still closed his eyes, but they had turned back to their normal blue before they'd fully shut.
"Great. I don't know how I'm supposed to make it back home. My chest is still bothering me. No way can I tote him there all by myself."
Daisuke lifted his hand from Satoshi's shoulder, only now noticing that it wasn't hurting anymore and that there wasn't any new blood on the other's shirt. Checking his palm, all he saw was a thin pink line marring the skin.
"Oh, wow. So that's what—"
'BIG DEAL IF HE HEALED YOU! HE STILL LICKED YOU! AND YOU LET HIM!'
The young thief squinted against the assault running rampant inside his head.
'Shut up! You're giving me a self-induced headache! And I did not let him lick me! He caught me by surprise, and apparently that's a way for vampires to heal!' Daisuke defended heatedly.
Dark sniffed in a very disapproving manner.
'Dark, how are we going to get home? Could With come and collect Satoshi while we walk?'
The redhead would be lucky if he could manage even that.
'I'm not chancing Creepy Boy– '
'Dark!' Daisuke broke in with a hint of warning, but Dark ignored it,
' –getting there without us.
'But– '
'But, I will call With. I'm going to have to fly us out of here. I bet a few people have already noticed us and called the cops. But, I won't be able to go far. We'll have to settle for Creepy's apartment.'
Daisuke didn't bother chastising the kaito for name calling again. The redhead looked around to be sure the coast was clear and that no one was watching.
'Switch with me.'
The phantom thief did as asked and stood up with Satoshi securely in his arms.
"With!" he called to the open sky.
It only took the better part of a minute for something black to streak across the expansive hues and towards them. As With closed in, the familiar gave up control onto the thief. They connected and large black wings fanned. Dark steeled himself before leaping and giving a heavy flap of his feathery limbs. He strained, nearly toppling over as pain roared, hot and ugly, inside his chest. It made him dread the next flap to come, but all too soon he had to draw his wings up and down again to stay aloft.
He grunted, already tired, but he forced air down to lift him a few stories higher, then leaned forward into a small swoop to gain speed. He kept his wings out as straight as he could; only flapping when he had to.
"That witch sure did a number on me..."
Wind blew blue strands from a sleeping face. The Hikari was none the wiser as they flew over houses. The places looked so different from a bird's eye view. Dark glanced at them as he pressed into the wind, willing it to help him as a warming thermal raised him a bit higher. He enjoyed the feel of freedom as it washed over his face and focused on that, rather than the pain. If he did, then it didn't feel as though his chest would crumple in as much.
It was a short flight, but it seemed to take a small eternity. Dark flared his wings, slowing gradually and lowering feet first. He wasn't about to risk a dive. Finally, his shoes clacked down to pavement. Outside of the complex, he folded his giant wings in order to drag his feet through the open entryway. He made short order of the lock once he made it to the appropriate apartment door.
"With."
The creature's bird-like head became visible over the thief's shoulder in attention.
"Go home and alert the others. Let them know Satoshi has been attacked by a vampire and that we're at his apartment."
With nodded and jumped down, racing back out of the complex and taking to the sky once he could. The phantom thief forced one foot in front of the other until he made it to the single lonely looking couch of the place. With arms shaking, Dark dropped more than eased his passenger to the cushions. He couldn't be worried over it; he felt like dropping himself. He took a hand to rub across his face, but stopped upon contact with his sore nose.
The fight ending the way it had hurt his pride. How could a beautiful woman like that lay into him so hard? He forced his feet to carry him to the kitchen. Daisuke's consciousness was a tiny hum in their mind.
'Go on to sleep,' he urged his Tamer.
'But...'
'It's fine,' the thief assured.
Without further ado the redhead's link went totally silent. Dark pulled the handle of the refrigerator in front of him open. He needed something after their body had lost so much fluid. The best thing for him that he could find was a jug of orange juice. Making a face at it, he dug it out and found a clean glass.
Calling it quits after a glass and a half, he didn't bother returning the jug and its contents to its proper place. Instead he practically crawled back to the living room before snatching a pillow from beside Satoshi and finding the softest patch of carpet.
How long will it take them to get over here? He wondered – I should have told With to tell them that we were okay...
Dark pictured then and there how Emiko would take the news. He buried into his pillow. Just thinking of it made his head hurt worse. Kosuke would probably come carrying a whole load of stuff to ward off bloodsuckers. That could be entertaining. Daiki would stay at home to prepare against and ward off any potential threats coming their way.
But, then what?
Dark didn't have time to come to a decision as he drifted off. It hadn't even occurred to him that the police might be on their way to the apartment for all the earlier ruckus. Over all, the complex may not be crowded, but people did live fairly close together. Luckily for him, the witch had stuck around just long enough to take care of this. Memory charms were pretty common to those who held a wand.
-)*(-
A/N: For those of you who are unsure of what a siphon is: I've read it in the Riley Jenson Guardian Novel series by Keri Arthur, and it means one who can take on another's psychic talents. For instance: a vampire's shadowing technique, or mind reading ability.
The bounty hunting witch is my OC. (Original character) Thank you, Dawns Eternal Twilight, for naming her. I believe it suits her well.
Thank you reviewers Butterflyfate17, Dawns Eternal Twilight, The Lantern, intelligenceisstupid, Dark Hearted Shinobi, pongcan, Lanny9000990009, SEAWATER, Sno-Oki, Satoshi Kuran, Kirias, and Mizuki hikari. I'm crossing my fingers that this chapter was worth the wait and that the next won't take nearly as long.
Forgive me for my attitude, but more hoots (AKA reviews) will keep me in gear on this one. -Wink-
Last, but definitely not least, I'd like to give a special thanks to my beta-reader, Sno-Oki! You guys need to applaud her. She DRAMATICALLY increased the flow of this chapter and got rid of any "speed bumps" present. Such a fine job she did!
