Title: The Bloodstone

By: Aina Song

Fandom: Ronin Warriors/Yu Yu Hakusho

Genre: Yaoi

Rating: R

Warning(s): Language; Angst; Blood; Death; Post-NCS

Pairing(s): Rowen/Yusuke; Ryo + Kento; Sage + Cye

Reviews: Yes, please.

Author's Note: Standard Disclaimer. This story was not written for money. Italics = memory, dream, telepathy, or any other such gibberish. Depending on the situation in which they appear. Also, it is suggested that the reader takes into consideration the author's warnings.

Teaser: "There's a kind of emptiness that can fill you/ There's a type of hunger that can eat you up/ There's a cold and darker side of the moonlight/ And there's a lonely side of love…" - Hanging By a Thread, by Nickel Creek

Chapter Two - Losing You Again

"That is you, isn't it?" The stranger whispered, "Rowen?"

His heart hammering in his chest, he swallowed a breath of air. "So I was right. You do know me, don't you."

The dark youth glanced down, seeming to strive for some control, and he slowly released Rowen's wrist. "Not yet," he muttered, carefully straightening to his feet. "But I will."

Rowen stood as well, "Should you be moving? You're bleeding everywhere."

"Scratches," he dismissed. Though as he stretched his arms out, the dark youth winced and pulled them back around his ribs. "Ah, damn," he rasped, bringing one arm away to find his hand red with his blood. "I should've known. He said I would have to pass through hell to get here."

"What? Who?"

"I could use some help followin' you back to Koji Major," he went on, ignoring those questions for now. "If you don't mind gettin' some blood on you."

Nodding, Rowen stepped closer and took the dark youth's arm across his shoulders. "Are you sure you can walk?"

"We'll have to see, won't we." Though as they started off, he tried to hide that he favored his right leg. "How did you know to find me out here, anyway?"

"You called to me," Rowen answered, carefully bringing the stranger forward one step at a time. "You've been calling for me for the past three months."

"I have?" But then he gave a short laugh, perhaps at himself as he added, "I guess I have." He glanced sidelong at his rescuer. "Name's Yusuke, by the way. Yusuke Urameshi."

~o~

It was nearing dawn when finally the manor came into view. Yusuke had shown an amazing resilience until then, despite the blood he had lost, but now his steps were beginning to falter. Even with Rowen's support, he could not seem to avoid tripping over his own feet.

Rowen began to worry. He could feel Yusuke slowly growing heavy on his arm, and he knew the blood loss would soon take its toll on his new companion.

"Rowen!"

He looked up. Sage, usually the earliest riser of them all, had discovered the two stumbling out of the forest and across the vast back yard. He ran up to them, staring at Yusuke. "You've done it. You found him."

Rowen nodded. Beside him, Yusuke lifted his head and squinted. It seemed the blood loss had begun to blur his vision. But then his eyes gleamed, and he gave a weak smirk. "H-hey… Blondie…" And with a soft moan, he dropped his head against Rowen's shoulder.

"Yusuke?"

Sage pressed two fingers to the dark youth's throat, nearly swearing when he could not find a pulse. "We should bring him inside." He came around, taking Yusuke's other arm across his shoulders; then added as an afterthought, "He… looked at me as though he knew me."

"I shouldn't doubt it," Rowen replied. "He even mentioned the manor by name."

"But I don't remember that he ever visited."

"Neither do I."

~o~

Whispering voices…

"His clothes are in shreds. The blood's sticking them to his body. I'll have to cut them."

"Go ahead. We have plenty he can borrow."

"Very well." A sharp intake of breath, "A talisman of power! Rowen-!"

"Leave it. He's very protective of it."

"But what is it? Is it a threat?"

"I don't think so. The feel of it doesn't speak of danger, anyway. Just don't disturb it."

And then the darkness returned.

~o~

"All right," Sage sighed sometime later, wiping his hands on a damp cloth. "I won't claim to be a doctor, Rowen. I'm not proud of any of this."

"You tried. He's still breathing, anyway."

"But I haven't been able to revive a pulse," the blond insisted guiltily. "Look at him, Rowen. His body's so gaunt, he could pass for death itself. In fact, he should have died, just from losing all that blood."

"You're not at fault," the blue-haired archer assured him. "Even if it does come to that. His heart has probably been weakened, that's all. With rest, he could regain whatever strength he has."

"I know." Sage sighed, "Just… Don't thank me until after he wakes up." He paused just outside the door, turning back. "And promise me that when you've finished up, you'll get some rest, yourself. Much as it might seem otherwise, we're not on a deathwatch. The Ronin power has tied you to this person through your dreams; it won't let him reach critical without alerting you to the danger first."

"Aye, aye," he agreed with a humorless grin, softly closing the door and turning away.

Yusuke Urameshi lay asleep atop some old sheets upon Rowen's own bed. He was nude, still covered with blood, but at least now the majority of his wounds had been seen to. Sighing, Rowen came to the side of the bed, bending down to take a small cloth from a large bowl of warm water and very carefully began washing the remaining blood away. He washed the stitches only gently; he eased Yusuke up to a sitting position against his shoulder so that he could wash the blood from Yusuke's back.

The water in the bowl had become a distressing shade of blackened red after he had done. Carefully dumping the bowl of bloodied water into the tub down the hall, Rowen set the bowl upon the bathroom sink counter and returned to his room. He then began wrapping Yusuke's stitches in bandages, using a cross-work pattern as was his habit. There were two that worried him the most. One was very long and thick, stretching down the outside of Yusuke's right thigh. But the smaller one across the center of his chest was much more difficult to wrap, for two reasons. The first and most obvious was that Rowen needed to hold Yusuke in a sitting position, and shifting his arms around the darker youth's torso to wrap the bandages without jarring the other too much was a task at best. The other reason was the golden talisman which still hung from Yusuke's neck. Rowen was very mindful not to bother it too directly.

When finally he had done, he slowly pried the old blood-stained sheets out from under Yusuke and covered him with newer ones from the closet. All his fear while he had worked had taxed Rowen's body beyond exhaustion, and he sat himself down at last upon Sage's bed. Kicking off his shoes, he leaned his back into a corner and pulled one knee up to his chest. Then he draped his arm over that knee, rested his forehead upon his arm and very quickly fell asleep.

~o~

When Yusuke opened his eyes an hour later, he stared up at a familiar ceiling he had thought never to see again. Almost, he felt he had lost his perception of dream and reality; which had he stumbled into this time? But his entire body ached with the memory of pain, leaning him closer toward reality.

He felt the tight bandages pull around his chest as he breathed, and the tug of stitches underneath. The stitchwork felt familiar… Blondie's doing. But who had wrapped them?

Brushing his hand against his thigh, his eyes widened as he recognized the criss-cross pattern of the bandages. Slowly, he sat up and glanced about the room, and his next breath caught in his throat at what he found.

"Rowen…"

The archer stirred at Yusuke's startled whisper, lifting his head up from his arm. Still half-asleep, he offered a small smile. "Hey," was his soft greeting. "Sorry, but you'll have to stay in that bed a while longer. Your body needs healing."

Yusuke nodded obligingly, though the truth lay in an entirely opposite direction. "Who patched me up?"

"Sage. Too many questions, if we'd taken you to a hospital." His eyelids grew heavy, and he yawned, dropping his head again to his arm. "But you already knew that, didn't you. Why else would you have come… here…" He closed his eyes, turning his head away, "… instead…"

Yusuke carefully stood and crossed to the other bed. He paid no mind to his own nudity, being a demon and quite comfortable with his body, but he leaned forth and helped Rowen stretch out upon his back along the mattress. Spreading a blanket over him, Yusuke gave in to a sudden weakness and smoothed a few strands of blue from Rowen's eyes. Rowen hummed in his sleep, rolling his head to the side and brushing his cheek closer to Yusuke's palm.

The dark youth gave a sad smirk, stepping back. "Why?" He softly echoed. His hand came up to grasp the golden talisman which hung from his neck, and he shook his head. "What else could I do? It was the only way I knew, to keep from losing you again."