Title: The Snow King: 3/?
Author: The Kawaii Messenger of Doom
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Seto/Jou Ryou/ Bakura Yugi+Jou hints
Spoilers: none I know of
Disclaimer: I don't won `em, nor do I have money. Please don't sue.
Summary: A twist on the clasic tale
Notes: //words// is telepathic speach and /words/ is thoughts.
Seto walked along the dark streets of the human city, deep
in thought. The only light that shown on the winter nights was the
flickering embers of dying fires. It seemed too silent. Seto missed
having Mokuba beside him, looking in all of the windows and telling
him of any particularly interesting he saw.
As much as Seto wanted Mokuba with him, he could put his
brother in such danger. Seto had believed himself safely isolated
from the world, and Gale had paid for that carelessness with her
life. He could not allow that to happen again
True, the human mage had been killed, but what about the next
threat. /Almost too easily./ Seto thought uneasily. How could a mere
human, mage or no, defeat his powerful dragons, and would have
evaded his vengeance had it not been for a chance meeting with an
omen-reader. But what if his next attacker was more than a human.
If one of the others decided to take over his kingdom, Seto did not
want Mokuba in the open.
It was at time lie this that Seto missed his master. Despite
his many shortcomings ( a sadistic, arrogant man with a fondness for
strong drinks.) , Seto had to admit that the older man had been wise
and powerful. Unfortunately, Seto's master had gone to live among
the humans upon the conclusion of his studies.
Still, Set felt guilty about leaving Mokuba at home. Although
they were brothers, Mokuba did not have the power Seto had. He
could not just make a creature to keep him company like Seto had
with his dragons. Maybe Seto could find a pet for Mokuba, but what?
*************************************
/This is the worst winter ever../ Yugi mused sadly as he
waived goodbye to his friends, Hiroto and Anzu, and prepared to walk
the rest of the way home. Yugi had never liked winter. He hated
trying to wade through the tall drifts of snow and getting a cold
every year. This year, the winter had been slow in coming but now
that it was here, the snowstorms seemed to be making up for lost time.
Normally he would have his best friend Jounouchi to walk
with him, so it wasn't so bad. Since earlier this winter however,
Jounouchi had drifted away from Yugi and their friends. He had
become cold and distant often snapping at them for no reason at
all. Jou never hung around them and was often seen with the tough
punks of the village.
A sudden gust of wind knocked Yugi out of his thoughts and
into a nearby wall. Yugi slid down the wall and caught sight of his
ex-friend pushing his way through the crowds towards him. A sudden
hope bubbled in his chest until a second tough-looking boy, Hirutani,
emerged from the crowd behind him. Although Yugi could not hear what
both boys were saying, Yugi could tell by their faces and gestures
that they were having a heated fight. Yugi cautiously snuck up
behind the two bickering boys. Jounouchi brandished a rickety wooden
sled like an exotic prize and with a shout of see you darted out into
the road.
Yugi ran unnoticed past Hirutani and looked franticly for his
friend in the thinning crowd of sleighs, as the weather grew ever
worse. He caught sight of Jou smirking and waving wildly from behind
a white sleigh that nearly blended in perfectly with the falling
snow. Yugi felt a since of dread as he watched his friend trail
behind the nearly invisible object. Somehow Yugi thought that if
whoever owned the sleigh had gone through so much trouble to make it
blend in with the winter scenery, they would be less that
appreciative of some kid hitching a ride. Yugi decided that he
should try and warn Jou and ran even faster toward his friend.
Without warning something big and pale reared suddenly, and the
winds increased in their fury. Yugi tired to call to his friend but his words
were stolen by the wind. More movement from creatures that blended in
with the snow came front the sled and it seemed that the weather answered
to their movements. The cold air stung Yugi's face and eyes as he helplessly
watched the sleigh fade into a white void carrying his friend with it.
"Jounouchi!" Yugi called over the roaring of the winds, which bore their
heavy loads of ice and snow down upon the village. "Jounouchi!" Yugi
called more desperately as the storm descended like a great frozen waterfall
turning the world around him to white.
In his dreams, Yugi chased his friend through the winter storms, only to
see creatures emerge from the storms and devour Jounouchi before his
frightened eyes.
//////
Seto sat peacefully in his sled as the tendrils of the growing blizzard
wrapped around him. His dragons reared their pearl-white heads
eagerly and shot blast of cold to assist the storm. He watched in
smug satisfaction the village being covered by a thick layer of snow.
Sensing the storm was now powerful enough to continue on it's own,
Seto gave a mental nudge to his dragons who hurried eagerly along
ready to reinforce the next winter storm. They pulled the sled, hidden
in the winds from mortal eyes, out of the town casually without a
single sound.
Long after the village had become a distant blur; Seto felt a
slight tingling sensation in his head for the better part of an hour before
he felt the nudge of one of his dragons.
// Master? // Squall began meekly.
// Yes what is it? // Seto asked neither his face nor his
voice betraying any emotion. The three dragons looked at each other
grimacing in dread. Finally Stormy turned his head to his master
// We didn't think it would become a problem...we only realized
it a short while ago…// Stormy hedged, the fear showing in his voice if not
his steadily moving body.
// We though it would be gone by now. // Tempest explained in a tone
of false airiness.
// You thought what would be gone? // Seto asked, his impatience
leaking into his voice and eyes. At that the dragons all tensed up.
// T-there's a ningen behind us. // Tempest answered in a bracing
tone. For a moment, Seto simply sat there dumfounded. A human, was
following his sleigh? Impossible, he doubted greatly that there were any
humans fast enough to keep up with his sleigh. His dragons could effortlessly
outstrip a racing horse.
// A ningen? // Seto asked stiffly and the dragons nodded with too-wide
grins on their faces. // Is following us? // Again they nodded eagerly, and Seto
did not have to read their minds to know that they were wishing desperately that they could run away from him. Seto thought back on the brief mentions
of humans his master had given his face scowled in concentration.
He looked back at his scared dragons and could all but hear their
furiously pounding hearts. // How? // Seto asked still deep in thought.
// It must have come from the village we left a while ago //
Tempest supplied helpfully, but Seto did not notice that she spoke. He
still was having trouble with the concept of a human being able to follow
him.
// And you are telling me this now because? // Seto asked
half intrigued half irritated. The dragons all gulped nervously.
//Well we thought it would be gone- didn't know it would stay
with us this long- sorry-didn't know what to do- want to know what
you want done-. // All three dragons explained so quickly that Seto
could not tell who said what. He thought deeply on the problem as
everybody continued in silence.
Seto's mind worked furiously on what to do about the human.
They were far from any human village, so if he were to simply to relice
the creature it would probably perish. Seto curled his lip in disdain,
somehow it didn't seem right to do that even with something as stupid
as that. Taking him to another village would be bothersome and Mokuba
would not speak to him for a week, angry that Seto had wasted so much
time on a stupid little human when he'd been cooped alone in the castle…
Seto's eyes widened slightly as a brilliant idea came into his head,
he grinned as he called out to his dragons. //Do you know if it's difficult to
train a ningen // Seto asked his dragons eagerly. The dragons stopped
abruptly and craned their long necks to stair at their master dumfounded.
//No idea master. // Squall said chewing the inside of his cheek
in concentration as he shook his head back and forth.
//Dono// Stormy replied casting his eyes to the ground and hanging
his head just in case.
// I never been around one long enough to know anything about
that. // Tempest said her tail scratching her head thoughtfully. //but it
would be fun to find out. // the dragon added cheerfully. Stormy and
Squall both turned their heads to gape at her.
Seto had barely heard them as the idea had become even more
appealing. It seemed that fate had just handed him the solution to all of
his problems. //Let's have a look and see. // Seto announced sounding
pleased with himself. His dragons looked at each other and finally
Squall turned around and reached behind the sleigh to retrieve the
human. //If it doesn't appear to be too dangerous, maybe Mokuba would
like a pet to keep him company while I'm gone. // Seto mused thoughtfully.
*****
Jounouchi shivered irritably as the sleigh thundered before him,
cursing his stupidity. Just when things could not get any worse, the sleigh
came to an abrupt stop. Jou's sled crashed into the sleigh and creaked ominously
while he spilled onto the ground. He scowled as he stood up and dusted the snow
off of himself while wondering what to do next. The blond looked around and
doubted that he could find his way to shelter, much less back home, in this
storm. The winds bit and stung his face making it hard to see more than a
foot in front of his eyes.
Jou was about to conceder begging the sleigh's owner to share
whatever shelter was nearby with him. Jonouchi's thoughts were cut
short by something large, white and looming above him. Jou's legs
were paralyzed as he looked into massive ice blue eyes, which burned
into him like a summer bonfire. Unable to run or even scream, Jou
watched as the head opened his mouth which was filled with shiny, and
no doubt sharp, pointed white teeth which grabbed his shoulder and
hoisted him up into the air.
There was barely time for Jou to register pain from the bite
before the boy was dropped at the feet of the sleigh's owner. Jou
looked up and was transfixed; towering over him was the most
beautiful person he'd ever seen. Although he didn't look much older
that Jou himself, something in the way he held himself screamed to
Jou that calling him anything less than a man would be an insult. He
was dressed in tight body-hugging black leather from his neck down
and a long white sleeveless coat, which fluttered in the breeze like
the wings of some great bird. His skin and finely carved features
would have made him look like a stature carved from the snow if it
weren't for the blazing blue eyes that Jou realized were studying
him. These were the last thoughts Jou had as darkness seeped into
his brain and the cold overtook him.
************************************
Seto looked at the crumpled heap at his feet. Tousled blonde
hair pooled around wind burned cheeks as wide amber eyes stared back
in pure awe. To him the human looked like nothing more than a
wounded cub of some animal /hardly looks dangerous. / Seto noted as
he studied him closer.
//This is how he did it! // Stormy said smugly to the other two
dragons as he picked up the pile of splinters that had been the boy's
sled. //He attached it to our sleigh and was pulled behind us. // A
chorus of `oh' s and `I see's' followed the announcement. Seto
merely chuckled at their antics. He turned to the human about to
ask him the meaning of the sled when he noticed something; the humans
lips were turning blue (and Seto was quite certain that humans
usually had either red or pink lips.) and his eyes were getting
glazed and dark.
Seto caught the blonde before he could hit his head on the
floor of the sleigh. Even with his minimal knowledge of humans, Seto
could tell the other was in a bad way.
Instinctively Seto cupped Jou's cheek and brought the blonds
lips to his own. Jounouchi felt a strong, indescribable tingling
from the kiss and roused slightly. Seto had found the kiss quite
pleasant. Jounouchi apparently had other ideas as he reached his arm
feebly around Seto's neck and kissed the brunette.
It was not until Jou nearly fainted in Seto's arms that the
king realized something wrong. Jounouchi looked at him from half
lidded eyes, much healthier than before. Seto could feel the others
racing heart through the worn coat Jounouchi wore. He laughed in
amusement, as Jou seemed to beg with his eyes.
"It seems I've found myself a new pet." Seto called
cheerfully to his dragons who looked dumbstruck. "Any Idea what I
should name it?"
Three sets of eyes blinked at him. Seto hear the feeble protests of
the blonde in his arms. Seto laughed when Jounouchi finally managed to
murmur that he wasn't a pet and tried to squirmout of his arms.
"I'll think up names on the way home then," Seto said in
amusement with a mental command to his dragons. Jou gave out an
indignant cry as he was lain on Seto lap. The dragons perked up and
ran quickly towards Winter Castle
//Psst! Squall!// Tempest called to her mate. //I think
that our master is quite taken with the ningen.//
//And?// Squall asked irritably. He did no think that Seto
should be bringing strange humans into the palace with young Mokuba
barely able to defend himself.
//Do you think it will last.// Tempest asked
hopefully //After all besides Mokuba, he has nobody.//
//Are you mad? Ningen have such brief lives…he'll be dead and
forgotten so soon it's hardly worth remembering him.// Squall growled
and they continued home in silence.
Seto spent the whole journey watching the sleeping blonde in
his arms. Seto was pondering what it was about Jou that drew his
attention to him.
TBC