A/N: OMG REVIEWS! Thank you so so much~! I was hardly expecting that chapter to be liked *blushes*

And this chapter IS longer, like I promised. :3 Hopefully it will explain some things.

Chapter 5 will, unfortunately, not be up as quickly as these chapters have been, seeing how as I haven't written it yet. And I have a paper to write and a project to finish… *hangs head*

But that's the next chapter~ I'm gonna shut up now so you can read this one. :P Enjoy~!

A myriad of images played behind his closed eyelids. Flashes of crimson illuminated bloody scenes, depicting razed villages, bodies strewn along the streets, and fires reaching and flickering toward the heavens in a taunting dance. His view changed suddenly as he was yanked out of himself, and turned around. His eyes widened as he found himself staring into the tear stained face of a young Kaname Kuran, his blood-stained features set into a mask of rage that wasn't fitting for such a young child. He seemed oblivious to the other's presence, and fell to his knees, holding a single black rose in his left hand. The boy's shoulders shook with silent sobs as the devilish flames around him consumed the last building of his home city.

"Kaa-san…you were right…" The boy muttered, his young, tear-filled eyes turning a blazing crimson as the rose in his hand shattered into a million fragments.

"…Never trust a Kiriyu."

The flames rose higher into the sky as the young prince stood and ran out of the burning city, the blackened petals of the rose dancing into the sky in his wake.

Zero's eyes flew open, and he grabbed the silken sheets in shock as he lay gasping for breath. He felt his heartbeat pick up and his mind kick into overtime as he struggled to separate dream from reality. He could still see the bloody flames climbing higher and higher behind his eyelids, consuming him from the inside. At the same time, he could see the dimly lit room and the huge arched window that let the watery light of the moon splash onto his prone form. The hunter slammed his eyes shut, the flickering images still playing in his mind. He felt a single tear creep down his cheek, and he left it there, too distracted by his silent screams to wipe it away. He bit his lip to keep from crying out, tasting the sharp tang of his blood as his teeth broke the skin.

The door to the room opened quietly, and Zero threw himself against the wooden headboard of the bed against his own accord. His screams finally evolved from silent to verbal, and as he felt the first one tear from his lips, the disturbing images behind his clenched eyelids increased in rapidity and number. New scenes were added to the already sick cinematic. The bloody forms lying in the street were given names, faces, and personalities. Zero became acquainted with every person in one instant, and watched them die in the next. He heard their screams in the echo of his own, and his clasped his ears, trying in vain to block them out.

He barely even registered the person next to him, grasping his arms and forcing them to his sides. He writhed and screamed, the images growing impossibly more lucid and bloody at the mere touch of the person next to him. He threw his head back and screamed, feeling something in the back of his throat tear, and something start to trickle wetly down his face. The hands constraining him tightened their hold, and he faintly heard someone calling his name through the haze of red over his mind.

Zero!

He whimpered in pain, more tears welling up behind his shut eyelids. His breathing slowed as the images started to fade, his mind falling into blessed quiet. He felt someone's hand brush a strand of hair out of his sweat soaked face, wiping away the tears with gentle fingers. The person called his name again, his voice quiet and calming, chasing away any of the remaining images.

Zero…it's over.

He shuddered violently as he recognized the voice, and slowly opened his eyes. He felt his face twist into a faint scowl at Kaname, who was leaning slightly over him, hands cupping his face and a worried look in his eyes. The silver haired teen tried to wiggle away from the vampire, but the pureblood's hands gently held him in place. He was forced to look into the chocolate-crimson eyes of the pureblood, and the multiple emotions playing out in his face. Zero felt his scowl disappear as he was caught up in the structure of Kaname's eyes, the way the iris started at black, morphed slowly into dark brown, and then melted into red around the edges. He could feel the pureblood studying him in the same manner, and he blushed slightly and averted his eyes, not wanting to be observed so intimately at such close distant. There were emotions behind his eyes that the hunter didn't want anyone to see, let alone his worst enemy.

"Ku – "

As soon as Zero tried to speak, the back of his throat burst into pain, sharp pins and needles stabbing him through the neck. His eyes widened in surprise, and the pain faded away slowly, before finally settling to a dull ache.

He glanced over at Kaname, a silent question in his eyes. The pureblood shook his head softly as he felt gently around Zero's throat, trying not to be distracted by the feel of the hunter's pulse beneath his fingers. He closed his eyes in concentration, silently searching for the problem behind the teen's skin.

After a long minute, the pureblood reopened his eyes and smiled softly at the hunter beneath him. Zero gasped silently at the sight, the small smile seeming to light up the vampire's face with the brightest moonlight, his eyes shining with a soft light indescribable by any known color. He could see his own eyes reflected slightly in Kaname's the lilac melding with the crimson and chocolate.

His eyes are beautiful like that. The hunter thought absently, before catching himself and shaking his head violently. He glared at the pureblood, silently yelling at him with his eyes to tell him what was wrong with him.

Kaname smirked, and twisted a strand of Zero's silver hair between his fingers. He spoke quietly, the mocking tone in his voice so light it could almost be mistaken for teasing.

"It seems, my dear captive, that you have torn your vocal chords. You won't be speaking for a while, I'm happy to inform. At least now I won't have to listen to you yelling in my ear day in and day out….not to mention all night as well."

His smirk grew wider as Zero roughly pushed the pureblood off of himself, sitting up and stretching obviously ignoring the person seated not two inches from him.

Without warning, Kaname grabbed the hunter's wrist and swung him around to face him. Zero's eyes widened in surprise as Kaname tapped his nose with a small piece of paper and handed him a pen. When Zero looked at him in confusion, Kaname rolled his eyes and patted the hunter's head in a degrading manner.

"Why don't you tell me why exactly you were screaming so early in the night? You woke me from a very entertaining dream, and I think I deserve an explanation."

Zero glared at the vampire prince, but started writing nonetheless.

A few minutes later he handed the paper back to Kaname and crossed his arms, waiting for the pureblood to hurry up and read so he could get away from him.

Kaname glanced down at the paper, expecting the explanation to be something trivial. But as he recognized the setting of the hunter's dream, his brow furrowed and he read the slip of paper more closely.

I was seeing a burning town, and there were people's bodies spread all over the place. I was suddenly ripped away from my body and saw that I had been looking through your eyes, only you were a young boy. You were crying and said something about never trusting a Kiriyu. When I woke up all I could see were the same images playing over and over again. They got worse when you walked in the room and even worse when you touched me. I want to know how you got in my head, Kuran. This has never happened before…

Kaname's eyes widened in shock as he realized what Zero had dreamed.

Why…why is he dreaming my memories?

The pureblood's eyes settled on the hunter's lips, recalling the small amount of blood he had drunk from them the night before. He touched his own lips, suddenly remembering that Zero had also taken some blood from him. Kaname practically flew out the door, letting the paper in his hand flutter to the ground and slamming the door in his wake, leaving Zero to stare bewilderedly after him

What…the hell?

Kaname gripped the edges of the sink in his private bathroom, shaking uncontrollably and mentally pacing back and forth. He relived the brief, blood-lusted moments that he had spent with the hunter the night before, remembering clearly the few drops of blood they had shared between them.

No…

This can't happen…this shouldn't have happened…

But it would explain his sudden attraction to the hunter, and why Zero was dreaming some of his worst memories.

I've…I've blood bonded with a Kiriyu…