Hau, mon readers! Sorry for the late update! Lots of stuff going on! (ie the beginning of college) :) I tried making this chapter longer than the others for ya'll 'cause I don't know when I will be able to update next. Hopefully, before next Saturday. I'm working on putting the playlists up (I'm a bit behind on them...) and I'll just be putting the title of the songs into the actual text so ya'll can look it up... since links don't work... which is stupid...
Anyways, please enjoy! XD
The trembling breath that she released then seemed to be the only thing filling the space between them; that was how thin the air stretched. Wide brown eyes searched through golden pools for any indication of what was to happen next, and bodies tensed as the princess and the general sized one another up. Who would move first? Would anyone move? Why could she not get the feeling that he was going to hurt her? Could she even trust her mind anymore for how long it had kept her rooted in fear? Then, he took a step forwards, and a whole knew atmosphere filled the space around them. Dominance. Want. His face remained impassive, but his eyes were looking at her with want.
Shaking, Rin took a step back. What had changed, she did not know, but her mind began to flicker to the possibility of what this meant. What would drive a vampir to look at her in such a way? And if he caught her, what would he do? He took another step. She needed to run.
~ . . . ~
His mind was not his own then. When he took her in, something else inside of him dictated to rule. He wanted her and he couldn't stop himself. She was beautiful, he thought numbly. At least, for one of their kind. Her long, wild hair was pulled back into a loose braid, her chocolate eyes glittering at him above flushed cheeks. Her tail was long and sleek, her pointed ears elegant and smooth- unlike her unruly brother's. Her form was sleek and curvaceous beneath a pure white dress and a moss green cloak. A soft elegance came from her woven crown of gold, a single droplet of crystal hanging from it. She smelled of the sweetest lilies he had ever known. He wanted to devour her then, regardless of her will and regardless of the consequences. He wanted to touch her; taste her; ravage her.
A fearful shutter of breath exited her lips and brought Sesshomaru rocketing back to his own mind. A dawning sense of horror caused him to back away from her once more. What had he just been thinking? Their eyes were still connected and Sesshomaru could feel that she knew what had just crossed his mind. It bothered him, how piercing her gaze was, but that meant little in the face of his own current uncertainty. Him? Bed a Lupine? Absolutely ridiculous. Absolutely disgusting.
Steeling his gaze, Sesshomaru settled the emotions that had begun raging in him, replacing them with a cold, calculated sense of duty. His mission now was to capture. Nothing would stop him. Especially not lust. Striding forwards, Sesshomaru reached out his hand, palm down. He had intended to grab her in her fearful stupor, but what happened next shocked even him.
His battle instincts were far too honed to not dodge the small swipe of claws, but the unexpectedness of her actions had him reeling; apparently for one second too long. As soon as he had stepped back, she had turned and ran.
The general glared at her retreating form, moving to follow her but sending a calculating glance towards the sunlight starting to leak into the foothills. The mountain range was jagged and would keep the sun off of him for at least another hour. He had that time to capture her.
Racing after the princess, Sesshomaru kept pace to her left, waiting for the trees to break enough for him to leap close and stop her. Her gaze was focused ahead, determination pulling at her lips. Sesshomaru followed her eyes, not entirely surprised when he was met with the site of a large fortress. So that was her destination? It was good to know that such a place existed; a safe haven. It was a strength exposed to him, and another lost trump card for his enemy. Pushing forwards, Sesshomaru ignored the strain on his muscles from the cold air around him and moved closer to his target.
~ . . . ~
Rin was exhausted but made herself run faster despite it. The castle was a mere couple hundred feet away, and if she made it there, she could lose the vampir in the ruins. The deteriorating state of the place ensured that the probability of him getting trapped somewhere in the rubble was high. Leaping over the large boulders that littered the inclining forest, Rin let out a small exclamation of relief when her feet touched the cold stone of the fortress entrance.
She didn't wait there.
Sprinting into the ruins, she didn't stop running until she could hear the nearly-silent clanks of his metal boots slow. She had lost him, the broken tables and knocked over pillars creating a maze between them. Her memory working to remember the fortress' layout, Rin shot into a room gated by a set of gargantuan pine-wood doors; the hall. She would hide there.
The darkened chamber of the fortress, an immense and cavernous room, had many stone pillars supporting it, large enough that even two people wouldn't be able to join hands around their girth. The only provision of light came from small openings in the stone ceiling where the bricks had failed. The light of new day trickled in overhead, mingling with vines and moss dripping inwards and into the room. Rin hid were her small form was completely eclipsed by these formations and shadowed from the light. She pulled her dark green cloak closer to blend in, then crouched low, her ears pointing back to listen for her pursuer.
The air was heavy with silence, her own panting nearly deafening her. Then above her exhale, she heard it: the pendulum-like clank of metal meeting stone. He had found her. He was in the hall. Holding her breath, Rin curled into the stone, blood pumping and eyes wide. As she listened to his stride, her mind flashed back to the adrenaline-coated memory of her pursuer. His pale features were porcelain and beautiful, unnaturally so in the eyes of a lupine. He was tall, amazingly so, and was covered head-to-toe in marble-white armor, a royal blue cape and the red hilt of his sword the only ounce of color about his attire. However, what plagued her mind about him was not his face, the purple and magenta tattoos on his cheeks and forehead, nor his armor. Not even his eyes, though they were what she first noticed about him. It was his hair, the color of silver.
Silver was a precious metal in the eyes of the Lupine, even more so than gold. It resembled the moon, the symbol of the Lupine Tribes power and patron, and was a holy color. His hair was the beautiful and enchanting shade of silver she had ever seen. It made thinking of him as the monster that had attacked her village cloud with uncertainty. How could a monster look so beautiful?
Rin, monsters that present themselves with beauty are the most dangerous. The bass voice of a man echoed in the back of her memory.
The princess' brows pulled in. Who had told her that? It hadn't been her brother. She had never heard that voice before. Her mind, in the moment it was distracted, missed that the footfalls had stopped. When silence met her ears, Rin's pulse quickened. He had stopped walking. Shifting to the side, Rin moved so that she could glance around the corner of the pillar. The hall was empty. He wasn't there. Had he left? Slowly leaning back on her feet, Rin shakily stood and took a hesitant step back into the shadows. Her back hit with metal, and in that moment, Rin's mind went blank.
"Move to strike me again and I will take your hands from you."
~ . . . ~
He had no doubt she would try to gauge his position through sound. Lupines relied more heavily on that sense than any other. But, from what he could guess, this princess had never met a vampir before. Any noise he made was intentional; made to deceive.
As he had just done.
The small gasp she had made when her back hit his chest-plate sent a small shock down his spine that he promptly ignored. He threatened her, his mind swimming as he did. Before, the overwhelming feelings of possessiveness had taken him by surprise, this time he would not allow them. He had begun to suspect the reason behind those particular emotions, but the thought of it alone disgusted him so immensely that he promptly put them away. He was not his father. He would not succumb.
But then she turned to look at him with her brown, doe eyes, and she was so close that he could smell the lilies in her hair and his fangs began to ache. He wanted to claim her. Or, at least, some part of him did. However, having already steeled himself, that part held no sway, and he shoved it away without hesitation, as he did with all of the emotions that prohibited him.
Reaching forwards to grab her wrist, Sesshomaru wrenched her forwards so that she could see the cold glint of his eyes merely inches away. His threat was serious. Her face had gone pale, her eyes still enchanting him as she nodded . Disobedience was a waist of his time, if their recent chase through the fortress was any proof. Beginning to pull her along with him, Sesshomaru strode through the hall, his foot-fall making no noise now as they walked.
"You are now a hostage of his highness, King Naraku. You will come with me quietly and without complaint or I will order your villagers killed." Sesshomaru spoke this icily as he avoided the patches of sun beginning to stain the fortress floor. He didn't need to look to know that she had nodded. In fact, he preferred not to look at her. It was distracting.
"You will not run, or I shall order them killed."
Another nod.
"You will obey me, or the same will occur."
Pause. Sesshomaru glanced back. She was staring at him in a mix of curiosity and fear. Yes. He was the first vampir she had seen. He turned to look away again when their eyes met, but her voice stopped him. Stopped all his movements.
"Why have you attacked my village?" She asked. Her voice was bell-like and innocent, yet held a firmness to it that reminded the general of her all-too-unyielding brother. It was a foolish question, but some part of him found himself answering anyways.
"We are at war. The answer should be obvious."
The princess shook her head, the crystal on her brow glittering. Attacking her people would have been inconvenient, a waste of resources. "That is not what I meant. The vampir have never attacked before. Why now?"
Sesshomaru silently commended her for her ability to see through his answer but said no more, turning to walk forwards once more. His stride was long and the woman struggled to keep up with him. He only slowed when they made their way back to the entrance of the stone construct. He had hoped that the sun had not overtaken the hills by the time he had caught her. He was wrong, and as his golden eyes glittered in the refracted light, his straight expression darkened. They would have to wait here until nightfall.
~ . . . ~
Time passed slowly in the shadows of the fortress, and Sesshomaru could tell that the princess was growing restless with his unwavering gaze. However, that small part of him wanting to keep observing her, coupled with his duty to make sure she didn't run had won over and he couldn't look away.
It also worked as a distraction against the cold.
Sesshomaru was more resilient than any of his vampir soldiers, not ever breaking his mask in the face of his weaknesses. He still would not now, but the cold was beginning to make him sluggish. Seeing at how eager this woman was to find a way to escape, that could be borderline problematic. He had to stay alert, which was becoming harder and harder as the sun rose.
"Woman," his low voice was solid in the uncertain atmosphere, "come here." The princess's eyes widened, probably in fear of him wanting to have his way with her. Which, strangely, didn't not dwell in the recesses of his mind, but the majority of his intentions were otherwise. It appears her piercing eyes were able to see this, so the woman rose from the piece of fallen stone she had occupied over the past couple hours. Moving across the hall of the entryway, she timidly stood before him. Her hood had been placed back upon her head, hiding her ears and shadowing her eyes. Her long braid trailed out from beneath it, however, and Sesshomaru resisted touching it in order to more closely inspect her.
Standing as well, the general towered over her by at least a foot. He looked down at her, his golden eyes searching for an answer to a question that had been present in his mind since he first took in her scent. He took a step closer, and watched as she physically stopped herself from taking one back. How courageous, he blandly admired. He took another until they were mere inches away. Then he began to circle her, his eyes taking her in. As he came behind her, he swiftly pulled her hood from her head, a small gasp leaving her as he did. A flood of lily entered his senses and he leaned forwards so his nose dwelled above her neck. His blood heated when he could hear her accelerated heart beat, but only so much when he regarded that it was out of fear.
His nose brushed against her skin, making her shudder from the coolness of it and the anxiety his touch arose. With the way his body reacted to her own, he was almost certain that she was his... no. Impossible, as he had thought earlier. There would be no way. None, even as he rose a hand to gently stroke against her face.
"Please, don't." Came her panicked whisper, and he pulled away as if burned. It upset him somewhat that she believed he was so low to do such taking as take her unwillingly. But he had proven not otherwise, so could he hold her to fault?
"I will not harm you." The reassurance, albeit cold, surprised even himself. He took a step away and turned, his cape swaying as he looked further into the fortress. Perhaps it was being so near to the sunlight? It was known that too much exposure for his kind could kill. "We will go further in."
She looked hesitant, but then nodded. Not that she had noticed, but she didn't have a choice either way. While behind her, he had placed a binding spell around her throat. If she tried to run, she would suffocate until he was within a certain range again. A reassurance to cover for his current state.
He walked forwards, with her trailing behind him, sure that any form of rebellion she might plan would be worthless. Ducking under and over large pieces of wood and rubble, he led the way, searching for a room that would be dark and –if possible- providing of some kind of warmth. It was when he finally found one that he heard the sound of snapping beams and quaking earth.
Spinning around, the general dove for the princess, sweeping her out of the way as a beam above them broke loose. It was heavy and thick and easily parted through the crumbling bricks of the floor. The general tensed and the princess gasped as they found there to be a chasm beneath the deteriorating stones. The sinking floor was rapidly moving towards them, and –unless they ran- it would pull them into its depths. Sesshomaru waited for not a moment, hauling the princess into his arms and turning to jump. He had just barely touched off the falling stone beneath them when he heard his prisoner scream, "Above!"
The large falling beam smacked into Sesshomaru's midriff, pushing the air out of him and causing the princess to tumble from his arms. Then they were falling, and Sesshomaru struggled to find where his captive had drifted off to. He flipped, his sharp eyes searching as the air rushed past, pushing up his hair like a beacon of silver.
"I'm here!" He heard her cry. His eyes shifted to his right and caught panicked brown ones. Her hand was outstretched towards him, and for a moment time seemed to stall. She looked beautiful, her hair trailing upwards and breaking free of its braid. Her crown and cloak tumbled off her and disappeared into the black above them, but her eyes stayed locked with his, filled with... concern? Resign? Desperation? A mix of all of them? His heart shuddered as he looked at her, and his breath left him and he realized he could deny it no longer, no matter how wrong it felt to him.
He had found his bride.
Now, he had only to save her from this abyss.
Did you enjoy it? Did you LOVE IT? WAS IT AMAZING?
Okay, I know, it wasn't that fantastic. Either way, RxR! I love you and I love comments!
See ya next time! (on DragonBall Z, lol XD)
- ChimamareNoTsuki
