Kitavra
By: CrystallicSky
Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown, or any of the characters in it, though I do own several of the characters in this story. If you've watched the show, or even looked up the characters on Google or Wikipedia, you'll know who's mine and who's not.
Warning(s): Um, there's cursing, mature situations(take that however you want it, there'll be several different kinds), and maleXmale relationships, including Chack, AKA, ChasexJack. If that bothers you, well, then, fine, go away. Since I think you should know, this will be a pretty tame story sex-wise, as in no lemons and barely any sign of citrus at all. This is mainly because of two reasons: 1-I don't feel confident enough to write such a thing, and 2-I have a male friend who really likes the story and since I like feedback from him, I'd rather not frighten him off.
Notes: Before you start reading, know that this is not only the first fic I've seen more than ½ of the way through, but also my first slash story, so yes, I'm a noob, but hey, I'm trying, so get off me! Also, if anybody seems REALLY out of character, it's because I've only actually seen about three episodes of XS, and if it's Chase that's out of character, as I suspect he is, only one of those three episodes had Chase in it, so sorry. And if you have any questions, before you comment with them, check my author's notes at the bottom, because if I think something needs explaining, I'll write it there, so yeah. I think that's about it, so read on, if you still want to!
"Wow, and to think you used to be a bookworm!" exclaimed MauveBane breathlessly, lying under the covers as he looked up at the ceiling.
However, he turned to his partner at the indignant, "Used to be?! I'm still a bookworm, thank you very much!"
ArcaneThorn was lying on his side, clearly offended, though one of his hands remained on MauveBane's bare chest.
MauveBane smirked lecherously. "I never said you weren't, I just think you're a kinky bookworm now."
Thorn scowled, demanding, "You'd best wipe that look off of your face right now, Bane, or I might get it in my kinky bookworm head to dump you!"
In a tone that suggested he knew something the other didn't, Bane answered, "Dump me? Oh, whatever would I do without you? Ah, I guess that settles it then, I'll have to marry you to keep you around."
"M-marry?! What?!"
Moving from the bed to the floor, MauveBane got down on one knee in front of his lover.
Pulling a velvet box from under the bed, he opened it, revealing an intricate golden band studded with sapphires.
"ArcaneThorn...will you marry me?"
Tearing up, the man practically jumped on MauveBane, sobbing out, "Yes, Bane, yes! Of course I'll marry you, you idiot!"
Starting out this way, the day was sure to be monumental, though good or bad, it was hard to tell.
Sun glinting off of spun gold curtains nudged GoldenDeath out of his...well, dead sleep, no pun intended, and he sat up in his bed groggily, almost against his will.
Half-asleep, he looked at the calendar on the nightstand before giving an annoyed huff, grumbling, "Mondays be damned by SacredHeart herself! If only it were possible to remove them from the very week!" His more childish side coming through, as an afterthought, he added, "Like in that old Earth cartoon, Garfield. It's too bad Kitavra has no wishing well, then."
Dragging himself out of bed, he sluggishly got dressed, wishing it were Saturday instead, until his sleep-ridden mind finally acknowledged something.
"Ah, damn, it's the seventeenth!"
Oh, the seventeenth, the bane of GoldenDeath's existence, no offense meanto to MauveBane in saying this, of course. Since he was young, he'd absolutely hated, no loathed the seventeenth of August for one simple reason: It was his birthday. Damn.
It wasn't as if he was without reason to hate his birthday, though, he had very good reasons. Mainly LeatherKnife and his father, because somehow, they had warped ideas of birthday presents, the case of his last birthday on this planet ending in him nearly requiring a trip to a hospital. Sometimes, GoldenDeath was pretty sure that what humans called 'karma' hated him.
But then, maybe this birthday would be better with Chase around. Oh...Chase. What had gotten into the man last night, anyway? Looking self-consciously in the mirror, he noticed that, yes, the bite had left a very visible scar on his ear. Since GoldenDeath's hair was relatively long, and he wasn't very partial to putting it behind his ears, the mark would easily be out of sight and not openly noticed unless someone was looking for it, though he wasn't so much bothered by who saw that he had been marked, so much as the fact that he had, indeed, been marked.
"Why would Chase-"
His thoughts were cut off when there was a hurried, almost frantic knock at his door. Hopefully thinking that, maybe, his father had passed on, he quickly stepped to the door, opening it, only to be nearly knocked over by a joyous hug.
"ArcaneThorn? What are you doing here so early?"
"Oh, Death, there's wonderful news!"
His hopes up, he asked in rapid fire, "My father had a stroke? LeatherKnife is being taken to an institution? Mondays have been destroyed?"
"What? No, Bane popped the question! We're engaged!"
Eyes lighting up, GoldenDeath replied, "Really? That's great, I'm happy for you two!"
The two turned to the door when they heard a voice say, "Death, I love you like a son, but get off of my fiancé."
With a loving exclamation of, "Bane!", ArcaneThorn practically jumped into his lover's arms, cuddling into him almost immediately.
Giving the couple a sly look, GoldenDeath addressed MauveBane, "So, you're finally getting married, eh?"
"Ha, yeah, kid. I thought it might make a nice present if your parents finally decided to tie the knot on your birthday."
Losing the good mood, he frowned to the point it could almost be a pout. "Don't' remind me, I hate my birthday."
MauveBane attempted to cheer him up. "Well, at the least, you'll get one good present this year, right?"
Half-smiling, GoldenDeath conceded, "Yeah, this is a good present. Thanks, guys."
"Well, believe it or not, Death, but your father has given us specific orders stating that he wants to see you. No exceptions."
He sighed once, and replied, "Alright, then, if I must."
The three then left in the direction of the throne room, not even noticing the golden eyes watching their every move.
Lurking in the shadows of the hallway, Chase Young quietly wondered aloud, "It's his birthday? Well, then, I suppose I'll have to give him something special..." And with that, he stealthily followed the small group through the maze-like halls.
Soon enough, a small panic was apparent, servants dashing about hurriedly for some unknown reason. Said reason soon became obvious when one servant ran off with blood coating his hands.
Worried now, GoldenDeath snatched aside a frantic maid and demanded an explanation of her.
"Oh, Prince, it's terrible," she sobbed, "the Queen-"
"Mother?! What happened to her?!" There was a concerned urgency in his voice.
Unable to speak through her tears, the poor woman could only point to the door where the commotion was. The sight that met GoldenDeath's sun-like eyes made him sick to his stomach.
The scent of blood blocked his senses, even as he saw a blond head with sky-blue eyes, now dull in death, carried from the room, and worse, not attached to a body.
Wide-eyed and feeling numb, he brokenly muttered, "Mom...", before running recklessly into the room from which the decapitated head of his mother had come.
He screeched to a halt once inside, shakily gasping at the scene. "Oh, SacredHeart..."
Blood was spattered across every wall, every surface of the room. Limbs were strewn upon the bed and floor, and GoldenDeath absently noticed that this was his parents' chambers.
Even worse than the blood and limbs, however, was his mother's torso, lying torn open in the middle of the floor. Intestines and various organs were all exposed by the sliced and ripped flesh, though the heart, GoldenDeath noticed, was not where it should be, was missing.
The steady dripping of the red-orange Kitavran blood drew his attention to the chandelier, and he found the missing muscle, though he honestly wished he hadn't.
EtherealRain's heart was pinned through a now-broken lightbulb by a shattered shin-bone in a gruesome centerpiece to the macabre display.
Unable to look any longer, GoldenDeath ran back into the hall and, collapsing to his knees, he emptied the contents of his stomach upon the floor. His shoulders shook slightly when ArcaneThorn's hand gently touched him, and he shrugged the man off as he got to his feet.
As cleaning drones began sanitizing both the hall and bedroom, the prince wiped his mouth and turned to a young servant in as superior of a manner as he could. "Is she all accounted for?"
The servant seemed hesitant, but nevertheless answered, "Yes, Prince GoldenDeath, we have made sure every, ah...individual body part was recovered, all except for one..."
"What is missing, then?"
"The Queen's ring-finger, along with her wedding ring, was not found."
GoldenDeath took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Very well. Carry on, then."
As the boy scuttled off, a certain cobalt-haired psycho made himself known about three feet ahead of GoldenDeath in the hall. "Oh, such a pity about her highness...I only pray her killer is brought to a swift justice!"
He took several lazy strides towards the prince, 'inspecting' the gory scene. "Such a brute to do something like this, what a tragedy! Oh, and GoldenDeath, by the by..."
LeatherKnife was now right at the dark-haired prince's side, looking straight ahead as he slipped a cold, wet object into the young man's right hand.
"Happy birthday."
With the almost inaudible, mocking whisper, LeatherKnife was gone down the hall, and with a sinking feeling, GoldenDeath moved his hand to examine the object.
Just about every neuron in his brain felt as if it were fried as he looked at the blood-coated finger in his hand. Choking back bile once again, he felt for a metal band for confirmation of the finger, though he already had an idea who it belonged to. Finding it, he wiped off a bit of blood, now sure that the finger belonged to his late mother when his yellow eyes met the pink gems scattered over the ring. Numb all over, he released the light grip he had on the digit, not even noticing as a single mourning tear slid over his cheek.
Needless to say that he was a bit speechless when he was abruptly turned and pulled to a certain cold-blooded warlord's chest. Giving the man a blankly confused look, he was even more surprised when Chase wiped away the tear on his cheek and held him tighter.
Was he...being hugged by Chase Young?
Giving a half-hysterical laugh, he pushed away from Chase and quickly resumed his 'holier than thou' persona. Besides the fact that it kept everyone but those closest to him from overly worrying, at times like these, it kept him from losing whatever sanity he still clung to. After all, being raised by someone who apparently kills your mother for your birthday present, you lose a least a bit of your sanity.
"My father requested to see me, I must go to him."
Without another word, he walked off to the throne room in the most dignified manner he was able, Chase silently trailing him.
In a short amount of time, the pair arrived in the throne room, alone, seeing as the engaged couple had stayed behind to give the young man some space, and they were met with an odd sight.
Next to the smirking King CrimsonClaw stood a middle-aged man, approximately forty-or-so years, in rose and indigo colored robes. His plum-purple hair was cut short, though some of it still managed to hang in his dusky pink eyes, one of which was surrounded by a black star. To Chase's utmost annoyance, the rose-tinted eyes were firmly fixed on the young prince's figure.
Clearing his throat, GoldenDeath stepped forward. "You called for me, father?"
"Yes, my son," the man smiled, mockingly sweet, "I'm glad you could join us. I have wonderful news for you."
"Does your news concern mother at all?" he prompted.
"She's dead, boy, forget her! Why think of your worthless, dead mother when you yourself could soon become a mother?"
Yellow eyes went wide. "W-what?"
A smug smile stretched the kings face. "Yes, son. You see, I've decided that it was high time you were married and produced heirs to the throne. When LavenderEntropy," he gestured to the man at his side, " so politely requested your hand, I immediately agreed."
The man finally spoke up in a smooth voice and lecherous tone. "Yes, GoldenDeath, I'm quite looking forward to having you as my wife."
"Wife?! But-but...don't I get a say in this?"
"No, no you don't, and one more protest from you, and I'll have your voice box cut out!"
Quickly, GoldenDeath assumed a submissive posture and bowed his head low. "Yes, father."
As he turned and walked from the room, his perverted new fiancé following closely, Chase stood in the shadows of the throne room, boiling with possessive rage. This..this fool would wed his son to an obvious scoundrel like LavenderEntropy?! GoldenDeath was rightful property of Chase Young! If there was anyone the boy should be marrying, it was hi-Wait...maybe that was it...
Wearing a frigid smirk, Chase leisurely stepped from the blackness.
"King CrimsonClaw," he began, "I have a proposition for you..."
Trudging somberly to his room, GoldenDeath wanted nothing more at the moment than to curl up and die. He was quite sure now, karma was out to get him. Had he really been so horrible to accidentally kill one doctor to earn the undeserved hatred of both LeatherKnife and CrimsonClaw? Had he been wayward and disobedient to his parents long enough to deserve a freshly dead mother and a fiancé over twice his age, and clearly showing it? Ah, but then, life wasn't fair, was it? He decided that it could be worse, really; He missed his mother, yes, but he had never really been close to her. It seemed heartless, to say he wasn't grieving over her loss, but the single, heartfelt tear was all he felt he owed her. She had given birth to him, played with him once or twice as a child, yes, but she, like his father, hadn't raised him either. Certainly she was sweeter than his father, though, but simply put, they were hardly family. After all, he thought, he'd really be grieving had it been his faux-mother, ArcaneThorn, or even his faux-father, MauveBane, mainly because they were like his real family anyway. But then, even if he ignored whatever sadness he felt for the blond woman, there was still the pertinent issue of that disgusting man he was supposed to be wed t-
Any thought he may have had at the moment were pushed out of his head when he was quite abruptly shoved against a wall by said disgusting man. LavenderEntropy leered suggestively at the prince, one hand on his shoulder, the other on his chest.
"Hello there, little queen," he fairly purred at him, "what do you say to a little...pre-wedding fun, eh?"
Yellow eyes widened as he began to struggle frantically against the man who had him pinned. "Ugh, I'd never, you sick-"
Suddenly, he couldn't speak at all. There was no transition, GoldenDeath's voice was simply gone. He attempted to force LavenderEntropy away when, to his utter horror, he found that he was also unable to move, even a muscle!
Not wasting any time, the older man took his lips in a bruising kiss, nearly choking the prince with his tongue. At the taste of the appendage, not to mention the feel of hands worming their way under his shirt, for the second time that day, GoldenDeath felt like puking, crying, or both.
Now that the young prince's shirt was totally undone and barely hanging off of his shoulders, LavenderEntropy saw fit to pull away and fix the prone boy with an avaricious stare.
"You don't have a choice, little queen. As you may have noticed, you can't move, much less lift a finger against me. But," he sighed in an almost lamenting tone, "it's no fun with a lifeless dummy, so that's why I've figured out a fun little trick with my power. See, if I wanted you to, oh, say, put your hand in my hair..."
Insides like an icy mush, GoldenDeath watched in dread as, against his will, his own fingers tangled in the violet strands.
"You would do it."
The man chuckled, trailing a hand down the boy's exposed and lightly muscled form. "You're mine forever, puppet."
Just as the offending fingers reached GoldenDeath's waistband, someone cleared their throat from somewhere off to the side.
Still unable to move, GoldenDeath tried his best to see who it was out of the corner of his eye, though to no avail. Apparently, however, LavenderEntropy had seen the intruder and, in his shock, released whatever hold he was using to restrain the prince. Instantly after he was freed, he snapped his head to the side. His eyes lit up and it was quite hard not to use the man's real name. "BlackDragon!"
Gold met yellow for a brief moment before locking onto the forty-something-year-old in a stare cold enough to induce frostbite. "Ahem, LavenderEntropy, was it?"
The man nodded dumbly, and Chase took it as a sign to continue. "Yes, well, Prince GoldenDeath and I have something to discuss, so we would truly appreciate you making yourself as scarce as possible. Understand?"
At this LavenderEntropy became both flustered and angry. "Hey, now, wait a minute! He's my fiancé, and I have every right to-"
"Leave. Now." The icy look abruptly flipped, and the golden irises appeared hot enough to scorch.
Sufficiently cowed, the purple-haired man back away and, with a weak glare at the warlord, swiftly marched down the corridor.
Slumping to the ground, GoldenDeath stared blindly at the tiled floor, internally shuddering at what had nearly happened to him.
"Get up."
The harsh request was enough to get him to do just that, and he fixed Chase with a bewildered look.
Effectively ignoring him, Chase focused his attention on redoing the clasps of GoldenDeath's shirt and spoke in a low growl. "I restrained myself just this once for your sake. Though I doubt you personally would've minded, I don't think your psyche can handle any more gore today. Regardless, if I see him touch you again," he paused to nip sharply on the prince's marked ear, as in reminder, "I'll kill him on the spot."
Abruptly, the man straightened and gave off a no-nonsense aura. "Now, your father informed me that your coming of age celebration will be in four hours, and I expect you to compose yourself before then. For now, go to your room and get ready."
"Ah, Chase, wha-what about you?" GoldenDeath was still a bit shaken up, though rightfully so.
"I'll be...around, making sure you won't have any more visits from that fool your father calls an 'acceptable husband'."
GoldenDeath gave the man a weak smile. "Thank you."
"If at all possible, try to avoid LeatherKnife on your way, I'd prefer not to deal with him for a while yet."
"Right, right, I'm going. I'll see you later, Chase."
Golden eyes were glued to the movements of the retreating figure. "Yes," he murmured, "you certainly will..."
A/N: Well, in case you haven't guessed already, LavenderEntropy is the most recent, and hopefully final, bastard in the story. We now have psycho, anger-management, and lusty pervert. Gawd, it's like the not-so-holy trinity! O.o Um, in any case...Oh, Matt had wanted me to write a fluff scene for Thorn and Bane, but I surprised him with the engagement there...LeatherKnife's fucked up in the head, we know this...Chase is trying to comfort his pet because, besides the fact that even if he denies it, Chase cares for GoldenDeath, he won't be good for very much later if he's sobbing in the middle of the night instead of what Chase wants to do...You heard me, as if you couldn't figure out what he was up to on your own. -.-...Too bad it wasn't Chase molesting GoldenDeath this time, instead of Ugly-face McOldGuy, I mean LavenderEntropy...I totally said that the first time, you all heard it. o.0 Ahem, moving on...I'm not saying a word about Chase's proposition, but you can draw any conclusions you want from it...Chase is very ticked off at LavenderEntropy for trying to steal his property...And more stuff will happen eventually, because the chapter is over now. Now, I have a little of the next chapter written, but it's far from being done, so updates will slow down CONSIDERABLY at this point, and for that I apologize for leaving you where I left you at this chapter. I think that's all I have to say, at this point, so, until Chapter 11:)