A/N: So after nearly a year of absence, I have finally managed to put together a chapter that doesn't make me cringe every time I look at it. For the benefit of those of you who are too lazy to go back and re-read the previous chapters, I'll put in a short recap. Normally I'm one of the lazy ones too but since I wanted the recap to be accurate and all, I did go back to re-read the story and it was a fun read though I might be going back some day to rewrite the beginning few chapters.
Recap:
Wolf and Syao along with Cherry acquire Eva's services to find a pilot that can bring them to Clow undetected. The pilot turns out to be Eva's fiancé Phoenix who knows Cherry's true identity as that of the Princess of Clow. He agrees to take them there and as of right now, the gang comprising of Cherry, Wolf and Syao are all awaiting sunset when they can be ready for departure.
Breakfast started off bright and early…way too early for my liking. It was only seven in the morning. Who in the world wakes up at that ungodly hour anymore? Apparently, Phoenix and every other bastard like him out there. I stifled a yawn, playing around with the cereal in my bowl as I heard Cherry recall one tale or another about her childhood antics. Occasionally Phoenix would pitch in and say something that would send both Eva and Cherry into a fit of giggles. At times, I could even hear Syao snickering in his distinctively-wolfish way. Why am I even awake at this time? I should have known there was a reason the bastard did not have a clock in his guest room.
It was, of course, to keep me from getting the sleep I deserved. Shoving my chair back as Phoenix went on to enlighten us all about how he had snuck the royal siblings out of the castle for a night out on his cruiser, I stood up.
"This is all very interesting, I'm sure, but seeing as we won't be leaving for another six hours, I'm gonna go and catch up on my sleep. See ya later, Eva, Dollface." Flashing another smirk at the way Cherry bristled at the nickname, I sauntered out of the dining hall and back to the guest bedroom. Or at least, that had been my intention. Unfortunately, I spent the next two hours wandering about the bloody maze of a mansion trying to get back. Syao had still been enjoying his breakfast of a juicy steak when I had left, so I didn't even have him to help me out. In the end, it was the grand bastard, Phoenix himself, who found me.
"I thought you were going back to bed," he said, one side of his mouth quirked up in amusement.
"I decided on taking a stroll instead," I replied coolly.
Oh, how I wished to throttle your skinny neck.
"Might I suggest going out in the gardens then?" he quirked a brow before turning to walk away, strutting about as though he owned the place- which now that I think about it, he actually did. "Coming, Mister Wolf?" he gave me an impatient look over his shoulder when I didn't immediately follow him.
"So tell me," I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I drew up next to him, "how long ago was it that you served the Royal Family?"
"Eleven years."
Eleven years? You have got to be fuckin' kidding me!
At most, the guy looked like he was twenty-two! And even a street-urchin like me, knew that it's impossible to get your flying license at the age of eleven! Hell, you'd need to be at least sixteen to even get into flying school. Add two years of training and shit and then you get to take the test. And another year on probation, doing odd jobs for your flying school, before you are even eligible to apply anywhere.
"You seemed surprised." I knew he was laughing on the inside.
"You don't look a day over twenty-two, Phoenix," I narrowed my eyes at the blond.
"I don't normally tell this to someone I have only met," he spoke after a little while, opening the doors that led out into a magnificent garden, "but seeing as Eva is quite taken with you and your little pet I suppose you're not a threat. My fiancé is a very good judge of character." His skin seemed to become a shade paler than before as we walked into the sunlight and the cogs in my brain began to turn slowly. "I lost my eye trying to save a friend's life. Since my actions could have started a war, had I still been a part of the Royal Space Fleet, I resigned before going on my suicide mission."
"What does that have to do with you looking like this?" I quirked a brow, slowly making the connections, but wanting to hear him say it before I could go 'Aha! I knew it!'.
"I was dying," he shrugged, "but rogue pilots are not exactly treated in a hospital without being arrested. A pair of vampires owed my friend a favor. Luckily, we crashed on the planet they were hiding on at the time. A few drops of their blood, and voila."
"So you're a vampire. Does Eva know about this?"
"Do you really think I would lie about who I am to the woman I love, Mr. Wolf?" Now he was openly smirking at me. "Or tell you about myself if I had kept it hidden from her?"
Fighting back a flush, I looked away. Something about this guy just rubbed me wrong. And it wasn't just the fact that he was engaged to Eva. Or that he knew Cherry from her childhood. Or that he had the whole cool-rich-guy-who's-so-bored-living-the-high-life-he-resorts-to-smuggling-to-add-a-little-excitement thing going for him. Although that last thing might have been a bit of a contributing factor, mainly it was the way he acted. The way he spoke. Hell, even the way he moved. He reminded me of the man I had betrayed all those years ago. The man that was dead because of me.
He reminded me of my teacher.
Which in itself was strange, considering the fact that they looked nothing alike. My teacher's hair was never this long or messy and his eyes were not blue and his skin was not this pale and…and he was not this lithe. Though Phoenix exuded an aura of power, my teacher…my teacher was power. Well-built body, dark, spiky hair, unforgiving red eyes, though I had seen them soften in affection and love at times. My teacher had been dubbed a demon by his enemies for his ruthlessness. And yet, that man had been the one that had saved my worthless life when everyone else had cried out for my execution.
And I had repaid him by having him killed.
"We might be making a slight detour along the way," Phoenix said, breaking me out of my self-loathing, "since we will be breaking into one of the most secure places in this side of the galaxy, we will require some help from my old friend, Dragon."
"The one you lost an eye to save?" I quirked a brow at him, hurriedly covering up any misery on my face with a cocky smirk.
"The one I lost an eye to save," he agreed as he calmly turned around and began leading me inside.
-0-
Floating in the darkness, not existing, not living, not breathing, not anything.
Ba-dump.
The twitch of a muscle, the flutter of an eye.
Ba-dump.
Breathe in.
Ba-dump.
Exhale.
-dump.
Leaden lids parting. Light, bright bright light.
Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump.
Fuzzy shapes. Eyes staring at him through liquid, dark, soulless eyes hidden behind rounded spectacles.
"You're a beautiful feat of science and magic. Unique. One of a kind, my little wolf."
Ba-dump.
A twitch of a finger.
Ba-dump.
Inhale.
Ba-dump.
Exhale.
Ba-dump.
Loud thunder echoing everywhere, screams and fear and running.
"Sir! The Royal Guard has found our location."
"Hold them off for as long as possible." Soulless eyes turn away, screaming orders. "He is not yet ready to be born."
"Sir, we are already holding them off, if we wait any longer, they will have us surrounded!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Red flowing from their bodies. Soulless eyes turning to face him, "Do we have any other problems? No? Good. We wait for him to be born. Dispose of the other."
Thunder growling and howling, rattling doors and shaking walls, more red, more blood. A loud crash and then falling, falling, can't breathe, can't feel. No air, no air, need to breathe, need to live.
"Shit, the kid's choking." Strikes on his body, coughing, gasping for air, warmth covering him. "Somebody follow after that bastard Doctor. Don't let him get away!"
Red eyes. Red as the liquid from the bodies. Red like…blood.
"Shit! Kid, are you okay?" Hands lifting him, can't move, can't breathe, "He's going into shock! Someone get me a damn medic here!"
"Sir! We have found the prince."
"What are you yammering about? The kid's right here!"
"Kurogane-san!"Red eyes widen.
"Kid?"
No air. Can't move.
"Oh, shit. Someone get me that damn medic!"
Can't breathe. Need air.
"Hang on, kid."
Need to breathe, need to…
Nothing.
-0-
After we went planet-side again, Fai went off to find his friend, while Syao, Cherry and I decided to browse through the bazaar in order to find some supplies. So there I was, one minute walking next to Dollface, grinning my charming grin as I tried to get my arm around her waist, and the next I heard a whoosh and then a wham as something slammed right into my jaw. I whirled around to teach the bastard who dared to punch me a lesson, only to stagger back in shock, losing my footing somewhere along the way to fall flat on my ass. Unable to draw a breath, I remained frozen in place, clutching my throbbing jaw as I stared up at those deadly, glowering eyes— eyes that his enemies had rightfully called demonic.
He was alive! The man that I owed my life to, the very person that I had sent off to the gallows. The one whose trust I had betrayed, that man was still alive.
"You!" snarled the demon look-alike. "How dare you show that face here?"
I remained frozen in shock, forgetting how to even draw a breath as I stared up at the red-eyes.
Red like the blood on my hands.
Suddenly, a bristly tail was swishing in front of my eyes, cutting off my line of sight to the man's face as Syao jumped between us. I heard him growl at our former teacher as he assumed a protective stance before me.
"Still as violent as ever, Kurgz…" I heard Phoenix sigh somewhere behind me and I was suddenly aware of Cherry's soft fingers worriedly checking my face for injuries.
When did she get here?
"K-kid?" 'Kurgz' choked up above me, backing away from us in shock as his gaze shot back and forth between me and Syaoran several times. Shaking his head, he staggered away. "What the fucking hell happened to you?"
Syao whined in response, and as much as I wanted to tell the man now suddenly staring at the brown wolf in horror, I knew better then to open my mouth. Kurogane didn't even want to see my face, let alone hear me speak. I was a mistake that he would curse to his dying breath. An abomination he would have been better off leaving for dead.
I might not have known who Phoenix's mysterious friend had been before I had come face to face with him, but… now that I knew, I wouldn't be going off planet alone.
I was the heartless bastard that would gouge at the Dragon's old scars and ask for his help to alleviate my guilt over the crimes I had committed. And I knew enough about the man to know that though he would like nothing more than to slice me open right where I sat, he'd help us. I knew enough about him to know that he'd do anything to help Syaoran, and I, being the soulless clone that I was, would use that little secret to its fullest extent.
-0-
Ba-dump.
Air…
Ba-dump.
Breathe in.
Ba-dump.
Exhale.
Ba-dump.
Live.
Ba-dump.
Breathe.
Ba-dump.
Leaden lids parted once more.
Ba-dump.
Crimson eyes stared down at him.
Ba-dump.
"Good to see you finally woke up, kid."
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Live…
A/N: and that's it for now. Reviews helps my plunnies breed and mutate and work in amazing ways so please help them take over the world and drop me lots of reviews so that you can get faster updates ;)
