Pairings: the obvious ones :blinks:
"Duo…"
"Nnnn…." He thought he heard a voice calling to him in his sleep, but the warmth he was leaning against made it so he didn't want to wake up. Whatever he was leaning on, it was soft and had a interestingly pleasant smell to it that put a smile on Duo's face.
"Duo, wake up," Scythe said tugging hard on his pants leg. "We need to move."
"Mm…five more minutes," the elf replied using his foot to push the black panther away.
"If you don't get up, we might get killed," the panther said in his head before starting to tug on him again. "And you know as well as I that we can't allow that to happen."
His eyes shot open at that as Duo looked down at the large black panther at his feet. What had been going on? Oh that's right, he and Heero ended up falling into the river. Then he had made a fire and... Duo blinked glancing to his side as he found himself face to face with the gruff soldier. He had to admit, the other looked really peaceful when he was sleeping.
And beautiful.
Blushing, Duo shook his head returning his attention to the panther that was staring up at him with a curious look in his big cat eyes. "We have a bit of a problem," Scythe said standing to his feet and walking over to a nearby tree before he jumped up easily to a branch up high. "Come take a look."
A problem? What sort of problem could be worse than what we're dealing with now?!
Carefully lying Heero down on the ground, Duo got up walking over to the tree and easily climbing up it with his nimble elfin skills. Scythe glanced over at him before he turned his head lifting his nose off in the direction he wanted Duo to look. And as soon as Duo did that, he felt his eyes widen and his body tremble to the point he had to reach out and hold onto the tree to keep from falling.
Holy hell…what is this?!
It looked like it was never-ending; the row upon row of monsters marching their way, not caring about what may be blocking them. It wasn't hard for Duo to see them all either, even with his elfin eyes. The monsters were close already, though how they got that close without Scythe's nose or Duo's elf ears picking up a hint was beyond his knowledge. It looked like it was an army of the beast, all of them marching their way towards their location looking for too organized to be a coincidence. There had to be at least over a five hundred of them.
We've gotta move.
"I believe they sense Shinigami's power," Scythe said as he stood beside him, his black hair blowing in the wind as he took his human form, his black wings flickering behind him. It never ceased to amaze Duo just how powerful the man was. Or was he a man? What was Scythe? He was no normal panther and yet he didn't appear to be human either. Occasionally, it popped into Duo's mind to question how it was that Scythe had appeared right when Duo had first summoned Shinigami. Then from the recent comments that had come from him…what was Scythe's relationship with Shinigami? And why was it that right now, Shinigami wasn't saying anything? He would have assumed that the God of Death would be happy to taunt him about the current issue.
"There's no way to hide it now that he's no longer attached to the cross." Duo felt a chill go down his spine at the words. Did he just say what he thought he'd said? Was it true? Shinigami wasn't in the cross anymore? "I-It thought if I used it one more time then-"
"He's already inside you," Shinigami said looking deep into Duo's eyes as if he was seeing more than even the elf with his eyes could see. Gently, he reached around Duo, the other standing in shock and staring at Scythe as the panther gone human removed the cross holding it carelessly in his hand.
"Scythe, be careful," Duo warned watching him warily. "That…if you drop that while I'm still…I could die."
"You won't die," was the only words Duo heard before Scythe tipped his hand down letting the cross slip free. It was almost like it was in slow motion as Duo tried to catch it with his quick elfin hands only to feel Scythe smacking the hand just out of reach. The cross fell onward, Duo expecting to feel a tug on his soul pulling him away from his body…but nothing happened. The cross just landed on the ground staring up at him meaninglessly as if taunting him for believing a lie.
So…I'm not attached to it?
But Shinigami himself had told him that he had one more chance to change. So had that all been a lie? Had Shinigami said that knowing Duo would have to call on him again? None of this made any sense to him. And yet it all did. Shinigami wanted out…and it didn't matter how it was done. Was that how Duo hadn't been able to control his body? If that was the case, why was he still conscious? For how long had Shinigami been inside his body without him knowing?
"We'll worry about that later," Scythe said obviously reading his thoughts, his body having already changed back into the small black panther from earlier. "For the time being, let's worry more about escaping and less on consequences. As long as I'm here, I won't let Shinigami take over."
Duo glanced at him, noticing the hard resolve in Scythe's eyes and smiled actually feeling safe being around the black panther, safer than usual anyway. "Alright." It didn't answer his question on the how but it did make him feel secured that all was going to be ok.
"Let's go!" Scythe yelled out in his mind as he moved jumping from the tree and rushing over head butting Heero in the side to wake him. Duo looked back towards the trees seeing just how much closer the monsters where before hopping down and rushing over to the alarmed Heero who was just starting to stand up, his sword in his hand.
"What's wrong?" Heero asked quickly, not even giving a 'hey, how are you?'
"We gotta go," Duo said frowning as he used his foot to quickly kick dirt over the fire. "We've got a big problem heading our way."
"The problem?" Heero asked, not evening giving out a full sentence. He was on the alert though, his eyes flicking this way and that even though he appeared to be giving Duo his full attention.
"Monsters."
"Monsters?" Heero asked actually looking surprised. If it weren't for the situation, Duo would have called it cute. No wait…actually it was cute. And he wasn't afraid to admit it.
"It's like an army," Duo said gesturing with his head in the direction of where they were coming from. "At least over five hundred if I estimated correctly."
"And they're heading this way?" At Duo's nod, Heero seemed to frown even more, going quiet in what Duo assumed to be his brain processing everything together to spit out a solution. "Why? Do they know where we are?"
"I think so," Duo said sighing and rubbing his head. "They can sense Shinigami." At the confused look Heero gave him, he couldn't help shaking his head and getting a little louder. "Look, I'll tell you later. Right now…let's get out of this place."
"Then we won't be able to go to that place then," Heero said softly, like he was talking to himself. "Not if they can sense you," he said louder.
"Then you go on ahead. I'll stay and distract-"
"I'm not taking that chance."
"Why?" Duo started glaring at him, wondering why he was being stubborn. If the monsters were after him, he could at the very least distract them until Heero got away. Why couldn't he see that? "You don't trust me, do you?" He said suddenly, his glare softening into something more like a pout. "Because me dying means the end of the world, right?"
"It's not about that," Heero said frowning as he stared up at him. "I'm doing it because I want to protect you…."
Duo blinked staring at him, wondering once again what was going through Heero's head. This wasn't the first time Heero had said something like that, but it never took long afterwards for Heero to change his mood. "Why would-"
"We have to go," Scythe said tugging on Duo's pants. "It's getting dangerous. If they get too close, they might start going crazy from the smell of Shinigami being so close."
"At least then my body will be so torn to pieces that even Shinigami couldn't use it," Duo mumbled, shivering at his own words as he thought about those monsters trying to eat him alive.
"That won't happen," Heero said as he reached down grabbing Duo's hand making the braided one's cheeks redden and his heart be faster. What was this now? "I'm going to take care of you," Heero said even though his eyes were glaring like he didn't want to say this. "I'll protect you, Duo Maxwell."
Duo stared at him blankly then slowly shook his head, not sure what to say. He didn't really get a chance to say anything though as Heero pulled on him, the two of them following after the black panther to their escape. They needed to get as far away as possible. Because if they didn't…those monsters would tear them to shreds.
I'll protect you too…Heero. Or at least I'll try anyway...even if you are a jerk sometimes.
Quatre coughed spitting out water as he climbed onto shore. He laid down taking a moment to rest as he stared up at the sky looking at the semi dark cloud. It was getting late…how long had he been in that water floating along? That man…was it possible he was still alive? And what about that panther? He'd felt something from the black creature, but right now he couldn't even explain what that was.
Standing to his feet, Quatre glanced around looking for anyone from their little group to be there with him. He was worried, obviously. What if the others had drowned? He didn't want to think about it that way though. They were alive, they had to be! His eyes lit up brightly when he saw Trowa lying on the shore on the other side of the river, passed out by the looks of it. "Trowa!"
He didn't get a response from calling out the name and frowned looking around for a way across. With the tides going up now, there was no way he'd be able to get across without being sucked down into the river. And being as tired as he was, he knew he'd never survive it this trip. It was just his luck that he found a log that'd been broken apparently some time back making a convenient bridge leading to the other side.
Quatre walked over to it, standing on it an noticing instantly that it wasn't the most secure log. But if it could get him across to his friend then...
I'm going for it.
He moved quickly but carefully, holding his arms out at his sides to help him keep his balance. He'd learned a little bit of that from Trowa who he found out used to work for a traveling circus. He'd learned a lot of little things about the taller male. He'd also learned that…he might been in love with him.
Almost halfway to the other side, he felt the log starting to weaken on him, threatening to break as he froze where he was. He had a chose…he could keep going and hope he made it, or he could turn around and head back, which was the side he was closest to. Sighing and taking a deep breath, he got himself ready, not giving it a second thought as he rushed running hearing the cracking of the wood in his ear. Just as the wood was starting to give underneath him, he pushed forward jumping as high as he could coming to roll on the other side just as the log crumbled and broke in half falling into the water.
He laid there for a moment, not believing he'd just survived that but feeling a deep thrill of excitement. No wonder Trowa seemed to like doing the things he talked about. If only he'd been able to see! He'd love to be able to see Trowa performing at the circus.
Trowa…that's right….
Quatre got up, moving over to where Trowa was and dropping beside him flipping him onto his back. "Trowa…" He started to shake him, getting scared when he got no response but a pale looking face. "Trowa, wake up."
He leaned down resting his ear against Trowa's chest before he put his mouth over the auburn haired man's lips breathing into him. "Trowa…" He started pumping his chest trying to get air inside, not liking how icy cold his skin felt. Why was he so cold? How long had he been here? It felt like forever after two minutes of breathing into him, his emotions growing more desperate as he pumped him harder, tears starting to run down his cheeks. "Come on, Trowa, breath!" He couldn't even feeling his emotions. Was he…could he be….
No!
"Trowa!" Emotions getting away from him, Quatre took his hands together pounding them hard onto Trowa's chest. "TROWA!"
The boy beneath him sputtered, water shooting out of his mouth as he coughed rolling to his side and spitting out the water that he coughed up.
"Trowa!" Quatre stared down at him happily, tears of joy shining in his eyes as he reached down grabbing hold of Trowa's hand holding it tightly. "Thank god you're ok!"
"A...Angel?" Trowa said staring up at him, his eyes not fully focused on him yet as he tried to get his trembling body under control.
Angel?
Quatre shook his head, confused by the word but smiled as he reached down brushing Trowa's bang out of his eyes. "You had me worried."
"Sorry," Trowa said hoarsely, smiling as he lifted a hand resting it on Quatre's cheek. "Angel…."
Quatre felt his cheeks heating up as he rested his hand over Trowa's noticing that he said that word again. Was it possible that…that Trowa was calling him his angel? "Trowa…" he said softly.
"Where are the others?" Trowa asked though he didn't lift his head just yet.
"I don't know," Quatre admitted, glancing around but still holding onto the hand on his cheek. "I didn't see anyone else. Maybe they got pulled further down."
"Or drowned," Trowa said stating the fact that Quatre tried to avoid. Why did things have to end like that? He knew it was a strong possibility, especially in Solo's case considering he didn't seem to be functioning as well after what happened with that man.
"I hope not," Quatre said sadly blinking when he noticed Trowa staring at him. He blushed staring back at him taking note of his beautiful emerald eyes. "We should get going."
"Yeah…" Trowa said not breaking the stare for a moment. His lips seemed to call to Quatre, the young blond prince leaning down finding the eyes coming closer to him. He exhaled, lips hovering over Trowa's with only a moment's hesitation before he leaned down kissing him on the lips. Almost instantly there was a response from the boy beneath him as he was kissed back in return. And maybe if Trowa hadn't been feeling like he'd come close to death, Quatre would have let the kiss stretch on. But instead he broke it, rather reluctantly, and sighed softly resting his forehead against Trowa's as he smiled happily staring down at him. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."
"If it's as long as I have then trust me," Trowa said grinning now. "I know." His grin died down to a frown. "But…I'm not part of a high class…and what about-"
"I don't care about any of that," Quatre said still beaming like a kid with a shiny new coin. "Nothing's going to change the way I feel."
"And how do you feel?" Trowa asked, his eyes glazed over though his hand started to slip from Quatre's cheek.
Quatre quickly caught the hand in his own as he shook his head staring down at him and blushing. "That I might love you." The words came out softly compared to the rushing sound of the river's current, but Trowa obviously caught it, his cheeks reddening as he stared up at him. Feeling just a tad bit embarrassed, Quatre stood up to his feet. "Now let's get going."
He turned to walk away, being stopped as he felt a hand reaching out and grabbing him. He felt himself being pulled down, blushing as chilled arms encircled his waist and hot lips were pressed against him, a kiss being stolen from him.
"I think I might love you too," said the lips against his before he found himself responding to the kiss even more.
Wufei was soaked, but he didn't have time for rest as he walked, Solo sitting on his back though unresponsive to anything at all. He'd tried his best to snap the elf out of it, even slapping him on the face a couple of times. But still nothing worked for him. Whatever had happened back there, the guy has frozen up like a stiff board.
Grunting, Wufei shifted Solo on his back, frustrated he'd lost his hair band to the river. It'd normally been good for keeping his hair secured, which was a very big help when it came to fighting. He didn't need the hair distracting him. How Duo could manage to fight with that long braid of his, Wufei couldn't imagine. He'd been lucky enough to see Solo floating in the river and grab him before the currents carried him away. But he hadn't been lucky enough to see Quatre or Trowa. Something told him the two of them were ok though…and probably together knowing them. The only other two he couldn't account for where Duo and Heero. They'd fallen in to the river much sooner than the rest of them, so there was no telling where they were right now.
"Heh." It felt a little unnatural to have Solo being so silent, blue eyes staring at whatever was in front of him. He was alive at the least, still breathing with no problem, but other than that he didn't respond to anything Wufei did or said.
"We need some place to hide out at for a while so we can dry up," Wufei said, frowning as he talked. He didn't know why he felt some need to talk to Solo even if the other wouldn't respond. Maybe he was hoping that something was getting through to him. "We'll have to look around for the others later. Right now, the only thing we can do is worry about ourselves." He had no doubt the others were alive. He had to admit, they were strong. They could survive anything.
Besides…if Duo was dead…the whole world would know it.
The whole issue was where to go? Well if they headed in the direction they'd been going in the first place, he was sure he'd meet up with them…or someone anyway. Hearing thunder, Wufei looked up at the dark clouds, grunting when he felt a drop of water drop land on his cheek. "Great…a storm; just what we need right now." He kept walking, frowning and moving as quickly as he could as the rain started to pour down, soaking his already wet body through once again.
"You really need to wake up soon. We could move better if you did." Still no response. Sighing, Wufei kept moving, at one point starting to run as the lightning started to get bad crackling over head. He was doing his best to be careful not to slip and fall in the mud. It would be really easy to do too considering how wet the ground was now. And honestly, he couldn't even see ahead of him anymore. It was like the rain had suddenly become a tall wall of-
He slipped falling in the mud, Solo rolling free to land on his back, eyes staring at him openly but non-responsively, his hand extended outwards in Wufei's direction. He almost looked like a dead person that Wufei actually had to pause for a moment before getting up. It was like he was a…lifeless doll. A doll who's strings had to be manipulated.
"This isn't the time to be lost in your own world," Wufei said standing to his feet and walking over to him starting to haul him back up again. "Your magic would be really useful right now." Solo only stared back at him in return.
Grunting, Wufei put his back to Solo and picked him up again positioning him on his back until he was comfortable. "You're a worse pain than Duo is, you know that?" He started walking again, being beat down by the strong rains that didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. He was surprised to be able to feel Solo's heart beating against his back, but was at least reassured that the guy was alive. Still…what happened to him in the past to make Duo think he was dead?
Wufei looked up ahead seeing a cave up and nodded his head in approval. "Good. Perfect timing." He ran on inside, disregarding whether there were any bears inside or not. If so, he wasn't against having to kill a bear for shelter. Besides, he could use the bear meat for food and the fur for warmth. "It's pretty quiet in here, isn't it?"
"…." Frowning, Wufei sat Solo down against the cave wall. It wasn't a big cave, but it would serve its purpose for tonight. And the best part was that it was empty and from the looks of it didn't belong to any animals that they didn't want to run into.
"Well fire's out. With all that rain, there's no way we could start a fire with all that wet wood." He glanced over at Solo, not getting a word out of him, and turned walking over and stopping to sit beside him. Solo was just staring blankly at a space in front of him, water dripping off his bangs and his body trembling from the cold.
Being a soldier, Wufei was more conditioned for this kind of weather. But Solo wasn't a soldier or any type of warrior…he was an elf, a creature made more for magic things that would keep him out of danger. The best solution for him in this type of situation would have to be sharing body heat…but Wufei wasn't really into that kind of thing. He was a loner for a reason.
Standing, Wufei started looking around the cave, feeling lucky when he found traces of dried up leaves that had blown into the cave from other times and old grass that grew in from the cracks in the cave. He put it in a pile in front of where Solo was and frowned looking around for a branch or at least something that would be useful to starting a firing. Of course it was useless if all he could find were wet branches. It didn't take him long to find a branch as he pulled the knife free at his side and started cutting at it working his way to the dry spots at the middle, hoping it wasn't soaked all the way through.
His eyes twitched as he only found the two branches made twigs to be fully wet due to the hardness of the rain. In frustration, he threw the two sticks down glaring at them before he turned his eyes towards Solo seeing the body still trembling and the eyes still staring blankly.
"At least wake up and be of some use. We could use a fire." Again he didn't get a word out of the elf and he sighed sliding closer to him and started to undo the buttons on the shirt. There was nothing else he could do but share his body warmth. Something happened though; the body beneath shifting as he looked up to find very focused eyes on him, almost as if the whole ordeal had never happened.
"Where's Duo?" Solo said hoarsely sounding like he'd been asleep for a while. In a way, that was kind of true. Wufei shouldn't have been surprised to find the first word out of Solo's mouth to be Duo, but then again…after all they'd been through, you'd think the guy would be a little more worried about where they were than some elf that was housing a death god intent on the destruction of the world.
"No clue," Wufei finally said noticing the other was waiting for a reply. "He fell into the river with Heero. The others aren't here either." He frowned then, sitting back and staring at the other as if trying to read something about him. "You blanked out."
Solo just nodded his head, shivering and staring down at the pile of trash Wufei has gathered for them to use. In fact, Wufei was starting to get a little cold himself now that he was sitting still long enough. They needed to get dry before they caught pneumonia or something worse. "You should make us a fire."
Solo nodded and hovered over the leaves, not even hesitating before he casted a fire on them. He was a little faster than Duo was when it came to using magic. It made Wufei wonder if maybe the guy had been practicing it while he was gone. So then what had Duo been doing? Oh right…hiding from the world the fact that he was an elf. He probably didn't have nearly as much time to try it, much less worrying about Shinigami being housed inside of him.
The leaves burst to life as the fire started to crackle giving off the much needed heat as Wufei found himself sliding closer to it. He'd have expected the elf to be a little more…jolly or something, but the guy was still somewhat subdued, almost like he was going into a relapse or something. He was staring into the fire, his eyes glazing over as he lost himself to his own thoughts, probably wondering about Duo and how he was doing.
"So how'd you meet Duo anyway?" Wufei asked, feeling like he needed to break this uncomfortable silence somehow. Besides that, he needed to get Solo's mind back on the problem at hand. They were lost and they needed to find the others as soon as possible. Not to mention that wacko of a man wandering around trying to find and kill all of them.
"I'm not sure if he said it or not…but I'm actually a prince." Solo frowned slightly, though he didn't look up at Wufei as he kept to himself mostly. Maybe Wufei should have been surprised Solo was a prince, but he found he wasn't. After all, finding out that Duo was an elf being controlled by a god of death and seeing a real live dragon seemed to make anything that was impossible, possible now.
"Duo was an orphan even back then. And just like in the human world, orphans are looked down upon and ignored." Solo sighed softly reaching up and brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes. "I was just like them back then." He frowned then thinking about it. "But when I saw his eyes…I was shocked. Despite how everyone had treated him, he still had a defiant, daring look to his eyes. And well the next day when I went out to look for him, I…"
(Flashback)
Solo panted softly, looking down at the smaller boy that was younger than him by at least two or three years. He didn't look scared but he did look defiantly at him, surprised as he saw the taller male stoop down in front of him so they were at the same level and holding out a small sandwich to him. "Here," Solo said softly the other just staring up at him in surprise. "You are hungry, right? So go ahead and eat."
Duo looked at him suspiciously before he reached out slowly taking the sandwich from him. He bent his head down sniffing at the sandwich like a wild animal and took a cautious bite. Instantly his eyes shot wide open in shock before he started to devour the sandwich, looking like a child that hadn't eaten in who knew how long.
Chuckling, Solo reached down gently ruffling the kid's hair, the smaller boy with his dirty face shying away from the touch before realizing that the taller one didn't mean any harm by it. "Whoa easy," he said patting on Duo's back when the other ate too fast and started to choke on the sandwich. "Don't eat so fast, I'm not going to snatch it back."
Duo blinked up at him and gave a slight nod taking a slightly slower bite, though not that slowly. "So what's your name anyway?"
"?" Duo looked up at him as he finished off the sandwich, licking his fingers clean and glancing around before he finally looked up at Solo again. "I don't have a name."
"Really?" Solo asked before smiling at him. "Well…my name's Solo. So how about we call you Duo?" He smiled at that watching the smaller one's face light up in a smile at having a name. "So that way, we'll have to stay together! Solo and Duo."
Duo nodded his head; a light red on his cheek at the idea before he looked down shifting his dirty bare feet. "Can I have another one?"
(End Flashback)
"I visited him every day bringing him food and water. I'd even snuck him into my room a few times so we could play." He smiled thinking back on the fond memories. "We were young then…and because my father didn't approve of him because of his upbringing, we had to sneak in a lot. But we'd done it for years to the point it became natural for us."
Wufei nodded his head listening to him, glad to see he was opening up a bit though it seemed he'd know Duo a long time. No wonder the two of them talked so much.
"And later one day, my pops got a visit from a human. The human was angry demanding that my father give him the cross. But dad just told him to leave and never come back. And then…"
(Flashback)
Solo moved quietly down the palace hallway, holding the cross by the chain as he had Duo at his side. He'd been told early on about the cross, about the cursed power it held and how he was never to use it, or to even touch it if it could be avoid. But he'd also been told how important it was and that it was to be protected at all cost.
Elves littered the floors of the hallway, opened eyes staring up at the sky obviously having suffered their last breaths before dying. The women had obviously been raped before killed, the evidence in the blood stains lining their dresses. Even the children hadn't been spared. The whole hallway, the whole palace was deadly quiet, the only sounds being the blowing of the wind outside and the occasional scream from somewhere outside.
"Shh…just stay close," he whispered trying to help keep Duo calm. He'd tried to keep Duo from looking by hiding the other's face against his chest, but it didn't do any good, the young elf glancing to the side and staring at the onslaught. Solo just kept moving, trying to ignore the two figures up ahead of his parents as they stared at him with dead eyes. He tried to ignore the faces of the innocent children that would be forever sleeping.
Duo just reached over holding onto Solo tightly, wanting to get out of there. Solo did too; of course…he was hoping there were some people outside that were still alive.
He was getting closer to the exit when he stopped suddenly seeing the very man that had spoken to his father earlier that day coming inside and grinning holding a bloody sword in his hand. "Well well, I see the prince thought he could escape with his little servant."
Solo froze up pushing Duo behind him quickly and shoving the cross into his hand as he stared up at the man fearfully.
"If you be a good boy and tell me where the cross is, I might let you go," the man said laughing, apparently not about to do that.
Solo could feel Duo pressing up against him from behind, trembling with fear. But he could understand being afraid right now, afterall he was trembling just as much himself. This man standing right in front of him had probably had this planned from the start. He must have brought a group of people, set on killing the elves and stealing the cross.
"Never," Solo said glaring at the man. "Dad wouldn't forgive me for letting it fall into your hands." The man started towards him, Solo gasping and backing away from him quickly. However, Duo didn't know what was going on and got bumped into when Solo backed up, his balance being lost as he started to fall down, the chain of the cross flashing in the light from the candles on the walls.
"That's it," the man said in a whisper, his eyes going wide as he started at Duo. "Shinigami."
"Duo, run!"
Duo didn't move, frozen with fear. Solo moved trying to defend Duo but the man just shoved him down to the ground and kept moving snatching Duo up by the shirt and holding him up. "Give me the cross, boy."
Duo's eyes went wide with fear as he shook his head quickly swallowing and looking like he was ready to cry.
"Give me the cross before I chop your hands off and take it myself." Duo just clenched his eyes shut shaking his head roughly again, a small whimper escaping his lips.
"Duo!" Solo slammed himself into the man's legs as he tried to give Duo the chance to escape. "Duo, run!"
Duo was dropped down and started to get up before he saw the big hand surrounding Solo's neck starting to squeeze him. "Solo!"
"Gah…Du…o…"
"SOLO!"
"The cross or he dies," the man said squeezing him harder. Duo swallowed and closed his hand starting to hold it out to him.
"Duo…r….run…." Solo felt like he could black out at any moment, the big hand around his neck tightening. Any more pressure and he was sure his neck would break. He didn't even want to know what would happen to Duo. If only he'd just run…get away while he still could. Solo glanced at Duo trying to tell the other with his eyes but he saw something else. There was a change over Duo. He wasn't trembling anymore; in fact…he appeared to be smirking. Violet eyes stared at him looking a lot darker than before…a lot more deadly. He didn't look like the little kid that liked to hang on Solo all the time…no something was different.
Solo briefly remembered his father talking about the cross, talking about the spirit inside. He'd said never to use the power no matter what…but how did Duo…tap into that power. It wasn't exactly something just anyone could use. Someone had to have a good deal of magic to use it. That was one of the reasons Solo gave it to Duo…he never knew the other even had magic since not all elves weren't born with it despite the myths the humans made up. And even then, it was rare to find an elf with an exceptional amount of magic.
"That's it," the man said, so focused on the cross that he hadn't noticed the change in Duo's eyes. "Nice and easy. Then I'll let your friend go." He was calm…too calm. The guy reached out touching the cross, not noticing when Duo moved his other hand and touched him. The man looked up in shock, the tightness around Solo's neck disappearing as the man let him go. The young elf coughed looking up quickly watching the light in the man's eyes disappear before he fell backwards hitting the ground hard and not moving.
"Duo…" Solo said staring at the man in shock, not daring to get any closer, knowing he was dead the way his eyes just stared up at the ceiling blankly. "What…happened?"
"He's dead," the voice coming out of Duo said. Solo glanced at the little boy, noticing the smirk on his lips and frowned watching him warily. "You're not Duo, are you? Who are you?"
"…Shinigami," the boy said reaching for Solo, though his hand seemed to hesitate. Solo couldn't seem to bring himself to move, staring into those blank eyes as the hand came closer and closer until it rested on his head.
(End Flashback)
"And that's all I remember," Solo said staring down into the fire, the trembling in his body finally going away.
"Sounds pretty intense," Wufei said frowning, lying by the fire. He found himself surprisingly comfortable despite the situation and definitely a lot dryer than before.
"Maybe I passed out," Solo said softly, though by the look in his eyes, he didn't seem to be so sure anymore. If what Solo had said about that man being the one they saw by the river. The guy was definitely alive, whereas Solo was saying he was dead. So exactly what happened to make a dead guy be alive again? If it were possible then…could Solo have also been revived in that same way? Not that Wufei believed any of that stuff but…lately…it was hard to tell what to believe.
"We need to find the others," Solo said obviously not wanting to think about this anymore. Wufei didn't blame him. He didn't want to think about it either, and it didn't directly effect him like it did Solo. "We need to find Duo."
"You mean everyone," Wufei said frowning and following after Solo as he was leaving the cave. It hadn't fully stopped raining but at least it had slowed down enough where they could at least walk and not run into trees and bushes.
"I could care less about the others," Solo grumbled under his breath. "I just want to see Duo. The others have never done anything for me…so why should I care about them?"
"Nevermind," Wufei said grunting and scratching his head. "Let's just go, ok?"
TBC….
Yay finally updated. It came out to 11 pages. After scrapping the chapters I was going to use. I rewrote it and this is what came out. Hope yas likes it! It's definitely way better than what would have happened. At least, I think it is, darn it.
Warnings: yaoi, fantasy, magic, AU
Comment: Story up for three years and still going? Should I be proud or embarrassed it's taking me this long to finish it? Maybe, if I stopped starting new stories so much.
Author's comments: And probably the slowest update I've done. But anyway, it turned out to be a long chapter. And I have a general idea of where I'm going again, even though I scrapped the last two chapters for being too sappy and cheesy...well to me anyway. But I guess you'll never know. Ah hahaha...yeah...
Story note:
"Yappity yap yap" Mental conversation.
Duo has a nice ass mental thoughts.
Spellcaster 21