A wolf in any other clothing

by P.L. Nunn

A continuation of Flip of the Coin and The road to hell.

4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Thunder rumbled and the panes in the windows rattled. It was dark early, the sky obscured by rain and treacherous, fast moving, black clouds. Seiji stared out the window in the den, ignoring the steady whistle of the tea pot, flinching just a little when the next strike made the whole of the house shake.

They were late. They were stupid for staying out when the afternoon began hazing with the gray, static air of approaching storm. It was the season for such storms. The rain battered the earth. Dashed the shrubbery and trees outside the house with its force. He leaned his forehead against the cold glass, irritated that between the two of them, Ryo and Rowan hadn't the sense to have given up long ago at hunting down some evasive, possibly non-existence predator and come home.

Ryo didn't want to believe White Blaze was capable. Seiji thought that a tiger was a tiger, regardless and a bit of plump sheep was as appealing as any of the lesser wild game he might hunt. They tended to forget that the creature was not, after all, a great lumbering house cat. Seiji's arm throbbed from such indifference. It hurt when he moved it. It felt swollen and hot, it itched. He lifted a hand to graze the whole flesh below the wound, as close as he dared come to the actual damage itself. Even that jarred.

"Does it hurt?" Sai came up behind him, peering at him with narrowed, suspicious eyes, holding the lip of a saucer with a handless, ceramic tea cup on it. Seiji's favorite cup. Seiji's favorite brand of tea from the smell. The kettle had stopped its insistent whining without him noticing.

"Do you want?" Sai asked, offering the cup and saucer. Seiji nodded, taking it with his good hand.

"Thank you." Softly, He couldn't raise the cup without taking the saucer in his other hand. He lifted the arm and winced. Sai winced with him.

"It does hurt, doesn't it. Have you taken a pain pill yet?"

"I don't need one, Sai." Seiji carefully sat the saucer down on the windowsill.

"Nonsense. The doctor wouldn't have given them to you, if you didn't need them. Whyever are you so stubborn about such things, Seiji?"

"I don't need them." He did not raise his voice to Sai. He kept his tone and his eyes devoid of annoyance. There was a certain residue guilt from what he had perpetrated upon Sai as well, but it was hazier than the one he felt over Ryo. He had not really been there when Sai had been hurt by his hand. He only had what they told him of the incident to go on.

"They ought to be back by now." He changed the subject. Sai was easy to lead, when it came to things concerning Rowan. He stepped up to the window next to Seiji, peering out through the rivulets of water.

"It is rather nasty out, isn't it? What time is it?"

On reflex Seiji lifted his wrist to see and ground his teeth at the stab of discomfort. Sai lifted a brow at him, a distinct, I told you so, look in his green eyes. Seiji brought the arm up the rest of the way to spite both Sai and his own incapacity.

"Almost seven."

Sai frowned, then shook his head, ridding himself of doubtless pessimistic imaginings. "They're probably just waiting out the storm. Rowan has an affinity for the woods. They're okay. Most likely wet and miserable, but okay."

"Who's wet and miserable?" Kento came tromping down the stairs, damp haired, shirtless with a towel about his neck. He'd been caught out in the downpour working on the wretched pile of rusting metal that was his car. He'd come in as drenched as if he'd taken a plunge into the lake.

"Rowan and Ryo." Sai explained.

"Oh." Kento shrugged. "They'll survive. Sooooo," He got a strange, leering sort of look on his face. "what flavor was yours?"

"My what?" Sai asked blankly.

Kento sputtered a little, as if he'd swallowed a gnat. "Ummmm., your tootsie pop?"

Sai blinked at him, completely baffled. "Cherry. Why?"

"N-nuthin'. Just wondering." He staggered into the kitchen, making suspicious sounds behind his hand. Sai narrowed his eyes and glanced to Seiji.

"What was that all about?"

Seiji hadn't the slightest interest. Seiji thought he was very well on the verge of driving himself to distraction, worrying about a thing he could not even securely pin down. Anxiety did not usually afflict him. Standing here, staring into the storm achieved nothing. It made his head as well as his body ache. He thought the therapy of a hot bath might ease both pains.

"I'm going to fix soup for supper, do you want some?" Sai asked.

"Later." Seiji handed him the cup. "I'm going to go upstairs and soak. If Ryo gets back, tell him to come let me know."

*

Rowan was mud covered from a fall down a slope turned unstable and slick. He'd bruised his knee on a root on the way down, and limped slightly as a result. He was wet to the point that dry was a foreign, peculiar concept. Even his waterproof vest was soaked through. He'd given up trying to wipe the water out of his eyes and just blinked away the accumulated droplets from his lashes. He was lost. So very, embarrassingly lost, turned around by the storm and the darkness and a mad, wild rush to chase after whatever Ryo thought he had seen in the forest. He didn't want to admit it, but he supposed Ryo had figured it out by now.

Ryo sloshed when he walked. Ryo's long hair was plastered to his face and neck. He wasn't quite at dirty as Rowan. He'd kept his feet by some miracle of grace and luck down the same slope that had tumbled Rowan head over heels, coating him bodily with mud, leaves and debris. He had his sword out still, and that determined look in those black rimmed blue eyes of his that said very clearly that his ire was up and damned if he was going to let a little thing like a storm deter him when he had the scent of a challenge. Besides, Rowan had dared to suggest that maybe what he'd seen had been a trick of eyes shocked by lightening strike, of tree limbs whipping in the storm winds, of darkness and shadow. Ryo hadn't liked that much. Had stared hard at Rowan, with water dripping off the tip of his nose and declared that Rowan could go home if he wanted, but he was going after whatever it was he had seen.

So of course, Rowan was stuck tromping through the rain after him. Which was just as well, since he wasn't certain which direction home was anyway.

"What's that?" Ryo called back to him past the rain and the rustling of branches. Rowan perked up, listening for the anomaly. And heard it above the howl of the wind. A distant, keening wail, like something in pain. Desperate, mindless pain.

It struck some primal chord of panic in him, that pitiful cry through the storm. He grabbed after Ryo's arm and caught a handful of sodden flannel shirt.

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute, okay? We don't know what it is."

"That's the point of going to see." Ryo shook off his fingers, on a fucking mission now and mindless of caution. Rowan cursed and followed, drawing an arrow placing it in the cross bow, watching the woods around them, since Ryo's attention was focused inexorably forward.

Lightening flashed and they saw it. Something dark and thrashing on the ground, squealing in agony and fighting against the insurmountable jaws of a great steal trap. It was a deer. A young doe by the size, one of her fragile legs shattered within the strong teeth of the trap.

"Shit." Rowan said softly, shaking his head. He hated traps. He hadn't known there were hunters placing them around. It made walking the woods at night suddenly a much more dangerous prospect. He lifted the cross bow towards the thrashing, wild eyed animal.

"Rowan -- no." Ryo put out a hand in horror. "What are you doing?"

"Ryo -- she's dead anyway. Can't let her just suffer."

Ryo blinked, shuddering. He drew his hand away slowly.

Rowan took a breath and released the bolt ---

---and something cracked like a mini smack of thunder through the woods. It was too quick for him to even register, the time between his release of the bolt and the sharp boom. Ryo moved, a reflexive snap of his arm as he brought the blade up. He staggered a step backwards, sword almost snapped from his hand. Rowan felt a sharp sting on his cheek a breath after the sound had faded. He lifted a hand to touch the spot. Drew it away and saw blood before the rain washed it off his skin.

"What the fuck---? What the fuck --" He yelled it the second time, with the dawning realization that somebody had shot at them.

"We're not goddamned fucking deer, you asshole." He screamed into the darkness.

"What?" Ryo was still uncertain what had happened.

"Somebody shot me."

Ryo blinked at him, then held up his blade. "That wasn't a bullet." He said, running a hand along the edge. There was a chip out of the blunt side, where the blade itself had deflected the gunpowder borne missile. The chip of steel was what had hit Rowan's cheek. Better that, he thought sourly, than a bullet.

"That was goddamned fast." He muttered.

Ryo just shook his head, as if he were a bit amazed that he'd managed it himself.

There was a rustling in the woods across from them. A human form, in a camouflage rain slicker and a rifle held cautiously at ready, emerged from the brush.

"Man, you are so fucking lucky that missed." Rowan stalked forward as far as the now still doe. "Every hear of taking a second to look before you shoot."

"What're you boys doing out here this time of night?" A belligerent voice came back at them.

"Hunting. Same as you." Rowan shot back.

The shadowed face under the slicker took in Rowan's cross bow, stared longer at Ryo's katana.

"Hunting what?"

Rowan recognized the voice. It had not been that many hours ago that he'd talked to this man at the strip club in town.

"Drummond?" he asked. "You Vic Drummond?"

"Yeah. Hey, you're that kid that was askin' me questions this morning."

"Yeah. I guess neither one of us liked the answers, huh?"

"What're you out there looking for, kid, if you think it was your dog I shot yesterday?"

Rowan shrugged. Ryo went a little tense.

"You shot White Blaze?"

"If it was on my property, then I got the right to shoot it."

"You shot White Blaze."

"This your trap?" Rowan asked to distract him.

"Yeah, its my trap. What of it?"

"How many more you got lying around here?"

"None of your business."

Rowan drew back his lips in a patently false smile, ready to tell the bastard how very much it was his business to know where the things were in order to avoid the same fate as the hapless doe, but something shifted in the thick brush behind Drummond. Something that towered tall enough that at first he thought it was a shifting wall of thick vines or a small tree bending with the wind. But trees didn't snake out arms the size of a man's torso with gleaming curved claws the size of banana's and snag a body off its feet and jerk it back into the darkness.

Drummond didn't even have the chance to scream. Just an aborted shocked expulsion of air as the claws went through rain slicker and clothes and pierced the body underneath, causing blood to spurt and making a distinct ripping sound of both cloth and softer flesh and muscle.

It happened so quick that all of those things were merely flashes of imagery. Rowan stood for a shocked moment, hands clenched on the slick fiberglass of the crossbow. He couldn't even draw the breath to curse.

Instead he thought over and over in panic. That was not a fucking bear. That was not a fucking bear. That was not a fucking bear.

*

White Blaze whined at the kitchen door. He looked up at Sai demandingly, cold feline eyes sparking with insistence. Sai waved a wooden spoon at him and chided.

"You're not going out in this weather, you bad cat. You've got a bullet hole in you and Ryo would kill me if I let you out."

The tiger's ears twitched back in irritation. He padded back through the kitchen into the den with a definite sulk to his stride. Sai went back to his soup. The wind changed direction outside and drove rain against the window over the sink. Sai frowned at it, beginning to worry a little himself about Rowan and Ryo caught out there. Suppose they'd been hit by lightening? Suppose a tree had fallen on them? Suppose they'd been in a wreck on the way back? The memory of Seiji's crumpled car was still a nasty image in his mind.

He shook his head to clear it of those unsavory thoughts, and scooped the handful of green onions he'd been chopping into the pot. Kento came into the kitchen and leaned over his shoulder to look into the pot.

"Smells good. I want cheese toast with mine."

"You know where the oven is."

"Yeah, but you make it better."

Which was true. Kento could make a mess of the simplest recipe, but on the upside, he'd eat it whether it was burned, runny or lacking proper ingredients.

"Its getting late." Kento leaned against the sink, crossing thick arms across his chest, his foray after food momentarily forgotten.

"I know. I'm beginning a worry. If it wasn't so nasty outside, it wouldn't be nearly as bad."

Kento nodded. "I'm thinking, that if they're not back in a little while, I'll ride out and see if I can spot the jeep."

"Oh, that would be a lovely idea. I'm sure everything's fine, but --"

"Yeah, yeah, I know -- better safe than sorry, huh? Hurry up with my cheese bread then."

Kento wondered into the den and the sound of the television announced he'd settled himself on the couch. Seiji came down not long after, looking as irritable as White Blaze and as restless. One assumed his soak hadn't helped. He hadn't quite taken the time to dry his hair and the damp ends created spots of wetness on the shoulders of the blue silk robe he'd donned. There was something a little feverish in his eyes that made Sai chew his lip in worry.

"Have you taken your medicine yet?"

Seiji gave him a long warning look. Sai sniffed and reached for the bottle of antibiotics, reading the label for himself. "You really ought to follow the perception."

Seiji held out his hand for the bottle silently.

"It's a childproof cap. Would you like me to open it for you?"

Which got a nastier look, then a sigh and a nod.

"Do you want one of the pain pills, too."

"No."

Argument was futile. Sai opened the bottle with only minor difficulties and handed Seiji one of the large green pills.

"Oh, my you shouldn't take things like that with alcohol." Sai admonished when Seiji got a bottle of his favorite chilled wine from the refrigerator. Of course he was ignored. Seiji downed the pill and took the rest of the glass of wine out of the kitchen to join Kento in the den.

Sai scowled, his sense of justice offended. No one ever listened to good advice. No one ever listened to his advice in particular. It was quite clear that Seiji's arm was hurting him and he was too stubborn to take the easy way out. Like it was more honorable and manly to just endure pain when a nice little pill would take it away for you. Sai would have jumped for such a pill when he was in hell with a broken wrist. Would have very happily gone and begged one of the local doctor if the transference through the gateway back to the mortal realm hadn't miraculously healed all their various wounds.

Seiji was just being stubborn. Seiji hadn't the slightest notion what was best for him. Sai picked up the bottle of pain pills. Hydrocodine. 1000 mg. Take every six hours as needed. Oh, codine was good. Sai liked codine. He had the most lovely codine laced cough syrup that made him feel ever so good after he'd swallowed the stuff.

He opened the bottle and spilled one of the capsules into his palm. Seiji would thank him, if Seiji knew, but more than likely Seiji would just start to feel better and be none the wiser. Sai opened the capsule and let the white powder fall to the bottom of an empty soup bowl, then hurriedly ladled a portion of steaming soup overtop it. He stirred and took an experimental taste. One could hardly tell and he was looking for a suspicious bitterness.

He loaded up another bowl for Kento and placed the two and a platter of cheese toast on a tray and took it into the den, feeling only slightly criminal. Seiji was in the armchair by the window, paying more heed to the rain outside than he was to the TV. Kento made a grab for the cheese bread and Sai carefully handed him the non-doctored bowl of soup. He took the tray over to Seiji and asked cheerfully.

"Would you like a cup of hot tea with this?"

Seiji held out the empty wine glass. "A refill, if you don't mind."

"Ummm, I drank the rest." One really ought not to take drugs and wine together.

Sai smiled. Seiji stared at him.

"Well, it looked good and -- and it was hot over the stove. Tea?"

"Tea." Seiji agreed after a moment.

Sai hurried back into the kitchen, making sure Seiji was still seated before grabbing the wine and emptying it quickly down the drain. He hesitated with the last dollop, then swallowed it himself. He truly hated having to be furtive. Rowan would laugh at him about the whole thing. Rowan wouldn't blink an eye at spiking a drink. Not that Sai had spiked anything. Not really. This was only for Seiji's own good.

The tiger was scratching at the door again, a low whining growl emanating from his throat. He wanted out bad, like there was something scurrying about the yard that only he could sense and needed vitally to go out and pounce upon and consume.

"You had dinner." Sai chided. "You're not going out."

*

"I'm going out." Kento stuffed the last of the cheese toast into his mouth and rose, dusting the crumbs from his hands off on the sofa arm. Seiji drew his brows in disapproval, a spoonful of soup halfway to his lips.

"Be careful." Sai stuck his head out from the kitchen. Sai was in a fit of nervous energy. Sai was flustered and Sai was doing a lot of pacing from room to room.

Seiji didn't say anything. It was useless to wish Kento to be careful if he were going out in that dreadful car of his. All one could do was hope the fates were kind and might look out for his well being yet one more time.

Sai followed Kento to the front door, pestering him about taking a rainslicker and an umbrella and driving the speed limit and watching out for floods in low spots of the road. Sai, Seiji often thought, had probably been a old Jewish mother in his last life.

Seiji flexed his arm, trying to work out the stiffness. It was still angry and inflamed, it made the whole of his body feel hot. It made all his muscles ache. He wondered if Ryo had felt like this when he'd been poisoned by the lythos in hell. Worse probably. A great deal worse. Ironic that he sported a similar injury. At least his soul wasn't in jeopardy.

He sighed and rose with distinct lack of his usual grace. Into the kitchen and he could still hear Sai lecturing Kento and Kento goodnaturely agreeing to things he would immediately ignore he moment he was out the door. Kento and Rowan were like that. They had a penchance for catering to Sai's idiosyncrasies to his face to appease him and then doing exactly what they wanted once his attention was fixed elsewhere. Well, Rowan was a little more circumspect about it. He had to put up with Sai's sulks when Sai found out his helpful advice had not been heeded. Rowan had more reason to want to keep Sai sulk-free.

Seiji didn't particularly care. But tonight, he thought wearily that bending to Sai's pestering might not be such a bad thing. One of the wretched pain pills would not be that much of an admission of weakness. It might even clear his head.

The struggle with the hideous child-proof cap made him sweat. He swallowed the pill with the last of his luke warm tea sat the empty cup on the counter by the sink. After turning the fire on to heat water for another cup he went back to the den, sat down on the couch that Kento had abandoned and flipped the television to the weather channel.

Rain, rain and more rain was all the forecast promised. Seiji ran his good hand through his hair, staring morosely out the window. The tiger was pacing, making low whining sounds. It made Seiji edgy. The thunder did.

"Seiji?"

He blinked, not having heard Sai come up. Sai stood between him and the television, offering him the cup of tea. Sai had one of his own. Sai sat down beside him on the couch and took the remote. He flipped through the channels until he found one of the prime time soaps he liked to watch and sat there sipping tea, the remote held securely in his hand, as if he were afraid to let it go in case an emergency channel change was in order. One supposed he was used to guarding the thing from Rowan, who was a notoriously irritating channel surfer.

"Oh, this is one of my favourites." Sai felt the need to explain to Seiji. Seiji looked back towards the window, absently sipping the tea, not paying the least bit of attention to Sai's running commentary about this character's mid-life crisis or that one's suspicion of his best friend carrying on an affair with his girl.

He took another sip of tea and surprisingly enough it was cool. He stared down at the half empty cup, mildly baffled that it had lost temperature so quickly. The fingers holding it felt numb. The torn, stitched up and fevered arm was hardly noticeable. His head drooped a little, hair sliding into his face. He couldn't quite summon the desire to brush it back, or lift his head for that matter. On some lower level, the slow gathering lethargy frightened him. The desire to shut his eyes and fall into a deep, all consuming sleep was overwhelming. Welcoming.

*

"Goddamnit, Ryo. Will you wait?"

Ryo paused reluctantly, flinging wet hair out of his eyes to glare back at Rowan. Rowan stabbed the dangerous end of the cross bow in the direction the thing that had come out of the woods to snatch its human prey had fled.

"What?" impatiently.

"That was not a goddamned bear."

Rowan had already said that. A number of times. Ryo stared at him through darkness and rain, waiting for Rowan to say something a little more beneficial to the situation. Rowan just sputtered and looked spooked.

"I know its not a bear, Rowan."

"Well what the fuck was it?"

Rowan cursed a great deal when he was upset. Rowan was cursing fluently now.

"I don't know."

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Ryo, just say it. You think maybe something did slip through the gate before we closed it?"

"Maybe. Rowan, we can't let it get away. That man ---"

"Is fucking shish-kabob. Dead dead dead. I'm armoring up. I'm not traipsing around out here and having that thing do that to me."

"Fine. Whatever."

"I thought nothing could cross over. I heard that from somebody there."

"That's bull shit." Ryo was moving again and Rowan followed. "Something came through and got me. Two something's."

"I'm gonna armor up." Rowan repeated.

Ryo didn't answer. Ryo heard something in the brush to the right. He darted that way, tearing through bramble and drooping vines. Something dark and fast reared up out of the shadows. There was the smell of blood and wet fur, but no sound. No animal growls, no harsh breath. An arm the size of his body swiped out and he skidded feet first in the leaves, slamming up against thick, backwards bent legs, like he was sliding for home. He sliced out with the katana and it cut through fur, but not flesh. Light flared above him, and with a resounding, thunder loud crack a far from mundane arrow exploded against the form towering over him.

For a split second, between arrow's charge and explosion, Ryo got an unhindered look of the thing. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. Twice a man's height at least, if it weren't haunched over. Thick, tawny fur covered its body, from it's long, man-like arms, to the vaguely canine shaped head that sported teeth that put White Blaze to shame. It didn't seem to have a neck, just a muscled body that sloped up into a head. Small, pointed ears and eyes that were almost obscured by fur, but gleamed with frightening --- intelligence.

Then the explosion blinded him, made him reflexively throw up his arms to cover his face and curse himself for not armoring up when Rowan had so desperately wanted to. He expected pieces of the thing to shower down on him. Most fleshly things would, hit by one of Strata's arrows. This thing didn't. It staggered back a step. Shook itself as if to clear its head, then let out a hoarse, hissing growl and leapt over Ryo towards the archer.

And Rowan was too damned close to effectively get off another shot.

*

Sai caught the cup before it could fall out of Seiji's hand. Sai caught Seiji as he slumped bonelessly sideways, and had a time juggling the cup and keeping Seiji from sliding off the couch. The cup clattered to the end table, cold tea sloshing onto the pile of Rowan's Playstation magazines scattered there. Seiji's head lolled on his shoulder. Seiji's eyelashes -- what he could see of them through the fall of pale hair -- were fluttering against his cheeks. Seiji was quite thoroughly out cold and Sai had the somewhat alarming thought that he'd somehow misread the dosage on the painkillers and given his friend a dangerous overdose. But no, he was certain he'd read correctly. He'd been very careful in his clandestine mission of mercy. Perhaps it was the glass of wine. Perhaps Seiji was just exhausted and sick. He was quite, quite warm. Sai tilted him back and slipped his hand under the thick bangs to feel Seiji's forehead. Seiji didn't protest. Those ice blue eyes did not slit open and give Sai a look of death for daring to make such a overtly motherly gesture.

"Seiji? Seiji?"

No response.

He sat there for a moment, both arms around the victim of his kindness, wondering what he ought to do. Whether he ought to give the doctor a ring and ask whether he ought to be unduly worried? Whether he ought to force Seiji awake and make him walk the drug off. He'd seen people do that on the telly when overdoses were involved. Make a body walk about, or force them into cold showers. But Seiji didn't seem to be gasping his last breath and his color was good. Seiji made a low sound and moved a little, shifting his head against Sai's shoulder. He smelled rather nice. Whatever he'd put in his bathwater to soak in still lingered on his skin and in his hair. Seiji had a taste or far off exotic scents. Subtle and curious, just enough to make a body want to take a step closer to him to figure out what it was he wore. Sometimes Ryo carried a hint of the fragrance around, if he'd spent the night between Seiji's sheets.

Sai decided he wasn't in danger of expiring. He slipped out from under Seiji's weight and arranged him on the couch - there was no graceful way for him to get him upstairs and into his own bed alone and he could sleep it off here as well as there.

He went and double checked the instructions on the prescription anyway, just for his own peace of mind, and decided that it had to be the wine. Restless and worried now on several fronts, Sai went out onto the front porch, careful not to let White Blaze slip out past him when he opened the door.

The big old porch creaked when he walked on it and rain rolled down the roof to pour out of the gutters. The sound of it was a steady, numbing patter, a merciless downpour that was hidden by the night. The weak porch light barely bit into the darkness. Sai wrapped his arms about himself and shivered, caught in a cold blast of water laced wind.

Stupid to worry, he told himself. Stupid to let the weather and night make him jumpy. It wasn't as if Rowan and Ryo couldn't take care of themselves. It wasn't as if Kento wouldn't find them -- perhaps stuck on the side of the road somewhere -- and haul the lot of them back home. It wasn't like there was any mortal thing in this world that couldn't be overcome by the mystic armors at their beck and call.

Nothing at all like that.

*

So, Rowan, how's it feel to be knocked on your ass, with a big ol' hellbeast trying its damnedest to rip out your guts? Why, it's just the bestest feeling in the world, Rowan, wish I could experience it everyday, just to get the blood pumping.

Rowan lay on his back, carrying on this conversation with himself for the few precious seconds it took to get his breathing under control and his hands to stop shaking. His hands clutched dirt and leaves, the bow being somewhere buried in debris off to the side and out of his reach. Mystical arrows didn't do a hell of a lot of good when the beasties were right in his face. The thing had hit him with enough force to feel through the armor -- and that was saying a lot. Had knocked him flat on his back and proceeded to try to rip his throat out with those damned vicious teeth while attempting to disembowel him with back and front claws. Of course the armor had repelled those attempts, but it didn't mean he hadn't been scared shitless while it was happening.

It hadn't lasted long. Not even long enough for Ryo to gain his feet and come at the thing from behind. Just a couple of frantic indrawn breaths-- more than enough time for the thing to have carved up anybody not encased in mystic Ronin armor -- and then it was gone. And Rowan lay there with rain dripping into his face, stunned.

There was a movement, the sound of moist leaves shuffling and he flinched, but it was just Ryo's dark sillhuette and Ryo's very steady hand held out to offer him assistance up.

"Will you call up your goddamned armor?" he smacked the hand away, sitting up a little awkwardly-- the armor was not the most flexible choice of attire a body could wear -- and blindly feeling around for his bow. "If I have ta cart you back in chunks, I'm gonna be pissed, let me tell you."

"You didn't make a dent in it, Rowan." Ryo pointed out. You hit it dead on and it just shook it off. What the hell is it?"

"Its a fucking hell beast. I thought we'd established that."

"Yeah. Well, what's it want?"

"It wants ta fucking eat us, man. Jesus Christ, Ryo, will you call up your fucking armor? The fucking thing's out there somewhere."

"Rowan, calm down."

"You calm down. It didn't try to rip your face off. God, I think it drooled all over me. Yuck!"

"Okay." Ryo said softly, and a nimbus glow surrounded him briefly, obliterating his shape for a moment as the armor formed around him. And then the two of them were metal encased and prickly with weapons. Rowan felt better for it.

"It went that way." Ryo indicated with a jerk of his chin. "Let's find it."

*

Sai broke out a chunk of Kento's handmade and rather expensive fudge for lack of anything else to do. He nibbled at the overtly rich stuff and leafed through a magazine at the kitchen table. He'd finished the package of shortbread wafers with his tea and the fudge was the only other sweet thing in the house -- unless Kento had something hidden upstairs in his room -- and Sai had a craving. He propped his chin in his palm, skimming over an article about what this Spice Girl was doing now and what that one was planning on doing in the future. The pictures were atrocious. The article was invasive and sarcastic, but it was one of Rowan's magazines, so one shouldn't be surprised at anything found between its covers. There was also an article on how one might convince one's spouse or girlfriend into participating in the grand adventure of a threesome. That one had pictures too of a rather graphic nature, and he flipped past it with a sigh. One ought not be surprised. Rowan had varying and exotic tastes. His screensavers were generally blushworthy and always pornographic, little wonder that his reading material was questionable.

He finished the square of chocolate, walnut encrusted sweetness. His tea was down to the last lukewarm dregs in the bottom of the cup. With a sigh, he closed the magazine and rose, thinking about going up stairs and turning on the radio to see whether any terrible accidents had been reported.

The cat whined a little from his sprawled position at the back door. Great tiger ears twitched when Sai softly told him to go to sleep. One covertly wondered if maybe a little of Seiji's pain killer wouldn't do White Blaze a world of good. Have all the grouchy, hard to deal with wounded things stoned out of their minds. Which was a terrible thing to contemplate and he felt bad thinking it, casting a guilty glance towards the sofa on his way through the dark den.

He padded upstairs and into his room. The soft, purplish light from his aquariums made the room almost phosphorescent. He switched on the radio and ambled about feeding this tank and that as he listened. All his fish were freshwater, his one marine concession being a small coral reef tank that housed a variety of invertebrate and corals. He couldn't conscience taking fish from the vast ocean and imprisoning them in small glass boxes. Freshwater fish weren't so bad. Freshwater fish didn't touch him the way salt ones did. The one tank, full of nasty minded African cichlids needed cleaning. He contemplated doing it, to pass time.

There were buckets and siphons and all the required chemicals to keep his scaly pets happy and healthy in the hall closet. He went out into the hall, down its dark length towards the closet at the end. He gathered everything he needed, and turned to cart it back to his room and found himself face to face with Seiji.

A Seiji who had come up on him as silent as White Blaze ever was, and a Seiji who stared at him through the shadows with fever bright, intense eyes.

"Oh, you've woken up." Sai stammered, still a bit unnerved from Seiji's sudden appearance. "Well that's good. You went out rather like a light. You ought to go to bed until Rowan and Ryo get back."

He started to move past with his burden. Seiji's arm snaked out, palm pressed to the wall, blocking his way.

"Ryo?" Soft, curious inquiry. Seiji's head tilted and long strands of pale silk hair fell to obscure the right half of his face. He moved a step closer, reaching out to brush the front of Sai's shirt with the back of a knuckle.

"Where is Ryo?"

"Umm, out with Rowan, don't you remember? Are you all right, Seiji?" Instinctively he moved back. He couldn't help it, with Seiji bearing down on him, and a look on Seiji's face that was just -- odd. Seiji was moving strangely too, languid and slow, as if his body was still afflicted with the effects of the drug, while his mind had fought free. Perhaps he was drunk from it. Seiji didn't often sink to that state, so it was hard to tell.

Sai held the bucket in one hand, and the long tube connected to the siphon cleaner over the other shoulder. Seiji reached down and caught that hand, lifting it up between them, tracing his fingers over the delicate bones of Sai's wrist.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Sai."

"It -- it's okay, Seiji." He was breathless. "It wasn't you."

Seiji smiled. Sai didn't get to see him do it often, a sensuous curve of lips over perfect white teeth. It was breathtaking and frightening and Sai pulled back, pressing into the corner with no place else to go and no clear notion of why he ought to wish escape.

There was a snarl and a flash of pale movement out of the corner of his eye. Seiji whirled, back against the wall and stared wide eyed at the tiger who crouched low to the floor, not three feet from them, ears flat and low, dangerous growls rumbling from his throat. The cat meant business. The cat was low to the ground with a look in his eyes that was in no wise forgiving.

Sai let out a little sound of confused dismay.

"White Blaze. Stop it. What's gotten into you?" He stepped forward, past Seiji, one hand held out towards the tiger. White Blaze's growls grew louder, but his eyes were not focused on Sai. Sai glanced behind him at Seiji, completely confused now. He didn't even see the bunching of the tiger's muscles the moment before it leapt. The heavy body just knocked him aside as it passed, and with a tangle of white fur and silken house robe, Seiji went down under him.

*

They had a speed now that they hadn't had before without the armors. And a power that really ought to have made Rowan feel invincible, if his mind hadn't kept wondering back to visions of the damned thing clawing away at his gut and snarling into his face. It spooked him and kept him spooked. Silly, really, since the armor of Strata should have made him feel ballsy as hell. 'Course, Strata's arrows generally made his targets do a little more than blink in a moment's surprise.

So, he took to the trees. He felt better with the distance between him and whatever might be hiding in the brush. He could get a shot off from up there while Ryo dealt with whatever was ground bound.

The rain and the darkness made it hard as hell to follow Ryo's movements, much less see what might be lurking in the shadows. Ryo made a good deal of noise, though, which served the double purpose of letting Rowan know where he was and maybe just drawing the hellbeast towards him. Rowan didn't think the thing was running from them. There had not been fear in those glittering, angry eyes, just animal ferocity and a lust for the kill. He didn't know why it had taken off instead of trying to finish him, instead of whirling about and slicing into Ryo's then unprotected flesh. Maybe more animal instinct's at work. Maybe it didn't like the smell of the armor. Who the hell knew.

The forest was illuminated with a quick flash of lightening. The rumble of thunder was fast on its trail. Rowan looked skyward, up through the tangled canopy of leaves and frowned. Between the trees and the godaweful amount of metal he had on his body, he made one attractive lightening rod. Kento had gotten hit once, while armored up. It hadn't done a whole lot more than knock him on his ass and make him see spots for two days afterwards, but he'd claimed it had hurt like hell. Rowan really didn't wish to experience it himself.

"Hey, Ryo, wait a sec."

His call echoed a little inside the confines of his own helm.

"What?" Ryo was an oddly shaped sillhuette below.

"This is a lost cause tonight, man. The thing's not coming back out."

"What do you wanna do, Rowan, let it go and kill somebody else?" Short sarcasm from Ryo, which meant he was frustrated and probably as miserable as Rowan was with water dripping down into his face from the points of his helm.

"Course not, you shithead. But I don't wanna be lightening bait and I don't see any reason to stay out here all damn night for nothing. We come back in the morning with the guys and hunt the thing down then. Its big as hell, there's only so many places it can hide in the light of day."

"No way, dude. We're close, I can feel it."

Rowan swore. Moron. Simpleton. Damned stubborn ---

Something came out of the darkness and enveloped Ryo. There was an ear piercing screech of claws against metal and a crash of heavy bodies into underbrush that had no choice but to give under the weight. Ryo didn't make a sound. The hell beast didn't. Rowan did, vocalizing all the curses he'd been reciting in his head. He pulled an arrow, nocked it and frantically looked for a target.

There was a thrashing, a scream of anger/ pain/ surprise, that in no wise came from a human throat. A deep sound of rending wood and in the tangle of limbs and vines a tree began to topple.

"Ryo! Where are you?" He screamed down.

"Here." An answering call. A movement in the shadows and Rowan locked on target. Saw Ryo and between Ryo and himself the hulking shape of the beast. He drew and fired. The thing turned and he got one glance of glittering, devious eyes before it threw itself to the side. The sizzling bolt of mystic energy singed its fur as it passed and slammed with terrifying accuracy dead center into Ryo's chest.

Rowan's jaw dropped. He couldn't, at the moment, even come up with an adequate curse.

*

Seiji was out. Like the proverbial light. He'd probably been out before he hit the floor with all of White Blaze's considerable weight piled upon him. Sai assumed this only because of the limp way he sprawled, completely non-defensive, when the tiger attacked.

Sai was in the midst of opening his mouth to scream at White Blaze to stop, in the midst of rushing forward and putting his body in the way of tiger gone insane, when the big cat's ears just suddenly perked back up, and the growls stopped and the claws retracted back into large soft paws. White Blaze crouched over Seiji, sniffing his face curiously. The tongue flicked out to stroke Seiji's pale cheek.

Sai crept to his knees next to the cat, not certain if shoving him away were a good notion. Ryo was the only one who could really roughhouse with the tiger and get away with it, and even he came away on more occasions than not with scratches and welts.

"What's come over everyone tonight?" Sai muttered. "Please get off of Seiji, White Blaze."

The tiger, in a very cooperative manner, stood up and daintily stepped away. He sat down a few feet away and watched as Sai tried to wrestle Seiji up. Seiji had a couple of inches on him and good twenty pounds. He was not easy, when he was not helping at all, to get down the hall and into the cool confines of his own bedroom.

When he finally flopped Seiji down onto the bed, he sat down on the edge of it himself, running a hand through his hair in bewilderment. It was all just too odd. Seiji's strange behavior. White Blaze going quite deranged. Rowan and Ryo missing long into the night. Rather like something out of a horror movie. Sai didn't like horror movies. He didn't like the suspense and he certainly didn't like the bloodshed. Rowan thought they were amusing. He and Kento would laugh like idiots through the most horrendous parts, which really made one worry about the sad sick state of their minds.

*

He'd scored a hit, with the preternaturally sharp edge of one of the mystic katana's. Had opened a slice along the rough, bristle furred ribs. Or at least where Ryo thought the ribs ought to be. The thing really wasn't any stronger than he was -- which was saying a whole hell of a lot -- with the armor on. He'd kicked it off him and slammed it into a tree with enough force to snap the trunk. It had been going rather well until Rowan shot him.

Rowan's bolts hurt. Rowan's bolts dead on had one helluva impact. At the angle it hit, from almost directly above, it didn't fling him backwards so much as drive him down against the earth. He made a dent. Mud and leaves and chunks of root sprayed outwards. He lost all semblance of breath and his vision filled with bright dancing spots.

It kept him from seeing the hell beast as it sprang on him. But he felt it as it jerked him up and bore him backwards, slamming him against a thick trunk with enough impact to shatter yet another tree. So much for regaining his breath. One broad, claw studded hand/paw swooped down over his face, completely covering the faceplate of his helm, smashing his head back against the tree. Again. He figured he was going to come out of this with bruises if not worse. No matter how impervious the armor, there was flesh inside that didn't take extreme banging about without some protest.

And where in hell was Rowan when he needed him? He would have called if he'd had the breath. As it was he tried to get to the second sword which was still in its sheath at his back. The first one had been knocked out of his hand when Rowan's mystical arrow hit him.

There was a rustling of leaves from beyond and this time the beastie didn't have the time to turn and escape. The explosive energy of Strata's arrow hit it between the shoulder blades and sent it crashing forward into Ryo. He was momentarily smothered by it, before he got his arms under it and pushed it off. This time Rowan's arrow had at least stunned it as much as it had stunned Ryo. This time Ryo wrenched his katana out of its sheath and lunged forward, intending no manner of mercy. One quick, powerful slice that should have gutted it, but didn't. It hurt it though. It howled and staggered.

Ryo saw the other sword in the leaves and snatched it up, Hefted them both and summoned the will it took to control the raging heat of Wildfire.

"Rowan, back off." One short, quick warning to Rowan who was on the ground and closer than he ought to be to something Ryo was about to fry.

Rowan jumped back and the hellbeast, attracted by his movement surged after him. Ryo let loose a fountain of fire. It blasted into the beast, undaunted for the moment by the rain. The thing howled, caught up in an inferno that had nothing better to do than feed of its flesh. But it was still standing, staggering incoherently, and looking as if it were about to flee. Rowan sent another shaft towards it. And the impact of this one drove it to the ground. The mud and the rain put out the flames and it lay there, charred and unmoving, smelling of singed fur and cooked flesh.

"Well --- damn." Rowan said softly, standing spaylegged in the leaves, his cross bow still held at ready.

Ryo blinked water out of his eyes. "Did we kill it?"

Rowan shrugged, eyeing the steaming body suspiciously. "Why don't you go and poke at it or something to see if its really dead?"

Ryo raised a brow at the suggestion, then sighed and approached the thing.

"I didn't mean it." Rowan complained, then under his breath. "Idiot. Haven't you ever even seen a single movie in your life? You never go and prod the corpse."

Ryo ignored him, reaching out with the tip of one katana to nudge the very large, somewhat charred body on the ground at his feet. It didn't move. It seemed quite dead.

Hands grabbed his shoulders suddenly from behind and Rowan's shriek of it's alive!!, almost made him jump right out of the armor. Killing Rowan was not an option, so he whirled instead and swiped a katana at him.

"You asshole. That wasn't funny."

Rowan thought it was. Rowan was half bent over, laughing hysterically. "God, that almost made the whole night worthwhile. You are soooooo gullible, Wildfire."

"Fuck you, too, Rowan." Ryo muttered and turned back around to the creature. "So what do we do with it? We can't just leave it here. What if it resurrects or something? It was from hell, so was it ever really alive to begin with?"

"How in hell should I know? What da you want to do with it? Carve it up and take it home? Maybe Sai can make a stew."

Ryo gave him a disgusted glare. "I'm telling Sai about the tootsie pop."

"Oh, no you're not. I'll tell Seiji you slept with Mia."

"What? I did not!"

"Yeah, right."

"Rowan, I never ---"

"If its too wet to burn maybe we can cut it up and scatter the parts and pieces."

Ryo cast a distasteful glance at the corpse, knowing very well who would be cast in the position of butcher. But all things considered, it wasn't a bad idea. He sighed and sheathed one of the blades.

"I never even kissed her." He grumbled under his breath.

Rowan laughed.

*

"What the hell happened to you two?"

Kento sounded mad. Kento stalked up to them, dripping wet, rain slicker partially concealing his face and stopped dead in his tracks when Rowan held up the grisly head of the beast they had killed.

"What -- is -- that?"

Rowan grinned, shaking wet hair out of his eyes. "His name's Sparky. I was gonna take him home and make a pet outta him, but Ryo wouldn't let me."

"Close your mouth, Kento. It's gonna fill with water." Ryo said dryly and told him the story as they trudged through the woods towards the distant road.

It was dawn by the time they got home. The rain predictably began to let up as soon as the three of them crowded into the musty dryness of Kento's car.

It figured. Ryo sat in the backseat, fingers gently tracing a sore spot on his side and listened to Rowan and Kento talk. Things coming over from hell. He wanted to forget hell and all the things therein, but they had a severed head in the trunk as a reminder that forgetting might not be the safest thing for them.

They got home and Sai came out onto the porch, with as about as thankful an expression as Ryo had ever seen on his face. Rowan got to tell the story one more time. Rowan was getting good at it.

"Where's Seiji?" Ryo asked.

"Ummm, he's sleeping." Sai bit his lower lip. Sai sort of shuffled his feet and looked guilty. Ryo blinked at him, waiting, because Sai really looked as if he wanted to say more. "I sort of slipped him one of his pain pills because he wasn't going to take them himself and he was in discomfort and I don't think they go very well with wine because he sort of --- passed out. And then he woke up and was really quite out of his head and then he sort of fainted again after White Blaze jumped on him and I put him to bed after that and he's been asleep ever since."

Rowan snorted with laughter. "Sai, you drugged Seiji? Oh, god, that's just priceless. He's gonna kill you, you know?"

"He's okay?" Ryo asked warily, glancing up the stairs.

"Oh, he's fine. Really, he is."

"White Blaze jumped on him?"

"Oh, White Blaze was upset too. I suppose he was just nervous because he sensed that thing out there and that maybe you were in danger, so that's why he was so anxious to get out. He's okay now."

The tiger was purring on the rug in the den, to attest to Sai's pronouncement. Ryo went upstairs, the sound of Sai's horror as Rowan tried to bring the head into the front door echoing up the stairwell. He shed the wet clothes and got into the shower to wash away the grime. There was a nice sized bruise on his ribs just under his arm pit. There was a very faint red welt just under his sternum. Nothing was broken. If he hadn't had the armor on it would have killed him. He equated the impact of Rowan's arrow to getting hit by a fast moving car.

When he dried off, and slipped on a pair of boxers and T-shirt, he went to see if Seiji was in truth all right. Seiji was sleeping. Seiji didn't much move when he made his way into the room and sat down on the side of the bed. Seiji lay on his side, a pale hair obscured profile against the slate gray of his pillow case. He reached out and brushed the hair away and Seiji's long lashes fluttered. Drowsily, he blinked up at Ryo.

"Hey, I'm back." Ryo said softly.

"Hummmm." Seiji breathed an shut his eyes again. Ryo sat there, a wry smile touching his lips. It wasn't as if he'd been expecting a more enthusiastic greeting, but one sort of hoped when one was tired and achy and fighting back just the hint of the sniffles from a day of walking about in the rain. He made to rise.

"Stay." Seiji murmured it without benefit of opening his eyes. It was all the invitation he needed. Seiji's sheets were soft and warm and Seiji's body was pliant and smooth as he slipped down next to him. Seiji sighed against him, content to let Ryo position the both of them comfortably. A sleepy Seiji was generally agreeable. A drugged one was quite accommodating. It was rather nice to lie there in the comfort of Seiji's bed, with Seiji's soft head pressed against his shoulder and Seiji's svelte leg drawn up over his thighs. Quite an amiable way to let exhaustion take its toll and fall down into slumber.

He let thoughts of things from hell seep away. The one time had been a fluke surely. For it to happen again -- well, the odds were just against it.

The end

The arc will continue