Hehehehe... that's all I'm saying about this chapter!!
Disclaimer: Me no own.
I'm addicted to replies. Please feed a poor girl's addiction.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Moon Stalker"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Six
"I absolutely forbid you, Serena!"
Serena looked up from lacing her shoes and stared Luna
straight in the eye. "You can't stop me." She said slowly. "In case
you haven't noticed, I'm nineteen. I'm an adult, Luna. You can't
forbid me to do anything. I make all my own decisions and I'm making
the decision to go look for Silk. And I'm making the decision to take
Andrew with me. And I'm making the decision against what you want."
She stood up and began to assemble her weaponry.
"Serena!! This is absurd! It's a werewolf! Why are you saving
it?" Luna asked her eyes wide and a bit of fear showing through.
Serena dropped to one knee so she was eye level with the
feline on her bed. "Luna, Silk is my friend just as much as you are.
If you were in trouble, I'd do anything to save you, and I'm doing the
same for Silk. Even if it is a werewolf, Silk's my friend." She spoke
softly and gently as Luna's expression trembled between wild fear and
anger.
"Serena..." She trailed off as Serena stood up and headed for
the door. "Don't get hurt... I couldn't bear it if I lost you."
Serena turned back and tears glistened in her brilliant blue
eyes. "Oh, Luna... don't worry. I'll come back. I swear it." She
turned and walked out the door.
Luna hung her head. "I hope so. Good luck, Serena. Good luck."
"So... what's the plan?" Andrew asked softly as the walked
through the forest to the place where they last saw Silk.
"Basically, you stay in the woods. I'll go into the clearing
and... see if maybe I can lure him out... then I'll try to get him to
either bring Silk there or take me wherever Silk is."
"What if he disagrees? What if he tries to kidnap you?"
Andrew's voice betrayed his fear for his soul-mate as it wavered.
"Oh Andrew." Serena stopped and turned to face him. "You and
Luna are quite a pair. Don't worry, I'd never leave you." She hugged
him close and he responded instantly. They shared a sweet, gentle kiss
under the moonlight before a sense of urgency hit Serena and she
pulled back. "We have to go..."
She turned instantly and began to pick up her speed through
the woods. Suddenly they were at the clearing and she threw her arm
out to the side to stop Andrew as she halted herself.
The clearing was practically empty... except for the black
bundle in the middle of it. And the man standing non-chalantly behind
the bundle. He had his back to her for the moment and she took the
chance to slid behind a tree and pull Andrew with her.
Resorting to the quietest form of communication she knew she
told Andrew the finally plan. Stay here. If I need you, I'll call
for you. Otherwise... stay here, no matter what!
She looked him in the eye till he nodded, then taking a deep
breath, stepped into the clearing.
"Hello, Mask." She said as she strode carefully, slowly,
closer to him. He turned slowly, as if he was expecting her from that
direction and nodded slightly.
"Serena."
Serena took a chance and glanced down at Silk. The poor wolf
was bound paw to paw to paw to paw. Absolutely no chance to escape.
And once Serena had untied it, it would be hard put to stand up, much
less walk or run, for a number of hours.
"I suppose you want your little pet back."
"I would like my friend, yes." Serena corrected him with a
distinctive chill in her voice.
"Then take her."
Her. Serena thought decisively, happily. She'd never dared
to check what Silk's sex was. It had seemed to much of an indignity.
Serena stared at the Mask's face, wishing to the Hundred Little Gods
that she could see his eyes, as she stepped closer to Silk, taking a
small berth around Mask. He turned with her, as if keeping eye contact,
till they were standing on either side of Silk.
Slowly, keeping her eyes on the Mask, Serena bent down and
reached for the knots binding Silk.
"You do realize I need a trade." The Mask's voice stopped her
hands and she stood up again till she was as tall as she could be,
though she still came only to his shoulder.
"Meaning?"
"You for your... friend." There was an obvious distaste to the
word as he said it, but Serena ignored it. Her expression hardened and
it was obvious to the Mask. She hadn't bothered to wear her half-mask.
It was a bit restrictive on her vision and he already knew who she was
anyway.
"That hardly seems fair." She told him after a moment.
"What would you consider fair?"
Serena was silent again. She didn't have anything else to give
him and if that was the only way to get Silk back... She had to save
her friend.
Andrew... step out of the woods but stay on the edge of the
forest.
The Mask turned his head slightly when Andrew stepped out and
shifted his weight so he could more than likely see Andrew and Serena
at the same time. "Are you offering him?" The Mask asked softly,
amusement and disdain lacing his voice.
"Hardly." Serena said just as softly. She knew at this level
Andrew wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. That was just as
well. "You want me. Fine. Allow me to give Silk to Andrew, let them
go, and I'll go with you."
The Mask was utterly silent for a moment, then spoke
breathlessly. "You swear?"
"I swear on the Hundred Little Gods."
He nodded and stepped back so she wasn't in his imposing
shadow. She quickly knelt to the ground and cut the bonds around Silk's
paws. She was unconscious and Serena gently hoisted her into her arms.
She walked slowly to Andrew and handed him the wolf. "Take her
to Luna... she'll take care of her."
"What about you?" Andrew's eyes were wide and full of fear for
her.
"I'll... come as soon as I can. I love you, Andrew... take care
of Silk." She turned quickly and walked away before she started sobbing.
The Mask stood impassively in the middle of the field waiting for her.
"Serena!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew stared for a moment at Serena's back as she stepped
closer and closer to the person in the middle of the field.
"Serena!" he cried. "Don't go... I can't let you!" He gently,
albeit quickly, set Silk down and ran after her, grabbing her arm and
turning her to face him.
"Andrew... I have to. He's agreed to let you guys go if I go
with him. You must understand!"
"I won't! I won't let you." He whispered fiercely, his grip
gentling as he drew her close to him. A sudden growl to his side
caused both him and Serena to turn as Silk suddenly wrenched herself
up right and took a flying leap at the Mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I won't! I won't let you."
Raye could hear him, but she couldn't force her eyes open. She
was so tired. So weak.
Serena. I have to protect Serena. The idea of Serena going
with that mad man. Raye had spent less than a day in his company and
it had been horrible. She couldn't let her friend submit herself.
With a growl of rage she forced her feet under herself and
leaped at the man in the mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Silk!" Serena cried as she ripped her arm out of Andrew's
hold and tried to jump to grab her friend. But Andrew pulled her back,
using his weight and her momentum to throw her behind him and himself
forward. He hit Silk in the side, knocking her off course and out of
the way of the knife the Mask had hurled at her from his own hidden
sheath.
But the knife hit Andrew in the side, imbedding itself deep in
the tissue of his stomach. The pain was amazing, and final. Serena felt
it hit her and she doubled over, falling to the ground, gripping her
flawless side.
Through tear-blurred eyes she saw Andrew, lying on the ground
on top of Silk, blood covering them both. A sobbed ripped itself out
of her throat as she crawled towards her fallen soul-mate.
She ignored the pain in her side and pulled Silk from under
Andrew. She cradled his head in her arms, holding him as he gasped for
breath. She looked up and saw Raye, coming from behind her, kneel down
and gently pull the knife from his side. He screamed.
It was horrible and a new wave of tears poured from Serena's
eyes. "Oh Andrew... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She moaned as she
kissed his forehead again and again.
"Serena..." he gasped. She pulled back to look at him. "I
love... you."
"Andrew... oh, Andrew... Don't leave me! Don't leave!"
Andrew smiled at her, gently, as he reached up a hand, shaking
from the effort, to brush her cheek. She grabbed it, holding it
desperately to her face as she sobbed, crying out the pain he couldn't.
"Good bye, my love... do not... mourn me... forever..."
"Andrew... Andrew..." she whispered again and again as his
hand slackened, the life pouring out of his body from the open wound
which Raye was desperately attempting to staunch.
Slowly, his eyes closed. Serena moaned softly, unable to voice
her pain in more than a gasping sob as the tears flooded her body.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raye moaned softly in her mind as Serena pulled her out from
under Andrew. She was quite content just to stay her till her protesting
muscles came back from being jello. But Serena's moans and cries
wouldn't let her rest.
Finally her mind grasped the idea that Andrew was in trouble.
Terrible trouble.
With a quivering grip on her mind, she pictured her human body,
pulling herself back into it. It took her much longer than normal and
almost as soon as the skintight leotard solidified around her body she
was crawling around Serena to look at Andrew.
It was terrible. Her face paled at the sight of the knife
blade in his side. She glanced at Serena then set her jaw and gripped
the handle.
"I'm sorry." she whispered as she tried to gently pull the
knife from his side. It slipped out easily and Raye thanked the
Hundred Little Gods that it wasn't caught in the muscle. There was a
chance.
"Maybe..." that word hovered on her lips as she worked
frantically to staunch the blood. She didn't know much about wounds,
but she did know a little. She ripped Andrew's shirt, tying a
tourniquet above and below the wound and pressing more cloth to the
wound itself.
Andrew's soft good-bye pulled Raye out of her little world.
"No." she whispered. "No!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena looked down into Andrew's lifeless eyes and gently
closed them, laying his head on the ground.
"No. No!" She turned to see Raye, purple eyes wide and
glittering feverishly, still attempting to stop the blood.
She reached over and gently grabbed Raye's hands in her own.
"Raye... Raye!" She yelled as Raye ignored her, shaking the hands away
and pressing the cloth tighter.
Serena wrenched Raye around to face her and pulled her into
her arms. "It's too late... he's... he's..." she couldn't finish. She
couldn't. She sobbed quietly into her friend's shoulder and Raye
seemed to finally get it. She cried quietly as well and held her
friend close, both drawing strength from the other.
After a few moments Serena's mind brought up another picture.
One of a man all in black wearing a black mask. One who was in the
pose of throwing a knife. The same knife in his hand that had been
buried in Andrew's side.
Her eyes glittered with hatred as the tears dried almost
instantly and anger filled the place of grief. She pulled away from
Raye and stood up. "You... killed... my... soul-mate." she whispered
harshly, knowing he could hear her.
She whipped around to glare at the man who had killed her love
and stopped dead. Horror filled her eyes and a hand flew to her mouth.
Raye gave a strangled sob behind her as she saw the man standing before
them.
He had taken off the mask to reveal a shocked face, as full of
pain and grief as Serena and Raye's. That alone would have stopped
Serena in her killing rage, but the white hair spilling over his
shoulders and the sorrow-filled purple eyes caused her mind to reel.
The Mask was Diamond.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
*evil cackle* How many of you expected that?! Sorry, I was going to have
Darien as the mask... but I was in a funky mood and decided to make it
more twisted. Plus Darien was just SO predictable. Ya know??
Comments!! COMMENTS!!!
Disclaimer: Me no own.
I'm addicted to replies. Please feed a poor girl's addiction.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Moon Stalker"
Recorded by Ziska Ames
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Six
"I absolutely forbid you, Serena!"
Serena looked up from lacing her shoes and stared Luna
straight in the eye. "You can't stop me." She said slowly. "In case
you haven't noticed, I'm nineteen. I'm an adult, Luna. You can't
forbid me to do anything. I make all my own decisions and I'm making
the decision to go look for Silk. And I'm making the decision to take
Andrew with me. And I'm making the decision against what you want."
She stood up and began to assemble her weaponry.
"Serena!! This is absurd! It's a werewolf! Why are you saving
it?" Luna asked her eyes wide and a bit of fear showing through.
Serena dropped to one knee so she was eye level with the
feline on her bed. "Luna, Silk is my friend just as much as you are.
If you were in trouble, I'd do anything to save you, and I'm doing the
same for Silk. Even if it is a werewolf, Silk's my friend." She spoke
softly and gently as Luna's expression trembled between wild fear and
anger.
"Serena..." She trailed off as Serena stood up and headed for
the door. "Don't get hurt... I couldn't bear it if I lost you."
Serena turned back and tears glistened in her brilliant blue
eyes. "Oh, Luna... don't worry. I'll come back. I swear it." She
turned and walked out the door.
Luna hung her head. "I hope so. Good luck, Serena. Good luck."
"So... what's the plan?" Andrew asked softly as the walked
through the forest to the place where they last saw Silk.
"Basically, you stay in the woods. I'll go into the clearing
and... see if maybe I can lure him out... then I'll try to get him to
either bring Silk there or take me wherever Silk is."
"What if he disagrees? What if he tries to kidnap you?"
Andrew's voice betrayed his fear for his soul-mate as it wavered.
"Oh Andrew." Serena stopped and turned to face him. "You and
Luna are quite a pair. Don't worry, I'd never leave you." She hugged
him close and he responded instantly. They shared a sweet, gentle kiss
under the moonlight before a sense of urgency hit Serena and she
pulled back. "We have to go..."
She turned instantly and began to pick up her speed through
the woods. Suddenly they were at the clearing and she threw her arm
out to the side to stop Andrew as she halted herself.
The clearing was practically empty... except for the black
bundle in the middle of it. And the man standing non-chalantly behind
the bundle. He had his back to her for the moment and she took the
chance to slid behind a tree and pull Andrew with her.
Resorting to the quietest form of communication she knew she
told Andrew the finally plan. Stay here. If I need you, I'll call
for you. Otherwise... stay here, no matter what!
She looked him in the eye till he nodded, then taking a deep
breath, stepped into the clearing.
"Hello, Mask." She said as she strode carefully, slowly,
closer to him. He turned slowly, as if he was expecting her from that
direction and nodded slightly.
"Serena."
Serena took a chance and glanced down at Silk. The poor wolf
was bound paw to paw to paw to paw. Absolutely no chance to escape.
And once Serena had untied it, it would be hard put to stand up, much
less walk or run, for a number of hours.
"I suppose you want your little pet back."
"I would like my friend, yes." Serena corrected him with a
distinctive chill in her voice.
"Then take her."
Her. Serena thought decisively, happily. She'd never dared
to check what Silk's sex was. It had seemed to much of an indignity.
Serena stared at the Mask's face, wishing to the Hundred Little Gods
that she could see his eyes, as she stepped closer to Silk, taking a
small berth around Mask. He turned with her, as if keeping eye contact,
till they were standing on either side of Silk.
Slowly, keeping her eyes on the Mask, Serena bent down and
reached for the knots binding Silk.
"You do realize I need a trade." The Mask's voice stopped her
hands and she stood up again till she was as tall as she could be,
though she still came only to his shoulder.
"Meaning?"
"You for your... friend." There was an obvious distaste to the
word as he said it, but Serena ignored it. Her expression hardened and
it was obvious to the Mask. She hadn't bothered to wear her half-mask.
It was a bit restrictive on her vision and he already knew who she was
anyway.
"That hardly seems fair." She told him after a moment.
"What would you consider fair?"
Serena was silent again. She didn't have anything else to give
him and if that was the only way to get Silk back... She had to save
her friend.
Andrew... step out of the woods but stay on the edge of the
forest.
The Mask turned his head slightly when Andrew stepped out and
shifted his weight so he could more than likely see Andrew and Serena
at the same time. "Are you offering him?" The Mask asked softly,
amusement and disdain lacing his voice.
"Hardly." Serena said just as softly. She knew at this level
Andrew wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. That was just as
well. "You want me. Fine. Allow me to give Silk to Andrew, let them
go, and I'll go with you."
The Mask was utterly silent for a moment, then spoke
breathlessly. "You swear?"
"I swear on the Hundred Little Gods."
He nodded and stepped back so she wasn't in his imposing
shadow. She quickly knelt to the ground and cut the bonds around Silk's
paws. She was unconscious and Serena gently hoisted her into her arms.
She walked slowly to Andrew and handed him the wolf. "Take her
to Luna... she'll take care of her."
"What about you?" Andrew's eyes were wide and full of fear for
her.
"I'll... come as soon as I can. I love you, Andrew... take care
of Silk." She turned quickly and walked away before she started sobbing.
The Mask stood impassively in the middle of the field waiting for her.
"Serena!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew stared for a moment at Serena's back as she stepped
closer and closer to the person in the middle of the field.
"Serena!" he cried. "Don't go... I can't let you!" He gently,
albeit quickly, set Silk down and ran after her, grabbing her arm and
turning her to face him.
"Andrew... I have to. He's agreed to let you guys go if I go
with him. You must understand!"
"I won't! I won't let you." He whispered fiercely, his grip
gentling as he drew her close to him. A sudden growl to his side
caused both him and Serena to turn as Silk suddenly wrenched herself
up right and took a flying leap at the Mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I won't! I won't let you."
Raye could hear him, but she couldn't force her eyes open. She
was so tired. So weak.
Serena. I have to protect Serena. The idea of Serena going
with that mad man. Raye had spent less than a day in his company and
it had been horrible. She couldn't let her friend submit herself.
With a growl of rage she forced her feet under herself and
leaped at the man in the mask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Silk!" Serena cried as she ripped her arm out of Andrew's
hold and tried to jump to grab her friend. But Andrew pulled her back,
using his weight and her momentum to throw her behind him and himself
forward. He hit Silk in the side, knocking her off course and out of
the way of the knife the Mask had hurled at her from his own hidden
sheath.
But the knife hit Andrew in the side, imbedding itself deep in
the tissue of his stomach. The pain was amazing, and final. Serena felt
it hit her and she doubled over, falling to the ground, gripping her
flawless side.
Through tear-blurred eyes she saw Andrew, lying on the ground
on top of Silk, blood covering them both. A sobbed ripped itself out
of her throat as she crawled towards her fallen soul-mate.
She ignored the pain in her side and pulled Silk from under
Andrew. She cradled his head in her arms, holding him as he gasped for
breath. She looked up and saw Raye, coming from behind her, kneel down
and gently pull the knife from his side. He screamed.
It was horrible and a new wave of tears poured from Serena's
eyes. "Oh Andrew... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She moaned as she
kissed his forehead again and again.
"Serena..." he gasped. She pulled back to look at him. "I
love... you."
"Andrew... oh, Andrew... Don't leave me! Don't leave!"
Andrew smiled at her, gently, as he reached up a hand, shaking
from the effort, to brush her cheek. She grabbed it, holding it
desperately to her face as she sobbed, crying out the pain he couldn't.
"Good bye, my love... do not... mourn me... forever..."
"Andrew... Andrew..." she whispered again and again as his
hand slackened, the life pouring out of his body from the open wound
which Raye was desperately attempting to staunch.
Slowly, his eyes closed. Serena moaned softly, unable to voice
her pain in more than a gasping sob as the tears flooded her body.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raye moaned softly in her mind as Serena pulled her out from
under Andrew. She was quite content just to stay her till her protesting
muscles came back from being jello. But Serena's moans and cries
wouldn't let her rest.
Finally her mind grasped the idea that Andrew was in trouble.
Terrible trouble.
With a quivering grip on her mind, she pictured her human body,
pulling herself back into it. It took her much longer than normal and
almost as soon as the skintight leotard solidified around her body she
was crawling around Serena to look at Andrew.
It was terrible. Her face paled at the sight of the knife
blade in his side. She glanced at Serena then set her jaw and gripped
the handle.
"I'm sorry." she whispered as she tried to gently pull the
knife from his side. It slipped out easily and Raye thanked the
Hundred Little Gods that it wasn't caught in the muscle. There was a
chance.
"Maybe..." that word hovered on her lips as she worked
frantically to staunch the blood. She didn't know much about wounds,
but she did know a little. She ripped Andrew's shirt, tying a
tourniquet above and below the wound and pressing more cloth to the
wound itself.
Andrew's soft good-bye pulled Raye out of her little world.
"No." she whispered. "No!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Serena looked down into Andrew's lifeless eyes and gently
closed them, laying his head on the ground.
"No. No!" She turned to see Raye, purple eyes wide and
glittering feverishly, still attempting to stop the blood.
She reached over and gently grabbed Raye's hands in her own.
"Raye... Raye!" She yelled as Raye ignored her, shaking the hands away
and pressing the cloth tighter.
Serena wrenched Raye around to face her and pulled her into
her arms. "It's too late... he's... he's..." she couldn't finish. She
couldn't. She sobbed quietly into her friend's shoulder and Raye
seemed to finally get it. She cried quietly as well and held her
friend close, both drawing strength from the other.
After a few moments Serena's mind brought up another picture.
One of a man all in black wearing a black mask. One who was in the
pose of throwing a knife. The same knife in his hand that had been
buried in Andrew's side.
Her eyes glittered with hatred as the tears dried almost
instantly and anger filled the place of grief. She pulled away from
Raye and stood up. "You... killed... my... soul-mate." she whispered
harshly, knowing he could hear her.
She whipped around to glare at the man who had killed her love
and stopped dead. Horror filled her eyes and a hand flew to her mouth.
Raye gave a strangled sob behind her as she saw the man standing before
them.
He had taken off the mask to reveal a shocked face, as full of
pain and grief as Serena and Raye's. That alone would have stopped
Serena in her killing rage, but the white hair spilling over his
shoulders and the sorrow-filled purple eyes caused her mind to reel.
The Mask was Diamond.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*evil cackle* How many of you expected that?! Sorry, I was going to have
Darien as the mask... but I was in a funky mood and decided to make it
more twisted. Plus Darien was just SO predictable. Ya know??
Comments!! COMMENTS!!!