Summary:  Set directly after the events in A Stitch In Time.  With such drastic changes, comes the inevitable repercussion...  The extreme price that must be paid is more than they can afford.  Will the troopers be able to endure the consequences of their actions? 

Ryo/Seiji shounen ai drama R

Warning: This story contains shounen ai, which implies male/male love. Please do not read if such ideas upset you. Please use your good judgment. This fiction also contains character death.
Rated R for violence, strong language and sexual situations.

Disclaimer: "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers" does not belong to me. I am but a lowly slug.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome as long as they are constructive. Heck, if you just want to chat samurai troopers, feel free to drop me a line.
Comments can be made at: Li_bell_ule@yahoo.com

**** see samples of my ryo/seiji artwork!****

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Reciprocal Motion

Chapter two: Soulless

Cold, scathing claws raked over his suffering skin. The dismembering talons-- snared deeply in his flesh-- burned cold, turning his red blood into black. He screamed in helpless desperation as the coldness diffused through his body, turning his skin ashen and burning his eyes to a soulless black.
        He heard the sickening sound of his bones snapping-- of himself breaking-- ensued by acute bursts of pain.
            Attempting to escape, he tore away from the beasts, pain lacing each breath he took as he ran.
        But it was too late, the light was gone and he was left in the utter darkness. Stumbling blindly, he hit the ground hard. To his horror, he felt his own blood-- cold. The ebony substance trickled slowly down his face.
            Clawing at the earth, he pulled his mangled body along, desperate to escape the dark, wolf-like creatures that preyed after him.
The pack descended upon him and he felt the beasts' breaths as a preternatural chill against the back of his neck.
        : You're mine.: He heard them whisper, taunting him with the imminence of their piercing teeth.
            Unable to escape, he screamed as the darkness devoured him, sharp fangs ripping into his vulnerable flesh.


        His vision met with blackness and Seiji startled awake, his chest heaving furiously, lungs laboring for air. As his violet eyes adjusted to the darkness, the reality of his nightmare slowly dissipated into nothing more than night shadows cast from the moon glow.
        He gasped in air, desperately trying to catch his breath, but his heart beat wildly in his chest. Seiji crossed his arms over his chest, holding himself tightly and forced his eyes shut.
            Breathe, He thought. Just breathe.

        Touma sighed from across the room and moved aimlessly in his sleep as Seiji finally got hold of himself. He was glad that he had not woken his roommate. Seiji wasn't prepared to be found in such a state.
        Still breathing hard, he forced his tired body to rise from his bed. Shivering as the icy night air ravaged his exposed flesh, Seiji pulled on a heavy sweater that had been discarded by the bedside for the night. Oblivious, Touma soundly slept on.
        Seiji knew he would not find sleep again that night. The reoccurring nightmare had plagued him for three nights, ever since he and Ryo had changed the time line.
            Without making a sound, Seiji fled from the room into the quiet darkness of the large house. Seiji peered intently into the darkness. He was not afraid of the dark-- only wary of it.
        He knew from experience that things were not the same in the dark as they were in the light. Anubis had seen to that.

        Seiji pulled the thick sweater tightly around himself. He was cold all the time now, even in these dog days of summer.
        He walked down the stairs, the wooden steps groaning slightly under his lean weight and he headed toward the backyard. A cool gust of wind played with his hair as he unlatched the backdoor and stepped through.
        The moon was not quite full as he moved into its radiance, hoping for solace against the chilling darkness. The pale light washed over him and he was filled with despair for it offered him no comfort.
        There was nothing left, Seiji realized. He'd been ravaged by death, and then discarded, his spirit stolen.
            Perhaps not discarded, he thought. It's come back for my remains.

        Seiji trudged down a well-worn path, into the forest as he tried to sort out the occurrences of these past few days. He'd been struggling to expel the despair that had taken hold of him and was failing miserably.
        To make matters worse, Ryo had been avoiding him for three days. When they had fallen asleep next to each other on eve of their arrival in this reality, it was this nightmare that had ripped Seiji from his sleep next to the raven-haired warrior, forcing him to flee before Ryo awoke. Distraught, he escaped outside, his eyes fixed to the horizon, awaiting the dawn.
        What Ryo must have thought when I wasn't there... Seiji thought.
         It was too late now, of course. Ryo was very good at hiding when he didn't want to be found. He had clearly gotten the wrong idea when he woke up alone after helping Seiji through a difficult spell. When he wasn't able to find him, even late into the afternoon, Ryo assumed that Seiji was being aloof.
        But that had not been the case. Seiji had not been able to bring himself away from the sun. The horror of his nightmare had been frighteningly real and any attempt he made to travel out of the sun's light, he felt the grotesquely sharp teeth of his nightmare sinking into his flesh.
        Seiji wanted to speak to him, but there was no talking to the warrior of fire when he was angry. So, Seiji was left solely to his thoughts and the abrupt changes that had inversed his life.

        Living for five years with the loss of Nasuti had made him forgetful. It was almost cruel how much he'd forgotten about her.
        She still loves Ryo, he thought. Seiji had believed that he loved her once, but he realized that it had been nothing more than a crush. Love was not something Seiji took lightly, it having been rarely shown to him.
        It was just as well that he didn't love her, since his affections were overshadowed by Nasuti's blindness. As long as Ryo was there, she would see Seiji as only another presence blocking her from Ryo's adoration.
         While he certainly wouldn't wish her dead, he had not been purely thinking of Nasuti when he had given up his life. The thought of Ryo being killed-- well, Seiji couldn't think it. All the troopers held a special place inside his heart, but Ryo meant more to him than perhaps anyone else in his life. Seiji understood why Nasuti was attracted to Ryo-- he gave unconditionally of himself to others. His spirit was so bright that Seiji often thought he could see it, like an aura around him.
        Ryo had been persistent in not letting Seiji fall into solitude as he had done his entire life-- Ryo had actually cared about him. That was why it hurt so much when he'd lost Ryo's friendship those five years ago, and why it hurt so much now that Ryo was shunning him.


        Seiji stopped suddenly as he heard something lurking among the bushes in the darkness. He stood perfectly still and gazed attentively into the brush.
        A small screech came from the darkness to his left, and he turned sharply towards it. Then the trees above began to rustle as Seiji saw movement among the branches. The creature in the bush howled-- its voice was soon joined by several others. 
        I'm surrounded, he thought in alarm.
            Cursing softly, he realized he'd left his armor orb on the table by his bed. His thoughts flickered back to his nightmare-- the irrevocable sound of his bones snapping, and of claws tearing through his flesh.
        He tensed, preparing himself for an ambush.
        If I don't let them catch me, I can probably make it to the house.

        All of a sudden, someone was calling his name. "Kourin?"
        Cold air whipped at Seiji as he felt a familiar presence envelop him.
            Materializing from the depths of the darkness, Anubis asked, "What's wrong, Kourin?"
        Seiji looked at Anubis then back to the forest. The creatures were gone. Flashes of memory replayed before his eyes as he stared sullenly at the Yami Masho-- split corpse, lying cold and still on the earth.

        Anubis frowned, concern lacing his features. "Seiji?"
        Seiji let out a shuddering breath, "Stay where you are!"
        What was going on? The man standing before him was ripped open, blood dripping from the grievous wounds.
        Anubis took a step towards him, and Seiji held up a hand to ward him off. His own fingers were covered in blood. Looking down at himself, he saw red blood spilling across his abdomen, rushing out from the wound that had killed him.
        "No, it can't be..." He whispered, sinking to the ground.

        Anubis wasn't practiced at being gentle, but his instincts told him not to push his former enemy. Being careful not to provoke him, he slowly knelt on the ground next to Seiji.
            "What's wrong?"
        Seiji glanced at him, then shut his eyes tightly. He could still see Anubis torn apart, intestines revealed, blood streaming down the body collecting in dark pools beneath him.
         "Are you in pain?" Anubis asked, gently. At his silence, Anubis shouted angrily, "Answer me, damn it!"
        Seiji glanced up at him, and then had to look again. There was no blood, no wounds-- on either of them. They were fine.
        "I think I'm going mad," Seiji whispered, slouching back on his heels.

        Now this was odd, Anubis mused. Seiji was showing weakness right now by allowing him to witness such a display.
        But then the smirk fell from his face as he realized-- Seiji wasn't like this at all. He was a strong willed, insolent little urchin that had always been formidable with the sword and impossible to crush. Studying him closely, he noticed that Seiji was trembling-- visibly rocking back and forth, tremendously distressed.
            Genuinely worried, Anubis titled Seiji's chin upward and demanded, "Look at me."
        The Yami Masho gasped as Seiji revealed his eyes to him. In disbelief he pulled Seiji forward roughly, brushing the blond hair back to stare into both his eyes.
        Seiji murmured in surprise-- it was very rare that Anubis ever touched him, perhaps other than to inflict pain.
        "What has happened to your eyes?" Anubis blurted, completely shocked.

        Anubis had always been attracted to Seiji's eyes-- how the violet orbs contained such a vibrant light, and sparkled even in his deepest darkness. When they had fought against each other, he had come to respect Seiji and the level of defiance burning there-- no one he had ever met had eyes as fierce and intense as Seiji's.
        Now his violet eyes were listless, barley even a human spark of life contained in them.
            Something was horribly wrong with him.
         "Seiji, what happened to you?" He demanded, holding the warrior firmly by the shoulders.
         "You don't remember," Seiji whispered.
        Anubis let him go, taken aback. "Surely you're not suggesting something I've done?"
            "No," He whispered, looking away.
        "What is it then?" Anubis glared at him, awaiting his answer.

        Seiji could no dwell on it without shaking, and he knew that he could not lie to Anubis.
        "It was good to see you again, Anubis," Seiji remarked avoiding his question as he thought, I don't want to tell you about the horrible things I've seen... I don't want you to know what Arago did to you.
        The Yami Masho stood abruptly, looking down on Seiji with a cool stare.
        "So that's how it's going to be?" he asked. "You realize that we're no longer enemies?"
        At Seiji's silence, he said indignantly, "Fine. I'll get the truth out of you eventually."
        With that, Anubis was gone, vanishing into the darkness as quickly as he had come from it, leaving Seiji to greet the dawn alone.

Continued in chapter three…

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Did I grovel enough?  It's so discouraging to post your work, and find that it hardly gets a response!  (Only one person reviewed but I thank her for it) If you don't want to review— send me some mail (Li_bell_ule@yahoo.com) and just say, "Hi, I read your story."

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Li

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