The Tenyu Star
Chapter One: Der Wille zur Geschlecht

Broken and bruised after the thrashing Geddoe had given him, Yuber had managed to teleport away from the ceremonial site where Luc was about to unleash the power of the True Wind Rune. He hadn't gotten far enough away to escape the blast that would come - but then, he could probably live through it, even after the beating he'd received.

In fact, he wasn't terribly injured, and not a trace of blood showed on his body anymore; the unearthly powers had healed him nearly completely, but his energy was sorely depleted. He needed to rest for awhile.

As he collapsed to his knees on the stairs before him, gasping for breath, he looked around to see where he was. Just his luck... he'd managed to teleport to Budehuc Castle.

The sound of footsteps behind him made him rise to his feet again, despite his weariness. "You!" a young female voice shouted indignantly, and he turned amongst the sound of clanking metal to find a little girl in a suit of armor running at him, her spear readied.

"Cecile! Let him be,"came a slightly older male voice behind her, and Yuber met the amber eyes of Thomas, master of Budehuc Castle, without the slightest bit of fear. "You're Yuber," the teenage boy continued, more calmly than Yuber had expected. "What are you doing here?"

Luc was as good as gone now, Yuber reasoned - and he had nothing better to do, he thought with a smile. He let the smile remain on his lips as he replied, "I've come to speak with you, Thomas, about joining the army gathered here at Budehuc Castle."

Thomas didn't look fazed by the request. "Well, certainly... we'll talk in the meeting hall, if that's all right."

"Thomas!" Cecile protested, nudging her master with her shield. "That's Yuber! You can't just invite him into the castle..."

"And why not? Budehuc welcomes those from Zexen and the Grasslands, as well as those from anywhere else who might come peacefully."

"'Peacefully' would be the key word, I suppose," Sebastian put in from behind him, mopping his brow as he regarded Yuber uneasily.

"I accept your invitation," said Yuber, stepping forward - and causing Cecile to take a step back nervously. "Shall we, then?"

Thomas nodded. "I'll meet you in the hall when you're ready. As a gesture of your good faith, I ask that you knock first to make sure I'm ready to meet with you."

"So be it." Yuber nodded, almost respectfully, but his lips curled into a more devious smile as Thomas and his entourage passed, Cecile still glancing at him with a suspicious glare from time to time. He couldn't help chuckling a little under his breath. Oh, this would be terribly fun...


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Just a few minutes later, he was standing in front of the large double-doors that led to the meeting hall. He pulled his hat down a little further over his eyes, and raised his hand to knock.

"One moment, please," the pleasant voice inside replied, sounding slightly breathless, and Yuber smirked. The boy was probably in there shaking.

A few more moments passed, and then Thomas spoke again. "Thank you for your patience - do come in."

Yuber didn't bother opening the door - he simply teleported the short distance to the other side. It had a tendancy to unnerve people. This time, however, it was him who was somewhat surprised - every light in the room was off. Not that it bothered a being like him, however.

But before the split second it took for his inhuman eyes to adjust, a match had been lit on the far side of the room. The young castle master sat at the desk, holding the tiny flame which illuminated little besides his face. "So, Yuber," he said, rather nonchalantly, "after all this time aiding Luc, thwarting our plans at every step, murdering our troops... you want to join us?"

Thomas wasn't stupid, it seemed, and Yuber smirked again. "Perhaps 'join' isn't the correct word..."

"No, I believe it is."

The statement was surprisingly firm, and Yuber raised an eyebrow beneath the hat, tilting the brim up slightly to regard the boy with curiosity. "Is that so...?"

"Yes."

The match, burning dangerously low against Thomas' fingertips, was dropped onto the desk, where a collection of candles waited. The small flame flared up as it met one wick, and others caught also. Soon, the room was bathed in the flickering glow of a row of candles, and it illuminated something Yuber hadn't expected at all.

"You'll renounce any vows you made to Luc and his cause before you leave this room."

Yuber regarded the boy curiously. His eyes were quite steady, not the slightest bit afraid of who stood before him. He'd stood as he dropped the match, and his arms were crossed firmly. "That's rather presumptuous of you, Thomas," Yuber commented, preparing to slide one of his long thin blades from their hiding place in his sleeve. They were useful as bargaining tools. "What makes you think that you could make me renounce my vows? Presuming, of course, that I had made any - oaths are not my style."

In a sudden motion, Thomas uncrossed his arms, letting the jacket and trousers he wore fall to the ground behind him, revealing an outfit that rivaled Yuber's fondest daydreams. The boy's pale, scholarly skin stood out sharply against black leather, drawn nearly skin-tight over legs, arms, and torso, revealing all the lines of the slender teenage body in the firelight. It left his belly exposed, and the light glinted off the last thing Yuber would have expected to see (though admittedly, most of this would have been rather low on the list) - a navel ring.

Thomas smiled a rather different smile than the innocent one Yuber had seen before, and raised his right hand, revealing the many strands and barbs of a cat-o-nine-tails. "You will join us."

Yuber was caught well off-guard, and began to teleport away to regroup. Unfortunately, he was still weakened from the earlier battle, and before he completed the motion, Thomas had him from behind, the weapon wrapped around his neck. "You will join with Fire Bringer," he repeated.

The cat-o-nine-tails barbs dug into Yuber's neck, and he could feel the blood trickling down beneath the collar of his shirt. "Like hell I will," he growled through gritted teeth.

Again he tried to teleport away, but he was too weakened to do more than flicker. The barbs dug deeper into his neck, and a slight cry of pain escaped him, much to his annoyance. Thomas chuckled in his ear, then dropped him to the floor. "You're at my mercy, Yuber - you'll do anything I say."

"Maggot," Yuber hissed painfully, and was rewarded by the barbed whip slashing down over his back, shredding his clothing and drawing blood in a single strike.

"Call me master."

"Never!"

The whip struck again, tearing down his back with lines of fiery agony, and Yuber cried out despite himself, curling his arms around himself as he sank lower on the floor. "Now, what am I?"

"Maggot!"

The whip struck again and again, each time opening new wounds, until Yuber gagged in pain. "Master... master..." he managed to gasp, staring at the blood that trickled down his bare sides, his shirt having been torn away entirely by Thomas' blows.

Thomas stopped then, but Yuber continued to tremble, curled before him on the floor. "Very good. Thank you, Yuber," Thomas' voice said, sounding much more like the pleasant boy everyone usually assumed he was. "Now then, as I am the Tenkai star, the one who gathers the Stars of Destiny together, I have the authority to add you to our group, even though the Flame Champion is in charge of our operations. Will you join us?"

Having recovered slightly, Yuber had just enough nerve to turn his head and spit at Thomas' feet. "Go to hell," he growled.

He'd more or less expected the cat-o-nine-tails to break over his back again, but the expectation made it no less painful. "Yes, yes," he was whimpering when he came to his senses. "I'll join you... I'll do anything you say..."

"Ah, much better. Well then, since we've come to an agreement, how about your oath?"

"I swear - I swear," Yuber stammered painfully, "I'll do as you say... Mast... Master Thomas... even unto death..."

"Wonderful - I'm glad we could come to this understanding." His footsteps moved around from where he'd been standing, behind Yuber, to before him where his hat had fallen, and Yuber dared to look up, only to see Thomas smiling rather pleasantly. "Now, suck me."

Yuber could hardly believe his ears. "I beg your pardon? Master," he added hastily as Thomas' fingers caressed the handle of the cat-o-nine-tails.

"I said, suck me," Thomas hissed, grabbing hold of Yuber's hair and pulling his head up against his groin. Through the leather, Yuber could feel a stiffness and a heat that was unmistakable, and he choked as he realized Thomas was serious.

His limbs were still trembling with pain, and it took effort to make his fingers unlace the tight leather Thomas wore. Having done so, he took the boy's hard member into his mouth, caressing him with his lips and tongue, and the boy moaned with pleasure.

It wasn't so terrible, Yuber thought, but just as he was becoming used to it, Thomas' hands clenched in his hair and pulled him closer still. "Deeper," Thomas ordered him. "Take me in deeper."

Yuber obliged as well as he could, controlling his breathing to minimize the gag reflex as Thomas' hands pulled at his hair, fingernails digging into his scalp, until finally the boy came, clutching at Yuber's hair for support and leaning upon his shoulders as his body softened.

At long last, he sighed and straightened, relacing his leathers casually, and going to pick up his jacket and trousers from where he'd left them on the floor. "Well then, that's settled. Who is your master, Yuber?"

Yuber swallowed hard, wiping his lips with the back of a bloodied hand. "You are... Master Thomas, Tenkai Star."

"That's right, and you are the Tenyu Star - welcome to Fire Bringer."

The mild-mannered smile was back in place, and as Thomas straightened his worn jacket , Yuber could scarcely believe that this was the same boy who had dominated him so completely. "It'll be... a pleasure."

"Well then, I have things to attend to around the castle - I'll let you know if you can be of any help. If you'll excuse me..."

Still on his knees, Yuber stared after Thomas as he left the room, closing the door behind. He'd been humbled, humiliated, and utterly baffled by these developments... and incredibly turned on. He definitely had underestimated the boy castle master, and badly. Now he was one of the Stars of Destiny... and at Thomas' mercy.