Blinded by Flames

--Chapter Four: A Life Spent in a Room III –

Rahn moaned and rubber her head; the groan was slightly more high-pitched than Rahn's normally growl-like low, but in the dark and empty void there was no one there to notice.

"Where am I?" her dazed (and more feminine) voice echoed out into the nothingness.

"Where are you? Where are you? You don't expect me to believe you don't know, do you?" This incredulistic comment came from a deeper, rounder tone, but one that still seemed as part of Rahn's regular voice.

The two alternative pitches of Rahn carried out a conversation as follows:

High: Rekkone?

Low: Who else?

High: But, there's still another 2 days until the Summer Solstice!

Low: You can't tell Rahn, but I'm rolling my eyes at you right now.

High: Why?

Low: Because, 15 years old and the human child still can't count. What are you in dragon years, again? 160? 180?

High: But, I was so sure...

Low: Just drop it. I've got twelve hours in this room with you and I don't want to spent it arguing over whether or not we're supposed to be here-- because clearly: we are!

High: If you say so.

Low: I do.

High: Fine, what would you prefer to talk about?

Low: Ah, a little haughty today, are we? You know, I almost never see that side of you, Rahn.

High: Well, we just left Yusuke and the rest to deal alone at the tournament. I feel like I'm breaking a promise, after all, I said I would compete.

Low: You're too emotional.

High: It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to compromise all my feelings with yours, Rekkone.

Low: It's just as bad for me as it is for you. Would you like some light?

Then, without awaiting a response, a burst of flame erupted from in front of Rahn's vision and her companion, Rekkone, could be clearly seen. Rahn as well was illuminated and the two looked at each other for a while, as they had not seen each other in 3 months. Rahn's appearance had changed from what it had previously been when outside of the room. She was the same height, but she seemed thinner, and though most of her features remained the same, they lacked substance. Her copper hair for instance, was thinner and without the orange highlights. Her clothes hung a bit more off of her limbs, her eyes were wider but lacked that lively spark and her skin was pale.

Rekkone in turn was being examined. Rekkone was lying elongated across the floor, her tail flickered and twitched and her burgundy scales glistened as the flame in front of her flickered. A tail and scales... to no surprise to Rahn who knew Rekkone to be a European-style dragon. Rekkone had golden eyes and a long, round nose with nostrils the size of silver dollars.

When Rahn had finished looking at Rekkone (for Rahn was looking, with eyes unclouded and free to see what was around her) she leaned her head back against the wall and looked at her surroundings.

The room was very familiar to her. There were six definite "walls", four standing upright and the other two laying flat -- enclosing the space vertically. Your couldn't tell that any of the six "walls" existed though because they were all black, it was a cube-- a dark room with no door in which the spirits of Rahn and Rekkone came every solstice and equinox.

"I don't want to be here for the rest of my life," the thinner, more feminine Rahn said sotto voce.

"Neither of us do, but we don't have a choice. We're bound together." Rekkone replied before closing her eyes and resting her large head on her crossed forelegs.

"You've been unable to move in your real body for months and the first thing you're gonna do when we finally separate is take a nap?"

"Well," Rekkone pried an eyes open to glare at Rahn, "given this opportunity under different circumstances I no doubt would thoroughly enjoy the freedom from your blasted human body but seeing as I'm stuck in this room with you -- I find this is putting my time to -much- better use."

Rahn lowered her eyes, "Do you think that -I'm- enjoying this? It's -your- fault we're in this situation!"

Rekkone's thin temper snapped in two--

"Now you listen here you foul and disgusting homo sapien! -I'm- the one who has kept you alive for so long after your family died. I -suggest- you are kind to your savior. Without me, you'd be -nothing-! You hear?!! Nothing!"

"If you weren't such and egocentric, ignorant, treasure-seeking dragon then my family wouldn't have died in the first place! I would be living a perfectly normal life with my mom and dad and brother, and all my friends! Everything was perfect until you showed up to get your pathetic power! So if you're looking for pity, go somewhere else: WE'RE CLOSED!"

"Why you little--" Rekkone fumed and rose to her feet, meeting Rahn's fiery glare. "You wouldn't be leading a normal life and you know it! If I hadn't of come then someone else would! The Ten-- and you wouldn't have had me to save you when they came. No matter how you look at it, your fate always pointed to you as Bonded. Don't blame me for the cards destiny left you!"

Rahn could see all the possible ways the dragon could tear apart her own fragile limbs and roast her human flesh with the heat of her hellish flame in Rekkone's eyes, the images flashing across the deep, dark iris'. Inside, Rahn began to shake.

Smoke drifted out of Rekkone's nostril, "You're wishing you were bonded right now, aren't you? You're wishing because -I- am the reason you have no fear. -I- am the reason the powerful bow at your feet and awe at your skills. -I- am the reason a weakling like you can stand toe to toe with the devil and never blink! Do you understand?

"Of course you do, now back down. You can't maintain -my- temper and strength without me there to guide you."

"That's a lie and you know it!" Rahn shot back. "Maybe I'm not as strong as you, but I've got a will-power that got me through 15 years with you. I can hold my own ground, I don't need an ego-obsessed dragon to 'guide' me." Rahn stood still a moment, and in an act so unlike the one Yusuke would expect of her, she cast down her eyes and numbly sank against the black wall in defeat.

"You are not strong. You are weak. Accept it." Rekkone hissed.

"If you knew what I've been through--"

"I do know! That's part of this cursed deal we've made!"

"You made."

Rekkone glared. "Alright, I made. But that's still part of it. We've seen each other in ways no one else could. Our lives met, were twisted together and now appear as if they have always been one. WE can't escape that. So you should just stop trying."

Rahn looked up from her downcast gaze to grin at Rekkone. "After living my lifetime with you, I've forgotten how to give up."

Rekkone smiled.

The conversation that passed between Rahn and Rekkone every 3 months was often fueled by penned-up anger and unreleased emotions. The reason for this is clear if you know the history of the unlikely companions.

It begins 15 years prior to the Juu tournament, when a young, seemingly normal baby was born to the Riley family. For the first few months of her life, Rahn Riley was a crying, restless baby girl just like any other. When she was about 10 months old however, the event that spawned a lifetime of difficulties snuck its' way into her life.

The Riley's baby had been born with a high fire-spirit concentration that gave her massive potential if her dormant power was ever harnessed. At the same time, in the world of the dragons, Rekkone, a multiple century-old fire breather heard the legend of the Bondage.

The legend was one created thousands of years ago and it told of when a dragon could magnify its' power 100 fold if it took the soul of a human. It couldn't just be any human of course, it had to be a special human with unnatural spiritual and elemental powers that where related to the dragons'. A fire dragon with a fire-spirit, an ice dragon with an ice-spirit, a wind dragon with a wind-spirit, ect.

Rekkone, though several hundred years old, was considered youthful and thus naive. She thought that in this deal of Bondage between the dragon and the human, the dragon would assume all power and the human simply became a sub-conscious that eventually faded away. Enticed, intrigued, and lusting for this great power Rekkone escaped to the human world to find a human that would suit her purposes.

As it turned out, very few humans had any high spiritual energy at all, and to find one with an elemental gift and Rekkone's same firepower was a chance unlikely.

Unlikely but still possible.

A child, 10 months old-- and Rekkone had found her. At night when the child was sleeping Rekkone slipped her spirit into the child's mind to try and capture the radiant flame that made the baby so unusual.

"How do I do this thing, anyway?" Rekkone muttered to herself.

"Ghee?" The child's mind questioned the strange voice it was hearing.

Rekkone chuckled, "You don't mind if I take your soul, do you?"

"Abashi gomeh noppe too giban ishef." The baby gurgled.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," and Rekkone weaved herself into the child's spirit, expecting unfathomable power as soon as the two were bonded. Rahn's innocent baby mind did little to protest as the two spirits intertwined.

As fate would have it, Rekkone's interpretation of the legend was incorrect. Rekkone, instead of being the dominant mind and body in the newly formed relationship became the dormant spirit, not her human counterpart.

A decade passes with the dragon lying asleep within Rahn Riley. She never knew of Rekkone's presence within herself, only that she was strangely attracted to fire and constantly felt the burning of her own skin -- as if a fire was eating her up from the inside. She eventually grew accustomed to this burning however, and it wasn't long before pain was just another aspect of her life.

This blissful ignorance did not last long and in the years, months, and days leading up to her thirteenth birthday Rahn felt the burning of her skin increase in its' intensity and those close to her noticed an extreme flare of her temper. Rahn was "coming of age" and in accordance to the legend, she would soon be old and responsible enough to handle the fate of sharing a body with a dragon.

When the switch had been made, and Rekkone was no longer dormant, the difference was minimal. Rahn seemed more muscular, more fit, and her personality was cockier, but everyone mistook it to be "teenage years". It wasn't until her first equinox with Rekkone as an awake spirit that Rahn even realized what had happened. She had passed out in the middle of dinner and awoken in the same black room that she was in now. It was there that Rekkone explained all that had happened.

At first disbelieving, Rahn was convinced when she reawoke in her room and felt the insignia on her right hand. In that moment, everything made sense.

Rahn continued her life, now always hearing the voice and feeling the emotions as Rekkone looked out into Rahn's world and commented. It was a difficult experience, but one she thought she could live with. After all, Rekkone had her advantages-- it made her more athletic, she had much keener senses including an ability so near foresight it became frightening. Rahn took it almost casually, as if this was just the way the world worked. Things looked as if they could be interesting, but never harsh when there came a day walking home from school that Rahn and Rekkone lifted their single nose to smell the distinct odor of smoke.

Rushing their way to the fire, Rahn turned a final corner to see her own home raging in flames. The wall to her bedroom was burned down and the roof of the house was crumbling. Surrounding the building was a team of firemen and interested neighbors, the firemen doing their duty and spraying water furiously at the rising flames.

Panicked, Rahn hurried her run with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She flung herself at the nearest fireman and asked him breathlessly, "did everyone get out okay?"

The man looked sadly down at her and pointed over to behind the fire truck where two corpses lay next to each other, each being zipped into a bag that would be sent to have an autopsy.

Rahn didn't even have to look at their faces, Rekkone's instincts told her they were her parents and that they were really gone. At that point, fire sirens blaring, children crying and firemen hollering, the dam holding up an ocean of tears cracked and out tumbled all Rahn had inside of her.

Any moments following that remained hazy to Rahn, all she knew was that she had been ushered away by some adults and taken to the orphanage.

However, her first night at the orphanage proved to be her last as in the middle of the night a voice whispered from the doorway, calling her name. She crept out of bed and met face-to-face with a man in his mid-thirties. He was wearing a pin-stripped suit and his black hair was slicked back.

"What is it?" Rahn asked, slightly frightened by the vibe she and Rekkone were sensing. I don't like him. Rekkone hissed inside of her. I don't either, Rahn answered back.

Suddenly, the man's at first kind face changed to a serious expression that sent a chill up Rahn's spine.

"If you want to see your brother again you'll come with me and you won't make a sound."

Already cold by the man's face and aura, Rahn was frozen at these words. Her brother's body had not been found in the remains of the burned house and there was speculation about whether or not he had actually been at home. Don't do it, Rahn. Rekkone spoke to her, he wants to hurt you. I can feel it.

I know that. Rahn replied, but I can't just -not- go. My brother!

The man now began to glare at Rahn, "Do you want him to die? Come with me!"

Ignoring Rekkone's protests, Rahn nodded her head and proceeded to follow the man silently down the hall and out the building. They entered his limo and began to drive.

The drive to the mansion was a hazy one, and not well remembered. Rahn could hardly recall stepping out of the car and into the warm, cozy entrance room. It was well past 4 am and Rahn had not slept for several hours. Exhausted, she plopped onto the bed that had been provided for her and listened vaguely as she heard a butler say, "the masters will talk to you about your brother later. Rest for now." She complied and drifted into a fitful sleep.

As the following days would show the "masters", or the Ten had no interest in returning Rahn's brother to her at all, just as Rekkone had predicted. They were instead using his fate as bribe, forcing Rahn to fight and "teaching" her how to use her spirit energy. Rahn was thrown into room and made to fight for her life against demons and the like. Eventually, Rahn learned several hundreds of techniques, all involving harnessing the combined abilities of Rekkone and herself. It was a tiring, rigorous, and torturing life. If she ever wanted to quick her brother's life was dangled in front of her. In the end, Rahn began to doubt whether or not the Ten even had her brother or if they were just pretending.

But after a miserable year and a half locked away in the mansion Rahn managed to escape thanks to Rekkone.

It was in her escape that she lost her sight.