disclaimer: I own nothing, 'cept for Kvalser, Danver and all the new charas w
eli: You're the one who got me started again! thankies!
nekochan; cheraichan: Filia will get there soon enough. Val-chan just needs some more moments alone she'll be there at the end of his little 'journey'
Lina Gabriev: Thanks for the review! Don't worry, he'll be back on his feet soon enough. No more Val-torture for a while. And umm... I kinda have no idea what the rest is doing right now. Whatever you read in other fics 'll do, I guess. Only Filia's looking for Val, but she's not a very logical seeker.
chapter 7:A meeting
When Valgaav next woke up, it was rather dark in his cell. The mazoku had slept for another day, sitting on the bench, resting his head against his left arm. A weak ray of sunlight was shining inside from the little window.
Breathing calmly, not budging an inch, he blinked a few times to get his eyes adjusted to the light. He took in his surroundings lazily, remembered where he was. A dream of gold still lingered in his mind, a dream that had shielded him from nightmares.
There was no noise outside, the streets were empty. He could hear nothing from beyond the door of his prison, not even the tiniest wisp of air. No one breathed, no one seemed to live in close proximity. A serene silence hung in the cell that was only lit by a radiant orange glow of the setting sun that shone through the little window.
Valgaav thought about nothing for a moment. He lived, and that was all that mattered now. He could feel the magic building up within him again, and this time it wasn't any dark force. Apparently, in these kind of circumstances, when he was indeed completely drained, his natural resources would recover faster than the Mazoku-powers.
His left arm still hurt, and his stomach was growling from the lack of food, but Valgaav knew he wouldn't starve to death here. He knew his limits, and even if he needed to eat, he could survive for a couple of months in hibernation if he had to. However, he wasn't exactly planning on staying that long.
He would escape and find Filia. He had it all figured out. First, he'd escape, and then find out where his angel was at the moment. Then, he'd go to her, while avoiding her friends at all cost. The ancient-mazoku wasn't exactly intent on a run-in with Lina Inverse and her allies.
Although he had to admit he kind of admired them. The redhead sure was brave. And strong, too. Valgaav still didn't quite understand HOW she had done it, but she had defeated him after all.
That blond swordsman, that Gourry-guy, didn't look all that impressive, but from what he had heard he wasn't as dumb as he looked...Val still had some difficulties believing that, but anyway.
And then there were the little raven-haired princess and that chimera. Valgaav smiled inwardly at the thought of them two. He wasn't sure, but he felt as if there had been some sparks flying between them on the battlefield. Whatever people thought of him, there had been a time, long ago, when he had been a natural at spying out things like this.
He used to hang around with the other young dragons, and observe the adults to learn from them. And one day, Val had found himself discovering love. One of the older Ancients, in his early two-hundreds (about 18-ish in human standards) had fallen in love before his very eyes.
He remembered the way the guy had looked...eyes shining, a delighted smile, he had felt the magical tension rise. He had heard the young man's and woman's heartbeat speed up, saw them blooming and being happy.
Only a few moments later, it was clear that they had chosen each other as their mate. The girl giggled, the boy blushed and smiled happily, and then they ran off, over the hills of their city. In the light of the setting sun they transformed into their dragon-form and flew off into the sky. Little Val had never seen them again, but after that, he observed other Ancients and, occasionally, humans in love.
From what he had learned through plain observation, he was pretty sure that the chimera and the princess were in love.
When his thoughts carried him to the past, he hastily retreated to safer things to think about. He couldn't deny that the memories of him and his family, in their city of the Ancients, pained him.
He didn't blame the Goldens anymore, however. They had been punished, what was past was past. Now he'd seek out the last Golden, as he was the last Ancient, and see what she'd do. He was certain that she'd kill him. He only allowed himself to hope that she'd do it fast.
It never occurred to him that she might just forgive him, as she'd have done had he not vanished after the fight.
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Hours later, when the sun had set and the silence had been replaced by what seemed to be a hymn from the town's temple, Valgaav was roused from is trance-like state.
He hadn't slept, his arm still hurt and he had tried to get into a different more-or-less comfortable position without moving too much (he had failed miserably, but at least he had manage to stretch his legs a little bit and crack a little tension out of his lower back).
The cell had gotten warm during the day, the half-mazoku even felt a tad sweaty, and the cool of the night was very welcome.
Now, his head jerked up at a sudden sound. Hardly noticing that it was quite chilly now and that he was shivering, Valgaav stared intently into the deep darkness in front of him. His cat like pupils widened in the darkness, adjusting to the lack of light, and his eyes glimmered slightly in the very faint glow of moonlight from the window.
In a matter of seconds, he had checked every square inch of his by now familiar cell. There was nothing to be seen.
...but wait. There was something out there, not very far from the door of his cell. He could feel it. Again he could hear something. A shifting sound -cloth on stone- and then nothing. The soft, faint noise of bare feet carefully stepping.
Valgaav held his breath. It didn't sound heavy enough to be an adult, let alone an armoured guard. The mazoku was still listening intently, and now he could hear shaky breaths, like someone was very out of breath or even hurt. Far in the distance, someone yelled.
Then the hallway went silent again, only the breathing was still heard. The person there had pressed itself against the wall about a metre away from the door, that Valgaav could deduct from what he had heard. And he or she was working hard to get his or her breathing under control and be silent, it seemed.
Suddenly, the person, whoever it was, tripped, and fell against the door. Val, who had been holding his breath for almost a minute, gasped and pressed his back against the wall in a reflex.
A soft moaning came from behind the door. Finally, Valgaav managed to speak up.
"Who's there?"
His voice was raspy, and his throat was dry. At first, the words were only a whisper. But that was enough to make a certain unknown somebody gasp.
After a minute of heavy silence, response came in the form of a soft, child-like voice, quivering from fear and exhaustion.
"...Hello?...Is...someone in there?"
"Who are you?"
Another raspy answer. Valgaav was a bit annoyed at how weak he sounded, but after all he hadn't had anything to drink for days and he hadn't spoken very much lately, too.
Another long silence. Then, a bit more secure:
"Can I come in?"
"Huh...?" That reply was the last he had expected. The answer this time sounded rather cocky.
"What do you mean 'huh'...you do speak my language do you?"
Valgaav was positive now. Whoever was outside there, it was a child. Only children recover so fast. One minute, it was like speaking to a tiny, tired creature in need and then they suddenly revive and get all wise-ass. And it was a girl, judging by the voice.
"Now, can I come in?"
"And how were you gonna do that?" Valgaav nearly snorted, insulted by her response. But he had to admit, 'huh' didn't sound that intelligent.
"Just a moment, mister. I can get in, can you get out?"
The dragon-mazoku smiled. She isn't dumb, the little one. Exactly what he'd have done. First inquire about the possible threat someone could be, then approach.
"I'm quite stuck here. I won't attack you if that's what you mean."
This should be interesting...not only was Valgaav curious about who this girl was and what business she had here, in the first place he wanted to see how she'd get in.
"Hmmm...okay. One moment."
A noise of fidgeting somewhere at the door, a click, a thud, a series of weird noises...and the dry creak of the door opening. In the darkness, someone rushed inside, and then closed the door again. There was some more fidgeting, and then the girl turned around to face Valgaav.
Two pairs of eyes widened at the sight of the other person in the room.
Before Valgaav's eyes, a little dusty and bruised girl with cat-ears peeking out of her black or bluish (he couldn't see it very well in the darkness) hair cowered down, frightened at the sight of the half-mazoku. Her breathing came fast and ragged, her big eyes wide with fear.
In her arms, she held a loaf of bread and a weird sort of key. She was trying to hide both of them in the only garment she wore, a filthy, worn-out 'dress' with a hole in the back where a tail was peeking out. And she was shaking like a leaf.
He didn't really see why she was so afraid of him. To her, however, he looked quite frightening. With her cat-like eyes, much like Valgaav's, only darker, she could see his horn and eyes glinting in the moonlight, and she hadn't quite been prepared for his claw.
"My name is Val."
Good, now he could at least talk normally again. Slowly, he stretched his right arm out towards her, as if to strangle her. The thing is, he wanted to gently stroke her, but for some reason, he had forgotten how to make it look like he wasn't going to do something violent.
When the girl backed away, he moved his upper body and reached for her again.
L-sama, he wanted to do something good for a change, he looked at the shivering kitty and felt pity, but she wouldn't let him comfort her. Almost, he growled as he'd have done before Darkstar, but he was held back by a jolt of pain from his broken elbow.
With a groan, he jerked back. Trying to fight the pain, he reached for his left shoulder with his right hand. And damned he was breathing fast again! Valgaav squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to subside.
When he opened them again, the girl had approached him. She was mere inches from him now, and she was eyeing him with a concerned, pure child-look.
"A-...are you ok?", she whispered. Valgaav looked at her, not quite understanding her change of heart. "Hmm...I'll live." He tried to sound normal, but he couldn't prevent a hint of pain mixing into his tone. So he smiled reassuringly, even if that wouldn't really work .
The girl nodded, not quite convinced. Then she sighed and sat down on Valgaav's bench, as far away as she could. She looked at him.
"I'm Suki."
TBC
Dude, I had writers block for a while...I'm more into mr Tumnus from Narnia right now. And Kurt from X-men. And Vinnie and Seph.
...Yes, I DO collect bishônen w meep