Sanguine Saga

Rating: Right now I suppose PG-13 for blatant ignorant racism, I suppose, and Cius' potty mouth. XP BAD Cius!

Pairing: Cius/Joshua

Warnings: Shounen-ai (Boy x Boy love). Also Cius' potty mouth. XP

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean or its characters, or the conversations in the game.

A/N: Yes, Star Ocean (SNES) slash. I'm sure the designers, if they were dead, would roll around in their grave. I am so sorry. XD

Chapter I

Surprise

It was so very fucking hot.

There was no justice in the world, Cius decided as the hot sand burned the blisters on his feet for a lovely, lovely sensation. First he had come face to face with Fear again, his childhood… well, he supposed friend was the proper word for it. The Highlander had grown up with her, and although they constantly bickered, deep down there was a deep mutual respect between them.

Meeting Fear after having run away from his proclaimed destiny in the army of Astral was bad enough as it was. Well, it had not really been that bad, apart from his father almost being murdered and all that crap. Cius missed the girl terribly, but he didn't want to dwell on the thoughts he had about her. He just wasn't good enough to be a soldier in the army, and that should be his final thought on it. He had to improve before he could face his Astral, his father, and even Fear again. Right now even Ratix was better than he was, more agile in combat, and the boy was a damn runt.

Damn, even the damn town named Hot hadn't been this hot, Cius remembered after wiping sweat from his forehead, which had effectively been gluing burning sand on his forehead. Ratix and Iria didn't seem to have any problems with the hot sun burning on their skulls and scorching the sand under their feet, though. Apart from looking a little fatigued, they both seemed fine. Cursing his unusual lengthy posture, Cius continued to trudge through the sand.

"And all this for a fuckin' artefact!" The fighter growled, although it came out hoarser than actually threatening. Only then did he realise that he was feeling parched. Great.

The strangely gathered group were on their way to Parji Shinden, Temple of the Ancients. To get there, they had to cover great distances of ruthless desert ground crawling with monsters. Luckily, the creatures were pretty weak, so their team had no trouble defeating them. Well, they wouldn't have, if only they hadn't been feeling so thirsty.

He cursed Fear inwardly for suggesting to Ratix that they had to find the damn artefact, the Eye of Truth. He was damn happy Ratix hadn't invited Fear to actually come along with them. Her place was in the army. Then he cursed Ratix for being a naïve teenager and deciding to jump into adventure at the first possible moment. Cius recognised after a moment of consideration this that he would have done the same thing. Still, someone had to be blamed for this incredibly awful situation, and Ratix was a perfect scapegoat.

The group spirit had really hit an all-time low when they had discovered that the Temple they had found had been a diversion temple, and the real temple lay hidden elsewhere. And, of course, they were heavily wounded because, naturally, the monsters in the Temple had been much stronger than the monsters outside. Cius couldn't care less about why that natural phenomenon kept appearing in places they visited, but figured that he could just as well get stronger whilst fighting monsters on a less horrible place. Anywhere but in the damn desert.

Ratix and Iria were tired as well, but chose not to comment for Cius constant swearing was enough for them all. Ratix was just worried about Milly, the only person from his timeline he had left. Ratix had told him it was a long story, and chose to not really get into it, which worked for Cius. It gave him a headache just thinking about it. Different time zones… Damn. And Iria was certainly a very weird person as well. She did not even have a tail, or elongated ears. It made Cius slightly uncomfortable, but the two brats were nice enough so Cius chose not to take their past into consideration.

After wandering up onto yet another random hill for the sake of exploring so the travel to find the damn Temple wouldn't be a complete waste of time, a shadow swiftly appeared above them. Cius quickly drew his sword, sensing imminent danger.

Before Cius had a chance to properly look up in the face of danger, a very dainty and fragile, fucking winged man appeared from the sky and dangled obnoxiously in his eyesight.

Oh great. A Featherfolk. Just the thing he wanted to see. I really must stop being sarcastic to myself, Cius figured, as he kept his sword pointed at the… being still hovering in mid-air.

Then, it spoke. "Forgive me for startling you. I bear no ill intentions… Would you mind putting your sword away?"

The Featherfolk's voice surprised Cius, although he made sure the surprise wasn't etched in his expression. He had learned since he was young that you had to be on guard, especially around strange beings like winged fucking men. He still couldn't get over it, never having seen one in real life before.

The voice had been deep, sensual, even, if you were a chick and liked that sort of thing. His scrawny body sure belied his voice, and made Cius wonder what other surprises the being had in store for them.

Wait, what the fuck am I thinking? For all I know it's going to zap us all into oblivion! Cius shook his head. Well, if it's strong enough to do so, which I seriously doubt as it's a scrawny thing.

"Well, if it ain't a Featherfolk!" He said boisterously, taking a few steps back to give the being a place to land, or hover, whatever they did. Why did it have to land so close to him, though? He bared his fangs instinctively and growled low under his breath.

The being seemed to not catch his warning signs, or just blatantly ignore them, for it seemed as ease in front of the group on the ground as it had been at ease hovering in the air.

"My name is Joshua. Highlander warrior Cius, will you assist me? I just discovered something that looks like a hidden entrance on a cliff face."

Iria, the strange girl who did not have a tail or ears, spoke up. "Are you telling the truth?"

Smart girl, never trust a Featherfolk, Cius thought. He glanced at the being, but it showed no emotion other than perhaps hesitance.

"Yes, it has been closed up with a boulder. Unfortunately, when it comes to tasks requiring physical strength, I fear that I am inadequate…"

Cius sized up the Featherfolk, his eyes trailing over the frail physique and skinny arms and legs. And with its Featherfolk physiology, the man couldn't weigh more than 30 kilograms. Perfect for flying, but awful for solid ground. And with the frilly damn white robes and long green well-kept hair; geeze, it must be pretty damn pampered. It didn't look more than a little unkempt from the sand blowing in its face. God, how had the thing survived away from its home? Cius was already annoyed at the being. It spoke so politely, like it was better than them all or something. Even while it was the fucking weak thing, and… wait, did it ask for his help?

"Okay, let me take care of it." He sighed deeply, taking his sword out of his sheathe once more. Atleast then he'd be rid of the fucking Featherfolk.

Only then did he wonder; how had the Featherfolk known his name from the start? He hadn't mentioned it…