Title: Saishū Yume
Author: Ex-Professor Remus Lupin
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Adventure/Alternate Universe/Romance
Era: None
Pairing(s): Remus/Sirius, Severus/Harry
Summary: It starts, as a simple kidnapping. It will become an adventure unlike any other as a group of mismatched heroes find themselves drawn into a war for not only their lives, but also their very souls.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Damn, I've been working my arse off on this story and I only have ten reviews. You know how disheartening that is to know that you're not that bloody popular after eight bleeding chapters? Very, very disheartening. I do appreciate the reviews, but I am a review whore – or as some people are putting it now – reviews are my whorecrux. Either way, I do appreciate the reviews I have received and I look forward to more.

But, anyways, a note on this lovely chapter. Finally, after nine bloody chapters of fighting and angst and all that rot, we've come to it – the infamous Festival of the Hunt. I hope you enjoy this, because I'm working hard on making this as interesting as possible.
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Chapter Ten
The Festival
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Severus knew when he stepped into the room that something was wrong. Despite not being an Animagus like Sirius who could, like an actual dog, sense emotions off people, or a werewolf like the prince, who could smell them, he could see the hostility.

Sirius was leaning with casual grace against the wall, arms crossed defensively over his chest. He wore fitted black pants decorated with a silver buckle of his right thigh, a pair of heavy black boots also with silver buckles, and a black tank top. He had gotten rid of the cloak in exchange for a long, fitted duster that fell nearly to the floor. His dark hair, unusually pulled back so that it was out of his face had been allowed to hang free, a few strands falling into his gray eyes. The look fit him quite well and Severus, though he would slit his own throat before he admitted it, hoped the thief kept it.

On the other side of the room was Prince Remus, sitting in a gilded chair and looking intently at his hands. His long hair hanging to his waist hung loosely about his shoulders, something Severus had not seen before on the prince. The strands, though thin, had a slight wave to them that made the look work on his thin frame. He was wearing white robes hemmed with silver treads and cinched at the waist with a silver colored tie.

Behind him was Weasley in his same steel armor emblazoned with the gold lion on the chest. Nearby stood Princess Ginevra in her barely there leather clothing, holding her spear carefully balanced in her hands. Several others that Severus did not know stood nearby, include a female red mage, what appeared to be a giant in deep, midnight blue clothes, and even, he was surprised to see, a white mage armed with what looked to be a hammer.

The hostility he felt was between the thief and Remus. The prince was pointedly not looking at anyone and Sirius was glaring at Remus with such intensity that it would likely burn a hole in the prince's robes.

"Is this it?" Severus asked, looking to the center of the room where Lady Minerva, dressed in her white robes, stood, gazing at him as he took the empty chair beside Sirius.

"Let us begin," Minerva gazed shrewdly at them for a moment before she cleared her throat. "You will have thirty minutes. During this time, you will be roaming through the streets of the city. Along the way, you will encounter monsters. Each monster is worth a certain amount of points; the most valuable of course is the most dangerous. At the end of thirty minutes, whoever has the most points will be declared the winner.

"Are you ready?" she looked at the twelve people in the room, her eyes resting upon the elven princess and Severus for a moment.

Everyone nodded.

-

Sirius grunted as he twirled the thieves' sword in the air, the two bladed weapon whistling loudly as it cut through flesh and sinew. He had purchased the slightly curved two bladed weapon just before the competition. Being a thief left him with a very padded wallet. The large cat-like creature made a low keening sound as it collapsed to the ground, leaving the street clear. Brushing a strand of hair from his eyes, he took off running, turning a corner so quickly that he very nearly collided with the slim form of one Princess Ginevra.

She was struggling with a Hippogriff. The ferocious creature had been surprised when she had come round the corner and it had attacked her. Already, she had deep claw marks on her right arm. Sirius rushed forward and with a quick uppercut, left a deep gash across the creature's heart. With a cry of agony, it collapsed to the ground and Sirius was awarded the points by the judges that watched from the building tops.

Ginevra turned angry blue eyes on him.

"I did not need your help, thief!" she said angrily. She used her spear to swing herself upon onto the roof of a nearby building and took off running. Sirius watched her for a moment, slightly amused.

"Thanks would have been nice," he muttered. Checking his grip on his double sword, he took an alley over to the business district.

Running down the street, he ignored the people that stood on the stoops of the businesses in favor of finding another opponent. The sky had darkened significantly since they'd come outside and he suspected that it would rain soon.

A flash of lightning across the sky and Sirius yelped in surprise as something large tackled him to the ground and claws dug painfully into his lower back. He could feel harsh breath in his ear as the creature dug at him, trying to rip through the duster. Reaching into his coat, he unsheathed his dagger and heaved his body up, throwing the animal off.

It rolled away from him, hissing, and spitting. It was surprisingly agile and in a matter of seconds was back on its feet. As it came near, Sirius saw the gleaming yellow eyes, sharp white teeth, and blue-scaled body. A wyrm.

He dove out of the way of the wyrm as it took another swipe at him with its clawed feet, his jacket catching and tearing as he tore away. He landed painfully on his side, his dagger skittering across the pavement. With a groan of pain, he swung his double bladed sword and felt with a grim sort of satisfaction, the give of scales and flesh.

He crawled away from the wyrm and took a deep breath. He had not been expecting something like that. He cursed and stood up, kicking his weapon as it stayed solidly inside the corpse, which had turned to stone.

"Damn it," he grumbled as he picked up his dagger and unsheathed the other. He didn't think he stood much chance against anything really voracious with these puny little things.

"Having a little trouble?" he looked behind him to find a figure dressed in black, leaning casually against the wall, holding a staff in their hands.

"Hello, Severus," he said cheerfully, approaching the mage.

"You do know those things hunt in pairs, right?" Sirius gazed blankly at him for a second and then he yelped as Severus grabbed the front of his jacket. Stumbling, Sirius fell into the mage just as another wyrm skidded to a halt where he had been standings just a moment ago.

Sirius didn't thank the mage as he threw one of his daggers. It flew gracefully through the air and bounced joyfully off the blue scales. He cursed, than dodged the burst of wyrm fire that the creature had spit out at him.

Severus waved his hand, murmuring as he called down a suddenly flash of cold air that turned the other wyrm into a block of ice. The thief nodded his thanks as he retrieved his thrown dagger. He noticed that the corpse of the wyrm he had killed had collapsed to dust. He retrieved his thief sword with a murmur of thanks to the mage.

But, when he looked back up, the mage was gone and he was once again alone.

-

Remus gazed down worriedly into the streets as he and Weasley stood atop the city gates. He could make out Severus turning a cat-like animal into ice. An enormous animal had taken over a street not two blocks from the mage. A menacing looking beast, a giant spider was spinning a web along the street. As Remus watched it do this, he saw Sirius headed in that direction.

Severus, now back on track, seemed also to be heading in that direction as well, along with the elven princess. Remus drew in a breath and he heard several people nearby making bets on who would be the first caught.

-

Ginevra sliced through the thick webbing that was blocking her path. Sliding through the carefully made hole, she stepped out onto an empty street covered for as far as she could see with webs. "Acromantula," she whispered to no one in particular.

This creature was probably worth quite a few points and well worth the trouble, she would likely go through. It wasn't until she had taken a few steps when she saw a figure appear on the street. Dressed in black robes, the person was moving slowly, cautiously toward her.

She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and moved swiftly toward him. She heard someone behind her. Turning, she saw the thief making his way through the hole she had made, widening it with his double-ended sword. Tightening her grip on her spear, she waited for both men.

"Hello," Sirius said cheerfully.

"Have you seen it?" Severus demanded.

"Of course not, it's likely waiting for us to let our guard down before it attacks," Ginevra snapped. "Now, if you would kindly move on, I have an Acromantula to kill."

"I don't think so princess, this one's mine," the thief grunted.

"Duck!" Princess Ginevra cried.

All three of them ducked as a rope of webbing flew through the air over their heads and hit the wall behind them with a dull thud. Sirius was the first to stand back up and it was to the sight of a monstrous spider hovering above their heads, its mouth clicking horribly as it cursed at them.

Ginevra was getting to her feet just as the spider turned around and sent another wave of webbing toward them. Sirius shoved the elf out of the way and bit back the cry of rage as the he felt the sticky substance cling to his body, pinning him to the ground.

"Fire!" there was a flash of heat and light and suddenly he was free. Nodding a perplexed thank you to Severus, he readied his thief sword.

"Move!" Sirius and Severus barely avoided the wave of sticky webbing that came hurtling toward them. Ginevra rushed forward, using her strong legs and spear to pole vault herself into the air. Twisting gracefully, she angled her body and spear and aimed at the spider's broad back.

She landed atop her target, the spear driving deep. A gush of black blood oozed out onto her boots, the stench of rot so powerful that she nearly gagged. The Acromantula clicked furiously in pain and its body jerked upward, trying to throw her off. She pressed her weapon deeper and barely managed to hang on as the large, hulking body lurched.

Severus straightened quickly and cast another fire spell, intent on hurting the creature that was dripping black blood onto them like rain. Ginevra was struggling to stay atop the spider, her strong legs bracing her as she withdrew her spear and jumped. She seemed almost to float for an instant. The earth's gravity caught her suddenly and she plunged to the earth.

Sirius gasped, fearful that she would fall the twenty feet to her death.

Instead, the elf made a sudden motion with her hand and murmured something beneath her breath. A soft white colored wind swirled up around them all and cushioned her gently as she landed on the ground, spear at the ready. Sirius looked down at his body in time to see minor cuts and other wounds healing.

"That," Sirius said, running up to her, "was brilliant."

"No time for that," Severus yelled to them as he threw another spell at the spider and it howled, its large body coming straight toward them.

They all leapt away, but the long legs caught Sirius across the chest and sent him stumbling into a building wall. Ginevra raised her spear and managed to slice through the leg that swept out at her. More blood poured from this new wound and the Acromantula clicked in pain. Severus was the only one who had managed thus far to avoid any injuries and Sirius, knowing the man's record in the last few days, was surprised.

"Oh, shit," Sirius managed before he was drenched in a wave of warm black blood as the creature collapsed.

It would appear that Ginevra had landed the killing blow.

Or not.

The hulking body lurched to life once more. Sirius tightened his grip on his dagger and stood up, rushing toward the things great head. Ignoring the shock of pain in his chest and the fact that he smelled like rotting meat, he buried one of the blades of his sword into the spider's throat, or what he could only assume was a throat.

The monster jerked its head downward and he lost his grip on the sword, his fingers wet with ebony blood. He screamed as pincer dug deeply into the skin of his forearm, tearing the flesh and mixing red blood with black.

Then, the great beast gave a shuddering jerk and its jaw relaxed. Sirius drew his bleeding arm to his chest and stumbled back, nearly catching his foot on the hem of his coat as he watched in astonishment as the spider's legs curled into its body. It gave one last shudder and stopped moving.

With a cry of relief, Sirius collapsed to his knees, not caring how much time they had left or that Severus and Ginevra were both up and leaving to find some way to rack up as many points as he had just done before the time ran out. He was too busy gazing at the swell of blood oozing down his arm, the opaque pink color of the layer of fat and the still darker muscles flexing as his fingers moved.

His eyes rolled up into his head and darkness fell.

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Author's Note: I figured I'd end it here...hope you like this one better than the last chapter.

Next Chapter: A surprise awaits them after the Festival...