Series: Power of Earth and Flame||Story: Entwined
Characters: Jim, O'Brien, Karen||Ship: N/A
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 3,500
Genre: Drama||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing, YGO GX, Firestarter/Healer Aus, F26, K rated
Notes: Firestarter & Healer AU, with Jim and O'Brien in Dark World. I have so many delicious plans for this arc. But all in due time.
Summary: Healer and Firestarter are entertwined together. When you meet the right one, you often just know. Jim and O'Brien aren't an exception. Even in a world of dueling and death.
Jim missed the sun. He missed being able to rest on the earth, drinking in energy from above and below. But there hadn't been a chance to rest ever since things started to happen at Duel Academia, and he'd more or less grown used to being more active than he tended to prefer.
There were benefits, though. He could feel the different energy of the blue comet coursing overhead in his skin and the energy that rose up from the earth under his feet as well. It was different from what he was used to, and he hadn't yet decided if he liked it.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to call it a benefit but being able to spend time around O'Brien without anyone else interfering certainly pleased him. For someone with neither partner or Healer Cat, O'Brien was one of the most grounded Firestarters that Jim had ever encountered. He'd never given the faintest flicker of indication that he even wanted a partner.
Does he? Jim toyed with that thought now and then when he had the time. That wasn't as often as he would have liked. They were so busy trying to find either Shou or Juudai that simpler goals fell by the wayside.
Not that he decried the importance of finding Shou or Juudai. Shou practically disappeared after raging at Juudai in Brron's former fortress, and no matter how often Jim questioned the plants of the area, none of them would reveal where Shou went. Nor did they know where Juudai might have been. At least with him, that was understandable. Plants weren't nearly as intimately connected to Firestarters as they were to Healers.
But when they had time to do something else, or when they rested in between asking anyone they met, Jim's thoughts wandered towards O'Brien.
He'd never thought about bonding to a Firestarter himself. He knew that he would probably do so eventually, and he'd rather enjoyed spending time around Tomorrow Girl – such a good person and a very strong Firestarter. But she already had someone she intended to bond with after graduation, though he'd never met them.
There were other Firestarters. He'd met several during his time at South School and more at Duel Academia itself. A lot of those there were already bonded or intended to bond to someone else.
O'Brien was the exception. Level-headed, with a fire burning inside of him that Jim could not help but notice. He'd noticed it when they were on the ship heading towards the school, but since at the time O'Brien worked for Cobra, Jim hadn't thought much about it. Only as they'd grown closer to one another in the ensuing events did Jim start to wonder that question that most Healers and Firestarters wondered about.
Would he like to bond with me? It wasn't an easy question. Bonding was a lifelong commitment, more so even than marriage. Marriages could be dissolved. Bonds could be – but at a price to those involved.
So it wasn't something that anyone leaped into without thinking about. Jim didn't think he'd ever leaped into anything without thinking in his life. His thoughts might have been brief, but they existed.
Now once again, as they settled in for some rest in a circle of trees, his attention divided itself between the trees themselves and O'Brien, who lay under a spreading tree branch and stared up into the sky.
It was a beautiful grove. Dozens of trees clustered thickly together, none of them being types that he recognized, with leaves in shades that didn't exist on Earth, at least not as leaves, with bushes covered with berries that were just a shade away from ripeness gathered against their trunks and in whatever spaces remained between the trees. Moss in a familiar gray-green shade covered the ground, dotted along with flowers of yellow and blue and silver, which all sent up a myriad of sweet aromas. Underneath one of the bushes there flowed a tiny trickle of water – not enough to be celled a stream but each of them took a turn scooping up a few handfuls of it to moisten their throats.
Jim rested his head against Karen as she napped underneath a tree. He could feel the trees whispering among themselves. There were a few spirits here, mostly hidden where few could see them, but they didn't seem interested in attacking. He'd heard whispers among such creatures of a terrifying warlord, someone known as Haou, but he wasn't sure if that was someone they needed to worry about yet. Dark World politics were extremely confusing and cutthroat. Better for them to find their friends and go home, letting this world deal with who led it in whatever way they chose.
I'm going to court him, Jim decided between one breath and the next. Proper courting would have to wait until they found a way to go home, of course, but he could figure out a few things before then.
He glanced towards Karen, who opened one eye and stared at him. She wasn't a Fire Cat – or a Fire Crocodile, if such a thing existed – but she understood him as well as one would. She made a faint agreeing noise before closing her eye again.
Jim sat up, scanned the circle of trees, then moved over to one of them. He could feel O'Brien watching him as he sent a faint whisper of energy through the tree. It wasn't the proper time of year for fruiting, but the tree didn't put up a protest.
Why would I protest a Healer? You're a good Healer, the tree whispered to him. Jim patted it again with a faint smile.
"Thanks, friend," Jim murmured as the tree bent down one branch and settled a pair of ripe fruits, triangular shaped, a deep shade of emerald green, and with a very sweet fragrance.
You're welcome. My fruit are often used as courting gifts.
Jim patted the tree warmly before turning back to O'Brien and heading over there. "Hungry?" He asked, offering the fruit. O'Brien eyed it carefully, eyes narrowed for a few seconds.
Offering fruit by itself wasn't an offer of bonding or even an indication of desire to court. But offering fruit brought into being by the power of a Healer, sharing in that power, was.
O'Brien reached over and accepted it. "Thanks," he grunted mildly before he started to eat. Jim enjoyed the sight before he started on his own. The fruit – a dalance fruit, he heard the tree whisper – had a sweet, almost tart taste to it, a bit like some apples, but with a texture more similar to oranges without having to be peeled.
"There's a little village over that way," Jim said, nodding off towards what he thought would be an acceptable designation for east. "We can get more information there later."
He settled himself back down across from O'Brien. The closer they were, the more he could feel the warmth of those flames of his. Like those of most Firestarters, they called towards him, a comforting blaze that he could warm himself underneath forever if he were allowed. He probed at them briefly out of vague curiosity before a question rose to his lips.
"What level Firestarter are you?"
O'Brien raised his head for a second, before he touched the pin at his collar. "Gold," he answered. Jim made a noncommittal noise. Gold Flames were reasonably strong, not quite as strong as Green or White, let alone the almost legendary Black Flame – Juudai was a Black Flame, the only one that Jim had ever encountered in his life – and certainly a strong enough match for him.
Jim made himself comfortable next to Karen again. The tree above politely arranged itself for Jim's own benefit. Vegetation did that all the time for Healers. Even being in Dark World didn't change that.
"What about you? What level Healer?" O'Brien spoke the question in a way that indicated he was more trying to be polite than anything else.
"Level four," Jim answered. In Healer terms, that was roughly close to a Gold Flame. He was right; they would make a good match. He considered for a few seconds before he turned to meet O'Brien's eyes. "Would you like to court? Not much we can do here, but we'll get home, and then we can really do it."
O'Brien blinked at that, confusion writ large in his eyes before he shrugged. "Sure."
Little ideas flickered around in the back of Jim's head at that. There were things that they could do even here – little items like giving of the fruit. At home, duelists who were courting one another would often challenge each other to duels. Here that wasn't going to be an option. No dueling each other.
Other options cropped up as well that he knew he'd have to consider when the time came – tiny gifts that he might be able to trade for, more fruit or other food items. He would make the decision when the time came.
O'Brien shifted a trifle. "This is good," he said at last, burying the core. From where Jim sat, he thought O'Brien intended to say something else, when both of them froze at the sudden sound of laughter ghosting through the air.
Neither of them moved for so much as a second. O'Brien's eyes shifted, staring off to where the sound seemed to be coming from. Jim's gaze followed, both of them dropping their relaxed demeanor. Karen stirred and Jim quieted her, not wanting a hint of their presence to escape.
"Did you see the way Haou-sama just burned that village?" The words came through clearer now as whoever spoke approached. "There weren't even any ashes left!"
Haou was a Firestarter. Jim wondered what sort of Healer that he had, if he had one at all – would he be a warlord trying to conquer if he bonded? The two powers balanced one another, when the partnership was equal.
"I wish I could see it again," a second voice added. "It was so magnificent. I wish I were that strong."
Jim glanced at O'Brien, who tilted his head forward. That was a Firestarter – not a strong one, though.
"Don't worry about it. You're strong enough," a third voice spoke. "Did you want to try burning a few things? Just for the practice? Look, there's a grove. I could grow it back once you're done."
Jim winced. From the way the trees twitched and shivered, not only was burning and regrowing a thing in this world, but these travelers were targeting their grove. He dug his fingers into the ground, whispering into the earth, seeking a deeper connection to it. He found the connection and breathed harder, focusing his attention on it. He didn't dare let them set the grove on fire and drive them out of it. But they also couldn't let these people know that they were there in the first place.
O'Brien's hand rested on his shoulder. Jim caught his breath and focused more intently. O'Brien's flames steadied him and he could work better now. This wasn't an easy action and at any point, one of the others that he couldn't see could figure out what was going on. It was very simple at the same time – a whisper, a sensation that the other would feel that said not to do this, to do no harm to these trees, to go elsewhere for training.
"Not now," the other Firestarter said. There had barely been a few breaths between the suggestion and the denial of it. "I like the fruit there and I don't want to burn them up."
"All right," the Healer replied without protest. "We've got the training area back at the fortress anyway. And maybe if Haou-sama sees us training, he can give us some pointers?"
The Firestarter snorted. "As if anything he does is something I could do. He's a Black Flame." His tones hovered on worship. "But let's go home. Maybe we can see him burning someone else." He definitely sound interested in that.
The three of them moved onward. Jim couldn't see him, but sine he was so connected with the earth right now, he could feel them heading away. He didn't release the earth until they were out of sight entirely, then all but fell backward, trying to drag in breath after breath.
"Are you all right?" O'Brien asked, wrapping a supportive arm around Jim's shoulders. Jim didn't want to reach for those flames, but O'Brien extended them anyway, a little clumsily. Jim closed his eye and breathed in, feeling himself steady with the connection.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Jim replied after a few moments of resting. He breathed a few more minutes, before he 'stared' at O'Brien's flames, and reached out a mental hand to them for a second.
O'Brien flinched at that, not releasing Jim, but clearly not wanting him to continue. Jim raised his head to stare at him.
"You're not a Gold Flame," Jim murmured. He couldn't have told before this, but now with O'Brien's fires so close to him, it was obvious. He wasn't sure if he could quite believe what he could feel, but it was there. "You're a Green Flame."
The differences between Gold and Green weren't all that much; a matter of degree – as ridiculous as such a grading might be when it came to fire. But Greens were just that much hotter, a little bit more intense, and one of the earliest levels of a Firestarter deemed strong enough to incinerate someone.
Granted, any Firestarter could do that if they put enough time and effort into it, but while a Gold level might have to strain a bit to keep the flames on someone long enough, a Green level or higher could burn someone to ash within minutes. The higher the level, the more intense the flame.
Legend had it that a Black Flame could incinerate a person so quickly that they wouldn't even be aware they'd died until two days later. Jim hadn't ever asked Juudai if he'd done that. He didn't think that he had. Even as sad as Juudai had been the last time their paths crossed, he'd never seemed to be that kind of person.
O'Brien shrugged. "I don't want to be," he said. "I'm not going to use my power to kill people because I'm told to."
Jim's eye softened. "All right. I'd never ask." He started to get himself unentangled from O'Brien's supportive arm, ready to go back under the tree he'd relaxed under before, then stopped as something else sank into his head.
"Jim?" O'Brien watched him carefully. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Jim said, drawing a sudden breath to steady himself. "But did you hear them? What they said about that Haou?"
O'Brien frowned in thought before he froze. "He's a Black Flame. I thought those were rare."
"They are. The only other one that I know of is the one from history – Pharaoh Atem. Or Juudai." He'd never asked Juudai anything about his flames, but Juudai did have the mark of a Firestarter on his coat and it was in the rare shade of black. Therefore, black Flame.
"You don't think -" O'Brien shook his head at once. "I don't think so. Juudai's not like that."
Jim tapped a finger against a log he leaned against. "No, he's not. Not normally." He didn't want to believe that. He wanted to believe that with the help of his Healer Cat, Juudai would keep strong.
But what if something happened to Theodis? It wasn't impossible. Healer Cats and Fire Cats were as mortal as any other cat. It could happen.
"Let's see what other information we can find at that village," Jim said at last. "Maybe they'll know something that we don't."
O'Brien nodded, going over to the trickle of water and getting another drink. Jim settled back and tried to get his thoughts in order. Such wasn't easy. Black Flames were rare on Earth. Two only known for certain in thousands of years. The rank only existed because Pharaoh Atem existed in the first place, and there had been those thousands of years when no one knew of him to start with.
If it hadn't been for Mutou Yuugi – current First Healer of Japan – then no one would have known what happened in those old days. There were still some archaeologists, historians, and scholars who weren't entirely willing to accept his word, but with the help of the Ishtar family, there was more than enough evidence for most.
So were Black Flames more common in this world? He'd never seen Brron for more than a few minutes while he and Juudai dueled, not long enough to even be certain if he were a Firestarter at all. Perhaps being a Black Flame was a prerequisite for being a leader here? This person could even be a proper heir to Brron, not just someone who decided that ruling ruthless and conquering was the best use of his time. With what little information they had, Jim simply didn't know.
His thoughts wandered their way back to O'Brien. He wasn't certain of all of O'Brien's reasons for not wanting his true strength to be known. He'd hardly be the only person who registered at one level but insisted on being known as another. Jim had seen it before, in both Healers and Firestarters. There were those of the White level who never wanted it known, given how that level had a tendency to go Frostflame.
He'd not the frozen type, though. Even if he had been able to survive the process of frosting over – the only one he knew of offhand was Hell Kaiser – he wasn't the type to do it in the first place.
But that wasn't the sort of problem that O'Brien had. He'd said at least one thing already – that he didn't want to use his flames to hurt others. He was the nurturing flame, the one to warm others and help them, not kill them. Even here he didn't like to use his duel to kill others. They'd had to fight a few times since Brron's arena. Jim had seen that already. He wasn't fond of it either, though it needed to be done. One had to fight to survive in this world.
Is Shou fighting? Jim learned a lot by watching and listening when others thought he slept or just didn't pay attention. He'd learned that Shou dedicated himself to respect dueling after everything that happened with his brother. Shou wasn't even close to wanting to hurt people, let alone kill them.
He was also a barely Sprouted Healer, his power growing stronger by the day but still not as strong as he would be one day. Jim wanted to find him just to keep an eye on him. Just as he did with Juudai.
Juudai would fight. Even with as sad as he'd been, Juudai would duel. His fighting spirit couldn't possibly have been drained down that far. Thordis would help him; that was what a Healer Cat or a Fire Cat was there for. Jim simply couldn't truly imagine Juudai not fighting.
How much of that was what he knew and how much was just what he wanted to believe? Could Shou have fallen into the trap of fighting only to live? Could Juudai have given up fighting altogether?
It didn't feel likely. But Jim chewed over the thoughts until they were in tatters, and he could not be certain at all. Anything could have happened. Anything at all.
The Eye of Orichalcum tingled behind his bandages. It wanted to tell him something, as it had so often since they entered this world and he first saw that comet. The time would come far too soon. What might happen after that, he had no idea.
He would have to tell O'Brien about the Eye eventually. Now wasn't the time. He wasn't even certain of what to tell him. About the old man? About what he'd said and how he's vanished? Even Jim didn't understand everything that had been said that day, or how he could be so certain that the time for that prophecy drew so close.
Later, he told himself. Later he would work out what to tell and when. For now, they needed to rest and then move on to the village and whatever lay beyond it. Hopefully somewhere beyond it there lay Juudai and Shou and a way back to their own world.
His heart twitched at the thought of having to go back there without the others. How to explain that Johan wasn't lost but dead, and that the others died as well? He wanted to believe there could be a way to change that, though he didn't know how. No Healer he knew of had ever been able to revive the dead.
Answers would come later. Or so he fondly hoped.
The End
Notes: So, who wants to know what Shou's up to? You'll find out in April!