And so it continues......~!

WISHES OF THE NIGHT
By Shikushikun
Part 3

Though he wasn't sure how much time had passed or if any did at all, there was a bright flash of light and then Hakuren seemed to jolt awake with a start. He sat against the stone wall of an alley and wasn't sure how he had gotten there. He was just chasing the Kor, wasn't he...? He stood and the pale folds of his robes seemed to shift and flutter at the graceful action even though there was no breeze.

"Hakuren!" It was Teito's voice, young and energetic as always and always betraying his emotional state of being. The light came from Mikage, who sent out a small bust of fire from his jaws to light the way for the two seconds that were needed. The dragon sat on Teito's head like a bacon and gripped tightly to the chocolate-brown mass of hair. "Where've you been?! I looked everywhere, I thought maybe that Kor..."

"I'm fine," Hakuren answered, feeling touched at the concern. "It got away from me...I think..."

His friend breathed a sigh of relief. "It attacked me, but Mikage came and warned me just in time. It ran off a while ago."

"I thought you left him with that woman?"

"He didn't listen."

Hakuren frowned at this. Though he was quite thankful no harm had happened, the dragon had explicitly disobeyed Teito. That is, if he could understand that well. "Let's go back and check on her," he said almost haughtily. "She could be in danger for all we know."

"Yeah, let's go. Someone should be here soon. It's too bad the Kor got away..." As Teito said this, he pet Mikage, who cooed. Seeing this, Hakuren felt a swell of some dark, unnameable feeling in his chest for a moment, like a bubble rising from the deepness of the ocean, only to split apart into tinier bubbles and disapate before reaching the surface. Whoa... that was a little weird.

But he shook the feeling off and they hurried back down the streets to meet Frau, who arrived on a hawkzile at the place just as they did.

"What did you find?" Frau asked, all business. He kneeled next to the woman, who was still passed out. "I saw your signal."

"There was a Kor," Teito answered.

Hakuren nodded, but was distracted by the air Frau gave off at the moment. In these times, the man was every measure that first impression he had of him, those years ago. As the Bishop checked the lady over, his gloved fingers checking her wounds and pulse like the professional he was, it was easy to ignore the less savory and lewd parts of his mother's savior. In the bright lights of the vehicle, his hair was highlighted with gold. But, Hakuren thought to himself, those lewd parts were endearing in a way. It made the Bishop human in his mind, hence helping him indulge in THAT hobby from time to time with magazines. (Bribes.)

"You BRAT. Did you just leave her here like this? If this wound was any worse, she could of bled out."

"We couldn't let the Kor get away and find another victim!" Teito replied, but still looked abashed.

"At least you should have taken care of her injuries first before running off." Frau looked to the both of them, and Hakuren suddenly felt very ashamed. The Bishop was right! What had he been thinking? He felt like he had let him down.

"I'm sorry," said Hakuren, voice soft.

"She'll be okay though. Did you find the Kor?" Both he and Teito shook their heads. "Great. All right, we'll take her back to the others. We found a load of other people today with the same story. An injury or mark on their neck, and all acting funny. This is confirmation that a Kor is behind it... a new kind we haven't had much experience with."

"What kind is it...?"

"Vor," Hakuren suddenly answered.

"That's right, Vor." Frau looked at him, the blue eyes dark as the sky at the moment but dense as if they could penetrage right through him.

Teito asked, "How do you know?"

"I.. I think I heard it say it while we chased it." But Hakuren was puzzled, he didn't remember hearing it. But he knew it, all the same, though he hadn't an hour ago. He shrugged. "What does it do?"

"We're not sure exactly. I'll tell you guys more when we get back home."

They all loaded up on the hawkzile which had problems lifting off with a grand total of four people on it, plus a baby dragon but he hardly counted, and headed back to the church.

---

"Vor," Frau explained later while they sat in the waiting area outside of the victim's ward. "Is a vampiric-Kor. It spreads by coming into contact with blood, like a disease, and slowly eats at the person just like one too."

"Are there any markings like a normal Kor?" Teito asked, thoughtful. His gaze was inward.

"One appears a day later, usually where the infection took place." Frau tapped the side of his neck. "The worst kind of hickey you'll get. The bite heals if a complete infection takes place. Since the person you found was still bleeding, she'll be all right after Castor looks at her. The Vor must have been interrupted. There are some other kids that we have locked up for their own good because we're still looking at how to extract these things from a complete infection..."

"Is it different than normal?"

"A little. When it's a complete infection, it looks like it might be easier to destroy only after the victim gets to the edge of totally succumbing mentally."

"So they don't try to grant wishes?"

"Oh, they do," Frau said, with an air of I-know-everything. "It's just a different kind of wish."

He cocked his head to the side. "Different kind?"

"It kind of warps things. More physical. I'll tell you when you're older." And Frau ruffled Teito's hair with a smirk.

"Tell me now!"

"Older~" And with that singsong note in his voice, the seriousness of their discussion seemed over.

Hakuren had watched and listened with rapt attention, but sensed his own mind wandering at times, like how Frau seemed so strong as he carried the victim down the long halls of the church, or how Teito must be holding tightly to his own feelings about Kor with the experience he had with them. Hakuren was glad Teito hadn't been infected during their chase. After watching his mother go through the suffering, he didn't know if he could stand to have someone else close to him go through the same kind of pain. Fortunately, the Bishops were nothing like his stern, cold father. They would take care of them, their flock.

"You look beat." Amethyst-eyes blinked. Frau somehow had gotten right up to his face without him noticing, lost in thought. Teito's face was a small peek of curiosity over the man's shoulder, with Mikage now nesting in his hair.

"I guess I am" he answered carefully. He tugged absently at the long ponytail of hair that drapped down his neck and shoulder. He WAS tired. How kind it was for Frau to notice. "We ran everywhere looking for that Vor."

"Get to bed. You two did your job - leave the rest to us men, okay?"

"As if you're that mature," Teito grumbled.

"I have more than enough maturity to handle the both of you."

"And what does THAT mean?"

"Secret~"

Before they could continue bickering up a storm, Mikage woke and spat a puff of smoke between them as if to say shut up already!

Hakuren laughed at their mute expressions and it was agreed they should all head off to sleep.

End Part 3

OMG where is this going?? Everyone's in trouble now... ;O If you didn't catch it, Hakuren's hair was hiding any evidence of a wound, though there was probably very little bloodstain since the Vor that attacked him cleaned up pretty well in order to hide... And logically something wouldn't want too many people to find the evidence of the infection right away, right? And then made Hakuren forget too oh my gawd... I'm sorry, Hakuren-sama! Gomenasai! Stay tuned for part 4!!