Disclaimer: All rights pertaining to the show and its characters belong to Disney, ABC, and the creators/directors/producers. The idea, however, and this fiction belong to me.

Author: Crisis

Title: Monster

Pairing: Richard/Kahlan

Rating: PG-16

Spoilers: Up to "Perdition" Season 2.

Short summary: Richard has managed to find out about his ancestry through Shota. Knowing of the darkness lurking inside him, he's come to question himself, and his spirit. Can the good in him save him from bloodlust? Or will he lose himself to the evil, and endanger the one closest to his heart?

Authors Note: I don't really want to make this fic too long, but it looks like it might turn out to be quite a few chapters! I hope no one minds, (: I will put in as much Richard & Kahlan fluffiness as possible once it gets rolling some more. Thank you all for your kind comments so far! They mean the world to me, and encourage me to keep writing. ;)

Gently prodding the fire, Richard sat with his knee's drawn up and out in front of him. Forearms resting across as he made sure they were all warm. The storm had snuck upon them before he and Cara managed to return to the camp, and after their encounter with Shota, Richard had suggested they find some wood and shelter, in case their companions wished to know what kept them so long.

Richard wasn't so sure he wanted his grandfather and beloved to know. It would mean having to reveal the nightmares for what they were. Admitting his doubt aloud, to them, to those who would feed him wit conviction, and try to persuade him otherwise. While he needed the comfort, he also found this was something he needed to deal with on his own. Especially with the new prophecy.

It was becoming harder and harder to avoid his beliefs in the matter. Now that Kahlan's life had been threatened directly.

Automatically, Richard's sullen gaze turned towards the woman lying not even two feet from him. She was so exhausted from the events of the past few months. The hard traveling, the worrying she'd done over him while he was away. There had been several hordes of banelings to attack recently. The thought that he might not be able to protect her after all terrified him.

Her form was curled on her bedding, close to his own, wrapped in her green blanket. Her peaceful face in sleep was something he loved. The way she slept with such childhood abandon. He would never peg her to be as lethal as she were if he'd just been passing by. Not with the pure image she held without even trying; the beauty.

As he stared at her, watching her chest rise and fall with slow breaths, the way her hair snuck across her face, the way her body was turned towards him. Richard couldn't help but reach over and smooth his finger tips beneath the flyaway, brushing the strand behind her ear before letting his thumb ghost over her cheek slowly.

Trying to record her state of rest to memory. His jaw tensed, the prophecy, his nightmare, and Shota's words resurfacing in his head. Swirling like a plague that refused to relinquish its tight, suffocating grasp. He couldn't lose her. . .

"Oh yes, its true Seeker." Shota sneered, raising her hand when Richard fought against the paralysis spell. She watched as the veins in his neck began to bulge. His face turning red. "There's no use fighting against it. I can easily increase the spells magnitude…" She paused, seeing the fire subside slightly in his burning eyes. "Or you could stop struggling, and listen to what I have to say."

"Why should we trust you?" Cara spat quickly, her brows furrowed in hot accusation. The smoldering gaze of a Mord'Sith was nothing like that of a Seeker on the verge of his rage.

"Because I only came to alleviate the nightmares your Lord Rahl has been experiencing. Such a distraction will only complicate your quest." The witch woman's answer seemed plausible. Then again, she always had a way with words when she wanted to have her way with them.

"You're lying." Richard grunted out, allowing his body to relax slightly. "I don't have to be a Confessor to see that."

"No, but you can not stand there and tell me that these vivid dreams you've been having haven't been visiting you during your consciousness mind. Richard," Shota softened her voice, genuinely seeming to feel some sort of compassion as she took a step towards the Seeker.

Instantly Cara had her agiels at the ready, her form swift as she stepped between the two of them. This man wasn't just her Lord Rahl, he'd become a dear friend to her. Though the pride she had as a Sister of the Agiel would never allow her to admit such a weakness.

"Cara." Richard reprimanded, his voice coming out in a harsh gasp. The Mord'Sith's posture relaxed only slightly, her eyes never leaving the woman before her.

"This is as far as you go, witch." She announced bitterly.

Shota regarded her briefly before turning her impending gaze upon Richard. He looked deep in thought, as if weighing his current options.

"Your time is running short, you know."

"Then why aren't you talking?" Richard quipped, the fire in his eyes wavering as his muscles relaxed fully, though still tense.

"First, I need to know what Zedd has told you."

There was a brief pause, again Richard seemed to debate the situation before he began in a swift recollection of what had happened months prior. "He told me about a tyrant who raged blood shed three-thousand years ago. He told me about the wizard, my ancestor, who was forced to put a binding spell on the warlords warriors, and that he had to kill the man who lost himself to his bloodlust." A small breeze blew through the area, bringing with it the scent of rain. "He explained to me that was how I was connected to the Minders. That my rage in the sword fueled their bloodlust as it did mine. But I controlled my anger." He stated sternly, the vein in his neck once more bulging and pumping with life.

Shota raised a brow inquisitively. "Is that all he told you?" She was slightly incredulous, but figured the old fool would leave out the details. He always had to protect his grandson from demons; ones the boy should have been aware of all along. Before it was too late. She only hoped that it wasn't now.

"What else is there?"

"Did you know that Canton Rahl, this Wizard you spoke of; your ancestor, was also a protector of his people before he too went mad with power?"

Silence hung in the air as Richard pondered her words momentarily, questioning her with only his eyes.

"Canton was a respected leader, Richard. He cared for his people, fought for them. Did everything in his power to keep the lands safe. That is, until he found that he could extend the limitations on his powers. That knowledge had no bounds. Your ancestor, Richard, lost himself to his own rage. To his bloodlust. The evil within him was only subdued for so long until he too became a feared tyrant. Ruthless and reckless beyond the likes which you could ever imagine."

"You're lying!"

"No, I'm afraid I am not Richard. You are marked by the Keeper. You are the one who will destroy all of life…" she baited, watching as his breath came quicker. The air became dry around them. It were almost as if gravity had suspended itself and evaporated from around them. It nearly threw her for a loop before she noticed the odd glow to his eyes; his gaze was that of a Raptors. "You're awaken by her screams at night, aren't you Seeker? Haunted by the images of her death, dealt by your hand. You claim you are keeping Kahlan Amnell safe, out of harms way. You claim to be her protector, when in fact, Richard Rahl, you will be the one who sends her to the Keeper yourself."

The anger was there once more, Richard's form resisting against her powerful spell as he struggled to grasp for his sword. The blinding rage roared through him. He could feel his skin stretching, his muscles bulging in intense effort as his heart hammered against his chest out of hatred. The tips of his fingers and hair burned and tingled with the hot need to run this woman through. How dare she accuse him of being a danger to HIS Kahlan! All he had ever done was love and protect her!

Shota clenched her fist, increasing the output of her spell ten fold. Richard collapsed to the ground in pain, nearly crying out but reminding himself that both Zedd and Kahlan were not far off.

Cara instantly brought her agiels up to Shota's arm, the woman screaming in pain before lurching back, her spell broken from the pull of muscle in her arm. Quickly, the Mord'Sith knelt beside her friend, concern washing over her features briefly as she rested a hand on his back, trying to quell the wrath.

Richard's chest heaved for air, his skin blood red and sweaty. He couldn't remember a time when his fury had been so great other than months ago with the Minders. He could feel the irritation bubbling just below the surface as his eyes lifted to meet the witch woman's.

"You know I speak the truth, Seeker. If you do not give up your title and pass the sword on to another, you will fulfill my prophecy."

As the storm clouds gathered over head, Richard and Cara knelt mortified by the words that left Shota's mouth next.

"The Monster comes upon swift feet; visions of horror cloud his judgment. He will slay those to which he used to hold dear, and his betrayal will stain the Angel's white wings in her own blood." Thunder crackled in the distance, lightning striking down to create a triangular shape around them. "The name of this blood thirsty beast is none other than that of the last known descendent of the Rahl bloodline. Richard Rahl."

"Richard?" The soft voice calling his name lulled him from his thoughts, his eyes blurring slightly due to the translucent liquid now gathered there. "Richard, are you alright?" Once more, the angelic sound soothed his soul, quieting the inner demons which threatened to purge him into madness.

"I'm fine, Kahlan." Putting on his best smile, he glanced towards her, reaching up to wipe at his face. "I think I've been staring at the fire too long." He tried to laugh it off, though she was fixing him with a stare. It was truly useless to lie to a Confessor.

"No, you're not." She stared at him pointedly, waiting for him to continue. When his eyes returned to the fire, worry etched itself into her heart. Why was he suddenly withdrawing himself from her?

Lately he seemed to not want to touch her. He'd even been laying his bed fold far away from her own. She'd taken it upon herself to keep following him, never wanting to be more than three feet away at all times. Her heart ached that perhaps all the warding she had done in the past had finally forced him away from her. Never had she imagined it to feel so devastating.

"You've been acting strange these past few weeks, Richard. And this morning, you and Cara went off to find food for nearly two hours!" Desperation filled her voice, her form rising to her knees beside him. Her hands reached out to grasp his face, turning his head towards her. She hated it when he paid her no attention, when he ignored her on purpose. Was he unaware of the pain it caused her?

"Look at me." Kahlan pleaded when his eyes threatened to roam elsewhere. She was unprepared for the onslaught of emotions she got when those wonderful brown orbs settled on her blue ones. The masked pain hidden behind his gaze, the fear, the guilt, the worry, the agony. "Spirits, Richard…" She gasped, brows furrowing. "What is going on?"

Richard swallowed hard, her gaze holding his and he wished he could take away any pain she had ever felt because of him. The need to touch her sprang throughout his form like wild fire, his arms wrapping around her, crushing her against him. Kahlan returned the embrace in kind, her heart thundering loudly as she wondered what had him so worked up. He was the Seeker, fear was something he faced head on. And clearly, he was trying to suppress a horror of likes she had never known.

The crackling fire echoed throughout the small cave they were taking refuge in. Distant water drops calming their beating hearts in each others arms. Cara and Zedd had gone off before the rain poured in search of a town and horses, knowing they were close to at least a small village.

"You're scaring me, Richard." Her words broke through his heart. And instantly Richard pulled away, shuffling to his feet in an effort to put some distance between them. Tears welled in Kahlan's eyes, had he just pulled away from her?

Instantly, he noticed the hurt flicker across her face. She made no effort to hide the fact that he had just dealt a blow to her heart. Regret filled his spirit, and just as quickly as he had left her embrace, he was sitting beside her again, soothing his hand over her cheek.

"No, its not that Kahlan." He whispered hoarsely, leaning in to kiss her temple before sighing and closing his eyes. "I'm just… I was thinking about how all this time I haven't been there to protect you. About how I could have lost you. I was thinking about…" Searching his mind quickly for a way to divert her from his true nightmare, he thought of the hell he had gone through a couple of months ago. "I was thinking about the dream I'd had while I was trapped in the Valley of Perdition."

Kahlan pulled back from him then, kissing his forehead before looking into his eyes. Her own feelings clouding her judgment as she did not question him. She looked at him in sympathy. He'd told her briefly of what it was like back in that place… What had happened in his nightmare that had been so heartbreaking, he hadn't allowed her out of his sight for weeks.

"I can't lose you, Kahlan." He shook his head, drawing her back into his arms. He wished he could tell her what was truly bothering him. He wanted to tell her about Shota, about what she had told him. He wanted to tell her she needed to get as far away from him as possible in case it were all true.

"You're not going to lose me, Richard." Kahlan whispered against his neck, pressing an open mouthed kiss to the spot there before trailing wet kisses up his jaw. Richard groaned, the cave suddenly growing hotter. Her mind lost all reason, wanting to show him that she was going to be by his side, forever. Even she pushed back the thoughts of Aydindril, forgetting about her Confessor powers and her duties, forgetting that she was anything but a normal woman.

Their lips met in heated passion, hands groping and tugging at clothes. Kahlan ran her tongue along his lower lip, moaning in satisfaction when his own mouth opened to grant her access. Their appendages danced for dominance as he gently laid her back on her bedding. Her dark maroon jacket discarded as he placed his lips against the cold skin of her neck. Dragging his teeth and tongue along her skin, meshing his lips along the porcelain, he laved at her collar bone with his tongue.

Reason was slowly evaporating from both of their minds, Richards hands greedily roaming her body, wanting to sate her. She gripped him to her, spreading her legs and clamping her thighs against him. His hips rolled roughly into her own, his erection grounding against her, making her throw her head back and moan, the sound coming out as a shrill cry.

The sound reverberated through him, freezing him above her as the image of her lying in his arms, drenched in blood and eyes wide with death and fear seeped into his mind.

Heaving breath, Richard felt his heart slowly break. "Richard-"

"I'm sorry Kahlan, I…" He broke off, sitting back on his legs as he tried to gather his breath, lungs burning from the anger welling just below the surface.

Kahlan felt the sorrow well up in her. Not at just the fact that he had denied her, but because of the fact she had almost let herself go. She'd almost confessed him…

"No, its okay Richard. I understand." Her voice was devoid of emotion, yet he could sense the remorse.

She was pulling on her jacket by the time he realized Zedd and Cara were returning, the sound of their voices echoing lightly.

He wanted so badly to tell her that it wasn't that. That it wasn't her touch he feared, but touching her…

He said no more as he turned his gaze from his Confessor towards the sunshine now protruding the cave.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear the Keeper laughing at him. Mocking him for his lack of control, forcing him to spiral further into the sinking feeling that perhaps Shota was right.

Maybe he really was a beast waiting to be set free.

To Be Continued…

End Notes: I don't know why, but I can't stand anything I write anymore, -_-; This did NOT come out how I had it in my head, but eh. Please leave a comment/review if you liked it or not! Ciao.