Author's Note: I'M BACK! I scared the hell out of my sister when my writers block disappeared after seven frickin' months of agitation! She was driving down a busy street when my inner light bulb turned on and I quite literally screamed. I thought she was going to kill me. . . . . - Sharys
Disclaimer: Characters used here are not of my own creation, but the world they are in as well as the societies are all mine, MINE I say!
Speak To Me Of FreedomBy: Sharys Aogail
Chapter 6
Hiei could no longer say what he thought of Yusuke, and was currently at a loss of what to think. The younger man had more faces then he had thought him capable of, from lazy deserter, reckless but efficient soldier, to rouge mage. Bloodlust he could deal with. All his life Hiei had dealt with those with violent tendencies and had long since learned how to handle them.
He had an idea of what happened to Yusuke, but had never heard of it happening on that scale and certainly never in one so old. Just thinking about it made Hiei shudder. To suppress such power for so long . . . he didn't know how he had managed it.
Still feeling the effects of Yusuke's unintentional healing, Hiei picked up the pace, eyeing his companion as they went.
The further they moved away from the slaughter, the more panic seemed to take a hold of Yusuke. He moved at a reckless pace, crashing and stumbling through the thinning forest like hell hounds were nipping on his heels. Hiei followed close behind but wasn't completely sure if Yusuke was actually aware of him, much less his seemingly miraculous recovery.
Yusuke had every right to panic though. In Vahlkra mages were no more than tools to be trained, used, and discarded. Mages at such a high caliber were rare commodities that were quickly snapped up, usually at an early age. Such amage would be branded, trained and sent to the frontlines as a living tank. However, if they proved to be too willful or simply unmanageable they were destroyed, simply put down like a useless animal.
Hiei could only imagine what they did here, deep within enemy territory.
That was one thing to worry about, and there was still the fact that Yusuke had openly turned traitor in his defense. It was one thing to desert, quite another to slaughter a whole troop of superior officers.
In either case, they needed time. Time to think, time to recover, time to plan. Time that they simply didn't have so close to a hot-zone.
"Shit!"
Hiei's reflexes were the only thing that saved him from a humiliating crash, managing to come to a halt right behind Yusuke. Stepping up beside him, he instantly saw the problem. The forested hills had suddenly given way to a rather large gorge. The wide mouth dropped away into sheer cliffs down to a winding river some two hundred feet below. It was easily fifty feet across.
"Shit!" Yusuke repeated, pacing the edge and giving the distant river a venomous look. "Can't I just get a fucking break? Just one! What the hell kinda world is this anyway?" He suddenly kicked a rock, watching it accusingly as it soared across to the other side. "We need to get the fuck out of here dammit!"
"Stop making an idiot of yourself," Hiei growled, finally bringing Yusuke's attention back to him. "We're not trapped yet."
That said, Hiei approached the largest tree he could find and placed his hands against the trunk. Answering to the Shade's summons, black flames began to encircle the base of the tree, eating away at the bark and the moist wood beneath it. With a smirk he glanced over at Yusuke who was staring at him in confusion.
"You might want to move," Hiei said simply.
Before the younger man could respond, there was a monstrous crack and the whole tree came tumbling down, taking out several other smaller trees along the way. With a startled cry Yusuke managed to bolt out of its path, receiving a scraped shoulder for his inattention.
The Jantan whirled on the other. "Are you trying to kill me? What the hell was that about?"
Hiei nodded behind him, signaling for Yusuke to see for himself. Turning back to look at the tree that nearly crushed him, Yusuke blinked. The felled tree created a sort of makeshift bridge, the trunk being more that wide enough to support their weight.
"Well . . . damn."
With a derisive snort, Hiei leapt lightly onto the tree and began making his way to the other side. "You still have a day left before our deal is off. Besides, I sincerely doubt that I would use a tree to end your life."
oOoOo
"What the hell is that?"
Hiei's head lifted from the equipment he was sorting through. Red eyes flashed with irritation. "What are you going on about now?"
"That!" Yusuke barked, jabbing himself sharply in the chest. His tattered shirt revealed a large black tribal pattern spread across his skin. Something he knew he didn't have before. "What the hell is that?"
"You're joking." Hiei's voice was dull.
A look clearly stated that he was not.
Packing away the last of their salvaged supplies, Hiei shook his head. "Apparently Jantay doesn't teach their soldiers anything." He suddenly threw a small bag of ammo at Yusuke, smirking as he nearly fumbled it. "Or maybe you just weren't paying attention."
"I don't need the lecture," Yusuke ground out, pocketing the small bag for later. "Well are you going to tell me or not?"
"When mages use a certain amount of power the energy bleeds to the surface, staining the skin. Different energies leave behind different patterns crating a unique signature. Most mages nover become powerful enough to develop them." The Shade gave him a condescending look. "But you should know all this."
Yusuke tried to shake off his growing uneasiness and asked, "Is there any way I can make it go away?"
"Of course. Go and get yourself killed. No energy, no signature." With a small smirk Hiei reached towards his katana. "I could do the honors for you."
In response Yusuke just shook his head and bonelesasly came to rest a little way from Hiei. His fingers traced his right wrist absently, the callused pads following the same path over and over. Now he fully understood the true meaning of the mandatory skin checks that he had been subject to.
He was an open target now, permanently marked for all to see. And the fact that he defected wasn't going to help matters either. He would have to be careful to keep it covered, to make sure no one else saw it.
It was his own fault, he knew. He shouldn't have lost control in the first place. It had been years since his last meltdown and even back then it wasn't of this magnitude. In the past he had always pushed it down, forced it away from him until he could no longer feel it. But it was still there, that energy, that heat was still dangerously close to the surface, never fading even as the hours slipped past. He wanted it to just go away . . . but . . .
"What about you?" Yusuke asked suddenly, in an attempt to distract himself.
"What about me?"
"Well you're a mage to, right? Do you have a signature?"
Yusuke remembered the tree bridge that the Shade had created earlier that day. He also remembered that after they passed, the same black fire that felled the tree then consumed it, leaving nothing behind but cinder and ash. If he had that much power so soon, he couldn't imagine what he was capable of in top condition.
Hiei seemed to ignore his question in favor of another. "Where will you go from here?"
He looked away. "Home if I can manage it." He shrugged. "If not . . . I don't know. Anywhere, it doesn't matter. I just want to be left alone. I didn't exactly volunteer for the this job you know, they just kinda threw me in." He turned back to the Shade. "What about you?"
There's that glare again. "My business is my own," Hiei snapped. Yusuke watched on as his face then became distant, and somehow a bit softer. "However . . ."
As if coming to his senses he suddenly fell silent. The hard look returned as he angrily rose to his feet and left their makeshift campsite
Their three day treaty was up, yet Yusuke had the feeling that the small Vahlkran would return.
oOoOo
He didn't know when the scouts found him, but later the men talked about it in hushed voices when they thought he wasn't conscious enough to hear. During one of his more lucid moments he recalled hearing how far gone he was when he was found. Apparently he had officially died on the operation table, but the medics somehow managed to revive him. Too damn stubborn to die, one said.
As days wore one, he began hearing the rumors. The scouts that had located him were quick to talk and word spread swiftly of the scene they had come across. The whole area had been littered with blood and bodies. The ones riddled with bullets had been the lucky ones. Speculation soon began to fly about what happened, since the one survivor was in no condition to correct them. A group of Shades, one guessed. Another thought the Vahlkrans had some new vicious beast that they were now unleashing upon the enemy.
As the tales grew wilder, he began to pay less and less attention to the rumors.
Soon a week went by, then two. Then finally one morning he grabbed the guard on duty, thoroughly terrifying the young man.
"Get me a phone," he rasped, "and patch me through to the Emperor. Now."
oOoOo
Author's Note: I'm thrilled to find that there are people really interested in this story. I hope people continue to enjoy it as time moves on until I finally finish the damn thing. I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS FIC! It may be a long while between updates, and I may hit a jam now and then, but I have the entire plot line laid out and all the major peole/places/events recorded plus some other random info that will probably never be used. It's the tiny details that are tripping me up. - Sharys
Special Thanks To:
KayHiei, cold-blooded-angel, Miss Kyoshi, XinnLajgin, Skittles the Sugar Fairy, LifeBurner4111, Shadowofanangel, Chrissy, Cursed Moon Blade, Sacral, and Vincent Lover001. Thank you all for commenting!
Yuki Amida: Yay for violence! Most stories would be boring without it!
Psychos-Anonymous: Yay! I have now been called and original artist AND original fanfiction author! (does the Fier-Fox-Dance) I'm glad that you found something interesting to read!
Rujutoshi: Ruju-Meg! (glomps) As always I enjoyed your feedback immensely and hope that the newest chapter is to your liking. I hope your doing well and I hope that your urge to write returns as well as any runaway muses (the slippery bastards)!
Hyperdude: (grins) Of course it is! Now all you need to do is figure out what is revelant and what is not. It's not always obvious . . . . Enjoy!
Kurai Tansaka: Of course I don't mind, it's actually kinda flattering that someone liked the name so much!
Shunsoku: Well I'm glad that I'm contributing to the AU community. And don't worry, like I said before I'm NOT abandoning this fic. I've put too much into it to just drop it completely.
Suryallee: Here's the next chappie for you! And thanks for checking on my DA account! Hugs to you!