Sunday, February 03, 2008

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Chapter 17: A Bloody Means To An End

"This can't be happening. It must be perfect. It must. Perfect... yes... it will be perfect." Old Man Uesugi was crouched down beside a large barrel listening to the battle raging above.

"Aizawa lied to me. He said it would be perfect. He said I would have my way. He said! He said!" Old man's perfect plan was crumbling down around his ears and fast. He had to find a way to restore his world. He had to find away to put him self in charge once again. "Fucking pirates. Can't trust them no, no. Can't trust anyone... not even my own flesh and blood; ungrateful bastards."

It would seem that Old Man's already fragile castle if cards had finally shattered into a million pieces. Darling was gone. Eiri was gone. Mika and Tatsuha and Tohma, were all gone. He had nothing left to control. His soldiers were dying and he knew it was all going to end for him.

He would rather destroy all that was his than let it slip from his control. "I must... I must... stop this foolery. No one disobeys me... no one."

Old Man's barely lucid ramblings went unnoticed by the battling men and women above. As did his tampering with the full barrels of gun powder.

"Eiri, look out!" Shuichi screamed over the sounds of battle. A large ASK Pirate was just bringing a large, spiked club down upon his tall lover when Eiri dodged.

A thick steel spike ripped open Eiri's right shoulder and blood began to spill down his arm and chest. Without much thought Shuichi screamed in furry and launched his body onto the attacker from behind snaking an arm around the man's thick neck.

The pirate dropped his club and swing around wildly as Shuichi's grip grew tighter restricting his victim's breathing. His wounds were screaming in pain, but the only thing occupying his mind was the sight of warm, red blood streaming down Eiri's body.

Eiri watched horrified as his attacker slammed his little pirate king against the mast eliciting screams of pain from the lithe captain. "Shuichi!" He was beginning to panic. Shu was already so weak, how was he able to even fight such a large opponent in the state he was in? Eiri struggled to get to his feet when his head began to swim and he collapsed back down to the deck floor. The loss of blood was affecting him and he couldn't regain his composure to help his lover no matter how hard he tried.

As the brute's grip on the arms around his neck got tighter Shuichi decided it was time to end it. Fast as lightning he reached behind his back where his pistol was sticking out of his waist band and pulled it into the air. He raised the weapon high above his head and brought the grip of the gun down upon his victim's skull.

With the first blow the man dropped to his knees. With the second blow blood began to seep from under his hair. On the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh blow the large attacker was face down on the deck, his skull had crumbled and his bodily functions had long since shut down. Upon the tenth and final blow Shuichi was simply pounding bone chips and flesh into the blood soaked wood.

Eiri had watched in silent awe the grotesque spectacle before him. He watched his little lover pound a man's skull till there was nothing left. His gore induced haze cleared abruptly when he saw Shuichi suddenly drop the offending weapon and stare at the bloody mass before him.

Looking down, Shu realized all that was left to pound were bits of bone and brain scattered across the deck. It may have been brutal, but he didn't care. No one tries to kill what's his, no one.

He was covered in blood, but couldn't care less. All that mattered was Eiri. If Eiri was alright then everything in this world was exceptional. Looking up Shu's deep violet met with gold and he gave his lover a sheepishly exhausted smile. Eiri was fine. Eiri was alive.

Then a shot rings out and everything goes silent. A sudden burst of pain raced through his stomach and chest; and all his strength washes away with a single tear that leaked from painfully contracted pupils eyes. The force of the bullet pushed him back, off of the dead man dripping red life force from his detached neck to fall upon the coarse, rigid wooden deck.

The last thing Shu saw before becoming engulfed by the sky were the frightened and scared golden eyes of Eiri. It was so hard to focus beyond the encroaching glaze now fixing itself in his mind.

Behind his frantic lover stepped a dark, ominous figure. An evil smile cut through all else and burned Shu's skin like a hot branding iron. A blue darkness began to consume the struggling captain. It seeped from the dark malicious eyes of the figure obscuring everything good and pure in the world. The urge to scream was overpowering and completely obstructed.

Then it drifted through the dark. At first it was no louder than a baritone voice coming from a tiny, frightened mouse. That voice; so familiar and welcome. What is it saying?

"Shuichi…" There it is; that voice. It's steadily getting closer, louder. I don't know where it's coming from. All I see is blue, blue, blue sky. Only stars no clouds. Only darkness no light.

"Shuichi!... Can you hear me?..." Yes, I can hear you. Why do you sound so scared? What's wrong? Please tell me. I don't want you to be scared.

"Shu… Oh God, please speak to me!" I wish I could! It's that smile, those eyes. They won't let me speak! They won't let me move!

"Shuichi! God damn it! Speak To Me!" Eiri! Oh God! Help me! Aizawa… Aizawa, he… he… He Shot Me!

It came like a gust of wind. It filled his aching lungs and scorched his throat with every breath. His stomach burned like a seismic eruption and he could barely move. All he registered was a pair of frightened golden eyes guarding him from those evil orbs and that diabolical smile, warm hands touching his skin keeping the cold away. Eiri...

"Eiri?" Shu tasted metallic as a thick warm liquid began to percolate up his throat and fill his mouth. The smell of it hung in the air like a heavy mist. The pain was so immense Shu could hardly think without screaming silently in his mind. It seemed to radiate from his belly throughout his entire torso. A sudden drop of warmth fell from his lover's molten eyes to land on his cold, pale cheek and he was finally allowed to focus.

"Shuichi! Shit!" Eiri hurriedly applied pressure to his lover's stomach to stop the gushing of blood from pouring out onto the floor. "Shuichi look at me. Can you breathe?"

Eiri's anxious voice was alerting him to the severity of his wound. Looking down his body Shuichi had a blinding flash of pain as his tall lover pressed harder upon his abdomen to suppress the bleeding. He let out a groaning scream of pain with the added pressure and struggled to speak. "Eiri, what's going on? What happened?" Shuichi's words were slurred and it felt as though his mouth was becoming filled with a thick paste gluing his jaw in place.

Leaning forward Eiri swept his hand over Shu's forehead displacing sweat soaked bangs. If he didn't hurry his lover was going to die. "Don't speak Shu. I'll get you out of here. Please, just stay with me!"

Shuichi nodded slowly and let his eyes practically roll around in his head. The pain was almost overwhelming. The blood loss was finally catching up to him and everything began to swim.

Struggling to remain conscious Shuichi spotted a dark figure with an aura of death hanging about him. His breath hitched and his chest constricted. "Eiri… Eiri, Aizawa-"

Eiri barely had time to pull his self and his lover out of the way before a deadly sharp sword impaled them both.

Aizawa gave off an ugly malicious laugh and quickly pried his sword out of the deck. "So, you thought you get escape from me Shu-chan? You should have known better." Taki grinned evilly as he watched Eiri struggle to his feet holding Shuichi's limp body close to his chest.

"So you're the one that stole my Shu-chan away from me. You should be ashamed, taking a man's little brother away." Taki took a threatening step closer, holding his sword horizontal and pointed directly at Shu's head that lay over Eiri's heart.

He couldn't move. What was happening? Eiri's arms were shaking with strain and his back was screaming in pain. Every movement was causing spikes of painful electricity to arch of his spine. "Stay away from Shuichi. I don't care if you are his brother you are a disgrace to his blood."

Taki laughed once again. "I take that as quite the compliment. Mind you, I have plans for my little brother and I would love to have him back so either hand him over or I kill you both." His smile grew even wider. "Seeing as how you can barely move and you have copious amounts of blood staining your back, maybe I will just put you out of your misery." He thrust forward.

Willing his shoulder to move Eiri narrowly escaped impalement. He felt the blade slice through the outside of his left upper arm, but paid it no mind. The action of dodging caused his injured back to howl in misery and he was brought to his knees.

His whole body was shaking from exhaustion, strain, and fear. He ignored his pain after the explosion in the captain's cabin, but now it was overpowering.

Taki stepped forward and held his sword up over his head. "You know you really are quite pathetic." Smirking evilly he continued. "You can't even stand up! No wonder Shuichi kicked you to the curb."

That was it. Eiri felt anger surge up through his body easing his pain. Slowly and carefully he set Shuichi's unconscious body down onto the deck and shakily stood up. Taki's laugh choked to a halt when he met eyes with Eiri's angry swirling molten gold. "Aizawa, you are going to die."

He used Taki's slight hesitation to attack and took a flying leap at him tackling him to the ground. His sword went flying and Eiri landed a few good punches before Taki's wits returned and he dodged sending Eiri's heavy fists into the wooden deck.

Taki quickly rolled them over and straddled Eiri using his weakness to pound his face in. He rapped a hand around Eiri's throat and began to squeeze the air out of him as he bloodied his face. Eiri struggled to the best of his weakened ability to turn the tables once again.

It seemed like it was almost over. Eiri had gone past blue and was now a deathly shade of white. Taki couldn't have been more thrilled. That is until he felt a board of wood collide with the side of his skull sending him flying.

Shuichi had seen Eiri turn white as all the air was squeezed from his throat and felt as though he, him self couldn't breathe. He looked around and grabbed the only thing within range. Got to his shaky feet clutching his bleeding mid section and stumbled as fast as he could to help his lover.

Now, he fell to his knees next to his lover as Eiri coughed to alleviate his starving lungs Shu placed his bloodied hands on the sides of his face and looked into his golden eyes. "Eiri? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Shuichi! Look out!" A booted foot collided with Shuichi bruised face and a sword was stabbed through Eiri's shoulder and into the deck beneath him pinning him to the floor. "Shuichi!"

Taki stood over Shuichi and aimed his pistol at his heart. "How dare you strike me! You are going to pay for that you little bitch."

Shuichi coughed and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He looked toward Eiri and met eyes with the struggling man trying to pull the sword from his shoulder. 'Good bye Eiri.' He could feel it was over. If Taki didn't kill him he would die within a matter of minutes from blood loss.

Time seemed to slow down. Eiri saw the small bloody smile spread over his lover's face and saw that lovely determination that he was so familiar with. No! This couldn't be happening. Shuichi had resigned him self to death and he was doing it to save Eiri. He was going to let Taki kill him in place of Eiri.

He struggled fiercely now slicing his hands open on the sharp blade trying to pull it from the deck and from his shoulder. The hammer of the pistol was pulled back and Eiri cried out in fright as Shuichi whispered, "I love you" and closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable bullet to pierce his heart.

Finally pulling the sword from the deck and out of his shoulder Eiri ignored the pain as he fought to get to his feet. Then to his horror a shot was fired and everything stopped.

Shuichi winced and slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see the Gates of Heaven or the Fires of Hell he was met with the sight of Taki's face. Blood gushing from a baseball sized hole in his forehead and bone sticking out of his flesh. He watched as Taki's body slowly began to crumple into itself and fall to the deck.

Ma-kun stood on the other side of the deck lowering his gun. His steely resolve set in stone as he watched his former captain's body fall to the floor. Suddenly the strength to stand left him and staggered being caught by his lover, Ken. "It's over Ma, love. Taki's dead. You did it."

Ma let a tear leak from his eye and leaned heavily against Ken. "I Love you, Ken. Take me to K-san. It's finally over."

"Eiri!" Shuichi cried as Eiri swooped down and scooped up his weak lover into his arms. "I thought I was going to die."

Eiri suppressed the urge to cry into his lover's matted, bloody hair. "I know baby, I did too." Then it hit him. "Don't you ever do that again!"

Shaken by the sudden scold Shuichi glanced up into the pale angry face of his lover. "Eiri, I-"

"No! You are never to ever look at me like that again! You actually scared me." Eiri's voice cracked in fear of the memory. Shuichi gave him a look that said 'I will never see you again' and he never wanted to see it for the rest of his life.

Smiling warmly up into Eiri's golden eyes Shuichi leaned up with the whole of his strength and placed a warm, weak kiss on Eiri's bloodied lips. "I love you, Eiri." Then let his body go limp as he slipped into blissful darkness.

Fear once again took hold as his lover went still in his arms. His breath came in short, frightful bursts as he lightly shook Shu's body hoping to wake him. "Shuichi?" He won't wake! He won't look at me! "Shuichi!"

A/N Not the end. I know it's like horribly long, but hey I like it. I know you have been waiting for like ever, but this took tons of writing and rewriting to keep my characters in line. They kept running off in different directions and wouldn't listen to my instructions. But I think I finally got them to cooperate. So, be looking for the next chapter soon! Love ya'll!

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