A/N: Right, back with more mini-series. Writing Kurogane and Fai as slaves was unexpectedly difficult. I'm worried that I made them a little too laid back in this first scene considering their situation. But I wanted it to be a fluffy moment and I don't know how I could pull off "sweet, developing relationship" fluff with a bunch of angst clouding the air. My excuse is that they're usually more subdued and guarded with their emotions but being around each other brings out the best in them.

Also, writing cautious!partiallysubmissive!Kurogane is so weird, but I don't really know how else to portray him in these circumstances. I mean, he's a sensible sort of guy and while he's certainly brave, I don't see him as the type who would be stupidly reckless when he's so clearly out of his league unless it was a truly dire situation… Anyway, on with the fic! We're going to get a lot of exposition in this chapter which means quite a few flashbacks. I hope it's not too hard to follow!


Data

With every inch that the sun sank toward the horizon, Kyle's fury escalated more and more out of hand. True, he had been quite angry when he had first arrived at the tailor shop to find that Fai was no longer waiting for him there, but having time to brood on it was sending his rage spiraling out of control. He had saved Fai's miserable hide on numerous occasions; his uncle had had every right to slaughter that ungrateful creature for his disobedience. Only Kyle's intervention had kept Fai from certain death.

The light elf had promised to wait here for him and he had betrayed him. Was Fai stupid? Did he not remember what Kyle was capable of? Kyle would have thought, especially after that incident, that the blond would never forget what he could do to those who crossed him. Fai would pay for his sins with his own filthy blood. The humans would pay, too, of course, the worthless scum. They had a lot of nerve, hiding from him what was rightfully his.

Kyle decided that he had been far too lenient with them thus far. Tonight, he would pull out all the stops to find Fai. No man, woman or child would be spared; he would force his way into every home in the surrounding city and raze the whole area to the ground. Fuka had said she had taken Fai out into a field for his beating. That meant that whoever had taken him in most likely lived on a farm, just as he had originally thought. Tonight, there would be devastation throughout the town, starting again with the farmhouses.

As eager as Kyle was to begin his search anew, he was trapped in the tailor shop until the sun set. His mind wandered aimlessly as he waited. Although it seemed like it had been so long since he had last laid eyes on Fai, Kyle realized now that he thought about it that it really hadn't been that long ago that he had even met him for the first time. In fact, he could remember the exact moment when he had first laid eyes on Fai.

He had just arrived at his Uncle Fei Wang Reed's castle for a visit. They had finished a late dinner in the courtyard, after which Fei Wang had given him a tour of the grounds, and now the two of them were just approaching the castle doors to go inside. That's when Fai had passed him on his way across the lawn, clearly on some pointless slave errand. Kyle had been instantly captivated. That silky golden hair, that pale, flawless skin, those delicate features, the slender, graceful limbs; the moment Kyle laid eyes on Fai, he knew that he had to make him his. That slave, he had thought numbly, it's perfect... The most beautiful slave I've ever seen in my life.

As a dark elf, Kyle was not capable of experiencing love at first sight (or any kind of love, for that matter)—it was more like lust at first sight. As Kyle drank in Fai's beauty for the first time, he knew that he would never be happy until he could have his way with the slave, abuse him, and break him in body and spirit. He would make him scream and writhe in agony, make him wish he was dead. And oh, how he would cherish every second of it.

"Uncle," Kyle had said as evenly as he could manage, "that slave over there… What's its number?"

Fei Wang followed his nephew's gaze disinterestedly to the blond figure making his way across the lawn. "I don't keep track of worthless things like that," he had growled as he watched Fai, his eyes narrowed in loathing. "Ask one of the foremen later."

Kyle had not been satisfied with that response. He would not let that beautiful slave escape the world of sweet pain he had in store for him. Instead, he brushed his uncle off in favor of following the slave. Fei Wang had sighed in exasperation and left his nephew to his stalking.


"Hmm?" Fai said nervously, getting to his feet as he glanced back over his shoulder. "Is…someone there?"

"You?" a deep, smooth voice grunted. The visitor sighed. "And here I thought I'd have the place to myself."

"Eh? Kuropii?" the elf asked hopefully. "Is that you?"

"Damn it, what did I say about those freaking nicknames?" Kurogane growled, putting a hand to his hip irritably as he paused to observe the blond. Under his other arm was a basket full of filthy clothing, ratty from overuse. "What the hell are you doing here at this hour?"

"Just some laundry," Fai answered pleasantly. "You too, huh, Kurorin? What a nice coincidence!"

"Hmph," Kurogane snorted, approaching the water's edge and squatting next to Fai on the bank. "Not like there's any other time I can do it. Those dark elf bastards keep us busy all day."

Kurogane took a worn shirt from his basket, plunged it into the water and began to rub it vigorously, trying to remove the streaks of dirt and sweat. Fai watched him in silence for a moment before returning to his own washing.

"It's been a while since we were able to talk like this, hasn't it?" the elf pointed out. "Usually we have to worry about someone listening in."

"Just because it seems like we're alone, doesn't mean we really are," Kurogane reminded him. It might have been his imagination, but Fai thought he heard a slightly bitter edge to his voice. "It'd be stupid to let our guard down in a place like this where we're almost always being watched."

"Hmm, I suppose," Fai agreed slowly. "But I don't really think we have anything to worry about. We're perfectly in bounds here and there's no rule against two of us washing our clothing at the same time."

"Put your ass on the line if you want," Kurogane grunted in feigned indifference, wringing out his first shirt and setting it aside. "I still think it's a bad idea."

Another awkward silence descended over them as they continued to work on their laundry. Fai wasn't very fond of silence, so he opted to make another attempt at conversation.

"It sure was hot out today, wasn't it?" he said. "I don't handle the heat very well, so I was having a tough time."

Kurogane scoffed. "You work in the kitchens, right? You don't know what real heat is until you've been a blacksmith."

"Oh, right, Kurosama makes swords, doesn't he?" Fai nodded thoughtfully. "That must've been really yucky for you today, then, huh?"

Kurogane shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I've dealt with worse."

"A job like that must be pretty rough on your body, right?" the elf mused. "Do you get blisters on your hands?"

Without waiting for an answer, Fai put down the shirt he was washing and took one of Kurogane's hands between his two soft, cool ones, running slender fingers lightly over Kurogane's palm. He winced when he felt the calloused, worn skin there.

"Oh, Kurowanko's poor hands," he cooed. "I bet they're sore, aren't they?"

Kurogane blushed at Fai's gentle, sympathetic tone and surprisingly pleasant touch. "…I-it's nothing."

"I can't believe I didn't notice sooner," Fai said softly. "Especially since Kuromyuu and I fell asleep every night holding hands while we were locked up together last time."

Kurogane blushed again as he recalled their most recent week together in those cells. After their initial escape attempt, the one that had allowed them to meet, they had met up in solitary confinement three other times. The first of those three additional times had been another coincidence, but the other two had been on purpose. The two of them had indeed fallen asleep every night with their fingers laced together through the hole in the wall (Fai's idea; he said that the contact helped him feel more relaxed in the foreign environment of the harsh punishment cells). Fai had even sung him a lullaby one night when he had sensed that Kurogane was having trouble getting to sleep. The memory of Fai's soft, sweet voice rising and falling melodically in song was enough to make Kurogane's heart flutter.

It pained him to admit it, but Kurogane had been longing to return to that routine ever since they had left it behind two months ago. He was startled from his thoughts when something soft and warm pressed itself lightly several times to the aching pad of his hand. He looked down to see Fai kissing the sore skin gently. Kurogane's cheeks went scarlet.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!" he hissed, looking around frantically. If one of the dark elf foremen caught them doing something like this, there would be dire consequences.

"Hmm?" Fai hummed, fixing him with a completely innocent royal blue gaze. "Just a little soothing spell."

"Soothing spell?" Kurogane repeated, puzzled.

"Sorry I can't be more helpful," the elf said, smiling at him apologetically. "I would heal it for you, but healing spells are pretty tough, and they're too strong to perform with this cap on my magic…I hope I was able to help at least a little."

Kurogane looked down at his hand a bit dazedly. Actually, it felt a lot better, and the skin that Fai's lips had touched tingled pleasantly. "Hn," he answered elusively.

Fai seemed satisfied with that response because his smile brightened and he took Kurogane's other hand, bringing it to his lips. The högfolk man's eyes slipped closed unconsciously in enjoyment of the soft, soothing kisses.

"Does it feel better now, Kuropii?" Fai asked, his voice trembling slightly with quiet, suppressed amusement at Kurogane's favorable reaction to the treatment.

The högfolk man's stomach chose that rather in opportune moment to rumble loudly. Kurogane's cheeks burned again as he withdrew his hand. Fai seemed to be torn between amusement and sympathy.

"Goodness, sore and hungry?" he remarked. "Kuropiko came to me in rough shape tonight, didn't he?"

"Shut up," Kurogane grumbled.

"I'm sorry I don't know any spells to fix that," the elf said.

"…I'll live," Kurogane assured him, his face still burning. Fai got to his feet and stretched his nimble limbs luxuriously.

"Are you finished with your laundry, Kurokuro?" he inquired sweetly.

"…Yeah," Kurogane answered numbly, still wondering what that strange sensation was in his chest that had flared up in response to his contact with the elf.

"Then how about a bath?" the blond suggested. "It'll be nice and refreshing after working all day in that nasty heat, right?"

Kurogane went scarlet for the second time in five minutes. "Are you a complete dumb ass?! Forget it!"

Fai pouted. "Why?"

"B-because!" Kurogane sputtered lamely. "It'd be too freaking weird! Anyway, I don't know about you lazy-ass kitchen workers, but the blacksmiths have to be up at the crack of dawn every day and there'll be hell to pay if we're falling asleep on the job!"

The elf smirked and shrugged before peeling off his sweaty shirt and tossing it aside. "Well, suit yourself, Kurochii. If you don't want any soap, then I guess that's up to you."

Kurogane, who had been tossing his laundry into his basket in preparation for making a quick getaway, froze. "…Soap?"

"Yep!" Fai grinned as he reached into his pocket and held up a little half-empty bottle of soap (1). "I managed to swipe a little from the palace today. Too bad; I was in the sharing mood and everything… but if Kurowanwan doesn't want to, then I guess…"

"Alright, alright," Kurogane grumbled, averting his eyes as his cheeks burned. The idea of bathing with Fai was embarrassing as hell, but the promise of soap, a luxury which was never wasted on slaves, was too strong to resist. "But if you try anything weird, I swear I'll kick your ass."

Fai cocked his head curiously, his royal blue eyes gushing innocence once more. "Weird? Like what, Kuromuu?"

"Don't screw with me, bastard. You know what I mean," Kurogane grumbled as he stripped his shirt off. "I'm not gonna spell it out for you."

"Ok, suit yourself, Kurorinta," Fai shrugged, turning his back on Kurogane modestly as he finished undressing. Kurogane followed his example, glad that Fai wasn't going to try to watch him take off his clothes. The two of them jumped eagerly into the cool water of the dark lake.

"Mm, this feels nice," Fai sighed, bobbing happily in the water.

"Hn," Kurogane agreed.

The two of them soaked in companionable silence for a few moments before Fai uncorked the bottle of soap and shook a small amount into his hands. Kurogane watched out of the corner of his eye as Fai massaged the soap into his golden hair. The elf arched his back in a curious manner as if to keep his hair away from his body as much as possible. And of course, he very carefully avoided touching his earring as he washed.

Kurogane wasn't sure why, but he found Fai's slow, deliberate movements as he washed his hair overwhelmingly beautiful. He wanted to go over there and thread his fingers through Fai's soapy hair and help him massage his scalp. He wanted to see Fai's dazzling royal blue eyes flutter open curiously to see whose fingers were working through his hair. He wanted Fai to give him one of his gentle, heart-stopping smiles when he saw that it was Kurogane… Why? Why did he feel this way?

"Here you go, Kuroron," Fai said, handing the bottle to Kurogane. The högfolk man pushed these fantasies firmly aside as helped himself to a little bit of the precious soap, using it as sparingly as possible. He had just finished washing his own hair when he felt Fai's warm hands on his shoulders. Kurogane jumped and spun around in the water, blushing furiously.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare you, Kuropyun," Fai grinned. "I just thought maybe you'd like me to wash your back for you."

Kurogane was about to snap at him that he didn't need any help and that this was exactly the kind of thing he'd been referring to when he'd said that he'd kick Fai's ass if he tried anything weird, but Fai had begun to rub his shoulders cajolingly. Kurogane suddenly couldn't move and found it rather difficult to breathe. Fai's fingers reached knots and tense spots that he hadn't even noticed he had until they were massaged. It was so relaxing that he found himself unable to resist the offer.

The elf smiled as he felt his stubborn companion yielding to his touch. He took a little more soap into his hands and rubbed it into Kurogane's badly scarred back. Poor Kurogane; his back and shoulders were so tense that he could feel a little of the pain in his own muscles as he worked to loosen them. Fai was sure it was because of his strenuous blacksmith work. He wished that he could do this for Kurogane every day. It saddened him to think of Kurogane coming back to his meager quarters so sore every day after work and having no means of relieving the pain.

"Th-that's enough," Kurogane mumbled after a few moments of massage. It took a disturbing amount of resolve to pull away from Fai's gentle touch, but he forced himself.

"Hmm, I'd ask you to do mine, but…" Fai broke off with an apologetic smile as he turned to show Kurogane his back. There were large, raw welts on it from where one of the foremen had whipped him earlier that day. In response to seeing Fai's wounds, Kurogane felt an unreasonable level of anger and hatred bubble up inside of him.

"What did you do?" he growled, his fury at the foremen barely controlled.

"Ah, well, the king's nephew arrived this evening for a visit so we were instructed to set the good dishes at the dinner table," Fai explained. "I was filling one of the china bowls with soup and I burned myself and ended up dropping the bowl. It broke and splattered soup everywhere, so…"

He broke off with a shrug.

Kurogane ground his teeth mutinously. "Those bastards…! Over something so fucking trivial?!"

"Kurosama's really mad…" Fai commented in surprise.

"Damn right I am!" he spat. "If it weren't for these piece of shit earrings and their damn magic, I'd…"

Fai gave him a small smile as Kurogane trailed off, too embarrassed to finish his threat. "What? Would you avenge me, Kuromun?"

The elf had only said it to tease him, so he was stunned when Kurogane didn't deny it, instead glaring silently at the water with glowing cheeks. Fai was genuinely touched by Kurogane's half-confession. He smiled sweetly, bringing a hand up to cup Kurogane's blushing cheek. Kurogane's larger hand drifted up dazedly to rest on top of Fai's, as if trying to reassure himself that this was really happening.

"Oh no, we can't have this," a third male voice said sharply, startling the pair of slaves so badly that they leapt away from each other as though they had been electrocuted. "No, this won't do at all."

The two of them stared at the figure approaching them on the bank. Human eyes wouldn't have been able to make out many details, but their superior vision allowed them to discern that their visitor was a dark elf.

"Two slaves having a secret relationship in the lake in the middle of the night," the dark elf said in a chiding tone, as if he were a teacher scolding two naughty children. "What would my uncle Fei Wang say about this? I believe he'd order your earrings ripped off."

"M-Master Kyle!" Fai gasped.

"Your numbers, slaves," Kyle ordered.

"Fuck you!" Kurogane snarled. "We've got names, you asshole!"

Kyle considered the högfolk man for a moment before throwing his head back in laughter. Then, without warning, he stretched out a hand and shot a constricting spell at Kurogane's throat. Kurogane choked and struggled as his means of drawing oxygen was cut off.

"A slave with some fight left in it," Kyle grinned evilly. "How amusing. You'll give me your numbers now or you'll have to watch helplessly as I brutalize the blond slave at my leisure."

Kyle released the magical chokehold on Kurogane to allow him to answer. Kurogane gritted his teeth against the tidal wave of fury building in his chest, feeling sickeningly helpless. He knew that he didn't stand a chance against a magical dark elf, especially when that dark elf had a literal army at his beck and call and Kurogane himself had no weapon or magic. "316," he spat.

"200," Fai mumbled.

"200, get out of the water," Kyle ordered with an imperious jerk of his thumb. "You will wait for me at the edge of the forest while I have a word with 316."

Fai hung his head, allowing his copious blond bangs to obscure his royal blue eyes from view as he approached the shore. He did his best to conceal himself modestly as he emerged from the water. Kurogane averted his eyes from the elf's nude form; it took all his resolve not to tackle Kyle and strangle him to death when he noticed the dark elf staring at the humiliated blond openly. Once Fai was out of earshot, Kyle turned his attention to Kurogane, his eyes narrowed in intense hate.

"I don't know what you think you have going with 200, but it ends now," Kyle said in a deadly whisper. "If it approaches you again, I expect you to turn it down harshly. Any attempt at rebellion, and I swear I'll tear its earring out before your eyes."

With that, Kyle turned his back on Kurogane and stalked off toward the forest where Fai was waiting for him.


Kyle kicked Fuka's remains savagely at the memory. That may have been his first time laying eyes on his lovely Fai, but he had had past dealings with that other piece of shit slave Kurogane. He would never forget the shock he had suffered upon not only finding that Kurogane was working for his uncle, but also that the slave he wished to violate had feelings for him. It was thanks to that bastard Kurogane that Kyle no longer possessed his beautiful tail (2). His blood boiled as he recalled the ridicule he had been forced to put up with from his fellows because of that. And what a hassle Kurogane had proven to be later on, distracting Fai from Kyle's preliminary torturing.

The whole thing was just putting the dark elf in an even worse mood. But no matter; getting himself nice and angry would just make his impending march of destruction all the more satisfying.


Kurogane was awoken much too early for his liking the next morning by a gentle tickling sensation on his cheek. The farmer groaned and rolled over, hoping that it would stop. The touch paused until he was settled on his other side and then started again. Kurogane's brow furrowed in irritation. The tickling would have been pleasant if he hadn't stayed out so late last night stargazing with Fai and was now trying to sleep.

"Kurochan," a voice breathed in his ear. "It's time to get up or we'll be late to the marketplace."

Kurogane opened his eyes a crack. Fai was kneeling beside his bed, his chin resting on his arm on the mattress as his other hand stroked Kurogane's cheek. When he saw his host open his eyes, the elf gave him a warm, heart-melting smile.

"Good morning, Kurochuu," Fai purred sweetly. "You must be pretty sleepy still, huh? It's unusual for Kurokuro to sleep in like this… I guess maybe spending all that time outside in the middle of the night when Kuropipi had to work the next day wasn't a very good idea, hmm?" Fai paused, still smiling his breathtaking smile as he cupped the dark-haired man's warm cheek and rubbed it lightly with his thumb. "But I do kind of like getting to wake Kuropon up in the morning. You look so sweet and peaceful when you're sleeping."

Kurogane flushed deeply and sat up, knocking Fai's hands away. Fai giggled quietly at his shyness as Kurogane hurriedly rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Is the sun coming up yet?" he asked, clearing his throat gruffly.

"No, but it's starting to get a little lighter outside," Fai answered. "Don't worry, I've got your breakfast all ready so we can just eat and go."

Kurogane glanced over at the table and saw a steaming bowl of kayu (3) and a fried egg on top of a toasted piece of bread. Fai moved over to the table and sat down.

"Come on over, Kuromin, before your breakfast gets cold," Fai prompted. "Unless you'd like me to bring it to you in bed. Ooh, I could spoon-feed you, Kuropyon! Wouldn't that be fun?"

At that threat, Kurogane hopped up from his bed as though he'd been electrocuted and slid hastily into his seat at the table. Fai giggled again as Kurogane began to feed himself in a rush, clearly flustered by the elf's flirtatious comment. The dark-haired man chanced a glance at Fai once he had started on his own meal. Whatever had been bothering Fai last night didn't seem to be ailing him now; the blond was as bright and cheerful as ever. Kurogane was relieved. Seeing Fai like that had been kind of awkward and stirred strange feelings in him that he wasn't used to having. Part of him wanted to ask what had made him so upset, but then again, he figured it was probably best not to bring it up now that Fai appeared to be over it.

"Something wrong, Kuropii?" Fai asked, reaching out and touching Kurogane's hand comfortingly.

Kurogane jerked out of his musings with a start. "…No, it's nothing."

"Are you sure?" he persisted. "You really do look sleepy."

"Tch! And whose fault do you think that is, you bastard?" Kurogane growled. "Keeping me out there half the night with those half-assed star readings…"

Fai looked genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kurochii. If you want, I can go to the marketplace for you so you can stay home and get caught up on your rest."

"Like hell I'm staying home," Kurogane said stubbornly. "I've got too much stuff to do today."

"But didn't we finish selling most of your produce yesterday?" Fai asked. "So we probably won't even be at the marketplace for a full day today, right?"

"Yeah, but I've got some other stuff that needs to be finished up here before winter hits," Kurogane told him. "I have to start cleaning out the stalls in the barn, put all the blood month supplies back into storage, and I need to make some more candles."

"Ooh, candle-making sounds like fun!" Fai chirped. "Is it ok if I help?"

Kurogane shrugged. "Do what you want."

He finished up the rest of his food and cleared the dishes from the table.

"C'mon," the farmer prompted. "The kids are probably out there waiting for us already."

Kurogane waited for Fai to slip on his hat to cover his ears and his mother's old cloak (Fai's repeated insistence on wearing the woman's cloak drew a snarl from Kurogane) to cover his skin before opening the door. Sure enough, Watanuki and Syaoran were there, whispering frantically amongst themselves. They were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't even notice their boss and his friend standing there until Kurogane spoke.

"What's up?" Kurogane asked.

The boys jumped.

"Kurogane san…" Syaoran began breathlessly. His face was ashen and terrified. "M-my neighbors that live down the road from me… I pass their farmhouse on my way here, only… o-only it's not there anymore!"

Kurogane's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean it's not there?"

"Someone… s-someone burned it to the ground!" Syaoran cried. "And the bodies… th-there're pieces of them s-scattered everywhere! Th-the animals, too!"

A deeply disturbed and stunned silence followed that statement.

"We think it was that elf that's been sighted in the area lately," Watanuki said anxiously. Kurogane and Fai traded uneasy glances.

"A…A lone elf sighting?" Fai asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Watanuki looked surprised. "You mean Kurogane san didn't tell you, Fai san? There've been reports of a single elf and a bewitched human wandering around near the city over the past few days. They've been causing all sorts of trouble; elf shot and kidnappings and burning down people's houses, murder…"

Fai turned wide blue eyes on Kurogane. The farmer frowned when he saw the beginnings of sheer terror reflected there. Fai was vaguely aware of his legs feeling incredibly weak before he sank to his knees. Kurogane instantly knelt beside him and looped an arm around Fai's trembling shoulders hesitantly. The blond was so distraught that he didn't even respond to Kurogane's offer of comfort.

"Fai san… are you ok?" Syaoran squeaked concernedly. "You look really pale all of a sudden."

"You must really not like elves, then?" Watanuki surmised.

The blond tried to summon a smile for the worried farmhands, but he knew it came out faint and lopsided. "I guess you could say I've had a bad experience with them."

Another unpleasant silence descended upon them. Eventually, Kurogane cleared his throat.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about those guys now. We might as well load up and head out."


The autumn harvest festival was one event that was dreaded by all slaves. It was one of the biggest holidays in the dark elf culture. On this day, the dark elves got together to celebrate the fruits of slave labor and to humiliate and abuse their faithful slaves in return for their hard work. The good-looking ones had their bodies "rented out" for the duration of the festival to the highest bidder. Those who were less fortunate with their looks were often beaten or stoned within inches of their lives by small mobs of drunken dark elves, just for sport.

The dark elves always kicked off the festivities by herding about a hundred or so of the slaves into long lines on a raised stage and bewitching them to force them to dance while they jeered and whistled from the crowd. Fai found himself in the winding queue among his miserable fellows. He already knew that after being made to do the degrading dance, he would be forced to submit himself to the auctions. His last involuntary tryst with Kyle a mere two nights ago left him still feeling rather sore, causing Fai to look forward to renting himself out even less than usual. He had a feeling that he could have dealt with this whole situation better if he had at least managed to get in line next to Kurogane but the högfolk man was far behind him.

Fai heaved a sigh of displeasure and rotated his injured ankle gingerly. It still hurt pretty badly from when Kyle had punished him two nights ago for his secret lake rendezvous with Kurogane. He supposed that flailing around like that had been a bad idea with those trees nearby, but the sensation of Kyle on top of him had been so awful that he hadn't been able to help himself.

"How's your ankle, Fai san?" Sakura, another one of Fei Wang's kitchen slaves, asked concernedly. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not too bad, Sakura chan," Fai lied. "Just a little sting."

"Are you sure?" she persisted. "You look like you're in pain."

He smiled kindly at her, trying to be as reassuring as possible even as his wound throbbed horribly. "I'll be alright. I put a soothing spell on it right before we left so it's feeling much better."

"Ok…" she said, not looking thoroughly convinced. "If you say so, Fai san… I still wish there was something I could do to help…"

"You could smile for me," he suggested. "The smile of a pretty girl is the best medicine I know of."

Sakura smiled at him uncertainly and he gratefully returned it as all the slaves were ushered onto the stage. Several dark elf foremen appeared to straighten the rows, using a whip to snap at those who failed to get in place quick enough. Luckily Fai was able to stumble into position before the foreman reached him, though he gasped in pain as he landed on his injured ankle in his haste.

None of the slaves dared to look at each other as they waited for the body controlling spells to take hold of them. Fai knew from personal experience that they were all trying to take refuge deep inside themselves in an attempt to minimize the unpleasantness that awaited them. Some of the younger ones who hadn't yet learned to do so, along with the exceptionally shy ones, were weeping quietly.

Most of the children didn't know exactly what fate awaited them once the dance was over, but they could sense from the tense, fearful atmosphere among the other slaves that it would be terrible. Unfortunately, their expressions of unhappiness only served to excite the dark elves more, for they delighted in the pain and suffering of others. Fai was disgusted (though not the least bit surprised) when he heard several dark elves in the front row having a loud discussion about which children they would bid on when the auctions started.

Suddenly, without any warning, Fai felt his entire body seize up and knew immediately that this was the body controlling spell taking hold of him. He bit his lip so hard when he was forced to shift his weight onto his injured ankle that he could taste blood in his mouth. Fai could feel tears coming to his eyes. He wished that he could at least look at Kurogane; that would give him some strength. But he had completely lost control of his body and was powerless to do anything but the painful, jerky motions that the spell dictated.

That's when it happened; as the blond's limbs were being bent and stretched and twisted unnaturally, something in the crowd caught his eye. More appropriately, someone in the crowd caught his eye—a curvy, beautiful someone with long, silky blond hair that almost reached her feet. Fai's eyes bulged slightly in sheer shock and disbelief. He hadn't heard a single thing from her in years. He fell asleep every night praying that she was still alive, promising himself that if he ever found her, the two of them would break out of their lives in slavery and find somewhere safe where they could live again in freedom.

"M-mo—" Fai fought desperately against the spell controlling him. He needed to attract her attention. "… Mother! Mother!!"

With every ounce of strength that his body and will possessed, Fai fought against the spell, wanting to wave his arms. "Mother!!"

Freya's head jerked up at the sound of her son's voice. She gaped at him for a moment, just as hopeful and disbelieving as he was.

"Fai?!" she called. "Fai?!"

Freya began fighting through the crowd of dark elves, pushing her way toward the stage toward her long-lost son. Fai was still trying to break out of his place in line. The elfin woman didn't get far before a mass of dark elves pounced on her, crushing her delicate body to the ground. Fai heard her cry out in pain under their weight, but could still see her struggling violently against their lecherous holds.

"Mother!!" Fai shouted again.

He was halfway toward the stairs leading off the stage, but more dark elves were flooding up them to intercept him. Freya was frantically kicking and biting and scratching the dark elves that were piled on top of her. Fai felt strong, sinister hands close on his biceps and he thrashed wildly. One of them put a full body bind spell on him and he felt his muscles lock up just in time to see a dark elf grab his mother by the hair and jerk her head back. His eyes widened again in horror as he watched, as if in slow motion, as her captor grabbed her earring.

"NOOOOOO!!!" Fai shrieked.

The blond elf made another valiant effort to fight against his magical bindings. It was too late for him do anything, though, and Fai knew it. All he could do was watch in terror as the scene unfolded before him. Freya froze, her mouth open in a silent scream, tears streaming down her cheeks as her master wrenched out her earring. Fai swore he could feel his heart shattering as he watched his mother's soul literally be ripped from her body, right along with the earring and the chunk of skin that had been holding it in place. Her breathtaking frame crumpled instantly. The body that had once held the heart of a warm, gentle elfin woman was now nothing but an empty, useless shell.

"MOTHEEEEEER!!!" Fai screamed, his voice cracking in agony.

The blond was so utterly crushed that he hardly noticed as Fei Wang himself stormed onto the stage and grabbed Fai's earring in his thick fingers.

"Wait!" another voice shouted.

Kyle shoved his way through the confused mix of dark elves and slaves toward his uncle. "Uncle, allow me to punish it."

"Out of the way, Kyle," Fei Wang snarled. "This slave is more trouble than it's worth. I'm going to deal with it once and for all."

"But if you tear out its earring, it will be useless to both of us," Kyle pointed out. "You said yourself the night I arrived that it was one of your best cooks. And I've found that it makes an absolutely delightful toy."

Fei Wang considered his nephew's argument for a moment. With a snort of disappointment, he released Fai's earring and kicked the blond hard in the back towards Kyle.

"Lock it up," he ordered. "100 lashes, four days without food, two days without water."

When Fai was thrown in his cell that night, exhausted and bleeding profusely, he noticed that something was different about the holding area. A portrait of King Fei Wang Reed had been hung from the wall so that it was in plain view of both cells. The king's cruel, twisted smile and merciless eyes bored into Fai. All through the night, Fai swore he could hear the king laughing at him as he sobbed himself to sleep, wishing with all his might that Kurogane could be in the cell beside him to offer some much needed comfort (4).


Kurogane and his entourage had known before they reached the marketplace that Syaoran's neighbors' farmhouse had been burnt to the ground. What they did not know was that Syaoran's neighbors were by no means the only ones who had been ruthlessly slaughtered the previous night. Therefore, the four of them were completely unprepared for the level of sheer pandemonium that awaited them when they reached the marketplace.

Virtually no one had their stands set up and open for business. People were gossiping in a sort of terrified fury, flitting around from group to group to gather news about all the victims. When Kurogane, whose goods were popular and well-known throughout the marketplace, entered the town square with his usual produce, he and his helpers alive and unharmed, people descended on him in swarms. Judging by the amount of incredulous and distrustful muttering that took place as they flooded toward them, these weren't exactly friendly swarms. Kurogane instinctively positioned himself between the oncoming crowd and his companions as his natural penchant for protecting others took over.

"You're alive?"

"How the hell did you manage to avoid the attacks?! Every single farmer in the entire town was slaughtered!"

"You're not only all alive, but you're ready to open for business as usual? Seems pretty damn suspicious to me!"

"You find some way to get on that damn elf's good side? Maybe you helped with the attacks, eh?"

"You bastards have a lot of nerve accusing me of that kind of shit without a shred of evidence!" Kurogane snarled.

"Evidence?!" a man near the front of the crowd sneered, a manic look gleaming in his eyes. "Didn't you hear what we just said?! You're the only farmer left in the whole fucking town! Every shred of your competition has just been brutally eliminated! You're free to monopolize the market! What more evidence do you need?!"

"It's disgusting that you would go to such lengths for such selfish reasons!" one woman cried. "But to kill Fuka and burn the tailor shop when she had nothing to do with any of this just proves your depravity!"

Kurogane didn't bother to look when he heard Fai gasp behind him; he had more pressing issues to deal with at the moment.

"Look, I'm telling you assholes I had nothing to do with it!" the farmer roared, reaching for the knife he used to cut his meat. "Anyone who wants to challenge that can take it up with my knife!"

A brief, fearful hush fell over the crowd in response to Kurogane's offer.

"Well, what about that stranger with you?" another man asked nervously, gesturing at Fai. "We didn't see him around here until yesterday! That's the day after the first wave of kidnapping and the day before all these murders! You've got to admit that that's pretty damn suspicious!"

"'The first wave of kidnapping'?" Syaoran gasped. "You mean there's been more?"

"Four more children are missing and two were found this morning outside, dead from exposure," the man informed them grimly. "We don't know anything about that guy you've got with you, Kurogane san, but surely you can see why someone like him might make us nervous at a time like this, can't you?!"

In spite of the growing sense of foreboding within him, Kurogane maintained his cool exterior fairly well.

"Alright, so he came at a bad time," he growled. "That doesn't mean he's the one responsible for all the shit that's happening. There's no reason for you to suspect him."

The man looked exasperated and frustrated. "Look at him! No regular person has such perfect skin or such a fine, slender build, or moves so gracefully! And it seems that hat he's wearing would be quite convenient for covering up a pair of pointed ears, wouldn't you agree?!"

Kurogane felt his blood turn cold in his veins. This was exactly what he had been afraid of when he had refused to allow Fai to come to the marketplace that first day. Immediately, he cursed himself for being so stupid. Obviously there were other ways of dealing with Fai's fear of being left alone in an enclosed space without bringing him out in public like this. How could he have been so stupid? But it was too late to fix his foolish mistake now; the damage had already been done. Now all he could do was work to keep the situation from getting even more out of hand. There was no way in hell he was going to let Fai be killed, especially like this.

"This guy is staying with me!" Kurogane snapped. "Don't you think I would know if I had a damn elf in my house?!"

"Then maybe he wouldn't mind touching my iron pentagram charm, just to be sure," a woman piped up, reaching behind her to undo her necklace. "That ought to clear things up."

Kurogane glanced over his shoulder at Fai. The elf was frozen, stunned and terrified. Syaoran and Watanuki had similar expressions, and the farmer noticed that they had backed away from Fai a few steps as uncertainty filled them. Kurogane could see Fai eying the pentagram fearfully. Fai couldn't lay a finger on that charm and they both knew it. He had to stop it from happening.

"He not touching it!" Kurogane snarled. "He's not a fucking elf, so back the hell off! While you bastards are hanging around here accusing innocent people, the real guy is probably laughing his ass off and planning his next wave of murder!"

There was another bout of uneasy mumbling at this, until someone shouted "better safe than sorry!"

Kurogane gritted his teeth, holding his meat cleaver up in front of him threateningly as he backed closer to Fai. The crowd began to advance slowly.

"You're all making a terrible mistake," a calm female voice warned, rising easily above the crowd despite the fact that she wasn't shouting.

Kurogane started and whirled around to see who had spoken. Yuuko was standing right beside him, a completely serene expression on her face. Kurogane hadn't even heard or sensed her approach. "You again?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Yuuko raised an elegant eyebrow at him. "I'm here to save your skin, you silly, ungrateful child."

"I'm not a child!" he replied acidly. "And I can handle this on my own! I don't need any help from you!"

The witch looked amused by his claims. "Kurogane, you have a huge angry mob advancing on you and you're just one man with only a meat cleaver to protect himself. Besides, enough blood has been shed in this town for one day. We will settle this civilly."

Kurogane snarled at her through clenched teeth. To tell the truth, the crowd had really pissed him off with their baseless accusations and he had gotten all excited about the prospect of settling the matter with a good fight. It looked like that wouldn't be happening now that Yuuko had decided to intervene. And if he knew the witch like he thought he did, her "skin-saving" wouldn't come cheap.


"Kurosama…" a voice behind him sighed in relief.

Kurogane whirled around to face his visitor, blacksmith tools still in hand, his muscular body dripping with sweat from heat and exertion. When he saw Fai standing there, a massive black bag slung over one shoulder, Kurogane was so surprised that he dropped his hammer. The heavy metal instrument came dangerously close to landing on Kurogane's foot and shattering his bones, but he took no notice.

"Moron! What the hell are you doing here?!" he hissed, approaching Fai with an expression as close to sheer panic as the högfolk man was capable of. "Do you have any idea how fucking dangerous it is for you to be sneaking—"

Fai cut him off with a strange smile. It looked pained and comforted at the same time. "Don't worry, Kurochii; I'm not sneaking. I was put in charge of bringing everyone their lunches. I've got yours right here."

Fai set down the sack he was carrying and began to rummage through it with a deliberate sort of slowness. After a moment, he emerged holding the standard battered black lunchbox, but this one had a little streak of red across the cover which was presumably to distinguish it from the others.

"I snuck you an extra portion," Fai said breathlessly, offering Kurogane his lunch. "I hope it'll be enough to fill Kuropon up for once. I get really worried thinking about you working so hard out here when it seems like Kuromyuu's tummy is always rumbling."

Kurogane flushed at the soft, concerned look that the blond elf was giving him. In truth, he deeply appreciated Fai bringing him extra food, but he couldn't encourage the behavior for fear that Fai would be caught and punished for it.

"Didn't I tell you not to take any unnecessary risks, dumb ass?" he mumbled, averting his eyes as he accepted his meal. "Who knows what those dark elf bastards might do if they catch you bringing me extra portions. Anyway, what happened to that girl who usually brings the food? Yuzuki, or whatever her name was?"

Fai lowered his eyes sadly. "She was caught having a relationship with another slave and… the foreman tore both of their earrings out."

"Tch!" Kurogane spat, his fist clenching angrily at the injustice of it all.

The two of them lapsed into a miserable, tense silence. Each could tell that there was something that the other longed to say but couldn't for fear that the wrong people might overhear their conversation. Each could see the strain that that fact was causing the other. Fai looked especially pained and it was all Kurogane could do to keep himself from crossing the short distance between them to pull the beautiful elf into his strong arms. He hated seeing that upset expression marring Fai's fair elfin features. It was Kurogane who eventually broke the rather pregnant pause.

"Well, you better get out of here before they get suspicious," he said regretfully.

"Ever since we left those secluded cells for the first time…" Fai began as if he hadn't heard Kurogane's warning, "my chest… won't seem stop hurting…"

Even now, half a year after their last period of solitary confinement, Kurogane couldn't help yearning for the sort of closeness they had been granted that time. With the events that had gone on at the autumn harvest festival, Kurogane was sure that Fai needed someone to be there for him now more than ever. The högfolk man nearly drove himself crazy picturing Fai crying himself to sleep every night with no one to comfort him. But Kurogane pushed those thoughts aside to focus on the problem at hand: Fai was experiencing chest pain. Kurogane wasn't a doctor, but even he knew that that sort of thing could be indicative of serious and possibly life-threatening medical conditions.

"What, you sick or something?" he asked, thinly veiled concern rising in his gruff voice as he stepped forward, briefly forgetting the risk of being spotted, and placed a calloused tan hand on Fai's forehead. He knew that the kind of health problems that might cause chest pains were not likely to cause a fever but it was the only thing he could think to do. Fai closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

"Mm, I don't think it's anything like that…" he breathed distractedly. "Being in the same room with Kurotan makes it hurt a lot less… And when Kurosama touches me, I… I feel like maybe everything could turn out alright after all…"

Kurogane fixed him with a pensive gaze. He knew he should take his hand away from Fai's forehead, but touching the elf had an effect on him that was stunningly similar to what Fai had just described. Fai opened his eyes, giving him a heartbreakingly beautiful sad smile as he took Kurogane's hand from his forehead and guided it down to his heart. Kurogane caressed the area gently, absentmindedly, with his thumb. Fai's heart was pounding with shocking vigor beneath his fingertips. Surely that wasn't natural.

"Can you feel how hard my heart is pounding? It didn't start beating like that until Kurochuu touched me… I wonder if…" Fai trailed off thoughtfully, stroking the back of Kurogane's hand with his slender fingers.

"What?" Kurogane prompted in what he hoped sounded like a nonchalant voice. In reality, Fai's words had caused Kurogane's heart to start pounding almost as fast as the elf's. He had to know how Fai was going to finish that sentence.

Fai was silent for a moment, his head lowered so that his copious blond bangs obscured his royal blue eyes from sight. He clutched Kurogane's hand to his chest with shaking hands. Though it pained him to remain silent, Kurogane did his best to wait patiently for Fai's answer.

"Well, I didn't think it was possible for me, but…I wonder if this is what it feels like… to be in love," Fai whispered.

Kurogane would be lying if he said that he hadn't been hoping to hear Fai say that. He had been dreaming of nothing else since the two of them had left their solitary confinement together. However, as much as he had longed for Fai's affection, his fear of what would happen to the beautiful blond elf if that love was discovered was far greater. Kurogane had no idea what he would do if Fai ever had his earring ripped out and he wasn't eager to explore the possibilities.

That was the silent mantra that echoed in his head as the högfolk man steeled himself for what he knew he must do. Knowing that he must do it, however, didn't make it any easier. It took all the resolve Kurogane possessed to jerk his hand away from Fai's gentle, loving touch and turn his back on him defiantly. He swore that as he made that movement, he could hear both their hearts breaking in unison.

"…Get out of here," Kurogane hissed through clenched teeth. He had the distinct feeling that if he spoke any louder than that, his voice would waver humiliatingly. "I better not see you anywhere near here again… except to do your job."

"K-Kurosama," Fai breathed, his voice cracking in anguish. He reached out and touched Kurogane's shoulder desperately. "…Kuros-sama, please…"

"Didn't you hear me?!" Kurogane spat, brushing Fai's hand away roughly. "I said get out!"

Fai was silent for a long moment, and then he picked up his sack again. Kurogane clamped his eyes shut and had to bite his tongue to keep from calling out to Fai and confessing how he really felt. Even though the noise hadn't come from Fai himself, Kurogane swore that he could hear more pain in the quiet rustling of the cloth of the black lunch bag as the blond picked it up again than he could have in a sigh or a whimper. The högfolk man bent down slowly to pick up his hammer again and returned to pounding the unfinished sword before him, his hands far less steady than they had been before. Suddenly he no longer felt hungry.


Kyle screamed in fury. He had burnt down every house, went through every room, every barn, every body, searching meticulously for Fai and still there had been absolutely no sign of him anywhere. It was as if the blond had simply dropped off the face of the earth. But Fai was alive and he was nearby, Kyle could sense it. There was no fooling a dark elf's senses. Fai must be hiding himself and his place of refuge with some sort of spell. The cap on his magic, which was placed on all slaves, must have worn off when he left Svartalfheim and come to the human world. And no matter how Kyle tried, he couldn't seem to use his own magic to hunt the blond down.

"I'm sorry, master," Chisei said meekly. "He must be using light elf magic to block us… It's the only thing I can think of that might keep us from finding him. Perhaps I'll see a dream tonight that will be helpful."

"That's right…" Kyle hissed to himself. "Outside of our homeland, light magic is stronger than dark…"

"If I enlist the help of someone without dark magic flowing through their veins, we might have a chance," she suggested timidly.

Kyle rounded on her sharply, his eyes blazing. The dark elf snatched the girls face in his nimble fingers, forcing her to look at him straight on as he squeezed her cheeks painfully. "You'd better hope we have a chance, you filthy human," he snarled, "because this is your last chance. You find him tonight or I'll rip you apart like the worthless nothing you are."

Chisei swallowed and nodded shakily. She had seen her master deal with others who displeased him enough times to know that he didn't mess around when it came to things like that.


Fai waited until he had returned to his rundown and rather inadequate living quarters before breaking down that night. Seeing his mother have her soul ripped out before his very eyes had been traumatizing enough, but being so harshly rejected by his first and only love on top of that was more than he could handle in such a short span of time. His weak knees crumbled uselessly beneath him, bringing him to the floor upon the single ratty, filthy blanket that acted as his bed. The tears that had been threatening to burst forth all day finally spilled down his cheeks, landing on the dirt floor in a steady pitter-patter.

Fai was too heartbroken to care about the thin walls that surrounded him, allowing his neighbors to hear his quiet but uncontrollable sobbing. It was by no means unusual to hear someone in the rundown shack that acted as their housing unit crying until late in the night and they all had an unspoken agreement not to talk about it. Although there wasn't a single night that went by when Fai didn't dream of someday being able to kiss Kurogane's lips fearlessly before curling up and falling asleep in his arms, never had he longed for his touch more than he did tonight.

He just didn't understand where he had gone wrong. Despite his worry that as a half dark elf he would never be able to fall in love, Fai had strong romantic feelings for Kurogane and he had thought that Kurogane loved him too. What could have caused him to suddenly become so cold towards him? Before Fai could even begin to formulate a possible answer to that question, there was a loud knock at the door. Actually, it sounded less like a knock and more like someone trying to break the door down.

Fai sniffled and scrambled to his feet, frantically wiping his tears away. If that was one of the dark elf foremen then letting them see him in such a state was just asking for trouble. There was another loud thump as his uninvited visitor threw their shoulder against the door again. This time, they managed to fling the door open. There, in the doorway, his chest heaving, eyes gleaming with determination, was quite possibly the last person he had expected to see: Kurogane.

"…K-Kurosama…!" Fai gasped. He was vaguely aware that tears had started to spill down his cheeks again but he hardly took any notice. "Why… wh-why are you h-here? I…thought you…"

"I lied," Kurogane panted. His cheeks were deeply flushed and Fai could see sweat standing out against practically every inch of exposed skin, but to the elf Kurogane had never looked as attractive as he did now. "That asshole of a king's piece of shit nephew forced me, but dammit… I can't wait anymore!"

The högfolk man swept the stunned elf into his embrace, holding him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Kurorin… why…?" Fai choked.

"Idiot!" Kurogane hissed. "I can't believe you're asking me such a freaking stupid question! Obviously, it's because I love you!"

Fai swore his heart had stopped beating. There was no way Kurogane had just said what he thought he said. There was just no way that could ever happen. But before Fai could ask him to repeat himself, Kurogane was tilting his chin upward, his lips drawing steadily closer to Fai's. The blond's eyes fluttered closed hopefully.

"Stop right there," a cold voice interrupted.

Suddenly Fai was frozen as a body binding spell overtook him and Kurogane. The elf's eyes flitted over to the doorway and widened in sheer terror at the sight of the dark elf standing there. It was Kyle, and he didn't look the least bit pleased with his discovery.

"316," Kyle breathed icily. "What did I say about your relationship with 200? I believe my words were, and I quote, 'Any attempt at rebellion, and I swear I'll tear its earring out before your eyes.'"

Fai saw Kurogane's eyes widen in horror as well.

"Apparently, you wish to go back on our deal," Kyle continued, his voice dripping with pure venom. "However, I have changed my mind. Instead of tearing out 200's earring, I think I will kill you in the slowest, nastiest, most painful way I know how."

The dark elf grabbed the immobile Fai by his ponytail, jerking the two lovers apart roughly. "200, you will watch the whole thing. And I hope you'll remember as you do so that this is entirely your fault."


A/N: Hmm… why does it feel like I cut a whole bunch of corners in this chapter? I certainly wasn't trying to, but it still feels that way somehow. And why on earth does everyone feel so OOC? I hope I'm not losing my touch :( Anyway, I didn't accomplish everything that I planned to in this chapter but if I had tried to do so it would have ended up being at least 15-20 pages longer than this and that just seemed like too much. I feel like I'm losing my steam, here…

1) In the early days of soap, it came in a semi-liquid form. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I assume it would be something like the hand soap we have today. Apparently the Arabs perfected the solid version about three centuries later.

2) According to mythology, elves have tails that are long enough to drag on the ground when they walk. There are stories about elves trying to pose as humans and being discovered because they don't conceal their tails well enough. That sounded really gross and totally not beautiful to me so I only gave tails to the dark elves in this story. Also, it seems that elf women were said to have hollowed backs like animal food troughs. The old stories weren't very big on details, so I don't know how dramatic the dip is but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I mean, if they basically had a huge trench-like area in between their shoulder blades, then how the heck to their internal organs fit in there? I'm so confused.

3) Kayu is rice gruel, kind of like porridge only made with rice. It usually has a thin, watery consistency and is eaten hot.

4) This scene here was basically what I originally built Fai's whole back story on. Somehow, in spite of my intentions to model the story so closely after it, it only became a very small part in the tale of Fai's past. It's inspired by a certain Russian ballet. Anyone who can guess the name of this ballet will have my deep and profound respect.