Arashi - AU - Voyager 1/12
Title: Voyager
Chapter: 1
Fandom: Arashi
Pairing: ohmiya etc.
Word count: 1234
Notes: Uh, happy... Tuesday? I was supposed to post this yesterday but real life is funny that way. From now on, a new chapter should be posted every Monday and Friday if I actually manage to be punctual once in my life. We'll see.
So, the reason why I haven't been posting a lot of new stuff here these past few months is because I have been writing this. I started it for a fic challenge community but me and deadlines have never got along, so now you get it in chapters, partly because it works better that way and partly because I am just evil enough. >xD
This story ran away from me quite spectacularly. It was always going to be pretty long but over 16 000 words is kind of insane. we do not mention TYR, okay. It's loosely (very loosely) based on the lyrics of V6's Voyager, as translated over at say_it_again. All the chapter names are taken from that translation.
I want to thank still_ciircee because she's pretty much made of awesome and because she read through this, corrected my mistakes and flailed at me so I actually kind of almost finished this on time. Except I didn't. But that's beside the point. And the point is that she is awesome.
(I promise not to do this ramble thing before every chapter.)
01. Keep running
Nino's house had thirty seven regular doors, painted white, their hinges oiled and silent. In addition, there was also one Door, painted white and soundless when it swung open and closed. It couldn't be opened by any ordinary means. There were no handles that could be turned, no keyholes for keys.
Only Nino could open that Door.
The hallways of the house were carpeted with plush red carpet and the walls had been painted off-white. Or maybe they had been pure white in the past and only age had turned them into their current colour. Nino didn't know. The place had already been old when his grandfather had lived there.
It had always been so easy for Nino to walk through Doors. He slipped through, unnoticed.
Nino walked into dreams.
It always started with a crumbling spiral staircase. Nino descended the stairs while small flecks of rust kept raining down with every step. Everything around him was black. Still, it wasn't a hostile darkness. It was wrapping itself around Nino like something silky and soft, warming him on his way downwards.
Until he hit the bottom.
Only, it wasn't the bottom of the staircase. He could still feel the stairs spiralling down and down and down. It was just the bottom for him, the place that the staircase had deemed suitable for him. Nino never questioned it or wondered why it was like this. It was a combination of his gift and his subconscious and the subconscious of the person whose dream he was stepping into. There was no formula for it, no scientific method by which you could analyze it. It was only the staircase.
And Nino was only a Traveller.
The transition was always so smooth that he couldn't see it even if he kept his eyes wide open, didn't blink and stared right ahead. The staircase vanished and he could never quite grasp the moment he wasn't holding onto the railing anymore.
Now, he was standing in a dark alleyway, somewhere behind old, decrepit buildings with old dirty brick walls and small windows with broken window glass crunching under his feet and this was somewhere else, the words used in a completely new and in a completely accurate way. This was someone else's dream and he wasn't supposed to be there. He could feel the dream constricting around him, the dreamer's subconscious trying to push him out, but he was used to it. He could sidestep the barriers as easily as he climbed up stairs.
Or descended them.
Somewhere to the right, he could hear a parade making its way slowly towards him. Just behind the corner Nino could step into colour, music, dance and wine, but here everything was grey and the plaster crumbled under his fingers.
He walked towards the sounds, leaving the edges of the dream, his natural curiosity piqued by what he couldn't see.
"Wait," someone whispered.
Nino stopped, looking around himself. He spotted a shadow in the narrow alley to his right that wasn't like the rest of the shadows there. It was darker and it moved anxiously while Nino looked at it.
"Who are you?" Nino asked. Parts of dreams didn't usually start conversations. Most of the time even the dreamers themselves ignored him.
"Come here, hide with me. Don't go into the street, please," the shadow said, a hint of desperation in its voice.
"I want to see the parade. Dream parades are usually really great."
"Not this one," the voice whispered. A hand appeared from the shadows, reaching out for him. "Trust me."
Nino wasn't one to trust people right away and definitely not when they asked him to trust them. He hadn't even seen the face of this person. "Are you a Traveller too?" he asked instead of taking the offered hand.
"Please," the shadow repeated. "They will see you if you keep standing there. Please."
"Sorry, I'm not going to follow strangers into dark alleyways. Not even in dreams." Nino crossed his arms over his chest and stayed where he was. The frantic pleas of this shadow just made him more curious about the parade. What could possibly be wrong with it?
The shadow sighed and then it wasn't a shadow anymore. Nino found himself staring at a man who seemed to be roughly the same age as him, maybe a little younger. Then again, Nino couldn't let his round face and soft mouth deceive. Appearances meant nothing. But the man's eyes were wide open, pleading for him and Nino took a step towards him before he caught himself.
"There's no time!" the stranger hissed, stepped forward and grabbed Nino's arms, pulling him into the alley with him. The grip on his arms was firm but gentle and Nino realized he had followed the man without protesting. The man pushed him against the brick wall, not letting go of his arms and keeping Nino between his body and the wall so that he couldn't move. "Don't say anything. Don't move. Don't do anything," the man whispered into Nino's ear.
Nino suppressed his need to ask questions and let the man stay close. He could hear the parade better now and there was something... strange about the sounds. The music was cheerful, yes, but somehow it seemed to be slightly out of tune and the instruments sounded somehow wrong. He could also hear dancing footsteps of a large crowd, but even that sound was strange. The footsteps sounded wet, like everyone in the parade were wearing wet sneakers.
The man shivered against him and pressed slightly closer. His grasp on Nino's arms got tighter.
Then Nino heard the screeching and scratching. But it wasn't exactly like screeching or scratching. It sounded like rusted metal wheelbarrows were being pushed along the road. The sound was dry and metallic and hollow and it chilled Nino to hear it coming closer and closer. He almost asked about it but when he opened his mouth the man pressed a hand over his mouth, shaking his head frantically.
It sounded like the parade was now going past them. The noise and the music and the countless strange footsteps were close, the noise loud enough to hurt his ears. His companion stood there frozen, his hand still over Nino's mouth.
Gradually, in what felt like forever, the noises went away and it got completely silent.
"Let's go find a way out," the man whispered, finally stepping away from Nino.
"What was that?" Nino asked from him, the curiosity burning his temporary fright away.
"A parade," the man shivered. "I saw it and I just ran away. And I'm going to keep on running until I get out of here."
"But what was it? Why are you running away from it?"
The man just shook his head.
"Who are you?" Nino asked, irritation starting to flare up inside him. He didn't like it when he was just brushed aside. He hated how it only got him more curious and more determined to find out. It also got him more interested in this annoying stranger.
The man seemed to deflate a little, his shoulders slumping a little more and his gaze dropping to the ground. "I'm no one important."
"You still have a name, don't you?"
"Ohno. Ohno Satoshi. Please, I want to get out of here. Will you come with me?"
"Yeah, sure," Nino nodded. "I want some answers."
To chapter 2
Chapter: 1
Fandom: Arashi
Pairing: ohmiya etc.
Word count: 1234
Notes: Uh, happy... Tuesday? I was supposed to post this yesterday but real life is funny that way. From now on, a new chapter should be posted every Monday and Friday if I actually manage to be punctual once in my life. We'll see.
So, the reason why I haven't been posting a lot of new stuff here these past few months is because I have been writing this. I started it for a fic challenge community but me and deadlines have never got along, so now you get it in chapters, partly because it works better that way and partly because I am just evil enough. >xD
This story ran away from me quite spectacularly. It was always going to be pretty long but over 16 000 words is kind of insane. we do not mention TYR, okay. It's loosely (very loosely) based on the lyrics of V6's Voyager, as translated over at say_it_again. All the chapter names are taken from that translation.
I want to thank still_ciircee because she's pretty much made of awesome and because she read through this, corrected my mistakes and flailed at me so I actually kind of almost finished this on time. Except I didn't. But that's beside the point. And the point is that she is awesome.
(I promise not to do this ramble thing before every chapter.)
01. Keep running
Nino's house had thirty seven regular doors, painted white, their hinges oiled and silent. In addition, there was also one Door, painted white and soundless when it swung open and closed. It couldn't be opened by any ordinary means. There were no handles that could be turned, no keyholes for keys.
Only Nino could open that Door.
The hallways of the house were carpeted with plush red carpet and the walls had been painted off-white. Or maybe they had been pure white in the past and only age had turned them into their current colour. Nino didn't know. The place had already been old when his grandfather had lived there.
It had always been so easy for Nino to walk through Doors. He slipped through, unnoticed.
Nino walked into dreams.
It always started with a crumbling spiral staircase. Nino descended the stairs while small flecks of rust kept raining down with every step. Everything around him was black. Still, it wasn't a hostile darkness. It was wrapping itself around Nino like something silky and soft, warming him on his way downwards.
Until he hit the bottom.
Only, it wasn't the bottom of the staircase. He could still feel the stairs spiralling down and down and down. It was just the bottom for him, the place that the staircase had deemed suitable for him. Nino never questioned it or wondered why it was like this. It was a combination of his gift and his subconscious and the subconscious of the person whose dream he was stepping into. There was no formula for it, no scientific method by which you could analyze it. It was only the staircase.
And Nino was only a Traveller.
The transition was always so smooth that he couldn't see it even if he kept his eyes wide open, didn't blink and stared right ahead. The staircase vanished and he could never quite grasp the moment he wasn't holding onto the railing anymore.
Now, he was standing in a dark alleyway, somewhere behind old, decrepit buildings with old dirty brick walls and small windows with broken window glass crunching under his feet and this was somewhere else, the words used in a completely new and in a completely accurate way. This was someone else's dream and he wasn't supposed to be there. He could feel the dream constricting around him, the dreamer's subconscious trying to push him out, but he was used to it. He could sidestep the barriers as easily as he climbed up stairs.
Or descended them.
Somewhere to the right, he could hear a parade making its way slowly towards him. Just behind the corner Nino could step into colour, music, dance and wine, but here everything was grey and the plaster crumbled under his fingers.
He walked towards the sounds, leaving the edges of the dream, his natural curiosity piqued by what he couldn't see.
"Wait," someone whispered.
Nino stopped, looking around himself. He spotted a shadow in the narrow alley to his right that wasn't like the rest of the shadows there. It was darker and it moved anxiously while Nino looked at it.
"Who are you?" Nino asked. Parts of dreams didn't usually start conversations. Most of the time even the dreamers themselves ignored him.
"Come here, hide with me. Don't go into the street, please," the shadow said, a hint of desperation in its voice.
"I want to see the parade. Dream parades are usually really great."
"Not this one," the voice whispered. A hand appeared from the shadows, reaching out for him. "Trust me."
Nino wasn't one to trust people right away and definitely not when they asked him to trust them. He hadn't even seen the face of this person. "Are you a Traveller too?" he asked instead of taking the offered hand.
"Please," the shadow repeated. "They will see you if you keep standing there. Please."
"Sorry, I'm not going to follow strangers into dark alleyways. Not even in dreams." Nino crossed his arms over his chest and stayed where he was. The frantic pleas of this shadow just made him more curious about the parade. What could possibly be wrong with it?
The shadow sighed and then it wasn't a shadow anymore. Nino found himself staring at a man who seemed to be roughly the same age as him, maybe a little younger. Then again, Nino couldn't let his round face and soft mouth deceive. Appearances meant nothing. But the man's eyes were wide open, pleading for him and Nino took a step towards him before he caught himself.
"There's no time!" the stranger hissed, stepped forward and grabbed Nino's arms, pulling him into the alley with him. The grip on his arms was firm but gentle and Nino realized he had followed the man without protesting. The man pushed him against the brick wall, not letting go of his arms and keeping Nino between his body and the wall so that he couldn't move. "Don't say anything. Don't move. Don't do anything," the man whispered into Nino's ear.
Nino suppressed his need to ask questions and let the man stay close. He could hear the parade better now and there was something... strange about the sounds. The music was cheerful, yes, but somehow it seemed to be slightly out of tune and the instruments sounded somehow wrong. He could also hear dancing footsteps of a large crowd, but even that sound was strange. The footsteps sounded wet, like everyone in the parade were wearing wet sneakers.
The man shivered against him and pressed slightly closer. His grasp on Nino's arms got tighter.
Then Nino heard the screeching and scratching. But it wasn't exactly like screeching or scratching. It sounded like rusted metal wheelbarrows were being pushed along the road. The sound was dry and metallic and hollow and it chilled Nino to hear it coming closer and closer. He almost asked about it but when he opened his mouth the man pressed a hand over his mouth, shaking his head frantically.
It sounded like the parade was now going past them. The noise and the music and the countless strange footsteps were close, the noise loud enough to hurt his ears. His companion stood there frozen, his hand still over Nino's mouth.
Gradually, in what felt like forever, the noises went away and it got completely silent.
"Let's go find a way out," the man whispered, finally stepping away from Nino.
"What was that?" Nino asked from him, the curiosity burning his temporary fright away.
"A parade," the man shivered. "I saw it and I just ran away. And I'm going to keep on running until I get out of here."
"But what was it? Why are you running away from it?"
The man just shook his head.
"Who are you?" Nino asked, irritation starting to flare up inside him. He didn't like it when he was just brushed aside. He hated how it only got him more curious and more determined to find out. It also got him more interested in this annoying stranger.
The man seemed to deflate a little, his shoulders slumping a little more and his gaze dropping to the ground. "I'm no one important."
"You still have a name, don't you?"
"Ohno. Ohno Satoshi. Please, I want to get out of here. Will you come with me?"
"Yeah, sure," Nino nodded. "I want some answers."
To chapter 2