Title: Where shadows reign. Chapter 6... Last chapter T_T
Pairing: Nishikido Ryo/Ueda Tatsuya, Kusano Hironori/Ueda Tatsuya, Uchi Hiroki/Ueda Tatsuya - Onesided, Akanishi Jin/Kusano Hironori - Implied.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, drama, angst.
Length: 3521 words
Disclaimer: I wish I could say I owned them *wipes tears*
Summary: For centuries vampires and werewolves have been enemies and although the two clans have reached a truce it hangs by a thread and even one mistake could mean war once again.
Warnings: Scary Tegoshi and involves death of characters!
X-posed at: jent_fanfics, kattun_fanfics, ryoda_love and ramadiii
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Ryo jerked his head up. His entire body hurt from the shallow, yet painful, cuts that the vampire had distributed earlier, but although he kept slipping in and out of consciousness the distinct smell of fear reached his highly receptive nose.
He felt the panic claw inside his chest when he realized that the scent belonged to Tatsuya. He was most definitely together with that bastard of a sadist, but the smell of blood was not enough for him to be “working” on him.... Yet.
He tried to strain his sensitive ears to try and listen to what was happening but the pain was too much for him to bear, he let his head drop to his chest. He was basically hanging by his wrists from the chains in the ceiling since he no longer had the strength left in him to stand up straight.
Although he had given up on hearing what was going on, he could still smell his lover's fear and his heart beat faster in panic as that fear kept increasing, he both wanted and didn't want to know what Tegoshi was doing to him. But even if he wanted to protect Tatsuya, with his life if necessary, there was no way for him to escape the strong chains around his wrists and feet.
Then the scent slowly faded away but increased again. But Ryo's vision turned blurry and slipped back into unconsciousness before he could actually register that.
When Tegoshi returned to the dog's cell, the latter was hanging in his chains, unconscious as when he had left him. He looked at the dark haired man, he couldn't for even a second understand what the young prince saw in him.
This man had held the prince in his arms for an entire night, and it made his chest hurt with fury. He walked up to Ryo and slapped him hard across the bleeding face, causing him to wake up. The werewolf looked around with unfocused eyes until he noticed the furious vampire standing in front of him. Tegoshi wanted nothing but to kill the man in front of him but he had his orders, and the vampire was going to be alive for his real punishment, so he just had to satisfy with hurting him instead.
“You know...” Tegoshi walked over to the table in the corner of the room where all his tools were, picked up his favorite knife and played with the blade. “Your boyfriend has very nice lips. Taste them once and and that sweet taste just stays on your mind, doesn't it?” He turned his head to smirk at the wolf but the latter now stood up and fought against the chains holding him in place.
“What did you do to Tatsuya?” He growled and if Tegoshi hadn't been so sure of the fact that Ryo didn't have enough strength to escape the chains, he might actually have been feeling threatened.
“Nothing much... Well, nothing that you haven't done to him.” Ryo pulled desperately on the chains, his eyes were pitch-black as hell itself and he could feel his blood pumping furiously through his veins. Tegoshi put down the knife again and looked at the wolf as he struggled against his restraints and he chuckled at how desperate he was to protect his lover from harm.
“You know what? I think I'm going to go pay him another visit. In case he gets lonely without you, and wants some company.” Then, without any warning, the pitch-black wolf sprung from his now broken chains, he used his heavy body to tackle the vampire into the wall, who hit his pretty head hard against the bricks and dropped to the floor unconscious.
Ryo stood there for a few seconds, breathing hard as the cuts all over his body had made him lose too much blood, before he sprinted towards the cell from which he could smell Tatsuya's scent.
After prying the heavy door open he found his lover, chained to the wall and his head lowered with tears running down his face.
“Tatsuya...” Ryo hurried over to his side, he wanted nothing but to kiss the older man but knowing that if he went back to his human-form he would surely collapse again, he satisfied with stroking his furry back against the vampire's side. “Are you okay?” He asked as he stood up on his hindlegs, supporting himself with his paws against the wall as he was trying to rip the chains off the wall using his mouth.
“Ryo. Stop it. It's useless.” Tatsuya whispered, making Ryo look down on him with a surprised look before getting back to trying to free the vampire.
“What are you talking about?” He mumbled, his teeth hurt from the hard chains cutting into them but he wasn't about to give up now. Not when they were so close to freedom.
“We are never going to get out of here even if you get me loose.” A tear dropped from his eye, but he was shocked when he received a hard whack in the face from Ryo's big tail.
“Tatsuya, I swear to God that if you don't start sounding positive, I'm gonna knock your teeth out.” Ryo growled.
He was starting to get the chains to break, but his teeth were suffering from the effort and the blood kept coming out of his mouth as he ripped, pulled and chewed on the chains, trying to get them to break completely.
Tatsuya felt the tugging at his wrists and he was surprised at how much energy the other still possessed after being cut that many times. From where he was sitting he could only see a few shiny patches in the wolf's fur but he knew well enough that those shiny patches were made of blood, leaking from the still-not-closed wounds.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how much it would hurt to move around like that, and knowing Tegoshi, Tatsuya guessed that there must be more than fifty smaller cuts across the younger man's body.
“I'm sorry, Ryo...” Ryo looked down at his lover but still tugged at the chains. Only a few more tugs and they would both be free. “I'm so sorry for getting you involved in this. It's all my fault you ended up like this.” He cried as he buried his tear-striped face in the warm fur next to him.
With a loud “cling” the chain dropped to the floor along with Tatsuya's hands. Ryo jumped away from the wall and crawled on all four to get under Tatsuya's arms, he positioned himself so that when he sat up the vampire's arms were basically hugging him and puffed his nose in the other's face to get him to lift it up.
Tatsuya looked into those kind, yellow eyes and when Ryo licked his tears away he couldn't help but to smile. Their situation was bad, he knew that but the other's presence simply made him forget it. He felt safe and warm as the black, fury creature kept licking away every trace of the tears until there was none left.
“Don't ever apologize to me again about something that isn't your fault.” Ryo whispered into the vampire's ear, causing him to shiver at the kind words.
“We should get going.” He said and helped Tatsuya to stand up. “I'm afraid that sadist isn't such a hardhead to stay asleep for much longer.” He chuckled and Tatsuya was amazed at how Ryo could still laugh.
“But how are we going to get out? There are probably people everywhere in the mansion by now.” The vampire said in a tired voice, Ryo sighed and was about to lecture him again about being positive when he noticed how the other had difficulty standing up. His legs were shaking and he had trouble keeping his eyes open.
“Tatsuya? Are you okay?” Ryo asked in a worried voice and tried to look into his lover's eyes but the latter just turned away from him.
“Yeah, I... I'm fine.” He stuttered, but Ryo saw how he turned paler for every second that passed and it wasn't long until his legs buckled under him.
“What did they do to you?” Ryo rubbed his wet nose against the older's forehead in an attempt to cool it down a little.
“It was Uchi... he made he inhale something. I don't know what it was... but it seems to have taken away my energy.” He tried to smile but the effects of the unknown substance didn't only make him powerless, it was starting to get to his muscles and Ryo only knew one person whom he could trust with trying to cure him.
“Come on.” Ryo pulled Tatsuya up on his back, securing his still chained hands around his furry neck. “We need to get out of here.” He looked around carefully as they made their way out of the cell and once he was sure no one was there to detect them, he ran.
If Tatsuya had once thought that Ryo was a fast runner in human-form, then it was nothing compared to when he was a beast. Everything around them just seemed like a blurry mess and the last thing that Tatsuya remembered was wondering with a smile how the hell Ryo knew where he was going.
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“Thanks for doing this, Jin.”
“Ryo. Is that you?” Tatsuya silently opened his dry mouth, he was thirsty and he was feeling kind of nauseous. Whoever Ryo was talking to just sighed as an answer and a second later Tatsuya felt a warm hand on his forehead.
“Looks like he's going to be alright, but if you would have arrived any later his internal organs would have stopped functioning as well as his muscles. If luck is on his side then he will only be paralyzed for a shorter period of time.” For some reason the person touching him sounded very indifferent about the whole thing. “Now, let me see your injuries.”
He walked away from the, what he thought, still sleeping vampire to tend to his friend. He helped Ryo remove the shirt that he had borrowed from him to check on the damage done to his childhood friend, but he was seriously shocked when he saw how “professionally” the cuts were made.
“Man, this bastard really knows how to do this.” Jin said when he tried to disinfect the cuts, but it turned out to be harder than he had thought.
“What do you mean?” Ryo asked through gritted teeth. He had to admit it hurt but if he was going to save them both out from this horrible mess he had to be strong.
“He has probably coated the instruments with some sort of degenerating-substance. All the tissue around the wound is dead, there is no way for these cuts to heal anytime soon. No matter how much of a fast healer you are.” Jin cursed but still continued to clean the wounds. If they got infected it would be like handing Ryo's dead body over to the nightcrawlers on a silverplatter.
“Well...” Ryo glanced over at the vampire on the couch and smiled. “It was totally worth it.”
“Oh God.” Jin rolled his eyes at his corny cousin and walked out of the livingroom to put away the disinfectant and get a needle and thread.
“Ryo...” The said man turned around and rushed to his lover's side. “Where are we?” He tried to bring his hand up to touch the other man's face but his muscles wouldn't move.
“We're at my cousin's place. We're safe here for now.” Ryo smiled and kissed Tatsuya's dry lips, wetting them with his own.
“Why won't my body move?” He whispered. He had heard what the man called Jin had said but he wanted Ryo to explain it to him.
“What Uchi gave you was some sort of toxin, it's knocked out your muscles but in a few hours the temporary effects should wear off.” Ryo stroked his lover's hair while talking. He didn't know how the older would take the news but if he needed a shoulder to cry on, he would be there.
But the vampire just looked up at his lover with a smile.
“.... I love you, Ryo.” He whispered after a short silence and the tears started to form in the younger's eyes. He wondered silently why his love was whispering but his thoughts were interrupted by Jin entering the room again.
“I'll only sew up the biggest ones for you but then you have to leave.” He hurried over to his cousin's side and started working on him.
"What do you mean?” Ryo gave his old friend a worried look.
“Dad just called, the crawlers are starting to check all known werewolf-hideouts in the city, searching for you guys.” He finished sewing up one cut after another while he spoke, and his hands were moving so fast and so skillfully Tatsuya had never seen anything like it.
“We can go to my friend's house.....” Tatsuya started but as soon as he spoke up in a loud voice, he collapsed on the couch, coughing.
“Tatsuya, what's wrong?” Ryo hurried to his side and grabbed his hand. Jin had done the same and with one look, he knew that the worst scenario had occurred.
“His lungs are starting to collapse, looks like the poison has spread to his organs after all.” Jin sat down on the floor with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair. His life had been nothing but problems since Ryo ended up with this vampire.
“Well, isn't there anything you can do?” Ryo was starting to panic, what if Tatsuya died and left him all alone?
“No, all we can do is wait for it to take over, which shouldn't be too long.” Ryo jumped up and grabbed a firm hold of his cousin's collar, his whole body hurt and he felt like if he would close his eyes he would fall asleep and never wake up, but he was not about to let Tatsuya die just like that.
“What are you talking about, Jin?! You're a doctor aren't you, cure him!” Jin swapped his hands away and started him straight in the eyes.
“I am not a doctor! I'm the son of a doctor, and no. There is no way to cure him if the poison has reached his organs as well as his muscles.” Jin looked from the vampire on the couch who had fallen asleep once again, to the werewolf standing in front of him. The quick movement had made his wounds start bleeding again and despite wanting to be positive Jin realized that in these states the two creatures would not live to see tomorrow.
Ryo sat down next to his love on the couch, stroking the few strands of hair away from the damp forehead. He had an idea and he knew that it would work, but Jin wasn't going to like it and he wasn't fully confident that Tatsuya would either.
“Tatsuya.” He whispered, making the older one open and focus his dark, tired eyes on him. “Have you ever been to the coast?” He asked with a smile and Tatsuya looked at him with questioning eyes before shaking his head slightly.
“Ryo. What are you thinking?” Jin asked, he knew his cousin by now and he could tell from that calm voice that he was planning on doing something reckless.
“We're taking a little trip, Tatsuya and I. I'm afraid we won't be back in a while though.” Ryo turned his smiling face to his beloved cousin.
“We're... what?” Tatsuya asked in a hoarse voice. His lungs were really giving up on him and every breath he took hurt like hell. Ryo turned to his lover again and pressed his lips softly to those dry ones. He really had fallen head over heels for this nightcrawler but right now he was really happy that he had.
“Um. So if you have anything to ask Jin to do for you, you should do it now.” Ryo smirked.
“Ryo, what the hell...” Jin started to complain but was interrupted by the hoarse voice.
“Well, there is one thing I would like you to do for me.” He asked Ryo to get his cellphone from his coat's inner-pocket and once he had, he guided him to the picture of Notti. “When this guy finds out I've run away with Ryo he's probably gonna be sad, if it's not too much to ask I would like you to just watch him for a little while so that he doesn't do anything stupid.” Jin and Ryo just stared at him, Jin couldn't believe the vampire would ask him a favor like that and Ryo couldn't believe Jin would be able to refuse that pretty boy on the picture.
“Are you kidding me?” Jin asked but quickly shut his mouth as he saw the vampire's puppy eyes. “Alright, I'll do it.” He then sighed and wrote down the address for the boy on the back of his hand.
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“Are you holding on?” Ryo asked the beautiful creature in his arms as he walked over to the cliff sticking out over the furious water below. The wind was howling in their ears but it didn't matter, they were together at last.
“Um.” Tatsuya tried to nod but found he had no energy left in his body at all. Ryo looked at the man in his arms, whose body was giving up on him. His hair was wet from the rain and his eyes were tired but then again, Ryo was just the same. He was so tired, his body was willing to give up.
“Tatsuya. Do you love me?” The vampire had no idea why his boyfriend was asking that now but gave him another “Um” as his answer.
Ryo looked into the other's eyes. His arms were feeling numb but he still didn't loosen his grip around his lover. He just started into those beautiful, darks orbs and a tear fell down his face at the thought of what was to come. “Hold me in your arms, the fool of my heart, and tell me you will always be here for me.” He thought and asked the question that his heart was pounding so hard about wanting to find the answer to.
“How about spending eternity with me then?” Tatsuya stayed still in his arms and even though the silence between them only lasted a few seconds, to Ryo it felt like an eternity had already passed before he felt those wonderful, addicting lips against his own.
“I'd love to, my wonderful wolf.” He smiled and threw his arms cold, tired arms around the man's neck.
Ryo kissed his lover's neck before taking a step closer to the edge.
“Are you ready?” He asked and Tatsuya hummed into his neck.
“I love you Ryo. For eternity and whatever comes after that.”
Ryo took the final step.
They never really felt anything from the falling into those sharp waves, their bodies tossing around in the merciless ocean... They never felt any pain, they were together and maybe it was that that made the difference.
They had each other, they didn't need life. For their love had finally proven to be stronger than life itself.
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"And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon…"
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A/N: This was the last chapter for Where Shadows Reign, my first request-fic from Shuyen. I hope you all liked it and that you have enjoyed following this story. I might have (HUGE understatement, I know) been a little slow on the updates sometimes but I truly hope it was worth the wait in the end. I have about six fics that I'm currently working on so I hope you will stick around to see what they are about ;) I will also try to translate my book that I'm currently writing and post it as a multi-chapter but that will probably take a little longer since it's quite long already :P
Anyway: I really hoped you enjoyed it, although it didn't have the MAJOR angst-end that I had promised, it depressed me too much so I made a new ending instead, I am so glad so many people decided to read this and I'm really happy for all the wonderful comments that I've been given throughout this whole thing <3
So thank you so much everyone!!!! I hope to see you all again soon. *Finally reached the end of this long A/N*