Challenge 56: "Bound", gen, PG
Title: Bound
Author: samsarapine
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mention of child slavery.
Pairing: None
Notes: Challenge 56: No dialogue. 40 minutes allowed. Written in 37 minutes, but it took another five to read over it and clean it up, so I think I'm technically over the allowed time limit.
Concrit welcome.
The moon was new, a thin sliver in a sky filled with more stars than one ever saw from the heavens.
It was good to sit beneath it.
No eyes to close, no nose to smell, no teeth to bite, no mouth to speak; and yet, and yet… Always watching, always drinking bitter liquor, always grinding away the miles beneath the slavers' heavy feet…
~***~
Hakkai wiped his brow and slumped against the side of the slaver's jeep. A truck this time, full of youkai children bound to be sold in the markets south of the river and escorted by a jeep full of humans with rifles and handguns. Gojyo was busy slicing through the children's chains and helping them back into the truck for the long drive back to the temple, where they would be reunited with their families. The slavers themselves were dead or long since fled into the night.
The jeep had been driven hard; it pinged quietly in the cool night air. Unusual to find, though canvas-covered trucks were a familiar enough sight on the rural roads. Hakkai pushed himself back to his feet and examined it, looking for signs of rust.
Gojyo waved; he waved back and watched Gojyo climb into the truck. Hakkai heard its engine cough and sputter and catch, then watched as Gojyo steered it back onto the road, headed eastward.
The jeep appeared to be sound, though it quivered faintly, as if his gentle prodding was enough to send vibrations resonating through its panels. Hakkai climbed into it, happy to find that the keys were still in the ignition.
~***~
A different foot this time, one that eased the clutch instead of punching it. A different hand, too, one that pulled the shift smoothly. A rhythm - clutch, accelerator, shift, accelerator - at once alien and familiar. Under its guidance, it was almost relaxing to begin a new journey.
The miles drifted away beneath tires with a tread as fresh as the day they were first formed.
The driver hummed, whether to the moon or the road, it made no difference. The sounds awakened sense-memories of music and moonlight and the inconsequential slipping away of time, worth nothing in a life with a future that stretched further than could be comprehended.
The journey came to an end as the sun touched the horizon. Pleasant, one to remember, a driver to savour again and again if it were only possible to do so…
…The key was out of the ignition.
The jeep shuddered and suddenly the sun was growing and the wind smelled fresh and the flame that had combusted petrol could be loosed as a challenge to the heavens while wings stretched wide, discarding treads and rubber and roundness for scales and flesh and angles that travelled air instead of earth.
An aerial roll, two and suddenly, the driver was there, eyes opened wide and with a shoulder easily broad enough to clasp and hold, because this driver must never leave.
~***~
Hakkai watched in amazement as the white dragon back-winged hard and dove for him, too shocked to dodge as it lit on his shoulder.
He looked at the road ahead of him.
It was empty.
~***~
The sun cleared the horizon.
Author: samsarapine
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mention of child slavery.
Pairing: None
Notes: Challenge 56: No dialogue. 40 minutes allowed. Written in 37 minutes, but it took another five to read over it and clean it up, so I think I'm technically over the allowed time limit.
Concrit welcome.
The moon was new, a thin sliver in a sky filled with more stars than one ever saw from the heavens.
It was good to sit beneath it.
No eyes to close, no nose to smell, no teeth to bite, no mouth to speak; and yet, and yet… Always watching, always drinking bitter liquor, always grinding away the miles beneath the slavers' heavy feet…
~***~
Hakkai wiped his brow and slumped against the side of the slaver's jeep. A truck this time, full of youkai children bound to be sold in the markets south of the river and escorted by a jeep full of humans with rifles and handguns. Gojyo was busy slicing through the children's chains and helping them back into the truck for the long drive back to the temple, where they would be reunited with their families. The slavers themselves were dead or long since fled into the night.
The jeep had been driven hard; it pinged quietly in the cool night air. Unusual to find, though canvas-covered trucks were a familiar enough sight on the rural roads. Hakkai pushed himself back to his feet and examined it, looking for signs of rust.
Gojyo waved; he waved back and watched Gojyo climb into the truck. Hakkai heard its engine cough and sputter and catch, then watched as Gojyo steered it back onto the road, headed eastward.
The jeep appeared to be sound, though it quivered faintly, as if his gentle prodding was enough to send vibrations resonating through its panels. Hakkai climbed into it, happy to find that the keys were still in the ignition.
~***~
A different foot this time, one that eased the clutch instead of punching it. A different hand, too, one that pulled the shift smoothly. A rhythm - clutch, accelerator, shift, accelerator - at once alien and familiar. Under its guidance, it was almost relaxing to begin a new journey.
The miles drifted away beneath tires with a tread as fresh as the day they were first formed.
The driver hummed, whether to the moon or the road, it made no difference. The sounds awakened sense-memories of music and moonlight and the inconsequential slipping away of time, worth nothing in a life with a future that stretched further than could be comprehended.
The journey came to an end as the sun touched the horizon. Pleasant, one to remember, a driver to savour again and again if it were only possible to do so…
…The key was out of the ignition.
The jeep shuddered and suddenly the sun was growing and the wind smelled fresh and the flame that had combusted petrol could be loosed as a challenge to the heavens while wings stretched wide, discarding treads and rubber and roundness for scales and flesh and angles that travelled air instead of earth.
An aerial roll, two and suddenly, the driver was there, eyes opened wide and with a shoulder easily broad enough to clasp and hold, because this driver must never leave.
~***~
Hakkai watched in amazement as the white dragon back-winged hard and dove for him, too shocked to dodge as it lit on his shoulder.
He looked at the road ahead of him.
It was empty.
~***~
The sun cleared the horizon.