There will be magic, chapter 5, RukaxYomi
Title: There will be magic
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 5/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: will be angst, yaoi
Genre: AU, Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: The age of magic and mystery is coming towards its end. But what if someone that has the gift to see the future can join forces with others who have the power to stop it? What will be born then? What will be found?
Chapter 5
It took a long time for the kitsune to fall asleep but eventually, not even the sorrow of losing his entire family could outweigh fatigue and Yomi fell asleep. Ruka never let him go, not even then. He simply stood up, walked to the horse and jumped (more like flew) on the saddle, Yomi’s precious weight in his arms. Seeing the vampire’s attitude, Kai’s eyebrows shot up and a grin flowered on his face. He had plans of teasing the other into embarrassment but for the moment, he had to restrain himself and not speak too loudly in order not to disturb the kitsune.
When the road forked, they remembered Yomi’s advice and took the left path and then their journey continued in silence for hours and hours, until, finally, Yomi opened his eyes and found himself still in the vampire’s arms. He thought the sensations peculiar, yet not unpleasant. He could feel the other’s soft breathing and the movement of the muscles, but he couldn’t hear a heartbeat and at the moment, he really would have liked to hear Ruka’s heartbeat. Maybe it would have made him feel safer. He was now all alone…
“Vampire lord, thank you. You can let me go now.” He said in a soft voice. He didn’t really want to be let go, but the other had surely noticed him waking up.
“It is no burden.” The vampire replied. And that was it. Ruka didn’t let him go and Yomi didn’t squirm either. He stayed in Ruka’s arms, feeling the movement of the horse and of the rider beside him. He was taken out of his dream-like state by the king’s voice, asking a question.
“Do you know who those men were?”
Yomi shuddered and as an almost automatic response, Ruka tightened his embrace.
“No. Perhaps they were bandits or simply one of the armies fighting close to here. I don’t think my family was murdered because we were kitsune. We were just caught in something that does not concern us.”
“Why were you living away from the kitsune?”
“Kitsune normally love sticking their noses into other peoples business.” He knew he was turning red when saying that, because he had done the exact same thing earlier. “And making a bit of innocent fun at their expense.” He really was happy that his face was hidden by Ruka’s chest. “But it is unusual for us to live amongst the humans… My family was…” He took a deep breath. “I am a half-breed. My father was human.”
“But wasn’t there a legend about a fox that fell in love with a human, gave up everything for him and then when he found out who she was, he threw her out? She died of heartbreak…”
“Legends like that can be found almost everywhere these days. Since creatures have started mingling more with humans.”
Kai was curious too. “So can you tell us your family’s story?”
“There’s not much to tell. My mother fell in love. My grandparents had always allowed her to mingle with humans but they warned her not to fall in love with them… She thought her parents were outdated. From one point of view, she grew up with humans. From another, she was different and she should have known better. The man she fell in love with didn’t even need to find out she was a kitsune. He simply abandoned her. He was a woodsman. That is why our house is so deep in the woods. Maybe he thought he didn’t need all that burden, maybe he noticed that there was something different about me and my brothers… Sometimes we’d do things human children wouldn’t do… Maybe he found another woman. My mum never talked much about why he left. He just did.”
Yomi didn’t continue. And the others didn’t pressure him, although they would have liked to know the story after that.
“One thing bothers me.” The king continued. “Why did you know who we were and where we were?”
“I didn’t. I just had a feeling I had to leave and go in that direction. The moment I set eyes upon you, I just knew. It was like someone had switched on a kitsunebi in my head.”
“Did it ever happen before?”
“No.”
The king threw Asagi a glance. He knew the man far too well not to realize that there was something he kept hidden. He respected his seer but sometimes he wished Asagi would explain more and make things easier for him. For example, what was that about Asagi announcing for the first time that his mate was human in front of the other two? The king also noticed that Kai was awfully quiet.
“Kai, is something wrong? You seem reserved.”
There was no way to miss the glance Kai sent Asagi’s way. Those two had talked about something and the king was being left out. He was about to sulk, when all of a sudden, a loud, banging noise shook the forest. Birds flew from trees, rabbits and deer were running through the bushes, searching for a hiding spot, even the insects seemed affected by the big noise. Even their horses showed signs of uneasiness. The four travellers stopped.
“What was that?” Kai asked.
“Blood.”
Yomi seemed to shrink. The king turned towards the fox, cradled still in the vampire’s arms.
“I can feel and practically smell danger ahead. Did you lead us into danger on purpose?”
Yomi shuddered and whispered a negative reply. Ruka tightened his arms around the being and sent the dragon a fiery look, expressing clearly his opinion about the king’s remark. Even the king seemed apologetic at suspecting the fox. And still… He sent another look Asagi’s way. He really would have rather avoided any type of confrontation.
“There’s no choice now but to go and see.” Ruka asserted.
The king took the lead, followed by Asagi, Ruka and then Kai, so if need be, the dragon and the roc could protect the small convoy from both front and back. Yomi and Asagi could not be left on their own and Ruka had his arms full for now.
Soon enough the woods seemed to clear and the king was the first to set his eyes upon the desolating site of an entire village wiped from the face of the earth. Blood was drenching the ground, making it take a red colour, houses were on fire or already turned to ashes, a cow or a horse here and there would wonder about the area, two dogs more or less wounded, yet still alive bore their teeth at the new comers, trying to protect the remains of a family. Not a cry could be heard, not a plea or a curse, no human sound, no sound except of wood cracking and animals whining. Even the dogs ceased to howl.
There really was no need for explanations in order to understand what had happened to the village. There was only one word to describe this: massacre. This wasn’t even war. It was massacre, pure and simple. The king ordered Asagi to keep his eyes closed and Ruka prevented Yomi from looking out. Those two did not need to see what lay in front of them.
They had planned on passing through the village without stopping and had almost reached the last row of houses when Ruka’s ears picked up on something. He stopped his horse.
“I hear something. It’s a soft cry. It’s coming from over there.” He pointed right, using his head.
The king headed towards one of the burning houses. Fire was hardly an opponent for him and yet he hated ruining one of his good outfits if it could be prevented so he did not go in immediately. He should not have hesitated for in the blink of an eye, Asagi had rushed into the flames.
The king did not hesitate to go in after him. Asagi seemed to be in some sort of trance for he was digging for something in one of the rooms of the house, where the roof had already collapsed. He was digging not just through ashes and wood, but through flames, for a large part of the fallen pieces of roof was still on fire. Burns had already started appearing on his hands. The king forcefully grabbed Asagi, stopping him from hurting himself further. Then, the king made one of his wings pierce through the thin layer of human skin and clothing. The long, scaled, bat-like blue wing, wrapped itself around and over Asagi, shielding him from the fire. Then, the king resumed the seer’s work and in mere seconds, the fallen pieces of the roof had been removed and, to his surprise, the king's arms came upon a child’s frail form. He lifted the infant; his wing lifted Asagi off the ground and with his two burdens, the king quickly abandoned the house.
Outside, he retracted his wing and set Asagi down and then placed the child in Asagi’s arms. The infant was around two years old, old enough to have been able to walk out of the house, but small enough to not realize what was happening around him, not until he could feel the danger approaching him. It had been too late.
They had been too late for moments before they had left the house, the king could feel that the little heart stopped beating. Asagi didn’t seem to realize it until he had cleaned the ash off the small face and checked the child’s breathing, realizing that there was none. He then simply stared at the small bundle in his arms, holding it close; or at least he seemed to be staring at it…
…………..
His arm was broken and his feet were bleeding and felt as if he were walking on stakes. It was so hard to breathe with all the smoke and the smell of burning flesh around him. He could barely recognize the road he had walked on everyday for his first twelve years, the road towards home. Everything hurt and yet he kept running. He had to get home.
Along the way, he heard cries for help but he did not stop. He passed by red-clad soldiers dragging off a woman here and there, but they did not seem to notice him.
There was the house of his friend, Yumiko. She had been very nice to him, giving him sweets to eat even after he had stolen some apples from her garden. He wondered if she were still alive. He didn’t stop.
Soon, just a few more steps and he would reach his house.
The flames were burning. It would take an entire lake to put out the flames but not even buckets of water could help put out the dragons of fire for there was almost no one left to fill the buckets. He wondered whether the red men wore red from the start or the cloth had become red because of the blood.
His house finally came into sight. It was burning, like all the rest and yet, it seemed as if the stubborn roof was preventing the fire from extending to the rest of the house. Maybe everyone was all right. There, only three more steps and he would be inside.
On the kitchen table, his mother lay with her legs spread wide, her clothes ripped apart, bloody and dead. He did not stop. He had to get to Suiko. He had promised her.
The door to his sister’s room was wide open. He rushed inside only to see the soldier’s blade piercing through Suiko’s chest, only to hear her last cry and to see her eyes fixing themselves on him for the last time before going blank.
He had been too late.
……….
The king put a hand on the seer’s shoulder and Asagi flinched and then raised his head. He said: “I’m going to bury him.” He then simply left. The king did not try to stop him. He had felt no other presence in the village anyway.
Asagi ran. His life seemed a never-ending run. When he reached the first line of trees, he put the small bundle down on the soft grass and then ran back and collected some stones from the nearest house. One by one, he placed the stones over the small body. He didn’t allow himself to stop; he didn’t allow himself to shed tears until the last stone was in place. Only then, a flash of Suiko’s dead eyes came to mind and he couldn’t contain one solitary tear dripping on the rocks. He didn’t hear a child’s voice whispering “Thank you. I will never forget you.”
Miles and miles away, a baby Abaia opened his eyes for the first time. The first thing he heard was “Your name is Uruha.” The first thing he felt was the touch of a drop of water. The first thing he saw was the beautiful face of a red-eyed, black-haired man, shedding tears.
A/N: Firstly, I want to thank those who read this AND comment. I know sometimes you don't feel like it, or you don't have that much to say, but you still do and I really appreciate it. Secondly, you might have noticed that I replied very late to the comments. I figured I'd reply when the new chapter is up, so then you'll know that a new chapter is up. (not my idea, by the way) But I was wondering how you feel about that, or whether if you like me to reply earlier. I read the messages almost immediately as I get them, it's what makes me able to right another chapter, so I can also reply then and there. What do you think?
This chapter, I tried working on Asagi, as you can see, and a bit more on the mystery. What exactly is going on here? What is Asagi trying to stop?
And a bit of work on a new future pairing... Hehe
I do hope you liked it. Hugs
Author: yukigafuru
Chapters: 5/?
Pairings: RukaxYomi, for now
Bands: Gazette, Naitomea, D... (and a surprise)
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: will be angst, yaoi
Genre: AU, Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: The age of magic and mystery is coming towards its end. But what if someone that has the gift to see the future can join forces with others who have the power to stop it? What will be born then? What will be found?
Chapter 5
It took a long time for the kitsune to fall asleep but eventually, not even the sorrow of losing his entire family could outweigh fatigue and Yomi fell asleep. Ruka never let him go, not even then. He simply stood up, walked to the horse and jumped (more like flew) on the saddle, Yomi’s precious weight in his arms. Seeing the vampire’s attitude, Kai’s eyebrows shot up and a grin flowered on his face. He had plans of teasing the other into embarrassment but for the moment, he had to restrain himself and not speak too loudly in order not to disturb the kitsune.
When the road forked, they remembered Yomi’s advice and took the left path and then their journey continued in silence for hours and hours, until, finally, Yomi opened his eyes and found himself still in the vampire’s arms. He thought the sensations peculiar, yet not unpleasant. He could feel the other’s soft breathing and the movement of the muscles, but he couldn’t hear a heartbeat and at the moment, he really would have liked to hear Ruka’s heartbeat. Maybe it would have made him feel safer. He was now all alone…
“Vampire lord, thank you. You can let me go now.” He said in a soft voice. He didn’t really want to be let go, but the other had surely noticed him waking up.
“It is no burden.” The vampire replied. And that was it. Ruka didn’t let him go and Yomi didn’t squirm either. He stayed in Ruka’s arms, feeling the movement of the horse and of the rider beside him. He was taken out of his dream-like state by the king’s voice, asking a question.
“Do you know who those men were?”
Yomi shuddered and as an almost automatic response, Ruka tightened his embrace.
“No. Perhaps they were bandits or simply one of the armies fighting close to here. I don’t think my family was murdered because we were kitsune. We were just caught in something that does not concern us.”
“Why were you living away from the kitsune?”
“Kitsune normally love sticking their noses into other peoples business.” He knew he was turning red when saying that, because he had done the exact same thing earlier. “And making a bit of innocent fun at their expense.” He really was happy that his face was hidden by Ruka’s chest. “But it is unusual for us to live amongst the humans… My family was…” He took a deep breath. “I am a half-breed. My father was human.”
“But wasn’t there a legend about a fox that fell in love with a human, gave up everything for him and then when he found out who she was, he threw her out? She died of heartbreak…”
“Legends like that can be found almost everywhere these days. Since creatures have started mingling more with humans.”
Kai was curious too. “So can you tell us your family’s story?”
“There’s not much to tell. My mother fell in love. My grandparents had always allowed her to mingle with humans but they warned her not to fall in love with them… She thought her parents were outdated. From one point of view, she grew up with humans. From another, she was different and she should have known better. The man she fell in love with didn’t even need to find out she was a kitsune. He simply abandoned her. He was a woodsman. That is why our house is so deep in the woods. Maybe he thought he didn’t need all that burden, maybe he noticed that there was something different about me and my brothers… Sometimes we’d do things human children wouldn’t do… Maybe he found another woman. My mum never talked much about why he left. He just did.”
Yomi didn’t continue. And the others didn’t pressure him, although they would have liked to know the story after that.
“One thing bothers me.” The king continued. “Why did you know who we were and where we were?”
“I didn’t. I just had a feeling I had to leave and go in that direction. The moment I set eyes upon you, I just knew. It was like someone had switched on a kitsunebi in my head.”
“Did it ever happen before?”
“No.”
The king threw Asagi a glance. He knew the man far too well not to realize that there was something he kept hidden. He respected his seer but sometimes he wished Asagi would explain more and make things easier for him. For example, what was that about Asagi announcing for the first time that his mate was human in front of the other two? The king also noticed that Kai was awfully quiet.
“Kai, is something wrong? You seem reserved.”
There was no way to miss the glance Kai sent Asagi’s way. Those two had talked about something and the king was being left out. He was about to sulk, when all of a sudden, a loud, banging noise shook the forest. Birds flew from trees, rabbits and deer were running through the bushes, searching for a hiding spot, even the insects seemed affected by the big noise. Even their horses showed signs of uneasiness. The four travellers stopped.
“What was that?” Kai asked.
“Blood.”
Yomi seemed to shrink. The king turned towards the fox, cradled still in the vampire’s arms.
“I can feel and practically smell danger ahead. Did you lead us into danger on purpose?”
Yomi shuddered and whispered a negative reply. Ruka tightened his arms around the being and sent the dragon a fiery look, expressing clearly his opinion about the king’s remark. Even the king seemed apologetic at suspecting the fox. And still… He sent another look Asagi’s way. He really would have rather avoided any type of confrontation.
“There’s no choice now but to go and see.” Ruka asserted.
The king took the lead, followed by Asagi, Ruka and then Kai, so if need be, the dragon and the roc could protect the small convoy from both front and back. Yomi and Asagi could not be left on their own and Ruka had his arms full for now.
Soon enough the woods seemed to clear and the king was the first to set his eyes upon the desolating site of an entire village wiped from the face of the earth. Blood was drenching the ground, making it take a red colour, houses were on fire or already turned to ashes, a cow or a horse here and there would wonder about the area, two dogs more or less wounded, yet still alive bore their teeth at the new comers, trying to protect the remains of a family. Not a cry could be heard, not a plea or a curse, no human sound, no sound except of wood cracking and animals whining. Even the dogs ceased to howl.
There really was no need for explanations in order to understand what had happened to the village. There was only one word to describe this: massacre. This wasn’t even war. It was massacre, pure and simple. The king ordered Asagi to keep his eyes closed and Ruka prevented Yomi from looking out. Those two did not need to see what lay in front of them.
They had planned on passing through the village without stopping and had almost reached the last row of houses when Ruka’s ears picked up on something. He stopped his horse.
“I hear something. It’s a soft cry. It’s coming from over there.” He pointed right, using his head.
The king headed towards one of the burning houses. Fire was hardly an opponent for him and yet he hated ruining one of his good outfits if it could be prevented so he did not go in immediately. He should not have hesitated for in the blink of an eye, Asagi had rushed into the flames.
The king did not hesitate to go in after him. Asagi seemed to be in some sort of trance for he was digging for something in one of the rooms of the house, where the roof had already collapsed. He was digging not just through ashes and wood, but through flames, for a large part of the fallen pieces of roof was still on fire. Burns had already started appearing on his hands. The king forcefully grabbed Asagi, stopping him from hurting himself further. Then, the king made one of his wings pierce through the thin layer of human skin and clothing. The long, scaled, bat-like blue wing, wrapped itself around and over Asagi, shielding him from the fire. Then, the king resumed the seer’s work and in mere seconds, the fallen pieces of the roof had been removed and, to his surprise, the king's arms came upon a child’s frail form. He lifted the infant; his wing lifted Asagi off the ground and with his two burdens, the king quickly abandoned the house.
Outside, he retracted his wing and set Asagi down and then placed the child in Asagi’s arms. The infant was around two years old, old enough to have been able to walk out of the house, but small enough to not realize what was happening around him, not until he could feel the danger approaching him. It had been too late.
They had been too late for moments before they had left the house, the king could feel that the little heart stopped beating. Asagi didn’t seem to realize it until he had cleaned the ash off the small face and checked the child’s breathing, realizing that there was none. He then simply stared at the small bundle in his arms, holding it close; or at least he seemed to be staring at it…
…………..
His arm was broken and his feet were bleeding and felt as if he were walking on stakes. It was so hard to breathe with all the smoke and the smell of burning flesh around him. He could barely recognize the road he had walked on everyday for his first twelve years, the road towards home. Everything hurt and yet he kept running. He had to get home.
Along the way, he heard cries for help but he did not stop. He passed by red-clad soldiers dragging off a woman here and there, but they did not seem to notice him.
There was the house of his friend, Yumiko. She had been very nice to him, giving him sweets to eat even after he had stolen some apples from her garden. He wondered if she were still alive. He didn’t stop.
Soon, just a few more steps and he would reach his house.
The flames were burning. It would take an entire lake to put out the flames but not even buckets of water could help put out the dragons of fire for there was almost no one left to fill the buckets. He wondered whether the red men wore red from the start or the cloth had become red because of the blood.
His house finally came into sight. It was burning, like all the rest and yet, it seemed as if the stubborn roof was preventing the fire from extending to the rest of the house. Maybe everyone was all right. There, only three more steps and he would be inside.
On the kitchen table, his mother lay with her legs spread wide, her clothes ripped apart, bloody and dead. He did not stop. He had to get to Suiko. He had promised her.
The door to his sister’s room was wide open. He rushed inside only to see the soldier’s blade piercing through Suiko’s chest, only to hear her last cry and to see her eyes fixing themselves on him for the last time before going blank.
He had been too late.
……….
The king put a hand on the seer’s shoulder and Asagi flinched and then raised his head. He said: “I’m going to bury him.” He then simply left. The king did not try to stop him. He had felt no other presence in the village anyway.
Asagi ran. His life seemed a never-ending run. When he reached the first line of trees, he put the small bundle down on the soft grass and then ran back and collected some stones from the nearest house. One by one, he placed the stones over the small body. He didn’t allow himself to stop; he didn’t allow himself to shed tears until the last stone was in place. Only then, a flash of Suiko’s dead eyes came to mind and he couldn’t contain one solitary tear dripping on the rocks. He didn’t hear a child’s voice whispering “Thank you. I will never forget you.”
Miles and miles away, a baby Abaia opened his eyes for the first time. The first thing he heard was “Your name is Uruha.” The first thing he felt was the touch of a drop of water. The first thing he saw was the beautiful face of a red-eyed, black-haired man, shedding tears.
A/N: Firstly, I want to thank those who read this AND comment. I know sometimes you don't feel like it, or you don't have that much to say, but you still do and I really appreciate it. Secondly, you might have noticed that I replied very late to the comments. I figured I'd reply when the new chapter is up, so then you'll know that a new chapter is up. (not my idea, by the way) But I was wondering how you feel about that, or whether if you like me to reply earlier. I read the messages almost immediately as I get them, it's what makes me able to right another chapter, so I can also reply then and there. What do you think?
This chapter, I tried working on Asagi, as you can see, and a bit more on the mystery. What exactly is going on here? What is Asagi trying to stop?
And a bit of work on a new future pairing... Hehe
I do hope you liked it. Hugs