Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I just finished reading Luck in the Shadows and the sequel Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling, so expect some more references/influences... There will be a lemon part, so rejoice, lemon fans, rejoice!
~blah~ = Telepathy.
blah = Thoughts (I like italics... ^_^)
WARNINGS: There is some sex, violence, strong language and it has the shounen ai pairings of Duo+Heero, and Quatre+Trowa, and the shoujo ai pairings of Dorothy+Relena and Catherine+Iria. So if you don't like shounen ai/yaoi or shoujo ai/yuri pairings, then don't read this! This also has a completely new and original character, so don't take him, he's mine! ^_~
"Whoa."
'Whoa' was most definitely an understatement. I think what Rasial meant was that the world was bathed in a constant glow of warm yellow light, not unlike our sun, but different. This light didn't make us vampires flinch or feel drowsy. It was as if the sun had no more affect on us.
For as far as the eye could see, there were yellow sand dunes, and on the horizon there was a small village, surrounded by an outcropping of rocks, which appeared red against the blue sky. It was a lot like being in Morocco. The wind whipped against our skin, carrying sand into our noses and eyes, and we all squinted against it. We all looked at each other, and silently agreed to head towards the small village, in hopes of finding someone who spoke our language.
We trudged along for quite some time, until we were within yelling distance of the village. I was about to give a loud shout, but Rasial stopped me.
"Wait, remember that we're in unknown territory. What if they're hostile?"
I clamped my mouth shut and we continued walking.
As we neared the village, a few of the men in the front looked and pointed at us, and summoned spears before them. Then they started attacking us!
"Shit, they're hostile!" Catherine yelled as well all backed up the way we came. You never attack civilians; it's one of the rules that was drilled into my head while I was working for OZ. Seems like a funny rule after looking back on the situation, what with OZ being the supposed bad guys and all, but not all the people were bad.
Speaking of bad people, the 'bad guys' were currently shooting energy bolts at us. I watched their black wings unfurl behind them as the five men began to chase us down. I looked back at Relena and Dorothy. They couldn't run with super-human speed. I hoped that Dorothy had a card up her sleeve.
I watched with amazement as she literally pulled a card from her shirt. "Creature of the card, come forth, I summon thee!" With a practiced grace, she tossed the card threw the air in front of her. In a flash she had her staff out, pointing at the card as they were running. By the time they had caught up to the card, which wasn't long, they were both riding on a rather large griffon.
"Cool!" I yelled as I took one final step and leapt into the air. Iria and Catherine had let their wings loose, flying behind the griffon in a V formation. Rasial and I took our places behind them. We looked like a squadron of jet fighters, soaring into the air.
Unfortunately, we were also running back towards the portal in a hasty retreat. The five men continued to chase after us, apparently not noticing the distance we had covered. Were they just going to keep chasing us? Were they going to kill us if they caught up?
There wasn't any time to ponder the question because fireballs from the sky burned the wings off of two of the men, and the other three were dispatched quickly and fell to the ground.
"What happened? I just saw a blur," Relena asked.
But the rest of us had seen. Two seraphim, with WHITE wings, had taken care of our hunters. We all landed and I felt Rasial take his place next to me and a bit in front of me. I touched his arm and moved next to him. I could take care of myself, you know.
The two strangers walked towards us, sheathing their weapons as they moved. We all watched them warily, noting the way they walked and especially the color of their wings.
Relena, being the ever peace-making one, walked forward.
"Thank you for helping us. May we have the honor of knowing your names?"
That woman sure has a way with words. Dorothy watched her, keeping one hand ready to cast another spell. I noticed that the griffon had disappeared. I was wondering where it had went when one of them spoke.
"I am Azrael, and my companion here is Israfil."
Azrael looked very scholarly, with his rectangular glasses and his white long-sleeved shirt with a slightly frilly neckline. I'm assuming he was the one throwing the fireballs, because the edge of his sleeves were a bit singed. Israfil looked like a swordsman out of medieval times, what with the leather vest, slightly ripped baggy pants, and the huge sword hanging at his hip. God, that sounded wrong; never mind me and my euphemisms, please. Israfil smirked when Azrael mentioned the word 'companion'. I wonder why.
"We came to see what was goin' on, and we saw you poor saps trying to outrun some cursed seraphim. So we decided to help out," Israfil said after he was done with his snickering.
Azrael just raised a thin eyebrow in his direction, then turned to us. "Who might you people be, and what are you doing here? Or better yet, how did you get here?"
Relena looked at us, and we all thought it was pretty safe to tell him an editted version of our tale. So she told them that we had been 'accidently' transported here by a rogue portal, and we had been wandering for a while until we spotted the village. Sounds like a believable story, completely true except for the 'accidently' part. Oh, they'll never figure it out. Really. Maybe. Hopefully.
Relena went silent, and all of us watched for their reactions. The two white-winged seraphim looked at each other, and then they looked at us. I noticed Relena furrowing her eyebrows for a split moment. Perhaps something was going on and I couldn't hear it. Iria had that same look, that look you get when you're trying to hear something far away. The psychics were on to something, but there wasn't any time to tell the rest of us, not without having the chance of the two seraphim listening in. After all, if Iria and Relena could hear them, then surely they would be able to hear us.
"Would you accompany us, please. As long as you are here, perhaps you can help us with our mission. We noticed that you all have extraordinary powers, similar to ours, in fact. Except for two of you..." Azrael's eyes rested on Rasial and me. I gulped, trying to squelch my nervousness as he stared into our eyes, looking as if he was searching our souls.
"No matter," he said after a while. "Come, we'll take you to our camp."
"Excuse me, but what do you mean 'mission'?" I asked, partially out of curiosity, and partially because I was suspicious.
"A mission from God," Azrael replied.
God. Right.
So we followed them. Dorothy had re-summoned the griffon again, and most of us were riding on it. Only Iria was flying on her own, along with the two nice seraphim. We were completely aware of the fact that we were probably walking into a camp of religious fanatics. I wasn't complaining, however; Israfil promised a good meal and a shower when we got there. Well, I wasn't sure if I could eat the food here. But if I throw up, we'll know. Stupid vampiric biology can't digest normal food. I'll just feed on Rasial if all else fails. But the who will Rasial feed on...? I'd better just live on the rations for now.
Hunger tugged at my stomach, and I suddenly wanted a bit of blood instead of randomly colored goop. The change must be complete then. It's been complete for a while now, actually. But still, I couldn't get over the fact that I really can't have normal food anymore. Before I could have had at least one bite of a hamburger before my body wouldn't allow any more. But now... Hm, it seems that I really am a true vampire now. I swallowed my despair before it leapt up to bite me. I've been rather calm about this entire situation so far, haven't I? I haven't even contemplated it. I supposed that I was just now getting used to the fact.
I shook my head of the thoughts clouding my mind as we flew closer and closer to the camp.
The camp was actually a rather large clearing in the middle of a small valley in between two cliff faces. Looking at it from the sky, it appeared as if the entire desert was encircled in a giant jagged-edged crater. It seemed eerily beautiful.
When we landed, a group of ten to fifteen white-winged seraphim gathered around us. It was so odd, to see these angels with smiles on their faces and asking us questions, when just a little while before Earth had been attacked by the same people. Well, not entirely the same. The seraphim that had attacked us had had black wings, not snow white wings like these folks. They all seemed friendly enough, and apparently if we were good enough for their leaders, who I assumed were Azrael and Israfil, then we were good enough for everyone else.
After a round of introductions and a retelling of how we got here by Relena, we all sat down to a grand feast of roast... something. I wasn't sure what it was; after all, this is a completely different dimension. The sun was slowly setting across the horizon, people were cheery and laughing.
I enjoyed myself for a while, but after a while I began to hang back, and soon I found myself wandering back to my tent. The good seraphim (I'll have to start calling them angels; they did save us, after all) had given us three tents, one for each couple. While I found part of myself protesting about having to share a tent with Rasial, another part of me found it rather nice to have someone around who would protect me. Deep down, I think I knew that Rasial would never truly hurt me, but another part of me, the suspicious part, argued with that feeling constantly. So whenever I was around him nowadays, it always seemed a bit tense. He had been rather nervous lately too. Usually he was rather calm, collected, and teased me to no end. What happened?
I threw off my shirt and jeans, opting for a light oversized pajama shirt that I threw over my head. It was hot, but I was not going to sleep naked with a man around. Especially Rasial.
I felt him approach the tent before I heard the him brush the canvas 'door' aside.
"You should be on your guard," he said to me in a quiet voice.
"You think?"
He frowned. I'm not sure if he caught my sarcastic tone or not. "I'm getting a... feeling. It's safe here, but there's something else... I don't know. Just be careful."
I smiled. I've never seen him this worried over me. Looking at him, his green eyes colored with worry and perhaps a bit of regret, I couldn't help but brush the past few weeks under the rug for now. I can't really forgive him for what he's done, but he did it for me. I'm sure of it now. I walked towards him and pulled him into my arms.
"I'll be careful. I promise."
I felt his arms tighten around my waist, and he tipped my chin up to get a good look at me. He stared into my eyes, and I felt the lower part of my body clench. I swear, we've been holding out for too long. Maybe part of the tension between us was of a sexual kind.
I felt his lips brush mine ever so lightly. Then he kissed the pulse on my neck before biting, taking his share of blood from his master. That's right, I'm a master vampire too, and now I knew it. I could feel it burning in my body as he drank my blood, my power winding tight bonds around him. He sighed as he pulled away, and went to his knees in front of me.
"My lady Hilde, please, punish me for what I've done to you." He said it with such fervor in his eyes, that I would have looked away if I was still human.
I kneeled down with him, and pulled him down to our sleeping bags, laid out like a thin mattress. Leaning over him, I kissed him on the lips, on the chin, and then the nape of his neck. I straddled his body, feeling the power emanating from him, and the desire as well. I bit down on that soft skin, watching with some odd pleasure as the bright red liquid rolled down his neck. I licked it all up, and then started sucking the wound, worrying the flesh around it. He sighed and arched his back, trying to reach my body perched above him. I smiled and lowered myself onto him until my entire body lay on his. He was taller than me, so my feet didn't quite reach his. I continued to drink, feeling him convulse as I poured my power over and around him.
I finally released him, and he stared at me as if I was a stranger.
"I see you've managed to control that power," he said in a shaky whisper.
I laughed. I guess I had. "I still have to punish you, you know."
"Yes, oh yes. Punish me, my lady."
I kissed him gently and started unbuttoning his shirt. Why did he wear these stupid business shirts in this place? It was a veritable desert out there, and here he was in slacks and a dark blue button-up shirt. Well, time to get rid of those...
I pulled the shirt off of his shoulders and off his arms, running my hands down his pale skin. I admired his nicely sculpted muscles, and I leaned down to lick a line down his chest. He sighed happily.
"Mmm, Lady Hilde, more..."
More, he said? Fine then. I felt his arms wrap around me and pull me towards him. I let him, and I ended up laying on top of him again. His power radiated like a heater, and I snuggled into his warmth.
He guided my lips to his, and we kissed for who knows how long. I loved the feel of his warm mouth on my skin, sending fire through my veins. I kissed my way down to the hem of his pants, undid the button, and pulled the zipper down with my teeth. His eyes suddenly turned a dark green as he watched me pull his pants off. Now he lay below me, nude and extremely happy to see me.
He sat up, and helped me take my shirt off, barely brushing my sensitive nipples with his lips. His tongue flickered out, and then he just attacked, sucking ardently. I lowered myself onto him and started riding him. His hands grasped my hips, and he controlled my movements, leaning back down to lie on the sleeping bag. I watched him, his eyes returning to that brilliant green as I felt our pleasure building.
I leaned down and kissed him hard, biting his lower lip. He gasped, and his hand traveled to my ass, kneading me gently as I continued to attack his skin with my lips. When I was done, he had hickey marks all over his neck.
Then he smiled up at me, sat up, and flipped us over. I squirmed to gain control again, but I wasn't trying very hard. He had his hips pushed against me so that I could hardly move, and he was looking at me like you'd look at something you've wanted for a very, very long time, and were just about to get it. Like a man who had been out in the desert for forty days and had just come upon an oasis. Rasial stared at me, letting me see the hunger in those emerald eyes.
Then he lifted himself out... and thrusted back in so forcefully that I had to bite back a scream.
"I've wanted you for so long, Hilde, so long," he said in a husky voice as he continued to pound into me, nibbling at every inch of skin that his lips came into contact with. I wrapped my legs around his waist, put my arms around his neck, and hugged myself to him, crying out softly with each thrust. It was so wonderful, this rhythmic pulse of ecstacy throbbing through me.
He pulled free of my embrace and, rather violently, picked me up and tossed me onto my stomach. Then he slapped me in the ass.
"Up."
Obediently, I got up on my hands and knees and lifted my hips. I felt him entering me once again, and once he made sure he was in, began to ram into me. His hands gripped my waist as he moved, and I couldn't help but think about how the situation had been turned. But right at that moment, I didn't care. I let out a strangled cry as he fucked me hard, and oh so very good.
He let go of my hips and leaned over me. I could feel his chest against my back, his arms near mine, and I felt like I was in a protective shell. It felt so nice to be enveloped in his warmth, his body moving behind and above me, his power flowing over me like a hot shower. He licked my neck, and I turned my head to look at him. His eyes were burning with a passion that only love can tame. Only my body could fulfill that deep desire in him. I smiled, and he smiled back, a dark smile full of promises of sex and blood. He kissed me, crushing my lips as he ferverntly explored my mouth, subduing me as easily as I had done to him. We were both master vampires after all; I guess we both had that power to dominate.
As I felt like I was going to burst, Rasial bit down on my neck, drawing blood once again. It was all I could take. I came, moaning his name, my body spasming with pleasure. He came as I did, and the power that flowed between us entwined like snakes around each other. Somehow, I felt complete, whole. That part that I was missing when I died seemed to have come back to me; I knew who had been keeping it. I collapsed onto my side on the sleeping bags, and Rasial fell behind me. He spooned his body against mine, put his arms around me in a protective gesture, and we both fell asleep to the sounds of the night.
We awoke to the first rays of the sun. It was odd, actually being awake during this time. For so long I've been used to the darkness, and having this major urge to hide from the sun when it got too bright. But now, it seemed alright. Very odd. I looked over at Rasial, who was still sleeping soundly behind me. He still had his arms around me. I turned in the curve of his arms to face him. His eyes blinked, and he yawned.
"G'mornin' Hilde."
"Yo."
We looked at each other for a while. For me, it felt a bit awkward. For him... I felt a sense of calm from him. That calmed me down, since emotions like that tend to be contagious. I snuggled in his warm body and sighed with satisfaction.
"Did you have fun last night? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Rasial asked.
"No, you didn't hurt me at all. It was fun."
"I should probably tell you the truth, huh."
"Truth?" Now I was a bit suspicious.
"Yes. I... I did want to take over the Shadow Lands, you know. Usurp your power, and all."
Big surprise there. Well, actually, yeah, it was kind of a surprise.
"You did?"
"Yes. But... I got to know you... and... I know this sounds corny, but I fell in love with you. So I didn't mind being second in command anymore."
That was a shock. So he's loved me for a long time... and here I didn't notice... Now I feel bad for not realizing it in the first place. I reached out with my senses, trying to see if he was really telling the truth. As much as I wanted to believe him, part of me was still suspicious.
He was telling the truth, however. I could feel it. And I felt something else. I could feel this old feeling, this old bond between Rasial and the old Shinigami, Duo's father. Something that was not quite love, and not quite friendship. It was very strange, but it was a strong feeling. Was it a loyalty to the leader of the Shadow Lands, or maybe even the land itself? I wonder...
Finally I smiled. "So, you wanna co-rule the Shadow Lands?" Honestly, it would really lighten the work load on my end.
He nodded. "I thought you'd never ask..."
That was the last thing he said before he climbed over me and began to touch me, caress me, and generally make me scream in pleasure all over again.
Back to:Part 7
This chapter seemed a bit rushed, but I couldn't think of any other way to write it at the time. Meh.
Anyways, feel free to e-mail me your rants and raves, just don't cuss me out, okay?
Copyright reserved 2002 Top Ace