• 1-The Princess' Dream
• 2-The Visitor
• 3-My Prince
• 4-Vampire's Blood
• 5-Remembering
• 6-The Plan
• 7-Man of Death
• 8-The Battle
• 9-The Lost Dimension
• 10-Infirmary
• 11-Destinies
• 12-The Wedding Preperations
• 13-Kazuki's Dress
• 14-Children Growing and a Bad Omen
• 15-Seishiro
• 16-War
• 17-Aftermath
• 18-Rescue
• 19-Recognition of Unrequited Love
• 20-History
• 21-Love Chapter 1
• 22-Kamui's Companion
• 23-Love, Chapter 2
• 24-Love's Violent Side
• 25-Jealousy in the Snow
• 26-Fighting Out of the Storm
• 27-En Route
• 28-Welcome to the Light Side
• 29-The Land of Anthrax
• 30-Salvage
• 31-The City of Men
• 32-The Home Front
• 33-Adventures Abound

Disclaimer: I don’t own X/1999, I didn’t come
up with any of their brilliant characters, they’re the geniuses not me

The character of
Alex, Jacob, Venus, Charlie, David, Anthony, Dvora
and Dimitri are all mine. The Noters are half reality. The rest belong to all
the book/movie/TV/anime/manga they came from. If you can spot where they’re
from then good for you!

Author’s
Thanks: To Kakyou-chan (yes, a LoTR
mentioning, there will be another one because, as you know, what's on the Light
side comes to the Dark Side as well, yayz! And Kamui
won't pardon Sei-Sei so quickly, sorry.), to LadyoftheBlackWings (I was not whacked by the shrub, honey,
I was high on caffeine XD, Shuichi is indeed a health hazard XXXD oh my, and
I'm sorry but ALEX AND KAMUI WON'T HAPPEN IN THE END due to Mary Sue-ness, sorry, go you and your fic!
I want to see it already! I don't have AIM, I'm sorry, I do have MSN messenger
though), and to iwannasleep (Alex didn't give up
Kamui he just….got insulted 'tis all honey).

Also
many thanks to Cait-hime-sama-dono, my beta, for
working so hard on making A New World a better fic.

Youz Guyz out
there: A NEW WORLD IS GOING TO CHANGE A FEW STUFF IN IT'S CHAPTERS DUE TO IT'S
BETA-ING SO, WHEN I SAY, CHECK OUT THE CHAPTERS AND SEE THE CHANGES! YAYS!

Many apologies if this
chapter is crackish. I'm in a crackish
mood. Mr. Mitts and crack yaoi do that to me. Deal with it.

*********************************************************************

Chapter 34 – Adventures
Abound

The Light Side's
blooming landscape became a dry desert. The change came as a shock to the Death
convoy. They stopped their horses and stood still, gawking at the yellow view.

"t-that's
impossible," Alex mumbled, "this place is supposed to be full of
life, a desert is not the right thing for it to have."

"I've never seen
a desert before…" Subaru mumbled, eyeing the large stretches of yellow and
dark orange before them.

Seishiro hummed in
agreement.

"Do you think the
horses would do here?" David turned to Death.

"Eh?
Oh…hmmm…they're not alive so they can't really suffer thirst. I do wonder about
how well they'll cope with dunes but since I don't see any of those ahead, I
guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we'll find it."

"I was afraid you'd
suggest the use of camels…"

"Why?"

"I never liked
them…"

"Ah, camels are
nice if they're females and they're pretty easy to ride too, once you got the
hang of how to sit on them."

"Are we going to
ride camels?" Kamui butted into the conversation, his eyes wide with
excitement.

"If we'll need
to, yes."

"Cool!"

"Oh no…"
Subaru whimpered uncontrollably, "I haven't gotten used to riding horses
and now we'll have to learn how to ride camels…."

"Aw, don't be a
drama queen, Suby, you'll manage."

Subaru glared daggers
at Death, "Drama queen?!"

"Eh, let's start riding, see what's this desert's like, shall we?" Alex
signaled his horse to ride on.

"He called me a
drama queen!" Subaru turned to his lover with demanding eyes.

Seishiro moved on his
saddle uncomfortably, "So it seems…"

"What do you mean
'so it seems'?!"

"You want me to
go defend your honor, dear Subaru-kun?"

"Well…"

"Shall I challenge
him to a duel over your hurt dignity?"

"N-no….you'll
only make me more of a drama queen!"

"Drama queens are
what drama queens do." David sniggered before riding on after Alex.

Staring shocked after
the undertaker, Subaru mouthed for a moment, unable to react.

"Shall I
challenge him to a duel, Subaru-kun?"

Subaru didn't answer;
instead he motioned his horse to ride after David. He placed himself at the fire
keeper's side, "Do you have a problem, David-san, that
you wish to inform me of?"

David, taken aback by
the sudden show of backbone-existence in the light onmyouji, stared at Subaru
silently for a moment. "Uh….no, I was just joking."

"Well don't."

"Y-yes
sir…."

Subaru slowed his
horse's pace and returned to Seishiro's side.

"Go Subaru!"
Kamui shook his fist at his friend, fighting his horse to slow down a bit.
"You showed him!"

Noting his lover is
about to say something nasty, Subaru placed his palm on Seishiro's
mouth. He tore it off in horror a moment later when Seishiro licked it
playfully.

They rode on.

*****************

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Oh, look how
lovely, it's an oasis!"

"This side's
absolutely impossible!"

"Oi…"

"Wow, fresh
water!"

"Look at the palm
trees, how nice, ne, Subaru-kun."

"Don't shove your
feet in the water man; we're all going to drink from them in a moment!"

"Oi!"

"Aaaah, how refreshing."

"And while we're
here, you need a bath Will."

"No one's listening
to me…."

"Must I haf a bath already? I'f had one
last veek…."

"Last week,
Will, that means you hadn't had a bath in seven
days!"

"Look, will you
all listen to me?"

"But I don't vant to have a bath…besides; you hadn't bathed in seven
days as vell!"

"Hey, pervert,
we're parking here today."

"What?! But we've only rode for two
hours!"

"It's an oasis,
how often do you think we'll find the likes of it in this desert?"

"That's the whole
point I'm trying to tell you!"

"I-don't-vant-to-have-a-bath! I don't like the vaser!"

"Aaaaah, that is relaxing!"

"Don't put
your feet in the water as well for fuck's sake!"

"DAVID!
Will you listen to me already?"

"Fine, what is
it?"

"Look, I'll have
a bath with you, alright? Will you feel better about it then?"

"B-bath….to-to-together?"
pop, "AAAAAH!
What was that for?!"

"There were
bubbles coming out of your head again, pervert."

"Are we going to
stay here for lunch Alex?"

"What a lovely
idea, Subaru-kun, I'll go look for something to eat…."

"If you dare swing that shovel at me again David, I swear I'll…"

"Oh please don't
hunt anything too fluffy…"

"I shall look for
an ugly lizard then, Subaru-kun, will that satisfy you?"

"Come on Will,
better go and bathe before someone gets too many ideas into his head…"

"NO NO NO
NO NO!
No one's going anywhere! You're all going to stay here and listen to me
for once, god damn it!"

All eyes turned to
Alex who was standing between two palm trees at the entrance to the oasis area,
huffing and puffing, red faced and extracting bubbles from the top of his head.

They stared at him for
a while, awaiting him to calm down.

After a while Seishiro
emitted a polite cough.

Alex shot menacing
glares at him.

"Haven't you
noticed that we've only rode through this desert for two hours and
already we find an oasis to rest and refresh our water supply in?" he
finally spoke.

"Seeing how the
water is already soiled by feet juice and the way it's also going to be bathing
water, I hardly think it'll be fit for drinking." David grumbled, folding
his arms on his bare chest.

"Shut up,
David."

"What's wrong
with an oasis?"

"What's wrong, Subaru, is that….well….it's too good to be true. I mean,
this is the desert right? The sun's not even shining hard enough to make it
unbearably hot like a proper desert sun should! It's wrong in an overly-good
way!"

"Everything in
this side is, haven't we already discussed it?"

"Yes but….oh fuck it." Alex threw his bag of maps on the sandy floor
and walked off to sulk.

Kamui eyed him
suspiciously until he was sure the man located himself for a good while before
grabbing Will by the arm and pulling him towards a part of the oasis's small
lake hidden by shrubs, to bathe.

"Personally I
don't find anything wrong with a desert so nicely equipped by refreshing oasis
like this one." Subaru sighed, "What's his problem?"

"Dear Death-san
is one of those twisted people who like it when they're uncomfortable."

Eyeing the bushes
behind which Kamui and Will had a bath, Subaru mumbled, "Yes, it seems
so."

They did not remain in
the oasis for the rest of the day, only stayed there for lunch as Subaru
suggested. As soon as lunch was over Alex ordered his men to pack up to another
ride.

"Where will we
sleep then?"

"In the next
oasis, the one we'll probably come across in another two hours' ride."
Death answered Seishiro grumblingly.

They didn't find an
oasis two hours later, or three, or four hours later. The sun was setting and
with it came a dreadful cold so powerful and merciless it gnawed into the
riders' bones no matter how many layers of fabric they wrapped around
themselves.

"It's freezing in
here!" Kamui whimpered from the huge lump of coat he wrapped around
himself. He could feel Will, who snuggled up into his coat's back, shivering
violently and whimpering.

"Finally! This good-for-nothin'
desert behaves like a proper desert should!"

"Shouldn't we try
to camp out for the night, Alex dear?" Lestate yawned, dusting off his
jacket. The desert sand was changing the color of his precious dark green velvet,
which bothered him more then he dared to admit out loud.

Victoria sneered at him and turned her head
away. She was riding on David's horse, behind the undertaker, and grabbing his
body very tightly in the excuse that she needs to balance herself on the
animal.

David didn't complain
at all. He found it awfully awkward and the feel of the vampire's lush body
pressed so hard against him made him uneasy but very glad. He lit a small ball
of fire in his palm and held it up at a safe distance from her to help warm her
up.

"There are lights
ahead of us, we'll ride there and see what it is, ask for accommodations and
all." Death answered without looking back at Kamui.

"Who do you think
it is in the middle of no where?" Seishiro asked.

"I don't know. Probably
expert desert dwellers, who else would want to pitch a tent in the middle of
the wasteland?"

"Bedouins?" David proposed.

"Maybe."

"Great…"

"What? They're
very good in hospitality you know."

"Humph."

"Don't be a bigot
David, they were good neighbors."

"In
your world maybe."

"Who are the
Bedouins?"

"A
tribe of Arabian desert dwellers, Subaru. They wander all around the
desert…"

"Robbing and
stealing."

"No they don't,
stop it David."

"Great, we're
going to spend the night with pirates again."

"Don't worry, Victoria, I'll protect
you."

The vampire emitted an
adoring shrilling whimper and snuggled up to David some more, "You're so
brave Da-vid."

"U…umm….y-yes….I
mean no…"

"Put something in
your lap, oven man, we don't need to see how brave you can be for her."

"Goddamn
pervert!"

"Look! Where did
they get electricity for those lights?"

What Kamui reffered to was the colorful
little lamps decorating the huge stumpy tent the convoy was approaching.

It stuck out of the
ground, its fabric walls covered by sand at the bottom, emitting a powerful
soft light all around it. It was located in a semi circle of palm trees which
marked its existence in another oasis.

Obscuring the light
sources from within were the cast shadows of human figures, the light outlining
their flailing limbs as they moved erratically from one side of the tent to the
other. Music boomed out of the tent; the sounds of drums, flutes, violins and
the occasional didgeridoo bellowing compiled an electrocuting, hypnotizing rhythm.

"If
you're going to San Francisco,
the extra hippy version." Seishiro pointed out after a moment of silent listening.

"Look! Someone's
stepping outside!"

A thin figure, dressed
in a long flowing white robe pushed away a layer of fabric at the entrance to
the tent and wobbled it's way from the tent to a nearby bush where it turned
it's back to the convoy and did what seemed like urinating.

"Charming…"

The figure turned
around sharply, it's long shabby hair theatrically blowing behind it, "Who
goes there?"

"Smooth,
Seishiro."

The figure wobbled
towards them, its hands stretched sideways lazily to help stabilize itself, its
head wobbling worse then its steps.

A young man with long
black locks stepped out of the circle of golden light from the tent and into
the large full moon's light which allowed the riders to better observe his
features.

"Wow man…"
he said after looking at each rider individually. There were food crumbs and
some dribble drops caught in his long beard. Besides that he seemed very thin
and very sleepy.

Noting the rest are
too awkward to address the man, Lestate spoke up, "Hello…err….dude, how
are you?"

The man blinked, baffled,
at the vampire, "Booyaka….say, you're glowing in
the moonshine my man, that's awesome."

"Pretty neat
huh?"

"Great, someone
to sit and admire you is just the thing we needed now." David grumbled,
earning another hug from the girl behind him.

"And youuuoah!" the man was thrashing himself towards Kamui
and Will's horse when an unexpectedly high pile of sand stopped him. He fell
flat on his face and remained there for a moment, still as a log.

The Death riders
stared at him in silence, waiting for him to recover. They waited in vain; the
man turned his head sideways in the sand and began snoring.

"He's having a kip!"

"So it
seems."

"'Bet he's
pissed."

"Stoned
more like it."

Victoria gasped, "Stoned? You mean he
took drugs? That's illegal!"

"Illegal
where? There's
no police force here to call it illegal." Seishiro answered her.

"I am with
the police…well….I was…"

"And if you'll
arrest him, where will you take him?"

Victoria pouted and turned her face away
from the assassin.

At that moment another
long haired figure in a long flowing robe wobbled out of the tent, "Winterwhite? Winterwhite, where
are you?" it was a woman and she sounded a bit more sober then the
slumbering man sprawled on the sand.

"Oh,
hello there."
She straightened herself and bettered her robe at her chest as she noted the
men outside her tent.

"Booyaka." Alex beamed at her.

"Ah…uh…thanks…I
think. You rode here on these horses?"

"Yes madam, we
did."

"Well then, come
on in, it's freezing outside."

"Gladly."

Inside the tent it was
warm and cozy, the air heated by several stoves placed at the rims of the large
fabric-made hall. The floor was covered by rugs, scattered by pillows and
shabby mattresses all across it. In the center was a circular table on which
clay jugs sat, plates of nuts, figs, dates, salads and pastries the tent
inhabitants helped themselves from whenever their wobbling dance brought them
near the furniture.

The band responsible
for the sensuous music sat on the floor, propped up by pillows and often fed by
whatever dancer passed bear them with food in their hands.

In total, Alex
estimated, there were about twenty men and women in the tent. They were dressed
pretty much in the same fashion; long wavy dresses of loose pants and tunics,
some wore turbans, some wrapped towels or scarves around their heads and necks,
men and women alike.

The dazzling multiple colors
of their outfits was perhaps what made each individual stand out in the bobbing
crowd for all were pretty much the same; women with long flowing loose hair,
men with un-brushed long hair and beards.

The riders stepping
into the large tent did not seem to disturbed anyone; they kept dancing
happily, waving their hands in the air or locking them around each other's
shoulders and waists with disregard of gender and age.

Will sneezed as soon as he stepped inside the tent.

One man did seem to
have noticed the strangers' existence in his tent because he got up to greet
them. This man appeared very young, in his late teens not more, which would
explain his shaven face and clouded large, innocent eyes.

Those large brown orbs
lay warm on his guests as he extended his arms to his sides (thus accidentally
disturbing a few dancers from their bizarre dance) as he walked smoothly
towards them.

"Welcome, booyaka, my brothers," he noted Victoria,
"brothers and sister."

"Booyaka to you too." Lestate chirped.

The young man giggled,
gesturing towards a woman in advance stages of pregnancy who was currently very
busy swinging her arms while turning round and round on her spot. "Oh it
has, thank Shiva."

"What's Shiva got
to do with it?!" Subaru muttered under his breath.

Will sneezed.

"What does 'booyaka' mean anyway?" Alex had to ask.

"It means 'may
your seed be fruitful in the belly of your womaaaaan'"
the young man began swinging from side to side to the rhythm of the music.
"Would you like to join us in our party, people? It's a blast."

"Age
of Aquarius."
Seishiro noted, pointing his finger heavenwards. "The song they're playing
that is."

"Yes, how did you
know?" the young man beamed happily, "you're groovy man, love the
suit, 'bit sqyare but very hip nonetheless."

"Thank
you…brother…man."

Will sneezed three
times in a row, taking a deep breath when he was done.

Subaru shot an amazed
stare at Seishiro who beamed back playfully.

"Oh you are groovy,
come, join us, put your bags down, kick your shoes off and join us."

"Great, join the
hippy party." David groaned, "They are hippies, for god's sake, what
are they doing here?"

"My name is
Neil," said the young man with a wide swing of his arm towards his lithe
chest, obvious after having not heard David's grumble, "and this is Moshe Rabeinu (1)." He now swung his arm towards a man in
white robes and white cloth to his head, "he helped us set up this
tent."

"Moshe Rabeinu," David snarled, "nischt
meir und nischt
veiniger (2)…"

Will snickered silently. And then sneezed.

"Look, we're
exhausted from our ride today," Victoria stepped up to Neil, "can we
please go rest in a place a little more private then this?"

Neil stared at her for
a moment before a smile broke on his young face, "Sure….although, we only
have one more tent here so for all of you it won't be much private."

"That's no
problem, thank you very much."

Will was caught by
another fit of short sneezes.

The young man led them
through a back exit to another tent, past this oasis' pond. This tent was less
decorated but higher in build, its wall made of various colors (noted only by
Victoria, Lestate and Alex, who were able to see in the poor lighting of the
soft candles which lit the tent).

This tent, too, was
heated nicely and contained the same furnishing of odd mattresses, pillows and
a few closed ovens.

"Oh, thank god we
stepped out of there; the smell of incense was very close to choking me."
Subaru sighed as soon as he placed his bags down.

"You
too? I thought
my head is going to explode if I won't sneeze soon." Kamui chimed in.

"Well why didn't
you sneeze?"

"I didn't want to
embarrass them."

"I need a
handkerchief…"

"You poor thing,
you're not used to smells like those."

"My head hurts
too…I need to sit down." The werewolf collapsed on a nearby pillow and dug
his face in his hands.

Kamui sat besides him,
wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

Victoria surveyed the tent, "We really
won't get much privacy here…" she sighed, "Oh well, better then that
drug den the other tent was."

"I think the
music's what really bothered me." David mumbled, taking his shoes off and
placing them by the mattress he sat on.

"Put something on
your shoes David, in fact, all of you; cover your
shoes with something." Alex called out to his men.

"Why is
that?" Seishiro enquired while covering his and Subaru's shoes with his
jacket.

"Because it's
cold outside and during the night all sorts of creepy-crawlies might try to
find warmth inside your shoes and in the morning, as you put them on, they
might sting your feet."

Kamui turned anxious
eyes to Alex, "What do you mean by 'creepy-crawlies'?"

"Scorpions,
snakes, spiders.
It's mostly scorpions I'm worried about because we're in a desert."

Victoria stifled a shriek of panic.

"Are your kind
sensitive to scorpions, Victoria?"
David inquired, worried.

With her mouth still
covered by her palm, Victoria
shook her head vigorously, then shrugged.

David turned his eyes
to Alex who shook his head solemnly.

"I just don't
like creepy-crawlies, is all." The vampire girl
whimpered.

The man Neil referred
to as Moshe Rabeinu walked into their tent,
accompanied by five women, their arms loaded by small straw baskets and clay
plates.

"Welcome to our
humble commune." He beamed at them with a deep, warm voice.

Alex and David
exchanged a few words in Hebrew with him.

Will twitched and
folded himself into a small ball. Kamui let go of the werewolf's shoulders.

Moshe emitted a long,
bellowing laughter and waved his hand lazily at David. He examined the rest of
the tent inhabitants who stared at the three curiously. "I was speaking to
your leader here about how long you could stay here. I personally invite you to
stay here as long as you want. We have meditations and prayers every few hours,
which you are more then welcomed to join, we have singing nights, we have
poetry reading sessions, anything you'd like.

"But for now you
have to rest from your long journey. Please, help yourselves to these organic
dishes my wonderful wives prepared. I hope you don't mind there's nothing made
of meat here, for we're all vegetarians."

"I didn't imagine
otherwise." David grumbled. He was elbowed into silence by Alex.

"Thank you very
much for your kind hospitality, Moshe-san." Subaru bowed at the man.

"Yes, we won't be
a burden to you for too long, we only wish to stay here for the night."

By now the women,
moving gracefully as if they were still dancing to the music of the bigger tent
(it's faint sounds managed to leak into the riders' tent), placed their plates
evenly before the riders.

"Mmm, this is delicious." Alex pointed out to one of
them women.

"Thank you,"
she hummed merrily, placing a gentle palm on the head of the baby strapped to
her breast by a large plum-colored fabric. "I made this myself."

"You're an
excellent cook then."

Just as the women
began leaving, a group of men waltzed into the room in much the same manner,
carrying jugs and some more clay plates which they delivered to their guests
evenly.

Alex recognized one of
these men, a sun scorched blond in his mid twenties who was smiling softly to
himself as he moved around in his white and gold Arabian robes.

"Lawrence?" Death
asked with much surprise and an undeniable amount of happiness in his eyes.

The man turned to him,
unable to recognize who spoke to him. "Oh, I haven't been called that in a
while. Please, call me Thomas. Do we know each other?"

"Maybe…"

The man smiled again
and rose to leave.

"Who's he?"
Kamui inquired as soon as the group left. The undertone of slight jealousy was
somewhat obvious in his speech.

"Thomas Eduard
Lawrence….Jesus, what a flashback…" Alex shook his head and resumed
fingering the bowl of nuts before him.

"Well I'll be
damned." Seishiro mumbled. He reached for one of the bowls the men left
behind them, containing a small pile of what looked like homemade cigarettes.

To confirm his suspicions,
Seishiro brought one of the cigarettes under his nose and sniffed it
thoroughly.

"It's pot!"

"Eeeeh?!" Victoria
shot to her feet, fists clutched in anger.

"S-Seishiro-san!"

The reason for Subaru's
alarmed cry was the fact that, casually, Seishiro had placed the special
cigarette between his lips and lit it.

He took a deep draft;
his eyes squinted a bit in an attempt to appreciate the content of his smoke,
and exhaled a long column of smoke.

All eyes were on him,
awaiting the drug's effect on the man.

Seishiro merely
smiled, somewhat nostalgically, reached for a nearby bawl of dates, and picked
one to consume.

"Since when do
you smoke marijuana, Seishiro-san?" Subaru's voice came out complaining and
petty.

"Since university,
my dear Subaru-kun, and it's really not as bad as people try to describe it.
It's actually quite refreshing."

"You took
drugs in university, Seishiro-san?"

The dark onmyouji took
another draft from his joint and beamed at Subaru while exhaling the smoke
through his nostrils, "Who didn't?"

Subaru turned his eyes
desperately to his fellow Death men, as if seeking refuge…or assurance…or
agreement with what Seishiro said.

Kamui was eyeing the
non-food bowl before him. This one contained what were obviously drug-soaked
stamps.

He wondered. He
refused. He wondered again, becoming tempted this time. He chastised himself
for even thinking about it. He reached out and grabbed one stamp.

Will observed his master carefully. Kamui looked back at him.

"What?"

"Uh….nothing…"

"You want one
too?"

"Ummm….I don't know….ist this the
place to take zese?"

Kamui scanned the
others in the tent.

"I don't know but
I don't think we'll run into this stuff anywhere else so…."

"And you vant to try it?"

"Yes. Lots of
kids back in my world did this stuff. I never tried because mother was around
and she'd know."

Will stared down at
the bowel. He reached out and picked a stamp.

He and Kamui stared at
each other and slowly put the stamps on their tongues, like mirror images of one
another.

Lestate observed this
with much fascination. He folded his legs neatly under him on the large soft
cushion he chose to sit on and leaned on a nearby stumpy table, preparing
himself for a night of watching his comrades in their new condition.

"Err….uh….psst, Alex." David edged himself towards Death. He was
eyeing a bowl filled with stamps, the same as the one placed before Kamui.

Alex was eyeing the
bowel the same way as the undertaker, "Yes, David?"

"Did you….uh…in
your world…."

"…Yes?"

"Was there a
guy….I mean, this author guy who, you know…"

"….Yes….?"

"Was like us…I
mean…."

"Uh-huh….?"

"And he took one
of these things and….well….freaked out(3)….?"

"Yeah, he was in
my world too…"

"….He saw bits of
the camp in Technicolor and bits of the bible above it….didn't he?"

"No, he saw bits
of the camp and bits of the bible above it in Technicolor…."

"Ah…well….anyways….."
David fidgeted with the rims of the mattress he sat on, "So you think….if
we take it….that we'll freak out too?"

"….I don't know….kind of makes me not want to try it…do you want
to try it…."

"No. I have my
share of memories, the last thing I need is to see it in Technicolor or
whatever…."

Victoria pulled the bowel from under their
gazes and shuffled several of the pieces with his forefinger musingly.

"You're going to
try it?" David gawked at his girlfriend.

"I don't know.
I'm not sure this stuff can affect me anyway…" for a moment her red eyes
flickered towards Alex before turning away as quickly as they turned to him.

"If I take one
will you take one too?" David reached for the bowel and pulled two stamps,
holding them safely away from his face.

They exchanged looks.

"Yeah, why not.
I'm not police girl anymore." The vampire picked a stamp decorated by a blue and yellow dots. She placed it in her mouth and
eyed David as if expecting the affects to happen to him and not her.

David eyed the stamp
in between his fingers and shrugged, placing it on his tongue.

Alex edged away from
David and, instinctively, turned his attention to Kamui.

After thorough
examination of Seishiro smoking his joint, Subaru leaned closer to his lover.
"Well?"

"Well what,
Subaru-kun?"

"How do you
feel?"

"How do I
feel?" Seishiro giggled, caressing the side of his lover's face, "A
bit lightheaded, the usual."

"And that's it?
Besides the giggling that is…"

"What giggling?"

"You giggled,
Seishiro-san."

"And how do you
find it?"

A childish smile crept
up the corner of Subaru's lips, "It's….strange, but not unpleasant."

The dark onmyouji
handed his lover a joint.

Eyeing Seishiro,
Subaru took the cylinder from his countering star's finger and slowly placed it
between his lips. Seishiro offered his lighter.

"Subaru! You're taking drugs!" Kamui
pointed at the light onmyouji. His finger was slightly shaking. Will's head was
at his lap, his ears twitching back and forth from time to time as if listening
to something.

"Shut up
brat." Seishiro barked back. He turned to Subaru and found the joint was
in Subaru's hand. "Now now, Subaru-kun, don't
let peer pressure get the better of you. Ignore the brat, he's high as
well."

"H-he is?"
Subaru turned to Kamui who now stared up at the tent's top. "Kamui, are
you high?"

Kamui took his time
before answering, "I think I am."

"How do you
f…."

Seishiro shut his
lover's mouth by poking the cigarette between his lips, "Forget about that
and just smoke the damn stuff. It's good for you, trust me, I'm a doctor."

Subaru flushed,
examining his lover's somewhat misty eyes. He leaned forward, lighting his
joint with Seishiro's offered lighter.

"Dear god,
they're all getting high!" Alex heard himself mutter. He turned to David
as if for assurance and found that both the fire wielder and Victoria were
gone. "Great, that's just great."

Will got up and began
exploring the tent, cocking his head sideways from time to time as if to tune
into some noise hidden from the rest of the men. His wonderings met an end as
he caught his toe on Lestate's pillow and came tumbling down into the vampire's lap.

"Hello, little
wolf cub." Lestate beamed down at him.

Will, who was now
folded in half in Lestate's lap, grabbed the end of
his tail and began smoothing its fur with slightly shaking fingers. He became
enchanted by the play of color in Lestate's hair and
eyes.

"You
haf pretty hair."

"Why thank you,
little wolf cub. You're an exceptional beauty yourself." And with that
Lestate began storking Will's hair, arms and legs
with smooth long strokes.

Kamui crawled towards
Alex on all fours, hanging determined eyes at Death.

Alex, on his behalf,
did his best to crawl away from the boy. On a whim he was already beginning to
regret, he took a small amount of the stamps he was sure will manage to work
their chemical magic on his inhuman body.

The boy moving towards
him, so far, did not seem to have altered his appearance, like the rest of the
tent around him, but Alex didn't feel like taking chances.

"Alex!"
Kamui sat up on his knees, pointing a blaming finger at Lestate, "Lestate's molesting Will," he exclaimed slightly
louder then what is considered mannered, "do you mind telling him to stop
it?"

Alex examined the
accused vampire and the werewolf in his lap (who seemed to be enjoying the treatment).
He had to squint a lot because, in the condition he was surely entering, he did
not trust his sight very much.

"Well, er, Kamui, I don't see any of the sides involved
complaining about it. The mutt looks like he's enjoying himself muchly. Let him have some fun, Kamui, we're treating him so
badly, me and David, he aught to have someone treat him nicely from time to
time, don't you think?"

Kamui slammed his fist
into the nearby table, glaring at Alex full force, "Damn right you treat
him badly, but molesting him is not exactly fare treatment!"

"Is that a word
from Justice?"

"It is!"
Kamui enhanced his words with another punch to the table.

"You'll break it
if you keep doing that Kamui. And it doesn't make you look any manlier you
know."

"I don't look manly?"
Kamui punched the table a third time.

"No, you look
very much like a girl."

Kamui shot to his
feet, kicking the table to the other side of the tent, "I am not a girl!
I'm a male baby boy."

"B-baby
boy? We
shouldn't have stopped here; you're all tripping badly…" Alex muttered. He
grabbed a nearby blanket and spread himself out on David's abandoned mattress.

"I'm calling it a
night, Kamui, go bother someone else if you want."

"But he's molesting
him!"

"Still stuck with
that notion, huh?" Alex sighed; puffing a pillow he pulled from another
spot in the tent and placed under his head. "Go join them if you care
about it so much."

"You'd like to
watch that, wouldn't you?"

Alex glanced at
Lestate, who was now unbuttoning Will's shirt and giving the werewolf's chest
the same treatment as the rest of him received.

Will seemed to be in a
different planet, judging by the dreamy look on his face and the silly smile he
was sporting.

"You know what?
Yeah, I'd very much like to watch it, Kamui."

"You're
sick." Kamui toed off his shoes and slipped under Alex's blanket, keeping
a safe distance from Death.

"Perhaps. Would you like to watch it?"

"I'd be in
it, Alex, how would I watch it?"

Alex wrapped his arms
around Kamui and pulled the boy closer to him, "I don't know. Do it in
front of a mirror?"

"Don't get any
ideas into your head, Alex, I'm here because it's cold
in this tent."

"Cold. Right."

"You're bubbling
again."

"Damn straight I
am. David 'aint here so I can do
whatever I damn want to, boy."

"You're staring
to sound like a hillbilly."

"When was the
last time you heard a hillbilly?"

"Right now,
stupid, you're not listening to what I'm saying?"

"Why won't you
join them, Kamui, it is a great idea after all."

Kamui twisted his head
to look into Death's eyes. "You think so?"

"Hell
yeah."

"But then you
wouldn't be able to snuggle up to me."

"Ah. Problem. It is, indeed, a sever
moral problem. Almost a philosophic question."

"You run your
mouth when you're high, you know that?"

"Maybe."

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Do you see bits
of the bible in Technicolor?"

"No, do you?....Hey, wait!"

Subaru and Seishiro
secluded a half hidden corner of the tent and were, at the moment, very much
occupied by themselves.

"You know what,
Alex?"

"What?"

"I miss your
waffles."

"Do you want some
now?"

"Maybe
when I'll get the munchies."

"You get the
munchies from smoking pot, silly goose, not from taking LSD."

"Seishiro has a
great ass, you know that?"

"…..Yeah….he
does. Hey, Kamui, why won't you join them?"

"Hmm….I
might…."

"No, you know
what, on a second thought I think I prefer you joining Will and Lestate more
then Seishiro and Subaru."

"Oh. Okay. Shall
I join them then?"

"You want
to?"

"Sure, why not?
Hey, I'm thirsty."

A clay jug of water
floated towards Kamui who sat up to hungrily gulp down half of it.

"Don't wake me up
when you need to pee all that out, Kamui, I'll be sleeping."

"Sleeping? But I
thought you'll stay up to watch me join them!"

"Oh. Right. Never mind then."

Kamui pushed the
blanket off of him and wobbled towards the onmyoujis' corner.

"Kamui."

"What?"

Alex pointed towards
Lestate whose face was buried at the juncture between Will's neck and shoulder.

"Oh. Right." Justice plopped beside Lestate and placed his
head sleepily on the vampire's shoulder.

Alex closed his eyes
and fell asleep.

**************

In his dream, Alex was
standing above a bed in a dark room. The bed contained Fuma and Kamui, wrapped
up in each other's arms.

In his dream, tears
rolled down his eyes at the sight below him and he removed the mask on his face
to let them roll. In his dream, the tears ignited and became small balls of
fire.

Fuma and Kamui awoke
as soon as they sensed the heat and jerked backwards, startled at the sight of
Alex.

In his dream, his
fiery tears set the bed afire.

**************

The sun rising on the
following morning awoke with its soft light a jumbled tent. One of the local
girls, walking into the tent to ask its inhabitants if they would like
something for breakfast, or perhaps to join the pre-breakfast yoga session outside
under the big palm tree, discovered a heap of people, entangled, and fast
asleep.

She giggled and
stepped out of the tent, the sound of her laughter waking Death's man up.

David was the first to
wake up. He was curled around Victoria
completely, bodily separating her from the rest of the group. His left wing
covered the vampire completely, thus shielding her from whatever sunshine
managed to penetrated the tent's thick white fabric walls.

He twisted his head
round and observed the people behind him.

"Yishtenem drago (4)" he
sighed, "WAKE UP, PERVERTS!"

The heap stirred,
emitting sleepy moans of several voices.

Seishiro opened his
eyes to find that Subaru was sprawled on him in his boxers alone, clutching at
his tie as if to life itself. He smirked and reached for the nearest blanket;
when his little Subaru-kun fully wakes he's going to be more then awkward about
everyone else seeing him in his state.

Lestate was nowhere to
be found. Since he was the only one in the tent that was not influenced by any
chemical, he had the sense in him to walk away from the pile at the break of
dawn and crawl into his coffin for a safe slumber.

It's a fortunate thing
that Kamui woke up before Alex did. He gently shook Will awake and together
they gently pried Alex's fingers and arms from around them and walked away to
pretend they've slept at a safe distance from Death.

"Kamui."

"Yes, Will?"

"I don't like
Lestate."

"What? You seemed
awfully friendly with him last night. Well….you were
high, but still…"

"I vas high and
he touched me. I….I don't like him."

"I thought you
enjoyed it."

"I did…I don't
know why I don't like him now." Tears rolled out of the werewolf's eyes,
making his master worry for him.

"Hmn….goodness….what did we do last night?" Alex sat
up, gazing around him. To his left, Seishiro was softly waking Subaru up, to
his right David sent death glares at him. "What?"

"Remind me to hit
you with my shovel, hard."

"Why? What'd I
do?"

David mused for a
moment. "Nothing. Help me get Victoria to her coffin."

"Oh ho ho, what did the two of you do last night?"

David blushed.

No one had the guts to
make a remark about that.

********************

Someone knocked on Fuma's room's door that afternoon. Fuma, who was busy
clipping his toenails, turned to the door as if it will become transparent and
reveal to him who's the visitor.

"Yes, who is
it?" he asked casually, sure it must be one of the house residences.

The door opened and a
noter poked his head in, looking around the large empty-ish
room sheepishly. The noter was from the prison team, as Fuma best remembered
him, and like the others of his kind, always looked tired or unhappy about
something.

Fuma leaped to his
feet and came crushing to the floor after laying his weight on his injured leg.

The noter rushed
towards him and tried to help him to his feet when he noted the angry look in Fuma's eyes.

Justice clawed at his
bed and pulled himself to his feet again, leaning on the bed.

"I'm sorry, I
thought you needed help." The noter backed away, clutching at the
cardboard box he was carrying.

"That's why you
came here?!" Fuma straightened his back, thus towering over the slightly
stumpy noter.

"Err, no,
actually. I came here because I thought you might like to see these." He
pushed the box towards Fuma.

Still slightly
suspicious and angry at the other youth, Fuma pulled the box from the other's
fingers and opened it.

The box contained a
hefty pile of American comic books. Fuma's brows
climbed up his forehead. He lowered himself to the bed carefully and began
pulling out the pamphlets one by the other.

Most of the comics
were X Men but the others were a mixture of Batman, Superman, Spiderman and
Daredevil.

Fuma turned surprised
eyes to the noter who no longer kept a frightened safe distance from him.

"I thought you
might like comic books. I mean, I know Japanese people love comics and stuff….I
don’t think you might have read these, they're American, but it's comic books
and that's what I have."

"Where did you
get these?"

"I was carrying
them to my base when the dimension took me so they came with me. It's not my
whole collection but it's something. Whenever I miss home I just flip through
them, it helps."

Fuma stopped flipping
through a Batman magazine and turned his eyes to the noter again, "Are you
sure you want me to have them? They're the only thing you have left from
home…"

"You can borrow
them and give them back when you're finished." The noter began looking
worried, eyeing his precious magazines with fatherly eyes.

"I'll take good care
of them. Thank you very much for thinking about me." Fuma bowed deeply,
making the noter awkward.

"Uh….okay…I
mean…I felt I had to….or something." He began walking towards the door,
"Maybe we can sit and talk about some of the plotlines, there are some
magazines missing with really important plot twists. Like in X Men, when
Storm's claustrophobia….never mind, I won't spoil it for you."

"Thank you
again."

The noter left,
leaving behind a rather baffled Fuma.

On one hand he was
very much keen on reading these comic books. Back in his home he was very much
addicted to several shounen series. Sadly, the shounen series were in Japanese
and these are in English. He was very bad at English at school (like most of
the subjects really) and reading in English was even worse. It seems like the
only good thing he can do good in English is pronounce it, something he always
took great pride in whenever Kamui's brag his perfect
English which's only hindrance was his Japanese accent.

Well, guess he'll just
have to do his best to read these. It's not like he has anything better to do now
as the graveyard became completely empty of any new arrivals.

Fuma pushed away the
nail clipper and stretched out on the bed, arranging the comics in piles
according to title, and prepared for a long day of reading.

Then something accrued
to him; the noter said he felt obliged to bring him something that'll cheer him
up. Does that mean that the noter sensed his depression and boredom and acted
under something that wasn't his own personal logic?

Could it be that the
noter did what he did because he needed to help his Justice?

Fuma sighed. He didn't
like the somewhat supernatural side of his new title, he didn't like anything
supernatural, in fact; it reminded him of the Dragon and that horrid year.

He rubbed at his eyes
and reached for the first issue of Batman to his left.

******************

"Beware,
holes?!
What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Alex turned to his men, on their
horses behind him.

They have been
traveling the desert for a few days now and had so far encountered nothing but
the random oasis. Suddenly they came across this road sign, poking out of the
no man's land, reading "Beware, holes".

"Maybe it's
trying to warn us about holes in the vicinity." Kamui remarked, wiping the
sweat from his brow. The desert sun was threatening his perfect alabaster
skin's color and he didn't like it one bit, which made him especially cranky
and snappy.

"I don't remember
your original hair color was blond, Kamui, so stop acting like it is."
Death snapped back.

"I wonder if this
place has other amusing landmarks." Seishiro mused loudly.

"What do you mean
'amusing', Seishiro-san?"

"I mean…well,
back in our world there was this manga about a boy and his father who fell into
cursed lakes in china, maybe you've heard of it? Don't know why I remember it
now but I just thought it'd be amusing if it'd be here as well."

Subaru looked away
sheepishly.

"I don't know
what you're talking about." Alex growled, glaring Kamui into silence as he
noted the boy was about to say something.

"….That's a
strange reaction, Alex." The Sakurazukamori smirked at Alex.

"I didn't do
anything." Subaru hurrying to add before Alex does anything.

"What are you
talking about, Subaru-kun?"

"Let's ride on,
shall we?" Kamui sniggered, "What?!" he snapped at Alex who
glared at him again, "I said 'let's ride on, shall we', nothing
else!"

"You're all
hiding something from me." Seishiro whispered.

"Maybe you're
really blond, brat," David sighed, gaining a canceling glare from Kamui,
"the sign says 'beware, holes', that means we shouldn't ride on so
quickly."

"We can avoid the
holes if we look at where we're riding from time to time, you know."
Justice snapped at the undertaker.

"Right, the two
of you; shut up, now. We're going to stop here for lunch; we've rode enough for
the day. And while we're at it I'll take a look around and see where these
'holes' are."

"Shouldn't we
wait for an oasis?" Subaru suggested, as kindly as he could so as not to
sound condescending or complaining.

"We passed one
two hours ago, that means we'll have to ride two more hours to the next one,
and your tummy's already rumbling."

"I can wait two
hours."

"No."

Subaru blinked at
Death and mouthed a bit before realizing that it's the wrong man to argue about
food with.

They rode their horses
a little beyond the warning sign and, looking around to make sure no holes are
around them, descended from their horses.

That's when the holes
opened and swallowed them all, throwing them into pitch dark tunnels with
whatever little sand their fall brought with them.

******************

"What the hell
was that?!"

"Ouch,
my back."

"Victoria!"

"David, hey…..ummm…." Victoria
was a little bit awkward at her and her boyfriend's current condition.

The fall had dropped
the both of them so that she landed on the floor, on her back, while David fell
on top of her and was now crouched above her.

"Uh….um…well….I….uh….I
mean….I-it's awfully dark in here, don't you think?" and with that, to
distract him from his awkwardness, David set fire to his fist, holding it up
above his head to illuminate their surrounding.

The fire lit a long
narrow tunnel to their right and a high wall to their left.

"We seemed to
have landed into a tunnel. I wonder where the tunnel leads to…" David
spoke to distract himself from the vampire still sprawled under him.

Victoria eyed her boyfriend calmly. She
always found his slightly childish awkwardness endearing but her need for
something more in their relationship, on the other hand, began to have enough
of it.

"David…"

The undertaker jerked
in dread for a moment, shooting his eyes from his burning fist and the woman
beneath him.

"Oh, shit, fire,
vampire, I'm sorry, you're sensitive to it." He put the flames off and the
tunnel became dark again.

"But now we can't
see anything…damn…uh…"

"David, I can see
in the dark, I'm fine."

"Oh? Lucky
you…how do you think we'll get out of here?"

"David…"

"Y…y-yes?"

Victoria wrapped her arms around her man
and brought their lips together.

**************

"Uh…"

"Oops, sorry, Suby, it's me." Alex, who landed on top of Subaru much
the same fashion as David did on Victoria,
leaped to his feet.

"Alex! Where are
we?"

"We seem to be in
a tunnel into which we fell from the hole we were warned about."

"That doesn't
make sense."

"Huh?"

"We were
swallowed into these holes individually, so why on earth are we here, together?
We aught to be in different tunnels."

"You've got a
point. Hey, where is everybody else?"

"Where is
Seishiro-san?"

Alex sharpened his
senses and reached out to his other men. "He's three tunnels town to our
right, he's safe and sound."

Subaru climbed to his
feet, "Good. How do we get out of here, I can't see a thing."

"I can see in the
dark. Here, put your hands on my shoulders and I'll lead you towards the
exit."

"Is it a long
walk?"

"Well, I can sort
of see a very faint light of day but it's very far from us. This means that the
tunnel we're walking in is straight, so at least we're not stuck in some kind
of maze or something."

"The light could
be from a window in the ceiling of this place."

"….Maybe, but
anyway, we have no other choice but to start walking and finding out,
right?"

"…Yes."

Alex turned his back
to Subaru and waited for the man to place his palms on his shoulders.

"I'll follow your
aura, there's no need for you to be hindered by me. I can sort of sense you
here."

"Ah,
good. Let's
start moving then."

"Let's."

************

"Oh
my. I seem to
have woken up early today."

As soon as he sounded
himself Lestate noted the werewolf, who landed at his side, jerk away as if
bitten by a snake.

"Hello, wolf
cub."

"S-stay avay from me…."

"My, your arm
doesn't look very good; did you land on it accidentally?"

"DON'T TOUCH
ME!"

Lestate blinked at the
defensive youth. "Have I done something you did not like?"

"I….I just don't vant you to touch me, that's
all…." Will's eyes began watering again. He pushed himself against a wall
and curled into a tight ball around his broken arm which was now thudding with
pain again. He couldn't see where the vampire is though he could smell the
man's fragrance and assess where his foe was. "Ach, mein
arm.(5)" He hissed silently.

Lestate stared at the
boy for a while before reaching to him softly. "Your arm has been re-broken,
it needs treatment."

"Ve'll vait to get out of here and
zen Seishiro vill take care of it. Don't touch me!"

"Look, I can
smell blood, which means your arm has an open wound, I can heal that. Let me
heal it with my blood, I promise I won't touch you."

"I don't trust
you."

'Heavens, what made
you react like that' Lestate mused. "Look, just reach out your wounded arm
and I'll drip blood into it. That way I can heal you and I won't have to touch
you."

After a long moment of
unsure silence, Will obeyed. Supporting his aching arm with his healthy one, he
reached it out to the gaping black abyss around him. He could smell the strange
metallic, zinging aroma of unnatural blood as Lestate bit open a gash in his
wrist and brought it above the boy's damaged arm.

The werewolf's canine
whimpers of pain turned into a frightened gasp as the blood began working its
magic on the wounded tissues.

"There, does it
still hurt?"

"N-no…and I can
move my arm as vell…"

"Yes, the blood
of vampires of my kind does that. You probably won't need that arm sling of
yours too." Lestate climbed to his feet, having noticed the werewolf
resumed his defensive position.

"Come, boy, we
need to get out of here."

"I can't see a
thing."

"Yes, well, I can.
Here's what we'll do;" he reached into his jacket's breast pocket.
"I'll play my flute and you'll follow the sound, how about that?"

"You can see ze exsit?"

"Yes, it's right
a head of us, a bit far, but still right ahead of us."

Will began uncurling
himself, staying on all fours as he began following Lestate and his flute.
There was something in this beastly position that kept a bit of his confidence
in this dark surrounding.

As he walked and
played his flute, Lestate pondered the boy's violent reaction earlier.

"Ist that Mozart?"

"Yes, it is, you
are a very well educated boy."

"Can you play Vagner?"

"Wagner?" Lestate
pondered the request, "Is that a compositor? Perhaps someone from your
world because I've never heard of such a man" he lied.

"Oh…okay…."

***************

As soon as he fled the
other man's body land on his Kamui placed his palms on the invisible chest and
pushed it away violently. Fingers clawed at him for a moment and then let go,
pushing him away as well.

At the same moment,
two men pushed themselves away from where their landing placed them, pushed
their legs under them and leaped to their feet, each to a battle position. None
could see the other though, by the tiny moment of touching each other, they
knew who they were.

The broad chest Kamui
felt was too flat to be Alex's or David's and the clothes covering it reeked of
cigarette smoke. The chest was too muscular to be Subaru's; it was Seishiro who
landed atop of him. Kamui hissed and loosened his palms from the fists he
created to a ready position to claw at the other man might another attempt at
touch will be made by him.

The thin shoulders
Seishiro grabbed were too narrow to be Subaru's and the faint smell of a dog
the other body emitted indicated the other person under him spent close time
with Will. Seishiro smiled in the darkness. He could feel Death was far away
from him and by the sounds echoing back at him from the close walls he knew
that Alex is not even in the space around them; Kamui was stuck in the same
narrow space as him and the time was ripe for vengeance.

Unlike Kamui, who was
blind in the dark, Seishiro's keen senses told him
exactly where the boy was and what he was doing.

For a moment the
alarming notion of danger hit Kamui's senses; he was
powerless and alone with his biggest foe, without his powers and without the high-toned
senses his powers once gave him. He was helpless, powerless, defenseless and
blind.

His second greatest
fear came true the next moment as a powerful palm slammed shut on his throat,
pushing him violently against the curved wall behind him. Kamui clawed at the
hand mercilessly until he could feel the wetness of blood at the tips of his
fingers. If he hurts Seishiro Subaru will be mad at him, if Seishiro hurts him…

If Seishiro hurts him again
he will be severely punished by Alex. That was the only light of hope shining
in Kamui's frightened heart. The sheer cruel force of
the hand on his neck made it clear to Kamui that the man holding him was not
only bloodthirsty, but furiously inclined to kill him.

No, Seishiro will not
kill him; it would spell out his own death by Alex. Seishiro will dare not hurt
him.

The fist slamming into
the side of his face shattered that arrogant thought. His jaw exploded with
pain, his right cheekbone chiming in. Seishiro was very much inclined to hurt
him no matter what.

Kamui bit his lower
lip to stop himself from emitting even the tiniest of sounds that might give
the Sakurazukamori any inclining of the immense pain he was in. His head spun
as his windpipe was slowly squeezed shut. Kamui rolled his eyes and blinked to
keep himself from shedding tears of pain that were instinctively gathering in
his eyes as the result of his hurt cheek.

A wave of cigarette
smell gushed at Kamui's face, hot and humid; Seishiro
brought his face closer to the boy. How can he see in the darkness so well?!

"I can kill you,
brat, my fingers are itching to do it." The assassin snarled into the face
of the boy who sentenced him to death and sent his Subaru-kun into hellish
anguish.

"You wouldn't
dare." Kamui hissed back and spat whatever saliva and blood gathered in
his mouth forward into the darkness.

Seishiro wiped the
smudge away as silently as he could and smirked. This is exactly what he wanted
to hear from Kamui.

To bring the boy
closer to the threatening hisses he wished to hear from him, Seishiro sent his
knee at the boy's groin, now extracting a choked breath and aching moan from
his prey.

Kamui threw his right
arm forward and waited for his nails to find skin to peel off. He found and eye
socket and carved his fingers into it.

A strange, soft
popping sound echoed around them from the close walls, then the sound of
something hard and glassy falling to the ground and shattering.

Seishiro kept his right
eyelids shut and ground his teeth as hard as he could. The damn brat tore out
his false eye and broke it. His rage soared so high that the only thing that
kept his right arm from flying towards the boy's chest was the memory of Alex's
slap and the feel of the cold ice biting into his face as he landed on the snow
as the blow's result.

Instead, the
Sakurazukamori grabbed the offending right arm, yanked it as forcefully
outwards until he heard the sickening crank of a dislocated shoulder. He did
not let go of the arm; instead he lowered his palm on the limb and, using his
left arm to grab the wrist and straighten the arm, he punched Kamui's elbow until the bones gave it and shattered.

Kamui's shriek turned into a howl of pain
so strong it deafened both the men and echoed in their heads for a long while
after.

Kamui collapsed to the
ground, gasping and squealing, spitting and twitching as he fought to forget
the pain. He squirmed on the cold smooth ground wildly, kicking his feet and
arching his back until his head hit the opposite wall. His elbow disappeared in
a bright white light of immense pain, so big it flickered on and off as damaged
tissues failed to transmit every level of pain they registered.

Seishiro towered over
the twitching boy, a large toothy smile spread on his face which he did not
wish to wipe out so quickly, on the contrary – he wished the boy could see him
and feel even more fear.

He bent down and
picked the boy by the neck again, this time meeting no resistance; Kamui was a
limp as a rag doll.

He brought his face
closer to Kamui's, snarling, "Go on, boy, call
out to your knight in shiny armor; call him over to save you from the big bad
monster."

What was supposed to
make Kamui feel even more powerless and pathetic worked the exact opposite way;
it sharpened Kamui's senses and snapped him back to
reality.

He smiled through the
blood dripping from a wound at the corner of his lower lip, "No." his
voice was surprisingly calm and collected, it even surprised Kamui himself,
"I will not call him; I'm no longer dependant on him for my own protection.
If you want to beat me some more, go ahead, I don't care."

Though he was taken
aback by the smooth reply and despite the churning disappointment at the pit of
his stomach that the boy did not cave in and began whimpering for Alex's help,
Seishiro still had something to hurt the boy with. "You mean 'go ahead, I
deserve it'."

"As
much as you deserve to die, murderer."

The next punch thrown
at Kamui snapped his cheekbone and dislocated his jaw. Luckily for Kamui, the
pain he sustained so far enhanced until his body gave in and he fell
unconscious.

Letting go of the
boy's neck, Seishiro turned away from the splayed youth and began walking out
of the tunnel.

****************

By the time they
exited the tunnels it was late twilight and, as Lestate strolled casually out
of his burrow he could easily face what little light was left outside.

"Well that was
interesting, don't you think, Alex?"

Alex and Subaru, who
exited the tunnels first, sat on a rock outside the tall cliff at the bottom of
which the tunnels' openings were arranged neatly one
by the other.

"This was one
hell of an experience, don't you think?"

"I do."
Lestate turned backwards to observe the werewolf who had just popped out of the
tunnel, shielding his eyes from the sudden light and climbing to his feet from
the crouched he was at so far.

"Vere's Kamui…" Will mumbled
silently. He realized that his master and protector was
not here while one of his biggest dangers was at clear view of him. He chose a
rock safely away from Alex and sat on it to observe the gaping tunnel openings,
puzzled.

"I wonder how each
single opening knew which tunnel to take us to and who to take with whom."
Subaru spoke, placing a cigarette between his lips. "And who made these
tunnels. I touched the walls; they were completely smooth and definitely not
made of earth. Look at the cliff's stone, its mere sandy earth while the
tunnels themselves are made of some kind of granite."

"It seems we've encountered
one more mystery of this dimension." Lestate smiled.

"Training." Alex said suddenly, "It could
be some kind of training facility, or a small adventure for training.

"This side is
designed to give whoever comes from the Dark Side a good rest after what
they've been through right? First they eat enough in Anthrax, then they re-armor
themselves at the City of Men,
later they care for their wounded at the Elves' and here they have a small bout
of light, harmless, fun adventures."

"Well, it was
kind of fun," Lestate chirped, "wasn't it, pup?"

Will was too busy
frowning at the tunnels to hear the vampire.

David and Victoria sauntered
out of the second tunnel to the right, their arms around the other's waist.

Alex and Lestate
emitted a long "Awww".

David had a good
screaming session at them, only to be teased into more and more anger by Death
and the other vampire.

Victoria, on her behalf, merely stretched
herself calmly and perched on a rock not so far from Will. She turned to the
werewolf and beamed at him merrily; she felt like beaming at the whole wide world,
even at Alex.

Throwing her head
backwards (she was so lightheaded with happiness that any move she made gave
her a delightful little dizziness) and began whistling a happy tune, swinging
her short legs to the rhythm.

This stopped the loud
threesome as they turned to look at the particularly cheerful girl. David
turned beet red. Lestate opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it,
leaving behind a large cunning smile.

Alex stroke a somewhat feminine pose and, shooting his eyes from
the embarrassed David to the happy girl, emitted a long "Oh ho ho ho…"

"Don't do
that." Subaru's voice was very hard and cold, his words coming out short
and meaningful.

Alex stopped.

"My my, what a stallion we have then, look how happy she
is." Lestate chirped, clapping his hands quickly.

"Shut up
you little…..little…." David's fist, shaken at Lestate's
general direction, would probably have a pulsing plus mark if he was an anime
character.

Will leaped to his
feet like a spring, rushing to the tunnel opening on the far left. "Ich reiche
blut!"

Alex snapped his head
towards the werewolf, his face grey with worry, "The smell of blood?"
he scanned the men around him, "Where's Kamui?" he too began walking
towards the left tunnel opening when a man walked out of it.

It was Seishiro, his
head bowed a bit so his long fringe hairs hid most of his face. He walked slowly,
casually, one hand in his pants pocket. When
he raised his head his face was covered by bleeding lines, his blind eye shut
and empty.

"Seishiro-san!" Subaru shot to his lover's side,
staring up in shock at his wounded face, "W-what happened to you?"

"Kamui was with
you in that tunnel?" Alex asked calmly.

Seishiro leveled his
gaze with Alex's, waiting. What would be Death's judgment? Soon enough Kamui's condition will become known to him. What will he
do?

Alex stared into Seishiro's eye for a long time, his expression unreadable.

Subaru clutched to Seishiro's jacket, hanging miserable eyes at Death.

"He clawed at me,
Alex," Seishiro found himself speaking. This new emotion called
'nervousness' was getting on his nerves. "and he
clawed my glass eye out; he broke it."

Alex's expression
softened and he looked away towards the tunnel. Will had disappeared down it as
soon as Seishiro exited it.

"Well…" he
finally said after a long, tense silence which wrecked the onmyoujis' nerves,
"Rou never really got a chance at proper, fair revenge at him…"

Subaru and Seishiro
emitted a mutual silent sigh of relief.

Alex opened a gash in
his wrist and poured a small dose of blood into a jar he created in his hand. He
handed the jar to Subaru, "I think you aught to do that." He handed
Seishiro a new false eye and with a small smile he turned to start unpacking
the tents from the convoy's horses which he summoned to the cliff's bottom.

It was very fortunate
of Seishiro that by the time Will dragged Kamui out of the tunnel the onmyouji
were safely in their tent.

Kamui's face was swollen beyond
recognition, his broken arm hanging limply at his side and swinging to his
steps in a sickening fashion. The boy was still unconscious and was carried on
Will's back out of the tunnel.

At the sight of Kamui's condition Alex filled with blinding rage. He wanted
to storm into Seishiro's tent and set the man on fire
for treating Kamui like that.

Then he remembered the
damage done to Seishiro (a far smaller harm then what Kamui suffered, but still
damage) and remembered that a battle must have taken place and Seishiro must
have lost control over himself. At least he didn't kill the boy like he tried a
month or so ago.

Gently pulling Kamui's fragile body off of Will's back, Alex took the boy
in his arms and carried him to his tent, to place him on the boys' bed.

Staying at the
entrance to the tent, Will cowered behind Death, unwilling to get closer to the
man.

Alex kneeled by the
bed, taking his sword gently by the handle and straightening Kamui's broken arm. He slit a long opening above the boy's
elbow and began pouring his blood into it.

By magic, the horrid swelling
which developed in the area began subsiding, the bruised flesh drained of the
darkening spilled blood until they brightened back to Kamui's
natural skin color. Finally, the fracture was healed and the arm was once again
flexible and healthy.

Next, and not without
extreme care, Alex opened a similar wound above the swollen cheek bones,
pouring the healing liquid into it and wiping away the boy's blood and whatever
he accidentally spilled of his.

Kamui emitted a soft
moan and drew a breath of rapture. His eyelids fluttered but remained shut; he
was still sleeping.

One by one, and as
gently as possible, Alex treated every bruise and wound on the boy's body, chastely
pushing away any layer of fabric that was in his way but doing nothing more
then healing.

Will watched this and,
for some strange reason, a shudder of horror and disgust rushed over him. There
was something about the sight that sickened him. The crouching larger man,
treating the unconscious boy on the bed and revealing pieces of his skin; it
made flashes of obscure visions dance before his eyes and he did not know what
they were of. Memories of something he did not know came to him and he could
not think of them more then a fragment of a second.

At last the procedure
was over and Alex climbed to his feet. He walked towards the tent's exit where
he stopped before Will. The werewolf instinctively arched his back and bowed
his head, treating carefully to a safe distance from the man.

"Come here, boy.
Stay by his side and don't wake him until dinner is ready. When it's ready,
wake him to eat and make sure he eats everything."

Whimpering, Will
nodded before quickly dashing into the tent, trying to enter while keeping as
away from Alex as he could.

Death walked on,
towards the campfire David began setting up.

***************

"Babe's hair is soooo pretty, it's so pretty, it's the prettiest. Babe's
hair is the prettiest; the prettiest in the whole world, babe's hair is the
prettiest." Sorata ran the plump brush through Arashi's
bangs gently, from the top of her head down to the bed where its edges lay.

Her hair had grown
even longer since their arrival and was probably the only thing in her body,
other then the baby in her womb, which was not affected by the starvation.

Ever since she grew
comfortable of his overflowing affection, Arashi had given into her young
husband's begs and allowed him to brush her hair whenever she washed it.

They sat at the small
pond at the forest edge, where they bathed that lazy afternoon, and enjoyed the
beautiful sunset.

"Babe's hair is
the prettiest in all the worlds of every dimension, babe's hair is the
prettiest, prettier then even the hairs of Arashis of
other dimensions, babe's hair is the prettiest of all the hairs in all the
worlds of every dimension."

"Sorata...."

"What is it,
sweet babe of mine?"

"Don't you think
you're exaggerating?"

Sorata struck a
trademark Sorata pose, poking the brush high into the air, staring forward
determinedly, "Nope, my babe's hair is the prettiest, there's no doubt
about it."

Instead of smiling, or
leaning into him, or giving him a small chaste kiss, Arashi leaped to her feet,
reaching to the towel at her feet to cover her bulging nakedness.

"Huh?" Sorata
gawked at the suddenly Arashi-less air before him, his lap felt cold now that
the woman was not sitting on it.

His loved one was
hiding behind a bush, sending those daggers of feline glares he loved so much,
forward to the lake.

Following her gaze,
Sorata spotted two figures walking towards a tongue of sand which stretched
into the pond a distance from them, on the shore to the right of theirs.

Vash and Yuzuriha were
walking slowly towards the water edge, their heads down, obviously deep in
conversation.

"Strange, none of
them seem like themselves." Sorata mumbled.

"Sorata!"
his wife tried calling him, to remind him of his own wet, uncovered condition.

"Vash seems sad
about something, I wonder what happened…." Sorata ignored Arashi's hushed hisses. "…well, at least Yuzu's keeping him company." He turned to his hiding
wife, "That Yuzu's turning into quite a little woman, isn't she? She's far more mature then I thought she
was and I don't think coming here made that difference."

Arashi tried to signal
her husband that he was still very much nude when the sound of Vash's shrilling mad laughter rang through to them, carried
on the water surface.

"Ah," Sorata
beamed, "it seems she managed to cheer him up, that's great. What a good
girl." And turning to the two on the other edge of the shore, Sorata waved
his brush-holding hand in the air in greeting towards them, standing up as he
did so. "Hey! Yuzu-chan! Vash! Heyo!"

It took the gunman and
the inugami mistress some time to spot Sorata, recognize him fully and recover
the shock before they could do anything else.

Slowly, Vash covered Yuzuriha's eyes with his gloved hand, still gawking at the
other man.

"Uh…dude….uh….put
that away man, there're underage kids here…." He hollered back at the
monk.

Sorata stopped waving
his hand and, instead, used the brush as his means of cover while he fished
around for the towel. As soon as he realized the towel was on his wife he
hurried to join her behind the bush.

Yuzuriha chuckled as
Vash uncovered her eyes and she took a look at the crouching couple before
them. "Adam and Eve, the two of them."

"Y-yeah…he's a
real somethin', that Sora…."

Yuzuriha studied Vash's awkward expression. "So, that's how a grown
man's penis looks like."

"W-WHAT?!"

Yuzuriha beamed
lightly back at the startled man and turned to walk into the forest. "I'm
almost sixteen now, I aught to start knowing these things, don't you think,
Vash?" she giggled across her shoulder.

"Almost
sixteen?!
Ma'am you're fifteen and a couple of months, that 'aint
no 'sixteen' to me!"

Yuzuriha shrugged and
kept walking in the woods, soon to be caught up by Vash.

"Listen,
you!" the gunman tried sounding educating at her, failing mostly.

"Oh, hello
Kakyou-san, how are you?" Yuzuriha chirped as soon as she spotted the
dreamgazer who came walking towards them with Maa and
Baa at his side.

"Nekoi-san,
hello, De Stampede, hello." Kakyou's greeting
towards Vash was far colder then the one Yuzuriha got.

"My
last name 'aint 'De Stampede', ma'am, especially not
with a French accent."

Kakyou's eyes shot poisonous glares at
Vash, "And I am not a 'ma'am', tell him that." He huffed at Yuzuriha
as he walked past them, his head high, towards the lake.

"Uh, Kakyou-san,
be careful around the lake, there's a naked Sorata lurking there."

Kakyou spun on his
heels and hung a shocked gaze at Yuzuriha's back. He
then turned his shocked eyes to Vash.

"What'd she say?
I don't understand Japanese, what'd she say?"

Kakyou's eyes iced again and he turned away
with another patronizing huff towards the lake.

"Whatever
man, whatever. Ignore
me why don't you, ma'am!"

By the time Kakyou
arrived at the lake (he scanned the area carefully before stepping out of the
forest edge) Sorata and Arashi managed to fetch their clothes and dress before skulking
away shyly, Sorata receiving quite a heated lecture from his wife.

********************

Death's convoy stopped
at the edge of a deep canyon in the now orange and red desert ground. The
immense fracture in the earth stretched as far as the eye could see to both
their sides, the sheer drop of the crack lasting until their gazes became
unfocused when they tried to assume how deep the drop is.

"Damn…where the
hell did this canyon come from?"

"Can we bypass
it?"

"It's not that
wide, just….very deep…."

"Can we bypass
it? I don't like heights…"

"You're afraid of
heights Subaru-kun?"

"When I have to
pass them on rickety bridges like that," Subaru shot an accusing
finger at the fragile looking rope bridge stretching limply between one edge of
the canyon and the other, "I'm very much afraid of heights."

"Oh, but you can
easily leap over it."

"Then what would
be of my horse?"

"I don't think
we'll fall off the bridge, Subaru, we might die if we do that." Alex
butted into the conversation."

"Is that supposed
to make me feel better?"

"Let me rephrase
that; if this bridge would be a danger to our lives then it wouldn't be here,
on this side."

"….Ah…"

"A
test of courage then?" David asked.

"Perhaps, or
perhaps something light to wreck our nerves a little and provide a small
thrill."

David climbed off his
horse and walked over to the bridge, leading his horse with him.

He walked to middle of
the bridge, his horse and equipment along with it.

The wooden boards
under his bare feet did not creak, not even those who looked rotten and
fractured. The ropes sustaining the sides of the bridge did not creak or
unwound. It seems that, despite its appearance, the bridge was completely safe.

"Well…that's
odd…" Kamui remarked, "If it's supposed to be a scary bridge, why is
it completely safe to pass? I mean, it's not even trying to pretend it's
dangerous."

"Maybe it's
supposed to just frighten us a bit, you know, get people's phobias worked
up." Death shrugged.

Subaru opened his mouth
to say something when they felt the earth roar under their feet. It stopped,
and then roared again.

Death's men exchanged
frightened looks.

The roaring came
again, like heavy pounds were dealt to the ground beneath them. Then they
stopped, and came back again.

A wild wind began
building around them, casting sand into their eyes and throwing their garments
around them to obscure their view even more.

Listening to the
pounds' rhythm, Alex came to a conclusion, "Something's coming towards us.
It's not an earthquake; it's something heading towards us."

The wind was so strong
by then that his voice was lost in the gushes.

He pulled his wings
out and began beating them to fight the current but, unlike fighting the wind
on the mountain tops, this wind was powerful enough to pluck him off his horse
as it caught in his wings like they were sails.

Folding them back into
himself, Alex scrambled back to his horse, just in time to see what was heading
towards them.

It appeared at first
like a huge column of swirling violent dust and desert sand, caught on the wild
wind. Then out of the fat pillar of sand came a body, a body made of swirling
violent sand and wind.

It had a huge bulky
head, with a large mouth, toothless and grinning, and a head large and round
with a flabby short neck bend forward, lurking.

The creature had a
stumpy immense body with fat arms carrying four plump fingers in each palm and
soft feet at the edge of two bent fat legs.

Whatever it was, it
was heading towards them, each leg on one of the canyon's edges, leaping
towards them like a child.

The wind creature
opened its huge mouth, sucking in air which almost pulled the riders off their
mounts, and exhaled back a long roar which sounded more like a deep grueling
belch.

"What the fuck is
that?!" David said against the wind and immediately regretted opening his
mouth and letting a chunk full of sand into it. As he began spitting it out he
heard Alex's roar barely making it through the violent wind.

"THE HORSES
WON'T MOVE. TAKE (engulfed by the wind) REINS AND YANK THE
(silenced by wind) ACROSS THE BRIDGE, HURRY!"

Nodding as clearly as
he could, David fought with his powers against the wind and grabbed the reins
of the vampire's coffin wagon's horse, grabbing with the other the reins of
Subaru's horse.

Taking the reins of
Seishiro and Kamui's horses in his, Alex began
running as quickly as he could against the wind's blows and onto the bridge.

"GRAB ONTO
YOUR HORSES AS HARD AS YOU CAN! GRAB IT FOR YOU LIFE!" he screamed
at the mounted men.

Clawing at whatever
they could, the riding men did as they were told. They clung so hard their
fingers hurt, Seishiro even courched and bit into the
front of his saddle to keep himself on his horse.

He was ravaged by a sickening
worry for Subaru; the man was far weaker in body then him, and so light the
wind could pick him up at any given moment. If he sends his shiki out to help
or at least observe Subaru, the creature might be lost on the wind and be
crushed against the ground, and then the sakanagi will surely kill him. He was
helpless and he despised it.

Having crossed the
bridge and as they arrived at the edge of the violent wind which gathered like
a harbinger storm before the creature, Alex and David took off with the horses
still tied to them, and flew towards the sharply protruding lonely mountains
ahead of them, seeking a hiding place behind them from the monster which turned
after them and kept leaping towards them.

In their flight they
were faster then the somewhat clumsy sand and wind beast and so they managed to
bring themselves and the other rider to the other side of the thickest mountain
they could spot.

There, on its flaming
red side, David spotted a cave in the hard sandy stone and flew towards it,
yelling a note for Alex to follow him.

As the horses safely
landed on the flat ledge before the cave, Alex began pulling his men off their
horse and practically throwing them into the cave, helping David pull the
coffin wagon deep into the cave as well.

As soon as they were
safe, Alex scanned his men to make sure no one was harmed. The riders might
have been unharmed but they were absolutely covered in deep orange sand,
turning their hair, clothes and skin into the same color. It was almost amusing
and they would have probably teased each other about it if they were not
absolutely frightened out of their wits by their escape and the creature still
on their tales.

"Right,"
Alex tried shaking some of the sand out of his hair, "everyone in fighting
condition?"

"I am."
David exclaimed, pulling his shovel out.

Subaru and Seishiro
pulled their ofuda out in the very moment when the wind monster popped its head
towards their side of the mountain and their precious paper spells were plucked
out of their hands. The onmyoujis stared after the white and black paper slips,
blinking at this ridiculously obvious result of their deeds.

"I never thought
that might happen…." Seishiro chuckled, wrapping an arm around his sandy
Subaru and pushing him against the wall of the cave to hide him from the
monster's gaze.

"Everybody go as
far into the cave as you can and don't make a sound. David, pull the vampires'
wagon along and keep an eye on the others." Alex unfolded his wings again,
his aura starting to beam out of his white skin.

"You're going to
fight it alone?!"

"If I'll leave
these four alone in the cave they'll go at each other's throat."

"So I'm a
babysitter now?" David tried
complaining but the extreme wing swallowed his words. Instead he waved his hand
canceling at Alex and retreated into the cave, pushing Subaru along with him
after the man tried to voice a complaint at Alex.

Turning to the
creature before him, Alex brandished his sword in large swift motions and
unfolded his wings, trying to scare it away from him to at least give him space
to attack it. He could not take off in this wind or it'll catch and toss him
around like a toy. He needed the monster the back away a little so he could fly
above it and circle it. This will give him time to think of a way to kill it or
at least get it to stop chasing them.

The monster stared at
Alex's sword which caught the sunlight from time to time to become a shining
long line, and reached out it's plump palm towards
Alex, as if to pick him up by the arm.

Seeing this, Death
dashed away, off the edge and sliding down the mountain's steep slope, aiming
his descend sideways to get himself out of the monster's windy surrounding.

He managed to get to
the height of the monster's knees, and already he was almost at the edge of the
wind circles, when the monster caught him and picked him up.

It did not grab him
between its fingers or even tried to move him; it placed it's
empty palm on him, thus sucking his winged body into the swirls inside his fat
hand.

His wings still
protruding from him and making his twirls in the wind even worse, Alex cursed
himself for forgetting to fold them back in before leaping at the monster.

He was now thrown in
large circles and moving so fast and violently that he lost all sense of
direction. Even trying to focus enough and fold his wings was impossible with
the horrid dizziness these twirling caused him. All he could do was to clutch
to his sword as hard as he could, though even it was beginning to be torn out
of his grab.

The monster,
fascinated by the tiny thing caught in its palm, broke into the most innocent and
childish smile and placed its palm before its face, observing the miniature
black and white figure inside it.

Then it brought its
palms together to create an even bigger ball of whirling wind, and sounded its
deep, roaring giggle as it watched the small Alex swirl round and round himself, flying in eight-shapes between one palm and the
other.

His desperate attempts
to at least keep his sword in hand failed as this new game took Alex by
surprise. His sword slipped out of his fingers, along with every other weapon
he kept magically hidden inside it, and flew directly at the mountain by the
monster. If he had any idea where he was and where the sword flew at, Alex
would try to work his powers so the weapon won't fly towards his men.

The sword did, yet if
it hadn't then Alex would have been the monster's toy for a longer time.

From their cave they
could see the wild wind and Alex suddenly small body madly beaten by the wind,
but they were sure that somehow he'll manage against the monster's power. After
all, he was Death and, to most of them, he seemed all-powerful.

When the sword came flying into the cave and slammed into the floor a few
feet away from the wagon, they began having second thoughts.

"He lost his
sword! That's….not at all like Alex…" David muttered, frowning at the
shiny weapon which was still vibrating from the force of its landing, moving
sideways frantically as its tip was buried deep in the dark red ground of the
cave.

"I-is he defenseless
now?" Subaru gasped, taking a step towards the exit.

"He still has his
powers, but if he let his sword go then he's either unconscious or too dizzy to
notice what's going on around him."

That was enough for
Subaru. He had sensed the monster was not one with evil intensions, but more
like a child who finds them all as fascinating little toys. Usually he would
have felt kindness towards the clumsy thing, but the way he treated Death only
made Subaru want to give the creature a right good shout.

"I'm going over
there!"

"WHAT?!" Seishiro clawed at his lover's arm
and yanked him back at his side.

"Are you
nuts?!" David sighed.

Subaru sent a fiery
glare at the both of them. "You saw what that thing does to Alex yet
none of you has the balls to go out and stop it. Well then, if no one else is
man enough, I'm going out there to stop it."

"Subaru-kun,
don't be stupid, you'll be grabbed by the wind and end up like him."
Seishiro was now fighting his countering star over his hold on his arm with
Subaru violently shaking his clutching fingers off and Seishiro re-grabbing him
whenever his hold was loosened a bit.

Finally, Subaru yanked
his hand free from Seishiro and walked towards their horses, removing the reins
and harnesses off two of them. He tied one of the reins around his waist, then its
end around Seishiro's. After binding Seishiro to
David with the second harness and reins set, Subaru turned to his lover,
"Now you can hold on to me, then David'll hold
on to you and to something in the cave and we'll all be safe."

Reluctantly, the two
men agreed and Subaru began making his way to the cave's exit.

The creature had sat
himself at the feet on the mountain, thus moving his head and its surrounding wind
whirls away from the cave so when Subaru stepped out he didn't meet any sort of
violent wind.

"HEY!"
Subaru hollered down at the monster, "HEEEEEY! YOU!"

The monster turned its
eyes upwards, looking sheepishly at the tiny man screaming at it. It even
emitted a questioning gurgle.

"LET HIM
GOOO! CAN’T YOU SEE YOU'RE HURTING HIIIIM?"

The monster blinked at
Subaru, making another questioning bellow.

"He can't
understand English…"Subaru sighed. He shot a gaze at Seishiro and stepped
forward and into the light so he'll be completely visible for the monster.

Wildly, as slowly as
he could and as clearly as he could make them, Subaru began motioning the
monster towards Alex, then making long sweeping movements towards himself.

The monster looked
down at Alex, then up at Subaru, slow and confused as a sleepy child.

Subaru tried a
different approach, "GIVE HIM BAAAACK! YOU'RE NAUGHTY FOR TAKING
HIM, VERY NAUGHTY!" and he wagged his finger at the monster.

This made the creature
leap to its feet, pointing at himself and wagging his
finger at Subaru while gurgling questions without words.

Subaru straightened
his back, his arm rigidly by his side, and wagged his finger onwards, "YOU'RE
A VERY NAUGHTY BOY FOR TAKING HIM. VEEEERYYYY NAUUUUGHTYYYYYY!"

A devastating rumbling
wail came from the monster, who placed a hand at its
chest and bowed its shoulders as if it was a sulking child.

Subaru was relentless,
"GIVE HIM BACK, NAUGHTY BOY, GIVE HIM BACK."
He wagged his finger and pointed at Alex's swirling form on and off until the
monster finally showed signs of giving it.

Still looking at his
forbidden toy with big sad eyes, the monster reluctantly reached out and placed
Death on the ledge by Subaru's feet, backing away immediately and drawing its
hands to its chest sadly.

Subaru, who was
suddenly at the crazy wind's mercy again, clung to the wave's side and closed
his eyes to keep the sand out of them.

He could hear Seishiro's frantic voice calling him; he sounded frightened
and is palms clawed at his arms desperately, forcefully, enough to bruise.

Once the monster
placed Alex safely back amongst his men, Subaru beamed at it and screamed at
it, "GOOD BOY! THAT'S A GOOD BOOOY; YOU'RE BEING A VERY GOOD BOY
NOW."

The monster leaped in
the air with joy, its landing on the ground sending such a shock that the
cave's ceiling crumbled onto it's inhabitant's head a bit.

"YES,
YOU'RE A GOOD BOY. NOW GO AND PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE, OKAY?"

The monster nodded and
gestured something that looked like he was hugging himself, but was probably
aimed at Subaru, though he couldn't exactly hug the man so tiny in comparison
to him.

It turned on its heels
and began skip-hopping away from them, shaking the earth carelessly as it went.

"Oh, thank
kami-sama." Subaru sighed, leaning against the cave wall for a moment
before rushing to Alex's side.

He had forgotten he
was still bound to Seishiro and that Seishiro was bound to David and thus, as he
rushed to Death so quickly, he pulled the two other men with him and nearly toppled
them all on each other.

Alex lay on the
ground, unconscious, his legs and arms spread sideways at odd angles, his face
bothered and twitched.

"Is he
alright?" Subaru turned frantically to David.

"I think he got a
little dizzy, is all. Maybe he had a bit of a system overload with all those
twirling and fainted. He doesn't look like he's injured or anything."

Subaru sighed and
gathered Alex's head to his lap, running his fingers gently through his hair.

Kamui came out of the
cave, holding Alex's sword in his hand, "Where shall I put this?"

He was stared at funny
by David who eyed the sword nervously. "Give that to me."

Kamui did, poking the
sword innocently at David.

"Hilt
forward, stupid boy."

Kamui growled and obeyed
the undertaker's words.

Slowly, David tried to
pluck the sword away from Kamui but jerked his hand away quickly, hissing
painfully as he did it. "Shit, he mixed the hilt with that poison
as well, stupid pervert."

Noticing a dangerous
twinkle of realization in Kamui's eyes, Seishiro
leaped at the boy and tore the sword away from the boy's reach for good,
keeping it at a safe distance from Kamui.

David exhaled in relief.

Kamui realized
something; that sword is dangerous for David and Alex, Alex himself said that
the blade of it was too toxic even for him.

If he had kept the
sword with him instead of mindlessly giving it back he could have threatened
his way into freedom! He could have escaped and be a free man now!

No, but if he'd do
that then it'd be unfair, after all they are not yet back at the City and the
Lady of Light said that he is paying for his misjudgment and wrongdoings by
being here. If he'd threaten and fight his way out to freedom he'd be cheating,
and then where would he be? What would that make him?

***************

Having Alex still
unconscious, the riders decided to stay in the cave for the night and try to
work out a way to climb down the mountain when everyone's in good shape again.

That night, as the men
prepared the meal and spread their bed's mattresses on the floor at comfortable
distance from one another; someone climbed the side of the mountain and took a
look at them.

The creature, the size
of a man, the shape of a man, a line of wheat yellow fur stretching from his
head to the tip of his tail, clawed the sandy mountain walls with overgrown
canine claws and his powerful fingers. He sniffed his way to the cave's side,
following a scent he was stalking for a few weeks now.

He had been stalking
the convoy from the moment they left the Elves' small city into which he was
not allowed to enter under harsh threats by the magical creatures.

Now he made his way,
silent as a mouse, on the sandy smooth rocks, until the bright soft light
beaming out of the cave where David set a fire was within his sight.

The creature clung to
the rock in surprise as he spotted the source of the smell he was following all
this time; Will walked out to the stone shelf and stretched out, taking a
breath of fresh air after choking on the fire's smoke a little and feeling very
nervous about being in such close distance to David and Alex (unconscious as he
might still be).

He did not fully smell
the creature clinging to the wall by him because the smoke still clung to his
sinuses, but when he did pick up the familiar scent, Will turned his head
sharply towards the thing.

The man clinging to
the rock was about to make a sound and attract Will's attention when David
walked into his line of vision and emptied a pot he was washing of its soap
water.

The creature noted the
man's stripy pants and the number tattooed on David's arm and flattened himself
onto the rock as much as he could, silencing even his heartbeat and breath as
much as he could.

Will, beckoned by
Kamui, forgot about the whiff he picked up and walked into the cave.

The creature noted to himself
to be more patient and silently scrambled his way cautiously down the mountain
side again.

As he did, his last
remains of the pants he used to wear (now ragged and scraped into a mere
miserable rag) caught on a protruding sharp rock and finally gave into weeks of
abuse. The creature ignored the last piece of clothing as it ripped off of him
and began floating downwards in long lazy arches, its brown hue randomly
beaming in the moonlight.

Alex sat up with a
violent jerk that nearly scared Subaru into dropping his bowel of broth.
"There's someone here." He growled, casting scanning suspicious gazes
everywhere.

"Good
morning," Subaru handed his patient some broth.

Alex brushed it away,
still looking around suspiciously, "I sense someone here, someone
following us. In fact, I've been sensing someone following us since the Elven forest."

Kamui gasped,
"Maybe it's Gollum!"

That shattered
whatever paranoia Alex began building, "G-Gollum?"

Kamui's eyes glittered with excitement,
"Yeah! I mean, he was by the elves after all, wasn't he?"

Alex turned his gaze
away thoughtfully, and then returned it to Kamui, "Nah, why would Gollum
follow us? We have no ring for him."