Between Night and Day
1x2xRelena
Warning:AU, vampires, were animals, het/gay/angsty, blood,magic,graphic
(multi chapter fic request with specific details)
"He didn't want to sell me the pony or the cart," Duo told them as he rubbed the lanky pony on the forehead. It was showing the whites of its eyes at its new, supernatural masters, but it was a steady unimaginative creature, and well trained to obey once it was in its traces. "He's a good man and cares about his beasts. I suppose he imagines that you will have him for your dinner."
There was a lit lantern on both ends of the cart. Darkness was complete and the Ifrit was only a weary ghost hovering in the light. Heero was fully awake, though and testing the sturdy cart as if he doubted it could hold his body competently.
Duo frowned and fiddled with the pony's harness. "You've used powerful means to carry me great distances. I still don't understand why we can't do the same now?"
"It uses energy that I must replace," Heero explained.
In blood, Duo thought with a shiver.
"And using so much power will alert our enemy, as I have said," the Ifrit reminded him. "There isn't an easy way."
Duo touched the ring on his finger and looked back at the lights in Wu Fei's tower. The pang of separation was keen in his breast, but he knew that further goodbye's were unwanted and unnecessary. He had a dragon at his beck and call, in a dire emergency. The very act of placing such trust in Duo showed him how much he was loved.
Heero climbed into the cart, finally, and gingerly sat down. He stared uncertainly at the reins and the pony. Duo climbed on and sat beside him. He at least knew the workings of a pony cart, even if he had rarely practiced the skill. He gave the pony a few clicks of his tongue and it started forward, perhaps, in its mind, thinking that it was putting distance between it and it's strange masters.
The Ifrit settled into the lamplight and didn't move. Duo surmised that this was the way that the creature 'slept', though he doubted that it was ever truly not aware of its surroundings or its princely charge.
As the cart took the road out of town, the wheels making noises on the cobbled street loudly enough to make Duo wince, he considered his traveling companions and the supplies that he had purchased. An Ifrit didn't require food or blankets. A night creature slept like an animal when sated from feasting, under brush and on cold ground. Duo, in his wolf form, was as comfortable on a soft spot of earth as he was in the softest bed. He could also hunt, when he needed to, as either wolf or hawk, and eat prey raw. None of them liked the wet, though, or the intense cold of snow. Duo had packed a leather yurt against such times and dried tack for when hunting was scarce. Water he could not do without, and hot tea was always welcome. A kettle, tin cups, and a fat water skin had seemed essential.
"This is... strange," Heero said at last, his voice soft as down, and his body so close to Duo's smelling of old roses and comfort. Duo thought of hunting cats perched precariously, using a conveyance totally at odds with their nature or powerful abilities.
"Would you rather walk?" Duo wondered.
"No, I don't... walk," Heero replied.
No, he transported himself on will and night air, Duo thought. "You'll get used to it."
They left the town and started down a dark road that wound between low hills. Duo found himself pushing into Heero's arms, as if he was in wolf form, his need to be with the creature all powerful. As a wolf he would have showed his belly and offered his submission. As a man he was only able to press into silken flesh and clothing and want to be taken, body, blood, and soul by this man, this creature that, perhaps, couldn't feel an ounce of what he was feeling, just then.
"Mate," Heero said and his arms were strong as they held Duo. Duo felt the smallest pinprick on his juggler, the rasp of a tongue that made him hard and whimpering, and a small bit of blood leaving him. A taste, a snack, he thought with what little mind he could still use for thinking.
The world became Heero. The tongue licked along his juggler, the man's breath warming his skin, and an obvious hardening between their bodies telling Duo that Heero was not unaffected either. Was it all instinct? Was it all a reaction to holding prey/or mate in his arms? Could Heero know love? When the man drew back, but still held him, experiencing a mild swoon, Duo burrowed even closer to him, wanting the shelter, wanting comfort and love, as he was separated from everything that he knew.
The pony followed the road, taking a steady pace, wanting its barn and hay, but obediently going forward despite its masters preoccupation. It didn't notice when another creature began pacing after the cart, staying in the darkness just on the edge of shadows and admiring the Ifrit glowing in the lamplight.
Tall, lanky and dressed in leathers patterned like the forest, the bow in his hand was yew and smoothed by more years of use than most human men owned. He was young, though, and hardly looked more than twenty. He smiled under a fall of brown hair and his eyes glowed green like a cats. Those and the delicately pointed ears marked him as out of the ordinary and not of human kind.
The Ifrit pulsed and then settled as if making some judgment about the newcomer and the man's smile grew wider. The back tongue of the cart was open and he lightly leapt up and settled on it without making any sound. Long legs dangling off the back, his body was turned so that he could continue admiring the Ifrit.
"Who are you?" Duo asked warily when Heero finally came out of his swoon and he was released. Noticing the man behind them had startled Duo badly. Heero gave the man the measured look of a predator, but Duo's eyes were wide and fearful. He moved into the cart, confronting the man as if he needed to protect Heero. It was foolish, of course. Heero alone was formidable. Coupled with an all powerful Ifrit, he was a force to be reckoned with.
The man was still smiling, not moving, but not cowering either. "I am Trowa," he announced. "I am of the Elfin tribe of Waterfall Crevasse."
Duo was even more alarmed. The elves were known for killing any trespassers in their territories. Few had ever lived to tell the tale of their existence. Duo had often though them the stuff of fairy tales.
"We are not in your territory," Duo protested. "We are simple travelers-"
The man laughed, short and abrupt. "Simple? If you were simple travelers I wouldn't have been drawn to you. I smell the making of a legend, to be told for generations. I want to be part of that."
"I don't understand," Duo replied with a frown, still not relaxing.
"A shape shifter, a night creature, and an Ifrit," Trowa chuckled. "Surely you are not taking wheat to market? I will be disappointed if you were."
Duo glanced at Heero, but saw Heero watching the pulse in Trowa's neck. The man couldn't be relied on to make a decision. The Ifrit was another matter. Was he asleep? Did he realize that this man had joined them?
Trowa saw his gaze go to the glowing Ifrit. "I think he approves of me."
The glow banked as if in embarrassment and the Ifrit said nothing to that.
Trowa chuckled. It sounded serious, though, the sure, confident laugh of a man capable of defending himself. Even from an Ifrit? Was the creature of light afraid of an Elf?
Duo didn't sense that. "We are on a quest."
"Ah, good." Trowa settled deeper into the cart, using the yurt as a cushion. "You will need my bow, then." He settled the polished wooden bow on his knees and caressed it as if it were his lover.
"I thought..." Duo chewed on his lip, not sure about custom and what was permissible where Elves were concerned.
"Elves do like forests and solitude," Trowa explained. "I have had my fill of that. After four hundred years, a man needs... excitement." His green eyes caught the light from the Ifrit as he admired it. "And new possibilities," he added.
Duo blinked in shock, not sure that he could deny the Elf when his companions seemed unwilling to act against him.
"I was on my way to hire as a mercenary," Trowa explained. "It was good fortune that placed me in the path of destiny."
"Destiny?"
Trowa shrugged. "It is possible to sleep through one's own destiny, to miss it when greatness shows herself."
"Greatness? Her?" Duo shook his head. "I don't understand."
"Too Human, even with your abilities," Trowa replied with a grave nod.
Duo didn't think that being Human had anything to do with whether he could understand Trowa's beliefs.
"Never mind it," Trowa said with a dismissive gesture. "I am here, and I shall use my bow in the service of your quest."
"How did you know that I was a shape shifter?" Duo wondered.
Trowa wrinkled his nose. I smell dog, Human, and bird when there is only Human before me," he replied. "I am not just an expert with the bow. I have many skills honed in the deep forests."
"If you know what we are," Duo pointed out, "Then you know that we all possess abilities to protect ourselves."
"Not as I can protect you," Trowa replied without elaborating. He tucked himself up as if against the cold and then went very still, head on upraised knees as he contemplated the Ifrit.
Duo sighed as he returned to sit by Heero. No matter what the Ifrit thought, he wasn't going to completely trust the Elf. He had heard too many stories that had ended with the death, or near death, of the person unlucky enough to have run afoul of them. They were reported to lack Human understanding and feelings as well. That didn't bode well for himself if they did run into trouble. He couldn't imagine any of his companions taking a thought to saving his life if it was needed.
He was on his own, Duo thought, amidst a company, and he had to prepare himself to fight alone.
Duo leaned into Heero again, trusting the Ifrit to at least protect Heero from the elf, and turned the pony onto a narrow road, when it forked, that led them into the deeper wilds of the countryside.
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When morning came the Ifrit was up and glowing, stretching arms to the rising sun and looking as if he had just eaten some rich pastry. He glowed golden, rippling and sparkling with white halos that had everyone blinking.
Heero was just the opposite. He looked weary, eyes drooping and body slumped on the wagon seat. He was ready for sleep and Duo saw the problems that he would have accomplishing that all at once. He could only travel at night unless they rigged something to keep him moving during the day.
The Elf blinked against the sun as well, as if he found it as unpleasant as Heero. He was captivated by the Ifrit, though, smiling at it's sun worship.
Duo liked the night as well, but he needed the sunlight as much as the Ifrit. "I don't know what to do," he lamented to the Ifrit. "How are we to travel, now?"
"Assemble the yurt inside the wagon," The Ifrit instructed. "It blocks the light. Gather earth and dead leaves to place inside. You will have to sleep with him and hope that he doesn't feast on your blood. I will direct the beast."
Duo felt sorry for the beast, but he saved some of that pity for himself. "I need the sun as much as you do. I will return while the others rest."
Duo didn 't wait for the reply, but he could feel the Ifrit's displeasure heating over his skin as he dropped his clothing and took his hawk form. Arrowing up out of the trees and rolling hills, he beat powerful wings and reveled in the sunlight as he surveyed their journey ahead.
The Ifrit was suddenly there beside him, a glowing figure of light with robes spun from the flames of the sun. "Do you want them to know that we are following them?" he demanded. "You will descend of your own will or I will force you."
Duo felt his temper spike and he almost ignored the Ifrit. Wu Fei's lessons came back to him strongly, though. Think. Anger never solved anything.
Duo returned to the cart to see that the yurt was erected inside of it and that Heero was already inside. Duo suspected that the Ifrit had used his power. He couldn't imagine an elf bothering to care about a Night Creature. In fact, the Elf was gone, probably into the shelter of the shadowy forest to escape the sun.
Duo gathered the necessary bedding for Heero and tossed them inside the yurt. He tried to enjoy the heat of the sun as long as possible before crawling into the yurt after them. Nude and almost torpid with sleep, Heero was instinctively already pulling everything close to make a bed.
Duo could feel the compulsion vibrating over his skin, the rich scent of earth and old roses seeming to pull him towards Heero. His body wanted, his senses longed to drink in every scent, every feel of soft skin, that was Heero. Duo hadn't bothered dressing again. He wanted skin to skin, despite his danger. he craved it like air, like the blood that Heero needed to live.
"LOve you," Duo whispered as he pulled Heero into his arms and ignored the earth and leaves beneath him.
He should transform, he thought, knowing that it would be easier to sleep as a wolf. He had a sense, though, that Heero wouldn't know him like that, might even drink him dry as mindless prey. There was something in Duo that wanted to believe that Heero was mindful, at some level, not to kill him. He refused to acknowledge the deeper sense, that he might not care about dying if he felt that all powerful euphoria that enticed him to give Heero all that he was, every drop of his life.
The wagon began moving. The Ifrit wouldn't use things as mundane as reins, or sit on wooden slats. Whatever power he had, was probably directing the beast in the right direction. Duo had to trust that they wouldn't be carried off into a ravine or wake to find themselves far from where they were supposed to be.
Heero's arms closed around Duo, an unbreakable embrace. The glamour took him over, and the plain, hotter emotions of love and need, and Duo felt himself respond. Heero's teeth broke the skin of Duo's neck. Weakness wrapped with orgasm, the pounding of Duo's heart sounding loudly in his ears. He had only a small presence of mind to wonder what the Ifrit would do if Heero killed him and needed another food source? Scouring the countryside for willing victims took time.
The salt from his skin was as much a catnip to heero as his blood. Heero's body writhed against his, hands rubbing and leaving maddening trails of warmth and desire. Duo came explosively and panted, brain whirling and falling into a swoon as deep as the one Heero was experiencing, now. They curled together, Heero still suckling, but not drinking Duo dry.
"Unheard of," the Ifrit said from somewhere above the yurt, as if hide and cloth didn't hamper it's ability to see them. "A mate, not of the vampire race, living to see another day, yet again. Time will tell whether this is a good development or a bad one."
There was the edge of threat in that voice, but Duo wasn't afraid of the Ifrit any longer. As long as he was with Heero, whatever else happened was of no consequence.
------------------------------------------------------
"Still alive?" the elf asked as he poked his head into the yurt.
Duo had spent several hours wanting to stretch, pee, and crawl out of the oppressive heat of the yurt. Seeing darkness beyond he soft glow of the Ifrit at the elf's shoulder, and knowing that sunlight was denied him, he felt snappish and depressed.
Heero stirred and let him go. Duo was in his wolf form and scrambling out of the wagon at once. Lifting a leg to a tree, he sighed as he released a steady stream. When he finished and turned, the elf was there and watching him curiously.
"You smell like sex, blood, and Night Creature."
Duo turned back into a human and went in search of his clothing. Pulling them on, he growled, "You smell like you needed a bath a hundred years ago."
The elf smirked. "Sharp wolf senses?"
The elf smelled like rich earth and tree sap. Not really unpleasant, but Duo suspected that the elf was a stranger to water and soap. Not that dirt deigned to cling to the Elf's smoothe skin.
I don't need a wolf's nose for that," Duo retorted. He checked the pony. It looked exhausted. Duo glared at the Ifrit accusingly. "The animal needs rest and food. Did you make it walk all day long?"
"If it falls we will get another," the Ifrit replied loftily as it faded with the falling darkness.
"Ponies are not so easily come by," Duo complained as he checked the beasts hooves and felt along it's legs for swelling. "We won't be moving for awhile. You're arrogance is now costing us time."
Duo flinched as he felt the blister of heat all over his skin. Heero was suddenly there, though and fending off the power of the Ifrit. "No!" the Night creature exclaimed. "You will not touch him."
The Ifrit turned into a fretful ball and sat within the light of their lantern as if sulking. Duo felt that his skin had been sunburned. He winced as he gingerly touched his arm. Heero was frowning and looking down at it.
"Are you well?"
Duo would have liked to paint real loving concern in that voice, but Wufei had warned him that Vampires didn't feel such things. Still, he found himself snuggling against Heero and reassuring him, "I'm okay. At last I feel as if I've been in the sun, now."
"The Ifrit are a piece of the sun," the elf said as leaned in to gaze at the Ifrit. It spluttered light at him and he chuckled. "You're not fooling me," the elf assured him. "I feel our bond."
"Bond?" Duo asked as he forced himself to break away from Heero and check on the pony again. The animal was already sagging as if asleep, sides heaving in a deep sigh.
"Soul touching soul," the elf replied as it put an open hand on each side of the lantern. The light of the Ifrit made his hands almost transparent. "You are lucky if you find the soul that is your mate. It isn't always as we would wish it, and sometimes it is impossible, but two people are bound nonetheless."
Duo took out grain for the pony and put it into a feed bag. "Are you speaking of love?"
"It can be hate, too, and loathing," Trowa replied. "It is two souls that are only half, never making a whole until they meet."
"Like twins?" Duo guessed as he tied on the feed bag and the pony roused enough to start munching.
Trowa considered it. "Very much like twins."
"So, even if this other person does you harm, you are still drawn to them?" Duo wondered and turned to look at Heero. The night creature was staring off into the darkness as if feeling the tug to hunt.
"If you are lucky, you love," Trowa replied and he smiled at the Ifrit. "Do you love me, other half of my soul?" he asked the light.
"Can... Can Heero love me, then?" Duo wondered and stepped closer to the Night Creature.
The Ifrit replied, in a ghost of a voice, "Impossible!"
Trowa replied, "All things are possible."
The Ifrit was clearly angry and impatient now. "Must be going." it said weakly, but Heero had other plans. He was gone between one blink and the next, as if he had wrapped the darkness around himself.
Duo started badly and exclaimed,"Where is he?"
"Perhaps he didn't get enough blood from you?" Trowa surmised as he looked Duo over. "You don't appear weak."
It was long minutes, where the Ifrit seemed agitated and Duo could only switch from wolf to man and back again in an attempt to make his senses sharp enough to sense Heero.
At last, Heero reappeared, but he wasn't alone. he was already sinking into a stupor, his skin flushed with blood and his lips still locked on the throat of a young girl, who was deep in a swoon.
Blonde, Duo saw, with a sting of jealousy and fear. Her eyes were half closed. In the Ifrit's light, he could tell that they were a clear blue. She was very pretty, dressed in layered robes of varying shades of pink. They seemed as thin as tissue paper and crinkled when she moved.
"He is an excellent hunter to find a woman in the deep country," the elf said with some awe.
"And a willing one," Duo added bitterly.
"This proves his bond for you," the Elf told him. "He could as easily have turned you into a husk, but, instead, he has hunted for another."
Duo suddenly left jealousy behind and his fear took a front seat. "He's killing her?"
"Not intentionally, but he must be very hungry by now," Trowa guessed.
Duo crouched by the two. The woman's face was ghost pale, her skin looking almost pinched and anemic. Duo wasn't certain how to save her, but he found himself willing to try.
Slipping arms around Heero, Duo very firmly began wedging himself between the night creature and his prey. When teeth slid free and blood pooled and stopped flowing on the girls neck, Duo was there and offering his own. The ecstasy was incredible as those teeth found the marks from the previous day and mated with them.
The girl curled up in the dead leaves of the forest and Duo had claimed Heero for his own, again. They went down into the leaves beside the girl and Duo could feel her warm body at his back. He didn't care, though, or feel self conscious when he wrapped legs around Heero's waist and pressed his hard on there. He humped in agitation, needing friction, needing a release from the sensations that engulfed him, that rose higher and higher until he didn't think that he could bear it any longer.
When orgasm rocked him, he swooned, and was only barely aware of the elf looking down at the three of them as if he had witnessed something unique in the world.
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The girl was huddled by a small fire, the elf standing close by as if on guard, long lean body poised and arms crossed over his chest deceptively passive. The Ifrit was in the fire, sleepy, barely formed shape mesmerizing the girl and keeping all of her attention.
Duo, still wrapped around Heero on the ground, felt a bit sore and well used. Leaves and twigs were tangled in his hair and he felt forest debris sticking into his skin. Heero's unblinking eyes regarded him and Duo thought that he saw some emotion there, some recognition that he was more than prey. A softness, as if those deep wells of blue were capable of something other than instinctive calculation.
Duo kissed Heero's soft lips and there was the slightest of return pressure. Heero's breath didn't taste of blood. It tasted like the barest hint of cinnamon. breaking the kiss Duo experimentally wiggled and Heero released him.
They both stood up slowly, looking at themselves to make certain that nothing had happened while they had been involved together. Not that the Ifrit would have allowed anything from outside to threaten Heero, but they could have been rough with each other, rougher than intended.
Heero reached out and ran a hand gently down Duo's arm and Duo shivered and smiled. "I'm all right,"he felt the need to say, though he wasn't absolutely certain that the question had been asked.
Heero nodded and then turned to face their new companion. The stare must have weighed heavy on her, some instinct for danger pricking at senses. Her big blue eyes left the Ifrit to look nervously at Heero and then at Duo. Her look at Duo was almost dismissive, though, as if she knew that he wasn't any threat.
"Who are you?" Heero asked as he moved towards her, perhaps remembering that he had taken her as prey.
"And why didn't you run?" Duo added as he settled a few paces away.
"I..." She swallowed hard and her eyes told Duo something unpleasant. She was feeling the glamour, the pull towards Heero. She couldn't fight it, or worse, didn't want to. Duo wasn't willing to have a rival.
Duo said irritably, not waiting for her answer. "Go, now. No one will stop you."
"I will," the elf interrupted with a nod at the Ifrit. "He makes good sense. An extra meal on two legs will keep our Prince on the move instead of wasting time hunting."
The fire brightened in agreement and Quatre's weak voice said, "Our enemies are not far ahead. We must keep moving."
Duo put chin on fist and glared at the Ifrit."If only you could use your great power to burn our enemies this trip would be unnecessary."
The flames made a poor attempt at angry flicks his way and then settled. "It requires delicacy, stealth. They will kill all of the Vampire if they feel that their lives are in danger."
"And kill an Ifrit as well?" Duo wondered and the Elf made a growling noise, his hand going to his bow as if he wasn't willing to accept any criticism of his lovely Ifrit.
Duo moved closer to the Ifrit, crouching, and staring at the flames. "They have power over you, don't they?"
The Ifrit said nothing.
"Pride," Duo snorted but felt worried. If their enemies could storm the very fortress of the Night Creatures and frighten an Ifrit, he wondered at the chances for their success.
"Who are you?" Heero repeated to the girl, standing very close to her now and looking down as if she were early morning pastries.
"Relena," She replied as if mesmerized. Duo knew the feeling, knew that deep down tug intimately"I am a student of the Afarmasa school."
"A witch," Duo grunted. "Or, a witch in training?"
"I have my certifications," she replied with some arrogance. "I was taking exams to become a Tatamunda."
"High witch," Duo said in some awe. A Tatamunda was known for their great power over elements and spirits. Still, he felt suspicious. "Why were you out here? The school is miles to the West."
She patted a bag at her side. "Part of the exam is to gather certain materials in the great forests and use very little supplies during the journey." She said to heero. "Why are you here, so far from your people?"
"Searching for thieves," the elf snorted. "Thieves that endanger the Night Creatures."
She seemed more frightened by Trowa than by Heero and Duo found that curious. The Elves were known for killing trespassers, but not for brutality. If she wasn't dead, by Trowa's hand, then it was only logical not to be frightened. Unless she knew something that he didn't about Trowa's particular tribe of elves, Duo thought.
"The thieves stole a weapon," Heero told her. "A weapon that can destroy all of the vampires. I must reclaim it."
The Ifrit made a disgusted sound, as if Heero shouldn't speak of their plans. Duo wasn't certain why. The girl was so obviously exactly what she claimed. She wore the robes of a student and carried about her small pouches and sharp smelling herbs. The stones clattering about her neck, on corded vines, were charged with wards and charms. Duo could even feel the prickle of one ward against changelings like himself.
Perhaps that was what was making him irritable, he thought, as he told her, "Whatever you are and whatever your business, here, you may leave, now."
"No," the Ifrit countered and the Elf did pull down his bow from his back, almost apologetically.
"She will stay, boy," he told Duo firmly. "The Ifrit has spoken and I agree with his reasoning. This adventure will seem less so if the Vampire Prince starts feasting on Elf blood."
"You are their prince?" the girl asked Heero and was suddenly excited. "Then I willingly travel with you. Gathering knowledge about the Prince of Night creatures, for the Tatamunda archives, and helping save your race is of utmost importance."
If Duo had been in wolf form, his hackles would have risen. As if was, he growled under his breath at her obvious interest in Heero as far more than a subject of study, and knew that he couldn't win the battle. She was going with them.
Duo left them, angrily, and checked on the pony. It was grateful to get it feed, for Duo to tend it with a long session of brushing, and for him to rub down legs and clean out hoofs. Duo made it longer than necessary, not wanting to face the girl and the possibility that Heero would find a female far more attractive as a mate, than himself.
Would he wake to find her an empty husk? Would Heero have restraint where she was concerned. Would he find out that the restraint hadn't been about love at all?
Lips nibbled at Duo's throat and teeth and a tongue seemed interested in the salt sweat and bit of blood still on Duo's skin. Duo didn't turn, just relaxed and sighed contentedly. not wanting to examine this seeming tenderness and find it wanting and suspect. He allowed Heero to finish and then the man was walking away as if nothing so intimate had happened.
Duo finished with the pony and went back to the campfire for his meal. Beef strips, tea, and grain cakes were going to get very old soon, he thought, but they had strength to get him on his feet, when the Ifrit had decided that the pony had rested enough.
Seeing Heero settle on the cart, and the girl sit next to him, Duo angrily chose his wolf form and loped ahead into the forest. She wasn't going to rob him of Heero, Duo thought, ignoring the wise words of his mentor about such things. Love either was or wasn't. It couldn't be forced or kept in a bottle against all challengers.
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"We are getting closer," the Ifrit told them as he floated in his human form very close to Duo. They locked eyes, Rarified blue and purple that reflected that light intensely exchanged an understanding. The Ifrit had power and would use it. Their other companions, and even Heero, might not step forward to fight when called on. To protect Heero, Duo knew that he would do anything.
The sun was rising. That wasn't a good time to meet enemies. "How far?" Duo wanted to know.
"You can fly as well as I," the Ifrit challenged. "They gather their numbers on the north face of that highest mountain. They gather for war, the weapon against the Night Creatures ready for their first assault."
Duo frowned as he gazed at the mountain in question. It was bathed in morning glow, mist shrouding its peak.
"That is Delruth," Relena said at Duo's elbow.
He couldn't help a growl at her. He would have bristled his wolf's ruff if he had been in that form. As it was, his hands turned into fists impotently. Impotently, because there wasn't any way to stop her from sitting by Heero and asking him endless questions about the Vampire clan. That her interest wasn't purely academic was clear in the sparkle of her eyes and the way that she gripped Heero's arm as she leaned into him.
Did he respond to her? He did take some of her blood, but not enough to swoon, as if something about her held him back from claiming her completely. She had given him her neck willingly, face blushing and clearly moved by the experience. She had seemed disappointed in the retreat, even going so far as to boldly urge Heero to continue. The Night Creature had withdrawn, though, settling in his seat on the cart like a ruffled raven and ignoring her questions for a good hour afterward.
"It's a better pairing," The Ifrit said to Duo from the light of the lantern.
"What's better?" Duo wondered. "She's as human as I am. He'll drain her dry if he tries to mate with her."
"She's more attuned to his instincts, being female. He might hold his full strength,:"
"Do you protest because we are both men?" Duo wondered bitterly. "Or are you so concerned for my life?"
"You distract him," The Ifrit told him. "You make him act strangely."
"Strangely?" Duo tried to perk up wolf ears that he didn't have.
The Ifrit was a glowing face amidst the glow of the lantern as if he wanted to convey to Duo his utter puzzlement. "I would say that he cares about you, if I didn't know Night Creatures so well. It's important that he not want to mate now, though. He must want to defeat our enemies."
"Then you must talk to Relena, as well," Duo pointed out. "Maybe he isn't wrapped around her, but she seems willing to 'distract' him. Can he mate with a human women?"
The Ifrit seemed amused. "She isn't completely human. She has powers. She may survive the mating. Cross breeds are not un heard of."
Duo tried to imagine a night creature child with elements of a human nature. "A child like that would probably not survive long in Human lands."
The elf was suddenly there, eyes bright, but not with humor. "You respect a wolf for hunting. You don't respect someone who appears Human killing your auntie for blood."
Duo frowned at the elf. "What about you? I've heard stories about elves not being very circumspect in their meat eating habits."
Trowa grinned. "I imagine that you are forced to hide your sheep killing forays in your town, so I think we will refrain from throwing stones."
"I wasn't... throwing stones," Duo said impatiently. "I want to understand. Why protest against a Night creature mating with a human male, if he chooses to take the risk, while you, an Elf and an Ifrit, are contemplating something even more impossible?"
Trowa looked slightly aroused now as he looked over at the glowing Ifrit. "There is a danger. Sinking my cock into molten light, and hoping that he doesn't chose to eat me for my energy, is taking a terrible risk."
The Ifrit brightened in what Duo might have called a blush before turning into nothing but light and saying nothing. The Elf laughed at him, but it was a warm laugh that had undertones of sexual arousal.
The sun rose higher and the Ifrit left his lantern completely. They rested the footsore pony near a stream and let it drink while they watched the light bathe the mountains and make the water sparkle. The Ifrit stood on the water, a glowing white male with golden hair and light wrapped like silk around his glowing form.
"He avoids me," the Elf lamented, almost whining in disappointment. "I want his body very badly. If he were in reach..."
Duo tried to imagine an Elf 'taking' an Ifrit and felt a rise in his pants. It made him turn away, leaving the Elf with the pony and returning to where Heero was crawling into his tent in the cart. Relena was going in after him. It made Duo stop in his tracks. Was she so shameless? So bold? So uncaring for her own life? Did she love Heero, already, enough to risk herself?
He heard her cry of ecstasy and felt a blackness in his heart that hurt. The Ifrit turned to look at Duo, challenging him to let events happen as they would, to make the decision that Heero would chose whom he wanted and that he was willing to stay on the journey, to give everything for his love of Heero, to save him and his people.
Was he so selfless? Instinct wanted Duo to drag Relena out, to chase her away from his mate, to stake his claim. Love made him stand, staring at that tent, turning Wu Fei's ring over and over around his finger, and make his decision.
Between one second and the next he left his clothes behind and took flight towards the mountains. The Ifrit seemed startled, but Duo ignored it as he beat his wings strongly towards the enemy. Impossible, Wu Fei's voice said to him. Impossible to conquer anyone with an Ifrit who was distracted by an Elf, an Elf who cared only for an adventure, a love struck wizard girl, and a night creature who was instinct and need and who might not see reason to attack when the time came. Let them mate, Duo thought. Let them love and have children. He couldn't see his place anymore. He didn't fit. Ge didn't have a future that he wanted without Heero in it. If he could give all of himself for the vampire prince, he would do it now.
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Duo was consternated to find that their fierce enemy was nothing more than a large group of some twenty villagers. Ragtag came to mind as a description. Also, disorganized and ill equipped. Their only cohesive element was a tall white haired man who barked orders and kept them on task moving along a rugged trail.
Duo flew along, carefully thinking bird thoughts, in case any of them should happen to have power to discern a shape shifter from a normal bird. When the company halted for a rest, he settled in a tree and tried to listen and watch. when the company began moving again, Duo felt almost sympathetic for them.
It seemed they were a group that had gathered for one purpose, to exterminate all Vampires. They had all lost loved ones to the Night Creatures and thought that their legendary instinct of only taking those who were willing, a lie. Duo supposed that he could understand that belief. Having felt the glamour himself, he could see where someone might be overwhelmed enough to consent to feeding a Vampire without really being conscious of that ramifications of that decision. A weaker willed person might even return, night after night, to give every ounce of their blood, to continue to experience the ecstasy of that glamour.
Still, Duo thought with sudden anger, they might as well destroy all wolves, mountain cats, or even birds of prey for their very nature of killing humans periodically. You couldn't hate nature that way. It simply was. Man had to approach it just as he would a raging river or a lightning storm; with caution and respect for its deadly power.
The motives of the man they called, Zechs, was less clear. He seemed a sorcerer, wearing bright red robes and scarves and looking about him with ice blue eyes that seemed to pierce the distance. He led the pony carrying a large box. The weapon against the vampires, Duo guessed. Where he intended to take it was less clear. A position of strength, everyone agreed, where they could amplify the weapon and use it to best advantage. A few grumbled about money grubbing sorcerers though and were suspicious of their leader.
A man who could swoop into the lair of such powerful Night Creatures and take their most guarded object away from them, was not to be taken lightly. Duo doubted that he could simply walk in and take the thing by battling the sorcerer. Wu Fei had taught him some defensive moves, but nothing that would test someone of Zechs power.
"What are you doing here?" the small voice was in his mind.
Duo looked aside and saw a sparrow peeking at him from branches to his left. Hawk instinct told Duo to hunt, but he was in control.
Relena, Duo guessed, sensing her shape hidden inside the sparrow. He felt angry and bitter as he replied, "Giving my life for the man I love."
"You will not win against him," she thought to him. "He is of the scarlet order. Very powerful with dark sorcery."
"The Ifrit fears him," Duo said. "He has held us back, when he could easily burn everyone here."
"He gathers darkness," Relena replied. "The Ifrit is powerless against that. He must rely on our powers, our hands, to win the day. All of us together may not be enough to defeat someone of this level in the Scarlet order. You will certainly not succeed alone by throwing your life away needlessly because of jealousy "
"Easy for you to say. He is yours now," Duo replied bitterly. "He will chose you as his mate. He may not kill you in the attempt. Me, he surely will. I don't have a place at his side."
"He says your name," Relena told him. "His instincts tell him to gather me in, but I think his heart is yours, as much as it can be."
She couldn't help jealousy, but there was something more,though, a resignation to accept the situation. To have part was better than not to have any of Heero at all. What would happen, Duo wondered, if they three slept with Heero? How would he react to two willing mates? Would Duo find himself a husk in the morning while Relena lived and claimed Heero for herself, or would they find a way to.... share?
Duo shook his head, a hawk ruffling its feathers. None of that mattered because Heero was going to die along with all of his kind. "Go back to Heero," Duo ordered her. "If I don't survive you will need to protect him."
"You won't survive without me to help you," she retorted and was suddenly a smaller hawk edging onto his branch. She gave him a keen eyed look. "Together we have a small hope. Alone, we have none."
Duo touched the ring on his finger. His last resort. Perhaps, it would tip the balance in their favor? The thought of summoning Wu Fei and placing the man in danger, of using the man's concern for him as a weapon to save Heero, seemed wrong, but Duo felt desperate. He couldn't imagine a life without Heero. In essence, Wu Fei would be saving Duo by saving Heero.
It was a slim argument, but one that hardened Duo's resolve. "Together, then," he told Relena, and she dipped her razor sharp beak in acknowledgement that they would fight to the death for the creature that they both loved.
"We wait for the right moment," she told him firmly and they both settled to watch the white haired sorcerer. Eventually, Duo believed, he would make a mistake that would give them the advantage.
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The sorcerer had military training, Duo thought. He kept the rabble together
with more than charisma or his power. He had trained them. Though they were
lax and not very cohesive as a whole, they kept watch at all times and guarded
the weapon religiously.
"I don't want to kill them," Duo admitted as he watched a young girl in pig tails and play skirts, holding a wicked knife, pace about the weapon in a bored fashion.
"They killed to get that weapon and they intend to wipe out an entire race," Relena pointed out, but then softened when the girl took out a hand made doll and tucked it in the crook of one arm. "I don't want to kill them either."
"I have a way to win against the sorcerer," Duo admitted, "but I'm not certain what will happen if I invoke it."
Relena turned cold as she looked at the man in question. He was standing with a small map, as if considering obstacles. His pale hair was catching a breeze and playing about lazily around his long, lean body. "Without him, they would have grieved and then moved on with their lives. He has given them cohesion and strength, fuel to keep their anger alive."
"If we can separate him from the others, somehow, and capture the weapon..." Duo sighed in frustration. "It seems impossible."
"Not so impossible," Relena said thoughtfully. "If Heero were in danger along with our entire band, whom would you try to save first?"
"Heero, of course," Duo retorted, as if questioning that was an insult.
Relena sighed but then made her point. "If we attack the band, that sorcerer will protect the weapon. He will separate himself and it for us."
"And then we attack." Duo was still unsure. "How will we attack the band without harming them?"
Relena was suddenly in her true form, grasping at tree limbs and trying to keep her balance. "I need my true form for this. I can call on my powers to at least disorient the band and make them scatter."
"I will go in after that," Duo promised, "And confront the sorcerer."
"Not alone," Relena promised. "I am not a woman who allows men to fight my battles."
Duo wasn't certain whether that made him feel more confident of their success. He wasn't sure of the extent of Relena's powers or her commitment to saving Heero.
"Be ready," she warned and then Relena was closing her eyes nd concentrating on her power.
An old soldier, who liked to tell stories, once told Duo that there was a madness that overtook men in battle. Everything became sharp and in slow motion. Every move seemed instinct and fluid. It was Godlike, the man used to brag, but Duo had to wonder, as wind carrying large hailstones began pummeling the band, if he had been a liar after all.
Everything became distorted and jumpy, as if he were transporting himself rather than dropping from the tree as a hawk and then taking on his true form once his feet touched earth. Naked, he felt the sting of the hail as he followed the sorcerer away from the band.
The man wanted to protect the weapon from damage from the weather and from an attack that he was beginning to suspect. A nimbus was starting around him and Duo could feel the static in the air that spoke of leashed power.
Duo had never before hurt anyone. He had hunted as a bird and a wolf, and sometimes as a man, but his prey had never been people. He was shivering with cold and anticipation, now, realizing that killing the man was probably the only way to win back the weapon.
Duo could hear people shouting, the rush of the wind through the trees, and the splattering of the hail. The weapon was heavy and unwieldy and Duo wondered what it looked like out of it's intricately carved wooden case.
The man turned, white hair whipping about his head, as some sense warned him of Duo's presence. Duo felt the man's power gather for what was surely going to be a killing blow. Duo changed into a wolf again, teeth barred and hackles up, ready to give his life if it was needed to keep Heero safe.
"I am here," Relena said and that was all she was able to say before Duo was touching nose to the ring on his finger and wanted Wu Fei.
Relena cried out and clutched at Duo's neck ruff as she gathered her own power to deflect the magical blow of the sorcerer. Duo felt despair in that grasp, maybe a realization that she wasn't going to be strong enough.
Heero was there suddenly, a fog of black that coalesced into his form. Face serious and pinched with pain as even the faint sunlight through the magical storm burned his skin, he stepped between Duo and Relena and the sorcerer.
"You will not harm them," Heero announced flatly just as the magical blow hit him squarely and knocked him onto his back. Heero, remarkably, was getting up again, when Wu Fei burst out of the air with a clap of noise and shot over him at the sorcerer. Duo wasn't far behind.
---------------
Duo was in his wolf form and diving under claws and wings and burning magical power to grab the sorcerer by the hair and bring him down. Wu Fei straddled them both, smelling like brimstone and burning woodland. Surprisingly Relena was there as well, between dragon and sorcerer, straddling the man's chest and saying, incredibly, "You've lost, brother. Surrender."
"Surrender to whom?" Wu Fei rumbled and the very air seemed to shake on the low notes. "He must meet death. There isn't prison that will hold him."
Relena's small hand was full of power. She held it over the sorcerer's face but he only glared, ice blue eyes defiant."You are not my sister," he replied. "You gave that up when you left our family to pursue a different education."
"One of peace," Relena argued.
"One of weakness," he sneered. "We were meant to rule. When the Night Creatures and the humans bow to us, we will march against the other races. We will be unstoppable. We will sit on the throne of the world."
"Madness!" Relena exclaimed. "I will not allow it. I was a coward to leave. I should have stayed to keep you from leading our family into disaster."
He smiled and it was sad. "We are all that is left, sister. They have all died for the cause, giving me their power so that I might triumph."
Her eyes filled with tears even as Wu Fei breathed black smoke over them all and said, "Enough! Out of my way woman!"
The sorcerer wasn't done, though. He erupted with power like a shattering glass full of liquid. It enveloped them all as he laughed with his madness. Duo was blinded. He smelled his fur singing and heard Relena screaming even as WU Fei roared.
The world was quiet. Duo regained consciousness slowly to a solid weight on top of him. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw Wu Fei a tangle of reptilian wings and leathery limbs, Relena's hair in his face, and Heero sprawled on top of him, lips locked on the sorcerer's neck and the stupor in full force.
The sorcerer was drained to a husk, clearly dead, the lowering sun making his corpse a lurid red. Had they been unconscious all day?
"They wake," Trowa said with a relieved tone.
"I told you they lived," the whispery voice of the Ifrit.
"All except the sorcerer," Trowa corrected and then seemed peeved. "I wanted adventure and a battle. I feel cheated."
"You are a strange creature," the Ifrit replied.
Duo shook his head and felt a blinding pain in his head. He whimpered and changed into human form so that he could have hands to check on his companions, his mentor, and his lover most of all.
Heero was breathing very slowly, but regularly. One fist was twisted in the sorcerer's clothing, his other hand was flung wide to hold Duo. Didn't that prove his love? Duo thought. Didn't that prove that he loved him more than Relena, more than life to attack a sorcerer about to hurl his power and destroy them all?
It was a warm thought, but, as Duo slid out from under Heero and saw Relena weeping over her brother's corpse, he suddenly didn't dislike her so much for also being a part of Heero's interest. Brave, sweet, and now bereft of family through violence, she was to be pitied, not hated.
"Are you all right?" Duo asked her as he lightly touched her tangled, pale hair.
She looked at him with tear filled blue eyes and replied, "There wasn't any other way. He was mad, as all of my family were mad to think they could rule the world. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I thought I could still save him. I thought I had trained well enough to contain his insanity. Your dragon..." her eyes widened as she looked at the giant creature sprawled all around them. "I had no idea such power was at your call. I thought I would be the one to battle my brother."
"He is my guardian," Duo explained. "He is not my familiar, not my slave."
"You are the ward of dragons," she breathed with awe, but her hands were touching Heero in concern, as if not even the fact of being so close to such a powerful creature was enough to quell her love and concern.
"Should we... part them?" Duo wondered in concern.
"I will take him and the weapon now that the danger is gone," the Ifrit said. "It must be done before the enemy decides to take revenge for the death of their leader."
"No!" Duo and Relena protested together and there was a third voice, Trowa's, protesting as well as the heat of the sun was suddenly in their midst and then the weight of Heero was gone.
"Bastard!" Duo swore and met Relena's eyes. Hers became determined.
"We will go to him," she promised him. "The Ifrit will not keep him against his will."
And if Heero's will was to chose a proper vampire mate and forget them both? The Night Creatures had been decimated by the attack. It was his duty to breed more. Instinct might take Heero from them.
Wu Fei stirred, great head rising above them and glinting in the setting sun. He puffed fire and smoke and lit up their surroundings.
"We are victorious?" He asked in a voice that seemed to make the world shake.
"Yes," Trowa replied angrily, "But my lovely Ifrit has flown with the Prince of Night Creatures and the weapon. He will not escape my love so easily."
Wu Fei let out an annoyed puff of air. "If I may have some explanation as to why my hour of tea and contemplation was interrupted? I do hope that it was not because of ridiculous emotional entanglements and not dire threat to life and limb?"
Duo stood shakily, a chill breeze making his naked skin have a rash of goose pimples. he leaned against Wu Fei's warm, reptilian flank. "It was dire, and now all is well, thanks to you. Now, it is all lovers entanglements, though."
"Not even magical ability can help you there," Wu Fei growled, "And certainly not I."
"Are you injured?" Duo asked in concern as Wu Fei's wings spread wide into the darkening sky and gave a rattle of bones and leather as he shook them out.
"The burst of power knocked me senseless, but I am otherwise unharmed," Wu Fei replied. "You will return home, with me, now. Enough of this nonsense."
"I will go," Duo agreed, "but I won't cease trying to be with Heero."
"You will take me with you," Relena insisted, grabbing on to Duo and standing up as well. She wiped at her tears and said, "We are bound together through him."
"Ridiculous!" Wu Fei snorted and fire and smoke billowed into the air.
Duo felt his gut wrench and heard relena cry out in surprise as the world seemed to turn inside out and his feet left the ground. The elf shouted angrily behind them, but Wu Fei didn't seem to have an interest in accommodating Trowa.
Heero, Duo thought, we're coming. There was solidarity and strength in that thought. As with the sorcerer, perhaps their strength was greater together even where it concerned the man they both loved?
They reached the tower by late morning of the next day. Wu Fei never rested and the ground flew beneath them, making their previous journey seem a waste. When he arrowed into the tower room, as if space had no effect on his mass, and he reappeared with them as a man, it was so dreamlike that Duo had to sit down abruptly in Wu Fei's favorite chair.
"At least dress before our guest or put on fur or feathers," Wu Fei snapped impatiently.
Relena was obviously dazed, windblown, and a bit sunburned. She staggered and then sat on a stool as Duo changed into a bird and glided into the alcove where he kept his things. When he reemerged in his clothes, relena had taken the chair and Wu fei was offering her drink and food on a tray, dressed in a ruby colored robe and looking every inch the oriental sorcerer.
Relena's eyes were on Wu Fei in disbelief, unsure how he could contain his huge form so successfully. She said to Duo, "We will go, now. We must find Heero."
"We both need to rest," Duo replied and found wisdom, suddenly, as he added, "and we don't need to search for Heero."
She looked confused and then angry,"I will not give up so easily!"
Wu Fei was nodding at Duo, approving of him, as Duo replied, "Heero will come to us. It is his choice. Either he will be drawn here or he will mate with his own kind. It isn't something we can force."
"He will sense your presence," Wu Fei agreed. "It will be his decision whether to come and claim you or to forget you and follow the urge to be with a female of his kind."
Relena covered her face with her hands, exhaustion and grief overwhelming her. "Waiting... After all of this, it comes down to waiting and discovering whether a night creature is all instinct or can truly love."
"It may be both," Duo replied softly, "but love can never be forced, Relena. He has come here before. I want to believe that he will so again."
"I will hope that you are right, though you must know that I hope he comes for me?"
Duo blinked at her, wondering why it wasn't obvious to her how Heero was reacting to them both. "And if he chooses us both?"
Relena didn't look surprised by the question, though it was obvious that it made her uncomfortable. "When it happens I will know what I think."
Which wasn't an answer at all, but Duo suspected that it was as much as she could offer. His own mind was already settled on taking what ever Heero offered.
TBC
On to chapter four
back to chapter two