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Story
+ Angel Hunt ~ Streifen +
Future Effects
Twenty Years brings many changes...
A story collaboration between Angel Hunt and Streifen
Twightlight
[01]
Sashi leans against a large tree on the very border of the roadway, the lengthening shadows spreading out behind him like a large cloak. For the better part of the day he’d sensed the presence of the Bright, slowly approaching the village from the meandering road to the south. The other half of the Selestarri race had left him alone ever since he’d come to Japan nine years ago, content not to mess with him if he would do the same. And he would have done just that if the Bright wasn’t coming closer and closer to his house. Not that he feared attack, more like there was a status to be maintained, and he had no trouble letting any of his people—Bright, Dark, or otherwise—know that he preferred to be left undisturbed. Apparently he hadn’t made that clear enough.
There was more than just that, however. Once the presence had drawn closer, he’d realized that there wasn’t just one type of magic, there were two. Selestarri and Angelic. How that unholy union had come to pass, he had no idea and didn’t particularly care, but fuck if he wasn’t going to tell them to get the hell out. He liked his peace and quiet and the noninvolvement that he’d maintained with the majority of his race aside from Aki and Zeph. The power plays and political bullshit had been enough to deal with when his Warden abilities manifested themselves and now all he wants is to be left alone. As usual his people equated strength of magic with a desire to wield power, but he could seriously give a fuck about any of it. Let the ones that actually care about that stuff deal with it—he was content for his world to consist of very little these days.
A flicker of magic sparks as the telepath lights a cigarette, the tip glowing deep red in the shifting darkness. Gray eyes catch the black lines of the intricate tattoos on his bare forearms, the marks that announce exactly what he is to the rest of the Selestarri. Even though years had passed since they’d been etched into his skin, they still sometimes caught him off guard, just as the ghosts who were linked to the specialized magic. He still wasn’t thrilled about his connection to Eviternity and the good and bad things that it entailed, but like so much in his life, there was little he could do about it. Attempting to deny it would be like trying not to use his telepathy, it was a part of him, encoded into his blood and there was nothing to do but deal. No one became a Warden by choice, it was something that was determined at birth, fate some would say, God others, but whatever or whoever determined it, the magic was very real and alive and he’d come to grips with it ten years ago.
Slender fingers push strands of long black hair from his face as smoke twists into the air and wind kicks up to tug at loose garments. A chill slips through the weave of the spell that keeps his upper body warm, and he adjusts it accordingly before tightening the ties on the kimono that folded over his waist, the long sleeves fanning out against the inky black of his hakama. The layering and configuration of the patterns kept heat close around his body and were the only thing that allowed him to get through the cold mountain winters. Even with the thin, sleeveless turtleneck he currently wore he was perfectly warm and would remain that way for hours. Sometimes it paid to be damn good at magic.
The presence of the unknown Bright, or whatever weird mix of races he was, draws very close and the tall, slender silhouette appears on the crest of the hill that leads back to the village. Raven-dark wings unseal as Sashi pushes away from the tree and steps out into the roadway. No doubt he’d been sensed long before now since he hadn’t bothered to mask any of his magic, but his appearance still stops the stranger in his tracks. Aside from a head of pure white hair, which must be the result of the Angelic magic since it was unknown in the Selestarri save for one particular person, his exact features are difficult to see clearly in the failing light. Not that it matters anyway, since this wasn’t any kind of social call.
Flicking the ashes of the cigarette onto the dirt road, Sashi crosses his arms over his chest and levels a glare at the Bright. “There’d better be a damn good reason for any of you to show up on my doorstep...”
Lan: stopping dead in his tracks when the Dark steps out onto the roadway, the Bright finds he’s almost too afraid to move for fear it’s all just an illusion... Yellow eyes fix on the shadowed figure before him, moving slowly away from the glare directed at him through the darkness and up to follow the lines of the pitch black wings spread out far to his sides, before traveling back down to meet the annoyed stare once more. He never thought he could be so happy seeing anyone of this faction, never thought there’d be a day when seeing someone from that side would bring this kind of warmth to his heart. A warmth that for the first time in he can’t remember how many years, had nothing to do with the magic raging inside of him.
He wasn’t alone… they hadn’t managed to wipe them all out like they’d said. Someone else had survived. That someone who was before him right now, demanding reasons for his presence.
He’d been running on empty for days now… always moving, always walking. After nearly gutting the last place he rented out in that city he’d already forgotten the name of, he’d decided to find something more secluded and away from the general population, a place he could risk sleeping in just in case it got out of control again. So he’d started traveling with intentions of getting as far out as he could into the country, hoping to keep a low enough profile that he wouldn’t be seen. But no matter where he went, his profile was far from low… with his height, hair, eyes and pale skin, he wasn’t quite as inconspicuous as he’d liked, his presence granting him stares and hushed words spoken as he passed. He probably should have thought of his body visuals when he’d been looking for a place to flee, but at the time, he’d had more pressing things on his mind and now, he’d have to make the best of what he had. So he’d decided to try for the mountains instead, hoping that maybe he could find a secluded cave or something he’d be able to hole up in for a while… anything he could manage until he could get his body under better control.
He honestly didn’t know where he was going anymore, he had just been moving. It was when he’d reached the small town at the bottom of the valley that he sensed it -sensed him. He didn’t want to believe it at first, because he knew they’d all been wiped out, he knew he was the last. So while he moved, he tried to pass it off as wishful thinking, figuring he’d just been so desperate for his people to be alive in any manner that his body was playing tricks on him. He knew… knew it had to be a trick because up until that village, he hadn’t sensed one of his own anywhere since he’d been free, not one no matter where he’d gone… but the farther up he got, the stronger the magic became. And soon, it wasn’t even the magic that took his senses, it was the scent… one of those little bonuses they’d managed to get into his body, one of those things forced on him along with everything else. With each shift of wind down into his direction, a unique smell was carried with it, one he’d never be able to describe... It was almost as if he were smelling his very blood. For every step he took in the direction, the smell grew stronger just as the presence grew stronger and soon he found himself daring to hope that someone else really did make it out, that someone else really did survive.
And here he is, alive before him… and probably the most beautiful sight he’s seen in his entire life.
He reaches up with bandaged fingers to push messy white locks from his eyes, dropping his head in the slightest. “Too good…” Lan’s whisper of disbelief barely carries over the sudden gust of cold wind that blows his hair right back into his face. But now that he’s seen, he’s worried it’s almost too good to be true. For years now he hasn’t found another, for years he’s been on the run and hasn’t seen or sensed or even smelled any of his kind any where, so what if his mind is playing tricks on him, what if this is an illusion? He was exhausted, he hadn’t eaten or slept for days now, and after everything they’d done to him, how could he be sure this wasn’t just another trick set out to destroy him mentally?
Lan slides his fingers from his hair, eyes once again zeroing on the impatient figure before him. He had to see for himself, had to touch him and see … feel if he was real. Without a word, he moves forward, taking the Dark a little by surprise as he steps in close. Sun warmed yellow meet storm grey through the darkness and the pair simply stare at each other for long moments in silence before the white haired man finally reaches up to touch him. Sashi’s arms uncross and he takes a half step back, causing the Bright’s breath to hitch notably. Hesitating only a moment longer, shaky fingers touch softly against the Dark’s cheek, still for less than a second before traveling down to trace over his jaw.
“You’re real…” A large smile spans the length of full lips as Lan lets out a quiet sigh of relief, whispering more to himself than to the one before him “actually real…”
Sashi stares almost dumbfounded at the Bright before snapping back to himself. But before he can take any action, the smile fades from Lan’s features and he pulls his fingers away to thread them into his hair again, dropping quickly down onto his knees. “Thank god… I found you.” And then with that, the exhaustion finally over takes him. Days of not sleeping or eating, days of being on the move with little to no rest overwhelm him and he passes out, hitting the dirt road with a small thump directly to Sashi’s side.
Sashi: Heat seeps through the bandages as long fingers touch lightly at his face, taking the Dark by complete surprise. What the fuck…? Why the hell was this guy acting like he was surprised to find him here? Both the Dark and Bright know damn well where he lived, just like they know to stay away from him. It was one of the few things he enjoyed about having so much magic at his disposal—it kept most others wary enough not to want to provoke him. Abruptly the white-haired Selestarri pulls away and drops to his knees, quiet words hanging in the air between them before he collapses.
For a long moment Sashi simply stares down at the crumpled form at his feet, annoyed by so many things all at once that he doesn’t even know where to start. He takes a long drag of the cigarette and slowly exhales, the milky gray smoke drifting through the air for a second until the wind snatches it away. Turning around, he walks down the dirt road toward his home. He’d call Dannickah; one of the Dark he knew still had connections with the Bright, and let her tell them to come pick up their belongings. He didn’t want anything to do with whatever brought the other Selestarri here, the Bright could just come and get him and that would be it. This way he couldn’t be held responsible and he didn’t have to get involved, everyone would be happy, and by tomorrow morning he could go back to pretending that the majority of his race didn’t exist until the next holiday rolled around.
The telepath continues up the road, flicking the end of the cigarette into a nearby puddle as he walks. What did the Bright mean, though, when he’d said he was thankful to find him and that he was ‘real’? It all made no fucking sense—of course he was real. Yeah, he was well known by all the factions of the Selestarri for various reasons, but he didn’t think he’d passed into legend or anything like that. Not like Ikkairius, who they told stories about to teach the little kids lessons about messing with magical items without the proper training. Shit, he wasn’t that removed from things yet. Also, why did the Bright touch him like that, like he was a ghost or something? It probably annoyed him more than anything else. He wasn’t into letting random strangers that close to him without his express permission; it just wasn’t something he had ever been comfortable with. To be fair, he was also a bit pissed at himself for being so surprised. After all, it wasn’t like he was unacquainted with being touched or anything, because definitely he was not, but it was just too near and too… personal. No one did that with people they didn’t know or weren’t invited in close to, so why the hell did this guy? Sashi pushes his fingers through black tangles and sighs. None of it really mattered since once the Bright came it wouldn’t be his problem anymore.
Of course, if the guy froze to death or something happened before he was picked up, he’d have to deal with the Bright head on and he still wouldn’t have any answers for all his trouble… The telepath stops and turns to look over his shoulder at the unmoving form that’s now several hundred feet away. Almost immediately, a very familiar voice begins a full lecture on helping others when they need it and Sashi frowns. “Goddamn it, Aki.” He mutters before starting back. A half a world and twenty plus years since they’d been partners, the Eclipsed still found a way to influence him, even if he didn’t know it.
Squatting down beside the unconscious Selestarri, Sashi places a hand on his shoulder and calls up the magic to teleport. Full darkness closes over them for less than the space of three full heartbeats before fading away, replacing the cold, shadow filled road with warmth and the soft yellow glow of a single lamp. Slender fingers brush the floor just as gleaming silver wire appears from thin air, the magic of the Bright setting off the security spell that protected the house. Sashi halts the movement of the metal for a moment before shifting the spell enough so that a single strand of razor edged metal flashes down, scoring the upper arm of his guest. Blood mars the sleeve of his t-shirt, staining the white fabric a deep crimson, but the telepath ignores it as he rearranges the encoding of the magic. This way the spell would recognize him, but would keep other Bright from actually entering the house, and he could just reset everything once the white-haired Selestarri was gone.
Straightening, the Dark steps over the stranger and moves across the sparsely furnished room to the closet. Pulling out a folded-up futon, he spreads it on the floor before fishing out a pillow and several blankets to go with it. A couple of quick patterns create a cushion of air under the Bright to lift him onto the mattress and Sashi unceremoniously pulls off his shoes, noticing as he does so how worn and thin they are. Additionally he notices just how warm to the touch his skin is, almost as if he were burning up with fever, only the Selestarri very rarely got sick. There were none of the other signs of fever, either—no sweating or shivering. It was definitely odd. This close, and in good light, he can also see the extent to which the bandages cover the narrow frame, the ragged strips of cloth wrapping everything from the neck downward. Other than the cut on his arm, it doesn’t look like any wounds are openly bleeding, so he leaves them alone and covers the Bright with the blankets.
Moving across the hallway to the room he uses as a study, Sashi summons a fresh pack of cigarettes and pours a cup of tea from the electric kettle that the housekeeper had left for him less than an hour ago. Stripping off the kimono top, he wraps himself in a thick sweater and settles under the large kotatsu in the center of the room. Flipping the switch to turn on the heater beneath the low table, he opens the screen of his laptop and enters the password that will take him to his files. Washed in the electric glow, he sips at the hot liquid and settles in to wait for the Bright to wake up…
Lan: Dark shadowed figures surround him as he lay helpless on the floor. His body was so very heavy, as if he were suddenly made of lead and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t move. Countless hands, cold and clammy to the touch wrap around his body, stripping what little clothing he has left free of his slender form. He opens his mouth to scream, but nothing happens, nothing comes out. He tries to reach out, to use his magic but as with his voice, it’s been blocked. He can’t do anything, nothing at all. Eyes widen as the serrated edges of gleaming steal blades flash all around him, the sight terrifying when he can do nothing but look on as they close in. Cold metal slides into his arms, his legs, his back, and chest… hot crimson liquid boiling up and staining everything in his vision red… the pain unbearable-
A strangled cry rips free of Lan’s throat as the faceless figures continue to cut more of him away, the pain caused by each carved piece taken forces the heat inside his body to flair to a near suffocating degree. Eyes filmed over white snap open and for a moment the world is blinded in brilliant shades of orange and yellow, the air thick and the smell of smoke so strong in his nose that he nearly chokes. The Bright claws at the fading faces before him, caught momentarily in between consciousness and unconsciousness before he realizes he’s broken free and is no longer sleeping. Blazing flickering tendrils swirl around his body like a whirlwind, lighting up the small room and threatening to burn everything in their path before he manages to snap it all back inside. The fire dies quickly, leaving only a faint discoloration in the stark white walls to indicate their presence at all.
White eyes slide shut and he slips trembling bandaged hands up to cover his face, rolling slowly onto his back with a sigh. Minutes continue to pass, his breathing heavy and labored while the Bright works to quell the fire burning inside him and shake the shadowed faces that always wanted to strip more of him away. Two years since he’d been free and he still hasn’t managed to get it completely under control. When did he fall asleep? He’s normally so careful, only allowing himself the smallest amounts -just enough to get by… but something happened. How long had he been out…? He couldn’t remember.
Lan’s eyes snap open once more and he pulls his fingers away from his face, his gaze moving slowly around the darkened room before he sits himself partially up. The continued movement reopens the fresh wound on his arm and he hisses quietly, yellow eyes moving quickly to the dark stain riddling his white shirt. Furrowing his brows, the Bright simply stares at his arm for a moment in confusion, trying to remember how he managed to gain himself this new mark. Unable to recall, he curls his body completely up, touching at the wound gingerly before sliding his fingers against it to cup it. Heat flares hard beneath his palm and he clenches his teeth while the flesh sears, only pulling his hand away when the small wound has been scorched closed. The Selestarri shuts his eyes and collapses back onto the futon beneath him with another quiet sigh.
The last thing he remembered was walking through that village… it was too small, too close knit, so he’d wanted to get somewhere more secluded. He’d traveled up towards the mountains didn’t he? Why had he been traveling that way though? Wasn’t there something he was looking for…? No, there was someone. He collapsed in the road in front of that someone, he remembers that now. But he probably dreamt the Dark out of desperation; he wouldn’t be surprised with how much they had fucked with his mind during the time they had him. It wouldn’t explain how he ended up inside this room though… but for all he knew this room didn’t actually exist and he was still sleeping in the middle of that road, or… maybe he’d finally died and this was Eviternity … maybe he’d be left alone inside a paper room until the end of time.
The thought strikes him as funny suddenly and he can’t help laughing out loud at it. It was official; he was going insane if he could find any humor in that at all. They’d finally managed to push him over the edge, they must be very happy since they’d been trying to do it for so many years. The amused banter stops immediately when a presence in the doorway catches his attention and pulls him away from his thoughts. Sun warmed eyes travel over to meet storm grey through the darkness and he stares for a moment, not quite sure if what he’s seeing is real or not. He couldn’t make out any features beyond his eyes, only a slender silhouette back lit by the soft glow of the laptop screen shining out from the opposite room.
Lan’s gaze shifts slowly back to the ceiling above him as he reaches up to thread tapered fingers into snow colored locks, speaking quietly more to himself than to the person staring at him from the entrance of the room “I’m beginning to think I’m still back in that lab and any moment they’ll wake me up, content that they broke me further…” he smirks, shaking his head in the slightest, “finding another… it really did seem too good to be true. Though honestly, if I was going to dream up another survivor, you would think I’d dream about someone I knew. So I wonder if I’ve seen you before… or maybe you’re one of them and I’ve just imposed your face onto one of my kind because I needed someone to be alive so badly...” Lan narrows his eyes, his voice dropping low as he continues to speak, “I …can’t remember what they look like anymore… there’s so many, they never stop coming… and I know she’d get angry at me for saying this, but I hate them. I hate every one of them and if they don’t kill me first, or haven’t already managed it - I will find a way to wipe them out for what they’ve done...” The white haired Bright trails, letting another long sigh leave full lips before turning his attention back to the shadowed figure standing silent before him. “Anyway, even if you are a dream or I am dead, thank you …” a soft smile forms on his lips, “thank you for not leaving me in the road.”
Sashi: Wrapping a hand around a steaming cup of tea, Sashi raises it to his lips, gray eyes skimming the paragraph he’d written a few minutes before. It still didn’t read like he wished and he was already over the deadline on this piece which meant if he didn’t get it straightened out soon he’d be subjected to annoying emails from the editor. Normally he liked writing—short stories, essays, novellas, articles, whatever—it was a stress reliever and over the years he’d had dozens of things published under several different names. Not that he needed the money or a career; it was more that it gave him something to do and helped focus his energy and emotions.
Tonight, however, he was way too distracted. His mind slid constantly to the unconscious Bright in the next room, the strange words he’d said in the roadway playing back through his mind again and again. It was just odd that he seemed so surprised, so struck with disbelief. Sashi found it fairly unlikely that he would have been sent anywhere near this region of Japan without a briefing on staying away from here, or at least bringing a large group of other Bright with him. Yet it appears that he’s alone, and the passing out in the middle of the road hadn’t been faked, so it wasn’t a ruse just to gain access to the house… He’d learned over the years not to believe that any of the Selestarri were beyond thinking they could take him on because there was always at least one, but once he’d so willingly distanced himself from the majority of society they had backed off. If it was a Dark who had appeared on his doorstep he probably wouldn’t be so bothered by all this considering how random his faction of the race was, but the fact that it was a Bright and he’d just passed out like that wouldn’t stop plaguing his thoughts.
The whole situation was probably just coincidence. Maybe the Bright had run into trouble while on assignment and he’d been the only other Selestarri he could find. This part of Japan was a little remote and as far as he knew the only others of their race lived down in the southern cities. It would make the comment about being glad to find him more understandable if he’d been on the run from humans or other Dark. There was also the matter the bandages, the worn out shoes, and the almost too thin look of the Bright. It was kind of obvious that he’d been on the road a bit, and if he was in some kind of trouble that would explain why he’s wandering around the mountains. The circumstances were still strange as hell, but it couldn’t be anything more than he was lost and desperate.
Sashi sets down the cup and picks up the pack of cigarettes just as an avalanche of telepathic distress crashes in from the other room. Terror, anger, and pain chased by the sudden buildup of magic and the smell of smoke bring the Dark to his feet. He could sense the nightmare that gripped his guest, not the actual images, but more the constriction and helplessness that the terrible dreams always brought. It’s not the nightmare that bothers him, though—it’s the magic and the smoke. There’s no fucking way he’s going to let another Selestarri unleash that kind of magic in his presence, nor is he going to let him burn his home down. The telepath draws on the energy for a psionic attack, forging it into a strike that will short-circuit the Bright and send him back to unconsciousness when the magic goes abruptly still. The white-haired Selestarri seems to have locked it down. Grudgingly he has to admit that it’s admirable. Magic is a dynamically kinetic force of energy and hard enough to contain at times, but when it gets cranked up like that it’s even worse. Better for the Bright though, that he was able to shut it down before Sashi did it for him.
Crossing the hallway between rooms, he stands cloaked in the shadows, dark gray eyes fixed on the slender Bright curled up tightly, his hand pressed over the same spot that the razor wire had drawn his blood. A small thread of magic with origins he doesn’t recognize flares briefly and the smell of burnt flesh mixes with the myriad of scents that now fill the room. What was that, and maybe even more importantly, how had a Bright ended up with it? Or with the Angelic magic, for that matter?
The white-haired Selestarri flops back on the futon with a sigh and lays still for several moments before laughter—loud and somehow desperate—splits the air. Well, now he had a new idea to add to the possible reasons the Bright had shown up here and the strangeness about it all—the guy is cracked. Not nearly as nuts as some of the Dark he’d met over the years, but maybe not all together, either. It would sure as hell explain a lot of things. …and yet he finds himself annoyed that this might be the case and that his guest could just be insane. It shouldn’t bother him at all since if that’s what’s going on then all of this really was just circumstantial and he’ll be rid of him soon enough, but for reasons he really doesn’t want to figure out right now, it just does…
It takes a moment for Sashi to realize that the Bright is aware of his presence and he lifts his gaze to meet warm yellow. Words tumble out of the other Selestarri, most of which make no sense at all and only further increase the irritation that the telepath feels. When he finally ends with a thank you for not leaving him in the road, it takes a lot not to tell him that he very nearly did. Instead he looks at the Bright a minute longer before speaking, the hint of frost creeping into his tone. “You’ve woken up. This is reality.” Turning, he heads back into his study, but once again Aki’s influence overrides his cold indifference and he adds, “There’s fresh tea if you want it...”
Lan: “You’ve woken up. This is reality.”
He stares at the shadowed figure of the Dark as he moves back across the hallway for a few moments in silence even as words edged in an icy coldness begin to sink in. He’s woken up and this was reality… This is reality. He almost doesn’t want to believe it because it feels like it’s too much to hope for. He feels like he’s been alone forever, some days it felt like he had always been the only one of his kind left, the only one to ever even exist so it was almost too much to hope for, too much to dream that it could actually be another way. But … as yellow eyes shift over to the small scorched mark beneath the torn bandages and the crimson stained shirt at his arm, everything happening feels so very real… The pain he felt from the wound, his eyes slide shut and he takes a deep breath in… the smells from his own magic and the smells from the Dark surrounding him that fill his senses… it’s too crisp, too clear to truly be a dream.
Which means he’s not actually going insane. It means he hasn’t died yet. It means he’s not back in the middle of that road, sleeping or at the lab… It means that things could possibly be as the Dark said… real. He’s woken up and this is reality.
The Bright’s eyes open and he sits up abruptly, practically ripping the blankets free of his body in order to pull himself to his feet. He nearly looses his footing in the movement, finding himself a little dizzy from lack of food and drink but he pushes it all away and quickly steadies himself to make his way across the hallway and into the opposite room. Falling onto his knees just as the dark haired Selestarri is settling before him, grey eyes turn swiftly to meet his, once again caught a little off guard as shaky bandaged fingers are reaching out for him. The Dark’s body moves back instinctively, causing the white haired Selestarri to hesitate and still the path of his fingers momentarily before he stretches long arms completely out to touch lightly at Sashi’s arm. His breath catches as he slides his fingers down along the fabric of the sweater, taking time to let the touch of the other seep in through the wrappings covering his own skin before he halts his movements near the Dark’s forearm. His gaze shifts down and he stares at his own hands as if he half expects the one in his grip to disappear, still finding himself a little uncertain as to if what he holds is honestly real.
A long minute passes before yellow eyes slip closed and he curls his hands around the knitted fabric beneath his palms, dropping his head down in the slightest. “Thank god…” Lan exhales slowly, shaking his head “I didn’t think it was possible…. I’d searched for the last year and never found anyone else. I tried so hard not to let them convince me of it when they had me, for years I fought what they’d said. I fought it so hard because I didn’t want to believe them; I couldn’t believe it was even possible… but…” He lifts his head, sun warmed eyes once again meeting storm grey. “But after I broke free, I never found another… I thought at first maybe they’d messed me up so badly I just couldn’t sense any of us any longer… I’d hoped that’s what had happened anyway, but no matter where I went, there was no one else and so I couldn’t help but think in the end that they had been telling me the truth…” his eyes travel down to his hands and a look of relief washes over his features. “But then I sensed you as I was walking through that village. I thought I might have finally gone insane at first… but here you are. Alive… real… actually real… I don’t think I’ve been this happy in all my life.”
Lan’s expression straightens, his grip on Sashi’s sweater never easing while he continues, “How? How did you survive it? They told me they’d hunted us all down, killed us all… found the Eyrie, found Nova… destroyed everything so how? How did you get away?”
Sashi: The dark-haired telepath draws back as the Bright reaches out to touch him, anger flaring up as bandaged fingers draw close. What the fuck? Does he need to actually spell it out that he doesn’t want to be touched? There were only two people in the world who have that privilege and this stranger isn’t one of them. He shouldn’t have told him there was tea. He should have just made sure that the house wasn’t going to burn down and then called to have him removed. Better yet, he should have left him lying in the damn road. This what he gets for listening to the imaginary Aki in his head when he knows that getting involved in shit never ends up being good. It’s why he lives on a mountain in the middle of nowhere.
Gold shot gray eyes shift from the outstretched hand to meet sun warmed yellow, and the emotions Sashi sees reflected there stop him cold. Relief and desperation tied with a need he knows all too well—the need to touch another person. To feel for just a moment that you aren’t alone in the world, that there’s warmth and life to connect to for even a short time. There had been so many times in the past when he’d been desperate for that kind of reassurance and if he were being truthful, there were still times like that now. It’s not a sexual need, although he’d used that method to relieve himself of the feeling before, it’s deeper than that… instinctual if he had to label it. Whatever it’s technically called, he understands that even though it seems like such a small thing, it could really affect so much.
Holding still, the Dark allows the other Selestarri close, the light touch slowly trailing down the sleeve of his sweater to his forearm before stilling. Yellow eyes are fixed on every movement, but after a moment they slip closed as fingers curl tight and the Bright begins to speak. Sashi listens closely, trying to piece together what was being said, but making little progress. It’s sort of like coming in on a TV show at the twenty-minute mark and trying to understand what’s going on with only ten minutes to go. Something is definitely wrong here, more than just simple confusion…
The words trail off as the questions are pressed upon him and the telepath frowns. “Well, as wonderful as it is that this is the happiest day of your life, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t get away from anything because nothing has happened. Nova and the Eyrie are just as they’ve always been and no one’s been hunted down or destroyed. I don’t know who’s been telling you these things, but they’ve been lying.” The Dark gently pulls his arm away from the white-haired Bright and reaches for the electric teapot. His housekeeper always left out an extra cup when she set out the kettle, as if she hoped he’d have company during the night. Sometimes he wondered if she was disappointed when she returned in the morning to find it unused… Sliding the clean cup across the surface of the heated table, he pours the tea and sets it before his guest.
The Bright looks very confused at the moment, and Sashi doesn’t need to read his thoughts to know that he’s struggling with what he’s been told. “Think about it,” he says quietly, placing the teapot between them and pushing long black bangs from his face. “How would anyone find Nova or the Eyrie? They’re both heavily cloaked in the Greater Magic, and even all the technology of the humans can’t locate them. If they can be masked from satellites and radar, it stands to reason that finding them is practically impossible unless you know exactly where to look ? So, even if that were to happen, it would take some serious fire power to destroy either of them.” Reaching for his pack of cigarettes, the Dark takes one from the box before sliding it toward his guest. “I’ve only ever met one person with the ability to do that, and there is a very adamant and unfailingly good roadblock standing in his way.” Aki may not live on the Eyrie anymore, but he would never let anything happen to it or to Nova, for that matter.
A spark of magic lights the tip of the cigarette and Sashi inhales deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment before letting it out. “As to why you haven’t sensed any of us since you... broke free, I don’t have an answer other then to say that wandering around remote mountain areas is a poor place to look. Although…” He easily pushes his telepathy past the other Selestarri’s barriers and just far enough into the Bright’s mind to find what he’s looking for before pulling back. “Maybe it has something to do with the other kinds of magic running around inside of you, Kealani…”
Lan: the Bright sits in stunned silence for the space of a few minutes even after Sashi’s words have ended, trying to ingest everything that’s been said and finding it more than difficult to actually do so. Yellow eyes shift to the side and he slowly turns his body, pulling his knees up to his front while falling a little heavily back against the kotatsu behind him. Bandaged arms slide up to rest across his knees and he curls his body forward, dropping his head partially down in between his legs a moment later. “Bastards…” he whispers, pulling his hands up to thread into messy white strands without ever removing his elbows from his knees. The Selestarri was finding it a little difficult to breath, and he closes his eyes against the rapidly rising temperature of his body while the possibilities of what Sashi has said continue to stream through his head.
Nothing has changed. The Eyrie… Nova… both still there along with everyone contained within. Damnit, he knew it; he knew it couldn’t be true. How many fucking years had he been fighting their brainwashing, trying with everything he had to fight off the bullshit they kept feeding into him when he was under? He’d lost count. He knew though, knew that his race couldn’t be wiped out so easily. But years of testing, years of experiments, years of being drugged to hell, years of being stripped away piece by piece… he’d finally broken near the end. He’d actually believed it; actually let himself think he was truly the last. That those humans and the Angels they worked for had completely destroyed everyone and everything he knew. Yellow eyes partially filmed in white open to stare down at the mats beneath his body as he continues to fight the array of emotions bombarding him. This changes everything … everything. His home, their people, they’re all still there… he’s not alone. Fuck, he doesn’t know what angers him more – the fact that those bastards did this to him or the fact that he gave in. He clenches his teeth and takes in a few deep breaths, closing his eyes again and pushing the anger back in an attempt to quell the fire building inside his chest. He really will find a way to kill them all for what they’ve done… he doesn’t care how long it takes, he won’t let them do what they did to anyone else.
It takes a few minutes for him to push the fire within into near stillness and once done he slowly untwines his fingers from his hair, slightly faded yellow finally rising as he straightens. Lan twists his narrow frame around suddenly and reaches for the pack of cigarettes behind him to slip one free. Turning back, he doesn’t meet the Dark’s gaze as he slides his free hand up, focusing the heat into his fingertips in order to light it. He inhales deeply, holding the smoke inside for a long while before finally letting it out and returning his arms to his up turned knees. Sun warmed eyes travel out into the hallway to the darkened room beyond as quiet thoughts touch Sashi’s mind a moment later. [It’s been nearly twenty years since I’ve had one of these…] He sighs […she hated them. Said it bothered her ‘friends’ and so she wouldn’t ever let me smoke them when we were home…] The Bright pulls the cigarette back up to his lips and takes another drag, tilting his head up and blowing the smoke towards the ceiling above. [So I really only smoked when we came down on assignment… even then she used to nag me about it. It always kind of annoyed me… the little snide comments she made about the smell, and at times I’d do it just because I knew she hated it and I wanted to get under her skin.] Lan smirks. [Truthfully though and as terrible as it sounds, I really did love the faces she made when she got angry so I think that’s why I kept with it… she was just so cute when she scrunched her nose up that I really couldn’t help myself...] The white haired Selestarri narrows his eyes, his voice dropping a little low [I think if I could, I’d tell her I was sorry for it because it was such a stupid reason to make her mad...]
He trails, continuing to stare into the darkened room across the hallway in silence for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. [I’m not sure I know what to do now… a few minutes ago I was just so… overwhelmed by the fact that after all this time I found another person alive. I’ve spent years on the run, hoping to find someone else… and when I saw you... I swear, you had to be the most beautiful thing I’d seen in my life since her. I didn’t even care that you were Dark, it wasn’t like I was going to be picky about factions since up until that point, I’d believed I was the last. And really to be fair, they’ve messed me up so badly that I’m not sure I even qualify as a true Bright anymore so I’d hoped it wouldn’t matter to you either...] Lan turns himself back finally, reaching behind him to flick the long line of ash from the tip of his cigarette into the tray resting near the kettle before calm yellow eyes rise to meet reserved grey. The Bright stares at Sashi for a moment before offering a smile while reaching up to tap the side of his head briefly [Well, you took my name already so I figured you wouldn’t mind talking this way. Go ahead and have a look at the rest if you want, it’s all there… I won’t even fight it...] Twisting back to the front, he slides his legs farther up and settles back against the table once more. [It’d be easier than explaining it all anyway…] The Selestarri pulls the cigarette up to his lips and inhales deeply once more, closing his eyes and dropping his head back with a sigh as he lets the smoke out […maybe in exchange you’ll give me your name… I still haven’t managed to get it all under control since it happened so trying to find out for myself probably isn’t a good idea at the moment since all that ‘other’ kind of magic running around inside me can be… pretty unstable…]
Sashi: The cigarette held between long, tanned fingers burns away as the Bright speaks, smoke beginning to cloud in the air above the two Selestarri. Sashi periodically reaches forward to knock the ash into the well-used tray, but otherwise he remains unmoving and quiet until Kealani’s words trail off. He can still sense the magic that had built up and was quickly stifled by the Bright, the same fire and heat from before and altogether different from the Selestarri or Angelic magic that also moved through him. Grudgingly, the Dark has to admit that it makes his guest interesting. Who had lied to him and why did it sound like he hadn’t been to the Eyrie in a while? The Bright always stayed close to their floating island unless they were on assignment, so why does he seem so disconnected?
Annoyance flares once again in the telepath at suddenly finding so much interest in someone he had been intent on leaving in the middle of the road. There’s a reason that he doesn’t deal with other people until the loneliness gets to be too much, a reason why he stays away. It’s just better this way for everyone and involves a lot less hurt. He knows this and yet he can’t stifle the curiosity. Why the fuck did he turn around and go back? He should have just called for someone to come get the Bright and kept walking…
Frowning, Sashi wraps his free hand around the cup of hot tea and raises it to his lips. [Well, I’m glad you didn’t let your innate Bright snobbery override your excitement at seeing another Selestarri. Must have been hard to overcome.] Sarcasm is laced heavily through each word, brought on by an entire lifetime of being disliked by the Bright, even when he was one of them and tried so hard to abide by their ethics and laws. [I may be a Dark, but I could give a fuck about the factions. I drew my boundaries with them a long time ago and they’ve all learned to respect the distance.] There had been a learning curve, and more than a few dead bodies, but eventually he’d gotten it across that if they left him alone, he’d do the same with them. Everyone got what they wanted in the end and now he only needed to deal with any of them on the holidays and the few rare occasions that one of them dared to come out here.
Taking another sip of tea, he places the cup on the table and turns storm gray eyes to the back of the white-haired Bright’s head [It’s nice of you to offer me access, although I can take any information that I want from you whether you fight me or not. I’ll admit, too, that I’m curious as to why you thought you were the last of us and where you got that other magic from.] The other Selestarri turns around to look at him once again, their eyes holding for a long moment before Sashi continues. [I won’t do it, though. People have their secrets, Kealani, and I can respect that. However, I will strongly suggest that unstable magic or not, you don’t attempt to find out what mine are. I don’t take kindly to other people trying to get into my head.] He understands the need for space and secrets and even though he wants to know what had brought Kealani out here, he means what he says. [I’ll save you the trouble and possible loss of control, though, and tell you that my name is Sashi…]
Grinding out the end of the cigarette, Sashi drops his gaze and pulls the kotatsu blanket closer around his legs. Fucking mountain seasons were always so cold… Reaching under the table, he adjusts the heat level and glances back up to find warm yellow eyes still looking at him. Pushing long, dark hair from his face he reaches for the teapot to refill his cup, slightly unnerved at the way he’s being stared at. He’s gotten this same reaction before when people find out who he is and it always makes him uncomfortable. [Look, if you want to go home, I can easily find out where the Eyrie currently is. Even if you smell like cigarettes, I’m sure your girlfriend will be happy to see you...]
Lan: [Partner…] he says, finally pulling his eyes away from the Dark in order to flick the lingering ash of his cigarette into the tray behind him. [She was my partner…] he trails momentarily. He hated the way that ‘was’ sounded, hated the finality of his words… it left a bitter taste in his mouth that he didn’t like at all. Without looking back up, he pulls the cigarette to his lips to take in one final drag before snuffing the last of it out. [And thank you for the offer, but I think I’d rather stay down here right now.] What would he go home to? He’s no longer even a resemblance of himself anymore; he hasn’t been for years now. And while he’s happier than he can even convey in words to find that the Eyrie still exists and that everyone really is still alive… how could he return? He’d wondered so many times while under if they were even looking for him or if any of them even wondered what had happened to him? Or did they assume he was dead like her, write him off as lost and then move on…?
He sighs softly, sliding his legs down and shifting back enough to wrap bandaged fingers around the small cup of cooling tea. It doesn’t matter in the end because he’s grounded anyway. In one form or another, the Eyrie is probably lost to him… and has been for many years. Pulling the cup to his lips, he drinks the contents in one quick gulp, his thirst not even feeling close to satiated from it. [Besides, I’m enjoying the company too much to leave.] The Bright sets his cup back down on the table and smiles up at Sashi before slipping another cigarette free of the pack. Keeping it in between long fingers without bothering to light it, Lan settles back against the table once more, staring ahead at the crisp paper walls at the far end of the study.
[…I don’t want to impose on you any more than I have though, so if you want me gone, I’ll leave. I was heading for the mountains anyway, so I can just keep going.] The Bright stops and goes quiet while he continues to stare ahead. He hopes though, that despite his words, maybe he’ll be able to stick around for a while longer. It’s the first time in far too many years that he hasn’t felt so alone and he’s not in any hurry to lose it. Finally pulling the cigarette up to his mouth, he focuses another small flare to light the tip. [If you don’t mind though, I’d like to get in a bath first. I’ve been on my feet for days and kind of ran my funds a little dry so I couldn’t really stop in that village to rent a room. I had a place in the last city I was in, but it cost way more than it should have and when I had to move on the only option for me was public bathe.] He shakes his head, inhaling deeply and holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment longer than he should before letting it out. [I’m not real… comfortable with public bathe. I know we don’t smell anywhere near as bad as Humans do even at our worst, but I’d still like to get clean before I hit the road again…] he slides his hand over to his arm and touches at the burnt wound beneath blood stained bandages and torn cloth. [That and I should probably wash this shirt and rewrap this. I have no clue how I managed to get myself this one, but since I had to leave all my clothing behind in the last place, it’s not like I can really cover it up to hide it.]
Sun warmed eyes finally shift away from the wall and over to meet storm grey as a thoughtful look crosses over his features, once again spending a few moments just staring at the Dark in silence. [You… aren’t like any Dark I ever remember running in to Sashi… and I’m trying to figure out why your name sounds so familiar…] The white haired Selestarri thinks on it for a minute longer before continuing [It’s hard to remember anything straight these days. It’s taken me a lot longer to piece my mind back together than it took for them to destroy it…] he smirks, twisting around to tap the ash away from the dwindling cigarette [Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s a beautiful name, suits you real well. Thanks for staying out of my head, despite you being able to take it easily as you said. I respect that and I’ll do the same, so no more warnings needed. I may be Bright but I’m not an idiot.] Lan lets out a small amused laugh and slides the smoldering stick up to his mouth, cupping it in between his lips. Pulling his legs up, he rests his arms across his knees and nods towards his front while yellow eyes shift to the side to meet grey. [Here -you look like you’re cold so to show my thanks for the bed, tea and company – I’ll do what I can to heat this place up for a while.]
The Bright’s gaze shifts back to his front and he narrows his eyes. It only takes a moment before tendrils of white fire begin to form in the air before him. The lines of flame seem to appear from nowhere, each one twisting out and circling around each other to form a small ball about the size of a baseball. Each new one added joins the writhing mass until it’s doubled in size. Ash goes unnoticed as it falls from the cigarette in his mouth, his face set in hard concentration to his task. The turning ball of flame remains suspended for the space of a few moments before suddenly dispersing out with a small quiet crack. A hard wave of heat washes over the entire room, the aftershock sending hair and clothing all about. Lan lets out a long sigh, sliding his fingers up to messed white strands in order to brush them away from his face [It took me this entire year to get that working the way I wanted it to] he glances over at Sashi and smiles as the room’s temperature rises rapidly around them […I still struggle with it more than I’m comfortable with, but I’m getting there at least.]
Sashi: The solid wave of heat warms the air and the Dark closes his eyes as it sinks into him. God, he hates the cold so much. Every winter seems to get a little more frigid and even with his spells it felt harder and harder to truly get warm. Whatever kind of magic allows Kealani to do this was worth spending a year trying to control. Gray eyes slowly open to find warm yellow looking his way once again. [I’m always cold, so… thanks…] Turning away, he picks up the tea kettle again and refills both their cups before reaching under the table to turn off the heater. [You’re about half right,] he says after a moment of silence has passed between them. [In some ways I’m not like other Dark, but in others, I most certainly am. I’m sure it’s hard to believe, but perhaps you Bright are wrong about us when it comes to some things.] He used to think that all the Dark were evil, that they could only destroy, but while it was true that some were like that, there were others like him who wished only to be left alone.
Quiet falls over the study once again, the faint sound of crickets drifting in through the thick, winter-shuddered walls that had replaced the thin, rice paper summer ones just a few days ago. Sipping at the fresh cup of tea, Sashi lets the hot liquid warm a path to his stomach before setting it back down. [I’m sorry about your partner.] Slender fingers push thick strands of hair away from his eyes before he reaches for the cigarettes. Slipping one free of the pack, he lights it and takes a long drag. [I know how hard it is to lose someone who’s that close…] Someone who you live for and would die for, someone who means everything in the world… Curling his scarred hand tight around a handful of the kotatsu’s blanket, he sighs quietly. Aki wasn’t dead, of course, and they still saw one another, but it had been very hard to get over what he’d done when he’d broken their partnership, and in a way it had been like dealing with a death. For years he’d blamed himself for ruining everything, even when he’d only broken their partnership because he thought it was in Aki’s best interest. Slowly, the passage of time had helped him come to terms with what had happened and he’d moved on. It was easily the most difficult thing he’d ever done, even harder than becoming a Warden. [Someday…] Storm gray eyes catch and hold sun-warmed yellow as the Bright turns to knock the ash off the end of his own cigarette. [Someday it won’t hurt quite as much.] And it wouldn’t, that much he knows for fact. He may not be good at relating to others, but that was the one thing he knew was true for everyone. Time was the great healer. It couldn’t erase things completely, but it did allow life to move forward.
Well, perhaps more accurately, time allowed things to move forward, but it didn’t fix everything. He was still as poor at social situations as ever, still unable to form friendships or do much beyond forced niceties when it was absolutely necessary. Aki had always taken care of dealing with others for both of them and once their partnership had ended, he’d just closed himself off as much as he could. Even now, even when he understood all of that about himself, he still can’t read people right. Kealani hadn’t been staring at him because he recognized him, it was only because his own head was messed up somehow and Sashi had just seemed familiar to him. Once again, he’d gotten it wrong. Fuck, it just doesn’t make sense that he can be so strong a telepath that he can sense people’s thoughts in the next town several miles away, and yet be so bad at understanding others. Aki and Zeph were probably right when they said if he practiced more and exposed himself to situations where he needed to deal with people for more than just one night of fucking, he might get better at it, but he seriously doubts it. There’s a certain level of opening up that has to happen when making those kinds of connections and he’s just unable to do it...
[It’s a big house…] The thought slips out before he’s able to catch it and a flash of surprise crosses the Dark’s face. What the hell is he saying?! This is not a fucking bed and breakfast or some kind of halfway house for random Selestarri who happen to wander by. That would be the last thing he’d need to have get spread around Nova or the Eyrie. [Look, I meant—] Sashi stops short when a tiny flicker of relief passes through yellow eyes. What was that about? He couldn’t have been serious about it when he said that he was enjoying the company, could he? [Um,] Sashi falters, unsure for a moment as to what he should do. He supposes he could always kick him out later if having someone else around got to be an issue... [There’s a bathroom down the hall and a small hot spring on the south side of the house. If you leave your clothes in the hall, the housekeeper will wash them in the morning.] Lifting the cigarette to his lips, the telepath inhales deeply and stares down at the top of the table. Seriously, he must be losing his damn mind…
Lan: yellow eyes stay locked on Sashi as he takes in the new warmth of the room, finding himself unable to pull away from simply watching the other Selestarri’s every feature. For as much as they looked like humans, there was still something so different, something he’d missed very much. Perhaps it was the magic tainting their blood or it was the knowledge of what lies beneath, he didn’t know. But whatever it was really set them apart and he’d missed sharing the company with another of his own more than he could say. Pulled from his thoughts and caught by storm grey eyes, the Bright nods and flicks ash free of his cigarette before turning and settling back against the table once more. [Maybe so] he says quietly, sliding his free arm up to rest on his knee […a long time ago I wouldn’t have even considered entertaining thoughts of us being wrong about anything at all, but…] Lan pulls the cigarette to his lips and inhales deeply [that was a very long time ago…]
Before he watched a person he loved more than life itself get struck down right in front of his eyes. Before he knew of the existence of those creatures calling themselves ‘Angels’. Before he had nearly twenty years of his life stolen from him for reasons he’s still unsure of. Before his body was mutilated beyond recognition by the hands of humans he’d worked his life to protect and long before he found himself sitting side by side to a Dark with no feelings of hate or animosity… enjoying his company and finding himself hoping more than anything he won’t be told to leave.
His gaze drops down to the mats beneath him as the Dark continues, only managing a slight nod in response to Sashi’s comforting words. He’d like to say he believes him, because from his tone it sounds like he really does know what it’s like to suffer a loss that great. He’d like to believe that time will heal the wounds and there will come a day when even thinking about her won’t be quite as painful, but he has serious doubts. Since the day he’d lost her, a cold hallow pit had opened up deep within him that not even the fire streaming throughout could warm and no matter how hard they’d tried to strip him of everything he was, it was one of the few things they never managed to take away. Sashi’s eyes meet his as he turns back to flick more ash free of his cigarette into the well used tray and the white haired Selestarri offers him a weak smile before taking a final drag and snuffing the end out. […I’ll take your word for it…] he says quietly without meeting the Telepath’s eye. [And thanks…]
Lan can’t stifle the look of relief that crosses his features when the house and bathroom is offered to him after the few moments of uneasy hesitation by the raven haired Selestarri [Perfect!] the Bright grins, reaching up to push bandaged fingers into messy white strands and away from his eyes. Sun warmed orbs lock on the Dark once again, smiling in appreciation at him despite the other man’s gaze being locked on the table below [I appreciate it Sashi… more than you know…]