Zafira was the first to notice something was wrong, it didn't take long for Hayate to figure it out herself. After all, when metallic spider-like creatures with a single eye started popping out of the walls and surrounding them, it was pretty easy to figure out that something was wrong. When a door slid down, blocking their access out, it became pretty clear that something was going on.
Suddenly, the creatures made a loud noise and jumped at Zafira and Hayate, only to find clear blue-white spikes crashing through the walls and floors, piercing a majority of them.
"This isn't good." Zafira muttered as his Steel Yolk spell dissipated.
Hayate nodded and took a breath. "I can get off, Zafira." She tried to slide off of his body, but the stubborn wolf shifted with her. "Zafira!"
"I can fight just fine, even with you on my back, Hayate. You aren't that heavy." Heck, for some reason, he could recall a time that he had to carry Shamal, Signum and Vita on his back at the same time and still had to fight. Hayate's weight was negligible in comparison.
Before Hayate could say anything, both felt a soft pulse fill the room and the metal creatures started to pull themselves together. "We should move." Zafira muttered and took off down the hallway. He could stay and fight them as long as he needed to, but things like this never ended well.
Hayate frowned as she looked behind her as the metallic creatures suddenly screeched and raced towards them. "Zafira, keep moving, I'm going to stop them." She spun around and called out her staff, before chanting softly. A ring appeared in front of her, forming a ball of energy in the process. "Scatter Burst." She whispered as the ball scattered into small balls of light and arced straight for each one of the metal creatures, smashing through them before changing direction and smashing into others, leaving the hallway behind them a mess of scrap and smoke.
"Impressive." Zafira muttered as he glanced a look back.
Hayate giggled at that. "Not really. I just made a bunch of loose magic come together then shot it off in parts. Reinforce has been helping me use smaller bits of magic." She still had trouble with it, but Reinforce did have a point, big spells were good for only two things, destroying large amounts of enemies in wide open spaces and terrifying people. They had other uses, but Hayate remembered a conversation a couple of weeks ago.
*Flash*
"Using large spells, Hayate, aren't good for enclosed spaces, because the destructive yield of spells like the Hræsvelgr and Diabolic Emission are incredible and could cause you harm when in areas such as buildings." The less said about the Nemesis Breaker, the better.
"So, I need to use smaller spells?" Hayate blinked as Reinforce nodded at her. "But, I'm not good with smaller spells very well."
"I know, that's my fault. However, you can use the Bloody Dagger, correct?" Hayate nodded and Reinforce smiled softly. "Then, what I'm going to teach you is simple. Just gather magic in front of you, into a ball, then will small pieces of it to go flying at the targets."
Hayate nodded and focused, a ring appeared in front of her as magic gathered in it. She gasped as she fired a small bolt of magic across the field and into the far target. It wasn't a perfect bulls-eye, in fact, it barely hit the target, but it was still better than her last fourteen tries, three of which accidentally destroyed two skyscrapers and a US Aircraft Carrier.
Both Hayate and Reinforce were glad that their barriers kept the destruction out of phase, otherwise it would be a pain to explain to everyone what happened.
*Flash*
"I'm still not good at it." Hayate admitted to Zafira. "I can only give general directions to them, Nanoha-chan can control her Axel Shooter precisely, right?"
"You aren't Nanoha, you are Hayate Yagami." Zafira said as he turned a corner. "Just be the best you can be with your own magic, that's all we ask." He suddenly stopped and Hayate was flung forward, the back of her head meeting Zafira's.
"Oww! Zafira! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but we have another problem." Hayate turned to look and gasped as several larger metal creatures, these ones looking like giant preying mantises, appeared in front of them. "Hang on tight, there's an open room behind them, if I can get past them, we'll both have room to fly."
Hayate nodded as Zafira growled and barriers appeared around him. He blinked as several swords suddenly materialized around him, one at each shoulder and four around his head, all pointing at the creatures. "Hayate?"
"I'm not letting you fight this alone, Zafira, we're a family, we fight together!"
Zafira smiled and rushed forward, a blue blur trailing behind him as his barriers and Hayate's swords smashed into and through the creatures, knocking them over. Once inside, Hayate jumped off of Zafira's back and the wolf in question shifted to his human form as the creatures, looking no worse for wear, suddenly burst in. "Hayate."
"I see them." Hayate gulped as the small creatures started coming through holes in the walls. "What are they?"
"No clue." Zafira's eyes widened as the small ones all started to fire laser beams at them. They weren't enough to pierce his barriers, but there was enough that he couldn't do much while he was blocking.
"Scatter Burst." Hayate got in front of him as she let her attack fly in all directions in front of her. The small metal creatures were destroyed, but the larger creatures easily withstood the attack. Hayate shrieked as the creatures suddenly moved, bouncing off the walls in a blur and smashing into Zafira's shields.
"I can't attack them like this." Zafira muttered, though that didn't stop him from kicking one that was cutting through his barrier. "What the heck?"
"Keep the barrier up then, Zafira." Hayate muttered and closed her eyes as a triangle appeared under her. "I can keep this small enough..."
Zafira looked up and his eyes widened at the black ball that was appearing overhead. His arms wrapped around Hayate and held her close as he held his barrier as hard as he could. He nearly dropped it when Hayate mumbled out two words that had him stiffen in slight terror.
"I hope." She looked up and snapped her staff down. "Diabolic Emission!"
The shock wave, pressure and magic expanded, engulfing the two of them, as well as the machines, shattering their frames and sending them crashing to the ground below.
When it was over, Zafira let go of Hayate. "Well, there's one thing that's certain, there has to be something here worth defending if these creatures are attacking us."
"Technically, we attacked first." Hayate pointed out and Zafira sweat-dropped at the truth of her words.
Page Claim for mecha bugs.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Posted the slightly revised version of Future Tense, Chapter 30: Storm of Battle to ff.net. Not too major of changes, but most of the ones people have suggested through various channels. Thanks again for the commentary!
So now Nanoha's been equipped with Fortress from the very beginning?
Yuuno groaned as he put his hand to his throbbing head. He forced himself to sit up in bed, fighting off the dizziness he normally experienced the morning after a party. He’d long since lost track of the number of times he vowed to spend the night sober, but despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to turn down an offered drink. He’d get swept along in the pace of the other party goers and it wasn’t long before he was totally plastered.
He was relieved to see that he was in his own room at least. Once he had woken up on the back of a bus that was already five towns over and he was forced to walk back. The exercise had gotten the grogginess out of his system.
Something else got the groggy out this time. It was the realization of fabric against bare flesh. He took a peek under the covers and confirmed that he was indeed totally naked. The act of lifting the covers had the secondary effect of releasing a burst of scent. The scent in question was a familiar one of sweat and various other bodily fluids.
Yuuno went rigid as he determined the scenario. It had only happened a few times before, but he recognised the signs that he hadn’t returned alone that night. He slowly turned his head to see who was there with him.
The bed was empty.
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
It was possible that his partner was simply elsewhere in his apartment, so he hastily grabbed his boxers from the floor and yanked them on. That he might find his apartment trashed or robbed or both was another concern he wanted to confirm immediately.
Luckily his possessions were all in order, so another embarrassing claim wasn’t in his future. His bathroom was empty, but the shower was still slightly damp from recent use. His kitchen was as he had left it with no sign of anyone trying to fix themselves breakfast. Or lunch, as the wall clock pointed out.
Yuuno sighed again. It seemed his company had already vacated the premises, leaving not even a note behind. He pondered if he should attempt to discern the identity of his most recent mate, but that knowledge could make things awkward between them. Maybe it was best to leave it alone?
His thoughts were interrupted by arms draping themselves over his chest and soft flesh pressing against his bare back. The arms were slender and the flesh was ample. It was definitely a woman.
“Good afternoon.” She breathed into his ear. “You were incredible.”
Yuuno froze, a sheen of sweat forming on his body. He knew that voice.
“Wha… bu… you… me… huh… wai… we…” Yuuno sputtered out attempted protests as he felt himself being pulled back towards the bedroom. “Can’t…”
Spoiler for :
“I beg to differ.” Lindy purred as she pulled him down onto the bed.
Zafira was the first to notice something was wrong, it didn't take long for Hayate to figure it out herself. After all, when metallic spider-like creatures with a single eye started popping out of the walls and surrounding them, it was pretty easy to figure out that something was wrong. When a door slid down, blocking their access out, it became pretty clear that something was going on.
Suddenly, the creatures made a loud noise and jumped at Zafira and Hayate, only to find clear blue-white spikes crashing through the walls and floors, piercing a majority of them.
"This isn't good." Zafira muttered as his Steel Yolk spell dissipated.
Hayate nodded and took a breath. "I can get off, Zafira." She tried to slide off of his body, but the stubborn wolf shifted with her. "Zafira!"
"I can fight just fine, even with you on my back, Hayate. You aren't that heavy." Heck, for some reason, he could recall a time that he had to carry Shamal, Signum and Vita on his back at the same time and still had to fight. Hayate's weight was negligible in comparison.
Before Hayate could say anything, both felt a soft pulse fill the room and the metal creatures started to pull themselves together. "We should move." Zafira muttered and took off down the hallway. He could stay and fight them as long as he needed to, but things like this never ended well.
Hayate frowned as she looked behind her as the metallic creatures suddenly screeched and raced towards them. "Zafira, keep moving, I'm going to stop them." She spun around and called out her staff, before chanting softly. A ring appeared in front of her, forming a ball of energy in the process. "Scatter Burst." She whispered as the ball scattered into small balls of light and arced straight for each one of the metal creatures, smashing through them before changing direction and smashing into others, leaving the hallway behind them a mess of scrap and smoke.
"Impressive." Zafira muttered as he glanced a look back.
Hayate giggled at that. "Not really. I just made a bunch of loose magic come together then shot it off in parts. Reinforce has been helping me use smaller bits of magic." She still had trouble with it, but Reinforce did have a point, big spells were good for only two things, destroying large amounts of enemies in wide open spaces and terrifying people. They had other uses, but Hayate remembered a conversation a couple of weeks ago.
*Flash*
"Using large spells, Hayate, aren't good for enclosed spaces, because the destructive yield of spells like the Hræsvelgr and Diabolic Emission are incredible and could cause you harm when in areas such as buildings." The less said about the Nemesis Breaker, the better.
"So, I need to use smaller spells?" Hayate blinked as Reinforce nodded at her. "But, I'm not good with smaller spells very well."
"I know, that's my fault. However, you can use the Bloody Dagger, correct?" Hayate nodded and Reinforce smiled softly. "Then, what I'm going to teach you is simple. Just gather magic in front of you, into a ball, then will small pieces of it to go flying at the targets."
Hayate nodded and focused, a ring appeared in front of her as magic gathered in it. She gasped as she fired a small bolt of magic across the field and into the far target. It wasn't a perfect bulls-eye, in fact, it barely hit the target, but it was still better than her last fourteen tries, three of which accidentally destroyed two skyscrapers and a US Aircraft Carrier.
Both Hayate and Reinforce were glad that their barriers kept the destruction out of phase, otherwise it would be a pain to explain to everyone what happened.
*Flash*
"I'm still not good at it." Hayate admitted to Zafira. "I can only give general directions to them, Nanoha-chan can control her Axel Shooter precisely, right?"
"You aren't Nanoha, you are Hayate Yagami." Zafira said as he turned a corner. "Just be the best you can be with your own magic, that's all we ask." He suddenly stopped and Hayate was flung forward, the back of her head meeting Zafira's.
"Oww! Zafira! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but we have another problem." Hayate turned to look and gasped as several larger metal creatures, these ones looking like giant preying mantises, appeared in front of them. "Hang on tight, there's an open room behind them, if I can get past them, we'll both have room to fly."
Hayate nodded as Zafira growled and barriers appeared around him. He blinked as several swords suddenly materialized around him, one at each shoulder and four around his head, all pointing at the creatures. "Hayate?"
"I'm not letting you fight this alone, Zafira, we're a family, we fight together!"
Zafira smiled and rushed forward, a blue blur trailing behind him as his barriers and Hayate's swords smashed into and through the creatures, knocking them over. Once inside, Hayate jumped off of Zafira's back and the wolf in question shifted to his human form as the creatures, looking no worse for wear, suddenly burst in. "Hayate."
"I see them." Hayate gulped as the small creatures started coming through holes in the walls. "What are they?"
"No clue." Zafira's eyes widened as the small ones all started to fire laser beams at them. They weren't enough to pierce his barriers, but there was enough that he couldn't do much while he was blocking.
"Scatter Burst." Hayate got in front of him as she let her attack fly in all directions in front of her. The small metal creatures were destroyed, but the larger creatures easily withstood the attack. Hayate shrieked as the creatures suddenly moved, bouncing off the walls in a blur and smashing into Zafira's shields.
"I can't attack them like this." Zafira muttered, though that didn't stop him from kicking one that was cutting through his barrier. "What the heck?"
"Keep the barrier up then, Zafira." Hayate muttered and closed her eyes as a triangle appeared under her. "I can keep this small enough..."
Zafira looked up and his eyes widened at the black ball that was appearing overhead. His arms wrapped around Hayate and held her close as he held his barrier as hard as he could. He nearly dropped it when Hayate mumbled out two words that had him stiffen in slight terror.
"I hope." She looked up and snapped her staff down. "Diabolic Emission!"
The shock wave, pressure and magic expanded, engulfing the two of them, as well as the machines, shattering their frames and sending them crashing to the ground below.
When it was over, Zafira let go of Hayate. "Well, there's one thing that's certain, there has to be something here worth defending if these creatures are attacking us."
"Technically, we attacked first." Hayate pointed out and Zafira sweat-dropped at the truth of her words.
Page Claim for mecha bugs.
Mecha bugs, well at least it's not leprechauns I suppose. If Hayate can master close range magical combat it would make her a real terror in battle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 00-Raiser
Something Nanya wanted me to do.
Spoiler for Morning Mystery:
Yuuno groaned as he put his hand to his throbbing head. He forced himself to sit up in bed, fighting off the dizziness he normally experienced the morning after a party. He’d long since lost track of the number of times he vowed to spend the night sober, but despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to turn down an offered drink. He’d get swept along in the pace of the other party goers and it wasn’t long before he was totally plastered.
He was relieved to see that he was in his own room at least. Once he had woken up on the back of a bus that was already five towns over and he was forced to walk back. The exercise had gotten the grogginess out of his system.
Something else got the groggy out this time. It was the realization of fabric against bare flesh. He took a peek under the covers and confirmed that he was indeed totally naked. The act of lifting the covers had the secondary effect of releasing a burst of scent. The scent in question was a familiar one of sweat and various other bodily fluids.
Yuuno went rigid as he determined the scenario. It had only happened a few times before, but he recognised the signs that he hadn’t returned alone that night. He slowly turned his head to see who was there with him.
The bed was empty.
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
It was possible that his partner was simply elsewhere in his apartment, so he hastily grabbed his boxers from the floor and yanked them on. That he might find his apartment trashed or robbed or both was another concern he wanted to confirm immediately.
Luckily his possessions were all in order, so another embarrassing claim wasn’t in his future. His bathroom was empty, but the shower was still slightly damp from recent use. His kitchen was as he had left it with no sign of anyone trying to fix themselves breakfast. Or lunch, as the wall clock pointed out.
Yuuno sighed again. It seemed his company had already vacated the premises, leaving not even a note behind. He pondered if he should attempt to discern the identity of his most recent mate, but that knowledge could make things awkward between them. Maybe it was best to leave it alone?
His thoughts were interrupted by arms draping themselves over his chest and soft flesh pressing against his bare back. The arms were slender and the flesh was ample. It was definitely a woman.
“Good afternoon.” She breathed into his ear. “You were incredible.”
Yuuno froze, a sheen of sweat forming on his body. He knew that voice.
“Wha… bu… you… me… huh… wai… we…” Yuuno sputtered out attempted protests as he felt himself being pulled back towards the bedroom. “Can’t…”
Spoiler for :
“I beg to differ.” Lindy purred as she pulled him down onto the bed.
Why was I expecting it to be Arf?
That would be an embarrasing claim wouldn't it?
Yuuno held the phone to his ear waiting for it to stop ringing. When he finally got through to emergency services he heard a young woman ask.
"Hello and how may I help you?"
"I'd like to report stolen property."
"Very well sir, what was stolen?"
"A television, two antique statues and a microwave oven."
"When did this happen, sir?"
"Some time this morning."
"Where were you, sir?"
"I'd rather not say."
"I'm afraid we need the information for the investigation, sir."
"I was lying in bed naked trying to remember who I slept with last night."
"V... very well... sir, w-we'll get right on it."
Yuuno sighed as he hung up the phone, there was no way this was gonna look good on his records.
__________________
"The eyes are the windows that let us gaze upon the soul"
"When desperate there are two choices: Lock shields for the last stand or draw your sword for the final charge"
"There are no winners or losers, there are only the living and the dead."
Yuuno groaned as he put his hand to his throbbing head. He forced himself to sit up in bed, fighting off the dizziness he normally experienced the morning after a party. He’d long since lost track of the number of times he vowed to spend the night sober, but despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to turn down an offered drink. He’d get swept along in the pace of the other party goers and it wasn’t long before he was totally plastered.
He was relieved to see that he was in his own room at least. Once he had woken up on the back of a bus that was already five towns over and he was forced to walk back. The exercise had gotten the grogginess out of his system.
Something else got the groggy out this time. It was the realization of fabric against bare flesh. He took a peek under the covers and confirmed that he was indeed totally naked. The act of lifting the covers had the secondary effect of releasing a burst of scent. The scent in question was a familiar one of sweat and various other bodily fluids.
Yuuno went rigid as he determined the scenario. It had only happened a few times before, but he recognised the signs that he hadn’t returned alone that night. He slowly turned his head to see who was there with him.
The bed was empty.
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
It was possible that his partner was simply elsewhere in his apartment, so he hastily grabbed his boxers from the floor and yanked them on. That he might find his apartment trashed or robbed or both was another concern he wanted to confirm immediately.
Luckily his possessions were all in order, so another embarrassing claim wasn’t in his future. His bathroom was empty, but the shower was still slightly damp from recent use. His kitchen was as he had left it with no sign of anyone trying to fix themselves breakfast. Or lunch, as the wall clock pointed out.
Yuuno sighed again. It seemed his company had already vacated the premises, leaving not even a note behind. He pondered if he should attempt to discern the identity of his most recent mate, but that knowledge could make things awkward between them. Maybe it was best to leave it alone?
His thoughts were interrupted by arms draping themselves over his chest and soft flesh pressing against his bare back. The arms were slender and the flesh was ample. It was definitely a woman.
“Good afternoon.” She breathed into his ear. “You were incredible.”
Yuuno froze, a sheen of sweat forming on his body. He knew that voice.
“Wha… bu… you… me… huh… wai… we…” Yuuno sputtered out attempted protests as he felt himself being pulled back towards the bedroom. “Can’t…”
Spoiler for :
“I beg to differ.” Lindy purred as she pulled him down onto the bed.
For Yuuno's sake, let us hope that Chrono never finds out. Ever. I'm amused by the implication that this is a normal thing for him, though.
He was relieved to see that he was in his own room at least. Once he had woken up on the back of a bus that was already five towns over and he was forced to walk back. The exercise had gotten the grogginess out of his system.
*snerk* "Put on a bus" gag!
Quote:
Spoiler:
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
Poor Yuuno! He really doesn't have any control when drunk, does he?
Quote:
Spoiler:
Luckily his possessions were all in order, so another embarrassing claim wasn’t in his future.
Ha, ha! "Another" claim!
Quote:
Spoiler for :
“I beg to differ.” Lindy purred as she pulled him down onto the bed.
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
Actually, players of the PSP game would know that Hayate has a spell called Balmung that either shoots out energy swords in a fan-like pattern or fires a whole bunch with limited homing.
Rather than explaining though, It's better if the reference is visual, eh?
Spoiler for Vid:
As extra references, the buster-like beam that explodes on contact is called Claiomh Solais and the small bullets/big bullet is called Brionac.
An old fic I kinda wrote on a white heat emo fit. I'm not expecting it to be found all that good.
Spoiler for Ich hatt' eine Kameraden:
Ich_hatt' eine Kameraden
=The loss is four years past, but still felt keenly=
Not many people visited this part of the hill, which suited the eight gathered there at the moment just fine. The group, apparently composed of five adults and three children, was walking slowly towards one side of a circular area. Light glinted off the brass finish of a trumpet held by one of the adults, a white-haired man, as well as a small drum held by a redheaded child who wore her locks in twin braids.
The group reached the edge of the area and knelt before a mound of snow with something grey sticking out from the top, clearing off the snow to reveal a grave marker. There was a painting of a white-haired, red-eyed woman on it and engraved below the painting were the words:
"In loving memory: "Reinforce"
The group took off their caps, revealing that the trumpeteer had wolf ears, and stood silent before the marker for a minute. When the time was up, the redhead child started playing the drum, with the wolfman joining in shortly after before the others started singing.
"Ich hatt' eine Kameraden...."
After they had finished singing, one of the children, a blonde with emerald eyes, asked, "Father, what does all this mean?"
Yuuno Scrya looked at his daughter and sniffed. The eyes and hair were his, but the rest of the face... "Difen, how much do you remember of your mother?"
"Umm... She was pretty and kind and soft and warm?"
Yuuno smiled slightly. For any other child it would have been difficult if not impossible to remember anything of being less than a year old, but Difen and her twin were not exactly normal.
"Father, is... is..."
Yuuno turned to Difen's fraternal twin, who was shaking despite being bundled up in warm clothing. Pulling him into a hug, Yuuno asked, "What's wrong, Aidon?"
"I-i-is that Mother's?" He said, pointing at the grave marker.
Yuuno felt the blood drain from his face as Aidon voiced another of his unusually accurate perceptions.
When he got no reply, Aidon asked a second time.
The question had not gone unheard by the others, who looked on with varying degrees of surprise.
"Aid, it... it's not true, is it? Father?" Difen asked.
Yuuno looked from one child to another, eyes wide, face twitching and not answering.
Aidon ran to Yuuno and started beating on him with little fists. "T-tell me it's not true, Father! Tell me... Tell t-that's not Mother's! Tell me!" Difen joined her brother shortly, clinging to her father's legs and crying.
Yuuno stared mutely into the distance for a while, before sinking to his knees and burying his face in his gloved hands. Loud sobs could be heard. How do you explain to children not even five what death was? The others encircled his children and him at a respectful distance, saying nothing. "Y-yes..." He finally said. "It is." He knelt mutely and waited as the water works continued to flow.
Eventually, Aidon calmed down enough to ask, "Why did Mother die?"
Yuuno wiped the tears off his son's face and tried to come up with an explanation that he could understand. How was one to explain the indiscretion responsible? "We... We had saved your mother from one danger, but there was another that we couldn't do anything about." He mentally cursed the memory of the defence programme. "So... your mother and I... we conceived you." He knew that was a gross simplification, that it did no justice to how the desires of a certain current absentee factored into matters.
"And then?" Difen asked.
"Rein... Your mother managed to hold on long enough to carry the two of you to term." With a sad smile, Yuuno recalled Reinforce's joy at being able to hold the twins in her arms. "She also managed to wean both of you off. However, after that... After that..."
"Yes, Father?" Both asked together.
"We... we couldn't do anything to hold off the evil any longer." He recalled how Reinforce had collapsed and went into convulsions one day, how this had marked the defence programme starting to re-manifest. The beast was tied to her, not transmittable to the children, but that still meant that she had to go.
"So... Mother is dead?"
Yuuno looked down at the city in the distance and held his head in his hands. To be technical, Reinforce was not dead, but sealed away as she was to hold off the defence programme, there was no practical difference. "You... You could say so."
"Th-there's nothing we can do?"
Yuuno gave it a bit of thought, but then rejected it. If centuries of efforts thus far had come up with no way of permanently defeating it, what hope did this generation have of doing so? "No... I'm sorry." He steeled himself for the bawling, which came as expected, let them cry and shed tears of his own too. Better to let them vent than let the repressed thoughts leave hidden scars on their psyches. "We can't do anything for her, but we can live well, you can grow up to be the good people she would have wanted you to be. That's the best way to honour her and she'll be happy if she looks down on us from wherever she is now." He rubbed their backs and held them close until they stopped crying.
"O-okay."
Yuuno pat both of them on their heads. "Let's go home."
The children turned to the grave marker and waved. "Goodbye, Mother! We'll see you again next year!" They then walked over to two of the adults and took their hands. "Aunt Fate, Aunt Signum, carry us please?"
After the two took the children on their shoulders, the whole group made silent farewells to the marker, then turned and walked away.
An old fic I kinda wrote on a white heat emo fit. I'm not expecting it to be found all that good.
Spoiler for Ich hatt' eine Kameraden:
Ich_hatt' eine Kameraden
=The loss is four years past, but still felt keenly=
Not many people visited this part of the hill, which suited the eight gathered there at the moment just fine. The group, apparently composed of five adults and three children, was walking slowly towards one side of a circular area. Light glinted off the brass finish of a trumpet held by one of the adults, a white-haired man, as well as a small drum held by a redheaded child who wore her locks in twin braids.
The group reached the edge of the area and knelt before a mound of snow with something grey sticking out from the top, clearing off the snow to reveal a grave marker. There was a painting of a white-haired, red-eyed woman on it and engraved below the painting were the words:
"In loving memory: "Reinforce"
The group took off their caps, revealing that the trumpeteer had wolf ears, and stood silent before the marker for a minute. When the time was up, the redhead child started playing the drum, with the wolfman joining in shortly after before the others started singing.
"Ich hatt' eine Kameraden...."
After they had finished singing, one of the children, a blonde with emerald eyes, asked, "Father, what does all this mean?"
Yuuno Scrya looked at his daughter and sniffed. The eyes and hair were his, but the rest of the face... "Difen, how much do you remember of your mother?"
"Umm... She was pretty and kind and soft and warm?"
Yuuno smiled slightly. For any other child it would have been difficult if not impossible to remember anything of being less than a year old, but Difen and her twin were not exactly normal.
"Father, is... is..."
Yuuno turned to Difen's fraternal twin, who was shaking despite being bundled up in warm clothing. Pulling him into a hug, Yuuno asked, "What's wrong, Aidon?"
"I-i-is that Mother's?" He said, pointing at the grave marker.
Yuuno felt the blood drain from his face as Aidon voiced another of his unusually accurate perceptions.
When he got no reply, Aidon asked a second time.
The question had not gone unheard by the others, who looked on with varying degrees of surprise.
"Aid, it... it's not true, is it? Father?" Difen asked.
Yuuno looked from one child to another, eyes wide, face twitching and not answering.
Aidon ran to Yuuno and started beating on him with little fists. "T-tell me it's not true, Father! Tell me... Tell t-that's not Mother's! Tell me!" Difen joined her brother shortly, clinging to her father's legs and crying.
Yuuno stared mutely into the distance for a while, before sinking to his knees and burying his face in his gloved hands. Loud sobs could be heard. How do you explain to children not even five what death was? The others encircled his children and him at a respectful distance, saying nothing. "Y-yes..." He finally said. "It is." He knelt mutely and waited as the water works continued to flow.
Eventually, Aidon calmed down enough to ask, "Why did Mother die?"
Yuuno wiped the tears off his son's face and tried to come up with an explanation that he could understand. How was one to explain the indiscretion responsible? "We... We had saved your mother from one danger, but there was another that we couldn't do anything about." He mentally cursed the memory of the defence programme. "So... your mother and I... we conceived you." He knew that was a gross simplification, that it did no justice to how the desires of a certain current absentee factored into matters.
"And then?" Difen asked.
"Rein... Your mother managed to hold on long enough to carry the two of you to term." With a sad smile, Yuuno recalled Reinforce's joy at being able to hold the twins in her arms. "She also managed to wean both of you off. However, after that... After that..."
"Yes, Father?" Both asked together.
"We... we couldn't do anything to hold off the evil any longer." He recalled how Reinforce had collapsed and went into convulsions one day, how this had marked the defence programme starting to re-manifest. The beast was tied to her, not transmittable to the children, but that still meant that she had to go.
"So... Mother is dead?"
Yuuno looked down at the city in the distance and held his head in his hands. To be technical, Reinforce was not dead, but sealed away as she was to hold off the defence programme, there was no practical difference. "You... You could say so."
"Th-there's nothing we can do?"
Yuuno gave it a bit of thought, but then rejected it. If centuries of efforts thus far had come up with no way of permanently defeating it, what hope did this generation have of doing so? "No... I'm sorry." He steeled himself for the bawling, which came as expected, let them cry and shed tears of his own too. Better to let them vent than let the repressed thoughts leave hidden scars on their psyches. "We can't do anything for her, but we can live well, you can grow up to be the good people she would have wanted you to be. That's the best way to honour her and she'll be happy if she looks down on us from wherever she is now." He rubbed their backs and held them close until they stopped crying.
"O-okay."
Yuuno pat both of them on their heads. "Let's go home."
The children turned to the grave marker and waved. "Goodbye, Mother! We'll see you again next year!" They then walked over to two of the adults and took their hands. "Aunt Fate, Aunt Signum, carry us please?"
After the two took the children on their shoulders, the whole group made silent farewells to the marker, then turned and walked away.
The snow fell on.
That was really quite sad, I think I'm going to cry. I did enjoy it though.
__________________
"The eyes are the windows that let us gaze upon the soul"
"When desperate there are two choices: Lock shields for the last stand or draw your sword for the final charge"
"There are no winners or losers, there are only the living and the dead."
Yuuno groaned as he put his hand to his throbbing head. He forced himself to sit up in bed, fighting off the dizziness he normally experienced the morning after a party. He’d long since lost track of the number of times he vowed to spend the night sober, but despite his best efforts, he found it difficult to turn down an offered drink. He’d get swept along in the pace of the other party goers and it wasn’t long before he was totally plastered.
He was relieved to see that he was in his own room at least. Once he had woken up on the back of a bus that was already five towns over and he was forced to walk back. The exercise had gotten the grogginess out of his system.
Something else got the groggy out this time. It was the realization of fabric against bare flesh. He took a peek under the covers and confirmed that he was indeed totally naked. The act of lifting the covers had the secondary effect of releasing a burst of scent. The scent in question was a familiar one of sweat and various other bodily fluids.
Yuuno went rigid as he determined the scenario. It had only happened a few times before, but he recognised the signs that he hadn’t returned alone that night. He slowly turned his head to see who was there with him.
The bed was empty.
Yuuno let out a little sigh. Whoever it had been was already gone. He tried to think of potential candidates from the night before, but it was a long list. He noted that his ass wasn’t sore, so at the very least he hadn’t been the uke again.
It was possible that his partner was simply elsewhere in his apartment, so he hastily grabbed his boxers from the floor and yanked them on. That he might find his apartment trashed or robbed or both was another concern he wanted to confirm immediately.
Luckily his possessions were all in order, so another embarrassing claim wasn’t in his future. His bathroom was empty, but the shower was still slightly damp from recent use. His kitchen was as he had left it with no sign of anyone trying to fix themselves breakfast. Or lunch, as the wall clock pointed out.
Yuuno sighed again. It seemed his company had already vacated the premises, leaving not even a note behind. He pondered if he should attempt to discern the identity of his most recent mate, but that knowledge could make things awkward between them. Maybe it was best to leave it alone?
His thoughts were interrupted by arms draping themselves over his chest and soft flesh pressing against his bare back. The arms were slender and the flesh was ample. It was definitely a woman.
“Good afternoon.” She breathed into his ear. “You were incredible.”
Yuuno froze, a sheen of sweat forming on his body. He knew that voice.
“Wha… bu… you… me… huh… wai… we…” Yuuno sputtered out attempted protests as he felt himself being pulled back towards the bedroom. “Can’t…”
Spoiler for :
“I beg to differ.” Lindy purred as she pulled him down onto the bed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiresias
Spoiler for A certain someone's reaction:
Mother! I got him first!
Ha-ha-ha, that was hilarious. I think Yuuno should try to avoid drunken parties, otherwise the numbers of female occupants of his bed could rise to a very dangerous level.
2011-01-18, 16:08
Author
