yellowhorde (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
yellowhorde) wrote2004-06-08 05:59 pm
yellowhorde) wrote2004-06-08 05:59 pm
Entry tags:
Shinigami and the Dragon Pt 7/?
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and I make no money from this or any other fanfic I write.
Pairing: None
Category: General
Rating: R
Warning: None
Title: Shinigami and the Dragon
Author: yellowhorde
Duo twisted the handle of the facet, cutting off the steaming spray of hot water that had pummeled his willow thin body, sloshed over his narrow shoulders, his slightly flushed skin. With strong hands, the violet-eyed youth wrung excess water from his long chestnut hair and pushed glistening beads of moisture from his smooth skin before snatching up a fresh terrycloth towel from the brass stand just to the side of the tub before stepping and out of the shower. Inhaling deeply he reveled in its clean fresh scent, luxuriated in its plush softness. There were few things that could compare to the smell and feel of fresh clean towels. Except for fresh clean towels straight out of the dryer on a chilly spring morning. And that summed up the day perfectly, cool and overcast, with promise of rain, lots of rain. Damn. Oh well. Into every life a little rain must fall.
Swiping one hand over the fogged mirror and smiling at the faint squeak the action produced, Duo peered intently at the reflection that stared back at him. His smile vanished as he examined his heart shaped face critically. He noted that his complexion was rather pale and that there were dark circles under his large eyes. Not attractive. Barely two weeks had passed since his inauguration, yet it felt like a lifetime. Absently, Duo began to towel dry his long chestnut hair, pausing to stifle a huge yawn with one pruned hand.
(Man, I need to get some real sleep!) Duo mused faintly. (Maybe I should ask Aunt Catherine to whip up something to help me with this insomnia.)
The young man had been sleeping poorly for days- his slumber light and troubled. And so many dreams! Well, okay, nightmares were a more accurate term. Weird, confusing visions filled with blood and death and wooden blocks. Yes, that’s right! Wooden blocks stacked high into gravity defying towers swaying and wobbling, and finally coming crashing down with a resounding roar like that of an avalanche. Blocks just like the ones Duo had played with as a very young child. The ones with numbers and letters of the alphabet painted in bright primary colors.
That faint smile graced the young man's face again as he remembered those good old days. Playing for countless hours on end with his two best friends, Heero and Quatre, in his Aunt Catherine's office. The trio would be sprawled nonchalantly on that thick shag rug which was, as Duo recalled, an oddly comforting shade of gray. For countless hours they would entertain themselves with a complete assembly of brightly colored plastic vehicles or by constructing monumental (in their eyes at least) buildings from the multitude of colorful wooden blocks. The smile disappeared once more, like the sun behind a cloud, as the longhaired youth recalled that that was just what they had been doing on the day of his father’s death.
(No! I will not think of that! I won’t!) Duo shoved that thought away without mercy, just sent it packing.
Duo exhaled sharply and whirled away from the mirror feeling vaguely uneasy. Faint, jumbled memories ran rampant through his mind, and he knew that they would circle around his head, as annoying as droning flies trapped in a bright sunshiny window, unable to escape, nowhere to go but in dizzying circles for countless hours until they just withered and died. Except, unlike flies, these memories would never die or fade away- not completely. They would linger forever; pain him forever, or at least until his body and soul was laid to rest. And there was really nothing he could do about it. So why bother fighting it?
(Because that was ten years ago,) Duo fumed silently, (and I don’t feel like taking this particular trip down Memory Lane, thank you very much!)
Scowling, the young man clutched the towel about his lean hips and stormed out of the bathroom in a hazy cloud of steam and one bare second later nearly dropped that towel when he came face to blushing face with a petite young woman with enormous chocolate brown eyes and thick wavy shoulder length hair. Duo jerked back, startled, then hurriedly snatched at the terry cloth as it slipped from his lax hands, his face burning scarlet as he realized that he had almost flashed the poor girl.
“What are you doing here, Kyoko?” He snapped defensively as he snatched the folded robe the blushing maid held out to him. Turning his back on the red-faced girl, he donned the garment and hurriedly secured the sash about his waist. Satisfied that there would be no more slipups, or downs as the case may be, he turned to face the unwanted intruder.
“Uh…I’m Ryoko, Duo.” The young girl corrected, primly smoothed her small hands down her apron and glanced shyly up into the gently blushing face of the wet boy. “Kyoko will be in tomorrow.” She grinned and turned on her heel, red skirt flaring out like the petals of a flower as she did so. Humming softly, she started her chores.
Duo’s eyes followed the girl as she began to tidy up the small apartment in quick efficient movements. He had almost forgotten that the cleaning maid would be in to straight up. The two girls, Kyoko and Ryoko, identical twins, had kept house for the Lord Shinigami for several years and when the old man had passed on, Duo had apparently inherited their services as well as his master’s living quarters. The newly appointed Lord was usually more careful in keeping his former master’s chambers clean, more or less. He picked up his clothes and cleared off the table. He even washed the odd dish or two. But picking up is not cleaning. The dishes were stacked neatly but not washed. Lately he had been slacking off, and the apartment had begun to suffer because of it. So in a way, the young man was pleased to see the Kyoko or Ryoko- whichever one she was. He only wished that she knocked before entering. After all he could have been dancing around naked pretending his hairbrush was a microphone for all she would have known. Now THAT would have been embarrassing!
“You two need to start wearing name tags,” groused Duo good-naturedly. “I can never tell you apart. Well, have fun!”
Raising his finger to his forehead as a farewell, Duo retreated to his bedroom, shut the door, and flopped down on the bed with a heavy sigh. Feeling pleasantly warm and drowsy after his long shower, he glanced at the clock and decided that there was time for a quick nap. After setting the alarm, he pulled back the thick comforter and wrapped himself in its warm embrace, curling up into a tight little ball. Sleep eagerly sucked him under and soon he was dreaming.
Magically, Duo was five years old and sprawled on the thick gray carpet that decorated his Aunt’s medical office. Quatre and Heero were with him, taking turns stacking blocks into a tall tower. With each block successfully placed, the structure swayed visibly. Eagerly, the young boy reached for a red block with the number four inscribed on its side. Picking himself off of the ground, Duo strolled up to the compilation and regarded it thoughtfully. Now, where was he going to put this next block?
“Hey, Duo,” Quatre said, nibbling nervously on one tiny pinkie nail, “Maybe we shouldn’t stack up any more blocks.”
“Yeah, it looks like its gonna fall down!” Agreed Heero, his large blue eyes appearing even larger as he gazed at his longhaired companion beseechingly.
“Don’t worry!” Assured the violet-eyed boy, “Everything’s under control! Geez, you guys are such babies!”
With a smug smile, Duo set that red block on top of all the others and then stepped back quickly with a small gasp as, surprise, surprise, barely one second later the unsteady tower tilted wildly and came tumbling down. At the same moment, a man pushed into the office, slamming the door against the wall with a frightfully loud crash. All three boys jumped and turned towards the intruder. Duo, whose heart had leaped into his throat at the man’s ghastly appearance, recognized him immediately even though he could not recall his name. He was one of his daddy’s friends.
The man’s white shirt and black slacks were streaked with blood, lots of blood. It was in his hair and peppered across his pale triangular face, which was the color of chalk. His deep brown eyes were large and brimming with panic. Those eyes swept the room and locked on to the startled Catherine, who had come from the other room, her arms piled high with files. Seeing the man, she set the paperwork down on her desk and hurried towards the man, her face registering alarm at the man’s current state.
“Dr. Chapel!” gasped the man, “We need your help! There’s been an accident!”
Together his aunt and his daddy’s friend rushed out of the door. Duo turned his head back towards his friends and gasped in utter terror as he found himself suddenly alone. His friends were gone, hell! The whole ROOM was gone, leaving the boy trapped in a dark void suspended from everything he knew, loved and understood. Only the blocks, which lay sprawled about the floor in the midst of a rapidly expanding pool of blood, the only other thing in the inky darkness that somehow wasn’t dark, were to be seen. The young boy turned hurriedly and sprinted to the door that had suddenly materialized from out of thin air, yanked it open and came to a complete stop. There was blood, so much blood. His daddy lay on an examination table, so still, so pale, his life force flooding from his body in rivers of scarlet.
Doom…doom…doom…
A steady, rhythmic pounding came faintly to the small boy’s ears. Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the darkness that had surrounded him, stepped out of that impenetrable wash of night and into the dim illumination that surrounded the still body on the table. A shadowy figure drenched in blood…
“Duuooo…”
Doom…doom…doom…
Terrified, the boy backed away from that approaching figure until his back hit the wall and he was trapped. A small, helpless moan escaped his lips. Violet eyes grew impossibly wide as the figure towered above him, eyes glowing red and feral.
“Duuooo…”
One clawed hand reached out towards the small child and settled on one trembling shoulder. Duo flinched away with a breathy shriek, causing the shadowy face to break into a thoroughly unpleasant grin, all long white fangs coated in blood and saliva.
“What do you want?” Shrieked the trembling child, throwing his hands before his face in a warding off gesture. Much to his astonishment, wings black as night and slicked with blood ripped forth from the creatures back. The face loomed closer and for one millisecond, recognition dawned hot and insistent before terror blotted out everything.
“I… want… Revenge!” The hand clutching the small child’s shoulder tightened its hold, digging clawed fingers, tearing flesh, and bringing forth thick tendrils of blood. Abruptly Duo was yanked helplessly forward and into Death’s smothering embrace…
TO BE CONTINUED...
CHAPTER EIGHT
Pairing: None
Category: General
Rating: R
Warning: None
Title: Shinigami and the Dragon
Author: yellowhorde
Duo twisted the handle of the facet, cutting off the steaming spray of hot water that had pummeled his willow thin body, sloshed over his narrow shoulders, his slightly flushed skin. With strong hands, the violet-eyed youth wrung excess water from his long chestnut hair and pushed glistening beads of moisture from his smooth skin before snatching up a fresh terrycloth towel from the brass stand just to the side of the tub before stepping and out of the shower. Inhaling deeply he reveled in its clean fresh scent, luxuriated in its plush softness. There were few things that could compare to the smell and feel of fresh clean towels. Except for fresh clean towels straight out of the dryer on a chilly spring morning. And that summed up the day perfectly, cool and overcast, with promise of rain, lots of rain. Damn. Oh well. Into every life a little rain must fall.
Swiping one hand over the fogged mirror and smiling at the faint squeak the action produced, Duo peered intently at the reflection that stared back at him. His smile vanished as he examined his heart shaped face critically. He noted that his complexion was rather pale and that there were dark circles under his large eyes. Not attractive. Barely two weeks had passed since his inauguration, yet it felt like a lifetime. Absently, Duo began to towel dry his long chestnut hair, pausing to stifle a huge yawn with one pruned hand.
(Man, I need to get some real sleep!) Duo mused faintly. (Maybe I should ask Aunt Catherine to whip up something to help me with this insomnia.)
The young man had been sleeping poorly for days- his slumber light and troubled. And so many dreams! Well, okay, nightmares were a more accurate term. Weird, confusing visions filled with blood and death and wooden blocks. Yes, that’s right! Wooden blocks stacked high into gravity defying towers swaying and wobbling, and finally coming crashing down with a resounding roar like that of an avalanche. Blocks just like the ones Duo had played with as a very young child. The ones with numbers and letters of the alphabet painted in bright primary colors.
That faint smile graced the young man's face again as he remembered those good old days. Playing for countless hours on end with his two best friends, Heero and Quatre, in his Aunt Catherine's office. The trio would be sprawled nonchalantly on that thick shag rug which was, as Duo recalled, an oddly comforting shade of gray. For countless hours they would entertain themselves with a complete assembly of brightly colored plastic vehicles or by constructing monumental (in their eyes at least) buildings from the multitude of colorful wooden blocks. The smile disappeared once more, like the sun behind a cloud, as the longhaired youth recalled that that was just what they had been doing on the day of his father’s death.
(No! I will not think of that! I won’t!) Duo shoved that thought away without mercy, just sent it packing.
Duo exhaled sharply and whirled away from the mirror feeling vaguely uneasy. Faint, jumbled memories ran rampant through his mind, and he knew that they would circle around his head, as annoying as droning flies trapped in a bright sunshiny window, unable to escape, nowhere to go but in dizzying circles for countless hours until they just withered and died. Except, unlike flies, these memories would never die or fade away- not completely. They would linger forever; pain him forever, or at least until his body and soul was laid to rest. And there was really nothing he could do about it. So why bother fighting it?
(Because that was ten years ago,) Duo fumed silently, (and I don’t feel like taking this particular trip down Memory Lane, thank you very much!)
Scowling, the young man clutched the towel about his lean hips and stormed out of the bathroom in a hazy cloud of steam and one bare second later nearly dropped that towel when he came face to blushing face with a petite young woman with enormous chocolate brown eyes and thick wavy shoulder length hair. Duo jerked back, startled, then hurriedly snatched at the terry cloth as it slipped from his lax hands, his face burning scarlet as he realized that he had almost flashed the poor girl.
“What are you doing here, Kyoko?” He snapped defensively as he snatched the folded robe the blushing maid held out to him. Turning his back on the red-faced girl, he donned the garment and hurriedly secured the sash about his waist. Satisfied that there would be no more slipups, or downs as the case may be, he turned to face the unwanted intruder.
“Uh…I’m Ryoko, Duo.” The young girl corrected, primly smoothed her small hands down her apron and glanced shyly up into the gently blushing face of the wet boy. “Kyoko will be in tomorrow.” She grinned and turned on her heel, red skirt flaring out like the petals of a flower as she did so. Humming softly, she started her chores.
Duo’s eyes followed the girl as she began to tidy up the small apartment in quick efficient movements. He had almost forgotten that the cleaning maid would be in to straight up. The two girls, Kyoko and Ryoko, identical twins, had kept house for the Lord Shinigami for several years and when the old man had passed on, Duo had apparently inherited their services as well as his master’s living quarters. The newly appointed Lord was usually more careful in keeping his former master’s chambers clean, more or less. He picked up his clothes and cleared off the table. He even washed the odd dish or two. But picking up is not cleaning. The dishes were stacked neatly but not washed. Lately he had been slacking off, and the apartment had begun to suffer because of it. So in a way, the young man was pleased to see the Kyoko or Ryoko- whichever one she was. He only wished that she knocked before entering. After all he could have been dancing around naked pretending his hairbrush was a microphone for all she would have known. Now THAT would have been embarrassing!
“You two need to start wearing name tags,” groused Duo good-naturedly. “I can never tell you apart. Well, have fun!”
Raising his finger to his forehead as a farewell, Duo retreated to his bedroom, shut the door, and flopped down on the bed with a heavy sigh. Feeling pleasantly warm and drowsy after his long shower, he glanced at the clock and decided that there was time for a quick nap. After setting the alarm, he pulled back the thick comforter and wrapped himself in its warm embrace, curling up into a tight little ball. Sleep eagerly sucked him under and soon he was dreaming.
Magically, Duo was five years old and sprawled on the thick gray carpet that decorated his Aunt’s medical office. Quatre and Heero were with him, taking turns stacking blocks into a tall tower. With each block successfully placed, the structure swayed visibly. Eagerly, the young boy reached for a red block with the number four inscribed on its side. Picking himself off of the ground, Duo strolled up to the compilation and regarded it thoughtfully. Now, where was he going to put this next block?
“Hey, Duo,” Quatre said, nibbling nervously on one tiny pinkie nail, “Maybe we shouldn’t stack up any more blocks.”
“Yeah, it looks like its gonna fall down!” Agreed Heero, his large blue eyes appearing even larger as he gazed at his longhaired companion beseechingly.
“Don’t worry!” Assured the violet-eyed boy, “Everything’s under control! Geez, you guys are such babies!”
With a smug smile, Duo set that red block on top of all the others and then stepped back quickly with a small gasp as, surprise, surprise, barely one second later the unsteady tower tilted wildly and came tumbling down. At the same moment, a man pushed into the office, slamming the door against the wall with a frightfully loud crash. All three boys jumped and turned towards the intruder. Duo, whose heart had leaped into his throat at the man’s ghastly appearance, recognized him immediately even though he could not recall his name. He was one of his daddy’s friends.
The man’s white shirt and black slacks were streaked with blood, lots of blood. It was in his hair and peppered across his pale triangular face, which was the color of chalk. His deep brown eyes were large and brimming with panic. Those eyes swept the room and locked on to the startled Catherine, who had come from the other room, her arms piled high with files. Seeing the man, she set the paperwork down on her desk and hurried towards the man, her face registering alarm at the man’s current state.
“Dr. Chapel!” gasped the man, “We need your help! There’s been an accident!”
Together his aunt and his daddy’s friend rushed out of the door. Duo turned his head back towards his friends and gasped in utter terror as he found himself suddenly alone. His friends were gone, hell! The whole ROOM was gone, leaving the boy trapped in a dark void suspended from everything he knew, loved and understood. Only the blocks, which lay sprawled about the floor in the midst of a rapidly expanding pool of blood, the only other thing in the inky darkness that somehow wasn’t dark, were to be seen. The young boy turned hurriedly and sprinted to the door that had suddenly materialized from out of thin air, yanked it open and came to a complete stop. There was blood, so much blood. His daddy lay on an examination table, so still, so pale, his life force flooding from his body in rivers of scarlet.
Doom…doom…doom…
A steady, rhythmic pounding came faintly to the small boy’s ears. Suddenly a dark figure emerged from the darkness that had surrounded him, stepped out of that impenetrable wash of night and into the dim illumination that surrounded the still body on the table. A shadowy figure drenched in blood…
“Duuooo…”
Doom…doom…doom…
Terrified, the boy backed away from that approaching figure until his back hit the wall and he was trapped. A small, helpless moan escaped his lips. Violet eyes grew impossibly wide as the figure towered above him, eyes glowing red and feral.
“Duuooo…”
One clawed hand reached out towards the small child and settled on one trembling shoulder. Duo flinched away with a breathy shriek, causing the shadowy face to break into a thoroughly unpleasant grin, all long white fangs coated in blood and saliva.
“What do you want?” Shrieked the trembling child, throwing his hands before his face in a warding off gesture. Much to his astonishment, wings black as night and slicked with blood ripped forth from the creatures back. The face loomed closer and for one millisecond, recognition dawned hot and insistent before terror blotted out everything.
“I… want… Revenge!” The hand clutching the small child’s shoulder tightened its hold, digging clawed fingers, tearing flesh, and bringing forth thick tendrils of blood. Abruptly Duo was yanked helplessly forward and into Death’s smothering embrace…
TO BE CONTINUED...
CHAPTER EIGHT