李杏 | Frances J., a lion-hearted girl (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
perfectworry) wrote2009-06-22 07:17 pm
perfectworry) wrote2009-06-22 07:17 pm
[fanfiction: tsubasa: reservoir chronicle + loveless] Wingless (4/?)
title: Wingless
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE/Loveless
pairing: Fay/Kurogane
rating: T
notes: finally, a spell battle! also, much love to my beta readercorvae_regina~ every good idea in this chapter is her's, and every bad idea is mine ♥
Chapter Four: Lawless
Kurogane growled and withdrew his hand from Fay's, rising abruptly.
"What a stupid name," he grumbled. He balled his hands up in fists, then stalked out of the room; he left the apartment building and stood outside on the side of the street, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked up at the sky without bothering to shade his eyes against the bright morning sun. It was a different sky than the one he had been born under, though this world was like his in many ways. Except for the mysterious names, the writing system was the same and the jinja they visited yesterday was similar to the shrines in Nihon, the likes of which his mother had tended in her youth.
Kurogane had made a promise to return to Nihon, a promise he intended to uphold, and he wasn't going to make it back if he stood around brooding. The only way to get out of this word and into the next was to find Sakura's feather. Kurogane held on to the possibility that the next world would be Nihon, or the world after that. There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep on moving.
A pair of teenagers, a boy and a girl, were sitting on the stairwell halfway up. The girl had a long black pleated skirt and appeared to be wearing only bandage wound around her torso under her long red jacket, no shirt. The boy had a black leather jacket and wore his hair in a style that reminded Kurogane of one of the gangs in the Hanshin Republic. He was waving a cigarette under a young girl's face.
"Don't worry, princess," he cackled. "It won't hurt ... too much."
The girl backed away from them and as she turned slightly, to check the distance between herself and the flight of stairs behind her, Kurogane saw her face. He had been watching carefully, waiting for the right moment to intervene. Any plans he might have made fell apart when he recognized her.
"Princess Tomoyo!" He lunged up the stairs, taking them three at a time. The teenagers looked down, startled by the sudden noise; Kurogane had been moving as silently as only a skilled ninja could before he lunged upwards, silently observing. Unfortunately, his movement took the girl by surprise as well and she stepped back, stumbling down the stairs. Kurogane caught her and set her carefully down on the step behind him.
"If you don't mind," drawled the girl, "we were playing with her." The boy snickered. Kurogane didn't say anything. "We wouldn't hurt her, just teach her a lesson. She needs to learn that there are some people her mommy shouldn't mess with."
Still Kurogane said nothing.
"If you're not going to give her back, we'll just have to take her," said the boy, getting to his feet. "I declare a battle by word spell."
Kurogane perked up. He had been itching for a fight for a long time now, as they had mostly been to peaceful worlds. While he knew he ought to be relieved, he needed to stretch his legs and practice in order not to get rusty. "I accept." He paid enough attention to Sorata's puppet show explanation to have enough of an idea how to do it.
"Fighter systems, engage!" The girl stood behind the boy, a metal pipe in her hand. Sorata hadn't mentioned anything about weapons, but that was more Kurogane's style, anyway. She reached out and took the boy's hand. "Lawless," they said in unison, "we don't follow no rules!"
The boy cackled and cracked his knuckles and the girl swung the pipe around over her shoulder, grinning wickedly. "You know what to do, Kenta. Destroy them."
Kenta was faster than Kurogane expected. "Imprison!" The word hit Kurogane with more force than the lithe girl could have ever swung the pipe, and the way she tossed it around made Kurogane believe she could hit hard. Instinctively, he brought an arm up to protect his face as he reached for the banister with his other hand to keep from falling down the stairs. His block stopped the impact, but the force of it wrapped firmly around his wrist.
When the wind generated by the attack subsided, Kurogane discovered what appeared to be a leather cuff with a chain on his wrist. It hurt. He didn't have time to recover before Kenta launched into a barrage of spell words. "Constrain. Restrain." The cuff on Kurogane's wrist tightened. "Detain." A cuff appeared on his other wrist. "Subjugate." Both wrists were bound together. "Enslave."
The boy practically crowed with glee as a collar like the cuffs appeared around Kurogane's neck, nearly choking at him. He grimaced and braced himself on the steps. He didn't back down, though with his restraints he didn't stand a chance.
"Where's your fighter unit, Mister Chivalry?" called the girl, still swinging the pipe ominously. "I was hoping it would be a little more interesting than this, Kenta."
"I was too, Iseul. What a whimp." He aimed a kick at Kurogane, who dodged it easily, despite his confinement, and kicked back. Kurogane had much better aim, and he caught the boy square in the chin. Iseul stomped down the stairs, pipe gripped in white knuckled hands.
*
Upstairs, they all heard the ear-splitting sound of a spell battle beginning. Sakura dropped the dishes she was helping put away. The plate shattered.
"Princess," cried Syaoran, jumping nimbly over the shards of pottery to Sakura. As he had the day before, he placed his hands over hers so that he covered her ears against the sound. Mokona leapt from its perch on the counter to Syaoran's shoulder, then wiggled it's way between Sakura and him, covering it's ears. None of them saw its eyes pop open, and it's exclamation was lost amid the noise.
Fay cringed. The sound was excruciating. He felt a new sensation in addition to the piercing whistle; a feeling of being pulled along, as though on a string. He could see the string, wound loosely around his middle and twirled around his finger, where the word written appeared to him to be glowing faintly around the edges. It trailed through the small apartment and out the door, still at waist height. He could see the same around Sakura and Syaoran, binding them together where they stood.
He waved to get their attention and pointed out the door. "I'm going," he said, above the sound. It was still there, a tinny note that dragged on endlessly. "Wait here." The tug of the string around him was irresistible; he allowed himself to be dragged along, following where it lead. Out the door, down the hall, into the stairwell. Down several flights of stairs, to -
"Kurogane!"
*
"I was wondering when you'd come," said a girl with bleached white hair and no eyebrows. "Your sacrifice has been waiting."
"Yeah, Homeless, we didn't think you'd ever come. What a shitty name, sucks to be you."
It took Fay a minute to connect Kurogane's restraints with the information about the word spell battles that Sorata had explained. The mark on his hand burned, and it glowed brighter than ever, as did the string that connected him to Kurogane.
"What an idiot," said the boy, crossing his arms, "letting his sacrifice fight alone. Dumbass."
"You look like a wuss. I was hoping a big guy like him would have an big fighter, someone strong. This is so boring," the girl added. She twirled the pipe in her hands. "C'mon, Kenta. Kick their ass."
"Dominate!"
The bindings spread to Kurogane's legs, nearly making him fall down the stairs. Still, Fay was torn between interceding on his behalf and his vow not to use magic.
"Exploit."
This time the bindings did make Kurogane fall. His knees hit the cement steps with a sickening crack. Fay winced.
"Control -"
Fay cut him off, straightening his back and looking Kenta right in the eye. "Sorry," he said cordially, stepping down between the black clad teenagers and Kurogane. "That's not very nice, is it?"
"Possession!" Kenta's voice wavered. He was frustrated already, because he could feel the strength in the waif's voice.
"Hmm, I don't think Kuro-chi would like that very much." Fay felt the magic surge through him, an alien magic that felt nothing like his own; he found himself reflexively tracing words in the air as he said them. A faint glow surrounded the letters he wrote in the air, though it appeared as gibberish to anyone but himself. Sorata had mentioned the power of complicated spells over single words, and Fay had paid attention. Fay D Flourite was the wizard of Celes; he only played the fool. "Ignoring the rules is cheating, isn't it?" His voice echoed off the bare walls. "So I guess you've lost. You should go away now."
He measured his words carefully, knowing full well that he could do the two children serious harm if he spoke too harshly.
Fay lifted a hand and spelled out the word 'departure,' or it's Celesian equivalent. Pale blue tendrils wrapped and wound around Lawless, and the pair of them disappeared along with the bonds on Kurogane. The little girl was beside him before Fay had even realized that the battle was over. She placed her hands on Kurogane's wrists and looked up at him anxiously. Kurogane looked over her head at Fay, who leaned against the railing. He looked suspicious.
"Lucky guess?" said the magician, sticking his hands in his pockets and shrugging his shoulders. Kurogane narrowed his eyes, and Fay knew he wasn't going to get away with saving him. He looked away.
*
« chapter three: homeless | chapter five: dreamless »
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE/Loveless
pairing: Fay/Kurogane
rating: T
notes: finally, a spell battle! also, much love to my beta reader
corvae_regina~ every good idea in this chapter is her's, and every bad idea is mine ♥Chapter Four: Lawless
Kurogane growled and withdrew his hand from Fay's, rising abruptly.
"What a stupid name," he grumbled. He balled his hands up in fists, then stalked out of the room; he left the apartment building and stood outside on the side of the street, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked up at the sky without bothering to shade his eyes against the bright morning sun. It was a different sky than the one he had been born under, though this world was like his in many ways. Except for the mysterious names, the writing system was the same and the jinja they visited yesterday was similar to the shrines in Nihon, the likes of which his mother had tended in her youth.
Kurogane had made a promise to return to Nihon, a promise he intended to uphold, and he wasn't going to make it back if he stood around brooding. The only way to get out of this word and into the next was to find Sakura's feather. Kurogane held on to the possibility that the next world would be Nihon, or the world after that. There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep on moving.
A pair of teenagers, a boy and a girl, were sitting on the stairwell halfway up. The girl had a long black pleated skirt and appeared to be wearing only bandage wound around her torso under her long red jacket, no shirt. The boy had a black leather jacket and wore his hair in a style that reminded Kurogane of one of the gangs in the Hanshin Republic. He was waving a cigarette under a young girl's face.
"Don't worry, princess," he cackled. "It won't hurt ... too much."
The girl backed away from them and as she turned slightly, to check the distance between herself and the flight of stairs behind her, Kurogane saw her face. He had been watching carefully, waiting for the right moment to intervene. Any plans he might have made fell apart when he recognized her.
"Princess Tomoyo!" He lunged up the stairs, taking them three at a time. The teenagers looked down, startled by the sudden noise; Kurogane had been moving as silently as only a skilled ninja could before he lunged upwards, silently observing. Unfortunately, his movement took the girl by surprise as well and she stepped back, stumbling down the stairs. Kurogane caught her and set her carefully down on the step behind him.
"If you don't mind," drawled the girl, "we were playing with her." The boy snickered. Kurogane didn't say anything. "We wouldn't hurt her, just teach her a lesson. She needs to learn that there are some people her mommy shouldn't mess with."
Still Kurogane said nothing.
"If you're not going to give her back, we'll just have to take her," said the boy, getting to his feet. "I declare a battle by word spell."
Kurogane perked up. He had been itching for a fight for a long time now, as they had mostly been to peaceful worlds. While he knew he ought to be relieved, he needed to stretch his legs and practice in order not to get rusty. "I accept." He paid enough attention to Sorata's puppet show explanation to have enough of an idea how to do it.
"Fighter systems, engage!" The girl stood behind the boy, a metal pipe in her hand. Sorata hadn't mentioned anything about weapons, but that was more Kurogane's style, anyway. She reached out and took the boy's hand. "Lawless," they said in unison, "we don't follow no rules!"
The boy cackled and cracked his knuckles and the girl swung the pipe around over her shoulder, grinning wickedly. "You know what to do, Kenta. Destroy them."
Kenta was faster than Kurogane expected. "Imprison!" The word hit Kurogane with more force than the lithe girl could have ever swung the pipe, and the way she tossed it around made Kurogane believe she could hit hard. Instinctively, he brought an arm up to protect his face as he reached for the banister with his other hand to keep from falling down the stairs. His block stopped the impact, but the force of it wrapped firmly around his wrist.
When the wind generated by the attack subsided, Kurogane discovered what appeared to be a leather cuff with a chain on his wrist. It hurt. He didn't have time to recover before Kenta launched into a barrage of spell words. "Constrain. Restrain." The cuff on Kurogane's wrist tightened. "Detain." A cuff appeared on his other wrist. "Subjugate." Both wrists were bound together. "Enslave."
The boy practically crowed with glee as a collar like the cuffs appeared around Kurogane's neck, nearly choking at him. He grimaced and braced himself on the steps. He didn't back down, though with his restraints he didn't stand a chance.
"Where's your fighter unit, Mister Chivalry?" called the girl, still swinging the pipe ominously. "I was hoping it would be a little more interesting than this, Kenta."
"I was too, Iseul. What a whimp." He aimed a kick at Kurogane, who dodged it easily, despite his confinement, and kicked back. Kurogane had much better aim, and he caught the boy square in the chin. Iseul stomped down the stairs, pipe gripped in white knuckled hands.
*
Upstairs, they all heard the ear-splitting sound of a spell battle beginning. Sakura dropped the dishes she was helping put away. The plate shattered.
"Princess," cried Syaoran, jumping nimbly over the shards of pottery to Sakura. As he had the day before, he placed his hands over hers so that he covered her ears against the sound. Mokona leapt from its perch on the counter to Syaoran's shoulder, then wiggled it's way between Sakura and him, covering it's ears. None of them saw its eyes pop open, and it's exclamation was lost amid the noise.
Fay cringed. The sound was excruciating. He felt a new sensation in addition to the piercing whistle; a feeling of being pulled along, as though on a string. He could see the string, wound loosely around his middle and twirled around his finger, where the word written appeared to him to be glowing faintly around the edges. It trailed through the small apartment and out the door, still at waist height. He could see the same around Sakura and Syaoran, binding them together where they stood.
He waved to get their attention and pointed out the door. "I'm going," he said, above the sound. It was still there, a tinny note that dragged on endlessly. "Wait here." The tug of the string around him was irresistible; he allowed himself to be dragged along, following where it lead. Out the door, down the hall, into the stairwell. Down several flights of stairs, to -
"Kurogane!"
*
"I was wondering when you'd come," said a girl with bleached white hair and no eyebrows. "Your sacrifice has been waiting."
"Yeah, Homeless, we didn't think you'd ever come. What a shitty name, sucks to be you."
It took Fay a minute to connect Kurogane's restraints with the information about the word spell battles that Sorata had explained. The mark on his hand burned, and it glowed brighter than ever, as did the string that connected him to Kurogane.
"What an idiot," said the boy, crossing his arms, "letting his sacrifice fight alone. Dumbass."
"You look like a wuss. I was hoping a big guy like him would have an big fighter, someone strong. This is so boring," the girl added. She twirled the pipe in her hands. "C'mon, Kenta. Kick their ass."
"Dominate!"
The bindings spread to Kurogane's legs, nearly making him fall down the stairs. Still, Fay was torn between interceding on his behalf and his vow not to use magic.
"Exploit."
This time the bindings did make Kurogane fall. His knees hit the cement steps with a sickening crack. Fay winced.
"Control -"
Fay cut him off, straightening his back and looking Kenta right in the eye. "Sorry," he said cordially, stepping down between the black clad teenagers and Kurogane. "That's not very nice, is it?"
"Possession!" Kenta's voice wavered. He was frustrated already, because he could feel the strength in the waif's voice.
"Hmm, I don't think Kuro-chi would like that very much." Fay felt the magic surge through him, an alien magic that felt nothing like his own; he found himself reflexively tracing words in the air as he said them. A faint glow surrounded the letters he wrote in the air, though it appeared as gibberish to anyone but himself. Sorata had mentioned the power of complicated spells over single words, and Fay had paid attention. Fay D Flourite was the wizard of Celes; he only played the fool. "Ignoring the rules is cheating, isn't it?" His voice echoed off the bare walls. "So I guess you've lost. You should go away now."
He measured his words carefully, knowing full well that he could do the two children serious harm if he spoke too harshly.
Fay lifted a hand and spelled out the word 'departure,' or it's Celesian equivalent. Pale blue tendrils wrapped and wound around Lawless, and the pair of them disappeared along with the bonds on Kurogane. The little girl was beside him before Fay had even realized that the battle was over. She placed her hands on Kurogane's wrists and looked up at him anxiously. Kurogane looked over her head at Fay, who leaned against the railing. He looked suspicious.
"Lucky guess?" said the magician, sticking his hands in his pockets and shrugging his shoulders. Kurogane narrowed his eyes, and Fay knew he wasn't going to get away with saving him. He looked away.
*
« chapter three: homeless | chapter five: dreamless »