李杏 | Frances J., a lion-hearted girl (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
perfectworry) wrote2009-06-14 06:07 pm
perfectworry) wrote2009-06-14 06:07 pm
[fanfiction: tsubasa: reservoir chronicle + loveless] Wingless (1/?)
title: Wingless
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE/Loveless
pairing: Fay/Kurogane
rating: T
notes: this is a crossover with Loveless, 'cause I'm a geek! ♥ also, it features Kurogane with cat ears and I feel like that's reason enough. (note: this takes place somewhere before Lecort, so there's noplot angst.)
Chapter One: Fateless
Fay was the first one of them to wake up in the next world. He pulled himself up and surveyed their surroundings. The room was plain; there was a desk with some unfathomable square object on it, a bed where Sakura and Syaoran lay together with Mokona, and a dresser. Kurogane and himself were on two futons on the floor.
At first, Fay couldn't quite put his finger on what it was about the world they were in that seemed off somehow. He could feel the faint tug of magic in the air, the feeling localized around the third finger on his left hand, which was curious. Fay leaned back and rubbed his eyes, then opened them again, trying to get a fresh look.
Sakura rolled over in her sleep, turning from facing Syaoran to facing Fay, and Fay realized what it was about her that looked different. He wondered how he'd missed it, now that he had it figured out. On her head sat a dainty little pair of cat ears, sandy brown like her hair, and lined with a soft pink. Fay could see a matching, cat-like tail curled around her leg. He looked past her at Syaoran, and sure enough, he had also acquired these additional appendages, though to Fay they looked more like dog ears and a tail. He laughed a little, remembering their time in Outo, before turning his attention to Kurogane.
His quite chuckling turned into irrepressible laughter when he saw them; on top of Kurogane's head were a pair of pointed black ears and as Fay crawled over him to check, sure enough he discovered a fuzzy black tail. He couldn't help but tug it.
Kurogane jerked awake and rolled over, catching Fay by surprise.
"Big Puppy," Fay laughed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Kurogane. "I thought we'd left those stupid names behind."
Fay smiled and shook his head, then pointed wordlessly to the mirror above them. Kurogane rose to see himself, and Fay followed suit. He was surprised to find that he had not acquired the additional appendages that his companions had.
"How come you don't have them?" demanded Kurogane, as he tugged at his own dog ears. Fay shrugged and held up his hands, the very picture of innocence. He honestly had no idea.
The commotion woke Sakura and Syaoran, who both sat up blearily. Fay smiled as Syaoran wiggled away from his princess as a flush colored his cheeks.
"Good morning," Fay said brightly. He indicated for them to look in the mirror themselves. The only other one not to have gained the tail and additional ears was Mokona.
"Ho~e?" Sakura blushed and covered her cat ears with her hands. "Do I look strange?" she asked, eyes darting from the mirror, to Syaoran, and back again. Syaoran shook his head furiously while covering his own new pair of ears. Sakura took his hands in her own, so that neither of them could hide their new appearance.
"I think you look cute, Sakura-chan." Fay smiled reassuringly.
"D-d'you really?"
"You look lovely. Just like a little kitty."
Sakura smiled up at him, and Fay's heart melted a little bit.
"Well I think they're stupid," said Kurogane. "The sooner we can get rid of them, the better. Are there any feathers on this world, pork bun?"
"Mokona is not a pork bun!" Mokona bounced from the pillows onto Kurogane's head, where it latched onto the new puppy ears. Kurogane attempted to pry it off, but it refused to let go.
"Mokona, do you sense any feathers in this world?" Fay interrupted.
Mokona paused for a moment, without loosening it's grip on Kurogane. It's ears stood straight up, then straight out. They moved in a series of configurations that, on certain worlds by certain people, would be recognized as naval signals. "It's hard to say," it admitted. "There's a lot of magic in this world, but Mokona thinks there's a feather here somewhere."
"Go find it, then," said Kurogane gruffly.
"We won't find it waiting here. Let's go."
*
Fay followed Kurogane out the door of the room they were in. The two of them went first, followed by Syaoran and finally Sakura and Mokona, just in case. There was no need to worry, however, as they were greeted by a familiar face: Arisugawa Sorata stuck his head out of one of the doors in the tiny hallway, grinning and waving. He didn't have the additional ears, either.
"Sorata-san!" cried Syaoran, surprised.
"Have I introduced myself?" asked Sorata; his accent was the same as it had been in the Hanshin Republic.
"Ah - that is - uhm - I," stammered Syaoran. He wrung his hands.
"You must have met another me." Sorata smiled and their surprise. "I know about the other worlds, and people's essences," his eyes swept across their faces to ascertain that they understood what he meant. "Arashi and myself owe the Time-Space Witch a favor."
Fay and Kurogane looked at each other over Syaoran and Sakura's heads, eyebrows raised. It sounded very familiar; perhaps more than only people's essences, people's circumstances were somehow similar in all of the different worlds? They didn't have time for much in the way philosophizing, as Arashi herself swept into view.
"Don't make them stand in the hallway," she said, moving Sorata aside and beckoning the travelers to follow her into the tiny dining room. There wasn't really room around the low table for the six of them, so Sakura and Syaoran shared a side, as did Kurogane and Fay. Sorata and Arashi sat kitty-corner to each other, hands folded together over the table.
"My hunny knew you were coming." Sorata said cheerfully. "I hope the room was comfy."
"Yes, thank you very much," gushed Sakura. She smiled widely at Sorata and Arashi; though she had slept through most of their time in the Hanshin Republic, she remembered their kindness to her and her companions and hoped that she could repay it somehow in this world.
Fay was watching Syaoran, who blushed a little at Sakura's exuberance. Fay didn't think he was embarrassed by her bubbly personality, far from it, but at having been placed beside her in the one bed, rather than on the floor in a futon.
"We only had the two futons," said Arashi, interrupting the silent conversation Fay and Syaoran had been having through a series of exchanged glances and small gestures. Fay was trying to tell him not to be embarrassed. "I hope you two did not mind sharing the bed."
"Oh, no! Not at all!" Sakura's smile widened and Syaoran's blush deepened. She turned to him, brows furrowed suddenly. "Unless, Syoaran-kun..."
"Ah! No." Syaoran shook his head, and Sakura's smile returned.
Arashi raised her eyebrows and gave Sorata, Kurogane and Fay a knowing smile, which Fay and Sorata returned in kind. Kurogane just nodded gruffly and looked away.
*
"Embarrassed, Kuro-pon?" asked Fay as they walked through the city. Mokona was sure there was a feather somewhere, but it was unable to tell exactly where. There was nothing for it except to go out and explore the old fashioned way.
"By what?" Kurogane frowned. He didn't take his eyes of Syaoran's back.
"Oh, you know," laughed Fay, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Your stupid nicknames? As a matter of fact, I am."
Fay laughed again, but didn't press the issue.
As in the Hanshin Republic, Sorata and Arashi had provided them with clothing that would blend in and an explanation of the magic both Fay and Mokona could feel simmering in the air. There was a system here, of spell battles fought with words in teams of two, a fighter who did the damage to the other team and the sacrifice who accepted it. Unlike the Hanshin Republic, where everyone had a kudan, not everyone had a "true name," and therefore not everyone participated in these battles. Even with her strong spiritual powers, Arashi didn't know whether or not the travelers would be bound up in this system or not.
"If you're destined to be part of the game, you will know. Your name will appear somewhere on your body." She had pushed her collar to the side slightly, where they could see the strange letters that spelled out the name she shared with Sorata: FATELESS.
So far, none of them had discovered such a marking on themselves, but Arashi had also warned that the markings often took a long time to appear. It was possible that, even if they had true names, they would have found the feather and moved on before they found out.
The ears and tail, Arashi and Sorata did not explain, only exchanged knowing looks and told them that perhaps it would be better if they figured that out for themselves. Sorata had made a face, earning him a smack from a fan that Arashi appeared to pull out of nowhere. It disappeared almost as soon as they saw it.
Now the four travelers wandered through the city, hoping to catch a stronger vibration from the feather. Mokona was sitting on Kurogane's head, ideal for his height, high above everyone else, ears perked up, straining for something that would give them a hint about where the feather was hidden.
People looked on curiously, but they never stared for more than a minute or so. Some of them had the cat ears and tail, while others didn't. There seemed to be some sort of pattern to it. All of the children they saw did, as well as some of the adults, but most adults were like Fay, Sorata and Arashi and had only human appendages.
Mokona's eyes didn't open, but it fell from it's perch, paws clamped over its ears. Kurogane caught it easily in one hand.
"What is it, pork bun?"
"Kuro-meanie didn't hear it?" asked Mokona, gingerly letting go of one ear. Sakura reached out and it hopped from Kurogane's hand to Sakura's warm embrace. She pet its head gently and the unhappy look faded from Mokona's face.
"Hear what?"
"That sound, like FWING. It made Mokona's ears hurt." Mokona shook itself. "And Mokona couldn't feel the feather, but now Mokona can again."
"Don't forget that," said Fay. "It may be important. At least you picked up the feather's waves again."
Mokona nodded. "Mokona will try really hard and make sure not to loose the feather's vibrations!"
The next time it happened, the others felt it, too. Sakura covered her ears and Syaoran hugged her close, placing his own hands over hers. Mokona was crushed between them. Fay winced, srunching his eyes closed, and even Kurogane ground his teeth.
"That was much louder than last time," complained Mokona. "And it completely drowned out the feather's waves again!"
Fay thought about this as they made their way back to the apartment complex Sorata and Arashi resided in. More than just an unpleasantly high pitched sound, there was a hint of magic in it. That must be what was drowning out the feather's waves when Mokona heard it.
"That was the sound of another system," explained Sorata when they returned home. "If you've bumped into them and they were ready to fight, you'd hear that sound."
"Mokona didn't bump into anybody."
"We were in the park," said Syaoran. "There weren't many people near us."
"Then it's possible you heard the sound of two units engaging," mused Sorata.
"The fact that you all could hear it means you're likely to have names yourself, unless..." Arashi shook her head. "You should check yourself for them while you're getting read to go to bed. They usually appear around puberty, but since this isn't your world, it's hard to say."
"This feather you're looking for ... it's very special, isn't it?" asked Sorata.
Sakura nodded.
"Then whoever has it probably won't give it up easily. If you have names, you'll have the magical abilities to fight them for it." This came as a surprise to none of them. It had become the norm of feather hunting.
Fay winced at the thought of having to use magic; he was torn between keeping his promise and helping Sakura, who had grown very dear to him. Beside him, Kurogane perked up at the promise of a fight; it didn't matter what kind of fight it was, he was up for it. Some niggling part of him knew that this was not what Princess Tomoyo had meant about learning the true meaning of strength, but he looked forward to it regardless.
"We'll have to go look again tomorrow." Kurogane grinned wolfishly. He was a lot more enthusiastic now that he had a fight to look forward to. The others knew him well enough by now to know that he would fight for the feather with his bare hands if he didn't have the magic required to do so the usual way in this world.
"In the meantime, you should rest," suggested Sorata. "You'll be safe here, so don't worry about that. My hunny and I will protect you, and this is a friendly world."
"Sleep well."
*
| chapter two: memoryless »
fandom: TSUBASA: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE/Loveless
pairing: Fay/Kurogane
rating: T
notes: this is a crossover with Loveless, 'cause I'm a geek! ♥ also, it features Kurogane with cat ears and I feel like that's reason enough. (note: this takes place somewhere before Lecort, so there's no
Chapter One: Fateless
Fay was the first one of them to wake up in the next world. He pulled himself up and surveyed their surroundings. The room was plain; there was a desk with some unfathomable square object on it, a bed where Sakura and Syaoran lay together with Mokona, and a dresser. Kurogane and himself were on two futons on the floor.
At first, Fay couldn't quite put his finger on what it was about the world they were in that seemed off somehow. He could feel the faint tug of magic in the air, the feeling localized around the third finger on his left hand, which was curious. Fay leaned back and rubbed his eyes, then opened them again, trying to get a fresh look.
Sakura rolled over in her sleep, turning from facing Syaoran to facing Fay, and Fay realized what it was about her that looked different. He wondered how he'd missed it, now that he had it figured out. On her head sat a dainty little pair of cat ears, sandy brown like her hair, and lined with a soft pink. Fay could see a matching, cat-like tail curled around her leg. He looked past her at Syaoran, and sure enough, he had also acquired these additional appendages, though to Fay they looked more like dog ears and a tail. He laughed a little, remembering their time in Outo, before turning his attention to Kurogane.
His quite chuckling turned into irrepressible laughter when he saw them; on top of Kurogane's head were a pair of pointed black ears and as Fay crawled over him to check, sure enough he discovered a fuzzy black tail. He couldn't help but tug it.
Kurogane jerked awake and rolled over, catching Fay by surprise.
"Big Puppy," Fay laughed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Kurogane. "I thought we'd left those stupid names behind."
Fay smiled and shook his head, then pointed wordlessly to the mirror above them. Kurogane rose to see himself, and Fay followed suit. He was surprised to find that he had not acquired the additional appendages that his companions had.
"How come you don't have them?" demanded Kurogane, as he tugged at his own dog ears. Fay shrugged and held up his hands, the very picture of innocence. He honestly had no idea.
The commotion woke Sakura and Syaoran, who both sat up blearily. Fay smiled as Syaoran wiggled away from his princess as a flush colored his cheeks.
"Good morning," Fay said brightly. He indicated for them to look in the mirror themselves. The only other one not to have gained the tail and additional ears was Mokona.
"Ho~e?" Sakura blushed and covered her cat ears with her hands. "Do I look strange?" she asked, eyes darting from the mirror, to Syaoran, and back again. Syaoran shook his head furiously while covering his own new pair of ears. Sakura took his hands in her own, so that neither of them could hide their new appearance.
"I think you look cute, Sakura-chan." Fay smiled reassuringly.
"D-d'you really?"
"You look lovely. Just like a little kitty."
Sakura smiled up at him, and Fay's heart melted a little bit.
"Well I think they're stupid," said Kurogane. "The sooner we can get rid of them, the better. Are there any feathers on this world, pork bun?"
"Mokona is not a pork bun!" Mokona bounced from the pillows onto Kurogane's head, where it latched onto the new puppy ears. Kurogane attempted to pry it off, but it refused to let go.
"Mokona, do you sense any feathers in this world?" Fay interrupted.
Mokona paused for a moment, without loosening it's grip on Kurogane. It's ears stood straight up, then straight out. They moved in a series of configurations that, on certain worlds by certain people, would be recognized as naval signals. "It's hard to say," it admitted. "There's a lot of magic in this world, but Mokona thinks there's a feather here somewhere."
"Go find it, then," said Kurogane gruffly.
"We won't find it waiting here. Let's go."
*
Fay followed Kurogane out the door of the room they were in. The two of them went first, followed by Syaoran and finally Sakura and Mokona, just in case. There was no need to worry, however, as they were greeted by a familiar face: Arisugawa Sorata stuck his head out of one of the doors in the tiny hallway, grinning and waving. He didn't have the additional ears, either.
"Sorata-san!" cried Syaoran, surprised.
"Have I introduced myself?" asked Sorata; his accent was the same as it had been in the Hanshin Republic.
"Ah - that is - uhm - I," stammered Syaoran. He wrung his hands.
"You must have met another me." Sorata smiled and their surprise. "I know about the other worlds, and people's essences," his eyes swept across their faces to ascertain that they understood what he meant. "Arashi and myself owe the Time-Space Witch a favor."
Fay and Kurogane looked at each other over Syaoran and Sakura's heads, eyebrows raised. It sounded very familiar; perhaps more than only people's essences, people's circumstances were somehow similar in all of the different worlds? They didn't have time for much in the way philosophizing, as Arashi herself swept into view.
"Don't make them stand in the hallway," she said, moving Sorata aside and beckoning the travelers to follow her into the tiny dining room. There wasn't really room around the low table for the six of them, so Sakura and Syaoran shared a side, as did Kurogane and Fay. Sorata and Arashi sat kitty-corner to each other, hands folded together over the table.
"My hunny knew you were coming." Sorata said cheerfully. "I hope the room was comfy."
"Yes, thank you very much," gushed Sakura. She smiled widely at Sorata and Arashi; though she had slept through most of their time in the Hanshin Republic, she remembered their kindness to her and her companions and hoped that she could repay it somehow in this world.
Fay was watching Syaoran, who blushed a little at Sakura's exuberance. Fay didn't think he was embarrassed by her bubbly personality, far from it, but at having been placed beside her in the one bed, rather than on the floor in a futon.
"We only had the two futons," said Arashi, interrupting the silent conversation Fay and Syaoran had been having through a series of exchanged glances and small gestures. Fay was trying to tell him not to be embarrassed. "I hope you two did not mind sharing the bed."
"Oh, no! Not at all!" Sakura's smile widened and Syaoran's blush deepened. She turned to him, brows furrowed suddenly. "Unless, Syoaran-kun..."
"Ah! No." Syaoran shook his head, and Sakura's smile returned.
Arashi raised her eyebrows and gave Sorata, Kurogane and Fay a knowing smile, which Fay and Sorata returned in kind. Kurogane just nodded gruffly and looked away.
*
"Embarrassed, Kuro-pon?" asked Fay as they walked through the city. Mokona was sure there was a feather somewhere, but it was unable to tell exactly where. There was nothing for it except to go out and explore the old fashioned way.
"By what?" Kurogane frowned. He didn't take his eyes of Syaoran's back.
"Oh, you know," laughed Fay, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Your stupid nicknames? As a matter of fact, I am."
Fay laughed again, but didn't press the issue.
As in the Hanshin Republic, Sorata and Arashi had provided them with clothing that would blend in and an explanation of the magic both Fay and Mokona could feel simmering in the air. There was a system here, of spell battles fought with words in teams of two, a fighter who did the damage to the other team and the sacrifice who accepted it. Unlike the Hanshin Republic, where everyone had a kudan, not everyone had a "true name," and therefore not everyone participated in these battles. Even with her strong spiritual powers, Arashi didn't know whether or not the travelers would be bound up in this system or not.
"If you're destined to be part of the game, you will know. Your name will appear somewhere on your body." She had pushed her collar to the side slightly, where they could see the strange letters that spelled out the name she shared with Sorata: FATELESS.
So far, none of them had discovered such a marking on themselves, but Arashi had also warned that the markings often took a long time to appear. It was possible that, even if they had true names, they would have found the feather and moved on before they found out.
The ears and tail, Arashi and Sorata did not explain, only exchanged knowing looks and told them that perhaps it would be better if they figured that out for themselves. Sorata had made a face, earning him a smack from a fan that Arashi appeared to pull out of nowhere. It disappeared almost as soon as they saw it.
Now the four travelers wandered through the city, hoping to catch a stronger vibration from the feather. Mokona was sitting on Kurogane's head, ideal for his height, high above everyone else, ears perked up, straining for something that would give them a hint about where the feather was hidden.
People looked on curiously, but they never stared for more than a minute or so. Some of them had the cat ears and tail, while others didn't. There seemed to be some sort of pattern to it. All of the children they saw did, as well as some of the adults, but most adults were like Fay, Sorata and Arashi and had only human appendages.
Mokona's eyes didn't open, but it fell from it's perch, paws clamped over its ears. Kurogane caught it easily in one hand.
"What is it, pork bun?"
"Kuro-meanie didn't hear it?" asked Mokona, gingerly letting go of one ear. Sakura reached out and it hopped from Kurogane's hand to Sakura's warm embrace. She pet its head gently and the unhappy look faded from Mokona's face.
"Hear what?"
"That sound, like FWING. It made Mokona's ears hurt." Mokona shook itself. "And Mokona couldn't feel the feather, but now Mokona can again."
"Don't forget that," said Fay. "It may be important. At least you picked up the feather's waves again."
Mokona nodded. "Mokona will try really hard and make sure not to loose the feather's vibrations!"
The next time it happened, the others felt it, too. Sakura covered her ears and Syaoran hugged her close, placing his own hands over hers. Mokona was crushed between them. Fay winced, srunching his eyes closed, and even Kurogane ground his teeth.
"That was much louder than last time," complained Mokona. "And it completely drowned out the feather's waves again!"
Fay thought about this as they made their way back to the apartment complex Sorata and Arashi resided in. More than just an unpleasantly high pitched sound, there was a hint of magic in it. That must be what was drowning out the feather's waves when Mokona heard it.
"That was the sound of another system," explained Sorata when they returned home. "If you've bumped into them and they were ready to fight, you'd hear that sound."
"Mokona didn't bump into anybody."
"We were in the park," said Syaoran. "There weren't many people near us."
"Then it's possible you heard the sound of two units engaging," mused Sorata.
"The fact that you all could hear it means you're likely to have names yourself, unless..." Arashi shook her head. "You should check yourself for them while you're getting read to go to bed. They usually appear around puberty, but since this isn't your world, it's hard to say."
"This feather you're looking for ... it's very special, isn't it?" asked Sorata.
Sakura nodded.
"Then whoever has it probably won't give it up easily. If you have names, you'll have the magical abilities to fight them for it." This came as a surprise to none of them. It had become the norm of feather hunting.
Fay winced at the thought of having to use magic; he was torn between keeping his promise and helping Sakura, who had grown very dear to him. Beside him, Kurogane perked up at the promise of a fight; it didn't matter what kind of fight it was, he was up for it. Some niggling part of him knew that this was not what Princess Tomoyo had meant about learning the true meaning of strength, but he looked forward to it regardless.
"We'll have to go look again tomorrow." Kurogane grinned wolfishly. He was a lot more enthusiastic now that he had a fight to look forward to. The others knew him well enough by now to know that he would fight for the feather with his bare hands if he didn't have the magic required to do so the usual way in this world.
"In the meantime, you should rest," suggested Sorata. "You'll be safe here, so don't worry about that. My hunny and I will protect you, and this is a friendly world."
"Sleep well."
*
| chapter two: memoryless »