http://clampfix.fanworks.net/guests/blood2.txt </head><body><pre> Blood Ties A crossover between Sohryuuden and "X: Sides" by Kristin Huntsman Prologue -Maine, 1993- :Is it over, Niisan?: He wanted to say yes. Wanted it so badly. He could hear, feel the exhaustion in his brother's thoughts and knew it was mirrored in his own. But he could not do else than tell the truth. :I don't know, Tsuzuku. I hope so... But I don't know.: The ruby scales shifted against his own sapphire as Tsuzuku moved his sinuous neck to look fondly at the black and white scaly forms wound around each other, sleeping. :Well, perhaps we can rest for a while, anyway. We've done enough world-saving for one day, don't you think?: Hajime chuckled, the sound emerging from his Dragon's throat as a deep rumble. :I agree completely.: He rested his head on Tsuzuku's back and let his eyes close. The four Dragons slept on a deserted stretch of beach, serpentine bodies intertwined in a multicolored knot as complex as a Celtic design, blissfully unaware of the stir several hundred miles away in Washington, D.C. as the bureaucrats attempted to unravel the logistical mess created by being unexpectedly rescued from a full-scale nuclear strike by the same supposedly hostile Dragon that had destroyed every major military installation in the U.S. Blood Ties A crossover between Sohryuuden and "X: Sides" by Kristin Huntsman Chapter 2 Kamui always dreamt of Dragons. But this was different... Deep blue scales, bluer than sapphire, coiled around his own blue-violet, supporting him, pulling him back toward the surface. He hurt, he hurt so much. Red blood slicked bright across the dark scales, pouring from gashes torn through his body. :We're almost there, Yuusha.: :Koutei... why... why did he...: Yuusha sobbed. :Hatred poisons the soul,: his eldest brother replied. :Do you hate him for what he did to you?: :Never... I can't hate Bushin... I want him back...: :Never hate, Yuusha... Learn that lesson from me, since I was too late to learn it myself...: Koutei stroked his nose comfortingly across Yuusha's cheek. :What's that?: Yuusha asked, looking up through the bubbles to the shifting surface of the water above, frosted with clouds of bloodstained feathers. There were two Humans up there, one curled in on himself, the other kneeling next to him as if the water was solid. :Home,: Koutei answered as they passed through the barrier. Subaru wasn't quite sure what he'd done, but Kamui suddenly looked at him. *At* him, not *through* him anymore. In desperation at Kamui's total lack of response Subaru had sent some deep, buried part of himself further into Kamui's subconscious than he dared to go fully, and apparently it had worked. "Su...ba...ru..." Kamui said, his voice half sobbing. Subaru cautiously reached out, and Kamui let himself fall against Subaru's shoulder, shaking with repressed anguish. Subaru tried to think of something to say, and found no words. He held Kamui and hoped that would be enough. "Why... Why..." Kamui finally cried brokenly, his voice rising to a tortured scream. "WHY?" Subaru didn't respond. He didn't have to; Kamui already knew the answer. It whispered through Kamui's mind in Fuuma's voice, the voice of his reflection. *Because you are "Kamui."* *As am I.* "Is there anything in particular you wanted?" Nokoru asked the assasin who stood before them. "I was just wondering how long you were intending to keep up the facade," Sakurazukamori replied lazily, giving a liquid shrug of his shoulders. "It is hardly to your advantage to keep the other Dragons in the dark about their pasts and powers. You can be sure the Dragons of Earth have no such problem." Nokoru stood slowly. "How long have you known, Kanshisha?" Seishirou's good eye glittered. "Since I was fifteen. Since I gained my title. I knew you on sight, Luce." "You said nothing." "Why bother?" "By your own logic, why not? If you don't want us keeping secrets..." "I don't want anything," Seishirou said smoothly. "I was just wondering, that's all." Nokoru's eyes narrowed. "And how would it affect your plans if I said that I intend to let the Dragons awake in their own time?" Seishirou smiled. "Not at all." Tsuzuku looked up at the clouded sky with a frown. Something teased at the edges of his perception, like the faraway ringing of a bell that was too distant to be truly heard. He wondered if it was related to Amaru's dream. He shook his head. He couldn't spend the whole day being distracted over something intangible. He shifted the books he held into a more comfortable position and continued walking underneath the trees, their branches setting free clouds of delicate sakura petals in the spring breeze. Karen watched from her hidden position inside the tree, a smile on her face as she langurously licked her bottom lip. Satsuki hummed to herself as she dipped through cyberspace. Bushin would undoubtedly deal with Yumemi quite effectively and then they wouldn't have any more of this nonsense of being split up. The others had all arrived already, even Senshi. Yumemi's refusal to accept his Destiny had been annoying her. Now that the problem was solved, she could relax somewhat, which meant she could devote some time to trying to crack the few systems that she and her baby still couldn't get into. There weren't many of those, and when she finally cracked a security system that had been frustrating her and gained access to all the information inside, it was... well, wonderful. One of those was the Imonoyama family's personal system. That family had their hands in everything, and she *knew* that there would be stuff in there she wanted. But the system always adapted itself faster than she and the Beast could. That was damned annoying. She decided to leave that one for later. The other big one was a system that she wasn't entirely sure of. She knew it belonged to something big - multi-national, and equipped with security software nearly as good as what the Imonoyama system possessed. It was kind of odd that a lesser system would have such better security than this one, but it did. She still wasn't quite sure why. But she'd find out eventually. For now, she concentrated on the big one. She was curious to see just what kind of corporation was so interested in absolute secrecy. She'd actually stumbled across the system by accident and she still didn't have a clue who was running it, which was very odd indeed. So she set to work, using every trick she knew to try and get through the passwords, firewalls, and all other protections. It was straining her speed to the limit to keep from being detected. She smiled grimly as she got through the first layer. She usually got tagged right about now. But not this time. Adrenaline was singing through her and she wasn't about to let herself get caught. She and the Beast danced through the second layer, and then somehow scraped through the third, and were suddenly confronted with a name. LUCIFER. Satsuki frowned. No corporation would have that name. It had to be the name of the system. She'd never gotten this far into the security system before. PASSWORD? the system asked her. She shrugged mentally. It didn't matter what she input, Beast would need time to crack the password and systems like this usually had one or two retries for the possibility of mistypes. Beast was already telling her that the password was a long one. She shrugged whimsically and deliberately thought of the most obscure thing she could come up with. She remembered her days in the Heavenly Sun Court and picked a name from the other, the Heavenly Moon Court, who made state visits for some reason or another every few hundred years or so. She remembered the handsome Dragon King she'd observed for a time, before he returned home and she returned her attentions to Kishi where they belonged. Why not? [Tokaiseiryuu-oh] she input, and snorted as the system paused. The longer it was hung up trying to verify the ridiculous password, the more time Beast had to figure out the right one. ACCESS GRANTED, Lucifer told her. Kamui slowly blinked and opened his eyes, clear and seeing again. Yuzuriha let out a breath of relief. She had been afraid that Kamui would never wake up. And Kotori-chan would be so happy to see Kamui awake. "Kamui--" she started, when Subaru crumpled, slipping gently into Kamui's arms. Sorata hastily opened the door to call for help. Kamui just curled his arms around Subaru - Kamui looked so frail, with all those bandages wrapped around him - and whispered something too quiet for Yuzuriha to hear. Inuki sniffed anxiously at Subaru, whining. Kamui smiled at the dog and stroked its head with fingers that looked stiff and painful. But his smile looked like something he put on because he thought he should, not because he felt it. He looked up at Yuzuriha and asked, "Where is Kotori?" "Sleeping," Yuzuriha said. "You should sleep too." She tried to look firm but she really wasn't any good at it. Kamui gave a short, pain-filled and bitter chuckle. "Why not? Maybe it'll let me forget, even if that's just a lie..." He closed his eyes and buried his face in the shoulder of Subaru's white jacket. Yuzuriha couldn't tell if he was crying. Yuzuriha bit her lip. She wanted to tell him everything would be all right... But he wouldn't believe her even if she did. Kotori looked around. "Where am...?" This wasn't the black plain of her other dreams, filled with drifts of white feathers rippling the water beneath her feet and the ominous ticking of golden gears somewhere in the dark void. When she left Kakyou she thought she would wake up, but instead she found herself here, wherever here was. It looked like a garden. She stood on a neat gravel path between two rows of flowering bushes, their huge blooms bursting in a riot of color from the green walls. The bushes weren't very tall, only to her waist, and beyond them she could see more of the ordered garden and the walls beyond, intricately painted with murals of intertwined Dragons, all colors and sizes. There was someone in front of her, hunched down in a sullen ball, facing the flowers. She stepped toward him and as her bare toes shifted the gravel he heard the sound and looked up. Immediately he jumped to his feet, almost tripping over his white ornately trimmed robe. "Who are you?" the child askked breathlessly. "What are you doing here?" "I'm..." Kotori found herself saying a name which she didn't quite know.. or, she did, it was just like she'd forgotten it for a really long time. "Xiao Cho," she said. "Oh." His eyes got big and round. "You're from the Sun Court, right? The princess?" He asked with artless curiosity. "I heard that you're really a Human but the Emperor bestowed a special gift on you! Is that true? Have you ever seen him? What does he look like?" The child's eyes were shining as questions poured from his mouth. Kotori didn't know what to say, floundering in the face of so many queries, but she was rescued when a sharp voice rang out, "Seikaihakuryuu-oh!" The boy flinched and looked behind him. Sheepishly he said, "Hai, Ani-ue?" A tall man in blue strode into the garden. "Have you forgotten your manners entirely? The princess is a guest." He bowed to Kotori. "Don't let him be rude to you, princess." She smiled. "It's no trouble..." Suddenly a roar cut her to the center of her being just as the floor rumbled and shook. Pain cut through her as if talons had shredded her own skin. The two in front of her felt it too, they discarded their Human seemings in the blink of an eye and stretched into Dragon form, the high voice of the young white one crying out, :The World is out of Balance! Why are they fighting?!: The huge yellow eyes of the blue Dragon looked down at her. :Princess, stay here in the Moon Court where it is safe, please,: he instructed. Kotori stared up at him, frozen in horror as the pain in her heart suddenly started to mean something to her. A roar of agony and rage tore through her soul, answered by a deeper voice as teeth and claws tore and clung for purchase against thick scales, red blood blooming on blue-violet scales. Terrified she screamed for both of them, since there were no words for him, nothing but confusion and pain. "Bushin, stop! What are you doing? Oh please stop them!" she cried desperately to the two Dragons above her, who were hesitating for some reason she could not understand. The yellow eyes looked down at her, roiling with uncertainty and anguish. :We are not welcome... It is not our Court, not our family...: "Bushin!" she screamed again in desperation. "Stop it, stop!" She could see the fight as if it was in front of her eyes and not leagues distant, could feel rage/bloodlust washing over her in alternating waves with fear/pain. There was a crack and something in her shattered, stealing her breath. A roar of triumph tore through her and she crumpled, burying her face in her hands. Thunder crashed and nearly drowned her voice as she gave a sobbing scream of denial and loss. "YUUSHA!" The thunder broke apart the sky and the ground underneath her as Heaven tore itself apart with the betrayal of the Dragons against each other. The two families twisted in the clouds, all fighting wildly, the order gone. They even fought their own relatives, not just those of the other side. The universe crumbled around her and she fell into the swirling chaos. "Hey, Owaru," Amaru said, poking his older brother when he didn't get any response. "Huh?" Owaru turned to look at him, away from the window he'd been staring out of. "Oh, hi Amaru." "And they call *me* spacey," Amaru teased. "What were you thinking about?" He put his books down on the library table and sat next to his brother, eyeing the big book open in front of Owaru, the pages yellowed with age. "Well, this book. I've never seen it before, but it's obviously been here for ages - weird, huh?" Owaru showed off the dust on his hands from handling it. "It was stuck in a corner of the shelf." "It's not in Chinese," Amaru said in surprise. A lot of the texts were and then they had to either spend a long time puzzling it out (Amaru's Chinese still wasn't very good and Owaru's wasn't much better) or bring it to Hajime for him to look at. "Yeah, that's another weird thing. And it's about some kind of battle in Heaven. It's not about us and the Gyushu, Tcause it talks about Dragons fighting each other. Why don't we remember any of this?" Amaru shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was before us?" Owaru frowned. "I don't think so... actually when I read this it sounded sort of familiar. So I've been trying to remember. I haven't gotten much, though. Except..." he frowned. "I think I remember a beautiful girl with blond hair." "I think you were just daydreaming," Amaru said with a grin. Owaru looked out the window again, not even responding to the teasing. "I don't think so... she was really sad." Satsuki's priorities had changed the instant she gained access to the system. She hadn't been *planning* to get in, but now that she was in an account, she was damned if she wasn't going to grab whatever information was available to her and then get the hell out of there before the computer figured out that she wasn't the registered user after all. She set Beast to downloading everything within reach, some buried part of her still stunned that the password had worked. Who else could possibly know about the Tokaiseiryuu-oh? Windows were still coming up - Beast was far faster than the startup sequence and was already delving through files for information. A window popped open on the screen. [Welcome, Lady L. You have new mail.] <Lady L?> Satsuki thought, filing the name away to try and look up later. She wanted to know just what this person knew about the Kings of the Moon Court, and how they had come across the information. If she'd been in Dragon form, her hackles would have raised at the thought that someone might know enough about her siblings to put them in danger. They didn't have *time* for an outside fight. The Promised Day had come. "Stop them... stop fighting..." Kotori mumbled in her sleep, tossing her head and spilling her hair over the pillow like silk woven of golden threads. A hand touched her cheek, a light caress that quieted her. Sakurazukamori removed his glasses and smiled. "So, you are the first to remember after all. But even dreams mean nothing if they are not remembered..." A drift of cherry petals swirled around him as he vanished into thin air, leaving a whisper of sound behind. "Forgive me Princess... but I can't have Subaru-kun remembering just yet." The sakura vanished into thin air as Kotori turned over and smiled, falling into more pleasant dreams. --Tsuzuku-- </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>