Unexpected Shadows

Attempted suicides, mystery men, an overlooked world. What could we possibly add? Oh, yeah: Shounen-ai

There was no warning.

The shadows attacked that night, dragging Kurai and Kato away from Taho. There was nothing they could do, this was it, this would be the end. Kurai cursed his weakness, And Kato also cursed Kurai's weakness... Now, Now who knew what was being done to the poor kid.

"Kitten, You didn't think you could run from me forever, did you?" Kol asked, straddling the young citrine-eyed boy.

Taho shut his eyes and refused to answer. This man's minions had given him the scar that made it hard for him to talk, why should he reveal anything about his plans?

"Precious is dying, You know that, don't you?" Kol said, his harsh voice giving way to a single note of surprising compassion.

"Ha...Haku?" Taho asked, looking up into Kol's horridly inhuman, unfeeling coal-black eyes. The man was like a freaking corpse, even with him sitting atop him Taho could feel no warmth and no signs that the man actually was held in the realm of the living.

Kol's lips curled upwards. A sickening smile on a dead pale face. "Yes," He said. "The other you, Kitten."

Taho shook his head. "Not.. Not true!" he said. "Taho... is Taho. Haku can... Can be without Taho."

It was Kol's turn to shake his head. There was the slightest flicker of emotion in his eyes when he spoke, but it was diminished before Taho could even register it. "Kitten, that's not true," Kol purred, obviously enjoying his game. "You'll see when we get there..."

A cage. They were in a cage. A cage in some dingy dungeon, where daylight was a dream and never a reality--Unless you were walking out to be hung, tortured, or killed. The walls spoke of their bloody history, the other half-dead prisoners eyed them with pity.

Kato shivered, not liking the looks they were giving him. Admitted, he was wearing a skirt and these men probably hadn't seen a woman in so long, if they even liked woman, that a man in a skirt was just the thing to turn them on. The brunette sighed, his good looks would be wasted here. "You all right?" He asked Kurai, who was walking rather stiffly, even for a killjoy like him.

Kurai growled, then looked at Kato. "I don't like being here--" he began, but was cut off as the two of them were thrust into the same cell. "Damn... that hurt," Kurai groaned, sitting up labouriously and wiping blood off his scratched face.

Kato's eyes widened. "Y-You're bleeding!" He said, stunned. Kurai shot him a look.

"Yeah? What of it??"

"I've never seen you bleed from a scratch before."

Kurai ignored this statement. He looked at Kato, then at the floor. "Remember... just a moment ago, if you asked me if I was all right?"

"Yeah..."

Amethyst eyes locked with sand-coloured ones. "You're going to have to kill me before the night is through."

No!! Kato thought. Not yet!! Not ever... Why? He wanted to yell, throw a temper about how unfair it was but he simply said; "All right."

Haku lay on an altar before them, breath coming in ragged, uneven gasps. A fine sheet of sweat glistened on his moonlit skin, whitish blonde hair sprawled all about.

'Haku!' Taho mouthed, his voice deserting him as he ran over to the other. His look alike. His light. Taho was the Dark. Haku was the Light. Together, they were a Shadow. Apart, they were destined to fail with death... He was knocking now, Death, but Haku was trying to delay as long as he could.

"Do you still think me a liar, Kitten?" Kol asked, his sickly sweet voice getting on Taho's last nerve. "Rejoin with us... You know you can't last without him. Or he you.''

Taho glared at him, citrine eyes flickering between their original colour and amber, Haku's colour. It was much easier for his Light to channel him when they were no longer seperated by distance and the pysical barriers of the world. "You.. You know that we will not. We're going to die, but we shouldn't go without a token for the gatekeeper. Your black soul should do."

Kol was unphased, as though this sort of thing happened alot around him. Being a shadow master, they probably did.

Taho and Haku continued. "Once you're gone, the Shadows will return to their masterless state. They'll not remember what happened, and you, you won't even be granted the honour of being a memory. Even now, as we speak, all those who knew you... You're slowly dripping from their minds. It's like a leaking faucet, only this time, there's no one who's going to fix it."

A searing pain. Flesh tearing. White-hot agony. Black feathers. Wings. Blood splattered all over the holding cell.

"Augh!" Kurai winced as another bony, feather-covered wing protruded from his back. Once human-like ears now twitched, pointed and frayed at the ends. A scar on his shoulder blade blazed into life, racking his fragile body with even more pain. "Kato!" He rasped, trying to locate the man with his blurred vision. "Now!! Kill me now!!"

Kato stared in horror. This day had come much sooner than he had ever wanted. He had no physical weapon, but he could kill Kurai... He had to. He gathered his power, and stopped. What am I doing? Kato thought, tears welling up in his eyes. I can't do this. I can't!! I've known Kurai for too long... I can't do it. I just, I can't. "I can't," He choked out, falling to his knees. "I can't do it, Kurai. I just... I just can't."

Another wave of pain left Kurai trembling. "Kato...," He pleaded, still looking for the man. It was dark, but that didn't explain his sudden decline in eyesight. Something must have happened... Or he repressed this for so long, so long that it was taking a toll on him now. A toll that may prove to be fatal. "Kato, please... You have to kill me."

Kato shook his head, sobbing. From behind his hands he spoke. "I.. I can't. Kurai... Before, before I might have... Now, I can't... I can't live with myself... I won't be able to..."

"Ka--," His voice was cut off as a flex of his painful wings left him retching in his corner. Wiping the corner of his mouth on his sleeve, spitting out an obsidian-coloured feather that had managed its way there. He lay on his side, eyes closed tight, panting. "Kato...," He tried again. "Why?"

"I...," Kato began. "I'm sorry... I... I l-love you..."

Kurai looked up at him, pale amethyst eyes tired, ready to give up. "Together?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"Want to die... Together?" Kurai asked, voice cracked and full of only a portion of the pain he was feeling. "Please... just, kill me... I can't fight it off forever!!" he pleaded, not breaking his eye contact with Kato.

Kato smiled sadly. "All right," He said, his own voice soft and tired, as though he had just fought a battle. And in essence, he had. He had fought a long-standing war with his heart. "I'll kill us," He said, his eyes closing, mind poking at the power he posessed. Acessing it. Releasing it.

"I love you too," Kurai whispered as the two of them were erased from the word, enveloped in a soft white sheet. Their transporter to the next world, the next life.

Two bodies went rigid, pale and cold. The same satisfied smile on their face. They'd found each other, thanks to an unexpected Shadow attack.

"We're going to kill you," They said, Haku and Taho, winning a stare down with Kol. Their combined energy warped the time in the room, distorting it into a mess of various colours, shapes and awkward figures.

Kol was gathering his own meager energy, he hadn't thought it meager a few moons ago... but now, up against the Dark and a semi comatose Light... He knew whatever attempt he made would be futile. But, at least he would be making an attempt. Perhaps that would count? But count for what, the shadow master did not know. "Precious... Kitten," He began, but was silenced by their eerie combined gaze.

"Farewell, 'Shadow Master'," They said, as the energy was released, erasing everything in it's path.

"Nooooooooo!!!" Kol screamed as it tore at him, wrenching his control of the Shadows away from him. He felt each mental chain snap, then dissintegrate. His control, his ultimate power, was slowly being torn from him; his pawns were waking up. Waking up to a new world. A world without a Shadow Master. The way it was supposed to be, where the shadows were unseen but there. Causing mischeif and miracles. How the world needed a good miracle. And that's exactly what one split shadow was performing.

A miracle.

At the expense of their life.

It was worth it though, as they saw Kol dissapear and their brothers being released, looking around the dark castle with awe. "Go.. You're free now," Taho and Haku said softly. This freedom had come at a price. But not paying it would have been worse. They were glad to die for it. "Enjoy... Enjoy your freedom," Haku said, waking up as he and Taho both dissapeared, their mortal shells unable to carry them to their next journey. After all, Death was the greatest journey of all. No one truly knew what was instore for the spirit; though religeons had theories. Who knew if they'd prove true?

Somewhere now, Two men walk hand and hand. It only took death to bring them together. Somewhere, hidden behind the groves of weeping willows and the fields of emerald grass and sparkling violets, a brook babbles cheerily and all seems right in the world.

Somewhere, one entity split in two is able to exist. While the other two run off, playing like they were unable to in the other world. Now there are three, but there is no balance to throw off.

As long as there are no more unexpected Shadows, all will be right. At least, until the next life.

Complete