Disclaimer: I own nothing. I used some lyrics from Ben Folds Five, but that's only because they inspired me for this (somehow) and I felt I had to include them SOMEWHERE in it!
Warnings: None for now. Watch out for shounen ai later.
Notes: Ack. Where did THIS come from? Oh, well. Hope it doesn't suck too badly.
The silvery wisps of air along the sky chimed merrily, dancing along the edge of the pale moonlight as silver threads gathered into an intense whirlwind of tinkling gray mist. It shifted, claws and teeth and beckoning jaws escaping from a deceptively ethereal glow; horns poked out occasionally, accompanied by spiked leather wings. The chimes faded away, the form stretching and thinning as a pair of incredibly dark eyes appeared in the swirling mass, swallowing the light from the stars and the moon hanging high above. A small, rosebud mouth became apparent among all the chaos and the soft tinkling sounds continued to drift, disappearing almost completely as it twisted open to caress the gentle tones of music pouring into the night air. Long, ashen lashes closed over invisible cheeks, and it began to sweetly croon its song.
"Goodnight, goodnight, sweet baby..."
The whispered words were sincere and gentle. The shapeless mist flickered, bleeding into the surrounding darkness before reappearing with a more fierce shimmer in the form of a young woman. It still held firm to the tender mouth and black-abyss eyes that stole and snatched the light from the sky, but now a blue-black gloss of long hair flowed freely into the charcoal world, and high cheeks were flushed pink in their place on the heart-shaped face. A small, pert nose formed, as did an angular chin to accent the gaunt lines of her face. The neck came next, long and pale and marvelously swan-line, spanning out delicately into thin and frail-looking shoulders. Her arms grew, willowy and graceful, and slender fingers curled from small, oval hands.
A white gown hung low on her shoulders, the silky material flowing in glittering iridescence down her torso and past thin ankles to dust along bare feet, the pale girl floating inches above the ground. And all the while, the soft, haunting little melody poured from the beautiful lips that shone wine-red even underneath the lightless sky of the naked night.
"The world has more for you than it seems..."
The gossamer strands of hair hovered behind her as she moved forward, the chimes chattering once more, and she started towards the faint, dark outline of a house. Spidery digits on a slender hand tangled themselves restlessly in the black mass trailing on air around her, snagging a curl and twisting it absently. Her slight form perched on the branch of a nearby tree, the black-abyss eyes peering curiously through a white-paned window on the house and at the sleepy blonde head lost in a sea of blankets within. A cruel smirk tainted her pretty little mouth and a hollow laugh trickled through the night, though she never broke away from her achingly beautiful melody.
"Goodnight, goodnight..."
She stretched out an arm almost longingly, crooking a finger in a "come-hither" gesture as she stared with eyes devoid of all emotion at the slumbering figure.
"Let the moonlight take the lid off your dreams..."
The blonde tuft of hair inside moved, a groggy and sleep-addled mumble escaping as the figure moved. The pale features of a teenaged boy slid into view for the pleasure of the chiming apparition sitting in the tree outside. As if on cue, the ghostly form transported to float just outside of the white panes, the night wind blowing by but leaving the strands of her hair and material of her dress untouched. The tinkling chimes grew stronger.
She pressed her fingertips against the glass of the window, the low, hollow-sounding laugh trilling lightly. A smirk grew on her face as she leaned in close, a red tint lighting the darkness in her eyes.
"Goodnight, goodnight..."
The glass shattered, and there was a single scream.
"Sweet baby..."
The world blinked, and it was only after a few painfully confused minutes that the stars and moon began to shine again, their place in the sky returned and completely oblivious to the events that had occurred during their absence. The only evidence of the happenings was a soft song carried on the wings of the balmy wind.
"The world has more for you than it seems..."
The creature's eyes flickered briefly, appearing in the night with the companion of a pained gaze of innocent lapis lazuli. The blue eyes screamed silently, wide with unspoken terror while the black ones nearby watched on impassively. The softly spoken melody began to bleed away into silence.
"Goodnight, goodnight..."
It slowly died away, drenched in the invisible tears of baby blue, but those, too left eventually, leaving only the two black voids to remain. Then those also disappeared, and the tearstained midnight was washed away as a soft whisper stirred in the trees and a light rain began to fall, covering all traces of the kidnapping.
"...sweet baby."
A buttery yellow light flicked on in the house, concerned words drowned out momentarily by the sound of the water splattering against all surfaces. A light was turned on in the hall outside of the boy's room, the window mysteriously replaced. A little box of gold surrounded the door until it was thrown open and a worried figure stood against the auroral backdrop of light. A single word was caught, the strained voice murmuring it raising in a flurry of frenzied panic.
"Quatre?"
"Brother, dear."
The soft, charmingly innocent voice of his sister snagged his attention. He did not, however, look away from the delicate pink petals of the flowers he'd been outside studying for the past hour or so. The water droplets from both the light rain they'd received earlier that day and the dew the morning always brought clung to the flower petals, shimmering like miniature crystals and adding to the natural beauty. The grass and other plant life surrounding them was perfectly green and kept, lush and thick and even. To indicate he was listening, he tilted his head slightly to the side, his brown hair sliding to the side to allow both of his eyes to come into view, hard and impassive and much like the stone they imitated.
"Brother, come here for a moment."
Her voice came, quiet and tempting and faint in the wind that blew around playfully.
"What is it, Cathy?"
He turned, regretful for the loss of watching the flowers but still curious as to the nature of his sister's visit. She was a good sister, yes, but mildly overprotective when the situation arose and downright suffocating at times with her good intentions. He raised his eyes from the ground, sweeping the harsh gaze across the scene around him.
"...Cathy?"
She wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Right here, Trowa."
His eyes narrowed, finally noticing a shimmering sheen of gray mist. He pocketed his hands in the black slacks he wore, the equally dark, loose shirt he wore becoming billowy in the wind that insisted to blow and play across his form.
"...Why not your normal form?"
The mist twinkled, flaring up briefly, as if in defiance. He was vaguely aware of an indistinct chiming when it twirled in a circle, swirling a step or two closer to him.
"I have more freedom like this. Why is it you don't ever join me anymore?"
The mist blew closer, the chimes suddenly deafening in his ears.
"Please. Trowa, come hunt with me just once more. You look so horribly deprived and underfed."
He sighed, averting his gaze over his shoulder to the peaceful pink plants there. Truth was, he downright hated hunting and feeding like that. It wasn't right, it wasn't normal, it wasn't his beliefs or morals. It just wasn't HIM.
As if reading his thoughts, the silvery mist of his sister's form spread, glittering angrily.
"Trowa, you're wrong! Hunting is who we are, it's what we DO. It's our way of life. Trowa, you must believe me. There's no other choice."
She paused, the golden tones of her voice dropping to a wistful whisper.
"Surely, Trowa, you'll DIE if you continue like this...."
He frowned, turning his head to make sure Catherine saw the expression and his feelings about the situation.
"Then I die," he said simply, and looked away again.
"I've been ready for this," his sister said, sounding smug. He refused to look at her, feeling a sick feeling developing in his stomach.
"Really."
Trowa suddenly felt cold and wet all over, and it was only after a few moments of ignorance that he realized it was caused by the mist of his sister blowing up against him.
"What do you want?" he clipped, in any mood but pleasant. His sister laughed, and her mist-body stretched far apart, dipping into invisibility before snapping into the image of a young woman. The form she used to hunt.
He felt the frown growing on his face again, turning his head slightly to the side to watch as she stood in the wind, her blue-black hair floated around her in glossed perfection. He bit back a sneer, shaking his head in an almost sad gesture.
"Is it so horrible?" he asked, and turned away again. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought her eyes had been blue when she'd looked at him a moment before. Her eyes were always black in that form -- no, a shade far darker than black. It was charcoal and night and every dark, earthy tone he could think of mixed together with the lights turned off and bathed in midnight. It disturbed him every time he looked at her when she possessed those eyes, but what disturbed him even more was when they were of a different color.
For when they were of a different color, that meant she had caught her prey and was holding it trapped there until she sapped all of the energy from it, or chose to release it. And it wasn't at all likely that she would release this one.
"No," she said simply, "but I really WAS hoping to find a use for it here with you."
She seemed disappointed, her impossibly red lips stretching into a faint frown.
"Trowa, I'm worried about you; I wanted you to hunt with me. You never feed anymore; you stay here and STARVE yourself, instead! I don't want you to die."
He remained silent, crossing thin arms over his chest.
"Then leave."
But Catherine would have none of it.
"No, Trowa!" Her voice was suddenly more real, louder and closer to him than before.
He blinked, surprised for a moment, and turned to find his sister standing a few feet away from him in a normal green gown worn by the common folk. Her eyes were wide, blue-gray with a tinge of anger and fear within them, and her curly brown-red hair fell around her face prettily. Her white-gloved hands clenched the folds of her dress tightly, her teeth gritted as she spoke.
"I won't allow you to throw your life away like that, not while I'm still around! There are still people here that care about you." All of her anger drained away, and she sniffed quietly, looking down at the ground where she drug the toe of a green slipper across the grass.
"I don't want you to die, brother."
His expression visibly softened, and he drew her into a quick embrace.
"I don't want to die, either, Cathy."
He held her out at arms length, lifting her chin with two fingers to force her to look him in the eyes.
"But I also don't want to hunt down innocent people. And right now, I'd rather sacrifice my own life than countless others'."
A small smile claimed his sister's lips as she brought her hands up to clasp his wrists gently.
"I didn't think you would, Trowa." She squeezed her fingers around his wrists in a comforting fashion, staring into his eyes. "So I did it for you, Trowa."
The sinking feeling returned to his stomach as he remembered the blue eyes replacing black.
"Catherine," he started, his tone warning.
"Don't worry, Trowa," she reassured him quickly. "I've already taken care of catching him." She dropped his wrists, smiling happily as she twirled out of his grasp and into her mist form, her eyes taking on an azure shade to replace the normal grayish tint of her eyes. The gossamer black hair that came with the hunting form floated on the air around her, and she closed her eyes, concentrating.
"Cathy," he tried again, watching uncomfortably as she stretched her arms out in front of her, palms up. "I'd rather if you didn't do this."
She paid him no heed, however, as the pale outline of a teenager formed in her arms. It glowed brightly, then almost vanished completely before settling into somewhere comfortably in between. Cathy opened her eyes again.
They were black. Flat, hard, dull, and black.
He breathed a small sigh of relief.
"You didn't drain him entirely," he noticed, trying to sound casual. Catherine nodded, her mist body blinking out before settling into her normal, solid form.
"Of course not. I caught him for you, after all."
The boy became solid during the transformation, also, looking achingly vulnerable in sweatpants and a large nightshirt. His pale blonde hair ruffled in the breeze lightly, and she handed the bundle over Trowa with a slight smile. He accepted the small person into his arms silently, looking at her with clear disapproval.
"Trowa," she said, her voice suddenly soft, "I don't like it any more than you do, stealing away these people's energy..." She looked up at him, searching his face for a scrap of understanding. "We are what we are. You can't change it, so you might as well accept it!" She spoke the words plainly, deliberately hanging upon each one in hopes to get her point across more clearly.
"No," Trowa disagreed, shifting the warm bundle in his arms to a more comfortable position for them both. He looked Catherine in the eye, pain clear among the dullness there. "We've no right to kill people like this. We don't have to be... " He paused, searching for the right words, then frowned when he found them. "Cathy, we don't have to be like this," he said, quietly. "We don't have to be demons."
And with that, he clutched the blonde boy against his chest and strode inside the large French doors to his manor. He shut them firmly behind him, taking special care to slide the latch into place before ascending the beautiful wooden staircase to the upper floors of his house.
"Demons," he repeated quietly to himself.
Shaking his head sadly, he looked down at the blonde bundle of warmth in his arms and silently wondered where he came from.
"I feel so sorry for you," he whispered, walking down plush crimson carpet to swing open another French door that lead into a large bedroom. He brushed his fingertips lightly across the forehead of the unknown boy, setting him down gently on the cool satin sheets of the bed. He sat in the tasteful mahogany chair nearby, scooting it over the soft carpet as he pulled it over to the bed. He folded his arms over his middle, leaning back against the hard wood as he stared at the figure either unconscious or blissfully asleep on the bed.
"I wish I could help you," he murmured.
He sighed, closing his weary eyes. Not only had he been neglecting his need for mortal energy, but he'd been skipping on sleep, also.
"But I can't...."
He soon fell asleep.
End Part 1
(:./thyme/lullaby1)
