19-Mar-2002
Title: The Spirit and the Shade
Author: Ravynfyre (ravynfyre@hotmail.com)
Archive: GW Addiction, Darkflame
Category: yaoi, AU
Pairings: 2x1
Standard Disclaimer: All parts of Gundam Wing are Not Mine. It's all Theirs. *sigh* Too bad, but otherwise, I guess I'd never get anything done *happy hentai thought*. Anyway, not makin' any money offa this so dun sue me. You'd only get some college debt, a few dogs, and a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers anyway. Ya know. blood. Turnip. Do the math.
Rating: NC-17 for graphic lemon content
Warning: yaoi lemon.
Spoiler: The Hunt
Notes: This is the unplanned sequel to the AU fic I did a while back called The Hunt. It can be found on www.gwaddiction.com under my section in the archives. More panther Duo, and a couple of surprises.
Feedback: Yes, please. All comments welcome (although flames may be fed to my dogs, who, since they have notoriously gassy intestinal tracts, will be spending the night with the flamer afterwards)
Author's notes: Got inspired last night and di a sequel to 'The Hunt'. Working on a companion piece of art to it right now that will hopefully be ready to post in a couple of days. Enjoy!
Golden sun filtered through the forest canopy, cascading down onto the thick bough like a shower of liquid fire. The dark furred skin of one shoulder flickered almost imperceptibly, dislodging the insect that had the audacity to land upon the ebony pelt. With languid nonchalance, a single amethyst eye blinked open to survey the forest floor below, ignoring the squeals of protest issuing from the passing wild piglets and their harried mother. In the distance, the panther could just make out the bawl of one of the local farmers' rather stupid oxen as it slowly splashed through a recently harvested rice paddy.
Instinctively, the panther's mouth began to water. Fresh meat. Not that he would hunt the oxen for food or sport. The poor beast was far too stupid to be any challenge whatsoever to make the latter worthwhile, and the flesh was far too stringy and dull when compared to the sweet sharp tang of his usual wild prey for the former. Even the farmers, who thought themselves clever by trying to hire that hunter, Heero Yuy, were too simple to make thieving their livestock any fun.
Heero had been fun.
An incongruous purr rumbled up from the great cat's chest as he filtered through the week old memory of that encounter. As remembered sensation slowly drifted away, Shinigami was filled with a disquieting sense of disappointment. After baiting the hunter so purposefully at the end, Shinigami had expected Heero to retaliate somehow by now. Alas, other than the faded hints of another leopard leaving scent markings on the northern border of his territory five days ago, the week had been one long unleavened spate of boredom for Shinigami. And after he'd left his own rather pungent calling card over those hints of scent to the north, even that other panther who had been trying to encroach upon his territory had vanished.
Shinigami's breath bellowed from him in a gusty, and utterly unfelinoid, sigh. He'd thought Heero had been made of sterner stuff. The amethyst eye slipped closed again, only the flickering tip of Shinigami's tail betraying his inner annoyance. Just a few more minutes of sun. He'd soak up a few more minutes of sun, then go track himself down something nice and fresh and bloody to snack on. Maybe a musk deer, or that family of wild pigs he'd studiously ignored before. He sneezed softly, shaking his head as he slowly stood and stretched. No, not pig. Venison sounded perfect. There should be a few down by the river in the deep forest at the heart of his territory.
Flowing from his perch like a pool of shadow, Shinigami sauntered off silently towards the river, sticking to the lower terrain that would eventually bring him out to the forest's edge near the base of the waterfall near his lair. Some distance from the water, he slowed his approach to a careful stalk, ears swiveled forward to catch the faintest sounds of hoof on stone over the steady splash of the waterfall. The shadows sheltered him, spilling him carefully from one to another without even a whisper of sound or errant flash of sunlight on silken ebony hide to betray him. Above him, even the birds sang on obliviously, masking what impossibly soft sounds he may have made with each carefully exhaled breath.
At the edge of the undergrowth, he crouched down hard, scooting forward under a spray of wide leaves with the grace only a feline could muster. His dark whiskers trembled with anticipation as eyes and nose both picked out his prey. At the water's edge, three adolescent musk deer stood cautiously slaking their thirst.
The world narrowed down to the nearest of the brown pelted deer, amethyst eyes widening and nostrils flaring as Shinigami held his position and waited for the perfect moment to strike. He could feel his blood singing in his veins, and the quiver of his muscles as every passing second filled them with another increment of tension. His hindquarters shifted, tamping down, claws digging into the loam, sinews stretched for the eventual snap that would catapult him from hiding. The unwary prey moved a step closer, hoof scraping softly against a mossy stone. One more step. Just one more step and Shinigami would-
The deer threw its head up in alarm, eyes wide, ears swiveling in every direction, and lower jaw slightly agape as it desperately scented the air. The pungent scent of leopard piss assaulted Shinigami's own flared nostrils.
At the water's edge, the deer bleated an alarm, and all three sprang away, crossing into the water in two, quick leaps. Shinigami broke cover in their wake, half-heartedly bounding after them, though he knew the cause was already lost. By the time he caught up with them, the meat would be spoiled by their fear. As he paused with his front paws just in the shallow water, he allowed a frustrated snarl to escape his curled lips.
The Interloper. The one he'd thought he'd frightened off who had been trying to move into his territory up north. He could smell the scent of the Interloper strong upon the wind now. It tainted the whole clearing. An instinctual roar of challenge erupted from him, reverberating through the trees, bouncing off the rocks of the waterfall, silencing the birds. He turned to pace angrily along the water's edge, but before he could take even a single step, his challenge was answered.
Night black body whipping around, Shinigami stared incredulously up at the top of the waterfall. Perched defiantly upon the rocks far above him, the Interloper stared balefully down at him, the echoes of his own roar fading into the now silent forest.
Shinigami stood frozen for a moment, transfixed by the sight of the other leopard. Its, no, *his*, for it was definitely a male, and an aggressively dominant one at that. It had to be a trick of the light, for the Interloper's pelt seemed almost white against the glare of the afternoon sun. There were faded bluish grey rosettes against the pale fur, so faint as to be as lost against the Interloper's coat as Shinigami's own markings were lost on his black pelt, but there. The startlingly pink shade of the Interloper's nose gave the other male an almost childish appeal, though the no-nonsense challenge in his ice blue eyes belied any illusion of friendship or softness. One of his soft, furred ears rotated absently towards a sound from the forest, negligently dismissing Shinigami as a threat even as the dark tip of that white tail twitched with anticipation.
Shinigami eyed the waterfall critically. He'd never tried to leap up its face before, but the only trail to the top lay several leagues off. By the time he circled around to get there, the Interloper would be long gone. As he switched his attention from the path he'd picked out upon the stones back to the Interloper, his eyes widened with shock. The bastard had swapped ends, rear now facing the black panther, and tail high in the air. With a spectacular leap that would have done even an acrobatic monkey proud, Shinigami leapt sideways, landing in the pool at the base of the waterfall with an inglorious squeak of a growl, having just barely missed getting hit when the Interloper scent sprayed over the edge of the waterfall.
As he surfaced, his murderous gaze instantly arrowed in on the now empty rocks, hissing with frustration. Pulling himself from the water, he sneezed. Leopard piss. The whole fucking clearing smelled like leopard piss now, and it wasn't even his! That white bastard would die! Shaking the water from his coat, Shinigami bounded up the stones, claws scrabbling for purchase upon their slick surface as he scaled the waterfall. Even if it took all night, he'd find that Interloper and take his payment out of that pale, white hide.
Midnight flanks heaved with exhaustion as Shinigami threw himself down into the shallows of the pool near his lair to rest. Six days he had spent tracking that white bastard through his territory. Six days that Shinigami may as well have spent chasing his own tail for all the good it did him. He'd taken to calling the thing Spirit in his head, for every time he managed to catch sight of the pale leopard, by the time Shinigami caught up to the spot, the Interloper had vanished into the very air like a ghost. If Spirit hadn't taken such delight in covering every one of Shinigami's own scent marks with one of his own, the chase might almost have been fun. Not even Heero Yuy had managed to test his skills so adroitly.
At least the white bastard was in as sorry shape as Shinigami was. He'd scented it in the marks Spirit left behind. Fatigue and stress and even sometimes a hint of blood tinged each scent mark as both leopards pushed themselves to the extremes of their limits, and then beyond.
Shinigami's breath gradually slowed, desperate panting giving way to an only slightly labored grumble as he bent his head forward to lap halfheartedly at the water he was lying in to try and cool his overheated body. The breeze shifted directions slightly, whispering in from the direction of the waterfall itself and his lair hidden behind the spray.
Leopard piss. White fangs gleamed in the afternoon sunlight as Shinigami wrinkled up his lips in distaste. He was getting really tired of smelling that white bastard's piss. Even if it was.
Really.
Really.
Fresh.
Shinigami curbed his instinct to growl, the rumble tickling his gullet as he rose from the water in a diamond hard crouch. The world narrowed down to the shadow of the cave opening behind the waterfall, the amethyst of his eyes fading to black as his slit pupils dilated. The tip of his tail shivered and twitched, betraying his excitement, and the almost silent plink of water dripping from his one upraised paw seemed to crash in his ears.
The scent mark was too fresh. He could have sworn he'd lost Spirit when the white leopard had doubled back on his trail three hours ago, which is why Shinigami had come back to his lair to regroup and rest. But this scent mark, it was too fresh. The acrid flavor of it on the back of his throat burned a little as his jaws gaped to take it in. With all this water flowing and splashing about, even if the mark had been made no more than half an hour ago, the humidity of the air should have killed the sharp metallic tang of it long before now.
That bastard was sleeping in his lair.
The realization was the final straw for the sleek black panther, and his already frayed temper snapped. The splash of his powerful body, crashing through the water at full speed was drowned out by the primal roar of challenge and rage that burst from his throat. As if on cue, the waterfall exploded outward in a shower of crystalline droplets that threw a million tiny rainbows across the clearing. Hidden in the center of the eruption, a white blur of teeth and claws bellowed his own challenge as he arced down towards the darker shadow of black panther.
Ice blue locked with amethyst as darkness and light crashed, a thunderstorm cleaving the darkness, daylight giving way to night. The first exchange was a flurry of churned water, flashing fangs, and clashing claws, neither leopard willing to give way to the other. Shinigami allowed a small growl of triumph as one pale shoulder ran crimson for a moment. A white blur stole his mirth a moment later, however, when he felt the other leopard's teeth fasten upon the thick ruff of his muscled neck. Shinigami bit back a startled yowl as he felt Spirit bowl him over, tumbling him back into the water once again as they tussled and scrambled for supremacy. The rocks lining the bottom of the pool dug into the pads of the dark panther's feet, his claws digging in for purchase. If he could get just a tiny bit more traction, he would have enough leverage to throw the white leopard off. Just a little bit more, and he might be able to dislodge those tee-
Arms?
The weight pinning Shinigami down suddenly subsided, making the darker leopard flounder a bit in the water, though the pressure of the now blunted teeth still fastened firmly on his neck never abated. A pair of muscled, human arms came around from behind, wrapping tightly around Shinigami's throat, and suddenly the teeth were gone.
"Tag. You're it," a familiar voice murmured into one dark furred ear. And then, nothing.
Shinigami spun around on a single hindquarter, sides heaving with the effort to breathe past the lump filling his throat.
The eyes were no longer ice blue; they had darkened to prussian like the last hints of night clinging to the dawn. The challenge in them, however, was as unmistakable as when the creature before him had prowled upon four legs, rather than the two he stood defiantly on now. The water running in rivulets from the bronzed skin was only faintly tinted scarlet here and there, injuries forgotten as the hunter smirked down at the dumbstruck panther.
"The hunt was a good one," Heero Yuy intoned with a wicked chuckle. "But the panther still runs free."
Skin melted into fur, night faded into ice, and with a taunting flick of his pale tail, the white leopard vaulted off into the forest again at a ground eating lope. Shinigami snapped his jaw shut and leapt off in Spirit's wake. The world blurred past, lost in the haze of speed as the dark panther rapidly gained ground on the light. Ice blue eyes glanced back over one pale shoulder, almost laughing as Spirit's jaws gaped open in a feline grin. With a massive heave of his hindquarters, Shinigami pounced, sending both beasts to tumble to a halt in a tangled sprawl.
"Bastard," Duo hissed, voice a little gravely as he slowly settled into his human form.
Below him, Heero stared up at him unrepentantly, the faintest hints of a smirk still playing at his lips as they melted back to flesh from fur. He carefully reached up, a callused fingertip stroking an errant lock of Duo's chestnut mane back from where it had fallen over one eye. "Took you long enough," the hunter replied, chest heaving softly to refuel oxygen-starved tissues.
"Why didn't you say anything then? You could have stopped me before I vanished," Duo said, shifting forward to rest his hands upon the ground on either side of Heero's head.
"Because the hunt is the prize," Heero replied cryptically, lifting his head to lick a trail of water from Duo's throat.
The growl rose from the pit of Duo's stomach, the sensation of Heero's mouth working against his skin drowning out everything else. He could feel the heat building within him, like the brief touch of fire that kindled within him every time he let the change take him, only this fire didn't fade, didn't burn. Below him, Heero shifted, settling the long-haired man against him more comfortably, the firm shaft of the hunter's cock pressing insistently against Duo's thigh. Duo hissed sharply as he felt the prick of Heero's teeth bite into the hollow of his throat.
Amethyst flashed hotly, the damp tangle of Duo's hair whipping against Heero's skin as Duo jerked back just long enough to free himself from the hunter's teeth. His hands were pale against Heero's as he pinned the hunter's wrists to the ground and struck, mouth fastening upon the heavy pulse of Heero's throat. The flesh under his lips tasted sweet and wild, like the rarest delicacy kissed with a hint of the finest wine. Even with his dulled human senses, he could smell the blood hovering just under the surface, the life quivering just under his fangs. Duo could feel his own breath burning in his lungs, trickling out in a slow, drawn out growl of possession.
Heero tilted his head a little, tongue darting out to rasp upon one pale shoulder, soothing the parallel slashes marring the perfect flesh. He could feel his skin just beginning to yield to Duo's teeth, feel the sharp sting of the long-haired man's kiss as it mingled slowly with the thin trickle of blood leaking from the fresh wound. He arched up, cock finding the searing shaft of its counterpart, breath exploding from him in a surprised hiss at the too brief contact. With a wrench, he broke his hands free of Duo's grasp, running his fingertips down the pale flesh of Duo's sides and stomach. Lifting his head, he butted his chin against Duo until the other turned to face him, letting him claim the long-haired man's mouth for a long moment, tasting him, tasting himself, while his fingers continued to map out Duo's flesh by touch alone.
Duo's eyes slipped closed as he feasted at the hunter's lips. The burn of the hunt still raced through his veins, sang through his chest, ached for completion along every nerve that Heero brought to life with feather light touch. Duo felt those talented fingers ghost gently along the firm shaft of his arousal, leaving behind trails of fire upon his skin and calling another moaned growl from the pit of his stomach. As his eyes snapped open to spear the hunter, Duo felt his breath stutter and halt for a moment at the sultry, languid smirk on those swollen lips. It was mirrored by a flash of triumph in Heero's prussian gaze, and Duo couldn't help but smile in return.
The smile turned more predatory as he let his fingers slowly trail along the damp flesh under his hands, slipping from shoulder to collarbone and down the sculpted chest to swirl around dusky nipples once, twice, a third time before flicking negligently across the engorged nubs. Bending his head back down, he lapped at first one, then the other, until Heero's smirk had faded and the hunter had been reduced to a writhing, mewling thing before the amethyst-eyed predator. Releasing his prey, Duo settled back upon his tucked up legs, letting his hands slowly caress down Heero's body until his fingertips rested along the hunter's long thighs. Making sure that Heero was meeting his gaze, Duo brought one finger up to his lips, drawing it into his mouth with his tongue, pulling it free with a soft, wet pop. Attention never leaving the hunter's face, Duo trailed that wet finger down Heero's leg, earning a frustrated growl as he intentionally bypassed the proud cock that twitched as if begging for notice. He let his thumb gently caress the twin globes below, cradled in their pouch of flesh while that moist finger carefully probed at the tight ring of muscle he would soon claim.
Heero threw his head back, exposing the long line of his throat again at the first intrusion. He'd waited for it for so long, needed it for longer. Almost from the first moment he'd met the violet glare of the midnight panther crouched in the forest, Heero had known he'd found the thing he'd always sought. Never before that week, as he flowed seamlessly from leopard to human and back again trying to evade Shinigami's wrath, had the change been so fluid, so perfect. Never before had it felt so right. For the first time in his life, he'd ceased fighting it and simply let the rhythm of his own nature seize control. A choked off moan burst from him as Duo stroked along a particularly sensitive nerve within him, making the whole world burst into flame behind his clenched eyelids. Heero gave up conscious thought, letting himself sink into the world Duo had opened up to him, a world of pure sensation where even the ground below him pulsed with a life of its own. He was free.
Duo felt Heero's surrender, saw it in the radiant smile the other offered him as he finally opened his eyes again, heard it in the soft, needy moan, tasted it in the air. Pulling Heero up to meet him once again, Duo never broke eye contact as he positioned the Japanese man against himself. A nearly imperceptible nod of encouragement spurred him on, and with a single thrust, he sheathed himself in the tight channel of Heero's body with a soft cry. Home. Completion.
For the first time in his life, Duo, Shinigami, felt whole.
The rest of the world was ripped away in a maelstrom of purest sensation, flinging both Heero and Duo into a place where nothing but the other existed. With each claiming thrust of Duo's hips, he felt a little bit more of himself spin away like filaments of his own soul tightening into a thread gathered upon a spindle, only to be replaced in kind by the fiery essence of Duo. Every nerve in his body suddenly erupted in an explosion of pleasure so intense, for several long moments, he lacked even the strength to breathe, could see only a leopard of fire coursing the pathways of his soul, could taste only freedom.
Duo threw his head back in a sharp growl of pleasure as Heero's climax ripped through him, making the hunter grip his cock tightly. He let the wave crash over him, dragging them both under as his essence flooded and filled his lover. It seemed like they drifted together forever, wrapped within the protective embrace of each other's beasts before reality slowly saw fit to intrude upon them again.
Heero's tongue darted out and lapped up an errant bead of sweat trickling slowly down Duo's throat. Duo couldn't help but chuckle at the quiet purr of satisfaction rumbling in the Japanese man's chest.
"Happy?"
Prussian blue eyes blinked in quiet astonishment before looking back up at Duo. "Hai. Ai'shiteru."
The radiance of his lover's smile stole Duo's breath. "I love you, too," he finally managed, fingertips tracing reverently over the smooth planes of Heero's cheeks. He was so fascinated by the play of his pale skin against Heero's bronzed flesh, that he didn't notice how the hunter's smile had grown feral and playful. Without understanding quite how he'd gotten there, Duo suddenly found himself sitting on his rump on the trail. He barely had time to register how the white panther turned to face him, ice blue eyes sparkling, mouth agape and whiskers trembling in a cat laugh, before he leapt away into the forest in a pale blur. With a disgruntled yowl, Shinigami bounded off in Spirit's wake, the twitch of his tail giving away his mirth.
For many moons to come, the farmers would speak in reverent voices of how the great cats coursed the forest like the night chasing the moon, and how the trees rang with the laughter of leopards.
~owari~
RavynFyre
Please send comments to: ravynfyre@hotmail.com