Storm Wars: Chapter 4
Feb. 22nd, 2017 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matsu1ninoTitle: Storm Wars
Pairing: Matsumiya
Genre: AU, Historical, Sci-Fi
Disclaimer: Arashi is not mine.
Summary: One was a noble prince, the other a lowly thief. Brought together by fate, yet destined to be apart.
Author's Note: Wasn't planning on updating tonight but things change. Wonder if aimiya can fight...let's find out! The long-awaited action/battle scene will be in two parts.
Chapter 4
Sho had not expected to awaken at all, let alone with his wounds stitched up and his battered body cleaned. For a split second upon his regaining of consciousness, Sho had thought a miracle had happened in that his life had been spared. Then the reality of things came crashing back down. It was not a miracle; not by a longshot. His life did not matter. He was a soldier. He lived to serve under another and the man whose life he served under was gone. Realizing this, Sho almost wished he had not been found. He had completely failed his mission and life purpose, and surely deserved nothing better than death. Before Nino had so cruelly played the transmission which had broadcasted Jun’s kidnapping to all five star systems, Sho had not even known the fate of the prince. Up until that point he believed it would have been kinder to him to have perished rather than live those moment in fear and uncertainty that the prince was dead, all because of him.
Tears pricked at Sho’s eyes as the memories continued to play over in his mind. The king’s words to him before they had left, his own words to Jun before they had landed in the slum district of Hesaye—it was too much for him to bear. In his heart he truly believed he deserved such suffering for having failed so miserably at his task, but the longer he let his mind focus on the excruciating memories, the more he wished he could just forget everything that had happened. Both the king and prince had been wrong to trust him.
“It was my fault” he whispered hopelessly and let his head fall to his chest. He meant every word, even though he was speaking only to himself. It felt to be a necessary self-punishment to remind himself of his failure aloud.
Distracted by his lament, Sho did not notice the door to the room swing open as Aiba sauntered inside to sit on the small bench beside him.
“What was?” he asked. Sho, though startled by Aiba’s sudden presence, lifted his head with lethargic movement. His expression was one of sheer torment as he looked into the innocent eyes of the man beside him.
“It was my suggestion to go there” he spoke through bared teeth. “It was I who wasn’t strong enough to fight them off, and I who let them take him. They all trusted me and I let everyone down.”
Aiba looked unsure of how to respond but eventually shook his head and patted Sho between his shoulder blades. “I’m sure it wasn’t all your fault.”
“It was,” Sho whispered while turning away. He couldn’t expect a person such as Aiba, who lived a life ignorant of all things associated with responsibility and honour to possibly understand how he was feeling.
“Doesn’t matter now” Aiba went on with a blasé tone that seemed to only confirm Sho’s inner most thoughts. “We’re on our way to get the prince back. We’ve got a lock on his location already! So don’t you worry one bit, Sho-chan.”
There was a sort of optimism present in his voice that Sho honestly wasn’t sure whether he envied or despised. His train of thought was quickly drawn to the actual words the man had spoken however, twisting back around to face Aiba.
“You’ve found him?” he stammered. He clutched Aiba’s shoulder with his good arm. “You’ve found Jun?”
“That’s what I came here to tell you.” Aiba nodded with a wide grin. “Told you our tracking system was state-of-the-art!”
Before Sho had the chance to question him further or say so much as another word, Aiba had taken him by his less injured arm and was now eagerly dragging him out of the confinement of the storage space back to the control room. Sho protested a little along the way while he desperately tried to free his arm from the other man’s grip. His strength came as a shock to the soldier. At first glance Aiba seemed far from the strong type. He was tall with a lanky build, and though Sho could hardly deny he was attractive, he wouldn’t have guessed Aiba would possess the ability to overwhelm him as easily as he was doing. Aiba, on the other hand, didn’t appear to even register Sho’s protests as he continued through the airship. Even when they had reached the control room, Aiba maintained his grip on Sho, though it did loosen and slide from the soldier’s wrist to his hand.
Nino was standing at the controls. Sho watched on in silence as the man’s short fingers rapidly typed in codes which Sho could not even comprehend deciphering. Guessing what sort of effect they had was easy though as the ship lurched forward only seconds later with a sudden burst of speed. Nino then spun on his heel to face the two of them. His mouth was open and ready to speak when his gaze landed on their intertwined hands. A bewildered expression formed on his features but he brushed the confusion aside and rolled his eyes, his head shaking hopelessly.
“If you two aren’t too busy on your romantic cruise through the stars,” he spoke with a dry and somewhat bitter tone of voice that Sho couldn’t help but feel was directed entirely at him. His hunch was only affirmed when Nino’s stony gaze came to rest on him alone. “We’ve found your prince.”
Sho tore his hand free from Aiba’s and took a couple of paces closer to the laminated glass screen. In the expansive space beyond he could spot a small entity. Another airship, he came to realize as they gradually closed the distance. Just like the Zero-G, this ship was in terrible condition. If anything Sho would say it probably looked worse—somehow—than the one he was on now.
“Jun is on that,” Sho murmured. It was less of a question even though he remained unsure. The only certain thought running through his mind at that moment was the need to retrieve the prince.
“Sure is” Nino commented sourly and sauntered over to stand by Sho, following the soldier’s gaze out at the second airship now flying only a few metres ahead of them. “He’ll be back to bossing his favoured solider around in no time. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Sho wasn’t sure how to reply to such a sarcastic remark, if he was supposed to reply at all. It wasn’t the first time he noticed how sharp the smaller guy got when referencing the prince, or anything to do with the royal family, Sho realized. He didn’t think it was just coincidence but now was not the time to bring it up. As much as he wanted to retort and correct Nino’s presumption on how Jun treated him, Sho forced himself to keep silent.
It took a few moments before Sho realized Nino was staring at him strangely. He drew back a step, not at all liking the look in the other man’s eye before asking what was wrong.
“You won’t be able to save him like that” said Nino scathingly as he looked him over again with appraising eyes. “Aiba-chan, why don’t you help him look a bit more…roughhewn.”
Sho barely had time to register the words Nino had spoken before he was attacked from behind. Two lengthy arms wrapped around his upper body, coiling his torso and shoulders like a serpent. Sho thrashed against the tight grip, shouting to be released over the top of Nino’s high-pitched laughter. Something cold was pressed against his neck. Sho froze at the sensation of the blade’s edge against the underside of his jaw, feeling his throat twitch against the cool metal. A hand found its way into his hair. Throwing his good arm back, Sho felt his elbow come into contact with the other man’s ribs. The knife was retracted from his throat as Aiba’s grip wavered. It hadn’t broken the skin but had left a slightly raised red abrasion on the side of his neck. Sho’s retaliation did not have Aiba stunned for long as he quickly latched himself onto the soldier a second time. Sho shook with all desperation to get the other man off of him. He could feel his injuries being strained the longer this went on. The wire stitches were pulling against his raw flesh while his broken arm burned from the pressure he was inflicting upon it, but Sho would not give up the fight. The knife was up against the shoulder of his good arm. He could feel the material of his already tattered clothing tear easily against the sharp edge of the blade, conscious as Aiba’s fast movements made cuts all along his attire at random. Sho was shocked by how nimble the man was. Finally he broke free. His footing was lost and he fell backwards to kneel on one leg, panting up through the unkempt hair that had been shaken loose and was now falling over his face as tousled bangs. Aiba was standing there with a spirited grin and a pocketknife in his hand.
“Idiot!” Sho yelled. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Aiba shook his head vigorously though he continued to smile, using one hand to sheathe the small blade. “Never kill you, Sho-chan!”
“But those rogues might if we hadn’t tidied you up to our standard” Nino finished off. He cocked his head in Sho’s direction in indication for the man to examine himself. Sho did just that. His garments which had already been of poor quality to begin with were now adorned with various rips. His entire left sleeve had been torn off to reveal his taut arm muscles while his previously neat slicked back hair was now ruffled, much in a similar style to how Nino’s was.
Sho tried not to grumble as he climbed back up into a more dignified standing pose. Choosing to ignore the way Aiba was incessantly smiling that idiotically alluring smile of his, Sho paced back over to the glass. They were practically on top of the other ship. At this distance he could see the dark barrels of what looked to be outmoded plasma cannons extending from either side of the airship they were in hot pursuit of.
“We should have taken our cruiser” Sho muttered under his breath, suddenly remembering the royal airship they had left behind back in the slum district. Just as any belonging to the imperial army, it was fitted with the most advanced technology of all five star systems. Its nav-com was state-of-the-art—officially, unlike Aiba’s self-declared statement regarding the Zero-G’s—while its speed was unrivalled. The vessel had an advanced defence system installed, that of which included high-powered plasma cannons of perfect aim and a stealth function. The ship they were trailing would be no match at all and Sho knew for certain he would feel a whole lot more comfortable in the royal cruiser he and the prince had first travelled in.
Nino snorted. “That shiny thing would have been stripped for parts the moment you disembarked from it. It’d be nothing but scrap metal by now.”
Sho felt a tightness in his throat. Any shred of confidence that he had held previously immediately disintegrated at Nino’s words. If they were true, he would most certainly be in a considerable amount of trouble when they returned.
Nino steered them closer to the second ship they were now flying alongside. Aiba flicked a switch that had several cables shooting out from compartments on the underside of the Zero-G, latching onto the side of the other vessel and drawing them in.
“Brace yourselves,” Nino remarked from the controls. Sho pushed aside his anxious thoughts of what the future would bring and concentrated instead on what was happening now, reading himself for the inevitable collision about to occur.
---
Since being taken hostage by the ruthless group of bandits, Jun had not stopped fighting. He had struggled against the powerful men, then against the cables in which they had bound him by. His body was weakened from the pirates’ physical assaults inflicted in retaliation to his efforts to break free but Jun would not cease his attempts regardless. He was driven by thoughts of failure in his mission and of the memory of his loyal escort who had he’d watched fallen at the hands of these men. Sho had given everything trying to save him, while he had been helpless to watch his utter defeat. For this, Jun would not stop fighting. It would be an insult to Sho’s name if he did.
He was forced to kneel on the stone-hard floor of the bandits’ shoddy airship, his wrists bound agonizingly tight behind his back. Three of the men were standing around him with a carnivorous gleam in their eye. Jun glared back at them. It was nearing the second hour mark since he had first been taken by them back in the alleyway.
The fourth man sauntered into the area they were in with a loud declaration that he’d made the hostage announcement to the domains. His statement was met with a heavy punch to the side of the face by one of his comrades. Jun tried not to wince at the horrific crunch that sounded.
“Moron!” spat the one who had struck. The pirate whom he’d spoken too looked up in bewilderment, cradling his disfigured jaw with one of his scarred hands. He glanced briefly at the others standing with the same hostile expressions.
“You’re the morons” he growled back while his gaze moved over each of them. “We won’t get no profit if we don’t tell anyone we have him.”
With all four men crowded around and towering over him, Jun kept silent, his struggles pausing momentarily in the menacing atmosphere. That they appeared to be turning on one another seemed a potentially advantageous thing for him but he knew better than to draw unnecessary attention to himself when their weapons were already drawn and ready to fire. One wrong move now could be his last.
A second pirate stepped up to meet the opposing one head on. “You’re choosing the meagre pay” he sneered. “First we milk him for all his worth, then we hand him back over for double what we asked for. That’s how this works.”
Jun tensed a little when the eyes of all four of them came to rest on him again. One took a stride forward and seized the front of his shirt.
“These will be worth a decent amount” he remarked smugly as though solely to make a point to the other who had made the announcement prematurely. He released the prince’s clothing but grasped Jun’s jaw to throw his head back, strong fingers forcing their way past the guard of his lips and teeth to pry his mouth open. “Perfect, as expected. Would definitely be worth something too.”
Starting up his fight again, Jun thrashed against the unwelcome hands that invaded his body, tugging at his hair and trailing under his clothes in a way that made his skin crawl. He managed to pull his head far enough out of their grips in order to bite down hard against the hand still in his mouth. The bandit gave a pained shout and tore his fingers free, right before delivering a sharp blow to Jun that sent him toppling to the ground. With his arms still bound behind him, Jun struggled to drag himself back up from his side.
“Little bastard” the one he’d bitten hissed at him. He raised an arm threateningly but one of his comrades restrained him before he could strike Jun again.
“Don’t damage him too good” he warned. Jun blinked in surprise at the action but quickly felt his blood turn cold at the look in the man’s eye when he turned to him. “He won’t be worth as much to us if he ain’t as pretty.”
Another nodded, a sneer set across his features as he stared at Jun. “We’ll take him back to base camp for a few days and hire him out as our personal whore. Then we’ll give him back to father dearest.”
There were a few murmurs of agreement that sounded from the four of them. Jun could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage, honestly more terrified in that moment than he thought he had ever felt before.
“Gag him,” one of them ordered, to which another immediately thrust a rag into the prince’s mouth and knotted it painfully tight. The material was cutting into the sides of his mouth and keeping his tongue pressed down firmly in order to prevent him from making any sound other than a choked gasp.
The four of them seemed to relish watching his struggle against the binding that was suffocating him but their enjoyment was cut short when the airship jolted harshly and the power was knocked out. A loud siren sounded from deeper in the vessel. The bandits shouted at one another in the confusion of what was occurring, before racing out to find and handle the cause.
Left alone in the sudden darkness, Jun allowed himself a couple of seconds respite to enable his heart to slow down a bit. He wasn’t sure what was happening, nor was he foolish enough to believe he was now safe, but he was thankful the distraction. The sound of gunfire quickly drew him back from his moments of rest. The distraction was evidently a violent one. Jun shot upright when the door to the area he was in opened and a shadow slipped inside. Both his mind and body were on full alert, his gaze darting around in the darkness for any sign of movement. Something warm brushed up against his neck. Jun’s body moved on impulse, whipping around to evade the reach of whoever was behind him. He caught a glimpse of the dark hood of a coat concealing the face of his offender from view. Two hands clutched around his own. They were strong and almost familiar but Jun did not allow this fact to keep him from lashing out, struggling to kick at the person still behind him. His bound position was doing nothing to assist in his defensive attempts, or at least they weren’t until the offender seemingly moved into his thrashing limb. There was a pained grunt that sounded soon after the harsh contact, followed by a voice that made Jun freeze.
“It’s me, sire.” Jun couldn’t believe it; he almost didn’t want to believe it. Familiar fingers found their way up to his neck again to untie the gag and let it fall away from the prince’s mouth. Jun choked slightly on the saliva build up but twisted around, squinting in the darkness to make out the face of the one who had come to his aid. He looked somewhat different from how Jun was used to seeing him, what with the ungroomed hair and rather substantial cut running down the side of his face, but it was undeniably him.
“Sho?” Jun murmured hesitantly. There was no questioning that the man before him was the soldier he had known for most of his life, but for Jun it was still an effort to comprehend this fact. He had made his peace with the thought that his faithful attendant was dead, yet here he stood.
Sho nodded while a relieved smile graced his lips. “Hang on, I shall cut you free in just a moment.” In a state of mild shock, Jun allowed the man to move him as necessary in order to cut the cables keeping his hands restrained.
“I don’t understand” he stammered, not even bothering to hide his bewilderment with formal dialect. “How did you find me? How are you alive?”
“I will explain everything as soon as we’re safe, sire” Sho replied smoothly as he finished severing the final cable. He offered a hand to the prince to help him to his feet, a gesture which Jun took silently. Once they were both standing, Sho removed his cloak and put it around Jun’s shoulders. “You best wear this for now.”
Jun nodded and flipped the hood of the coat so that it rested over his hair. He doubted it would do much to help hide him but he would take any assist in order to get out of there. Sho led him back out of the room and down the dark corridors. His movements were completely confident as though he could see perfectly in these unknown shadows. As much as he desired answers, Jun did not question it for now and instead chose to simply trust that the usually incapable soldier knew for once what he was doing and where he was going.
Needless to say Jun was more than surprised to enter what he assumed was the control room of the airship, only to find it had been transformed into a warzone. Two of the bandits that had been previously been holding him hostage were now lying lifeless. One was on in the middle of the floor, unmoving with his neck assumedly snapped, while the other lay limp across the instrument panel as his blood dripped down onto the now inoperable controls. Jun’s gaze trailed to the pair fighting with the remaining pirates. Neither were people he had ever laid eyes on before, yet he could not deny the intrigue building up within them as he watched them. Both had thin builds much like Sho and himself, with little visible muscle and differing heights to one another. At first glance they seemed far from the type that should be able to last in a fight as brutal as the one befalling in the ship’s interior. Paying no mind to the corpses at their feet, the smaller of the two darted forward with nimble steps. His movements were agile, seeming to dance across the metal flooring while effortlessly avoiding the brawny bandit’s knife that was thrust at him in an unbroken stream of stabs. The second, taller stranger was at his partner’s side in an instant, their movements synchronized as they drove the thickset man back against the wall. It was almost like watching wolves work together to hunt and kill their larger prey. Jun was utterly mesmerized by the sight, nearly gasping when the blade made contact with shoulder of the tall stranger. Said man didn’t even blink at the freshly made wound and continued to fight, ripping a small pocketknife from his boot to point at the bandit, who chuckled at the unintimidating weapon. Distracted as intended, the smaller of the two drew his own blade and plunged it into the man’s fleshy shoulder. Jun could see his upturned lips mouthing something to the pirate but could not hear what it was from where he was standing.
There was a quiet but chilling laugh from beside them. Jun side glanced to see the fourth bandit sneering at him. Sho made a move to get between him and the prince, but a sharp blow to his temple had him lying unconscious alongside the dead pirate in seconds. Jun went to shout his name but was cut off when a click sounded close to his ear. Slowly he turned back around, the barrel of a gun pointed at his head.
Pairing: Matsumiya
Genre: AU, Historical, Sci-Fi
Disclaimer: Arashi is not mine.
Summary: One was a noble prince, the other a lowly thief. Brought together by fate, yet destined to be apart.
Author's Note: Wasn't planning on updating tonight but things change. Wonder if aimiya can fight...let's find out! The long-awaited action/battle scene will be in two parts.
Chapter 4
Sho had not expected to awaken at all, let alone with his wounds stitched up and his battered body cleaned. For a split second upon his regaining of consciousness, Sho had thought a miracle had happened in that his life had been spared. Then the reality of things came crashing back down. It was not a miracle; not by a longshot. His life did not matter. He was a soldier. He lived to serve under another and the man whose life he served under was gone. Realizing this, Sho almost wished he had not been found. He had completely failed his mission and life purpose, and surely deserved nothing better than death. Before Nino had so cruelly played the transmission which had broadcasted Jun’s kidnapping to all five star systems, Sho had not even known the fate of the prince. Up until that point he believed it would have been kinder to him to have perished rather than live those moment in fear and uncertainty that the prince was dead, all because of him.
Tears pricked at Sho’s eyes as the memories continued to play over in his mind. The king’s words to him before they had left, his own words to Jun before they had landed in the slum district of Hesaye—it was too much for him to bear. In his heart he truly believed he deserved such suffering for having failed so miserably at his task, but the longer he let his mind focus on the excruciating memories, the more he wished he could just forget everything that had happened. Both the king and prince had been wrong to trust him.
“It was my fault” he whispered hopelessly and let his head fall to his chest. He meant every word, even though he was speaking only to himself. It felt to be a necessary self-punishment to remind himself of his failure aloud.
Distracted by his lament, Sho did not notice the door to the room swing open as Aiba sauntered inside to sit on the small bench beside him.
“What was?” he asked. Sho, though startled by Aiba’s sudden presence, lifted his head with lethargic movement. His expression was one of sheer torment as he looked into the innocent eyes of the man beside him.
“It was my suggestion to go there” he spoke through bared teeth. “It was I who wasn’t strong enough to fight them off, and I who let them take him. They all trusted me and I let everyone down.”
Aiba looked unsure of how to respond but eventually shook his head and patted Sho between his shoulder blades. “I’m sure it wasn’t all your fault.”
“It was,” Sho whispered while turning away. He couldn’t expect a person such as Aiba, who lived a life ignorant of all things associated with responsibility and honour to possibly understand how he was feeling.
“Doesn’t matter now” Aiba went on with a blasé tone that seemed to only confirm Sho’s inner most thoughts. “We’re on our way to get the prince back. We’ve got a lock on his location already! So don’t you worry one bit, Sho-chan.”
There was a sort of optimism present in his voice that Sho honestly wasn’t sure whether he envied or despised. His train of thought was quickly drawn to the actual words the man had spoken however, twisting back around to face Aiba.
“You’ve found him?” he stammered. He clutched Aiba’s shoulder with his good arm. “You’ve found Jun?”
“That’s what I came here to tell you.” Aiba nodded with a wide grin. “Told you our tracking system was state-of-the-art!”
Before Sho had the chance to question him further or say so much as another word, Aiba had taken him by his less injured arm and was now eagerly dragging him out of the confinement of the storage space back to the control room. Sho protested a little along the way while he desperately tried to free his arm from the other man’s grip. His strength came as a shock to the soldier. At first glance Aiba seemed far from the strong type. He was tall with a lanky build, and though Sho could hardly deny he was attractive, he wouldn’t have guessed Aiba would possess the ability to overwhelm him as easily as he was doing. Aiba, on the other hand, didn’t appear to even register Sho’s protests as he continued through the airship. Even when they had reached the control room, Aiba maintained his grip on Sho, though it did loosen and slide from the soldier’s wrist to his hand.
Nino was standing at the controls. Sho watched on in silence as the man’s short fingers rapidly typed in codes which Sho could not even comprehend deciphering. Guessing what sort of effect they had was easy though as the ship lurched forward only seconds later with a sudden burst of speed. Nino then spun on his heel to face the two of them. His mouth was open and ready to speak when his gaze landed on their intertwined hands. A bewildered expression formed on his features but he brushed the confusion aside and rolled his eyes, his head shaking hopelessly.
“If you two aren’t too busy on your romantic cruise through the stars,” he spoke with a dry and somewhat bitter tone of voice that Sho couldn’t help but feel was directed entirely at him. His hunch was only affirmed when Nino’s stony gaze came to rest on him alone. “We’ve found your prince.”
Sho tore his hand free from Aiba’s and took a couple of paces closer to the laminated glass screen. In the expansive space beyond he could spot a small entity. Another airship, he came to realize as they gradually closed the distance. Just like the Zero-G, this ship was in terrible condition. If anything Sho would say it probably looked worse—somehow—than the one he was on now.
“Jun is on that,” Sho murmured. It was less of a question even though he remained unsure. The only certain thought running through his mind at that moment was the need to retrieve the prince.
“Sure is” Nino commented sourly and sauntered over to stand by Sho, following the soldier’s gaze out at the second airship now flying only a few metres ahead of them. “He’ll be back to bossing his favoured solider around in no time. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Sho wasn’t sure how to reply to such a sarcastic remark, if he was supposed to reply at all. It wasn’t the first time he noticed how sharp the smaller guy got when referencing the prince, or anything to do with the royal family, Sho realized. He didn’t think it was just coincidence but now was not the time to bring it up. As much as he wanted to retort and correct Nino’s presumption on how Jun treated him, Sho forced himself to keep silent.
It took a few moments before Sho realized Nino was staring at him strangely. He drew back a step, not at all liking the look in the other man’s eye before asking what was wrong.
“You won’t be able to save him like that” said Nino scathingly as he looked him over again with appraising eyes. “Aiba-chan, why don’t you help him look a bit more…roughhewn.”
Sho barely had time to register the words Nino had spoken before he was attacked from behind. Two lengthy arms wrapped around his upper body, coiling his torso and shoulders like a serpent. Sho thrashed against the tight grip, shouting to be released over the top of Nino’s high-pitched laughter. Something cold was pressed against his neck. Sho froze at the sensation of the blade’s edge against the underside of his jaw, feeling his throat twitch against the cool metal. A hand found its way into his hair. Throwing his good arm back, Sho felt his elbow come into contact with the other man’s ribs. The knife was retracted from his throat as Aiba’s grip wavered. It hadn’t broken the skin but had left a slightly raised red abrasion on the side of his neck. Sho’s retaliation did not have Aiba stunned for long as he quickly latched himself onto the soldier a second time. Sho shook with all desperation to get the other man off of him. He could feel his injuries being strained the longer this went on. The wire stitches were pulling against his raw flesh while his broken arm burned from the pressure he was inflicting upon it, but Sho would not give up the fight. The knife was up against the shoulder of his good arm. He could feel the material of his already tattered clothing tear easily against the sharp edge of the blade, conscious as Aiba’s fast movements made cuts all along his attire at random. Sho was shocked by how nimble the man was. Finally he broke free. His footing was lost and he fell backwards to kneel on one leg, panting up through the unkempt hair that had been shaken loose and was now falling over his face as tousled bangs. Aiba was standing there with a spirited grin and a pocketknife in his hand.
“Idiot!” Sho yelled. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Aiba shook his head vigorously though he continued to smile, using one hand to sheathe the small blade. “Never kill you, Sho-chan!”
“But those rogues might if we hadn’t tidied you up to our standard” Nino finished off. He cocked his head in Sho’s direction in indication for the man to examine himself. Sho did just that. His garments which had already been of poor quality to begin with were now adorned with various rips. His entire left sleeve had been torn off to reveal his taut arm muscles while his previously neat slicked back hair was now ruffled, much in a similar style to how Nino’s was.
Sho tried not to grumble as he climbed back up into a more dignified standing pose. Choosing to ignore the way Aiba was incessantly smiling that idiotically alluring smile of his, Sho paced back over to the glass. They were practically on top of the other ship. At this distance he could see the dark barrels of what looked to be outmoded plasma cannons extending from either side of the airship they were in hot pursuit of.
“We should have taken our cruiser” Sho muttered under his breath, suddenly remembering the royal airship they had left behind back in the slum district. Just as any belonging to the imperial army, it was fitted with the most advanced technology of all five star systems. Its nav-com was state-of-the-art—officially, unlike Aiba’s self-declared statement regarding the Zero-G’s—while its speed was unrivalled. The vessel had an advanced defence system installed, that of which included high-powered plasma cannons of perfect aim and a stealth function. The ship they were trailing would be no match at all and Sho knew for certain he would feel a whole lot more comfortable in the royal cruiser he and the prince had first travelled in.
Nino snorted. “That shiny thing would have been stripped for parts the moment you disembarked from it. It’d be nothing but scrap metal by now.”
Sho felt a tightness in his throat. Any shred of confidence that he had held previously immediately disintegrated at Nino’s words. If they were true, he would most certainly be in a considerable amount of trouble when they returned.
Nino steered them closer to the second ship they were now flying alongside. Aiba flicked a switch that had several cables shooting out from compartments on the underside of the Zero-G, latching onto the side of the other vessel and drawing them in.
“Brace yourselves,” Nino remarked from the controls. Sho pushed aside his anxious thoughts of what the future would bring and concentrated instead on what was happening now, reading himself for the inevitable collision about to occur.
---
Since being taken hostage by the ruthless group of bandits, Jun had not stopped fighting. He had struggled against the powerful men, then against the cables in which they had bound him by. His body was weakened from the pirates’ physical assaults inflicted in retaliation to his efforts to break free but Jun would not cease his attempts regardless. He was driven by thoughts of failure in his mission and of the memory of his loyal escort who had he’d watched fallen at the hands of these men. Sho had given everything trying to save him, while he had been helpless to watch his utter defeat. For this, Jun would not stop fighting. It would be an insult to Sho’s name if he did.
He was forced to kneel on the stone-hard floor of the bandits’ shoddy airship, his wrists bound agonizingly tight behind his back. Three of the men were standing around him with a carnivorous gleam in their eye. Jun glared back at them. It was nearing the second hour mark since he had first been taken by them back in the alleyway.
The fourth man sauntered into the area they were in with a loud declaration that he’d made the hostage announcement to the domains. His statement was met with a heavy punch to the side of the face by one of his comrades. Jun tried not to wince at the horrific crunch that sounded.
“Moron!” spat the one who had struck. The pirate whom he’d spoken too looked up in bewilderment, cradling his disfigured jaw with one of his scarred hands. He glanced briefly at the others standing with the same hostile expressions.
“You’re the morons” he growled back while his gaze moved over each of them. “We won’t get no profit if we don’t tell anyone we have him.”
With all four men crowded around and towering over him, Jun kept silent, his struggles pausing momentarily in the menacing atmosphere. That they appeared to be turning on one another seemed a potentially advantageous thing for him but he knew better than to draw unnecessary attention to himself when their weapons were already drawn and ready to fire. One wrong move now could be his last.
A second pirate stepped up to meet the opposing one head on. “You’re choosing the meagre pay” he sneered. “First we milk him for all his worth, then we hand him back over for double what we asked for. That’s how this works.”
Jun tensed a little when the eyes of all four of them came to rest on him again. One took a stride forward and seized the front of his shirt.
“These will be worth a decent amount” he remarked smugly as though solely to make a point to the other who had made the announcement prematurely. He released the prince’s clothing but grasped Jun’s jaw to throw his head back, strong fingers forcing their way past the guard of his lips and teeth to pry his mouth open. “Perfect, as expected. Would definitely be worth something too.”
Starting up his fight again, Jun thrashed against the unwelcome hands that invaded his body, tugging at his hair and trailing under his clothes in a way that made his skin crawl. He managed to pull his head far enough out of their grips in order to bite down hard against the hand still in his mouth. The bandit gave a pained shout and tore his fingers free, right before delivering a sharp blow to Jun that sent him toppling to the ground. With his arms still bound behind him, Jun struggled to drag himself back up from his side.
“Little bastard” the one he’d bitten hissed at him. He raised an arm threateningly but one of his comrades restrained him before he could strike Jun again.
“Don’t damage him too good” he warned. Jun blinked in surprise at the action but quickly felt his blood turn cold at the look in the man’s eye when he turned to him. “He won’t be worth as much to us if he ain’t as pretty.”
Another nodded, a sneer set across his features as he stared at Jun. “We’ll take him back to base camp for a few days and hire him out as our personal whore. Then we’ll give him back to father dearest.”
There were a few murmurs of agreement that sounded from the four of them. Jun could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage, honestly more terrified in that moment than he thought he had ever felt before.
“Gag him,” one of them ordered, to which another immediately thrust a rag into the prince’s mouth and knotted it painfully tight. The material was cutting into the sides of his mouth and keeping his tongue pressed down firmly in order to prevent him from making any sound other than a choked gasp.
The four of them seemed to relish watching his struggle against the binding that was suffocating him but their enjoyment was cut short when the airship jolted harshly and the power was knocked out. A loud siren sounded from deeper in the vessel. The bandits shouted at one another in the confusion of what was occurring, before racing out to find and handle the cause.
Left alone in the sudden darkness, Jun allowed himself a couple of seconds respite to enable his heart to slow down a bit. He wasn’t sure what was happening, nor was he foolish enough to believe he was now safe, but he was thankful the distraction. The sound of gunfire quickly drew him back from his moments of rest. The distraction was evidently a violent one. Jun shot upright when the door to the area he was in opened and a shadow slipped inside. Both his mind and body were on full alert, his gaze darting around in the darkness for any sign of movement. Something warm brushed up against his neck. Jun’s body moved on impulse, whipping around to evade the reach of whoever was behind him. He caught a glimpse of the dark hood of a coat concealing the face of his offender from view. Two hands clutched around his own. They were strong and almost familiar but Jun did not allow this fact to keep him from lashing out, struggling to kick at the person still behind him. His bound position was doing nothing to assist in his defensive attempts, or at least they weren’t until the offender seemingly moved into his thrashing limb. There was a pained grunt that sounded soon after the harsh contact, followed by a voice that made Jun freeze.
“It’s me, sire.” Jun couldn’t believe it; he almost didn’t want to believe it. Familiar fingers found their way up to his neck again to untie the gag and let it fall away from the prince’s mouth. Jun choked slightly on the saliva build up but twisted around, squinting in the darkness to make out the face of the one who had come to his aid. He looked somewhat different from how Jun was used to seeing him, what with the ungroomed hair and rather substantial cut running down the side of his face, but it was undeniably him.
“Sho?” Jun murmured hesitantly. There was no questioning that the man before him was the soldier he had known for most of his life, but for Jun it was still an effort to comprehend this fact. He had made his peace with the thought that his faithful attendant was dead, yet here he stood.
Sho nodded while a relieved smile graced his lips. “Hang on, I shall cut you free in just a moment.” In a state of mild shock, Jun allowed the man to move him as necessary in order to cut the cables keeping his hands restrained.
“I don’t understand” he stammered, not even bothering to hide his bewilderment with formal dialect. “How did you find me? How are you alive?”
“I will explain everything as soon as we’re safe, sire” Sho replied smoothly as he finished severing the final cable. He offered a hand to the prince to help him to his feet, a gesture which Jun took silently. Once they were both standing, Sho removed his cloak and put it around Jun’s shoulders. “You best wear this for now.”
Jun nodded and flipped the hood of the coat so that it rested over his hair. He doubted it would do much to help hide him but he would take any assist in order to get out of there. Sho led him back out of the room and down the dark corridors. His movements were completely confident as though he could see perfectly in these unknown shadows. As much as he desired answers, Jun did not question it for now and instead chose to simply trust that the usually incapable soldier knew for once what he was doing and where he was going.
Needless to say Jun was more than surprised to enter what he assumed was the control room of the airship, only to find it had been transformed into a warzone. Two of the bandits that had been previously been holding him hostage were now lying lifeless. One was on in the middle of the floor, unmoving with his neck assumedly snapped, while the other lay limp across the instrument panel as his blood dripped down onto the now inoperable controls. Jun’s gaze trailed to the pair fighting with the remaining pirates. Neither were people he had ever laid eyes on before, yet he could not deny the intrigue building up within them as he watched them. Both had thin builds much like Sho and himself, with little visible muscle and differing heights to one another. At first glance they seemed far from the type that should be able to last in a fight as brutal as the one befalling in the ship’s interior. Paying no mind to the corpses at their feet, the smaller of the two darted forward with nimble steps. His movements were agile, seeming to dance across the metal flooring while effortlessly avoiding the brawny bandit’s knife that was thrust at him in an unbroken stream of stabs. The second, taller stranger was at his partner’s side in an instant, their movements synchronized as they drove the thickset man back against the wall. It was almost like watching wolves work together to hunt and kill their larger prey. Jun was utterly mesmerized by the sight, nearly gasping when the blade made contact with shoulder of the tall stranger. Said man didn’t even blink at the freshly made wound and continued to fight, ripping a small pocketknife from his boot to point at the bandit, who chuckled at the unintimidating weapon. Distracted as intended, the smaller of the two drew his own blade and plunged it into the man’s fleshy shoulder. Jun could see his upturned lips mouthing something to the pirate but could not hear what it was from where he was standing.
There was a quiet but chilling laugh from beside them. Jun side glanced to see the fourth bandit sneering at him. Sho made a move to get between him and the prince, but a sharp blow to his temple had him lying unconscious alongside the dead pirate in seconds. Jun went to shout his name but was cut off when a click sounded close to his ear. Slowly he turned back around, the barrel of a gun pointed at his head.
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Date: 2017-02-22 05:31 pm (UTC)Uh oh cliffhanger.. nino throw a pocketknife or something.. quick!
Sho.. why always always one punch K.O? XDD im sorry I shouldn't be laughing but i somehow find it so hilarious.. 😂