D. Gray-man Fan Fiction ❯ Canis Luna ❯ Road ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Bookkbaby84 
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Supernatural | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 04.20.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 482 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Supernatural | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 04.20.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 482 | Status: Work In Progress
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Possible OOC. Alternate Universe.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, but Katsura Hoshino owns all.
Notes: Well, this fic started as a oneshot based off of Little Red Riding Hood. About two pages in, I figured out that this no longer had anything whatsoever to do with Little Red Riding Hood. >_< I hope you all enjoy!
Dedicated to SisterWicked, Niamh (both of AssHat Productions, a group I’m a proud member of), and Cackles for reading this over before I posted and giving me tips and the confidence boost I needed so I could make this fic available to the general public. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Super special awesome thanks to Niamh for coming up with the title of this fic!
Special dedication to Hakoro for reminding me to update.
Sorry for not updating sooner and sorry that I didn’t do review replies this chapter. I finally had free time today and I could either do review replies or post, so I decided to post. >_<
Last Time:
"Thank you!" he called, trying to put every ounce of gratitude he felt into his voice. Bookman looked up from his reading and nodded in acknowledgement.
The old man was still watching as the door shut behind the pair, only looking back at his book when he could no longer hear their feet on the ground.
And Now, The Continuation:
Road
Lavi pulled his cloak tighter around himself. The weather had turned chilly again and he was grateful for the extra warmth. The night was quiet except for a few brave crickets and the sound of his and Tyki's footsteps on the hard ground.
When they reach the road and turned up it, heading away from town as always, Tyki spoke.
"Your grandfather didn't seem surprised when I told him what I was," the werewolf said, glancing towards the redhead curiously, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Nor were you, if I'm remembering correctly. Have you encountered my kind before?"
Lavi laughed quietly, shaking his head.
"No. It has just always been his way to never let anything surprise him. His motto had always been 'believe or disbelieve only in what you have seen with your own eyes; observe the world and form your own thoughts, whatever they may be'." Lavi shrugged, smiling and looking up at the sky. "There were always so many stories about werewolves it was harder to disregard them all as fiction, though I had never met one until I met you. Maybe Gramps has, I don't know."
Tyki nodded seriously, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes, and they lapsed into silence. They continued walking for several minutes without a word passing between them.
"It can take months to arrange a wedding," Lavi commented into the quiet. Tyki 'mmm'd.
"I know that, Lavi. Have you already forgotten Sheryl? He didn't manage to get his wedding arranged to his mother-in-law's satisfaction for three months. If I must wait that long, or even twice that, to appease your grandfather, then that is what I will do."
They fell into an easy silence as they walked, each turning over the events of the night in their mind. They crested the first hill, hand in hand, and continued on the downward slope.
"Do you not wish to wait that long to consummate this?" Tyki asked frankly, as though the question regularly came up in casual conversation. Lavi spluttered, looking towards the werewolf as his blush came back in full force.
"Wha- why-" he said, fading into silence when he realized he didn't have a clue how to respond. Tyki shrugged, a hint of a smirk playing at his lips.
"I had assumed it would take that long for you to be comfortable with the idea of me touching you. I will wait for you to want it and be comfortable enough with me to allow me to come to your bed. If it takes three-months wait, a wedding, and your grandfather's approval for that to happen..." His voice trailed off as though it was only common sense for him to do those things.
"That's..." Lavi started, trying to think up a way to protest. While it was wonderful that Bookman approved, Lavi still wasn't too sure about marrying a man he had only met that week. Tyki made it sound like it was obvious that Lavi would simply agree to marry him and then consummate their relationship, like it was only natural for what they had together to progress that way from where they were. Without taking into account Lavi's right to choose, maybe it was.
The redhead shut his mouth and looked away.
Even with taking his right to choose into account, maybe it was only natural. He refused to name the feeling that welled up inside of him when he thought about the werewolf and especially when the older man was by his side, but perhaps in the few months it would take to arrange the wedding he would be able to call it what it was.
A light breeze picked up, stirring the grass and making the leaves rustle. Lavi shivered, drawing his cloak tighter around himself once more, and only noticed that Tyki had frozen when their joined hands prevented him from taking another two steps. He nearly tripped at the sudden, unexpected yank backwards, but kept his balance and turned, staring at the werewolf with concern.
"Tyki?" he asked, following the man's gaze. All he could see were trees, though each plant was suddenly made dark and foreboding by Tyki's wide-eyed stare. The werewolf abruptly let go of his hand, striding towards the forest. Before Lavi could ask what was wrong, Tyki spoke.
"Stay here, Lavi. I will return shortly."
Lavi watched the man transform and run off, darting through the trees like a silver shadow. Within seconds, he had disappeared completely into the woods.
Lavi stared after him for several minutes in shock, then shivered when the night breeze played with the openings in his cloak. He shivered and pulled the red material tighter around himself, glancing around uneasily. The night was safe enough when he was with Tyki, but without the older man by his side he had a sudden urge to head home. He could almost feel the darkness creeping up on him, made all the more frightening by the looming presence of the trees and Tyki's warning back when he had first met the man.
'"My family members would likely kill you for sport. The forest is their playground."'
He took a half-step back from the trees, nearly jumping when he heard the leaves rustling before realizing it was only the wind. He shook his head, annoyed with himself. He wasn’t a kid anymore. There was nothing to fear in the dark-
A twig snapped somewhere in front of him. Lavi jerked his gaze towards the sound, scanning the trees for whatever had made that sound.
He couldn't see anything. He swallowed heavily, shifting in place and turning his gaze towards the break in the trees Tyki had disappeared through. He willed the man to reappear, pulling his cloak more tightly about himself. He still felt chilled, though he doubted the breeze was to blame.
Maybe five minutes passed before he heard another sound - a snapping twig, coming from right in front of him. He held his breath, attention totally focused on the trees before him. Another twig snapped. Another. The sound slowly traveled closer and closer, but Lavi's one good eye couldn't make out what was causing the noise. With this dark, he doubted having two good eyes would have helped.
He watched, breathing shallowly and unconsciously backing up. Perhaps it was Tyki, but perhaps it wasn't, and if it wasn't, then Lavi wanted to put as much distance as he could between himself and whatever was making that noise before it cleared the trees. He watched the woods closely, loosening his muscles in case he had to run at a moment's notice.
He could dimly make out a figure walking towards him. He could tell it was human, but it seemed to be carrying something in its arms. He didn't relax until the figure got closer and he saw a familiar flash of gray skin and amber eyes, recognizing Tyki as the werewolf stepped out from between the trees. The redhead's moment of relief was quickly replaced by shock when Tyki got closer and the moon breaking out from behind the trees revealed just what it was the werewolf was carrying and the furious, worried expression he wore.
"Road!" Lavi said, rushing over to Tyki and his precious burden. The girl was in her wolf form, but the color of her fur was unmistakable even though it was covered in what looked to be drying blood. She appeared to be unconscious, her barely-moving chest the only indication that she was still alive.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at Tyki's face. The man's lips were drawn into a tight, angry line and he turned back towards town and Lavi's home.
"I don't know, but I smell the Earl's blood and Lulubell‘s... and Sheryl's." He began walking briskly back down the road, holding his niece carefully so he wouldn't jostle her. Lavi followed seconds later, stunned by the girl's injuries. Even he could smell the blood and he knew his nose was not half as sensitive's as Tyki's must be.
"Does your grandfather know anything about healing animals?"
Lavi looked up from Road's limp form, mind not registering the question for several seconds. He nodded quickly.
"I've seen books about it. Gramps knows a lot, so I'm sure he can do something..."
Tyki nodded, speeding up just a little so that Lavi had to scramble to keep up. The silence that fell over them was tense and crackling, not at all like the usual companionable silences that fell between them. Lavi's only comfort was knowing that Tyki's anger wasn't directed at him, but rather at the person who had done this to Road.
The Earl. Lavi had never met that particular werewolf, but he hated him already.
He ran several steps ahead of Tyki as they approached his house, bursting through the door with such force it hit the wall and almost hit him in the face before he stopped it with his arm. He shoved the door to the side, this time making sure he didn't hit it with enough force for it to come back and strike Tyki, who was coming up behind him.
Lavi heard a startled noise and looked towards the corner of the kitchen he had left Bookman in. The old man was still sitting in his chair, though his gaze was now fixed on Lavi, puzzlement barely visible in his eyes. Considering Bookman usual reaction to surprises, Lavi supposed it was his grandfather's equivalent of jumping to his feet and shouting.
"Lavi, what-"
The redhead ignored the question in favor of moving out of Tyki's way. He could tell the moment his grandfather saw the pair of werewolves because the old man cut himself off and stood immediately. Bookman hurried over to the table and began lifting books and papers off of it, quickly clearing a space in the middle. Lavi stepped over to the table and helped, doing as Bookman was up and moving the stacks of books and piles of papers to the floor before shoving them to the nearby walls and leaving the floor space mostly clear. He heard the door shut and glanced back, seeing that Tyki had apparently kicked it shut and was watching Road anxiously.
Lavi turned his attention back to the papers he was carrying, dropping them rather than setting them on the floor next to the books. He could recopy them later if they got damaged.
"What happened?" Bookman asked as he cleared the last of the items from the table. It was a sturdy wooden thing and was large enough to hold half of Bookman's book collection, so it should support Road just fine. Bookman motioned to the tabletop. "Lay him down."
"Her," Tyki corrected, stepping forward. He bent over the table, laying Road carefully down on the smooth surface. He made sure the girl was fully supported before he withdrew his arms, slipping his hand under her head to guide it down so her skull wouldn't knock against the table. "She is my niece."
Bookman nodded, absently filing away the fact, and moved forward to examine her. He raised a hand and checked her vital signs, putting a hand over her chest to see if her heart still beat before putting his other hand in front of her muzzle to see if she still breathed. After a moment, he removed his hands and began examining her injuries, looking at the various splotches of blood in her coat. Lavi swallowed anxiously. In the dark he hadn't really been able to see how much blood was in her fur and now, in the candlelit room, it was much easier to see how much of her blue-gray coat was covered in red, though the thick fur hid the extent of her wounds. It was impossible to tell how much of the blood was hers.
"Lavi, go get me a large bowl filled with water and clean rags," Bookman ordered briskly, snapping Lavi out of his partial daze. The redhead looked up and nodded, moving to do as bid. As he headed to the wooden chest they kept bowls like the one Bookman had requested, he heard his grandfather address Tyki. "If she is your niece, then does that mean she's a werewolf as well?"
Tyki must have nodded, or perhaps the creaking of the wood as Lavi lifted the top of the chest drowned him out, because the next sound Lavi heard was again his grandfather's voice. The redhead was quiet as he quickly located a large, somewhat roughly-carved stone bowl and pulled it out of the chest.
"Is she able to transform? I know less about tending to animals than I do to humans," Bookman said.
Lavi turned and set the bowl down on the counter, briefly debating whether to go get more water from the small well in the backyard or if the water in the pitcher for the washbasin would suffice. He had filled it that morning and he wasn't sure if the ten minutes it would take to draw up water would make a difference.
He glanced back at Road. She seemed so still...
Decision made, he turned towards the main area of the small cottage, heading for the pitcher he knew would be filled with water. The pitcher and basin were as he had left them that morning - sitting on the small table in front of the window facing the small plot of land behind the house. There was a decently-sized rag alongside the stone-crafted items, usually used for drying hands and faces once washed. He grabbed the cloth and laid it over his shoulder before grabbing the pitcher with one hand, lifting it quickly and putting his other hand beneath the flat bottom to support the weight.
He turned back to the kitchen, carrying the pitcher and the rag. As he walked into the cooking space, he glanced towards the table. Tyki sat in a chair next to the wood surface, up by Road's head, and he was talking to her so quietly all Lavi could hear was a dull murmur. His heart ached at the worry he could see in the man's eyes and the tense set of his shoulders and he shivered at the low embers of anger he could see stirring to life behind the worry.
He tore his eyes away and kept moving towards the bowl he had selected earlier, dumping the water from the pitcher into it. It made a soft splashing noise, drawing Bookman's attention.
"Bring that bowl over here and then go get me whatever bandages we have," the old man said. Lavi nodded, upending the pitcher to pour out the last of the water. He set the pitcher down, hearing the hollow clang it made as it hit the counter a split second before Bookman's stunned sharp intake of breath. He turned instinctively towards the sound and had to fight the urge to gasp as well.
Tyki had managed to convince Road to change forms, though how Lavi didn't know since the girl was still clearly unconscious. While seeing the transformation from wolf to human would probably be surprising enough - after all, it still surprised him a bit on some level every time he witnessed it, though he was slowly becoming more used to watching them change forms - Lavi knew that that was not what had surprised his grandfather.
Somehow, the blood and the unnatural stillness seemed all the worse when it was a human on the table instead of an animal.
Road's shirt was more red than white, ripped to shreds in several places and Lavi could see claw marks on the skin beneath some of the tears. Her pants were holding together by threads where claws had glanced along her thigh. Her legs were spotted with red and there was more than one bite mark still oozing blood on both of her legs. There seemed to be two different sizes of bites - one wide and long while the other was thinner and shorter. Road's shoes were halfway off her feet, crusted in blood and mud.
The redhead glanced towards her arms and hands. Like her feet, her hands were covered in mud and blood and her fingertips were scraped and bloody. One of her arms had a large bite mark, blood seeping from the small punctures. And those were only Road's visible injuries - Lavi had little doubt more were hidden beneath the splashes of blood and scraps of clothing on her.
Of the two humans, Bookman was the first to recover. He turned to Lavi and, seeing that the boy had frozen, barked; "Hurry up!"
The redhead jerked himself out of his stunned state and turned back to the counter for the bowl, picking it up with both hands and carrying the heavy thing towards where his grandfather stood at the side of the table. Bookman gently moved aside some of Road's blood-crusted hair as Lavi approached and directed the redhead to set the bowl next to the girl's head. Some water sloshed over the sides of the bowl as Lavi did so, dampening a bit of Road's hair. Lavi reached for the rag on his shoulder and handed it wordlessly to Bookman, who took it and plunged it into the water to soak.
Lavi glanced towards Tyki, seeing that the werewolf had moved back from the table and was watching them and his niece with a tense kind of worry in his eyes. The redhead bit his lip and then looked down, moving around his grandfather to the main living space of the house once more. Behind him, he could hear the soft splash of the rag leaving the water as Bookman lifted it to begin washing off some of the blood and clean some of Road's wounds.
He headed for the hearth, next to which they kept an old chest filled with medicines, salves, and poultices as well as bandages and wine for cleaning wounds. Lavi knelt in front of the chest and pushed it open, ignoring the creak of the wood and the hinges as he leaned the heavy top against the wall behind it. He began digging through the many jars inside it, pushing aside his grandfather's acupuncture needles to get at the bandages at the bottom of the chest. Not sure how many they would need, he began grabbing all of them and piling them on his other arm, keeping said arm bent close to his body so it formed a kind of basket for him to carry the rolls of cloth. When he couldn't see nor feel any more bandages, he grabbed the bottle of wine with his free hand and stood, leaving the chest open in case his grandfather called for something else from it. Lavi turned back to the kitchen, carefully balancing the bandage rolls in one arm as he walked back.
He found his grandfather rinsing the rag in the water bowl, turning the water a thin pink, then move back to washing off Road's arm. Her shirt was so torn that the majority of her arm was exposed, but to get at her chest and bandage whatever injuries were there, they would need to remove the garment. The same thought had evidently occurred to Bookman, for the next words out of his mouth were:
"Lavi, get me my scissors. Then get me some more water from the well."
Lavi nodded, setting the wine down next to the was bowl and putting the bandages on the chair Tyki had sat in only an hour ago before turning to go back to the main area of the cottage. Tyki's voice interrupted.
"What can I do to help?"
There was silence. Lavi didn't move, looking to Bookman to see what his grandfather would say. The old man regarded the werewolf seriously, moving the bloody cloth he held to the washbasin and rinsing it. He turned his gaze away only when he had to wring it, more pink water falling into the bowl.
"Lavi, go draw water," Bookman finally said, turning back to Road and beginning to wipe off her face. "My scissors are in the chest by the fireplace. Get them for me."
The last was obviously addressed to Tyki. The werewolf stood immediately, passing Lavi on his way to get the required item. The redhead caught him by the shoulder for an instant, drawing Tyki's attention long enough for their eyes to meet. The redhead gave the older man's shoulder a supportive squeeze. Tyki smiled thinly in reply, lifting one hand to cover Lavi's and squeezing back before slipping both hands off his shoulder and continuing on his way. Lavi watched him for a second, then turned away to head out the door.
He turned the knob and headed out, pulling the door behind him so it shut partway but didn't close completely, then turned to head around to the back of the dwelling. The night seemed ominously silent as he walked across the grass. He couldn't even hear crickets, except off in the distance, and the night air seemed to somehow muffle them. He quickened his steps to the well, falling to his knees next to the stone structure, grabbing the wooden bucket nestled in the long grass next to the wall and feeling for the length of rope that was always coiled next to said bucket. He quickly located it and picked up part of one coil, running it through his hands to try and locate an end. Within moments, the only sounds his breathing and the slide of rope through his hands, he found one.
He picked the bucket and braced it in between his knees before lifting the handle and pulling the end underneath the thin metal. He quickly tied a sturdy knot, fingers shaking only slightly, which he then tested by yanking hard on the rope. The knot held, and he got to his feet and stepped towards the well. He leaned over the stone wall and threaded both the bucket and attached rope through the small space between the roof of the well and the beam hanging directly over the center. He leaned back once the task was completed and began to lower the bucket, letting the rope slip through his fingers slowly. He could hear a distant splash and the rope slackened for an instant. He tightened his grip on the rope and felt the pull as the bucket filled with water. He let a bit more rope slide through his grip, then held the rope in place until he could no longer feel the tug at the end strengthening. He pulled the rope back up, going slowly so that the water wouldn't all spill out as he did so.
Within minutes, he was again leaning over the top of the well and reaching for the bucket. He pulled it to him by the damp rope and set the bucket on the wall of the well, making sure it wouldn't fall back in before beginning to untie the rope. It was slow work since he had needed to tie the knot tight and now it was wet and had tightened further as he had pulled it up, but within a minute he had gotten the rope undone and moved the bucket to the ground so he wouldn't knock it over accidentally and lose it to the well. He quickly coiled the rope and set it down by the well before picking up the bucket and walking back to the house. The silence going back was just as unnerving as the silence that had met him when he had exited the cottage minutes ago, but there was the promise of company and light inside the house. He quickened his steps, doing his best not to stir up the water inside the bucket too much but feeling some of it splash out on to his pant leg anyway.
He shoved open the door as quietly as he could, lumbering into the light. It was noticeably brighter in the room and Lavi chalked it up to coming in from the darkness outside before he saw the other candles placed around the room to brighten the whole area. Almost no wax had run over the top, meaning that someone had just lit them.
Lavi glanced towards the table. Tyki's broad back was blocking most of his view, but he could see Road's legs at the end of the table and a small pile of bloody white cloth next to her feet. The material was probably her shirt and Lavi confirmed the thought as he quietly shut the door and moved around Tyki to his grandfather's side of the table. He set the bucket down on the floor next to Bookman's feet before looking towards Road.
Her body was propped up by Tyki, the older werewolf's hands supporting her carefully as Bookman wrapped a bandage tightly around her abdomen. She was mostly bare from the waist up but for the cloth binding her chest. There were small tears in the cloth and splotches of dried blood, meaning that the bindings were likely something she had been wearing when she had been injured and not bandages Bookman had just tied. Most of her skin had been cleaned of blood and the only injury had apparently been the one Bookman was now wrapping. The old man had probably let the bindings on her chest to preserve her modesty, since any scratches or bites that would need tending to would have left holes in the cloth. The bite on her arm had been bandaged, as well as each of her fingers on both hands.
There were a few bruises on her neck Lavi hadn't noticed before and a few dotting her arms, all slowly deepening to dark purple. The redhead swallowed, staring at her face. Road's face was slack, apparently unaware of any pain or of her uncle holding her.
"How is she?" he asked, voice almost inappropriately loud in the quiet. Tyki looked up at the sound of his voice but Bookman did not. The old man straightened and tied off the bandage be had been wrapping, apparently satisfied.
"She'll be fine. There are no breaks in her bones and no lumps on her head. She was lucky," Bookman said, turning to grab the scissors lying on the table next to the already-discarded cloth. He lifted them and moved them to the bottom of one of Road's pant-legs. He began cutting into the cloth, following a straight line up her leg. "Go get a spare pillow and some blankets. Once you've done that, find some of your old clothes and bring them here. They'll be a bit worn, but it's the best we can do."
Lavi nodded and left, heading for the room he shared with Bookman. A little-used chest in the corner of that room would have what Bookman was looking for. There had to be at least one set of clothes that would fit Road nestled in there somewhere.
He returned to the kitchen within minutes, his arms full of cloth in various forms. He moved behind Tyki and set the items down in the chair the werewolf had been in earlier. He looked towards the table, picking up a bundle of cloth to place beneath Road's head.
They had laid her back down on to the table and both Tyki and Bookman were now standing by her legs. In the time Lavi had been gone, Bookman had managed to cut off the girl's pants and was now busily washing off the blood from one of her legs. Tyki was washing the other leg with what looked to be half of the rag Lavi had brought Bookman earlier.
Lavi gently slid a hand underneath Road's head and lifted it, slipping the bundle of rags that acted as a pillow underneath her damp hair. He glanced back towards the two men at the end of the table, seeing that they were almost done. As Bookman dropped his rag in the bloody water of the washbasin, Lavi spoke.
"Is there anything else I can do?" he asked. Bookman shook his head.
"Go to bed, Lavi. It's late," he said, picking up the wine bottle and pouring some on to the bite marks on the leg closer to him. Tyki wordlessly held out his hand for the bottle when Bookman was done and the old man passed it to him. The werewolf poured more on to the few bites remaining and then set the bottle down.
"She can sleep on my bed," Lavi offered, as much out of concern for her comfort as for the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to sleep any time soon. Nervous energy was running in his veins alongside his blood, leaving him feeling more wide awake than ever.
Bookman didn't even dignify his offer with a glance.
"She will take my pallet. I will sleep out here, as will he." The old man nodded towards Tyki with a quick jerk of his head, reaching for a roll of bandages. He handed the roll to Tyki and then grabbed another for himself, moving back to wrap Road's leg. "The chairs are comfortable enough."
"Road can sleep on my bed," Lavi said. "I'm fine out here-"
Bookman actually did look up at that, narrowing his eyes at his grandson's protest.
"I believe he doesn't trust me, Red," Tyki said, beginning to wrap his niece's leg. The words were said without anger, just a simple statement of fact. "If he wishes to watch me to make sure I don't sneak into your bed, then that is fine."
"Tyki..." Lavi said, feeling a sudden surge of sadness he wasn't sure what to do with. He glanced towards his grandfather, but Bookman had started wrapping Road's leg and refused to look up. Lavi sighed quietly, stepping towards Tyki.
The werewolf didn't look up for several seconds, instead finishing up bandaging the part of Road's leg he had been covering. Once he had cut off the length of cloth and tied it, he turned a somewhat curious expression towards Lavi.
Hesitating only momentarily, Lavi moved to stand on tiptoe and pressed a short, chaste kiss to Tyki's lips.
"Goodnight," he said, seeing the surprise on the older man's face. He waited.
After a moment, Tyki smiled and nodded, leaning in to press his lips softly against the redhead's in a kiss just as short and chaste as the one Lavi had given him.
"Goodnight, Lavi," he said gently. "Sleep well."
Lavi nodded, smiling weakly back. His smile faded as he turned to face his grandfather. The old man was watching them disapprovingly, but turned back to his work and tied off the bandage when he noticed Lavi looking.
"Goodnight, Gramps," the redhead said, turning towards the bedroom. He heard the old man make a noise behind him, acknowledging that Lavi had spoken but not really replying.
With a soft sigh, Lavi walked to the room and shut the door quietly behind himself.
TBC…
A/N: Sorry about the late update. Life has been very, very hectic for me lately and I haven’t been able to write. I’m concentrating more on AGoP so I can get that done, but this is also high on the priority list. Sorry again about the wait.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, but Katsura Hoshino owns all.
Notes: Well, this fic started as a oneshot based off of Little Red Riding Hood. About two pages in, I figured out that this no longer had anything whatsoever to do with Little Red Riding Hood. >_< I hope you all enjoy!
Dedicated to SisterWicked, Niamh (both of AssHat Productions, a group I’m a proud member of), and Cackles for reading this over before I posted and giving me tips and the confidence boost I needed so I could make this fic available to the general public. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Super special awesome thanks to Niamh for coming up with the title of this fic!
Special dedication to Hakoro for reminding me to update.
Sorry for not updating sooner and sorry that I didn’t do review replies this chapter. I finally had free time today and I could either do review replies or post, so I decided to post. >_<
Last Time:
"Thank you!" he called, trying to put every ounce of gratitude he felt into his voice. Bookman looked up from his reading and nodded in acknowledgement.
The old man was still watching as the door shut behind the pair, only looking back at his book when he could no longer hear their feet on the ground.
And Now, The Continuation:
Road
Lavi pulled his cloak tighter around himself. The weather had turned chilly again and he was grateful for the extra warmth. The night was quiet except for a few brave crickets and the sound of his and Tyki's footsteps on the hard ground.
When they reach the road and turned up it, heading away from town as always, Tyki spoke.
"Your grandfather didn't seem surprised when I told him what I was," the werewolf said, glancing towards the redhead curiously, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Nor were you, if I'm remembering correctly. Have you encountered my kind before?"
Lavi laughed quietly, shaking his head.
"No. It has just always been his way to never let anything surprise him. His motto had always been 'believe or disbelieve only in what you have seen with your own eyes; observe the world and form your own thoughts, whatever they may be'." Lavi shrugged, smiling and looking up at the sky. "There were always so many stories about werewolves it was harder to disregard them all as fiction, though I had never met one until I met you. Maybe Gramps has, I don't know."
Tyki nodded seriously, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes, and they lapsed into silence. They continued walking for several minutes without a word passing between them.
"It can take months to arrange a wedding," Lavi commented into the quiet. Tyki 'mmm'd.
"I know that, Lavi. Have you already forgotten Sheryl? He didn't manage to get his wedding arranged to his mother-in-law's satisfaction for three months. If I must wait that long, or even twice that, to appease your grandfather, then that is what I will do."
They fell into an easy silence as they walked, each turning over the events of the night in their mind. They crested the first hill, hand in hand, and continued on the downward slope.
"Do you not wish to wait that long to consummate this?" Tyki asked frankly, as though the question regularly came up in casual conversation. Lavi spluttered, looking towards the werewolf as his blush came back in full force.
"Wha- why-" he said, fading into silence when he realized he didn't have a clue how to respond. Tyki shrugged, a hint of a smirk playing at his lips.
"I had assumed it would take that long for you to be comfortable with the idea of me touching you. I will wait for you to want it and be comfortable enough with me to allow me to come to your bed. If it takes three-months wait, a wedding, and your grandfather's approval for that to happen..." His voice trailed off as though it was only common sense for him to do those things.
"That's..." Lavi started, trying to think up a way to protest. While it was wonderful that Bookman approved, Lavi still wasn't too sure about marrying a man he had only met that week. Tyki made it sound like it was obvious that Lavi would simply agree to marry him and then consummate their relationship, like it was only natural for what they had together to progress that way from where they were. Without taking into account Lavi's right to choose, maybe it was.
The redhead shut his mouth and looked away.
Even with taking his right to choose into account, maybe it was only natural. He refused to name the feeling that welled up inside of him when he thought about the werewolf and especially when the older man was by his side, but perhaps in the few months it would take to arrange the wedding he would be able to call it what it was.
A light breeze picked up, stirring the grass and making the leaves rustle. Lavi shivered, drawing his cloak tighter around himself once more, and only noticed that Tyki had frozen when their joined hands prevented him from taking another two steps. He nearly tripped at the sudden, unexpected yank backwards, but kept his balance and turned, staring at the werewolf with concern.
"Tyki?" he asked, following the man's gaze. All he could see were trees, though each plant was suddenly made dark and foreboding by Tyki's wide-eyed stare. The werewolf abruptly let go of his hand, striding towards the forest. Before Lavi could ask what was wrong, Tyki spoke.
"Stay here, Lavi. I will return shortly."
Lavi watched the man transform and run off, darting through the trees like a silver shadow. Within seconds, he had disappeared completely into the woods.
Lavi stared after him for several minutes in shock, then shivered when the night breeze played with the openings in his cloak. He shivered and pulled the red material tighter around himself, glancing around uneasily. The night was safe enough when he was with Tyki, but without the older man by his side he had a sudden urge to head home. He could almost feel the darkness creeping up on him, made all the more frightening by the looming presence of the trees and Tyki's warning back when he had first met the man.
'"My family members would likely kill you for sport. The forest is their playground."'
He took a half-step back from the trees, nearly jumping when he heard the leaves rustling before realizing it was only the wind. He shook his head, annoyed with himself. He wasn’t a kid anymore. There was nothing to fear in the dark-
A twig snapped somewhere in front of him. Lavi jerked his gaze towards the sound, scanning the trees for whatever had made that sound.
He couldn't see anything. He swallowed heavily, shifting in place and turning his gaze towards the break in the trees Tyki had disappeared through. He willed the man to reappear, pulling his cloak more tightly about himself. He still felt chilled, though he doubted the breeze was to blame.
Maybe five minutes passed before he heard another sound - a snapping twig, coming from right in front of him. He held his breath, attention totally focused on the trees before him. Another twig snapped. Another. The sound slowly traveled closer and closer, but Lavi's one good eye couldn't make out what was causing the noise. With this dark, he doubted having two good eyes would have helped.
He watched, breathing shallowly and unconsciously backing up. Perhaps it was Tyki, but perhaps it wasn't, and if it wasn't, then Lavi wanted to put as much distance as he could between himself and whatever was making that noise before it cleared the trees. He watched the woods closely, loosening his muscles in case he had to run at a moment's notice.
He could dimly make out a figure walking towards him. He could tell it was human, but it seemed to be carrying something in its arms. He didn't relax until the figure got closer and he saw a familiar flash of gray skin and amber eyes, recognizing Tyki as the werewolf stepped out from between the trees. The redhead's moment of relief was quickly replaced by shock when Tyki got closer and the moon breaking out from behind the trees revealed just what it was the werewolf was carrying and the furious, worried expression he wore.
"Road!" Lavi said, rushing over to Tyki and his precious burden. The girl was in her wolf form, but the color of her fur was unmistakable even though it was covered in what looked to be drying blood. She appeared to be unconscious, her barely-moving chest the only indication that she was still alive.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at Tyki's face. The man's lips were drawn into a tight, angry line and he turned back towards town and Lavi's home.
"I don't know, but I smell the Earl's blood and Lulubell‘s... and Sheryl's." He began walking briskly back down the road, holding his niece carefully so he wouldn't jostle her. Lavi followed seconds later, stunned by the girl's injuries. Even he could smell the blood and he knew his nose was not half as sensitive's as Tyki's must be.
"Does your grandfather know anything about healing animals?"
Lavi looked up from Road's limp form, mind not registering the question for several seconds. He nodded quickly.
"I've seen books about it. Gramps knows a lot, so I'm sure he can do something..."
Tyki nodded, speeding up just a little so that Lavi had to scramble to keep up. The silence that fell over them was tense and crackling, not at all like the usual companionable silences that fell between them. Lavi's only comfort was knowing that Tyki's anger wasn't directed at him, but rather at the person who had done this to Road.
The Earl. Lavi had never met that particular werewolf, but he hated him already.
He ran several steps ahead of Tyki as they approached his house, bursting through the door with such force it hit the wall and almost hit him in the face before he stopped it with his arm. He shoved the door to the side, this time making sure he didn't hit it with enough force for it to come back and strike Tyki, who was coming up behind him.
Lavi heard a startled noise and looked towards the corner of the kitchen he had left Bookman in. The old man was still sitting in his chair, though his gaze was now fixed on Lavi, puzzlement barely visible in his eyes. Considering Bookman usual reaction to surprises, Lavi supposed it was his grandfather's equivalent of jumping to his feet and shouting.
"Lavi, what-"
The redhead ignored the question in favor of moving out of Tyki's way. He could tell the moment his grandfather saw the pair of werewolves because the old man cut himself off and stood immediately. Bookman hurried over to the table and began lifting books and papers off of it, quickly clearing a space in the middle. Lavi stepped over to the table and helped, doing as Bookman was up and moving the stacks of books and piles of papers to the floor before shoving them to the nearby walls and leaving the floor space mostly clear. He heard the door shut and glanced back, seeing that Tyki had apparently kicked it shut and was watching Road anxiously.
Lavi turned his attention back to the papers he was carrying, dropping them rather than setting them on the floor next to the books. He could recopy them later if they got damaged.
"What happened?" Bookman asked as he cleared the last of the items from the table. It was a sturdy wooden thing and was large enough to hold half of Bookman's book collection, so it should support Road just fine. Bookman motioned to the tabletop. "Lay him down."
"Her," Tyki corrected, stepping forward. He bent over the table, laying Road carefully down on the smooth surface. He made sure the girl was fully supported before he withdrew his arms, slipping his hand under her head to guide it down so her skull wouldn't knock against the table. "She is my niece."
Bookman nodded, absently filing away the fact, and moved forward to examine her. He raised a hand and checked her vital signs, putting a hand over her chest to see if her heart still beat before putting his other hand in front of her muzzle to see if she still breathed. After a moment, he removed his hands and began examining her injuries, looking at the various splotches of blood in her coat. Lavi swallowed anxiously. In the dark he hadn't really been able to see how much blood was in her fur and now, in the candlelit room, it was much easier to see how much of her blue-gray coat was covered in red, though the thick fur hid the extent of her wounds. It was impossible to tell how much of the blood was hers.
"Lavi, go get me a large bowl filled with water and clean rags," Bookman ordered briskly, snapping Lavi out of his partial daze. The redhead looked up and nodded, moving to do as bid. As he headed to the wooden chest they kept bowls like the one Bookman had requested, he heard his grandfather address Tyki. "If she is your niece, then does that mean she's a werewolf as well?"
Tyki must have nodded, or perhaps the creaking of the wood as Lavi lifted the top of the chest drowned him out, because the next sound Lavi heard was again his grandfather's voice. The redhead was quiet as he quickly located a large, somewhat roughly-carved stone bowl and pulled it out of the chest.
"Is she able to transform? I know less about tending to animals than I do to humans," Bookman said.
Lavi turned and set the bowl down on the counter, briefly debating whether to go get more water from the small well in the backyard or if the water in the pitcher for the washbasin would suffice. He had filled it that morning and he wasn't sure if the ten minutes it would take to draw up water would make a difference.
He glanced back at Road. She seemed so still...
Decision made, he turned towards the main area of the small cottage, heading for the pitcher he knew would be filled with water. The pitcher and basin were as he had left them that morning - sitting on the small table in front of the window facing the small plot of land behind the house. There was a decently-sized rag alongside the stone-crafted items, usually used for drying hands and faces once washed. He grabbed the cloth and laid it over his shoulder before grabbing the pitcher with one hand, lifting it quickly and putting his other hand beneath the flat bottom to support the weight.
He turned back to the kitchen, carrying the pitcher and the rag. As he walked into the cooking space, he glanced towards the table. Tyki sat in a chair next to the wood surface, up by Road's head, and he was talking to her so quietly all Lavi could hear was a dull murmur. His heart ached at the worry he could see in the man's eyes and the tense set of his shoulders and he shivered at the low embers of anger he could see stirring to life behind the worry.
He tore his eyes away and kept moving towards the bowl he had selected earlier, dumping the water from the pitcher into it. It made a soft splashing noise, drawing Bookman's attention.
"Bring that bowl over here and then go get me whatever bandages we have," the old man said. Lavi nodded, upending the pitcher to pour out the last of the water. He set the pitcher down, hearing the hollow clang it made as it hit the counter a split second before Bookman's stunned sharp intake of breath. He turned instinctively towards the sound and had to fight the urge to gasp as well.
Tyki had managed to convince Road to change forms, though how Lavi didn't know since the girl was still clearly unconscious. While seeing the transformation from wolf to human would probably be surprising enough - after all, it still surprised him a bit on some level every time he witnessed it, though he was slowly becoming more used to watching them change forms - Lavi knew that that was not what had surprised his grandfather.
Somehow, the blood and the unnatural stillness seemed all the worse when it was a human on the table instead of an animal.
Road's shirt was more red than white, ripped to shreds in several places and Lavi could see claw marks on the skin beneath some of the tears. Her pants were holding together by threads where claws had glanced along her thigh. Her legs were spotted with red and there was more than one bite mark still oozing blood on both of her legs. There seemed to be two different sizes of bites - one wide and long while the other was thinner and shorter. Road's shoes were halfway off her feet, crusted in blood and mud.
The redhead glanced towards her arms and hands. Like her feet, her hands were covered in mud and blood and her fingertips were scraped and bloody. One of her arms had a large bite mark, blood seeping from the small punctures. And those were only Road's visible injuries - Lavi had little doubt more were hidden beneath the splashes of blood and scraps of clothing on her.
Of the two humans, Bookman was the first to recover. He turned to Lavi and, seeing that the boy had frozen, barked; "Hurry up!"
The redhead jerked himself out of his stunned state and turned back to the counter for the bowl, picking it up with both hands and carrying the heavy thing towards where his grandfather stood at the side of the table. Bookman gently moved aside some of Road's blood-crusted hair as Lavi approached and directed the redhead to set the bowl next to the girl's head. Some water sloshed over the sides of the bowl as Lavi did so, dampening a bit of Road's hair. Lavi reached for the rag on his shoulder and handed it wordlessly to Bookman, who took it and plunged it into the water to soak.
Lavi glanced towards Tyki, seeing that the werewolf had moved back from the table and was watching them and his niece with a tense kind of worry in his eyes. The redhead bit his lip and then looked down, moving around his grandfather to the main living space of the house once more. Behind him, he could hear the soft splash of the rag leaving the water as Bookman lifted it to begin washing off some of the blood and clean some of Road's wounds.
He headed for the hearth, next to which they kept an old chest filled with medicines, salves, and poultices as well as bandages and wine for cleaning wounds. Lavi knelt in front of the chest and pushed it open, ignoring the creak of the wood and the hinges as he leaned the heavy top against the wall behind it. He began digging through the many jars inside it, pushing aside his grandfather's acupuncture needles to get at the bandages at the bottom of the chest. Not sure how many they would need, he began grabbing all of them and piling them on his other arm, keeping said arm bent close to his body so it formed a kind of basket for him to carry the rolls of cloth. When he couldn't see nor feel any more bandages, he grabbed the bottle of wine with his free hand and stood, leaving the chest open in case his grandfather called for something else from it. Lavi turned back to the kitchen, carefully balancing the bandage rolls in one arm as he walked back.
He found his grandfather rinsing the rag in the water bowl, turning the water a thin pink, then move back to washing off Road's arm. Her shirt was so torn that the majority of her arm was exposed, but to get at her chest and bandage whatever injuries were there, they would need to remove the garment. The same thought had evidently occurred to Bookman, for the next words out of his mouth were:
"Lavi, get me my scissors. Then get me some more water from the well."
Lavi nodded, setting the wine down next to the was bowl and putting the bandages on the chair Tyki had sat in only an hour ago before turning to go back to the main area of the cottage. Tyki's voice interrupted.
"What can I do to help?"
There was silence. Lavi didn't move, looking to Bookman to see what his grandfather would say. The old man regarded the werewolf seriously, moving the bloody cloth he held to the washbasin and rinsing it. He turned his gaze away only when he had to wring it, more pink water falling into the bowl.
"Lavi, go draw water," Bookman finally said, turning back to Road and beginning to wipe off her face. "My scissors are in the chest by the fireplace. Get them for me."
The last was obviously addressed to Tyki. The werewolf stood immediately, passing Lavi on his way to get the required item. The redhead caught him by the shoulder for an instant, drawing Tyki's attention long enough for their eyes to meet. The redhead gave the older man's shoulder a supportive squeeze. Tyki smiled thinly in reply, lifting one hand to cover Lavi's and squeezing back before slipping both hands off his shoulder and continuing on his way. Lavi watched him for a second, then turned away to head out the door.
He turned the knob and headed out, pulling the door behind him so it shut partway but didn't close completely, then turned to head around to the back of the dwelling. The night seemed ominously silent as he walked across the grass. He couldn't even hear crickets, except off in the distance, and the night air seemed to somehow muffle them. He quickened his steps to the well, falling to his knees next to the stone structure, grabbing the wooden bucket nestled in the long grass next to the wall and feeling for the length of rope that was always coiled next to said bucket. He quickly located it and picked up part of one coil, running it through his hands to try and locate an end. Within moments, the only sounds his breathing and the slide of rope through his hands, he found one.
He picked the bucket and braced it in between his knees before lifting the handle and pulling the end underneath the thin metal. He quickly tied a sturdy knot, fingers shaking only slightly, which he then tested by yanking hard on the rope. The knot held, and he got to his feet and stepped towards the well. He leaned over the stone wall and threaded both the bucket and attached rope through the small space between the roof of the well and the beam hanging directly over the center. He leaned back once the task was completed and began to lower the bucket, letting the rope slip through his fingers slowly. He could hear a distant splash and the rope slackened for an instant. He tightened his grip on the rope and felt the pull as the bucket filled with water. He let a bit more rope slide through his grip, then held the rope in place until he could no longer feel the tug at the end strengthening. He pulled the rope back up, going slowly so that the water wouldn't all spill out as he did so.
Within minutes, he was again leaning over the top of the well and reaching for the bucket. He pulled it to him by the damp rope and set the bucket on the wall of the well, making sure it wouldn't fall back in before beginning to untie the rope. It was slow work since he had needed to tie the knot tight and now it was wet and had tightened further as he had pulled it up, but within a minute he had gotten the rope undone and moved the bucket to the ground so he wouldn't knock it over accidentally and lose it to the well. He quickly coiled the rope and set it down by the well before picking up the bucket and walking back to the house. The silence going back was just as unnerving as the silence that had met him when he had exited the cottage minutes ago, but there was the promise of company and light inside the house. He quickened his steps, doing his best not to stir up the water inside the bucket too much but feeling some of it splash out on to his pant leg anyway.
He shoved open the door as quietly as he could, lumbering into the light. It was noticeably brighter in the room and Lavi chalked it up to coming in from the darkness outside before he saw the other candles placed around the room to brighten the whole area. Almost no wax had run over the top, meaning that someone had just lit them.
Lavi glanced towards the table. Tyki's broad back was blocking most of his view, but he could see Road's legs at the end of the table and a small pile of bloody white cloth next to her feet. The material was probably her shirt and Lavi confirmed the thought as he quietly shut the door and moved around Tyki to his grandfather's side of the table. He set the bucket down on the floor next to Bookman's feet before looking towards Road.
Her body was propped up by Tyki, the older werewolf's hands supporting her carefully as Bookman wrapped a bandage tightly around her abdomen. She was mostly bare from the waist up but for the cloth binding her chest. There were small tears in the cloth and splotches of dried blood, meaning that the bindings were likely something she had been wearing when she had been injured and not bandages Bookman had just tied. Most of her skin had been cleaned of blood and the only injury had apparently been the one Bookman was now wrapping. The old man had probably let the bindings on her chest to preserve her modesty, since any scratches or bites that would need tending to would have left holes in the cloth. The bite on her arm had been bandaged, as well as each of her fingers on both hands.
There were a few bruises on her neck Lavi hadn't noticed before and a few dotting her arms, all slowly deepening to dark purple. The redhead swallowed, staring at her face. Road's face was slack, apparently unaware of any pain or of her uncle holding her.
"How is she?" he asked, voice almost inappropriately loud in the quiet. Tyki looked up at the sound of his voice but Bookman did not. The old man straightened and tied off the bandage be had been wrapping, apparently satisfied.
"She'll be fine. There are no breaks in her bones and no lumps on her head. She was lucky," Bookman said, turning to grab the scissors lying on the table next to the already-discarded cloth. He lifted them and moved them to the bottom of one of Road's pant-legs. He began cutting into the cloth, following a straight line up her leg. "Go get a spare pillow and some blankets. Once you've done that, find some of your old clothes and bring them here. They'll be a bit worn, but it's the best we can do."
Lavi nodded and left, heading for the room he shared with Bookman. A little-used chest in the corner of that room would have what Bookman was looking for. There had to be at least one set of clothes that would fit Road nestled in there somewhere.
He returned to the kitchen within minutes, his arms full of cloth in various forms. He moved behind Tyki and set the items down in the chair the werewolf had been in earlier. He looked towards the table, picking up a bundle of cloth to place beneath Road's head.
They had laid her back down on to the table and both Tyki and Bookman were now standing by her legs. In the time Lavi had been gone, Bookman had managed to cut off the girl's pants and was now busily washing off the blood from one of her legs. Tyki was washing the other leg with what looked to be half of the rag Lavi had brought Bookman earlier.
Lavi gently slid a hand underneath Road's head and lifted it, slipping the bundle of rags that acted as a pillow underneath her damp hair. He glanced back towards the two men at the end of the table, seeing that they were almost done. As Bookman dropped his rag in the bloody water of the washbasin, Lavi spoke.
"Is there anything else I can do?" he asked. Bookman shook his head.
"Go to bed, Lavi. It's late," he said, picking up the wine bottle and pouring some on to the bite marks on the leg closer to him. Tyki wordlessly held out his hand for the bottle when Bookman was done and the old man passed it to him. The werewolf poured more on to the few bites remaining and then set the bottle down.
"She can sleep on my bed," Lavi offered, as much out of concern for her comfort as for the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to sleep any time soon. Nervous energy was running in his veins alongside his blood, leaving him feeling more wide awake than ever.
Bookman didn't even dignify his offer with a glance.
"She will take my pallet. I will sleep out here, as will he." The old man nodded towards Tyki with a quick jerk of his head, reaching for a roll of bandages. He handed the roll to Tyki and then grabbed another for himself, moving back to wrap Road's leg. "The chairs are comfortable enough."
"Road can sleep on my bed," Lavi said. "I'm fine out here-"
Bookman actually did look up at that, narrowing his eyes at his grandson's protest.
"I believe he doesn't trust me, Red," Tyki said, beginning to wrap his niece's leg. The words were said without anger, just a simple statement of fact. "If he wishes to watch me to make sure I don't sneak into your bed, then that is fine."
"Tyki..." Lavi said, feeling a sudden surge of sadness he wasn't sure what to do with. He glanced towards his grandfather, but Bookman had started wrapping Road's leg and refused to look up. Lavi sighed quietly, stepping towards Tyki.
The werewolf didn't look up for several seconds, instead finishing up bandaging the part of Road's leg he had been covering. Once he had cut off the length of cloth and tied it, he turned a somewhat curious expression towards Lavi.
Hesitating only momentarily, Lavi moved to stand on tiptoe and pressed a short, chaste kiss to Tyki's lips.
"Goodnight," he said, seeing the surprise on the older man's face. He waited.
After a moment, Tyki smiled and nodded, leaning in to press his lips softly against the redhead's in a kiss just as short and chaste as the one Lavi had given him.
"Goodnight, Lavi," he said gently. "Sleep well."
Lavi nodded, smiling weakly back. His smile faded as he turned to face his grandfather. The old man was watching them disapprovingly, but turned back to his work and tied off the bandage when he noticed Lavi looking.
"Goodnight, Gramps," the redhead said, turning towards the bedroom. He heard the old man make a noise behind him, acknowledging that Lavi had spoken but not really replying.
With a soft sigh, Lavi walked to the room and shut the door quietly behind himself.
TBC…
A/N: Sorry about the late update. Life has been very, very hectic for me lately and I haven’t been able to write. I’m concentrating more on AGoP so I can get that done, but this is also high on the priority list. Sorry again about the wait.