Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Grey ❯ A Beginning ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

LSE // 5-28-03
(Shades of Grey - A Beginning)
rated: R - language, content, ?
shounen-ai/yaoi

A Beginning

-

Clearfield was just another dot on the map an hour outside Chicago, a
suburban paradise, undisturbed by the crime and chaos of the big city.
One hot August day, as thunder clouds rumbled over the skies,
something happened in Clearfield: someone died. Death was not unusual,
for all lives must end eventually, and the Clearfield cemetery was not
wanting, but this death was different. Neither natural causes nor
accident were the cause of death, but murder; pure and simple homicide
without motive.

For every action there is a reaction. The citizens of Clearfield,
however, knew nothing of the repercussions such a death would cause.
They could never fathom the far-reaching possibilities of such an
action. For centuries, the Balance was maintained between Dark and
Light was carefully maintained through the natural actions of the
respective sides. For centuries, such a Dark action would be nullified
by an equal action of Light, restoring the Balance.

But...

As the midnight clouds rolled in with their promise of storm and
destruction, Darkness took form outside Clearfield.

Eyes darker than black.

Hair recalling the deadliest flames.

The demon's head shook to clear the lingering traces of pain from the
crossing as surroundings were carefully taken in. Trees. Dirt. Rocks.
Birds... Dark eyes narrowed, and the bird song was cut off as the
lark in question tumbled to the ground, dead. A small smirk crossed
the demon's face.

In the Darkness from which the demon came there only those that
showed skill and power were allowed identities and names. The demon
was one of those elite few, which was why he was selected to cross
the barrier between the Dark to the Grey. The demon's smirk spread as
he stretched out pale arms, watching in fascination as nimble fingers
flexed in the sunlight. In the Darkness, the only light came from the
fires.

The demon quickly stopped his smirking, though, when he remembered
that sunlight, despite being caused by the flames of the Sun, was
something of Light and not Dark. Although he was use to heat, the
particular aspects of sunlight sent a burning sensation over his
exposed skin. Despite the weakness of the sunlight, due to the
gathering storm clouds. Quickly, he moved into the shade of the trees.

And then the demon noticed something.

He was naked.

Normally this would not be a problem, for modesty was a virtue, and
his kind specialized in vices, but the demon knew that humans did not
walk in the forest without clothes. And, for the Dark's plan to work,
he had to pass as human. The higher powers of Darkness were quite
forceful in making sure the demon knew the aspects of the plan. The
demon trembled slightly, recalling just how forceful those higher
powers could be.

The demon knew the first step in the plan. He was required to
integrate himself into the selected human environment. This meant he
had to enter into the town he knew to be not far off. Unfortunately,
that required clothing. Fortunately, he was a demon, and demons were
not without their own brand of skill. The smirk returned. Carefully,
the demon weaved himself clothes from the shadows and the trees,
drawing from the Grey powers of the Earth and supplementing them with
his own Dark.

From the depths of the forest, a bird called out shrilly, shattering
the respectful silence the demon had lulled the forest into. He ran
his tongue over neat rows of teeth, staring off into the shadowed
trees, waiting for the bird to call again. The crossing had left him
rather hungry.

---------------------------------------------------------- ------------

The Balance shifted.

An angel in service to the Light lifted his head and stared into the
distance, as if he could see the cause of the unbalance. Beside him,
Maisie, another angel, turned her head back and forth, eyes wide,
"Tiernan...!"

"I feel it."

Maisie took a few steps forward, "But, Tiernan..." she turned warm
brown eyes to him, "that much shift could only mean..."

He shook his head, waving off her question with an impatient gesture.
Although all angels were essentially bits of the same Light, they
possessed unique identity and shape from their beginning. Unlike
demons which, as Tiernan was told, had to earn the right to hold a
name. And names were powerful things.

With a flutter that released a few loose feathers, white wings that
glowed gold spread wide. Likewise, Maisie's wings snapped into place,
shining a burnished copper to match her hair, and the two angels raced
deeper into the realm of Light. The angels passed by structures
defined by purpose and much as the Grey, the humans, had defined their
world and the buildings with. Form and function, even in the Light.

Tiernan pulled ahead, his great span of wings beating against the air
as he rose higher, towards the platform held aloft by the tall, gold
spire. Abruptly, his wings fluttered back and he landed near the edge,
looking towards the two figure arguing on the center of the platform.
Already, Tiernan could see other angels gathered around the edge of
the platform, apprehensively whispering to another.

One of the arguing figures let out a sigh, "Shomair!"

"Yerik!"

And that was the end of the argument. Tossing long strands of chestnut
over his shoulder, Yerik shot a wary glance to the glaring female
angel beside him. Then, slowly, he took in the gathering of worried
angels as if seeing them for the first time. "Oh. I guess you all
felt it, then?"

"Proof shift in the Balance is great enough for--"

"Shomair!"

"Yerik!"

Shomair set her hands on her hips, bright blue eyes flashing with
uncommon anger for an angel. She was a Watcher by nature, devoted to
keeping tabs on the Balance, the Dark and the Grey. If anyone knew
what caused the shift in the Balance, it would be her. And, from what
Tiernan could gather, Yerik was not pleased with Shomair's insight.

"Yerik?" called a female angel, stepping out from the now-silent crowd
along the edges of the platform. "What's going on?"

"A demon walks in the Grey."

"Shomair!"

"Yerik!"

"A demon?!"

Maisie, squeezing her way through the crowd to Tiernan's side, gasped
loudly and tugged at his sleeve, "Tiernan! That's what I thought it
had to be!"

Shomair's eyes flashed dangerously, bringing silence effectively,
"Yes. A demon has crossed over into the Grey. Centuries of near-
peace..." she shook her head, sending long, curly gold locks swaying.
"This has to be a sign the Grey is turning more and more to the Dark."

"What are we going to do, Yerik?"

Their unspoken leader sighed, "We will do as we have always done. An
angel must be sent to nullify the demon."

Silence reigned over the gathered angels. Shomair crossed her arms
and glared, blue eyes fierce, "Have you listened to nothing, Yerik?
Do you have any idea what would happen to the Balance? This is the
reason the Grey exists, to prevent the demons from destroying us, and
therefore the Balance, and to prevent us from destroying them!"

"I meant to nullify the Darkness spread by the demon. What other
purpose would a demon have in the Grey but to create Darkness? And we
can't leave the Balance as it is, so far swung in their favor. Even
if it is only a temporary fix..."

"Do you have any idea how much it took for the Dark to cross over a
demon? We're not just talking about some minor piece of Darkness
without identity, or even an Umbra-creature! A demon, a fully fledged
named, identified and deadly part of Darkness crossed over the barrier
and into the Grey. Yerik... I'm not sure we can duplicate that feat."

"But the Balance..."

The Watcher shook her head, "You're right. The Grey are helpless
without an equal force of Light to counter-act the demon. We have to
at least try. But Yerik, we must send an angel of power equal to the
demon's. If we send our most powerful, or even one not strong enough,
the Balance will sway."

As one, the angels' eyes shifted to Yerik. He, in return, shrugged
and gestured to Shomair, "You feel the Balance the best. Which among
us is perfectly matched to the demon?"

Maisie clutched at Tiernan's arm, "Oh, I hope it is me!"

Blue eyes suddenly heavy with responsibility ran over the gathered
angels as Shomair weighed each one against what she could feel of the
Balance. The angels held their breath as one, waiting for her
pronouncement. At last, Shomair's eyes stop their roving action and
she gestured almost lazily towards the crowd, "There."

Maisie gave an excited squeak and dropped Tiernan's arm, but then
noticed how the Watcher's gaze was not directed at her. Wide brown
eyes stared at Tiernan, and hers were not alone. All the gathered
angels' eyes bore into him, and Tiernan fought the urge to fly far,
far away to escape their scrutiny. He did not want to avoid his duty,
however, and so he stood, locked in place by those stares.

Yerik frowned, then nodded thoughtfully, "And you're sure, Shomair?"

"Yes. Tiernan is a perfect match."

---------------------------------------------------------- ------------

The demon knew he was expected to go into the town and fulfill the
rest of his plan. However, something held him back. He lingered, in
the shadows of the trees, watching the storm clouds. When the clouds
suddenly broke apart and sunlight burst through in strong rays, he
knew what held him. Light was coming. With a slight growl, he moved
behind one of the trees, watching the small clearing he had crossed
over into with interest.

Of course the Light had felt the shift of Balance that heralded his
arrival, and naturally sent their champion to fight him. Darkness had
known this when it chose to send him. Although planning ahead was
technically something those of the Light were more prone to, the demon
had orders for dealing with an angel. And orders were not broken.

He felt the barrier shift and pull as the Light forced it's soldier
through in the place previously torn by his crossing. So, the Light
was taking the easy route. With a grin of pure malice, the demon crept
forward under the cover of the trees. The Balance shifted, and the
air vibrated with tension before a cracking noise reverberated through
the forest, shaking leaves free and birds into the sky.

The angel glowed faintly golden, the residual effects of the Light.
White, grandly sweeping wings shuddered and folded into the angel's
back, taking the glow with them. The demon leaned further into the
shadows as the angel's green eyes scanned over the trees, and then he
growled at his own actions before stepping proudly out from his cover.

And near fell over. With the dark clouds gone, the bright August sun
bore unrelentlessly down on the demon. Just as smoothly as he had
stepped forward, the demon stepped back into partial obscurity, safe
from the sunlight in the trees' shadows.

The angel looked young, but the demon knew that indicated nothing, as
angels were immortal in the realm of Light. Unlike demons, who could
suffer and die in the fires if the higher powers so desire, but were
as unaffected by time as angels... unless the higher powers desired
otherwise. The demon had never seen an angel before, despite his
knowledge of the Light, which had been instructed into him in
preparation for his crossing. For some reason, he found himself
surprised to see the angel had light brown hair, glinting somewhat
gold in the sunlight.

Young, like the demon, and male, also like the demon. Of course; the
Light would have wanted to maintain the Balance. Which meant the angel
was his equal in power. But, the Light knew the consequences if the
angel chose to try and destroy the demon. And, unfortunately, the
demon's plans did not include angel-destroying.

"Don't sulk in the shadows," the angel said, breaking the silence
between them.

Despite himself, the demon laughed, but made no move towards the edge
of the shadow. "So eager to die?"

The angel stared defiantly into the shadows, refusing to answer. He
laughed, raking his eyes up and down the angel's lean, tanned form
with devious interest, "Showing off?"

Green eyes blinked, and then the angel flushed pink with
embarrassment, modesty being something of the Light, and quickly
weaved clothes. Guessing from what was available, the demon assumed
the angel drew from the sky and the sunlight, since the trees were
shadowed and therefore more Dark than Light. And from the jeans and
plain white shirt, he guessed the Light also instructed their champion
in the ways of humans.

Drawing strength from the shadows, the demon concentrated on keeping
an uneffected face and walked back out into the sunlight, drawing even
with angel and smirking. "I asked, angel, if you were eager to die?"

"Tiernan."

The demon rocked back on his heels, head tilting to the side in
question, "Tiernan?"

"My name," the angel said with an impossibly sincere smile, "is
Tiernan Keara."

Truth compelled truth, and trust demanded trust. "Rasha. Laharos."

The angel, Tiernan, frowned slightly, "Rasha... it means bad?"

He shrugged, a noncommittal response. Years of hard work had earned
him the right to a name, and the last part had only been added
recently. "You have yet to answer my question, Tiernan."

"I do not fear death, only what consequences my death may have in this
world, and to the Balance."

"...angels are so boring," Rasha said with a laugh, turning and
walking back to the shadows of the trees. Partially to make a point,
partially because the sunlight hurt.

"What are you doing here, Rasha?"

The question was startling in its honesty, and the use of his name
compelled the demon to turn back to the angel. Several responses came
to mind, none of them truthful and all of them cruel. Daring the
sunlight once more, Rasha crossed over to the angel swiftly, causing
Tiernan to step back, green eyes wide. For all his brave talk of
being without fear, the demon could see panic lurking in the depths
of emerald. The angel had no idea that Darkness could think of fates
so much worse than death.

"What are you here for?"

A slow grin spread over the demon's face, dark eyes glimmering with
concealed mischief as they ran over the angel, their meaning clear
and causing Tiernan to blush. "What else?" Rasha drawled slowly,
shifting his weight back some and meeting the angel's questioning
gaze, "I'm just here to have fun."

-

-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

-

Author's Notes: Blame D for this. Long story short, this idea
essentially beat me up and stole my free time. Yes, I should be
working on my Gundam Wing 'fics, but... oh, well, yaoi is still yaoi!
I'm going away for three weeks in June, so don't expect a major
continuation of the story until possibly July... ::shrugs::
...reviews would greatly increase the chance of chapter two or three
before I vanish! ^_^ Fast note on the whole Light, Dark, Grey thing;
Grey is a term used to refer to the 'neutral' or 'middle' section
between the Light and Dark... aka: Earth, it's inhabitants, and
humans, and also a generic term for anything of neither Light or Dark
affiliation...

Oh, before I forget, thanks to D, Holly and Ebony for beta-ing, and
all the Jump Start Numbers Conspiracy girls for helping me with the
names, especially Holly, and to D again... for making me wrte this!

Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated!
copyright 2003 - original story
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