Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Slipping through the Hourglass ❯ Slipping through the Hourglass - The quest begins ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: We, the TwinShades, do not OWN anything that is in any way connected to Weiss Kreuz. The only thing belonging to us are the Original Chara's in our stories since we almost fried our brains making them up. We don't have money so PLEASE don't sue, this is non-profit work and for entertainment only. Thanks

Daystar and Moonshadow Shade




~*~*~

Day: YAY!!! We're ba~ack!

Weiss & Schwarz: *groan*

Moon: *whaps the all* Idiots! You wanna be dead forever?

Yohji: *tugs his halo straight* Like you would do that to me.

Day: Want me to change the ending so you fall to your death from the museum balcony?

Yohji: *shuts up rather quick*

Farf: *tugs on his white dress and wings* This is making God laugh!

Omi: Should he really be an angel? *preening his wings*

Day: Yes he should. *turns to Moon* Ready?

Moon: As ready as I'll ever be….

Day: Yay!! Go ahead then readers! *activates the screen*


~*~*~



Ken woke up to the sensation of a pounding headache. He could tell that he was lying on the floor with someone. That someone was using his belly as a pillow.

"Yotan…if you EVER take me drinking again, I will kill you."

"I'm not Yohji…I've actually earned my reputation," said a familiar, and unwelcome, voice.

Ken pushed himself up immediately, despite his companion's complaints that Ken made a good pillow. A quick scan of his surroundings and he discovered that he was still in the abandoned warehouse. With Schuldig. Life was just peachy keen.

The German assassin, realizing that he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon, also rose. "Guten morgen to you too, kitten."

Ken sighed, and pushed himself to his feet. He paused, however when he looked at his hand and noticed his bugnuks were missing. Schuldig rolled his eyes, until a quick check revealed his backup gun was missing, as well. It took them no time at all to find the swords and sheaths that had been left in their place.

Both swords were rather short, and the sheaths were designed in such a way to strap onto their backs. Ken examined his sword. A celtic knot pattern was etched all along the bluish-silver blade. The handle was also blue, and was patterned after a graceful bird. Looking over at the German's sword, he saw the same knot pattern, this time on a purplish-black material, and a handle shaped like a winged lizard or a dragon.

The two assassins looked at each other.

"Now what?" Ken asked, strapping the sword on. Schuldig did the same.

"Well, my guess is that this Kasha guy is going to be looking for us…we might want to think about leaving Japan. The question is, I don't know where we'd go."

Ken thought about it, "Well, it really doesn't matter, does it? I mean, we're as likely to find out about what we need to do in Ireland as we are in Japan."

Schuldig raised an eyebrow, "Ireland? What makes you say that?"

The dark-haired assassin blinked, "I don't know…Does it really matter?"

The German shrugged, "Probably not. Right now, let's worry about getting out of Ja-wait a second…Why aren't you all torn up about your teammates getting killed anymore?" Schuldig glared at Ken.

Ken gave Schuldig an even look, "Remember what she said? We'd go back in time ninety seconds before the urn even breaks. I'll miss them until we get back, but once we're back, they'll be there too."

The telepath's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe he missed that. "Well, let's get going. We need to get out of this country."

"Sure," Ken rolled his eyes, "And how, exactly, are we going to do that? We don't exactly have any visas or anything."

Schuldig shrugged, "Fake our way through. I'll make people see our visas…even if they're fakes, I can make them believe it. And then we simply steal some tickets from people at the airport."

"Yeah, that'll wo-AIRPORT!"

The German raised an eyebrow, "Somebody is afraid of flying, I take it?"

"There is no way in HELL you are getting me on one of those damn death machines!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me."

~*~*~


Ken shuddered as he was drug onto the damned death machine. As he had promised, Schuldig managed to make the airport officials believe that they had actual visas, and he stole two tickets from an innocent couple on their way to France for their honeymoon. His excuse was that, once they got back, it wouldn't happen. The same when Schuldig stole some random person's suitcase and dumped the contents of it in the bathroom, securing both of the swords and what clothes they had taken from the Koneko (Schuldig and Yohji, it turns out, not only had similar tastes, but also were a close enough size).

Schuldig glanced over at Ken, "You REALLY don't like airplanes, do you?"

The younger man shook his head, tan face paling another shade. The German assassin became a bit more concerned when Ken's already pale face began to take on a green tinge.

At the gate, Ken's feet refused to take him any further, and Schuldig found himself dragging the younger man by his wrist. The glassy, frightened look in his eyes was another cause for concern.

They found their seats, and Schuldig found himself fighting with Ken to make the brunette secure his seatbelt.

"I don't wanna-" Ken whined, eyes darting around, "What if the plane crashes?"

"The plane is not going to crash, and you've got to. It's one of those stupid airline rules."

Before Ken could protest further (and thus annoy the stewardesses and other passengers) Schuldig leaned in really close to him.

-- Kaetzchen, If you want, I'll knock you out for the flight. At least that way, you don't have to experience it.--

Ken gulped and nodded. Even if he didn't want the German in his head, anything that would keep him from remembering this flight from hell was a good thing. The redhead got an intense expression on his face, and an intense drowsy feeling overcame the brunette.

Schuldig watched as the younger assassin drifted off, an almost tender expression on his face, which vanished immediately when he caught the edges of Ken's dreams. Turning away from him, Schuldig passed the flight by watching the clouds go by.

~*~*~


Schuldig had never seen anyone move as fast as Hidaka did once the plane landed. And he had seen some fast people.

"Problems, Kenken?"

The only reply Schuldig received was a glare. "I. Hate. Planes."

"C'mon, it's getting late. Let's go find a hotel or something, okay?"

"Fine. Just so long as I don't have to get on a plane again."

"You won't. Not tonight, anyway."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." Schuldig grinned to himself, and began walking off in a random direction. Ken stared after him for several minutes before chasing after the errant German.

"Oi, Schuldig! Wait up a second!"

~*~*~


Schuldig stretched, falling backwards onto the bed. "This is the life. I love hotels."

Ken glanced at him from the window. "You stole that man's credit card, Schuldig. What's going to happen when he finds out that it's missing?"

"I don't know, nor do I care. I could shoot random people for the hell of it, and it wouldn't matter, Kenken."

The soccer playing assassin leapt to his feet, "Wouldn't matter?! What do you mean it wouldn't matter!?"

The German smirked in reply, "Remember, Kenken? We're going back through time. It will never have happened."

Ken subsided, but continued to glare at the other assassin.

Grinning, Schuldig flipped over so that he was on his stomach. "What's wrong, Kenken? C'mon, you can tell me."

The younger man shook his head, "Nothing." The brunette's stomach rumbled, "But if you insist on stealing people's credit cards, then you can take me out to eat."

The German laughed at that, rolling off the bed. "C'mon, Kenken…Let's go get ourselves some dinner, ne?"

~*~*~


Ken shouldered his backpack, looking around nervously. He hated airports. He hated airplanes. He hated the thought of being fifty thousand feet off the ground. But did Schuldig care? Noooo.

Currently the German was busy weaving through the crowd of early morning travelers. Just once did he stop to ask some random officer a question, and once again Ken was amazed on how fast his one time enemy managed to pick up languages. He had voiced his curiosity to the redhead and actually had gotten a straight answer for once.

'It's really simple,' was all Schuldig had to say about it. 'I just go and take I from a person that already knows the language. Once I did that, I just don't forget it anymore.'

Ken shuddered. If the German could simply invade other peoples minds without them noticing… how could Ken be certain that he wouldn't stay out of his thoughts?

--You can't, and that's where the fun of this game begins.-

Ken's head snapped up to find himself staring into Schuldig's almost hypnotic blue eyes. A shiver ran down Ken's spine and his eyes narrowed. "Stay fucking out of my head, Schuldig…."

The redhead exhaled with a loud sigh. -First…. Don't just suddenly talk out loud all of the sudden, getting the whole hall to ignore you isn't exactly child's play you know. Second, if you would shield, I'd stay out of your thoughts, because of reason three… you're a little of a bore Ken. Aya this and Aya that…. Geez…. At least call him by his real name.-

Ken's emotions altered between shock, annoyance and flat out anger. If he had his bugnuks right now, Schuldig wouldn't have had a chance.

The German stood straight again, eyes emotionless. -But you don't have your weapon Ken. SO what will you do about it?-

The younger assassin just blushed beet red, and turned away from Schuldig. It wasn't Ken's fault that he couldn't shield - he'd never had to worry about it. Settling his backpack more firmly across his shoulder, Ken started walking away from Schuldig. He so was not looking forward to being on the plane again.

Sighing, Schuldig rolled his eyes, "Oi, Hidaka, get back here! We still haven't decided where we need to go, now have we?"

Ken turned around to give Schuldig a look, "Ireland. And as soon as you get the tickets, you can come and get me. I'll be in the gift shop."

"…." The German ran after the Japanese man, "Ireland? Just like that, you'll pull our destination out of a hat?"

"Well, you asked."

"….fine. Ireland it is, then." Schuldig closed his eyes briefly, "And that couple over there has what we're looking for."

"Then what are you waiting here for? Go get them!" Ken crossed his arms impatiently.

"Me? Why do I have to do all the work?"

"Because you know how."

Schuldig gave Ken a look. "And you don't? What kind of an assassin are you anyway?"

"A better one than you!! At least I have my own reasons as to why I kill my targets!"

All Schuldig could do was laugh. "Oh… so now killing to uphold the law is right?"

Schuldig grinned. --Taking a life is taking a life Ken, and in the justice system that you try to protect that would be called murder, regardless of what the reasons were. So how is it that you are better?-

Ken just stared at Schuldig. Could the irritating man be right? Was a killing another human murder, regardless of what the reasons were? No, it couldn't be or else, why had Weiss been created in the first place.

Schuldig chuckled. -No time to brood on it now. Go get those damn tickets!-

And with that he gave Ken a firm shove, causing the younger brunette to stumble forward ungracefully.

Glaring at Schuldig over his shoulder Ken drew closer to the unsuspecting couple. He moved careful so he wouldn't cause any kind of alarm to the officers standing around. Staying out of the couple's sight all the time, he inched closer to the man's back pocket, reaching for the tickets. 'Please, please, please make him not notice… please.'

Unknown to Ken just a few feet away, Schuldig kept a close eye on the scene, making sure everyone around had something busy to do or on their mind, and no one would pay attention on the young ex-soccer player who was now slowly easing the tickets out of the man's pocket.

About 5 minutes later Ken was back, standing in front of him, shaking like a leaf. "Don't you… EVER… make me do that again!"

Schuldig smirked, "Don't worry, Kenken…by the time this whole thing is over, you'll be a master pickpocket."

Ken glared at the German. "That's the part I'm worried about."

The redhead chuckled before slinging an arm around Ken's shoulders, "This way, I believe."

The brunette's feet began to drag more and more as he was led towards the gate.

--Okay, correction, you're thoughts consist of Aya this, Aya that, and death to all airplanes. Geeze, you're a little scaredy cat. -

--You're really _NOT_ helping the situation, Schuldig…--

The German merely smirked and continued to drag the unwilling Weiss kitty towards the plane.

Ken struggled violently, trying to break free of Schuldig's hold. "Let go. Damnit Schuldig, I really REALLY don't like planes."

Schuldig just kept going. "I am aware, but I'm choosing to ignore it."

"Wait," Ken expression lit up. "we're in France… Ireland is only a hop, skip, and jump away, so to speak. We can take the boat over there."

Every muscle in Schuldig's body went rigid. He stared at Ken, and then shook his head. "That would take too much time Ken, going by plane is much faster."

Ken shrugged. "What does it matter, when we travel back in time we'll still go to 90 seconds before the urn breaks."

The German gave Ken an evil look. "We. Are. Not. Taking. A. Boat."

"But.." The Weiss assassin blinked a couple of times before he grinned in realization. "You, dear Schuldig, are afraid of boats, aren't you?"

"I am not afraid of boats!"

The grin on Ken's face grew even wider. "Su~ure you aren't."

Schuldig rolled his eyes. "It's not the boats Ken, it's the water. Very deep water."

Ken blinked. "Nani?"

--I can't swim, alright?! Geez Ken, how dense can you get?--

Ken blushed a little and looked away, not knowing what exactly to say. He somehow wanted to apologize to the longhaired German, but the words didn't want to come to him. Then something else caught his attention entirely.

'Uhm,' Ken concentrated very hard on his thoughts hoping the Schuldig would pick up on it. 'is it me or are there a lot of guards here? I'm mean, it's an airport and all but, isn't this a little overkill?'

For a few minutes he believed Schuldig hadn't heard him, for the other assassin just kept going on straight ahead, without a word of acknowledgement. Now Ken was starting to feel antsy. He couldn't ask Schuldig loud, or maybe he was just being paranoid and the guards where here for a different reason entirely. But then why hadn't Schuldig told him so? But what if the German didn't know about what Ken had just noticed?

He fell in step behind Schuldig, alternating between running his hands through his hair and shoving them into his pockets. He berated himself about his nervousness. He was an assassin after all, something like that should not throw him so completely off balance. But then again, he had always been the hunter, not the hunted.

--Calm down kaetzchen-- Schuldig's calm voice rang through his mind. --You are acting suspicious.--

Ken calmed down just a little. 'So they are after us?'

He could see the German scan the area without moving one muscle to turn his head. --Honestly, I don't know. Their minds are shielded really well. But alone the fact that they shield doesn't look to good for us ne?--

Ken gave his silent consent and looked straight ahead to where a stewardess was checking tickets and directing passengers to their port. 'Is that our plane?'

--Yes--

Ken nodded to himself. 'Alright, let's get going.'

Next to him Schuldig nodded. --Let's… not draw attention to ourselves.-

~*~*~


Much to Schuldig's disappointment, Ken's resolve didn't last too long. Once he was settled in the plane and the iron bird started to move into take off position Ken realized that his fear of flying was a little more powerful than he realized. And since it wasn't really worth his time to knock Ken unconscious for two hours, he was stuck with listening to Ken's fearful rantings.

Glancing over, Schuldig wondered how Ken was able to maintain that position…the younger assassin was curled up on his seat while wearing a seatbelt, and was covering his ears with his hands. And he kept muttering to himself, "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die."

"Hidaka….Oi, Hidaka, we've land-" Ken was unbuckled and off the plane in two seconds flat, "-ed…geeze, that boy is weird." Schuldig followed Ken at a far more relaxed pace.

When he found Ken, the other boy was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Schuldig rolled his eyes and extended a hand, "C'mon, let's go find a hotel."

Ken took the German's hand gratefully, "We're probably going to need a new credit card, though…my guess is that the other guy cancelled his by now."

Schuldig grinned at Ken, "And guess which lucky kitten gets to practice his pick pocketing skills?"

The younger man glared at him, "Uhm….how about no?"

"Then we'll just have to sleep on the street." Schuldig shrugged nonchalantly. "Pity too, Ireland is a pretty wet country, if it's in any way like England."

Ken glowered at the older assassin. "Why don't you do it?"

Another shrug from Schuldig. "I think I'm doing my fair share by giving us the right passports and visas, and by keeping an eye out for anything that might follow us."

Ken glared at the German. "Fair share my ass…"

Schuldig chuckled to himself as Ken stalked off. The kitten was finally developing a better survival sense. Not that he hadn't had one before, but the young man's morals had definitely limited his options. Finally he was relaxing his obsession about what was the right thing to do.

--The guy in the white suit Ken-- Schuldig said as he relaxed against the wall. -He's going to the U.S. for a business trip…he won't miss his card for at _least_ nine hours. And if it makes you feel any better, he's been cheating on his wife with her brother.-

Ken's eyes bugged out at that extra little tidbit. Regaining his composure, the Weiss assassin walked into the crowd surrounding Schuldig's chosen victim. Some quick slight of hand, and Ken had the guy's wallet out, credit card in his own pocket, and wallet back.

"Good job kitten, here, have a cookie," Schuldig patted Ken on the head and gave him a nice, gooey chocolate chip cookie.

Ken glared at the German, but did _not_ turn down the offered treat, much to Schuldig's amusement. ~I'm glad at least somebody's enjoying this.~

--Oh, I'm enjoying this kaetzchen. I couldn't do anything else but.-

Ken stared at the German before walking resolutely out of the airport, the telepath's laughter following him out.

~*~*~


"Mmmm…This is the life…" Ken lowered himself into the room's Jacuzzi. Upon discovering that this particular hotel had such amenities, Schuldig made sure to get one of the rooms with a hot tub in it.

The German glanced over to where Ken was relaxing in the hot water. The sight of the ex-soccer player bare-chested and wet was enough to make his mouth go dry. ~Note to self: hot tubs when available.~

"Now, aren't you happy we stole that credit card? You get to relax in that hot tub while I plan the bank heist," Schuldig said, stretching out on the bed.

"Whatever…" Ken's eyes drifted shut. "WAIT A MINUTE!!! HEIST?!!"

Schuldig muttered to himself, "I thought Brad was the precog…"

Ken glared at the German.

The redhead rolled his eyes, "I knew you were going to react that way, and typically precogs are the ones that know the future."

The glaring continued.

"Oh, come on, Ken. We can't exactly steal credit cards for as long as it takes us to finish up and go back to Tokyo. They'll find us eventually."

The glaring intensified.

"Fine. If you feel that way about it, I won't rob the bank."

Ken finally relaxed, "Robbing a bank isn't exactly the most inconspicuous past time to have, you know."

Schuldig sighed, "No duh, Ken. Anyway…Do we know where to go, now that we're in Ireland?"

Ken waved over at his backpack. "While you were busy jacking off in the bathroom, I swiped some atlases from the newsstand."

The German glared at Ken briefly before retrieving the said maps. "Awww….my little baby is all grown up and stealing on his own!" Schuldig pantomimed wiping a tear away from his eyes.

Ken flushed, ducking his head under the surface of the water. "We needed the maps…"

Schuldig laughed at that. "Of course we did, yet, it doesn't seem like you to just simply steal something. Guess you're more of a survivor than I thought."

Ken's middle finger was the only answer he got to that.

The grin on Schuldig's face grew even bigger. -Don't tempt me too much kaetzchen, one day I might take the invitation.-

~*~*~


When Schuldig woke up the next morning Ken was studying several different maps that were spread out all over the floor. The German squinted his eyes and looked at the clock. 8 am. And he had thought Brad had been an early riser. "Since when have you been up kitten?"

To Schuldig's disappointment, Ken didn't jump. He barely even moved a muscle. "I got up around five. Took a shower and everything, And I believe I know where we have to go."

"Now I know you're insane," muttered Schuldig, rubbing his eyes sleepily, "getting up at an ungodly hour like that."

"I think you haven't heard me Schuldig. I said I figured out where we have to go."

Schuldig yawned and waved Ken off. "That's great kitten, I'm taking a shower."

Ken stared at the bathroom door as it snapped shut behind the German, barely keeping his temper under control. Only the reminder that Yohji had been just as bad in the morning kept Ken from flat-out yelling at the closed bathroom door. He almost expected to hear the man's slightly nasal voice in his mind, teasing him. But nothing happened. It seemed the German really wasn't much of a morning person at times.

~*~*~


"So meet me at the town square, where the subway is in about… let's say, thirty minutes."

Ken glared at Schuldig. The older man looked far too innocent for his liking. "And what are you, pray tell, needing an half an hour for?"

Schuldig gave Ken an amused look. "To get money of course. Honestly Ken, your short term memory needs to get polished up a bit."

Ken's glare intensified. "Schuldig…"

"I know, I know," the redhead raised his hands defensively, "I told I wouldn't rob a bank. And I won't."

Ken's suspicious expression didn't change. "And how will you get money then?"

Schuldig winked at Ken. "I'll tell you later, right now I better get going. Just make sure to be at the station in 30 minutes… and bring the luggage, okay?"

Before Ken could answer Schuldig was gone. Frowning, the younger assassin made sure that nothing of theirs would be left behind. With a sigh he sat down. "And what am I supposed to do with the half hour that I have now on my hands?"

~*~*~


Ken sighed, walking down the street. Schuldig had left him in the hotel, in charge of their possessions. And without any food, or cash to get food with. And his stomach was rumbling angrily. And its demands increased as passed a fruit stand. Food…

Glancing around casually, Ken noticed that nobody was watching him. With some quick slight of hand, Ken snagged two apples off of the stand and continued walking down the street.

He was twenty feet away when a harsh hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Excuse me, son, but are you planning on paying for those?"

Ken froze. There was no way he could have gotten caught like this. Between picking someone's pocket in an airport and stealing some apples, he should have gotten away with this before anything else. "Uhm…"

The shop owner glared at the assassin. "That's what I thought. I think we ought to take a trip to the station."

Ken paused for only a second before lashing out and kicking the man's feet out from under him. Without hesitating the brunette took off running in the direction he thought the train station was in.

His powerful soccer legs were quite easily able to outdistance the shop owners, and leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. Looking up, he saw Schuldig in the station, looking for him.

"Oi, Schuldig!"

The German telepath looked up at his name, and walked towards Ken with a grin on his face. Ken stared at the telepath, particularly at the duffel bag over his shoulder.

"What did you do?"

The redhead merely grinned wider, "I got us some money, Kenken. What did you expect?"

"SCHULDIG! You said you wouldn't…How did you…?"

--I said that _I_ wouldn't rob a bank…Someone else did it for me.-

Ken gave the other assassin a LOOK. "And that makes it all better?"

"If it makes you feel better, kaetzchen, the kids who did it for me were about to go vandalize some public property."

"Oh, yes, that makes it all better."

Just then, a loud commotion in the direction Ken came from attracted their attention. A man in a white apron and two cops were approaching the pair with purpose in their steps.

Schuldig raised and eyebrow and looked at Ken. "Apples?"

"I was hungry, idiot. You left before we could get breakfast." Ken grabbed Schuldig's wrist and started leading him into the crowd. "C'mon, let's lose them before they can catch us."

Schuldig willingly followed Ken into the crowd, amused at the younger man's behavior. It didn't take the two assassins long to lose their pursuers, and the two quickly found the ticket booth.

"So how far did we want to go, Kenken?"

"Hm? Oh, Tralee. It'll get us closer than we are now."

"So where are you boys going?" the ticket lady asked.

Ken beamed at her in his innocent, boyish way. "We're taking a trip to Killarney. I heard it's beautiful over there!"

The woman smiled at him, "Yes, it is." She handed them the tickets, "There are even rumors of dragons and other serpents in that forest. You boys be careful."

"Hai!" Ken beamed at her, allowing Schuldig to lead him away.

The pair was heading towards their train when Ken began looking around anxiously. "Something's following us…"

Schuldig nodded, "Yes. I feel it, too." --Keep walking…--

Ken merely nodded and walked closer to Schuldig. The feeling crept up on them, causing both assassins to become tense. Without warning, Schuldig pushed Ken off to the side and spun around, lashing out with his leg. The man behind him hissed and glared at Schuldig from red glowing eyes. While Ken and Schuldig watched, his back erupted with two black, leathery wings. The skin became black and scaly and his head became elongated. His hand and feet became sharpened and clawed and his tail lashed out, knocking several people off their feet. Long horns grew from his skull and his canines became sharp and pointy. On their other side, another human underwent a similar metamorphis.

Schuldig took a step back. -Ne, Kenken….let's run.-

Ken nodded. The two took off at top speed for the nearest exit, but found themselves blocked by one of the demons. By this time, people were running around and screaming in panic, adding to the confusion.

Without thinking, Ken drew his sword from it's sheath. "I wish I had my bugnuks right about now…I have no idea how to use this thing."


"At least you're used to blades," Schuldig said, following Ken's lead.

Ken nodded. The first demon lunged at him, and in a reflexive reaction, Ken swung his sword at the demon, baseball style.

--Oh, yeah, THAT'LL get him! I'm a sword, not a baseball bat!-

Ken nearly dropped the weapon, surprise written on his face, "What the-"

"Ken?" Schuldig asked, keeping an eye on the other demon.

Ken's demon lunged at him again, and the voice invaded Ken's mind again. -Don't drop me, you fool! Put up a guard!-

Ken did as the sword commanded, barely succeeding in blocking the attack.

--Oh, for the love of…Let ME do it!-Ken felt a strange sensation and something took over his body, controlling his movements. The brunette started dancing and weaving through the crowd as though he'd been practicing swordplay for thousands of years, instead of the last thirty seconds.

Schuldig barely had time to notice the changes in Ken, when the other demon lunged at him. Without thinking about it, the German flung his sword at the approaching demon.

--Oh, just throw me like that, THAT'LL WORK!--

--What the hell?-Schuldig dodged the demon, it's claws missing him by only a few inches.

--Yeah, just leave me, your ONLY WEAPON, lying in the middle of the road while the demon tries to KILL YOU!-

The demon attacked again, and Schuldig dodge-rolled to get away, grabbing his sword as he went by it. ~Hopefully, it'll work like Kenken's.~

Fortunately for the German, it did as he wished. The same tingling sensation that took over Ken's body affected Schuldig, an the German found that himself moving with the skill and grace of a swordsman of much, much, much more skill than the German knew himself to possess.

The two new 'expert' swordsmen made short work of the demons. Upon surveying their surroundings, they also discovered that the train station was deserted.

"Oh, that is gross…" Ken made a disgusted face, staring at the gooey remains of the demons.

"Then don't look at it, Kaetzchen," Schuldig said, following his own advice. "Now what are we going to do? We can't exactly take the train in this condition."

--Powers, you'd think that neither of them were ever in a crisis before.-

--Now, Keiran, don't be so mean.-

Ken turned hesitantly towards Schuldig. "Schu, is it just me, or are the swords talking…?"

The German turned to Ken with relief on his face, "So I'm not going insane, then?"

--Great. They're already doubting their own sanity. What was Keila thinking when she chose these two?-

--You got me.-

Ken just kept staring at Schuldig. "Are you absolutely sure we're not insane Schuldig?"

--You are sane alright! But those police men over there might think differently.-

Schuldig looked over his shoulder. "Damnit, why do cops always have to show up at the worst possible times?"

Ken grabbed Schuldig's hand. "Run now, ask questions later. If they catch you with that money-"

--Me? If I'm counting right there are two people here, Keatzchen.-- Schuldig frowned at Ken.

--How about you just GO?!-

Looking at each other the two assassins nodded, and fled the station.

~*~*~


By the time Ken and Schuldig made it out of the city and into farmland like area, the sun was slowly sinking lower towards the horizon. Ken sat down on the ground rubbing his legs. "Gods, I've never hiked this far in my life. My legs are sore. Are you sure we can walk all the way to Killarney?"

Schuldig sighed. "I thought you were a soccer player? You should be able to take some physical strain."

Ken glared. "A soccer game lasts 90 minutes, not several hours."

Schuldig shrugged.

--You think they are rational enough to talk to us?-

--Who knows… Keila really picked a weird pair this time.-

Schuldig glared at the bag in which he had hidden his sword on the way through the city. "Talking swords… the world really must come to an end."

--No shit Sherlock. What do you think is your job right now?-

Ken snickered then hid it as a cough when Schuldig glared at him.

--Now… since we are not fighting for our… your lives anymore, maybe we can introduce ourselves?-

Ken smiled. "Sure, go right ahead."

--My name is Lucien, Sword of Light.-

--And I am Keiran, Sword of Darkness.-A slightly deeper voice followed up.

Schuldig rolled his eyes. "Name's Schuldig… supposedly I'm the Mage of Death, or something like that."

"And I'm Ken, Mage of Life, in training of course."

--Ken… Ken… Wait a damn second! Isn't Ken a guys name?!-Keiran yelled.

Lucien's voice had an amused tone to it. -Wow Kei, you caught on.-

--But… no! The Mage of Life can't be a guy. Not if the Mage of Death is male, as he always has been. You know the Mages of Life and Death ALWAYS end up as a pair.-

Lucien chuckled. --Kei, sometimes your IQ amazes me.-

Keiran growled. -- You find nothing disturbing in the fact that the mage of Light is a guy?-

--No, nothing at all.-

--You are sick!-

Ken looked at Schuldig with a slight frown. 'Schu, do we bicker like that?'

Schuldig shook his head. -- No.-

Ken sighed relieved. 'Good.'

--TWO MALES SHOULD NOT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER!!-

--Oh calm down Kei. In this day and age it's NOT that big a deal.-Lucien replied calmly.

Keiran gave something similar to a snort. -- It is sick and disturbing.-

Schuldig looked at the sword nestled in between his clothes. "Great, my sword is a friggin homophobe. Why me? What did I EVER do wrong?!"

Ken gave Schuldig a look. "Don't make me tell you. It would take a week."

The German glared at Ken. "How about not. Get up Ken, we have quite a way ahead of us."

~*~*~


Ken collapsed on the ground, earning a glare from the telepath.

"You're tired already?"

The Weiss assassin just glared. "Excuse me, Schuldig. I've been walking since before dawn after having been forced to fall asleep on the rock hard ground, freezing my ass off for the past two nights. My feet have blisters. My BLISTERS have blisters. Excuse me for being a little bit cranky."

Schuldig gave the brunette a look, "C'mon, how much longer can it possible be to Killarney?"

"At least a hundred more miles." Ken groaned and forced himself to his feet.

"…Oh." The German continued walking down the road. "Well…Kei? Lu? Care to tell us why, exactly, we're going to Killarney?"

--Training.- was Kei's simple answer.

"Training?" Ken asked, trudging along behind Schuldig. "What kind of training?"

--Nothing major,-- Lucien replied, --sword play, magic, some common knowledge that you'll need…Don't worry, the dragons are excellent teachers.-

--Haven't killed a student in…a couple thousand years.-Kei chimed in.

Ken and Schuldig looked at each other. "Dragons?"

--Yeah, you know, giant, flying, fire-breathing lizards?-

Schuldig rolled his eyes, "This sounds wonderful. Suicide is beginning to look more and more like a feasible option."

Ken silently agreed. "How long, exactly, is this training going to take?"

The brunette had the distinct impression that, if swords could shrug, Keiran would be doing so. -Who knows? Could take days, could take years, could take decades.-

Ken stopped suddenly, "DECADES!" The brunette was suddenly overcome with a wave of grief as he thought about Aya, and how long it would take for him to see the redhead again.

Schuldig's face scrunched up, "KEN! You're thinking again!"

The brown-eyed boy gave the blue-eyed man a look. "Isn't that…generally a good thing?"

"Not when you're thinking of that redheaded ice bitch."

"….Please don't refer to Aya as a 'bitch'"

Schuldig rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright mother. Chill out."

Ken glared at the German briefly before thinking, and thinking rather loudly, of all the flowers the shop sold, in alphabetical order, and all possible meanings.

"KEN!"

The Japanese man was about to reply when a truck pulled up on the side of the road. Schuldig took off, walking towards the truck with purpose in his step. -C'mon, he'll give us a ride.-

Ken was up and following Schuldig in a heartbeat.

The man rolled down his windows. He was rather large, built in the way that only hard, physical labor can make a person.

"Name's Mihall. You boys need a ride?"

Schuldig flashed the man a charming grin, "We're heading towards Killarney…You wouldn't happen to be going that way, would you?"

Mihall smiled, "As a matter of fact, I sure am."

Schuldig grinned at Ken. "No more walking."

Ken eyed the truck driver, and noticed to his disdain that the burly man was currently lighting a cigarette. He forced a smile on his face. "That's great…. I call window seat!"

Schuldig looked at Ken and then shrugged, climbing up the few steps to the drivers' cabin. He scooted in, making space for Ken as the younger man swung up.

Lu snickered. -Great, less bitching about all the walking.-

Keiran tsked. - With our luck they'll find something else to bitch about.-

Schuldig glared down at his bag when Mihall pulled back onto the road. -Shut up both of you.-

'Schuldig, calm down.' Ken stole a glace at his current partner.

The sound that Lu made came close to a human clicking his tongue. -Kei tell me,-- the sword said, making sure their human partners couldn't hear him. -Do we bicker like they do at times?-

There was a long pause until Keiran finally answered. -No Lu, no we don't.-

~*~*~


Schuldig kept a growl of anger deep inside him. He really preferred the ride to walking, and he could read from Ken's mind that the younger man did too. But this Mihall guy was getting really insufferable.

Schuldig in general had nothing against flirting, being the kind of person who did it in great amount quite frequently. But he would at least stop when he noticed that his quarry wasn't interested. But their driver didn't seem to be of the kind.

Schuldig had managed to ignore the first few sideway comments that the hefty man had made, though the term 'pretty boy' was definitely a no-do with him now. Schuldig now longed to kill the person who had the bright idea of coming up with it. Next to him Ken was radiating annoyance, which didn't help Schuldig calm down one bit.

"Now, I know it's not my business, but what is a pretty boy like you planning to do in Killarney. That place is pretty much woods and nothing else." (A.N.: Or so we think since there is a National Park there.)

Schuldig bit his cheek before he said something rude. Reminding himself that it couldn't be much longer until they reached their destination, he forced a polite remark. "That would be the point of us going there. You see, my friend and I are really into nature and stuff."

Mihall looked at Schuldig. "Are you now? Well I have a few days of vacation after this haul. If you want I can show you around, you know what I mean?"

The driver raised his eyebrow in what Schuldig thought was supposed to be a suggestive manner. It had the total opposite effect on him. Another fake smile. "Oh that's alright, wouldn't want you to waste your vacation on us."

Mihall laughed. "Oh no, it would be my pleasure, really."

Schuldig was about to reply when he felt a large hand on his knee. That was the last straw for the redhead.

~*~*~


Ken was seething quietly. Why he was so mad he really didn't know. He supposed that he was irked on his teammates behalf. Having this Mihall guy flirting with you _couldn't_ be very fun, after all. And he certainly wasn't Schuldig's type, not to mention that, Schuldig had indicated his disinterest. Quite clearly.

Yes, it had to be annoyance that the man was bothering his partner. After all, he liked Aya, didn't he?

"WAAAAIIII!!!!"

Ken jumped as Mihall let out a wild whoop, glancing over to see Schuldig sliding into the driver's side seat and pulling the door closed.

"Did you just push him out?"

"No."

"Then you made him jump, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"Yes."

The rest of the ride went by in silence.

~*~*~


The pair ditched the truck right outside of the park and snuck in past the entrance gate. It was a simple matter for two highly trained professionals such as they. And so they began wandering around the large forest, completely lost, and not getting any help from their talking swords.

Ken sighed, peering at the setting sun from underneath the canopy. "Dragons. We're searching a freakin' Irish forest for _dragons_"

--Don't sound so worked up, Ken. They only kill when they're hungry.-Lucien said, trying to sound reassuring.

--Or if they're annoyed.-Kei broke in, not missing the chance to tease the Life Mage.

Schuldig glanced around at the forest, feeling jumpy and out of his element. "I could really use my gun right about now…at least I know how to use that."

--Nobody gets used to Kei…He's the less desirable of us.-Lucien piped up.

--Me? I don't think so, Lucien-Keiran interrupted, --What are you gonna do? Shield people to death?-

--Hmph! Well, what happens when, due to your total lack of defensive ability, your mage is only seconds away from death, huh?-

--Hah! Did you _see_ Schuldig move? He's fast enough, he won't get hurt easily.-

--Yeah, when fifty demons are after one person…I love those odds.-

"WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP!!! You're giving me one hell of a headache." Schuldig shouted, surprising both of the swords.

Ken giggled, "You two are worse than Yohji and Aya, after Yotan's been out 'til God knows when, smoking and drinking and participating in fifteen member orgies."

Schuldig blinked at the younger assassin, "Okay, Ken, that was an image I _so_ did not need."

Ken shrugged, "He claims it only happened the one time…unfortunately, it was in the apartments, so we all ended up finding somewhere else to stay the night."

The German shuddered, "And Crawford says that _I'm_ bad."

"They sound like children, Braddock," a female voice said from nowhere and everywhere.

"They sure do, Charlene," a male voice answered.

Ken and Schuldig both stopped dead in their tracks as a large bronze dragon and a slightly smaller green dragon emerged from between the trees.

The bronze dragon lowered his head to look at the pair, "I am Braddock, leader of the Killarney Dragons. Welcome to Basic Training."


~*~*~


Schu: *laughs evil* Haha!! Death to the evil pervert!!

Day: Uhm… Schuschu… why would you want to kill yourself?

Ken: I think he was referring to Mihall, Day-chan.

Day: But he's evil…. And he's a pervert… lusting all over my Kenken *glomps Ken*

Ken: *wheez* Air…. Need…. Air….

Moon: Day if he dies then the world order will never be restored

Day: But… *cuddles Ken*

Moon: Once the fic is done you can cuddle him all you want.

Day: Promise?

Moon: Promise

Day: Otay!! Sorry readers!! Gotta run and write part 3!! *grabs Ken and Moon and races off*