Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ I've wanted you forever and tonight ❯ Hajime! ( Chapter 12 )

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Hajime! Chapter twelve of 'I've wanted you forever and tonight'.

~ By Sweetdeily.

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Seto woke from his nap with a start. A loud bell was ringing endlessly as if the person who had struck it initially had gotten caught in an instant replay of some movie.

This was no movie.

With a jolt and his normally non-existent heartbeat racing Kaiba rolled out of his cot and grabbed his bow, slipping his boots on and at nearly the same time picking up his full quiver. He came out of his tent running, just in time to see the camp in a flurry of movement, he caught sight of Jounouchi saddling up his miniature dragon and yelling orders out to a few ten-year-olds. His puppy was obviously bedraggled, but he still looked utterly adorable.

"Kaiba! Hurry! The bell is almost upon us!" Baroness Aesccot shouted out in her usual English growl, she was a few meters away from his tent, briskly forming archers into their lines on the cleared ground.

The vampire could already see the mass of Faeries lining up into their ranks. The thought made him swallow. It was the real thing this time, not just another drill. He'd only been down here a week and suddenly, he was going to war.

Kaiba nodded and trotted over to her, he was hungry, but there was no time to ask for someone to donate a bit of blood; they were about to enter their first battle!

"Barry, light that fire! Elizabeth, hurry with those arrows! Zil, get in rank!"

Seto quickly joined his fellow archers, almost feeling confused when they began clicking their fingers before he remembered his armor. Seto could smell something foul in the air; something worse than the usual stench of death and decay. He hurriedly clicked his fingers, reaching behind him to grab an arrow as his body was covered head to foot with heavy plate-armor. It must have weighed around half his own weight, although with his abnormal strength he could easily hold it, but it would be cumbersome if he had to wear it for too long without feeding. The other archers were wearing light mail, most without helmets, but certainly none with as much protection as him, then again, the rest of them were used to war. He slipped into formation at nearly the very end of the far right. The archers spread out in one single long line either side of him. Elves it seemed rarely used archers, they were apparently a very noble race and found the cliché too hard to bare.

"Forward!" Aesccot screamed, it seemed she spoke just as Kaiba was ready. He couldn't see Jounouchi, but no doubt the blonde puppy was fine. That dragon he was riding was very smart.

The archers either side of Kaiba began to draw their arrows and notch them. Zil, who was Aesccot's favourite pupil was loading five arrows onto his bow, how he thought he could fire them all accurately Seto could only wonder.

"LOAD!" Aesccot's voice broke the vampire's revere and he quickly notched a shaft. They were walking up the hill that he'd been told was the best vantage of the attacks. He noticed the general go by behind him on her Luther Dragon.

"Don't sweat it Fangs, we got your back, just aim for the bad guys." Zil gave him a quick smile before dropping all pretense of reassurance and focusing back on their steady approach. The Fairy spoke his Japanese slowly, but fluently at least. This wasn't the first jibe Kaiba had been given, and no doubt it wouldn't be the last.

Great, now twelve-year-olds were giving him the thumbs up. "Whatever, Chibi." (1)

They crested the hill and Kaiba let his iris swallow his eyes as he surveyed the picture before him. The normally grey sky was swirling with red and black clouds and he could see a mass of bodies stretched out before him. there were several lines of gold at the beginning of the Fairies force; Seto could make out the blurred forms of the Luther Dragons that carried most of the officials, although he couldn't be sure which one was Ta'gen and Jounouchi, there were a lot of dragons.

Opposing their force was a sea of white, occasional flashes of green and different colored flags. Kaiba had yet to see any of the Elves that were so hated by the Fairies, but he was pretty sure that they weren't as young as the Fairies usually appeared to be.

Between the two forces was about one hundred meters of grey earth. It seemed to wait for blood to be spilt upon it, as if it would drain everything away into its bleakness. Seto shuddered, no wonder they called it the Hell Planes.

"Ready archers!" A call came from up the army in front of him.

"BOWS AT THE READY!" Aesccot screamed almost right into Seto's ear.

Seto could feel his pulse in his mouth, his eyes narrowing as he picked off targets in the mass of approaching white, he could discern bodies and armor, but no features, they were too far away still. He brought his bow up, drawing his left arm back and sighting down the shaft.

"When I give the command, fire as many arrows as you can." Aesccot whispered into his ear.

Kaiba nodded. He was sweating softly already with nausea. How could they win against such an incredible force?

Time seemed to pass in long drawn out moments. The vampire could hear every heartbeat around him; he could see every wavering hand, feel the vibrations of every soft prayer.

The army walked forward steadily. Maybe it wasn't a massive army, maybe it was tiny by human standards, but it was an army, and it was about to face a force just as strong as itself. Tension laced the air in thick waves, tangible enough to choke on.

"Fear me, children, fear my powers for I am Arel, I am a demon from the deepest pits of your nightmares!" A great voice boomed across the field and to Kaiba's horror a form among the Elven ranks began to expand tremendously until it must have been a hundred feet tall. It fit the best description of demon that Kaiba could think of; its body was covered in hide that was dyed with blood, the vampire could smell the liquid even from so far away. It had no pupils in its eyes and its claws were massive chipped black bones. It was sexless, but it looked furious.

Like a wave, fear washed across Kaiba and he felt himself tremble. How could he hope to stop something so large? They were all doomed.

Kaiba glanced around him and noticed that no one else seemed to be concerned, and it was with this realization that Kaiba felt that the fear must have been a magical power sent out by the demon.

"Arel, I had hoped that one had died a while ago. Tsch, I bet he remembers the taste of my arrows." Zil spoke a few words in Fairy and moved his aim.

"Zil, focus on the forces, Arel won't attack us until we attack him, such is the bargain with demons. We have to kill as many troops as possible." Aesccot's voice cut through them once again.

A battle call went up from the troops at the front of the line and before Kaiba knew it the troops below them surged forward. An answering cry rose from the Elves and the sea of white descended. The tension burst open at the seems.

"LOOSE ARROWS!" Aesccot's scream was almost lost in the rush of sound around them, Kaiba swore he could hear a hundred other voices yelling the same thing moments before and moments after her. Around him, archers let go.

Seto released his left hand and drew his next arrow almost before his first was out of the bow, it was impossible to follow the trail of his arrows once he had freed them, even to see if he had hit his initial marks would have been a joke. If he survived he would check.

TWANG!

TWANG!

TWANG! TWANG!

His forth arrow split through his third almost as soon as it was launched so he slowed his pace down. the archers around him were firing in what seemed to be slow motion and it took Kaiba a moment to realize that it wasn't them, it was him; he was firing almost faster than they drew breathe.

He gripped his next shaft and tried to take his time in aiming, but it made no difference, once the arrow was lose it joined the collection of arrows soaring into the mass of white bodies and knocking them down.

The front half of the Fairy army was faring better than the Elves were, even so Seto's quick eyes could make out the picture of several riderless Luther Dragons racing at the demon, roaring like their cousins with draconic rage. The horses that the Elves rode seemed to be no match for the Luther's, but the dark steeds outnumbered the diminutive dragons very near six to one.

The rear end of the Golden Division had yet to hit the bloodbath yet, and as Seto notched his next arrow he paused and looked out of the corner of his eyes. Something seemed to be coming out of the ground on their left. Chills ran up his spin and he stepped back.

"Back in line, vampire!" Aesccot yelled from the other end of the archer's formation.

Seto pointed at the 'something'. His breathe felt like it was catching in his throat so he stopped breathing. The something was turning out to be a hand. For whatever reason he couldn't seem to make a sound. Was he, the great Seto Kaiba so afraid that he couldn't talk?

"ALL ARCHERS! RIGHT FACE, GROUND DEMON!" Aesccot yelled.

Seto notched his next arrow and fired at the hand, he caught it between the thumb and the finger, but the small shaft seemed to have little effect on the massive limb.

TWANG!

TWANG!

TWANG!

His three rapid-fire arrows hit it in the exact same place and two managed to splinter the first, cracking the hole initially made open wide. Zil, who was still on his side swore, speaking a few words and dropping his bow, drawing the short-sword at his side and racing forward.

"ARCHERS, HALT!" Aesccot screamed furiously. Seto wondered if she would run out of voice soon. "RETURN FIRE TO THE BATTLE!"

Seto hesitated, looking at the small Fairy who was charging the massive, bloodied hand on his own.

Bodies were already littering the ground, screams of pain rose in the air and the huge demon that the Elves had summoned was bleeding from its mouth, nose and eyes. It had no obvious wound to show for it, Seto turned in time to see it collapse backward.

"Seto, let the demonslayers handle the demons, focus on killing the black hearted Elves!" Aesccot gave the vampire a shove, forcing him back into rank.

Her words were sort of a contradiction, she had ordered them to attack the demon when she'd first caught sight of what Seto had pointed at, and now she told him not to worry.

Seto glanced back at Zil and saw that the hand had been cut off the arm, but the creature was still emerging from the ground. As he glanced he saw the Fairy cup something in his hand and fling it at the bloodied stump.

"Fangs, here, get a little of this on your string." The Fairy next to him handed him a small vial, he followed her example and dipped his finger into the solution, passing it on before rubbing the wet liquid on his string and going for his arrows again.

TWANG!

TWANG!

TWANG!

He stopped, waiting for a refill of the quiver. A child Fairy was quick in depositing the shafts into his quiver and running along down the line.

Sweat dripped down his brow, giving a pinking tint to his cheeks and moistening his skin, he started breathing again, as if that would help. He fired another load of arrows. He could see the Elves' ranks thinning, almost able to make out the targets he was hitting.

The Fairy next to him gave a little scream and staggered, Seto turned his head and saw her fall to her knees, holding her eyes.

"Baroness…!" She called out faintly, she raised her head and to Seto's horror her eyes were bleeding.

"Go!" Aesccot threw a sword and its sheath at the girl and the Fairy caught them blindly, whirling and charging down through the ranks.

Seto notched another arrow, mindlessly firing but taking his attention to watch the archer, she hadn't been hit by anything, why was she charging into battle?

TWANG!

The demon Arel was dead, it seemed its whole body was bleeding without any real reason for it.

/Master, Jou is surrounded. / Ta'gen's voice interrupted him and Seto shot his arrow into the ground.

"I don't know where he is!"

His puppy was in trouble? Damnit, why now of all times? Who would dare to hurt his innocent little Jounouchi?

/To the far left. They have summoned Wraiths and Wraiths cannot be harmed by living creatures. /

"I can't leave this post." He focused on the next arrow, noticing that the Elf he aimed at did indeed go down. He was so mad!

/He will not hold without help. I cannot banish the foul beasts and my tail is broken, I will not die this day, master. /

"Damnit!" Stupid puppy, why did he have to get dragged into this kind of situation? It wasn't like Jounouchi was especially attractive anyway.

Seto looked around, trying to locate Jounouchi, he saw the Elven archer who had run down into the fray, she was fighting some sort of horse with wings, protecting a fallen Fairy with her sword and body. He kept looking and caught sight of a strayed Luther with a struggling gold-clad Fairy on its back; they were surrounded by a ring of brown cloaked creatures. That had to be Jounouchi.

Seto felt his fangs lengthening in anger but that was where he stopped noticing much. He didn't even notice that he'd crushed his bow in his grip, or that he flung the broken weapon to the side before running down into the mass of bodies.

At the speed that Seto traveled it might have only taken a few seconds to run the hundreds of meters to Jounouchi's side, but it was certainly enough time for his nails to become claws, his fangs to become sharp and his eyes to become hunter's.

How dare anything surround his puppy! He would rip the Wraiths to shreds and send them to eternity in fire.

He pushed past a few combatants, knocking a dark horse over with brute strength alone and forcing on to the now visible circle of brown figures.

The nearest Wraith turned, its pale features stretching out into a horrified expression that only lasted long enough for Seto's claws to slice its whispy head from its neck. There was no blood or bone or organ for his claws to go through and he was already hissing at the next Wraith and pouncing on it before the first had hit the ground. They had no eyes, nose or mouth, and their bodies seemed to only be floating stomachs and heads, their claws were brown, like their tattered cloaks.

The third Wraith hissed back at him, the sound more to the likeness of a woman crying than the powerful growl that Seto gave it.

"We'll have our soul, vampire lord!" It hissed at him, pointing to the barely conscious blonde who shifted away from the nearest attack.

"You'll have no such thing, childe!"

The Wraith slashed at him, claws cutting three long rivulet's across his check. Seto jumped at it, teeth ripping into its neck. He swallowed something that tasted like apples and used his strength to pull the creature's head from its body.

The fourth Wraith floated away from him, gave a comical bow and vanished into mist. The fifth wasn't as fast; Seto clawed its torso apart.

Something fell at him from behind and the vampire spun, hand ripping through plate armor to grab the creature's heart and squeeze.

He got his first look at an Elf up close and the shock on the creature's face brought him out of his frenzy. The Elf was not the fair creature that the vampire would have expected, black locks of hair fell around its face, and while it wasn't unpleasant on the eyes, it was somehow fiercely evil sensing.

It or he, rather, had no pupil, but instead had many different colors that circled its eyes. His skin was a strange shade of blue, and the nails of his hand were yellow. A shudder wracked through the blue form.

"Kaiba…" Jounouchi's faint voice caught his attention and he turned back to his puppy. He dropped the Elf and retrieved his hand, licking the blood off it.

Jounouchi grimaced and Kaiba quickly put his hand down. he wasn't all that hungry anymore anyway.

"Are you alright Jounouchi?"

"Not really. Could ya' pop my arm back inta' place?"

/When you have done that, would you re-break my tail? / Ta'gen added.

As Kaiba approached he noticed that Jounouchi's forehead was bleeding from several scratches. Several other limbs bore similar effects.

"No wonder they were able to take so many of the other planes, Wraiths, of all the dirty creatures to summon." Jounouchi murmured, his eyes had a glazed film about them.

Seto nodded and stepped up to Ta'gen, he caught Jounouchi's neck and pulled the puppy down to lock his lips, at the same time grabbing the Fairy's arm and popping it back into place.

The small scream that the blonde voiced was swallowed into the vampire's mouth. Jounouchi jerked back, almost falling off the other side of his mount.

/Am I going to get the same treatment? /

Seto didn't justify that with an answer and walked around behind the Luther Dragon. Ta'gen let out a howling keening sound when he forced her tail back into position. The Fairy and the vampire were treated to some choice English swear words before Jounouchi raised his injured arm and spoke a few words in whatever language he kept using. Green light flowed between the Luther and the Fairy, healing most of their injuries.

"Thanks, Kaiba." Jounouchi didn't turn to look at the vampire before he nudged Ta'gen back into the fight. There wasn't much left. The Fairies were winning.

Kaiba shrugged and picked up the nearest sword, he should follow the pair to make sure they didn't get into any more trouble.

~To Be continued…

Sweet notes: *catches her breath* Well, I hope you liked that children. Reviews are most appreciated, and remember, the more reviews, the happier I am.

(1)= If you read anime fanfics and you don't already know what chibi is, you should be shot. It's the same thing as SD (super deformed).

Seto: Hey, if the happier you are, does that mean Jounouchi and I can have sex soon?

Jou: Yeah! This teasing is killing me!

Sweets: Well logically, the happier I am with a story, the more I write, since you have to have sex eventually (or it wouldn't be NC-17 rated) it comes quicker.

Seto: Pun intended?

Sweets: You noticed? ^^

Seto: It all comes down to your personality, Sweets. *sees what he said* Hey! Quit it with the puns already!

Sweets: Heh, sorry. ^^

Jou: Somehow I don't think she is.