Fan Fiction ❯ The Ties That Bind ❯ Reunions ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Basically, I own these characters. *grins wickedly* Lucky me. The advantage of original fiction. *evil grins*

Chapter 1: Reunions

The sound of an engine purring out of the darkness cut through the night quiet sounds of crickets and wind rustling through velvet leaves upon spider thin trees. A sleek black Mustang pulled up to the edge of the dirt road, roaring in place as if a restless lion had come to claim the night before it abruptly cut off with a last unrepentant purring sound. The car was a marvel of modern engineering. Chrome glittered along the bumpers and wheels of the beauty. The interior was shown in a flash of silken jet leather as a figure emerged, letting out a blast of air conditioned coolness into the humid night.

Lank and tall with an odd sort of motion about the limbs were the first characteristics the watcher in the shadows of the trees noticed about the driver of the automobile as he shut the car door behind him. She would have called him lithe and fluid if she had been in a more charitable mood. As it was, she resisted the urge to let lose upon his frame with the Beretta that was strapped to her side via a well concealed holster.

A flare of light caught her eyes as the faint bitter scent of smoke blew towards her upon the wind from his direction. That briefest of illuminations revealed what could only be described as the face of an angel. High cheekbones, a generous mouth, finely sculpted nose and eyes the color of a pure spring sky were shown in the few seconds that light flashed to break the darkness. The only marring to that perfection were twin scars that ran down each side of his face. Each one started at the temple and went all the way down to his jaw to form a vaguely crescent shape that stopped just at the corners of his mouth. A mouth that was set into its usual sneer. Jet hair that fell loosely around his shoulders completed the picture of the man that was exhaling small rings of smoke and striding unerringly straight towards where she was concealed between the tree trunks that lined the side of the road. The faint sounds of heavy boots crunching into sticks and underbrush announced his closing presence.

Damn him. He wants me to know he's here. Hell, he knows I'm always armed. He's the idiot that bought me the gun for my birthday. And always smoking too lately. When are you ever going to learn better habits than that.

Her thoughts and senses stayed upon the steady sound of those boots moving through the forest and away from her location. She breathed out a slow sigh of relief as that rhythm melted into the background of the other night noises.

She should have known better.

Her reflexes should have picked him up sooner, before it was too late for either of them.

"Bang. You're dead," came a deep, cool voice that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stir. It was either his voice or the feeling of a steel blade placed edge first against the tender skin of her throat.

"If you're going to say bang, you should at least be holding a gun to my damn head," she said quietly, glancing up to meet those clear eyes of his.

He had the eyes of his mother.

It was a pity he had inherited the heart of his father.

A frown slide across the planes of his face as he stared into her eyes for a very long moment. A moment that drew out uncomfortably between the pair. With the shadows, it was hard to tell much about her but he knew every single line of her face. Dirty blonde hair fell down to her waist, captured within a tight braid at the present moment. A sweet, youthful face was the crowning beauty of a slender, curving frame that would be the envy of any swimsuit model. He knew without even having to look that her jaw was lifted into a familiar, stubborn line as they each tried to stare the other down. Her eyes were the color of faded denim, a soft blue that had none of the sharp, glitteringly dangerous color his own gaze held. There was a familiarity between the two figures that would touch a chord in any who gazed upon them side by side.

"Don't even compare me to that bastard, Semanche, not even in your thoughts. You of all people know exactly how much I despise him and all that he ever was," he said quietly in a half-growl of sound that caused the very air between them to vibrate with a hint of something dark and forbidding.

"Every moment you hate him, only makes you more like him, Crispin," she said softly, putting both hands along the sword and moving it away from her as she arched her neck to look up at him closer.

He stood just a few inches over six feet, allowing him to tower over her slight five foot four frame.

"I am nothing like him. Nothing. Do not make me carry out the fondest wishes of the council on you in a fit of rage. I will but that does not mean I have any desire to do their bidding," Crispin said softly, glancing down at her with the first sign of emotion he had shown.

It was gone as quickly as a summer breeze, leaving only the chill of winter in its wake. For a split second, Semanche could have sworn she had seen fear or pain within those pitiless eyes. Almost.

"You carry part of him inside of you. To deny that is to deny who you really are, both the good and bad of your soul. It is that balance that keeps you sane and whole, Crispin. Killing me will not bring her back. You know as well as I that my death will bring nothing but an endless cycle of death and vengeance to the entire family," she said quietly, watching as he slowly raised the muzzle of a Colt .45 towards her as her own Beretta came up to aim straight between his eyes.

Neither one flinched as the guns remained steadily aimed and ready to send them on their way to hell. Not another word was spoken as the metallic, dull lines of both weapons remained unwavering as a cold testament of the death and violence contained between the pair. Cold gazes and levelly beating hearts narrowed their reality down to pinpoints of inhalations. Simultaneously, their fingers pulled back on the trigger, ready to fire with the next exhale.

No regrets. No turning back.

The faint scent of smoke cut through this poignant scene, laid out against the soft, soothing sounds of cricket song. A sudden flaring of flame at his pants caused him to jerk in surprise as his shirt caught on fire and the shot of his gun went glancing off the tree Semanche had been standing beside, instead of burying itself between her eyes. The forgotten cigarette had been lodged loosely in his shirt and brought to life by chance or by the woman across from him. Whatever the cause, she was gone when he looked again after the split second he needed to extinguish the lapping flames that had quickly consumed half of his shirt and had burned the skin of his torso with a playful vengeance.

Give mother my love. I will not be so easy a target next time, brother.

Those words echoed into the emptiness of his mind as he scanned the area for any trace of her. He found none, much to his anger and relief. In all honesty, he had expected nothing less than a brilliant chase from her. After all, Crispin had trained her and he was the best.

The best Knight in the twelve Kingdoms. The best warrior of blade and tracking the arenas had ever seen this side of the moon. But none of that mattered now. Inside, he was as cold and barren as the wastelands. All the best and brightest he had ever been was six feet under. The passing of the golden smile had killed the Knight of the Stars. The Code was all that kept him going now. He held to it when all other lights had failed him.

For letting Semanche escape this night, he would answer to the Council. Why they wanted her dead, he did not know. Emptiness held him to their will as the Code held his blade to the path he walked now.

"Run now, little sister. Run and pray that I do not find you again because I will kill you when next we meet. I have no choice, nor do you," Crispin spoke softly as he turned and climbed back into the waiting sumptuousness of his beloved car.

One of the few vanities he allowed himself or the pleasures he enjoyed any longer in this world. The engine purred to life as he backed the car from the grass strewn side of the road and roared down the twisting gravel path that was considered a road in this wild country. Unerringly, he picked up her trail again effortlessly and pursued her. He would follow his sister by the blood they shared to the ends of the earth or the very gates of hell if he had to because he had no other choice any longer. It was out of his hands, though only he knew his private thoughts or protests upon the matter.

As the fading line of dust that Crispin's tires kicked up disappeared along the rode, a flare of jet fire burnt into existence where he had stood only a moment ago. Slowly, a silver and golden crowned head swiveled to follow the paths that both Semanche and Crispin had taken over this rolling land to disappear from sight. Onyx eyes that lacked any white at all darkened visibly until they were mere pools of endless midnight. Within the shadows, a quiet sigh was heard.

"Siblings. You can't live with them and you can't shoot them," came a very dry, cultured voice that disappeared as abruptly as it had manifested, leaving only the endless sounds of crickets filling the emptiness of the night.

A/N:

Reviews welcome, on if I should continue even posting this here or not.

*scratches head*

I'm not even sure on what to add to this, outside of the author's note.