Krowe

Krowe

Chapter warning(s): Slight F/F, Slight M/M, Language

  

 

[:+ + + + +:] 

 

Chapter 24:”Clarity”

 

Annej slipped out of his slumber several hours later feeling remarkably lucid and refreshed. He felt better now than he had in many years.  Suddenly everything made sense to him in such a way that had been previously fuzzy and morphed beyond recognition. All the blanks were now filled in and there really were no desperate questions gnawing away at him like starved rats.

He understood now.

Rising from the bed quickly, the white-haired man searched for some clean clothes. Once he had found some decent attire, he dressed hastily in such a fashion that had him nearly ripping said clothes.  As soon as Annej had finished dressing, he bounded out of the room like an excited pup.

Not pausing to bathe, eat, or even urinate, Annej ran like a man possessed. He continued to pump his legs even as he felt the pleasant burning in his thighs that screamed at him to rest.

Annej was going to find him. He couldn’t bear to be another moment apart from him. Nothing else mattered.

 

[:+ + + + +:] 

 

 

“I am most pleased to see that you have made it to me alive and in one piece, Rajira,” Valeficent murmured slowly as she leisurely and mercilessly plucked the petals from a magnificent red flower. “I was beginning to think that perhaps one of those lovely Generics had gobbled you up.”

The dark-haired Black Warden knelt on one bended knee with her head bowed. One arm was bent behind her back while the other was curved over her chest in a display of respect for her superior.

The dark-haired lady wasn’t at all deterred by her subordinate’s silence. “I take it the other Wardens are all dead?”

“Yes, my Lady. All save for Varka,” answered Rajira in a calm, composed voice that held no traces of emotion. Her crimson orbs were trained on the ground as she waited for an order.

With her lip now curled in distaste, Valeficent gazed down at the petal-less flower.  It looked ugly and barren now. It was devoid of beauty and looked dead to her. That was truly how she saw the world for what she perceived to be. Dead, ugly, and barren.

“My lady?”

Dropping the dead flower, the cruel mistress turned around to stare down at the Warden. “Ah, yes, silly, foolish me. I am wasting time once again…”

Rajira didn’t dare agree or disagree with her lady. She merely waited.

“It has come to my attention that my dear brother, Najja, has taken Seffera hostage. What I want of you is to go back to him. You have played the double agent for this long. I am certain you can play the game a little bit longer. Once you have returned to my brother, I want you to find out all that you can. Once you have located my daughter’s whereabouts, I want you to break her free of her prison and bring her back to me. Alive. I want her alive. Do you understand your task, Rajira?”

The short-haired woman nodded curtly once. “Yes, my Lady.”

“You may now rise.”

Rajira stood up to her full height, but still, she did not dare to look at her mistress. Standing like a statue, she did not move a muscle nor did she blink. She merely waited until she heard what she needed to her.

“Now that you understand your task, Rajira, you are dismissed,” Valeficent started, but before the other female could turn away, she grabbed Rajira by the chin and looked her closely in the face. Her face was inches away from the Warden’s and it was at that moment that Rajira could see just how red Valeficent’s lips were. It was not from natural lip hue, lipstick, tint, or anything cosmetic. There was only one thing that could make them that red.

There was nothing Rajira could think to say or do, so she waited with arms hanging stiffly at her sides.

As if finding what she was looking for, Valeficent smiled smugly. She then gripped Rajira’s face with both hands which caused her painted scarlet talon-like nails to bite into the Warden’s face. Seeing Rajira’s pupils dilate, she closed in the distance by crushing her ruby red lips with Rajira’s pale lips. The Black Warden tasted blood, but it was not her own and it was not her Lady’s.

It was the blood of the dead.

There was nothing neither kind nor passionate about the kiss. Valeficent did not bite her or hurt her in any way, but if Rajira had been human, her lips would have been bruised and swollen.

Releasing her after a few moments, Valeficent smiled her most malicious smile. It was a smile most would have paled at seeing. Most people who did end up witnessing such a cruel smile never did live long enough to tell about it.

After Valeficent had departed, Rajira touched her lips and stared at the ground while she wondered for the umpteenth time that day what exactly she had gotten herself into. She wondered if she were doing the right thing.

 

 

[:+ + + + +:]

 

 

“You should get some sleep, doctor,” quietly rumbled a deep masculine voice.

Rozaline didn’t have to look to her left to know that the hunter was crouched down beside her. She glanced to her right and for a moment, she focused her gaze on the sleeping pair. Red was sleeping with his back propped up against the wall while White was curled up against him. It was rare to see them that close or even that still and quiet. They were so alike, yet so different at the same time. Red and White weren’t really that much different than the ones they had been copied from.

“So should you, hunter.”

“Touché.”

The dark-haired woman shuffled her papers so that they were back in the right order and then she carefully slid them back into the folder. Slipping the folder into her bag, she sighed from weariness and leaned back against the rock wall.

“Those two are cute, aren’t they? I kind of envy them,” commented Solas as he joined Roz in watching the pair of clones sleep.

Roz sighed again and this time it was not from exhaustion. “I don’t. If they only knew what I knew…”

The copper-haired man shrugged offhandedly. He took a swig from his flask, capped it, and then put it away. Whatever it was, it was not water. “I wouldn’t tell ‘em a thing. They seem happy as they are and that’s something you just don’t ruin. Not even for the truth.”

The Original hated to admit it, but the hunter was right. “I wasn’t going to tell them, but yes, you do offer a valid point.”

“It’s remarkable how similar they are to the originals,” Solas murmured after a few minutes of silence. “They’re almost exactly like them.”

Rozaline finally turned her head to look at the hunter. In mild surprise, she asked, “You knew the men they were cloned from?”

“You could say that,” grimly replied the hunter as he settled back against the rock. He tipped his hat so that his eyes were concealed even though the cave was blanketed in darkness.

“How did you know them?” Piqued by her curiosity, Roz no longer felt drained.

Solas grimaced as if recalling a particularly horrid memory or maybe it was just from a sharp pain in his intestinal tract. He grunted, “…I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind, lady.”

Not the least bit bothered by that, the female doctor nodded in understanding. She felt a twinge of nostalgia because Solas reminded her very much of Krowe at that moment. There had been a time then when even Krowe had refused to talk about the past, too. It wasn’t really the fact that there was something that both men were both reluctant to talk about; it was really in the manner that they behaved about it. Like Krowe, Solas had been polite instead of telling her to “fuck off” like some would have said. He also seemed to feel some sort of repentance for whatever had happened.

“What are you doing?”

“Since you’re not going to sleep, I figured I should at least try.”

Rozaline smiled wryly. “Don’t let me keep you, then.”

Solas snickered. “Lady, you can keep me…just let me get some sleep.”

Shaking her head, Roz didn’t even realize that she had been smiling until she had put a hand to her face.

 

[:+ + + + +:]

 

“Man, is Annej going to sleep his life away or something?” Complained Lila from her spot on the grass. She was lying on her belly as she plucked grass out of boredom.

Krowe said nothing as he watched her picking the grass. He also kept an eye on the Original. Varka had been awake for a few hours now and hadn’t spoken a word to anyone. All he had done so far was sit by the small pool of water and stare into it as if held all the answers that he sought. The only movement he made was to pet the Makabre on the head as he slept curled up against Varka.

Sighing, the Reborn leaned against a tree and crossed his arms. He felt that something was up, but he would have to wait. He hated waiting most of all. Being restless and full of energy, he was the kind of person that despised sitting or standing still for long.

The human girl was just as restless as Krowe. She kicked her legs as she looked around with a drab expression on her young face. “How come there’s no bugs or spiders?”

“Because this is an artificial garden,” replied Krowe with a wave of his hand as if that would explain everything.

The room had about 300 yards of space, but looked smaller due to all the foliage. On the ceiling, there were UV lights and sprinklers so that all the vegetation would get an even distribution of light and water. The room was covered entirely of green, luscious grass. There was a small pond, several trees and bushes, and some other plants. Some of the trees, bushes, and other various plants grew fruits and vegetables. It almost looked natural.

“Why do vampires have an artificial garden?” Lila asked rudely as if this were a concept that made absolutely no sense to her.

“Because we need food to feed our food,” answered a familiar female voice that lacked esteem of any kind.

Krowe smiled.

Lila scowled and sat up. “That’s not funny, Morbus!”

The short woman plopped down on the grass and stared at the little girl. “Wasn’t meant to be, kid.”

“Are you going to eat me and Annej?” Lila asked rather loudly.

Morbus leaned back and stared at the sky blue walls of the room. If she squinted her eyes enough, those walls would almost look like the actual sky. “I’m thinking about it…”

“Hey, that’s mean!” Yelled the human girl. Her eyebrows were drawn down, but her eyes were wide as if she didn’t know what to make out of the situation. She didn’t seem to understand that the vampire female was merely jesting with her for kicks.

The short woman blew some dark hair out of her nonchalant face. “I guess…”

Lila pouted and exclaimed, “You’re mean!”

“I won’t argue with that,” agreed Morbus with a little smirk of her own. It was rare to see her smile or any kind of distinct emotion. The woman even seemed relaxed compared to most of the times when she looked angry and tense about something.

Before Lila could retort something smart, the door opened and Annej barged into the room. He was lightly panting and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering his body as if he had run all the way to the artificial garden. Even his hair was slightly messy and looked like it needed a good brushing. It was clear that he had been in a hurry to get somewhere to someone.

“Annej! She’s being-“ Lila started, but was cut off by Krowe’s hand over her mouth. He held it tight enough that she couldn’t bit him. It was obvious he could quite easily break her jaw if he wanted to. He looked down at the girl and his eyes seemed to warn her to be quiet for now.

The white-haired man scanned the room carefully until he had found who he had been searching for. Once located, he casually strode forward with ease. It was as if the very thing that had possessed him was forcing him to move differently now. He slightly shook as if he wanted to run, to hurry, but whatever was controlling him forced him to take his time.

Varka did not look over his shoulder until Annej stood a few feet away. He did not rise to meet him, yet he did not look away. His poignant crimson eyes looked…relieved. “You remember.”

“I remember everything. Forgive me…for forgetting,” Annej admitted and sounded genuinely as remorseful as he looked. In short, he looked like a kicked puppy.

With one last pat to the Makabre’s head, Varka gracefully rose to his full height. He held out his right arm in offering. “There is nothing to forgive because you did not forget. You have been slumbering since birth. Now you are awake and all is well. Do not fret for nothing.”

Annej smiled as if a great burden had been stripped from him. Without further hesitation, he flung himself in Varka’s arms and clung to him as if he had not seen him in decades. “I know…but I still missed you.”

The silver-haired Original slowly slipped his arms around the slighter male. He touched Annej’s face with one hand while the other curled into his white locks. “I missed you, too, little brother.”

 

[:+ + + + +:] 

 

 

Random Fact: Lila means purple.