Sand and Fire

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and plots belong to Koroshi and wildcatv2. They cannot be used without express permission from the authors, nor can Sand and Fire be posted on any site without the express permission of the authors. Any similarities between real people and the characters in this piece of fiction are purely coincidental. The cultures in this story were inspired by many real life cultures. No offense is intended by the portrayal of any race.


The next day, Inusuke woke up as a man on a mission. Today’s lessons weren’t scheduled to start until later until later that morning, so it was easy to sneak out to Crei’s. The guards also had more important things to do than babysit a bored prince with so many foreign dignitaries in the capital.

He made it to his mentor’s office without problems and found the man was currently out on an errand. That was to be expected; he was in charge of most of the tournament preparations and was in high demand. The blonde decided to make himself comfortable behind the man’s desk and began shuffling one of the trick card decks. He had some questions for Xanataer, and he wasn’t going to leave until he received answers.

Twenty minutes later, Crei came bustling into his office and dropped a huge stack of papers on the desk. “Glad you showed up today, kid. I’ve got a lot of work for you. When you finish this stack come and find me.” The one-eyed pirate was almost out the door before Inusuke stopped him.

The prince stood up. “Wait a minute, Aniki! I didn’t come here to be your office slave for the day.”

Crei turned around, raising a pierced brow. “Oh? Surely you didn’t expect me to teach you any tricks today. My schedule-”

“What do you know about Ookami?” Inusuke had no desire to listen to him rant about how busy he was because he was so important, blah, blah, blah.

He raised his eyebrows incredulously. “And since when do you think I give information for free? Finish the paperwork and we’ll talk.” He pivoted on his heel to leave the office, his cloak billowing out behind him.

That was how Inusuke spent the rest of the morning - filing heaps of paperwork for Crei. The man returned a little after midday with some lunch. He eyed the neat stacks on his desk and nodded his approval to the prince, who was trying to massage the cramps out of his hand. “Looks good, kid.” He tossed the young man a sandwich.

Inusuke glared at the food now in his hand. “If I eat this, does that mean you won’t answer my question?”

Crei laughed, “The thought crossed my mind, but no. Eat and ask away.” He crossed his arms and propped his hip against the edge of the desk, typical smirk in place.

The prince sighed. He loved the older man like a brother, but he frustrated the hell out him sometimes. “What do you know about Ookami?” he repeated his earlier question slowly, as though he were talking to a three year old.

The brunette adopted a look of intense concentration and tapped an index finger against his chin. “Hmm, Ookami.” Pause. “I know that he might be from Napaaj.”

“That’s it? That’s all you know?”

The pirate lord shook his head. “No, that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Inusuke was pissed now. “I spent the last three and half hours doing your paperwork, and that’s all you’re going to tell me?”

Crei shrugged helplessly. “Information is valuable. If you want more information, you’ll have to do more work.”

The young man ran a hand through his messy bangs in exasperation and forced himself to calm down. “Fine. I’m outta here. I might still be able to make it to my lessons so I don’t get chewed out.” He walked around the desk and past the annoying bastard.

Crei tossed one last remark to him before he left. “Don’t you think the prince would have access to tournament registries?”

Inusuke didn’t bother to stop or turn around. “You have just as much access as I do, only less legal. Later, Aniki.”

Inusuke was halfway to the palace when he stopped dead in his tracks and felt like smacking himself in the head. Crei was telling him to look for info on Ookami in the tournament records. Thank you, Aniki. With a grin, he jogged the rest of the way back.

After jerking some clerks around in the tournament headquarters, he was only able to learn a few facts about Ookami; he would be fighting in the warrior division, he was twenty-four, and his birth city was Sol Gelesan Harbor. Inusuke frowned; he was positive the town listed was not located in Napaaj. In fact, that place was one of the several pirate-controlled ports. Crei would never have given him false information, so why would Ookami lie about where he was born?

In the end, the prince only verified things about Ookami he could have guessed on his own, so Inusuke decided to give up for the day. He headed for an empty containment dojo to practice his alchemy.

The subsequent morning Inusuke felt somewhat obligated to attend his lessons after skipping out the past two days. That and the servant who woke him at the ass-crack of dawn refused to leave his side until he was safely placed in the custody of his weapons master.

He suffered through the drills with a scowl, his mind often wandering to other things. A smack from the broad side of a sword brought him back to reality. He had made many demands – er, requests – to his father that the weapons master be replaced. He seemed to delight in smacking the distracted prince. Unfortunately, his father didn’t believe him when he said the man was a sadist.

After several grueling hours and dozens of fresh bruises, he made his getaway a little before midday when he was thankfully released for lunch. He snuck into the stables to change, mumbled a quick greeting to Clooss, and ran to the Scarlette Heretic.

Apparently, he ran from one hell to another. Instead of teaching him clever tricks or having interesting tasks relating to the upcoming tournament, Crei chained him to a desk and shoved an endless pile of paperwork in front of him.

He gave a disgusted grunt and laid his head on Crei’s desk, watching everyone run back and forth through the open office door on what were probably interesting errands. He could also see Aniki talking to a woman with bright red hair and incredibly large breasts.

Wait a minute. She was the woman from the Zeppelin, part of Gregson’s crew. What was she doing here? And why didn’t Ookami come with her? he wondered wistfully.

When he noticed the two make their way to the office, he straightened and grabbed some papers to at least look like he was working

“Thank you so much, Xanataer,” he heard her say as they entered the room. Damn, why hadn’t he tried to pick up lip reading? Then he would have been able to know what they had been talking about outside.

Crei smiled charmingly at the woman. “Anything for one of Captain Gregson’s women, especially one as beautiful as yourself, Anna.” He gently grasped her hand to bring it to his lips for a chaste kiss on the knuckles. “Perhaps I could interest you with dinner after our business is said and done?”

Anna took back her hand and smiled indulgently. “Ever the charmer. As flattering as the invitation is, I have to decline. I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

The pirate lord placed a hand over his heart. “A pity. Inusuke!” he practically shouted at him.

Inusuke shot up to attention with a barked, “Yes, sir!” slamming his knee on the desk and scattering everywhere. Damn his military drilling! He attempted to keep his grimace of pain to a minimum and pretend that nothing embarrassing had just occurred.

Inusuke looked expectantly at Crei. It would seem he couldn’t decide whether he was amused by the reaction or disgusted at the mess. It served him right for giving him paper work in the first place. He settled with a sigh and ignored the whole incident. “Take Miss Anna to the garage and let her have a cycle of her choice.” Crei kissed her hand once more. “Have a safe trip, m’lady.”

Inusuke walked around the desk and motioned to her. “Follow me, Anna-san,” he instructed just a bit tersely. The woman unnerved him and now he had to be alone with her again. He briskly exited the room, not bothering to check if Anna was behind him. He made it a few steps out the door and nearly jumped out his skin when he felt her grab his right arm, snuggling close to him.

“How nice of Crei to let me borrow his toy,” she cooed at him. “Inusuke, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” The manners bred into him from birth were the only things preventing him from shaking her off and running like hell. As he planned to escape the woman, an entirely new idea struck him. “… Anna-san?” he began tentatively.

She smiled sweetly. “You don’t need to be so formal with me, cutie.”

By now, the two of them had covered the short distance from Crei’s second floor office to the garage located behind the tavern. “I understand I may not be privileged to know, but why do you need one of Aniki’s cycles?” Inusuke was fervently hoping she would say the cycle was intended for Ookami’s use. If that were the case, the clever young man would find some way to trail Anna to the object of his lust.

Inusuke opened the door to the garage and allowed the redhead to precede him. “Crei would pick a curious little thing to work for him,” she playfully replied, slowly examining each of the dozen cycles. “I’m going to make an exchange in a backwoods town a few hours southeast of here.” No Ookami, then. Damn. She continued, “It’s a pretty rough area. Your boss is a bit uncomfortable with me going all by myself.” Anna finished inspecting the row of cycles, turned, and started back his way, swaying her hips. “Luckily, Crei provided me with a wonderful body guard.” She stopped in front of the fastest bike and crooked a finger at him. “Come on, cutie. We’ve got a deadline to make.”

Fucking Crei, was Inusuke’s thought as he climbed behind Anna on the cycle. He had spent a little over six years with the con artist now; he knew Crei was more concerned about the condition of the bikes rather than whether Gregson’s crewman survived the trip.

Inusuke wrapped his wiry arms around the woman’s waist as the engine started up with a purr. She kicked the machine in gear and blazed out of the still rising garage door.

“Shit!” the prince exclaimed, now holding on for dear life. Anna only laughed maniacally, weaving through panicked pedestrians. Inusuke gave his mentor a bit more credit for having the foresight to send him along with this crazy woman. Sure, he could help ensure the vehicle’s survival, but who was going to protect him?

The two of them blared through the rest of the city and into the country side. Miraculously, no one’s innards had been splattered over the cobblestones during their swift departure. They were thirty minutes outside of city limits when the weather began to sour. Grey clouds covered the sky threatening rain, likely before the day was up.

Around early evening, the two reached a village consisting only of small farms, a few smithies, and an inn. Anna steered the bike towards the inn – the Traveler’s Respite, according the sign – and stopped in front. A few of the villagers looked at the newcomers curiously.

The pirate dismounted gracefully and turned to her “guard.” “Stay here and watch the cycle, would you?” She didn’t wait for a response and strutted into the quiet inn.

He slouched in his seat, scowling to discourage the locals from approaching, but the effect was lost when his stomach growled rather loudly. He reached into the travel pack Anna brought with her and pulled out a piece of jerky to chew on while he waited.

Inusuke looked up from his snack upon hearing Anna’s sultry tones. He looked to inn’s entrance to see her heading back in his direction followed by none other than Ookami. The prince straightened so quickly in surprise he fell right off the side of the cycle. He felt his face heat up. For fuck’s sake, would he ever be able to see Ookami and not make an ass out of himself?

The woman tilted her head and raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Are you alright, cutie?”

He snorted and slightly deepened his voice, trying for false bravado. “Yeah. Just, uh, dropped my jerky.” Damn, that was lame, Inusuke thought. He had created better lies when he was six.

Anna only looked at him. “You mean my jerky.”

The blonde blinked, blushing anew. “Right, your jerky. Sorry for not asking, but you were in there and-”

She held a hand up and winked. “Save it, sweetheart. I’m just giving you a hard time.” Anna gestured at the bike and looked up to Ookami, whose face remained emotionless through the entire incident. “Well, she’s all yours now, hun. Make sure you don’t wreck it, or I’ll get blamed.” She leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek and whispered something in his ear that made the stoic man lose all color in his face. She patted him playfully on the arm. Inusuke felt a brief surge of anger and jealousy at the woman for being so intimate with her crewmate.

Anna returned her attention to the young man. “Inusuke, this is Ookami. He has an errand to run in Sea Slate Port several hours away, so he’s going to use the cycle while I’ll be staying here to catch up with an old friend.” Anna looked to her side. “Ookami, the kid comes with the bike, so I hope you can tolerate him.”

Ookami looked him over from the bottom up. Their eyes met and Inusuke felt pinned by their stormy depths. The older man glanced away first, shrugging his acquiescence to a travelling companion.

“Alright!” Anna began, “I’ll wait for your return, boys. Good luck!” With a final wave she bounced back into the inn.

Inusuke was inwardly panicking. After all of his wishing to be alone with the handsome man, here he was, and he was rendered speechless. He could only stare dumbly at the man as he made his way to stop right in front of him. The prince had to crane his neck back to meet the absurdly tall man’s eyes.

“Take this.” Inusuke felt something pushed into his chest and broke his gaze away from grey eyes to look down at a medium size bag, tinkling with coins. He looked back up. “Can’t drive with it,” was the only explanation given.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment longer until Inusuke embarrassingly realized that Ookami was waiting for him to move aside so he could get on the cycle. The prince followed him onto the bike and awkwardly placed his hands on the waist in front of him.

Ookami wasted no time in starting the engine and taking off. They sped away quickly, Inusuke barely managing to find a better hold with his arms now circling his waist. The new position resulted in the blonde’s upper body firmly pressed against the pilot’s back. Once the older man settled the bike into a cruising speed, the prince allowed himself to relax and enjoy his current situation. Inusuke noticed a warm, earthy scent emanating from the man that had a calming effect on Inusuke’s hectic emotions. He gave in to temptation and laid his head down on the broad shoulders. The trying events from the day were soon set aside and he was lulled to sleep by the strong beating of Ookami’s heart.