I paced back and forth in my room, occasionally stopping to try and pull of the armlets, to no avail. Finally, I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and held my head in my hands. I couldn't believe...mate? His mate? Why me?
A part of me knew: it was the kinship we felt as animals, the sort of bond that only came with understanding another on the basest level. We were both animal spirits, almost destined for each other.
But the other part of me, the Nobody part, denied everything fervently. I couldn't feel; I had no heart, and neither did he. How could he claim to desire me, when we couldn't feel desire at all? All we had left were echoes of emotions, how our minds told us to react.
It was growing late in the day, and I hadn't eaten since morning. Granted, I could last for a while without food, thanks to the survival training I'd put myself under a while ago, but I could smell something delicious from downstairs. I growled lowly.
I had one of two choice: sneak downstairs and try to grab some food at the risk of it being a trap, or stay up here and suffer. I debated for a few moments longer, and then decided to take my chances.
I stood up and made my way over to the door, opening it carefully.
"Re--"
I gave a short gasp and lashed out instinctively, surprised to see Pashnirix at the door. He jumped back quickly to avoid my attack and raised an eyebrow. "I understand you're still upset with me, but is that really necessary?" he asked.
I frowned and muttered back, "I didn't realize you would be at the door. Trust me, if I knew, you wouldn't still be standing."
Pashnirix sighed. "And here I come, bearing good will," he said sadly with a hint of a smirk.
I moved to close the door on him, but he stopped it with his hand. "Go--"
"I came to invite you to dinner," he said over my protests. "I know you're hungry, Tigress, and I've prepared quite the feast."
My stomach growled at his words, the little traitor. "Fine," I said. When in doubt, follow your stomach.
He led me down to an exquisitely decorated dining room with a table spread out with all kinds of food: chicken, soup, rice, noodles, vegetables, fruits, pastries, cakes--I nearly fainted from sheer joy.
"Oh," I said softly. "You did this all yourself?"
I didn't look at him, but I could hear the smirk in his voice. "Of course," he said. "I am a dragon. We are very self-sufficient creatures, much like yourself."
But I wasn't listening anymore. I made my way to the table and piled a plate high with food, taking a seat at the end of the table. I saw him sit down across from me out of the corner of my eye.
Chuckling lightly, he said, "If I had known that it was this easy to subdue you, I'd have tried this ages ago."
I didn't argue. As it stood, I was thinking of revising my opinion of the dragon. A mate who could cook for me was definitely something worth considering...
I finished my dinner and moved on to dessert, grabbing a handful of strawberries in one hand and a lemon danish in the other. I made a small noise of happiness as I bit into the warm, fluffy pastry. It was delicious.
I licked the extra lemon filling from my fingers, ready to start on my strawberries, when suddenly, I found myself being hauled across the table. I dropped the strawberries to brace myself on the table, suddenly very aware of my lack of chains. Before I could regain my bearings, I felt the warm lick of a tongue across the side of my mouth.
My jaw dropped, and my eyes flickered over to Pashnirix's. There was a tense moment, and then he whispered, "You had a bit of lemon filling on your mouth. I thought I'd clean it for you."
I was in such shock that I couldn't even move, until I saw the glimmer of mischief in his eyes. He released me, casually sauntering over to the door. I growled, slammed a hand down on the table, and shouted, "Dragon! If it's a fight for dominance you want, it's a war you'll get!"
Pashnirix just waved me off, cocky jerk.
I paced back and forth angrily. How could I have let myself fall into such a trap? I was the Tigress! I was not supposed to be this easily fooled...
"Do not be too hard on yourself, Tigress," said Pashnirix as I continued my efforts to removed the armlets. "You were not trapped by just anyone. You were caught by the best. You should be honored."
"Honored?" I glared at him, pausing in my efforts. "I should be honored that I am now bound to you like...like some kind of slave?" I seethed.
Pashnirix sighed. "Not a slave," he said almost tiredly. "I would never do such a thing. To restrain a will as strong as yours would be the gravest sin."
"Then WHAT?! What the hell are you trying to accomplish here, Pashnirix?" I screamed. When he didn't answer me immediately, I went back to clawing at my arms. I could feel my element slipping up on me, my senses sharpening, ready for a fight. I was a tiger; tigers don't do well when caged.
"Rexikat, would you please calm down, for just a minute, and listen to me," said Pashnirix in a low voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just relax."
I didn't want to relax. I wanted out. "Take these things off me," I growled. "Take them off now."
Pashnirix shook his head. "I cannot do that," he said, "or rather, I will not."
I couldn't take it anymore, his smug, chilled attitude. I leaped off the bed, surprised when he didn't move as I tackled him to the ground. He fell to the floor with a grunt, pinned underneath me.
"Why?" I said, slashing him across the face. "Why do you insist on owning me? I'm not one of your possessions; I'm not some thing to be claimed! I refuse to be owned!
"Ever since the first time we fought, you've been going on about how we have so much to learn from each other, how much you have to learn from me! I don't understand!" In frustration, I grabbed his shoulders, slamming him on the ground again.
"You're right," he said, "you don't understand. You still don't understand. And you won't, not until you understand that there are other ways to feel--"
"Don't you dare," I growled, holding a clawed hand to his throat. "If you say that to me one more time, I swear I'll kill you."
We both fell silent, and the room was quiet but for my harsh breathing. "Rexikat," he finally said, "the armlets do not restrict your will in anyway. They simply prevent you from leaving this world until..."
"Until what?" I asked.
"I say so," he admitted. "I can take them off myself, but I'm not willing to take that risk. Not until you listen to me, and learn."
"So you're content with keeping me here as your pet until--"
"Not a pet," he growled back at me, eyes flashing, "never a pet. An equal."
I drew back, surprised at his sudden anger. He took the opportunity to knock me off him, and drew himself up off the floor. He picked me up by the arm, and held me against the wall.
"Listen," he said viciously in a low voice with narrowed eyes, "I know you are upset. I know you don't like being caged. Trust me, I know. I've trapped you here when that's the last thing you wanted. But you are not in any way my slave, nor are you a pet. You are mine, my equal, my rival, my mate, the only one who deserves my respect in this universe."
My eyes widened. "Mate..."
I flopped onto the bed, holding my hands over my closed eyes. I moaned in aggravation. Mate? That was what this whole mess had started over? How could I possibly be his mate? The Nobody side of me protested violently, screaming out against the term that implied emotions, but the animal side, the tigress, understood everything completely. I didn't know which side to believe.
He threw Serix away from himself and ran as fast as he could. They had been fighting for only ten minutes, yet the drain on his energy was nearly almost thirty percent. He had tried not to draw the fight out, but the man was staying too much on the defensive for him to do anything of real damage.
Pashnirix could hear the light patter of Serix’s feet behind him as they rushed through the hallways towards the North Tower. Clashing down the stairs, Pashnirix tumbled to the bottom, rolling into a crouch as he rose. He scanned the area quickly with his eyes, ears, and nose—and found that the scent of the tigress was already growing cold.
“Damn,” he muttered, dodging another blow from Serix. Quickly rising from his roll, he sprinted back into the North Tower, intending on getting to the West Tower before Serix. He soon realized that Serix wasn’t even following him.
He paused in his running, leaning against the wall. Suddenly, it occurred to him: Serix had simply portalled to the West Tower. “Damn,” he exclaimed again, hastily portalling off to the West Tower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just a couple more seconds… I nimbly arranged the second set of bombs at the base of the tower, and was seconds away from finishing when I heard a noise behind me.
Whipping around quickly, I saw it was a member of Organization Zero. While I knew he couldn’t see me, I felt a strange and distinct pull on my energy as he slowly walked closer. Not wanting to disclose my position until the last possible second, I stood still, hands fisted and waiting to attack.
Finally, when he wasn’t even a breath away, I lashed out with my claws, slashing the side of his cheek and rolling away as he swung a huge sword. I ran and jumped off his sword, clipping him again in the back of the head. This time, though, he managed to snag me with the backstroke of his swing, hurling me into a wall.
As I dropped to the ground, I felt way more tired than I knew I should be. My instincts told me that the drain he was performing on my energy was weakening me, and fast. I needed to end this.
Dropping my chains to the ground, I brought them forward to surround him, but to my surprise, they were deflected by a mirror he summoned forth. Since he was hidden behind the mirror, by the time I noticed that the man had portalled behind me, I had only turned half-around, and he knocked me to the ground.
Before I could get up, though, I felt someone run past me, and I saw a multitude of scimitars embed themselves in the white-haired man’s chest. “Mine,” growled Pashnirix in front of me.
The man with the white hair and scimitars in his chest staggered back, glaring at Pashnirix. I rose to my feet with a graceful twist, ready to fight Pashnirix, but it seemed he wasn’t finished. Raising his hand in the air and calling his scimitar back to himself, he stalked forward, roaring, “I don’t like other people touching my THINGS!”
I could see that Pashnirix was near approaching his Final form. A scaly tail swished angrily back and forth as he dashed forward, slashing the other Nobody in a series of elaborate moves. I was frozen by the beauty of it all; Pashnirix was a terrible fascinating fighter to watch, especially this angry.
Finally, the other Nobody acknowledged his defeat, slumping to the ground unconscious. As Pashnirix turned to me, the same steely glint in his eyes, I did the only thing my instincts were telling me: I ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I met up with Ximh, Xait, and Ama in one of the main hallways. We were all running as hard as we could. The entire building was beginning to crumble around us, chunks of stone falling with heavy decisiveness.
As we ran out of the Citadel, Triskix and Lexian were arriving on the scene.
“Ximh!” Triskix yelled. “We have to stop whatever you’re doing! It’s destroying our castle!”
“What?” Ximh yelled. We heard a loud explosion in the background.
“No time for talk!” Lexian bellowed. “We need to stop the bombs!” I nearly started cussing my brains out. My instincts were never wrong. Ever.
“But I’ve already detonated them!” Ximh yelled back.
“Then we must contain them,” Lexian answered. “If this continues neither world will have a castle left….” He trailed off, and I looked between Lexian and Triskix, confused. Not only had we failed, but our Castle was going down as well?
“Yes, we have to stop them,” muttered Triskix. “Ximh, where is the largest bomb?”
“In the center….it is supposed to go off first, and then detonate the rest….” Ximh answered hesitantly. “But it’s already started the other explosions….”
“We have to contain the other bombs!” Triskix yelled.
“Yeah, come on,” Lexian yelled, and he and Triskix ran towards the Citadel.
“Wait!” Xait yelled, but Lexian and Triskix were already running.
“Come on,” said Ximh to the four of us, “let’s get out of here now while we can.”
“I think not,” said a voice from behind us. I turned around to see the hilt of Pashnirix’s sword aimed straight for my temple, and then I blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I woke up, I was in a comfy bed, and I was warm. It was strangely quiet; the last thing I remembered was…
“The attack on the Citadel!” I bolted upright in the bed, and then held a hand to my head in pain. “Ow,” I hissed.
“You shouldn’t make any sudden movements,” said a pleasant voice with a hint of amusement. I looked up to glare at Pashnirix.
“You,” I growled, “this is your fault. What the hell happened? The last thing I remember was you clocking me upside the head with your sword, which, by the way, was a pretty dirty move. I expected better from you.”
“My fault,” laughed Pashnirix, “of course. Here.” He placed a cool cloth on my forehead. I didn’t protest. My head was killing me.
“Apparently, my Leader found out somehow about our little plot. That man you were fighting before, Serix, is his faithful little pet, and was spying on me unnoticed,” said Pashnirix. “Xerebus sent Serix to prevent me from meeting up with you. He failed, though, and miserably.”
I though back to that fight. “You said…you don’t like people touching your things,” I said slowly. “Exactly what did you mean by that, pray tell?”
Pashnirix shrugged. “I am a dragon, yes? Such is my nature,” he responded mysteriously. Before I could protest further, he brought something out from behind his back. “Here. This is for you, as an apology for your injuries.”
The moment he said “apology,” I grew suspicious, but I opened the package anyway. Inside was a pair of golden armlets, decorated with beautiful gemstones. I frowned, and turned to him, holding the precious items carefully. “What—”
“I guessed you would like them,” he said. “The gems are tiger’s eye stones. I figured they suited you nicely.”
He was right; the stones were he exact color my eyes turned when I was in Final form, and set in the jewelry as they were, they were gorgeous. “Thank you,” I said, fitting them onto my upper arms, “but these look so expensive, not to mention hoard-worthy. What made the dragon give up what must be one of his most prized possessions?” I teased, nudging him with my foot.
He got up from the bed and walked to the door, eyeing me enigmatically. “Who said I gave up anything? If anything, I’d say I just gained a new possession.”
I furrowed my brow, growing more nervous as he continued to watch me. In a panic, I suddenly grabbed at the armlets, becoming fearful as they weren’t coming off. No matter how hard I pulled, they seemed stuck to me.
I sharply turned my eyes to his, noticing his wide grin. “Oh, crap,” I said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KitKat: Whew! That was a long one!
Rexikat: What the hell! Get these armlets off me, you freak!
Pashnirix: :p Nnnnnope. You walked into this one all on your own.
Rexikat: Look, you insolent dragon, get these things OFF ME!
Pashnirix: Sorry, no can do. You’re mine now. Mine, mine, MINE!
Rexikat: YOU EGOTISTICAL JERK WITH THE MENTALITY OF A FIVE-YEAR-OLD!
KitKat: ^_^’ Oh boy, this should be interesting. I'll explain the nature of the armlets in my next post!
Ximh and I walked to the Dining Hall to meet up with the other members, and to find Xait and Amaterasux. Everyone was gathered, all twenty some-odd of us, except for a few…like RaXi, and Triskix, and Lexian. But Xait and Ama were easy enough to find.
Ximh gave them the black balls that Tamex had made, explaining that they were cloaking devices, and then Kyxsha addressed us all.
“Ladies and gentlemen, now is the time to FIGHT. After your missions, I know some of you are tired, but I assure you, this fight is NOT to the death; it is simply a battle to see which side has the upper hand in this WAR, the war to rule the worlds. So please, go to The World that ALWAYS was and show them. WE ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH. WE ARE ORGANIZATION THIRTEEN, AND WE WILL RULE THE WORLDS!”
I snorted a bit at her fanfare, leaned over to Ximh, and whispered, “In her overzealous haste, has she forgotten that we are not Org. XIII, but Organization Oblivion?”
He pouted. “Hey, leave her alone,” he whispered back.
The Leader, standing behind Kyxsha, opened up a huge portal to the Citadel. This was it; we were going to go through with a plan that I completely opposed and just knew from instinct was going to fail. I sighed, travelling through the portal with everyone else.
As we arrived in front of the Citadel, she called out, “WE COME HERE TO FIGHT! DO YOU ACCEPT OUR CHALLENGE, OR FORFEIT?”
I nearly slapped a palm to my face. Talk about obtrusive.
Organization Zero’s members came out of the Citadel’s main doorway. My eyes darted quickly across the ranks, searching for a ponytail of ice blue hair, but finding none. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance, and wondered where the dragon could be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He finally found what he had been looking for: a pair of golden armlets studded with beautiful tiger’s eye stones. He hadn’t believed the seer who had given them to him when she had foreseen his future need for them, but now, Pashnirix couldn’t have been more grateful. They would make perfect…gifts for his mate. He smiled ruefully.
“I am not so sure how well she will like them, though,” he mused to himself. Pricking his ears, he heard the call of Organization Oblivion outside the Citadel. Polishing his blade one last time and stowing the armlets in his pocket, he made his way up to the roof through a secret passageway and, hiding behind a spire, watched for his tigress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyxsha engaged in battle first, with someone who clearly knew how to push her buttons. Wasting no time, I grabbed Ximh by the arm. “Let’s go,” I said.
As I ran, I pulled into my element, feeling the feline ears forming on my head and my tail swishing around my legs. I hadn’t bothered wearing my boots, and I could feel the claws on my feet-turned-paws digging into the ground. Entering the Citadel, I quickly called on my camouflage, and watched the others as they used the balls that Tamex made. I had to give it to him, they worked pretty well. Had my other senses not been enhanced as they were, I probably wouldn’t have found them at all.
“Okay,” I whispered, “you know the plan. Ximh, you take the Central Tower. I’ll take the North and West Towers, Xait, you take East, and Ama, you take South. Understand?”
Everyone nodded, and Ximh said, “Good luck,” as we all set off. Carefully holding the bombs, I scampered off in the direction of the North Tower first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pashnirix watched as Rexikat entered the Citadel. He had heard their plan, of course, and slipped from the roof to proceed to the North Tower. On his way there, however he met an obstacle…
“Serix,” sighed Pashnirix in annoyance. The man was ridiculously silent, only speaking with good reason, but he was terribly observant, and if anyone would have figured out his dealings with Rexikat, it would have been him.
“Pashnirix,” replied Serix, eyed the other man coldly. “You have been meeting with the enemy.”
The Dragon Duelist laughed him off. “Oh, that. You needn’t worry yourself, Serix. The Leader already—”
“The Leader knows of your plan,” Serix interrupted tonelessly. “He knows you were planning on running away with the Chained Rhapsody, their IX. He sent me to stop you.”
Pashnirix narrowed his eyes. “Running away? I would hardly call ‘kidnapping’ running away,” he taunted, folding his arms, still refusing to draw a weapon.
“Your antics will not sway me, Pashnirix,” answered Serix. “I serve Xerebus. He is my master, and his word is law. I will stop you, or die trying. You are not to leave with that Nobody.” He summoned forth a large sword, and Pashnirix could already feel the drain on his own energy. He would need to end this quickly.
Drawing his scimitar, he said, “Very well, Serix, but know that your fading will not disturb me in the least.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I reached the North Tower without incident. Quickly hurrying down the stairs to the base of the tower, I arranged the bomb exactly as I was instructed. My skin prickled as I worked, but I tried to ignore the feeling.
I couldn’t help but keep looking over my shoulder, not only for enemies, but for Pashnirix as well. Despite our arrangement to make it look like a kidnapping, I didn’t want to be caught off guard yet again. Finishing the job, I took one last glance around, and then hurried onto the next tower, the West Tower. Hopefully, the others would get theirs down just as fast and without incident.
Only one more tower to go…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 1 of Rex's part in the Citadel Attack...
Trying to live up to his standards...I nearly laughed at such childish beliefs. "Soft-hearted," I said darkly. "Such thinking will certainly get you killed someday."
Tamex shrugged. "Those are my standards. I'd rather die following them than live against them."
I narrowed my eyes. I couldn't stand people like him, who didn't understand the ruthlessness of the world, that there were people out there who would take advantage of his courtesy and kill him in an instant if given the chance. "You simple-minded boy. Your thinking is so idealistic, it's a wonder if you've even managed to kill. If our goal is truly to take down Organization Zero, you wouldn't be talking about evacuation in the first place. Hell, we wouldn't even be bombing the place; we'd be infiltrating it ourselves and seeing to each members' death personally! You're severely underestimating our opponents, Tamex, and it could be the death of you!"
Tamex was silent after my tirade, and glanced to the floor. "Lady Rexikat," he said quietly, "perhaps...perhaps you think too much like a tigress, and not enough as a person."
I blinked for a moment, and then angrily replied, "I think like someone who wants to survive, like someone who doesn't want to be killed due to a preventable mistake. You think that Organization Zero wouldn't hesitate to take our lives?" I stomped over to the door. "Think again."
I opened the door, ready to leave, when I remembered something. "Ximh, I need to go before I do something I regret. Let me know when we're ready to leave."
He nodded, and I left the room. I couldn't believe that Tamex would think like that. Somehow, it seemed like he had only suggested that bomb plan to give Zero a chance at survival. If we really wanted them dead, then...
I smashed my fist into a wall, leaving a chain shaped mark, and growled. I could feel my element creeping up on me, begging for a hunt, but I pushed it down, knowing there was no one here decent for me to fight. Instead, I slumped down the wall with my head in my hands. It seemed like nobody understood my way of thinking.
...Maybe this time with Pashnirix would be good for me after all.
