Shounen-ai: implied Larva x Garline
Created 27th May 2005

To know my story, you must hear it from the beginning.
That beginning is not with Miyu, but with you, Garline.

Full of bravery and courage we all were, our whole band of Western Shinma. We sailed on our Ship, named after you, that which we called Light of the Sea, and visited the coastlines, one after the other. From whence we came, there are no more than legends to tell of. Some would say the darkness, from the empty void which all Shinma did originate. Others would whisper of a secret place, they called it not by name nor by writing, since the very name was too evil to speak in words or in script. But they said it was there nonetheless; a desolate place where creatures of the night and of the blood preyed on any so foolish enough to venture into.
And we, Western Shinma so despised, did nothing to dispel such rumours, for in their fear we had already won the battle.

And so we sailed on – we visited much. Asia... Europe... so it went on, until one day we found ourselves on the coasts of old Africa. It was so long ago, yet if I probe, I can replay within the confines of my mind every last detail of that journey along the coast.
It was so quiet – the sea was rough but our ship was not unused to such weather. It must have been cold, too, but if it was we did not concern ourselves with it. We were Shinma, proud and fearless, and such concerns were below us. The cold was something only humans and animals dealt with, and they were ours for the taking as we wished it.

We came to rest before the shore one night, easily avoiding the sharp rocks that would have crushed any other ship in a matter of moments. That was Lilith's doing – she had ever been skillful with her flute, and Light of the Sea responded to her every breath. If ever we were in enemy territory, it was her doing that would entice the enemy out. If needed, she could also incapacitate any living being with that flute of hers. She never did, though, for that would have ruined our fun. The best part of the hunting was always the hunt itself – that we all agreed on.
Barrow was there, too – him and that ghost horse of his – a pile of bones forming a skeleton of what had once been a magnificent creature. It still was, in some ways, but he never did tell us how that horse came to be, dead for perhaps tens of hundreds of years. After after all that time, it still held its head high, and only Barrow could get near it. His skill was with the blade, also, though mine and yours could easily outstrip his own. He was really a lower-level Shinma, though powerful enough in his own right to travel with us.

You yourself were something else. We were so similar, in our likes and in our dislikes, and in our passion for the hunt. I doubt anyone could find two Shinma so the same anywhere. Like brothers we were, though also much more than that. Never did we discover who of us was the strongest in our power – I suspect that any fair fight would have taken many days to decide upon a winner, and in any case, it did not worry us. We were both strong – enormously so – and that was enough.

And then there was I, Larva, powerful Western Shinma and with varying ways of winning a battle quite literally at my fingertips. People feared me above all – not because of my powers which many did not witness, but because of my eyes, red like their life-force soon to be spilled.

"A dead man's eyes", they said in hushed tones. "No, not even a man. The evil one himself, come to haunt us!"
Truly it must have seemed like that, for the mist came at our call, and so Light of the Sea, appearing as if by some sorcery, from nowhere – a Ghost Ship to claim souls, or so it was said. Perhaps it was, after a fashion.

That night we had landed as we always did; silent and unfearing, almost tasting the blood already that would be shed in abundance once our night's work had been completed. Lilith especially was in high spirits, leaping about with a gleam in her eye that meant she soon would be feeding.
And feed we did; we had not fed so well in many moons. The people were fearing us from only one glimpse.

"The red-eye demon!"

"He has come... we will die..."

"The temptress herself, her with the charmed flute!"

"The ghost-horse... he will claim our souls, and the bones will rattle out into the night upon our deaths...!"

Yes, they were fearing us. Some, through their fear, stood their ground and fought. They were no match for us – had there been an army to fight us, still they would have been no match, for we were mighty in our slaughter, and they were weak, deserving of their deaths. One or two we left alive, wounded but not mortally so.
This was how it worked; we would feast, and those left alive would run to their villages, and so the rumours were spread. With the rumours came the fear – we could feel it, making them ever weaker. If they had no chance against those such as us when they were strong, when they were weak with knees trembling and teeth chattering in terror, we were invincible.

None challenged us on our way back to the ship. You and I walked close together, our hands stained crimson.

"A good feed, Garline. They were almost too afraid – I had hoped for a challenge."

I had always been arrogant, and you along with me.

"Indeed. You know that will never happen. The humans are pitiful, and too weak for any such challenge. Always, we will feed without mercy, and always we will win out."

"I know. But I sometimes wish..."

Your gaze sharpened – well you knew my desire to fight with someone on an equal level. I wanted an enemy, I wanted to taste their blood and feel their life-force drain away by my hands.

And so we made a pact that day, a pact sealing our own bond - for it was not only my wish, but yours as well - to fight an enemy one day on equal footing with ourselves. The bond was sealed with our own blood. It meant that we would always be connected, in some way, though we knew not how. Barrow was still away on his ghost-horse, but Lilith was there, hearing our conversation. Eagerly and without hesitation, she spilled her own blood in accordance with the pact, and so it was done.
Soon after that night we went our separate ways, for there were not enough people to feed on with all four of us at once. Barrow went alone, his thirst for blood not slackened that night. We did not miss him.

You and Lilith stuck together – Lilith because of Light of the Sea, and you because Lilith wished it so. She was never a person to be introverted and alone, and you, because of the pact, would not deny her that wish.

I went alone. You tried to convince me otherwise but, like Barrow, my thirsting was over only for the night, and I knew I had to leave and find my own way to feed. You could not stop me. In the end, Lilith stepped down, saying to you to let me go as I wished.

"He will be back", she said, voice light but intense. "The bond will make it so, and nothing can prevent this from coming to pass. One way... or another."

Even that far back, did she See what was going to happen? To this day, I do not know.

Either way, I found myself alone several weeks later – it was on the shores of Japan. My eyes glittered, finding nobody to fight with, and I had not eaten in some time, by then. Disappointed, I cast my senses but could feel no living beings nearby.

"What a poor country", I mused. "Its almost too poor for me to even bother taking over."

Imagine my surprise, then, when a voice, cool and low-pitched, spoke into the darkness from behind me.

"Don't be so quick to judge."

I spun around, startled for a moment. Why had I not sensed her? In another moment though, I relaxed. She was not alive; that was why I had not. Her skin was ashen, and her eyes a golden sheen.

"Welcome Western Shinma", she continued, voice still held soft. "But unfortunately, I cannot let you go any further."

Now her voice was still soft, but in it was held a note of finality. I grinned, wanting to start a fight and wondering idly whether she would be any challenge at all for me.

"You've got a bad attitude. You're a Japanese Shinma?" I smirked, lusting for the coming battle.

"Actually I'm The Guardian here", she replied.

So the battle began. I was strong, but so was she; I had at first underestimated my prey. We fought for a long time; how long it was I do not know. The mist was all around, screening off the outside world. There was only myself and her, and we fought unto what must have been nearly the dawning. At some point we paused for breath, though we hardly needed it.

"I must admit", I said, still all arrogance, "I was pleasantly surprised... to have come across a Special Shinma like you."

"Did I teach you what fear is all about?" She asked, eyes narrowed and glaring.

I laughed.

"Hardly. I'm enjoying this. Especially the part when I look at your body floating in the ocean."

"Look again, it might be you", said the girl, and her voice was now dangerously soft. She was determined, and without fear as much as I ever was.

My skill with the blade eventually won out, as I knew it must – with one hand a moment later she was impaled, the blood flowing out in a river of red. I grinned again, victorious...

And then stopped, completely dumbfounded, for I had not won as was first thought.

I hunched over a little, now mortally wounded, for she, even in her death-throes, had bitten my neck. The blood spilled over my shoulder, and her eyes were for a small time as red as my own. She had bitten deeply; we were both dying.

Time stopped as we stood, each leaning on the other for support. Another pact was made, though unknowingly at the time. Our blood flowed together – it intermingled, binding us together with the strongest of pacts – an unspoken one. She and I had died that night, but we had also been reborn; she with my blood, and I with hers.
In doing so she had my respect and, because I was but a Western Shinma and she a Guardian, also my obedience. In times of need, should she call, I would be there. If she was hurt, I was hurt also. I felt her heart pulse with blood as my own did. We became one.

"You know I will follow you as long as you wish me to, Miyu", I said that day, and it was just as the new day broke forth, before we found a place to rest, for we both were exhausted.

I made that promise, and another – that if she were to tire from the cycle she was forced to go through, I would end her life. With my own hands, I would end her life, and then I would die also, for we could not live without the other.
So we slept, and the promise was ever-kept, a sacred thing that bonded us for as long as we both lived out our existences, such as they were.

That is my story.

Garline, do you see? Do you see why it happened, how it happened? Do you see that I had no choice, my friend, for indeed it could not have been any other way. I had to kill you, had to hold to my word. I promised. It could not be broken, do you see that? But you're dead – of course you don't see. You didn't see, and so I had no choice.

But I tried to tell you. I tried so hard, Garline, and maybe you did see in the end, just a little.

Why else would a faint smile have crossed your lips at that moment? Why else did you grip so hard, your nails digging into my cloak, black as the Void?

My own voice spoke within me, repeating the promise I had made.

"You know I will follow you as long as you wish me to, Miyu."

My last words to you were as true as I had ever spoken to you, as you leaned over me and dribbled what was the last of the blood left in your body, growing so heavy in my arms.

"Now its Miyu's choice. When she wishes to put an end to this, I will do it. Until that time, no-one will harm her... not even one I call Friend."

You gave a strangled gasp, the strength ebbing from your voice. And, with your very last breath, you spoke.

"Then... that means... you still consider me a... friend?"

You leaned ever heavier – we both knew you were dying, would die in a matter of seconds. So I whispered in your ear, the last words you would ever hear again, and my hand rested in your hair, already losing its lustre.

"You Garline. You, the one named Light of the Sea."

So you died, fully collapsing, the last of the blood draining away, just as it had to so many others by your own doing – yours and mine both.

There ends my tale – I tell it over in my head in the hopes that somewhere, even in the giant Void to which you must have returned, would hear it, and understand why I killed you. You were my friend, that I promise above all.

One day, I will see you again. Until then...

The night is still young, and I thirst once again, for the night is for hunting.