Gauron x Sousuke fanart, and Time Travel~
Chapter One: Two Tigers
Sousuke had no idea where he was. Just a second ago, he had been on Merida, trying to stop Amalgam's insane plan of activating the TARTAROS to change history. And now he was in a wild jungle, next to a pile of dead bodies.
He heard a click from behind his head.
"Who are you?! Where did you come from?"
It sounded like Khmer to Sousuke. Unfortunately, while Sousuke could recognize how the language sounded, he couldn't understand it very well. Glancing back, Sousuke noticed the way the man was dressed. Plainly, but clean - a blue-ish gray uniform and a cap.
Sousuke did not bother to answer. He abruptly grabbed the man's arm that was holding the gun, and forced it into the sky. A shot rang out, and the man panicked. Sousuke brought a knee into the man's stomach, and finished him off with a blow to the crotch. As the man was on the ground writhing in pain, Sousuke picked the gun up and pointed it at him.
"How - how dare you! I'm part of the Khmer Rouge regime! You won't get away with this!" The man threatened.
Sousuke caught the words "Khmer Rouge," coupled with the way this man was dressed... no, impossible.
The man lunged at Sousuke. Bad move. Sousuke's immediate reaction was to shoot the man and kill him.
Sousuke was now more confused than ever. Khmer Rouge? Sousuke doubted that the man was trying to tell him he was attacking him out of revenge for something Sousuke did during the Khmer Rouge. Sousuke wasn't even born back then. A Khmer Rouge sympathizer? Those were rare. And why would they attack him? And yet Sousuke could tell right away that this man was not a part of Amalgam.
Sousuke took out his radio and attempted to contact Mithril headquarters. However, all he received was static. This was completely unnatural. Mithril was not so behind in technology that their reception would not reach here. Where was this? Cambodia, Sousuke supposed. From Merida to Cambodia. Nothing was making sense to him.
Sousuke cautiously made his way through the jungle, hoping that someone, or something, would give him a clue as to where the hell he was. He heard the sound of crackling - footsteps on leaves. He quickly hid himself behind a tree and waited.
A group of men, dressed the same as the man Sousuke just killed, were walking by. They were talking and laughing raucously, and seemed to be in high spirits. At least, until they saw the body of one of their comrades. They seemed to notice that the kill was fresh, and were now looking for the person who dared to harm one of them.
They all seemed very nervous, and one of them lost it. Aiming his gun at random parts of the wilderness, he fired. And with the horrible luck Sousuke seemed to have right now, his line of fire eventually fell to the tree Sousuke was hiding behind. It was no longer safe to stay behind the tree - any slight deflection of a bullet, any slight shot from an angle, could spell very bad news for Sousuke if he were to remain there. Sousuke rolled to take cover behind a large rock that covered more area. Taking out his machine gun pistol, Sousuke prepared to take the enemies down.
The enemies, on the other hand, caught a glimpse of him. Some of them were delighted, mentioning that they had a beauty this time. They jeered at him to come out, and one of them joked that he would be fun to play with, as he had softer and paler skin than any villager here. All of these comments fell to deaf ears. Sousuke remained unprovoked by them - especially considering that he had no idea what they were saying.
It only took him two minutes, once prepared, to take the entire unit down. Sousuke noted that their weapons seemed very outdated, and they were complete amateurs in combat compared to him. If he were less apathetic, perhaps he might have felt a bit bad, even, by how easy it was to take their lives.
What Sousuke was most worried about, however, was being slowly affirmed. He had been suppressing this theory within his mind, hoping it was not the case. But more and more, he was being convinced that it had happened. Leonard's plan succeeded. TARTAROS was activated on Merida. This was the past - the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. But somehow, Leonard's plan did not completely succeed. Sousuke was still the same. Although time was reset, Sousuke seemed to be the only one unaffected by the time change. He was sent back in history.
This was ridiculous. Sousuke hated things like this - the supernatural, which he had a hard time wrapping his mind around. It was the same with the Lambda Driver. "Just believe." He was the last person in the world that liked "just believing" in stuff like this. But right now, he had no other choice but to believe that that was what happened.
Sousuke wandered blindly around the forest, desperately trying to find his way. He was exhausted, and it was getting dark. This wouldn't do. He would have to find a place to rest for the night. He made his way to a large tree, and stopped to catch his breath. It was then that he heard a growl coming from a bush across. He slowly aimed his pistol, and waited. And out from the bush came a tiger. They both stared at each other, looking into the other's eyes. It was a bizarre staring contest, with both regarding the other cautiously.
It became a stalemate after several minutes passed. The atmosphere was less tense, and it seemed almost like a game for the tiger. Somehow, somewhere along the line, this tiger seemed to regard Sousuke as one of its kind. And Sousuke was reminded of Shiro when he looked at this tiger. A cautious pet kitty, who was just trying to survive. So much like him.
"Akatora. You're a good kitty. Good boy - sit." Sousuke encouraged, using the same stern, yet calm voice he used with Shiro.
The tiger purred, seeming very pleased with its new name. It stepped in front of Sousuke and laid down.
Sousuke slowly kneeled in front of it and pet its head. The tiger's eyes sparkled, and it nuzzled Sousuke.
Son of Bdakshon's Tiger. This name had many meanings. Part of it had been a joke on the part of Sousuke's old comrades. They found it highly amusing that Sousuke had such an affinity to wild animals. That he could tame even the most viscous of tigers, as he was one himself. For Sousuke, it had always been that way. He understood tigers more than he understood most humans, and he would oftentimes prefer their company. For a more extreme example, he could deal with a tiger with much more ease than he could deal with a woman. Kaname, Tessa, and Mao showed him this time and again. Tigers listened to reason and made sense - women did not.
"Akatora, we both need strength. It's hard, isn't it? Dealing with all this hardship. But we will survive. Because we're warriors." Sousuke stroked and pet his new friend, and the tiger purred happily at the warm contact. They both fell asleep together, and for Sousuke, it was a much warmer night than it could have been thanks to Akatora's fluffy body.