Of Seasons and Spots - Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Spirit
“So what you mean to say,” Zico purred and he slouched further in the large arm chair looking like a rather stastfied feline, “is that you, of all people, are completely clueless.”
Heechul bit back the snarl that tried to escape his lips. It wasn’t that he hadn’t gained a single idea as to what was going on with the werehyena, but that he had been thwarted at every turn. Hankyung had chased him out of his mind and then reinforced his magical guards so that the vampire didn’t have a hope of gaining reentry. He had hit a similar obstacle with the other witch he had access to. Minho had refused to allow him to get near any real information and he hadn’t yet decided if he was willing to fight that battle on the plane of reality.
Any other Master would have immediately sought out those that belonged to him and forced their submission. The trouble was, magic tended to be a tricky thing. With a witch’s cooperation he could get just about anything done with their magic, without it would be an uphill battle the entire time, one he wasn’t certain he could win. He could, of course, simply go up to the witch and ask for permission to dig in his mind, but even if Onew would have granted it to him, Minho never would. Breaking the vampire for a second time to get him to obey, might just be the thing that finally made him irreparable. Solving the problems happening with a species that was not his own wasn’t worth damaging the valuable assets he had.
“I am not clueless,” Heechul told him finally, his eyes flashing brilliant red. “In fact I know exactly how to deal with your problem.”
“You do?” the werehyena couldn’t hide his hope at that statement as his body visibly perked up.
“Yes. Come here,” he gestured to the floor by his feet. Immediately the man rose and moved to him. “Kneel.”
There was a pause as man and Beast warred for control. Heechul knew that the man wanted the problem fixed and would gladly do as asked while the beast portion of himself wanted in no way to take on the pose of extreme submission. Zico’s muscles tensed and then released before he dropped to his knees at Heechul’s feet. His body was stiff, clearly not a complete victory, but enough of one for Heechul to let his satisfied smirk spread. Despite the fact that they were old acquaintances, both were still deadly predators.
Slowly Heechul leaned forward and settled his hands on either side of Zico’s head, holding it still. “Relax,” he purred, knowing exactly how hard it would be for Zico to do such a thing.
He waited until a deep sigh passed Zico’s lips before reaching out with his mind and gently probing the one in front of him. The werehyena had little defense from his mental touch, nothing more substantial than the basic magic of a Pack that tired to fight him off. It was easy to slip beneath, and skim over the thoughts of his conscious mind. Heechul wasn’t looking for memories, although habit brought him a brief temptation, but the irritated presence of another was his goal.
It had been interesting the first time he had experienced two beings in one mind. To his Talent, who a person was, was intricately tied with every portion of their minds. A werewolf or creature of that sort was incredibly different. The human portion, the man that Zico once was, was tied with nearly every portion of his mind, yet the second presence, the Beast, was marginally more removed. The Beast was tied with thin tethers to most things in the mind but exclusively to those dealing with pack. In some he had noticed, the ties were different, some Beasts tethered tighter at some points than others, but he could always see two distinct and unequal parts. The only exception to this had been Jay, who seemed to have two parts fully tethered to the entirety of what he was.
Heechul had no trouble picking out the part of Zico’s mind that was all Beast, snarling and irritated with him as it was. He resisted the temptation to provoke it, destroy it in it’s own home as he longed to cast destruction upon something. Instead he pushed to a nearby corner and began to construct.
Building shields was a habit to him, second nature to protect his own mind as well as those under his control, and they spun into existence with little more than a thought. Harder, was his goal of shielding just a small section of the mind instead of the whole thing as was his typical used to. Containing the shields within the small portion proved to be a bit of a challenge and Heechul was grateful he had chosen to build the containment first and add the Beast second.
It took several moments before he was satisfied that his construction would hold and he carefully parted the shield, allowing him a door with which to pull things in. One of the things that the Beast was primarily the connection to, was the transformation to animal. If Heechul could contain the Beast, and cut of his control, in theory Zico would be unable to shift to his animal side, therefore fixing the problem. The theory seemed sound in practice and he couldn’t deny that he was eager to test it.
Carefully, so as not to startle the creature, he pushed the shield towards where it glared at him. For a moment he had debated dragging the Beast to his shield, but he imagined that would have encouraged it to put up a fight. That wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, strictly speaking, but he would rather have Taemin amplifying his Talent if he were to directly confront it. Since his fledgling was beginning to experience hunger for things not of a vampiric nature more and more by the day, it likely wasn’t wise to put him right next to a creature that smell like a delicacy and was presented in a submissive position. A sneak attack on a Beast who wouldn’t know what was happening until it was too late would be best.
As he neared he could feel the snarl of the Beast, a clear warning for him to stay away but it wouldn’t matter. Here Heechul was the one in power and there was nothing the creature could do to stop him. With a triumphant smirk Heechul pushed the shielding onto the Beast beginning the process of stuffing it inside.
He had, by his estimation, stuffed approximately half of it into the cage when everything came apart. One of the tethers on the Beast flashed white hot with the pulse of pure Pack magic. Pain lanced through his mind and Heechul jerked his reach back to himself behind the protection of his shields. Raw powerful magic lashed at his protections as he recoiled and his eyes flashed open. Zico was crouched across the room where he had sprung, both eyes flashing bright blue and a snarl curling his lips. His skin seemed to ripple and shift with the shades of his fur but maintained it’s current state. Snarling in response, Heechul lunged from the chair and kicked it backwards into the wall so that it couldn’t interfere with him if he needed to fight.
For a moment Zico crouched growling, an animal trapped in the half form he had been for days and Heechul met the aggression with his own ignoring the pain as he lashed out with his mind and dealt the werehyena a stinging blow. The magic lashed at him again, bright and angry. The Pack magic, different than the magic that comprised his Talent, stood a chance of overpowering his control. Instinctively he reached to the magic that was at his command, the substantial well that was Hankyung. He could feel it, just beyond the reach of Talent, shielded from him in the witches anger. By the time he accessed it, it would be too late for him, frustrating in its actuality.
As quickly as it had come the magic receded, leaving a trembling man in it’s wake. Heechul could smell fear and although the magic had pulled away, the Beast was very much in the forefront of Zico’s mind. “You tried to destroy us,” he snarled, the words slurred and difficult to make out.
“Not destroy, bind,” Heechul corrected.
“Same!” The degrading of the creatures speech likely wasn’t a good sign. In a physical fight the vampire would have no problems in beating the werehyena as long as the magic of the pack was no longer a factor. Smoothly he straightened, allowing the air of humanity that he always carried to flow away.
“You are here in my home, in my territory. I may do anything I would like and there is nothing you can do about it. What is more, you cannot stop me. You nor your pack,” the declaration of power felt delicious, the familiar weight of authority falling upon his shoulders once more.
“We came for help,” the creature accused him. “You destroy.”
“I may do as I please,” Heechul replied flippantly. “If you don’t like it, then leave.”
He watched as the creatures gaze flicked to the door and back, his one clawed hand curling into the floor, tearing the carpet in indecision. Hyena’s were not the boldest creatures, sneaky, but not outright bold in action especially not when faced with any sort of real threat. If backed into a corner they could fight just as viciously as any other. However without the presence of their pack mates, they would be hesitant to start anything.
“Go ahead, run,” Heechul purred, releasing the feelings that rolled over him.
For a moment the werehyena froze and then an a surge of motion, sprinted for the door. Heechul held back his instincts to give chase but only just barely. The darker side of himself knew that there was no where the werehyena could hide from him, not in his own home, and that brought a smile to his face. Rolling his shoulders and flexing muscles that hadn’t been used for the past several weeks, Heechul reached out with his mind to his seethe. He had been lax, he knew, in the face of all that had happened, for perhaps longer than he truly thought, however that was going to change.
Invigorated by the flare of danger and power he had been forced to display he moved through his rooms to his walk in closet. There would undoubtedly be company in the near future and he wanted to be ready. Throwing open the door to the massive room he scanned its contents for what he wanted.
“Perfect,” he purred, moving forward and retrieving the garment from where it hung. His fingers smoothed over the fabric as his mind relayed instructions to those that belonged to him. In ten minutes time all would be ready and a part of him could hardly wait.
Spirit
“So what you mean to say,” Zico purred and he slouched further in the large arm chair looking like a rather stastfied feline, “is that you, of all people, are completely clueless.”
Heechul bit back the snarl that tried to escape his lips. It wasn’t that he hadn’t gained a single idea as to what was going on with the werehyena, but that he had been thwarted at every turn. Hankyung had chased him out of his mind and then reinforced his magical guards so that the vampire didn’t have a hope of gaining reentry. He had hit a similar obstacle with the other witch he had access to. Minho had refused to allow him to get near any real information and he hadn’t yet decided if he was willing to fight that battle on the plane of reality.
Any other Master would have immediately sought out those that belonged to him and forced their submission. The trouble was, magic tended to be a tricky thing. With a witch’s cooperation he could get just about anything done with their magic, without it would be an uphill battle the entire time, one he wasn’t certain he could win. He could, of course, simply go up to the witch and ask for permission to dig in his mind, but even if Onew would have granted it to him, Minho never would. Breaking the vampire for a second time to get him to obey, might just be the thing that finally made him irreparable. Solving the problems happening with a species that was not his own wasn’t worth damaging the valuable assets he had.
“I am not clueless,” Heechul told him finally, his eyes flashing brilliant red. “In fact I know exactly how to deal with your problem.”
“You do?” the werehyena couldn’t hide his hope at that statement as his body visibly perked up.
“Yes. Come here,” he gestured to the floor by his feet. Immediately the man rose and moved to him. “Kneel.”
There was a pause as man and Beast warred for control. Heechul knew that the man wanted the problem fixed and would gladly do as asked while the beast portion of himself wanted in no way to take on the pose of extreme submission. Zico’s muscles tensed and then released before he dropped to his knees at Heechul’s feet. His body was stiff, clearly not a complete victory, but enough of one for Heechul to let his satisfied smirk spread. Despite the fact that they were old acquaintances, both were still deadly predators.
Slowly Heechul leaned forward and settled his hands on either side of Zico’s head, holding it still. “Relax,” he purred, knowing exactly how hard it would be for Zico to do such a thing.
He waited until a deep sigh passed Zico’s lips before reaching out with his mind and gently probing the one in front of him. The werehyena had little defense from his mental touch, nothing more substantial than the basic magic of a Pack that tired to fight him off. It was easy to slip beneath, and skim over the thoughts of his conscious mind. Heechul wasn’t looking for memories, although habit brought him a brief temptation, but the irritated presence of another was his goal.
It had been interesting the first time he had experienced two beings in one mind. To his Talent, who a person was, was intricately tied with every portion of their minds. A werewolf or creature of that sort was incredibly different. The human portion, the man that Zico once was, was tied with nearly every portion of his mind, yet the second presence, the Beast, was marginally more removed. The Beast was tied with thin tethers to most things in the mind but exclusively to those dealing with pack. In some he had noticed, the ties were different, some Beasts tethered tighter at some points than others, but he could always see two distinct and unequal parts. The only exception to this had been Jay, who seemed to have two parts fully tethered to the entirety of what he was.
Heechul had no trouble picking out the part of Zico’s mind that was all Beast, snarling and irritated with him as it was. He resisted the temptation to provoke it, destroy it in it’s own home as he longed to cast destruction upon something. Instead he pushed to a nearby corner and began to construct.
Building shields was a habit to him, second nature to protect his own mind as well as those under his control, and they spun into existence with little more than a thought. Harder, was his goal of shielding just a small section of the mind instead of the whole thing as was his typical used to. Containing the shields within the small portion proved to be a bit of a challenge and Heechul was grateful he had chosen to build the containment first and add the Beast second.
It took several moments before he was satisfied that his construction would hold and he carefully parted the shield, allowing him a door with which to pull things in. One of the things that the Beast was primarily the connection to, was the transformation to animal. If Heechul could contain the Beast, and cut of his control, in theory Zico would be unable to shift to his animal side, therefore fixing the problem. The theory seemed sound in practice and he couldn’t deny that he was eager to test it.
Carefully, so as not to startle the creature, he pushed the shield towards where it glared at him. For a moment he had debated dragging the Beast to his shield, but he imagined that would have encouraged it to put up a fight. That wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, strictly speaking, but he would rather have Taemin amplifying his Talent if he were to directly confront it. Since his fledgling was beginning to experience hunger for things not of a vampiric nature more and more by the day, it likely wasn’t wise to put him right next to a creature that smell like a delicacy and was presented in a submissive position. A sneak attack on a Beast who wouldn’t know what was happening until it was too late would be best.
As he neared he could feel the snarl of the Beast, a clear warning for him to stay away but it wouldn’t matter. Here Heechul was the one in power and there was nothing the creature could do to stop him. With a triumphant smirk Heechul pushed the shielding onto the Beast beginning the process of stuffing it inside.
He had, by his estimation, stuffed approximately half of it into the cage when everything came apart. One of the tethers on the Beast flashed white hot with the pulse of pure Pack magic. Pain lanced through his mind and Heechul jerked his reach back to himself behind the protection of his shields. Raw powerful magic lashed at his protections as he recoiled and his eyes flashed open. Zico was crouched across the room where he had sprung, both eyes flashing bright blue and a snarl curling his lips. His skin seemed to ripple and shift with the shades of his fur but maintained it’s current state. Snarling in response, Heechul lunged from the chair and kicked it backwards into the wall so that it couldn’t interfere with him if he needed to fight.
For a moment Zico crouched growling, an animal trapped in the half form he had been for days and Heechul met the aggression with his own ignoring the pain as he lashed out with his mind and dealt the werehyena a stinging blow. The magic lashed at him again, bright and angry. The Pack magic, different than the magic that comprised his Talent, stood a chance of overpowering his control. Instinctively he reached to the magic that was at his command, the substantial well that was Hankyung. He could feel it, just beyond the reach of Talent, shielded from him in the witches anger. By the time he accessed it, it would be too late for him, frustrating in its actuality.
As quickly as it had come the magic receded, leaving a trembling man in it’s wake. Heechul could smell fear and although the magic had pulled away, the Beast was very much in the forefront of Zico’s mind. “You tried to destroy us,” he snarled, the words slurred and difficult to make out.
“Not destroy, bind,” Heechul corrected.
“Same!” The degrading of the creatures speech likely wasn’t a good sign. In a physical fight the vampire would have no problems in beating the werehyena as long as the magic of the pack was no longer a factor. Smoothly he straightened, allowing the air of humanity that he always carried to flow away.
“You are here in my home, in my territory. I may do anything I would like and there is nothing you can do about it. What is more, you cannot stop me. You nor your pack,” the declaration of power felt delicious, the familiar weight of authority falling upon his shoulders once more.
“We came for help,” the creature accused him. “You destroy.”
“I may do as I please,” Heechul replied flippantly. “If you don’t like it, then leave.”
He watched as the creatures gaze flicked to the door and back, his one clawed hand curling into the floor, tearing the carpet in indecision. Hyena’s were not the boldest creatures, sneaky, but not outright bold in action especially not when faced with any sort of real threat. If backed into a corner they could fight just as viciously as any other. However without the presence of their pack mates, they would be hesitant to start anything.
“Go ahead, run,” Heechul purred, releasing the feelings that rolled over him.
For a moment the werehyena froze and then an a surge of motion, sprinted for the door. Heechul held back his instincts to give chase but only just barely. The darker side of himself knew that there was no where the werehyena could hide from him, not in his own home, and that brought a smile to his face. Rolling his shoulders and flexing muscles that hadn’t been used for the past several weeks, Heechul reached out with his mind to his seethe. He had been lax, he knew, in the face of all that had happened, for perhaps longer than he truly thought, however that was going to change.
Invigorated by the flare of danger and power he had been forced to display he moved through his rooms to his walk in closet. There would undoubtedly be company in the near future and he wanted to be ready. Throwing open the door to the massive room he scanned its contents for what he wanted.
“Perfect,” he purred, moving forward and retrieving the garment from where it hung. His fingers smoothed over the fabric as his mind relayed instructions to those that belonged to him. In ten minutes time all would be ready and a part of him could hardly wait.