[fic]VF: YA Comm Timed Challenge: Out of the Cold
Title: Ya Comm Timed Challenge: Out of the Cold
Theme: Cold
Characters: Feilong, Tao, Asami, AxA referenced
Rated: PG-13
Time to write: 65 minutes, including spelling and grammar check.
Words: 1295
A/N This isn't the story I expected to write, but that's what happens with a timed writing lol.
The wind whipped the long hair about his face, lashing skin already stung by pellets of freezing rain as he walked across the empty countryside toward a hole in the ground that he dreaded approaching. They were only 60km inland from Hong Kong, but it looked like a different world, one he'd never have ventured into if he hadn't been driven by the name Takaba Akihito.
His boots crunched on the frozen soil as he stepped to the edge of the pit, and he took a deep breath before casting his eyes downward. The smuggling of people wasn't a trade he took part in; he found it distasteful. But he wasn't one to care if others did. It's not like his hands were clean from other crimes; it was simply a matter of taste.
Still, seeing all the bodies of people who'd only wanted a chance at a better life somewhere else, who'd likely given all their lives savings and hopes into the hands of someone who betrayed them and left them dead in this frozen mass grave, he was not unaffected. Yet his eyes skimmed over their bodies, scanning for a familiar face, desperately hoping not to find it there.
"What the hell were you thinking, letting him chase after such people?" For once there hadn't been any game playing, no attempts at one-upmanship.
"I don't control his work. He chases whatever stories he wants. If I tell him no it only eggs him on, you know that."
"I thought you didn't like hot-tempered men."
There'd been a pause, and maybe a sigh. "People change, Feilong. Will you watch for him? "
"Of course. He is important to me. "
It would have cost Asami a good deal to make such a request. Yet another reminder of how much he cared for Akihito. He swallowed all remnants of his feelings and stepped closer to the edge. A hand pressed against his waist and held him back. He almost slipped when he saw Tao there.
"You were to remain in Hong Kong."
"He is my friend too." Tao's voice held a newer, somber note that he didn't enjoy hearing. "Fei-sama... these people."
Tao thought he was old enough to handle this, but Feilong saw the tears start in his eyes. "Tao," he said softly, "there is nothing we can do to prevent this sort of thing. We can only protect those we love, and do our best to make sure they don't end up here."
"Frozen. They all froze to death. Betrayed. All their hopes crushed."
"None of us are ever far from that." He thought of the long years he'd wasted, his heart and soul nearly as dead as those below. The years before he'd met Akihito. He shook his mood off and signaled his men to go down into the pit. Their faces held displeasure at the task but it was the cold that bothered them, nothing more. This is what you had to become to work in this world.
They stood side by side, watching the men unpiling the corpses, checking their faces. Tao's breaths were unsteady.
"I have ignored your schooling for too long. There's an international school in Australia--"
"I won't go."
"You will. You have learned as much from me as you can. You are of no use uneducated." He let his words sting. He had learned something from Asami after all. He tried not to look at Tao's disappointed face. "You will forge connections, develop interests that will make you a well-rounded adult. You will see a world outside of this place to give you a much-needed perspective. You will attend this school and do your best to thrive there. "
He glanced to his right to see a mulish expression on Tao's face. "And every time you tell yourself that you're done, that you're coming home, that you've had enough, you will continue. Do you know why?"
Tao glared at him, daring him to come up with a reason.
"Because I love you as a son, and would make that mean something. This is a gift from that love and you will not squander it, knowing that it would crush me." He gestured below. "Knowing what a heart can become when hope is thrown back in someone's face."
He saw Tao's jaw visibly clench for a moment, and he saw him gather himself for a reply. "You're not playing fair, Feilong-sama."
"There's nothing fair about this world we live in. Most are merely content to claw their way to the top and stay alive. But what would Akihito think of that, I wonder?"
"He would do what he wanted."
Feilong started to reply but Tao cut him off, resignation in his voice. "He would do what he wanted, but he would first do whatever he could for those he cared about." Feilong smiled a little, taking some small pleasure in the midst of an otherwise horrid day. He was finding that was the key to sanity.
The men continued unstacking and restacking the cold bodies as they looked on, men, women, children even, all their lives cut short. Tao's hand crept into his as they waited. When the last corpse had been moved, he felt a little squeeze and they both sighed in relief.
"Akihito would never end up here," Tao said forcefully.
"We had to be sure. If these are indeed the slavers he's trying to tackle, they'll leave him in a hole like this without qualms. There's another shipment scheduled for two days from now. We'll be on hand for that one."
"And if he's not there?"
"Perhaps the police, my police, will happen to stop that one from leaving."
He couldn't stop the trade. He couldn't help those lying cold below. But he would not stand by and watch it happen in front of him. He laughed a little, and Tao looked up, surprise and questions in his eyes.
"Perhaps I learned something from Akihito as well."
Tao smiled. "He has that effect on everyone."
He told his men to rebury the corpses, then to have a priest come and say prayers. There was not much else they could do, for these at least.
As they walked to the car he phoned Asami to let him know that for now, there was hope. He heard the sigh of relief all the way from Tokyo. He was going to hang up, but something made him continue.
"Asami, what if I'd found the worst? Wouldn't you regret not telling him how you feel?"
There was a moment of silence so long he checked his cell to see if they'd been disconnected.
"Perhaps. Life is full of regrets. I won't change how I wish to live based upon their possibility."
Feilong was surprised to find that he pitied Asami, and Akihito. "Love is for sharing, you know. We're each cold and alone without it."
"Don't worry, we generate our share of heat. Your day with the corpses is making you maudlin. Go find Yoh and generate some heat of your own."
"Asshole. He's looking for Akihito. As am I. I'll keep you posted."
"Do that. And Feilong..."
He waited a second, then grew impatient. "What?"
"I owe you one."
"You owe me more than one, but I appreciate you acknowledging at least one of them." He heard Asami laugh shortly, then the connection was broken.
By then they'd reached the SUV, Tao still beside him, and he looked like he needed to blurt something out. Feilong raised an eyebrow.
"You know I love you, don't you Fei-sama?"
"I know this."
"Do you really want me to go to that school?"
"With all my heart."
"Then I'll go and I'll do my best, and I'll make you proud."
"I know you will, Tao." Since no one else seemed willing to, he opened the back door of the SUV and gestured. "Come, let's get out of the cold."
~end~
Theme: Cold
Characters: Feilong, Tao, Asami, AxA referenced
Rated: PG-13
Time to write: 65 minutes, including spelling and grammar check.
Words: 1295
A/N This isn't the story I expected to write, but that's what happens with a timed writing lol.
The wind whipped the long hair about his face, lashing skin already stung by pellets of freezing rain as he walked across the empty countryside toward a hole in the ground that he dreaded approaching. They were only 60km inland from Hong Kong, but it looked like a different world, one he'd never have ventured into if he hadn't been driven by the name Takaba Akihito.
His boots crunched on the frozen soil as he stepped to the edge of the pit, and he took a deep breath before casting his eyes downward. The smuggling of people wasn't a trade he took part in; he found it distasteful. But he wasn't one to care if others did. It's not like his hands were clean from other crimes; it was simply a matter of taste.
Still, seeing all the bodies of people who'd only wanted a chance at a better life somewhere else, who'd likely given all their lives savings and hopes into the hands of someone who betrayed them and left them dead in this frozen mass grave, he was not unaffected. Yet his eyes skimmed over their bodies, scanning for a familiar face, desperately hoping not to find it there.
"What the hell were you thinking, letting him chase after such people?" For once there hadn't been any game playing, no attempts at one-upmanship.
"I don't control his work. He chases whatever stories he wants. If I tell him no it only eggs him on, you know that."
"I thought you didn't like hot-tempered men."
There'd been a pause, and maybe a sigh. "People change, Feilong. Will you watch for him? "
"Of course. He is important to me. "
It would have cost Asami a good deal to make such a request. Yet another reminder of how much he cared for Akihito. He swallowed all remnants of his feelings and stepped closer to the edge. A hand pressed against his waist and held him back. He almost slipped when he saw Tao there.
"You were to remain in Hong Kong."
"He is my friend too." Tao's voice held a newer, somber note that he didn't enjoy hearing. "Fei-sama... these people."
Tao thought he was old enough to handle this, but Feilong saw the tears start in his eyes. "Tao," he said softly, "there is nothing we can do to prevent this sort of thing. We can only protect those we love, and do our best to make sure they don't end up here."
"Frozen. They all froze to death. Betrayed. All their hopes crushed."
"None of us are ever far from that." He thought of the long years he'd wasted, his heart and soul nearly as dead as those below. The years before he'd met Akihito. He shook his mood off and signaled his men to go down into the pit. Their faces held displeasure at the task but it was the cold that bothered them, nothing more. This is what you had to become to work in this world.
They stood side by side, watching the men unpiling the corpses, checking their faces. Tao's breaths were unsteady.
"I have ignored your schooling for too long. There's an international school in Australia--"
"I won't go."
"You will. You have learned as much from me as you can. You are of no use uneducated." He let his words sting. He had learned something from Asami after all. He tried not to look at Tao's disappointed face. "You will forge connections, develop interests that will make you a well-rounded adult. You will see a world outside of this place to give you a much-needed perspective. You will attend this school and do your best to thrive there. "
He glanced to his right to see a mulish expression on Tao's face. "And every time you tell yourself that you're done, that you're coming home, that you've had enough, you will continue. Do you know why?"
Tao glared at him, daring him to come up with a reason.
"Because I love you as a son, and would make that mean something. This is a gift from that love and you will not squander it, knowing that it would crush me." He gestured below. "Knowing what a heart can become when hope is thrown back in someone's face."
He saw Tao's jaw visibly clench for a moment, and he saw him gather himself for a reply. "You're not playing fair, Feilong-sama."
"There's nothing fair about this world we live in. Most are merely content to claw their way to the top and stay alive. But what would Akihito think of that, I wonder?"
"He would do what he wanted."
Feilong started to reply but Tao cut him off, resignation in his voice. "He would do what he wanted, but he would first do whatever he could for those he cared about." Feilong smiled a little, taking some small pleasure in the midst of an otherwise horrid day. He was finding that was the key to sanity.
The men continued unstacking and restacking the cold bodies as they looked on, men, women, children even, all their lives cut short. Tao's hand crept into his as they waited. When the last corpse had been moved, he felt a little squeeze and they both sighed in relief.
"Akihito would never end up here," Tao said forcefully.
"We had to be sure. If these are indeed the slavers he's trying to tackle, they'll leave him in a hole like this without qualms. There's another shipment scheduled for two days from now. We'll be on hand for that one."
"And if he's not there?"
"Perhaps the police, my police, will happen to stop that one from leaving."
He couldn't stop the trade. He couldn't help those lying cold below. But he would not stand by and watch it happen in front of him. He laughed a little, and Tao looked up, surprise and questions in his eyes.
"Perhaps I learned something from Akihito as well."
Tao smiled. "He has that effect on everyone."
He told his men to rebury the corpses, then to have a priest come and say prayers. There was not much else they could do, for these at least.
As they walked to the car he phoned Asami to let him know that for now, there was hope. He heard the sigh of relief all the way from Tokyo. He was going to hang up, but something made him continue.
"Asami, what if I'd found the worst? Wouldn't you regret not telling him how you feel?"
There was a moment of silence so long he checked his cell to see if they'd been disconnected.
"Perhaps. Life is full of regrets. I won't change how I wish to live based upon their possibility."
Feilong was surprised to find that he pitied Asami, and Akihito. "Love is for sharing, you know. We're each cold and alone without it."
"Don't worry, we generate our share of heat. Your day with the corpses is making you maudlin. Go find Yoh and generate some heat of your own."
"Asshole. He's looking for Akihito. As am I. I'll keep you posted."
"Do that. And Feilong..."
He waited a second, then grew impatient. "What?"
"I owe you one."
"You owe me more than one, but I appreciate you acknowledging at least one of them." He heard Asami laugh shortly, then the connection was broken.
By then they'd reached the SUV, Tao still beside him, and he looked like he needed to blurt something out. Feilong raised an eyebrow.
"You know I love you, don't you Fei-sama?"
"I know this."
"Do you really want me to go to that school?"
"With all my heart."
"Then I'll go and I'll do my best, and I'll make you proud."
"I know you will, Tao." Since no one else seemed willing to, he opened the back door of the SUV and gestured. "Come, let's get out of the cold."
~end~