[D.Gray-man] To End and Back
Title: To End and Back
Series: D.Gray-man
Rating: K+
Characters: Allen (+ Rinali, Kanda, Rabi, Crowley)
Word Count: 1,036; Short story
[Written for alphabet_love; 04. dymaxion map and for onijutsu’s and tempest_arashi’s birthdays]
Their shoes and exorcist robes brushed against the tall grass as they pushed on their journey. The older trees with gnarled, scarred barks gave them the late afternoon’s shade, but the sunrays still came through. Lately the sun penetrated the leaves, the sky, their eyes, made it difficult to look up, and traveling was an endless definition.
“Lead the way, Timcanpi,” Allen said, gently lifting the golem with his worn-out fingers. His left arm was showing signs of crumbling, falling apart; but the time was of the essence, and he would go on.
That was his plan-as long as his team was willing enough to cooperate.
“Please, Allen!” Rabi called from the back. He was leaning on his giant hammer, exhaustion plainly visible in his face. “Can we please take a break?”
“Hmph,” Kanda commented in return, his expression clearly that of disapproval, “we don’t have that kind of time. Finding General Cross is our utmost priority, and-”
“Yeah, yeah, Yuu, but you know what? The thing is, people need rest, and right now-”
Suddenly turning, a seemingly frustrated Rinali cut in (her look was distorted, which was no good news). “Rabi! Kanda! Do you two always have to argue?”
Crowley looked on from behind and heaved a sigh. He had come a long way to join them here, but he certainly didn’t have the energy to fight just now. And this was all after killing his beloved Eliade too; why was it so hard? Where was the General?
The truth was, they had been searching for Allen’s teacher, the ever-escaping General Marian Cross, for what it appeared like nearly a decade. Frankly, a time of two weeks had passed by without good rest, but what good was anything when one didn’t get proper food and sleep? Allen faced them with a tiresome grin and shrugged slightly.
“Should we take a rest, then?” He asked, if only reluctantly.
“But Allen-kun,” Rinali began saying in a worried voice, “if we delay this mission…”
“It won’t be long, just a night.”
“That would be fantast-I mean, that, would be nice, considerate of you.” Quite sheepish at his shamless outburst, Crowley cleared his throat.
“Camping right here!” Rabi said, sitting down and not responding to the others’ protests. He seemed to be falling asleep rapidly and no one bothered to wake him. It was impossible to wake somebody from such a deep slumber-and they realized how long they had been traveling without success, and the fatigue washed over them like the waves of the sea.
Settling on a thick branch of a tree after everybody else, Kanda muttered, “Taking a rest? This is a forest.”
.
“Can we cook it? Ha, ha, uh, can we do that, Crow-chan?”
The addressed man frowned. “I really don’t think so, and I’m asking you again to stop calling me that.”
The bear roared in front of them with its menacing sharp teeth, and the whole company was awake.
“I told you,” Kanda said, “this is a forest, not a camping site.”
“Damn it!” Rabi yelled, charging at the beast, “then it’s meat time!”
.
“Hey, this isn’t so bad.”
Rinali secured the bandages on Rabi’s arm one last time. There was a look she gave him that said, ‘you’re an impossible, hopeless idiot.’ “All meat tastes the same when you cook it.”
“That’s not true!” The redhead replied, fiercely.
Kanda was sitting off to the side (he never talked much anyway), and Crowley had gone exploring the area (the man couldn’t stay still, they didn’t know whether to call it impatience or paranoia, but all they knew was that he could take care of himself, really), so that left Allen by the fire, cooking the leftover meat and warming up his hands and feet.
The night was cold-he could guess it was past midnight, well over close to dusk, perhaps. He put his head on his knees, trying to get some last-minute sleep. No thanks to the scarce bear attack and the belated meal following after, they hardly had time for anything else.
“It’s going to be dawn soon,” he murmured.
.
It was only but morning when the Earl’s toys came to ambush them from all four sides. How Allen failed to detect them, he couldn’t understand, was unable to comprehend. But by the time he wanted to take his full share of the blame, the akuma were surrounding them, and he bit his lip hard and thought ‘stupid, stupid, I’m so stupid,’ until Rinali placed her hand on his arm before taking off, as a sign of telling him, ‘it’s okay, we’ll be all right.’
He thought it was only a comfort sign, that it was only her acting out of her kindness, but then he also felt Rabi’s light taps on his back, Crowley’s cloak brushing his shoulder, and Kanda’s small shove, and began to think ‘I must bring salvation,’ and not ‘I can’t save anyone.’
.
The battle did not last long. “Luckily they were all level 1 or 2,” Rabi said, coughing sand dust on the field. The air was quiet, as if the akuma never set foot upon the land. But it was always that way, it was how everything on the planet ended, and they knew better.
And so Allen’s feet only moved when Timcanpi flew, making familiar noises and leaping about.
“Maybe it found something!”
“No duh, Crow-chan.”
“We might be close!” Exclaimed Rinali, her hands clapped in excitement and relief.
They walked for a short bit, until Kanda pointed at a person’s back, fairly close by, within range.
Allen had seen that back many times, during lectures and training hours, studying times and exams. That man was an individual of loose schedule, he was too unpredictable to be of a high rank, but that was what set the twist; a man that has the ability to convert the Earl’s akuma.
“Teacher,” Allen whispered, before he ran toward that back.
The five of them lined up straight, looking ahead. A while passed, and then the faithful student spoke up. “General.”
The back turned to reveal a well-known face. “Hey,” the man said, and his name was Marian Cross.
Series: D.Gray-man
Rating: K+
Characters: Allen (+ Rinali, Kanda, Rabi, Crowley)
Word Count: 1,036; Short story
[Written for alphabet_love; 04. dymaxion map and for onijutsu’s and tempest_arashi’s birthdays]
Their shoes and exorcist robes brushed against the tall grass as they pushed on their journey. The older trees with gnarled, scarred barks gave them the late afternoon’s shade, but the sunrays still came through. Lately the sun penetrated the leaves, the sky, their eyes, made it difficult to look up, and traveling was an endless definition.
“Lead the way, Timcanpi,” Allen said, gently lifting the golem with his worn-out fingers. His left arm was showing signs of crumbling, falling apart; but the time was of the essence, and he would go on.
That was his plan-as long as his team was willing enough to cooperate.
“Please, Allen!” Rabi called from the back. He was leaning on his giant hammer, exhaustion plainly visible in his face. “Can we please take a break?”
“Hmph,” Kanda commented in return, his expression clearly that of disapproval, “we don’t have that kind of time. Finding General Cross is our utmost priority, and-”
“Yeah, yeah, Yuu, but you know what? The thing is, people need rest, and right now-”
Suddenly turning, a seemingly frustrated Rinali cut in (her look was distorted, which was no good news). “Rabi! Kanda! Do you two always have to argue?”
Crowley looked on from behind and heaved a sigh. He had come a long way to join them here, but he certainly didn’t have the energy to fight just now. And this was all after killing his beloved Eliade too; why was it so hard? Where was the General?
The truth was, they had been searching for Allen’s teacher, the ever-escaping General Marian Cross, for what it appeared like nearly a decade. Frankly, a time of two weeks had passed by without good rest, but what good was anything when one didn’t get proper food and sleep? Allen faced them with a tiresome grin and shrugged slightly.
“Should we take a rest, then?” He asked, if only reluctantly.
“But Allen-kun,” Rinali began saying in a worried voice, “if we delay this mission…”
“It won’t be long, just a night.”
“That would be fantast-I mean, that, would be nice, considerate of you.” Quite sheepish at his shamless outburst, Crowley cleared his throat.
“Camping right here!” Rabi said, sitting down and not responding to the others’ protests. He seemed to be falling asleep rapidly and no one bothered to wake him. It was impossible to wake somebody from such a deep slumber-and they realized how long they had been traveling without success, and the fatigue washed over them like the waves of the sea.
Settling on a thick branch of a tree after everybody else, Kanda muttered, “Taking a rest? This is a forest.”
.
“Can we cook it? Ha, ha, uh, can we do that, Crow-chan?”
The addressed man frowned. “I really don’t think so, and I’m asking you again to stop calling me that.”
The bear roared in front of them with its menacing sharp teeth, and the whole company was awake.
“I told you,” Kanda said, “this is a forest, not a camping site.”
“Damn it!” Rabi yelled, charging at the beast, “then it’s meat time!”
.
“Hey, this isn’t so bad.”
Rinali secured the bandages on Rabi’s arm one last time. There was a look she gave him that said, ‘you’re an impossible, hopeless idiot.’ “All meat tastes the same when you cook it.”
“That’s not true!” The redhead replied, fiercely.
Kanda was sitting off to the side (he never talked much anyway), and Crowley had gone exploring the area (the man couldn’t stay still, they didn’t know whether to call it impatience or paranoia, but all they knew was that he could take care of himself, really), so that left Allen by the fire, cooking the leftover meat and warming up his hands and feet.
The night was cold-he could guess it was past midnight, well over close to dusk, perhaps. He put his head on his knees, trying to get some last-minute sleep. No thanks to the scarce bear attack and the belated meal following after, they hardly had time for anything else.
“It’s going to be dawn soon,” he murmured.
.
It was only but morning when the Earl’s toys came to ambush them from all four sides. How Allen failed to detect them, he couldn’t understand, was unable to comprehend. But by the time he wanted to take his full share of the blame, the akuma were surrounding them, and he bit his lip hard and thought ‘stupid, stupid, I’m so stupid,’ until Rinali placed her hand on his arm before taking off, as a sign of telling him, ‘it’s okay, we’ll be all right.’
He thought it was only a comfort sign, that it was only her acting out of her kindness, but then he also felt Rabi’s light taps on his back, Crowley’s cloak brushing his shoulder, and Kanda’s small shove, and began to think ‘I must bring salvation,’ and not ‘I can’t save anyone.’
.
The battle did not last long. “Luckily they were all level 1 or 2,” Rabi said, coughing sand dust on the field. The air was quiet, as if the akuma never set foot upon the land. But it was always that way, it was how everything on the planet ended, and they knew better.
And so Allen’s feet only moved when Timcanpi flew, making familiar noises and leaping about.
“Maybe it found something!”
“No duh, Crow-chan.”
“We might be close!” Exclaimed Rinali, her hands clapped in excitement and relief.
They walked for a short bit, until Kanda pointed at a person’s back, fairly close by, within range.
Allen had seen that back many times, during lectures and training hours, studying times and exams. That man was an individual of loose schedule, he was too unpredictable to be of a high rank, but that was what set the twist; a man that has the ability to convert the Earl’s akuma.
“Teacher,” Allen whispered, before he ran toward that back.
The five of them lined up straight, looking ahead. A while passed, and then the faithful student spoke up. “General.”
The back turned to reveal a well-known face. “Hey,” the man said, and his name was Marian Cross.