ZombieLoz: Homecoming, Part One
omg, this has continuity with the fluffy angst origin! *shock*
It's also the first chapter of a multi-chapter fic, in which nothing much happens but the establishment of "canon" for the fic. ^_^
Title is from a song by The Birthday Massacre, which is on starherd's Zombie Mix 2007.
For which she needs fanart for the insert. *halo*
Part One (Lovers End)
"Loz?"
The monster fell in a hail of bullets, fangs still dripping blood from the prey it had dropped. Yazoo got to his feet, eyes wide, stumbling toward the still form on the ground - his brother.
There was so much blood. The fangs had gone right through Loz; blood pumped at an alarming rate from the large and jagged holes, staining the leaf-covered ground around him. Yazoo fell to his knees, dropping his gunblade with a stunned whimper; they'd neither a Heal Materia nor Potions, and were too far out for him to be able to get Loz anywhere for help. The attack had been completely unexpected. There weren't supposed to be monsters here that size.
"Loz, no..." Yazoo's hands fluttered helplessly over his brother, blood pouring from between his fingers when he tried to press the wounds shut. Loz jerked under his touch, more blood streaming from his mouth and nose.
Words tumbled from Yazoo's mouth, and even he wasn't sure what all of them were. It felt as though perhaps if he could say everything fast enough, Loz would have to stay alive just to listen.
Only there were too many words for what Yazoo wanted to say, and for the first time in his life, he was at a loss - but unable to stop speaking. He wanted it to be true, that Loz would - could - stay for his sake.
But Loz was moving his mouth, more blood spilling out, and the blood that pumped from the gaping wounds was slowing. Yazoo kept talking, begging, choking out the words as Loz's hand shifted just enough to brush his and Loz closed his eyes and no, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen, not like this...
Yazoo begged Loz to stay until the blood had long since ceased to flow.
It had been so fast. The creature had ambushed them, and they'd simply moved to fight it off... and in mere minutes, Loz had been snapped up and flung aside and bled and died.
Minutes.
For a long time, Yazoo stayed where he was, hands covering his face. When he finally shifted, he saw the corpse again, turned pale and cold.
He stumbled and fell in his haste to move away, breathing fast and making small panicked noises.
Eventually he calmed enough to regain his feet and paced the clearing, speaking to Loz again. Apologies became anger and accusations of weakness, but he stopped himself when he realized that he was beginning to raise his voice.
Finally despairing, and catching movement in the surrounding woods, he spent another few hours gathering rocks and carefully buried Loz beneath them. Yazoo covered his brother's head last, after laying his forehead against the corpse's and cursing Loz's ineptitude and the attacking monster's luck and the entire damned Planet.
And when he finally stumbled back into the building they'd been living in, he'd found Kadaj curled in on himself, rocking in a corner, already aware...
"'Zoo?"
Yazoo's eyes snapped open, raising his arm - gunblade in hand - to swat away the hand clumsily pawing at his shoulder. He knew the culprit, but it took him a still moment with Velvet Nightmare trained at Loz's face before he lowered the gunblade.
"Sorry," Loz mumbled, shuffling back a bit on his hands and knees, fractured gaze downcast. "You dreamed. Said my name."
Loz had died. The only problem was that he'd somehow managed to not stay dead. Yazoo wasn't sure what had brought Loz back - Mother's gift or the effects of experiments past - but he'd awakened and found them on his own.
If it was Mother's gift, it was a particularly cruel facet.
"It's all right, Loz," Yazoo murmured, sheathing the gunblade. He never used to sleep with it in hand, and it was clear that Loz remembered that, from the way he sadly watched.
But Loz knew why, too. There were times now when he couldn't control himself, which was why he stayed locked away at night...
Waitaminute. Yazoo blinked, then looked at the chained-shut basement door across the room.
The heavy chain was broken, the links deformed. It would have taken significant strength to have done so, not to mention have done so quietly enough to avoid waking Yazoo and Kadaj.
"Got hungry," Loz mumbled, and Yazoo finally noticed the blood smeared on his face. Loz wiped at his mouth, turning away almost self-consciously, the dim light and shadow catching his face and causing one eye to shine red with half-reflected light. The other eye still gleamed green with the memory of Mako treatments; the red was new. To Yazoo, it was disconcerting.
With brief a stabbing sensation in his stomach, Yazoo glanced toward the corner where Kadaj slept, but his younger brother was still resting as peacefully as he ever did. He was huddled with his back to the room, his side moving visibly with the deep breath of sleep.
Yazoo wondered how long Loz had been free, and how long he'd been away finding something to eat, and how long he'd been back and watching his brothers sleep. It wasn't supposed to work like that - not knowing where Loz was when he was hungry was a bad idea. He let himself be locked away because he knew...
He'd known he was getting hungry enough to hurt them and had fled rather than risk it. Letting them lock him up was nothing but a gesture to keep his brothers from worrying; he could leave when he wanted and didn't have to be desperate to do it.
Loz was shuffling uneasily back toward the basement door. "Don' tell 'Daj," he almost whined, glancing toward their brother.
Yazoo's expression softened a little, and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep in Loz's arms, and he didn't care if he woke up with Loz gnawing at his skull. Only he couldn't. Loz wouldn't be able to deal when he snapped out of it, and Kadaj would be... alone.
Yazoo's voice was oddly strained, for him, as he answered. "I won't."
It's also the first chapter of a multi-chapter fic, in which nothing much happens but the establishment of "canon" for the fic. ^_^
Title is from a song by The Birthday Massacre, which is on starherd's Zombie Mix 2007.
For which she needs fanart for the insert. *halo*
Part One (Lovers End)
"Loz?"
The monster fell in a hail of bullets, fangs still dripping blood from the prey it had dropped. Yazoo got to his feet, eyes wide, stumbling toward the still form on the ground - his brother.
There was so much blood. The fangs had gone right through Loz; blood pumped at an alarming rate from the large and jagged holes, staining the leaf-covered ground around him. Yazoo fell to his knees, dropping his gunblade with a stunned whimper; they'd neither a Heal Materia nor Potions, and were too far out for him to be able to get Loz anywhere for help. The attack had been completely unexpected. There weren't supposed to be monsters here that size.
"Loz, no..." Yazoo's hands fluttered helplessly over his brother, blood pouring from between his fingers when he tried to press the wounds shut. Loz jerked under his touch, more blood streaming from his mouth and nose.
Words tumbled from Yazoo's mouth, and even he wasn't sure what all of them were. It felt as though perhaps if he could say everything fast enough, Loz would have to stay alive just to listen.
Only there were too many words for what Yazoo wanted to say, and for the first time in his life, he was at a loss - but unable to stop speaking. He wanted it to be true, that Loz would - could - stay for his sake.
But Loz was moving his mouth, more blood spilling out, and the blood that pumped from the gaping wounds was slowing. Yazoo kept talking, begging, choking out the words as Loz's hand shifted just enough to brush his and Loz closed his eyes and no, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen, not like this...
Yazoo begged Loz to stay until the blood had long since ceased to flow.
It had been so fast. The creature had ambushed them, and they'd simply moved to fight it off... and in mere minutes, Loz had been snapped up and flung aside and bled and died.
Minutes.
For a long time, Yazoo stayed where he was, hands covering his face. When he finally shifted, he saw the corpse again, turned pale and cold.
He stumbled and fell in his haste to move away, breathing fast and making small panicked noises.
Eventually he calmed enough to regain his feet and paced the clearing, speaking to Loz again. Apologies became anger and accusations of weakness, but he stopped himself when he realized that he was beginning to raise his voice.
Finally despairing, and catching movement in the surrounding woods, he spent another few hours gathering rocks and carefully buried Loz beneath them. Yazoo covered his brother's head last, after laying his forehead against the corpse's and cursing Loz's ineptitude and the attacking monster's luck and the entire damned Planet.
And when he finally stumbled back into the building they'd been living in, he'd found Kadaj curled in on himself, rocking in a corner, already aware...
"'Zoo?"
Yazoo's eyes snapped open, raising his arm - gunblade in hand - to swat away the hand clumsily pawing at his shoulder. He knew the culprit, but it took him a still moment with Velvet Nightmare trained at Loz's face before he lowered the gunblade.
"Sorry," Loz mumbled, shuffling back a bit on his hands and knees, fractured gaze downcast. "You dreamed. Said my name."
Loz had died. The only problem was that he'd somehow managed to not stay dead. Yazoo wasn't sure what had brought Loz back - Mother's gift or the effects of experiments past - but he'd awakened and found them on his own.
If it was Mother's gift, it was a particularly cruel facet.
"It's all right, Loz," Yazoo murmured, sheathing the gunblade. He never used to sleep with it in hand, and it was clear that Loz remembered that, from the way he sadly watched.
But Loz knew why, too. There were times now when he couldn't control himself, which was why he stayed locked away at night...
Waitaminute. Yazoo blinked, then looked at the chained-shut basement door across the room.
The heavy chain was broken, the links deformed. It would have taken significant strength to have done so, not to mention have done so quietly enough to avoid waking Yazoo and Kadaj.
"Got hungry," Loz mumbled, and Yazoo finally noticed the blood smeared on his face. Loz wiped at his mouth, turning away almost self-consciously, the dim light and shadow catching his face and causing one eye to shine red with half-reflected light. The other eye still gleamed green with the memory of Mako treatments; the red was new. To Yazoo, it was disconcerting.
With brief a stabbing sensation in his stomach, Yazoo glanced toward the corner where Kadaj slept, but his younger brother was still resting as peacefully as he ever did. He was huddled with his back to the room, his side moving visibly with the deep breath of sleep.
Yazoo wondered how long Loz had been free, and how long he'd been away finding something to eat, and how long he'd been back and watching his brothers sleep. It wasn't supposed to work like that - not knowing where Loz was when he was hungry was a bad idea. He let himself be locked away because he knew...
He'd known he was getting hungry enough to hurt them and had fled rather than risk it. Letting them lock him up was nothing but a gesture to keep his brothers from worrying; he could leave when he wanted and didn't have to be desperate to do it.
Loz was shuffling uneasily back toward the basement door. "Don' tell 'Daj," he almost whined, glancing toward their brother.
Yazoo's expression softened a little, and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep in Loz's arms, and he didn't care if he woke up with Loz gnawing at his skull. Only he couldn't. Loz wouldn't be able to deal when he snapped out of it, and Kadaj would be... alone.
Yazoo's voice was oddly strained, for him, as he answered. "I won't."