lotus_beauty (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lotus_beauty) wrote2010-01-26 12:42 am
lotus_beauty) wrote2010-01-26 12:42 am
[Fic] Gravity : 8/18
Title: Gravity
Author: LotusBeauty
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairings: Min+Su, Min+Kumi
Genre: AU, fantasy, romance/drama/emo (lots of emo)
Summary: Prequel to Feel and Redefine. This arc encompasses Changmin’s past; how he became a vampire and how he and Junsu met.
Notes: You don’t have to read the other two before you read this, but it would probably be a good idea to have some general vampire myths down.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were.
Prologue
1: Cold
2: A Beautiful Lie
3: Haunted
4: Crawling
5: Away from the Sun
6: Daylight
7: Right Where it Belongs
Part 8: Name
I heard it today. I heard everything clearly. Finally.
The young man stared at the canopy of the bed as the other left the bed to answer the door. The room was designed in a red color, it matched the red of the blood that I saw on the young man’s arm. The other answered the door and was addressed as kamena-something. He spoke to what looked like a servant. He then turned to the young man and called him ishiko, then dismissed him with a hand motion. I barely understand what was said, Junghyun just began to teach me speaking Japanese. What does ishiko mean?
He pulled his clothing on without expression and then moved to leave. As he was leaving, the kamena person touched his shoulder and the young man leaned into it, as if he liked it, but he didn’t—I could feel it. The kamena person was pleased and let him by.
The young man entered his own room after navigating hallways and when he walked in, the woman was there. I’ve seen her before, and her clothing was very elaborate this time, a very intricately embroidered kimono. I will have to ask Junghyun about it. She called him Shim Changmin and it amused him. I think she was teasing him, but he’s Korean! I would never have guessed, especially since they were speaking Japanese. She spoke again, to which he replied and gestured at a wardrobe and began to change into something else.
This is the clearest vision I’ve had so far.
I wonder what it means.
“Ready to go?”
Junsu looked up from his journal and pulled the ribbon down to mark his page before closing it as he stood. “Yes,” he said with a smile.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Junghyun commented as they gathered their bags and hoisted them onto their backs. “As much as I’ve enjoyed this place, a change of scenery will be nice.”
“It will be nice to not have people asking when we’re going to have a baby,” Junsu replied with a grin.
“That too!” Junghyun laughed.
“Four years here should be enough for now,” Junsu said with a nod. “We could always come back someday when no one will recognize us. It might be a completely different village by then.”
“Very true.” She nodded. “We’ll be heading to the east, like we discussed before. I know a nice place closer to the coast, and we can fish there,” she told him teasingly and paused when Junsu stopped at the edge of the property and looked back.
“I’m going to miss this place,” he admitted. “It’s the first place I truly remember.”
“Let’s make you some more memories then, hm?” she suggested and took his hand to lead him away.
More memories would be good. Junsu smiled as she tugged him down the path and then let go of his hand to take the lead. “I had a dream last night, before we got up.”
“Oh?” she called over her shoulder. “Tell me about it.”
“I heard them speaking this time.”
“Who?” Junghyun slowed to walk beside him. “The man we think is from Japan?”
Junsu nodded. “They were speaking Japanese, but the woman said his name, Shim Changmin.”
Junghyun tilted her head thoughtfully. “That’s Korean.”
“I think he’s a slave of some sort to the man who controls him. The man called him ishiko.” He stopped when she stopped walking and frowned.
“Ishiko?” She nibbled on her lower lip as her eyes tracked back and forth, as if searching for information in her mind. “Ishi means rock…” Her face lit up as it dawned on her. “Stone dust.”
Junsu frowned and tilted his head as he opened his journal to page through it to a particular dream. “I’ve also heard him say… koishi,” he told her as his finger tapped the page. “But it was one of the only words I could pick up at that time, and I wasn’t sure if it had any significance.”
“Pebble,” she replied, then met his eyes. “Does he hold the ‘I’ at the end of the word?”
Junsu shook his head. “I’m not sure, I haven’t heard it enough to know. Why?” She began to walk again and he had to jog to catch up to the sudden movement. “What is it?”
“This man who rules over this one, Changmin you said?” She looked to him as he nodded. “He is using these names as a way to keep the young man as his own. Changing his name makes Changmin his property to use as he wants, as you would name a pet.” She gave him a look of sympathy. “After you’ve told me, and I’ve read what you’ve seen, there can be no mistake that Changmin is his pet to rule over and use. These people you’ve been seeing must also be vampires, because I have never heard of a human taking so much abuse and living so long.” She shook her head as his heart sank.
“He calls Changmin dust to make him feel worthless, doesn’t he?” Junsu asked as she nodded. “But, he doesn’t feel that way. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t affect him.”
“Then he either ignores the words, used to it, or he likes it, so you should tread carefully. We don’t know why this Changmin is showing up in your dreams and visions, but he seems important. If you aren’t careful, if you trust him too much, he might end up tricking you,” she advised as she pointed at him.
Junsu was confused by her opinion. “But then why would I have visions of him?”
“Maybe you will need to make an agreement in the future with him to get something important that you need. He might be a contact you need to talk to,” she suggested. “He is close to a coven leader, is he not?”
Junsu made a face. “But he’s a prisoner. He never leaves the coven.”
“Are you sure of this?”
“I have never seen him leave.”
“And you think you know all about his life just because you’ve never seen him leave?” she teased. “He is a pet, he must go where the master goes, so he must obviously leave the building where they live.”
Junsu had to admit, she had a point. “This will take some time to figure out. I’m not really sure what they’re saying either.”
“Then we’ll just have to practice some Japanese, now won’t we?” she said with a sly smile as Junsu groaned.
“Wait, you never told me what the word means when he holds the ‘I’ in the word koishi,” Junsu protested.
Junghyun’s smile faded a bit as she replied, “Beloved.”
~*~
They traveled for weeks across the land on foot, and though it was tough, Junsu enjoyed every minute of it because they didn’t run like Junghyun said most vampires did. They took their time to walk like the humans they passed on the roads. Junsu liked it better this way. They didn’t have to sleep at night, so they had an advantage and could walk for quite a bit longer than humans, so they didn’t rest as much. But while they traveled, when they did stop to rest, Junsu would take to meditating before sleep. At those times, he would try to take up the link between him and the young man, Changmin, but sometimes he wasn’t able to grasp it. It did get easier over time, so he hoped he would become a master at it eventually.
He couldn’t control his powers completely, but Junghyun had warned him how problematic foresight was. It wasn’t really a power to control as give yourself over to, until you got the hang of it. During meditation, he would basically open himself up to let the power come to him. Sometimes he could grasp the power and delve in to find Junghyun’s or Changmin’s lines to see what was going to happen. Junghyun told him eventually, he would have the ability to reach into branches to read them as well. She explained that the lines would branch off depending on decisions people could make and he could find out how things would change, but as of yet, Junsu could only see one path of time, and he just followed that as best he could. Sometimes the lines just stopped and he assumed those were when decisions were to be made and he didn’t have the power to find branches. Other times the power just wouldn’t come and Junsu would feel discouraged, but would hope for better the next time.
There were still other times when the power would hit him unaware, the cloud rushing up to slam a vision in his mind before it left him falling to the ground shaking. One of these times had to do with Changmin comforting the woman Junsu had seen with him in the visions. She was crying in pain as Changmin held her silently, tightly. Another time had him gasping at Junghyun about a man who would try to kill them in the next town they went to. When pressed, Junsu sat down to meditate and found that the event had branched off, and followed each branch only to tell Junghyun that no matter what they tried (even passing straight through the town without stopping) that the man would come after them.
“I guess some futures can’t be changed,” she’d muttered in annoyance. “But at least we have warning so we can defend ourselves.”
“Then the future is now changed,” Junsu corrected, and somehow, it made her smile.
That evening, they survived an old grudge against Junghyun intact and eventually made their way to claim a property near a village on the eastern coast. The two settled into a comfortable life, just as they had before as Junghyun continued to teach Junsu and they enjoyed one another’s company, still as teacher and student.
Junsu kept using his power to try to learn more about Changmin, and while he saw things that were to come to pass in his life, even mundane tasks, he could never figure out where the young man was. Or why in the world he was having visions about him. It was clear this coven was in Japan, but Junsu never heard anyone name a specific city or location.
He had finally heard the name of the leader though—Kamenashi.
Having learned more of the language, Junsu thought about asking Junghyun to go to Japan, but he wondered if she would want to. But why would she want to chase after the vague information from visions that he’d been getting? Finally, after putting it off for weeks, Junsu suggested the move to Junghyun.
“No,” she replied quietly. “I don’t want to go.”
Junsu sighed to himself. Well, at least he’d tried.
“But you can.”
“What?” His eyes flicked up to stare at her and a smile touched her lips. Was she teasing him?
“Junsu, my job was only ever to teach you how to function in this world after having been declared insane for ten years of your life. You’ve done that and more. But you are not chained here as your friend Changmin is chained to where he is. I am not your master, only a teacher.” She grinned suddenly. “Besides, I wonder if you are becoming too smart for me and need to start learning on your own.”
Junsu flushed in satisfaction and modesty. He didn’t think he was anything besides curious. “Thank you,” he murmured with a smile.
Junghyun sighed and stood to walk over to him. “It truly is your choice to stay and live with me, or to go out on your own. Living with me means you have someone to work as a team with, and to lean on if things get tough. If you leave, you will truly be on your own.” She laid a hand on his shoulder to squeeze it. “But if you need to come to me for advice or anything, I will be here for you.”
“Here?” He pointed at the floor. “Right here?”
She laughed and shoved him playfully. “You know you can track me easily.”
He grinned. “I do.”
“See? You’re not even afraid to leave me, which means you are ready to travel the world on your own. You are a vampire after all. You only truly need blood to survive, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She sighed and looked around. “I’ve gotten used to you being here though. It will be lonely to suddenly be all by myself after five years of having a companion,” she admitted.
Junsu smiled and reached up to squeeze her shoulders. “You know I’ll visit. And that you can always come to me if you need anything.”
Junghyun smiled. “It’s good to know I have a friend.”
“Same here.” Junsu said and he pulled her into a hug that she returned wholeheartedly.
“Now,” she said when they pulled apart. “Let’s see about what you should travel with, and I’ll tell you about traveling by boat, since you’re so bound and determined to get to Japan.”
~***~
You know, I decided to teach you Japanese because the woman in your visions had a kimono on. I had a feeling you’d need it someday.
Junsu smiled at what Junghyun had told him the day he left on his own. At least from her advice, he hadn’t gotten himself lost or killed while traveling by himself.
He tried the countryside at first, living on his own and observing the culture in China. He spent time doing odd jobs as he traveled and enjoyed learning new things. It was over a year before he returned to Junghyun to tell her what he’d learned, and then finally made his way to the docks. He did a few odd jobs to get money for passage, and made his way across the water to Japan. He would have lied if he’d said he wasn’t afraid. Actually, he did lie a few times to the crew. They didn’t seem the wiser, and were happy that the rats on their ship seemed to be disappearing. Junsu would never confess to be the cause of that.
He had to admit though, once he was on land, Japan was completely different and yet all the same. There were still people and villages, and they went about the same tasks and such, but their manners and ways they interacted were just different enough to make Junsu curious. He would hire himself out for jobs here and there, mostly at night, and would take his time to observe people as he did so. He found it all so fascinating, from a vampire’s perspective anyway. He had to smile to himself sometimes—if they only knew.
As he traveled, Junsu sometimes got himself into trouble, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t get out of. His closest call was when a child in the village he was staying near went missing, and he’d felt a pull in his mind the moment he’d heard. Sitting down to concentrate, Junsu followed the pull and came to the image of the little boy trying to climb something. Taking a closer look, Junsu noticed the foliage and realized the boy had slid down a cliff near the village and had hurt himself. Springing to action, he ran off to rescue the little boy and returned him to his parents.
A frantic neighbor then accused Junsu of kidnapping the boy himself, and Junsu had to blurt out a story for them so he could escape on to another village to keep them from finding out what he was, and about his power. The moment was made worse by the blood he could smell from the little boy’s cuts and scrapes, distracting him from his explanation. Eventually, he came up with a plausible story about hearing the little boy singing as he was walking through the trees near where he was living, and then the singing stopping abruptly so that Junsu could realize he’d fallen. Once they believed his story, he stayed around only until they forgot he was there, and then snuck off to pack his things and get the hell out.
Humans sure were odd. Why did they always need someone or something to blame for events that were out of their hands?
It didn’t matter, though. Junsu considered the entire affair a victory, because he’d managed to use his power to find a stranger’s line and see their near future to figure out where they were. He wondered if he could do the same with Changmin. Then again, there weren’t any distinguishable landmarks inside the building Changmin lived in for Junsu to follow. He would just have to keep searching.
By the time Junsu made his way to one of the largest cities in the nation, Tokyo, he was more familiar with the customs and a bit better at speaking. He still got nervous when talking to someone above him, so to speak. He would never get it through his head why Junghyun told him vampires view humans as below them. Some of them were smart in areas he didn’t understand and he found that to be far above him. Maybe he was just too human himself. Or maybe it was how intimidating a large city like Tokyo felt. He’d been living out in the wilderness for so long with Junghyun and hadn’t seen so many people crushed together in one area before. Villages he’d been in had nothing on this city. It was hard to ignore the scents around him sometimes and decided to leave to head north for a while.
It was years later in Tokyo, after he’d gotten used to the larger cities, that Junsu ran into another vampire and was lucky that she didn’t belong to a coven. When he related that he was looking for another vampire, she let him stay with her for a few days if he helped her track someone. Junsu, wary of the proposition, decided to agree and find out if she knew anything. He didn’t really have much to lose if she didn’t. They then struck a deal—during the night they would search separately for the one she was tracking, and then would exchange information when they met up in the morning. Once she was gone the next night, without hesitation, Junsu used his power and the sketch she had given him to find the man she was looking for. Thankful for the events that had happened before, Junsu took his time and concentrated. It took him hours of meditation to find the man before he did a search through the events of the next day to find that he was meeting with someone on a bridge on the north side of the city the next night.
When she returned that night, he relayed his information to her, which made her happy, but luckily she didn’t ask where he’d gotten it. She must have figured he didn’t want to give up his informants, and was glad for her assumption. Finally, Junsu asked who the man was, and she explained that the man was also a vampire and an assassin from a coven run by one called Kamenashi. Junsu couldn’t keep from feeling anger at the mention of his name, and she saw it and told him how he’d had the assassin kill her mate for a petty insult to show off his power. Before she left the country, she was going to kill the assassin, and Junsu had no problem helping with this.
The next night, she left to slay the assassin and told Junsu the room was paid for through the morning. A thank you for him before she would leave after her kill. Junsu didn’t bother going with her, it wasn’t his business, and he’d been paid with the room, so he stayed in to meditate. He knew he was getting closer, because Changmin’s immediate future would come to him faster and easier than before. Either that or he was getting much better with his power. Maybe both.
Unfortunately, due to his help, Junsu found that he’d angered Kamenashi and that he was going to take out his anger on Changmin after he found out about his assassin’s murder. Junsu had to pull himself out and gasped for air when he finally pushed his power away. He didn’t want to watch Kamenashi beating Changmin. It only made him feel helpless. And it was then, with a sigh, Junsu realized he never asked the female if she knew where the coven was. Then again, if she had known, she might have gone in there and killed the assassin without having to track him all over the city.
He was back to square one—sort of.
Junsu pulled his pack over and pulled his journal out to write down what he’d seen while meditating. As he paged through his writing, he paused at one particular date. The morning he was to leave Junghyun to live on his own, as he’d been putting things in his pack for travel, a vision had come to him—he and Changmin holding one another. Nothing was said, and they didn’t move, but Junsu had known exactly the feelings being exchanged when the vision had let him go.
He had to find Changmin.
And one name was all he needed.
Kamenashi.
~***~
getting closer :3 comments are ♥
Part 9
Author: LotusBeauty
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairings: Min+Su, Min+Kumi
Genre: AU, fantasy, romance/drama/emo (lots of emo)
Summary: Prequel to Feel and Redefine. This arc encompasses Changmin’s past; how he became a vampire and how he and Junsu met.
Notes: You don’t have to read the other two before you read this, but it would probably be a good idea to have some general vampire myths down.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were.
Prologue
1: Cold
2: A Beautiful Lie
3: Haunted
4: Crawling
5: Away from the Sun
6: Daylight
7: Right Where it Belongs
Part 8: Name
I heard it today. I heard everything clearly. Finally.
The young man stared at the canopy of the bed as the other left the bed to answer the door. The room was designed in a red color, it matched the red of the blood that I saw on the young man’s arm. The other answered the door and was addressed as kamena-something. He spoke to what looked like a servant. He then turned to the young man and called him ishiko, then dismissed him with a hand motion. I barely understand what was said, Junghyun just began to teach me speaking Japanese. What does ishiko mean?
He pulled his clothing on without expression and then moved to leave. As he was leaving, the kamena person touched his shoulder and the young man leaned into it, as if he liked it, but he didn’t—I could feel it. The kamena person was pleased and let him by.
The young man entered his own room after navigating hallways and when he walked in, the woman was there. I’ve seen her before, and her clothing was very elaborate this time, a very intricately embroidered kimono. I will have to ask Junghyun about it. She called him Shim Changmin and it amused him. I think she was teasing him, but he’s Korean! I would never have guessed, especially since they were speaking Japanese. She spoke again, to which he replied and gestured at a wardrobe and began to change into something else.
This is the clearest vision I’ve had so far.
I wonder what it means.
“Ready to go?”
Junsu looked up from his journal and pulled the ribbon down to mark his page before closing it as he stood. “Yes,” he said with a smile.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Junghyun commented as they gathered their bags and hoisted them onto their backs. “As much as I’ve enjoyed this place, a change of scenery will be nice.”
“It will be nice to not have people asking when we’re going to have a baby,” Junsu replied with a grin.
“That too!” Junghyun laughed.
“Four years here should be enough for now,” Junsu said with a nod. “We could always come back someday when no one will recognize us. It might be a completely different village by then.”
“Very true.” She nodded. “We’ll be heading to the east, like we discussed before. I know a nice place closer to the coast, and we can fish there,” she told him teasingly and paused when Junsu stopped at the edge of the property and looked back.
“I’m going to miss this place,” he admitted. “It’s the first place I truly remember.”
“Let’s make you some more memories then, hm?” she suggested and took his hand to lead him away.
More memories would be good. Junsu smiled as she tugged him down the path and then let go of his hand to take the lead. “I had a dream last night, before we got up.”
“Oh?” she called over her shoulder. “Tell me about it.”
“I heard them speaking this time.”
“Who?” Junghyun slowed to walk beside him. “The man we think is from Japan?”
Junsu nodded. “They were speaking Japanese, but the woman said his name, Shim Changmin.”
Junghyun tilted her head thoughtfully. “That’s Korean.”
“I think he’s a slave of some sort to the man who controls him. The man called him ishiko.” He stopped when she stopped walking and frowned.
“Ishiko?” She nibbled on her lower lip as her eyes tracked back and forth, as if searching for information in her mind. “Ishi means rock…” Her face lit up as it dawned on her. “Stone dust.”
Junsu frowned and tilted his head as he opened his journal to page through it to a particular dream. “I’ve also heard him say… koishi,” he told her as his finger tapped the page. “But it was one of the only words I could pick up at that time, and I wasn’t sure if it had any significance.”
“Pebble,” she replied, then met his eyes. “Does he hold the ‘I’ at the end of the word?”
Junsu shook his head. “I’m not sure, I haven’t heard it enough to know. Why?” She began to walk again and he had to jog to catch up to the sudden movement. “What is it?”
“This man who rules over this one, Changmin you said?” She looked to him as he nodded. “He is using these names as a way to keep the young man as his own. Changing his name makes Changmin his property to use as he wants, as you would name a pet.” She gave him a look of sympathy. “After you’ve told me, and I’ve read what you’ve seen, there can be no mistake that Changmin is his pet to rule over and use. These people you’ve been seeing must also be vampires, because I have never heard of a human taking so much abuse and living so long.” She shook her head as his heart sank.
“He calls Changmin dust to make him feel worthless, doesn’t he?” Junsu asked as she nodded. “But, he doesn’t feel that way. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t affect him.”
“Then he either ignores the words, used to it, or he likes it, so you should tread carefully. We don’t know why this Changmin is showing up in your dreams and visions, but he seems important. If you aren’t careful, if you trust him too much, he might end up tricking you,” she advised as she pointed at him.
Junsu was confused by her opinion. “But then why would I have visions of him?”
“Maybe you will need to make an agreement in the future with him to get something important that you need. He might be a contact you need to talk to,” she suggested. “He is close to a coven leader, is he not?”
Junsu made a face. “But he’s a prisoner. He never leaves the coven.”
“Are you sure of this?”
“I have never seen him leave.”
“And you think you know all about his life just because you’ve never seen him leave?” she teased. “He is a pet, he must go where the master goes, so he must obviously leave the building where they live.”
Junsu had to admit, she had a point. “This will take some time to figure out. I’m not really sure what they’re saying either.”
“Then we’ll just have to practice some Japanese, now won’t we?” she said with a sly smile as Junsu groaned.
“Wait, you never told me what the word means when he holds the ‘I’ in the word koishi,” Junsu protested.
Junghyun’s smile faded a bit as she replied, “Beloved.”
~*~
They traveled for weeks across the land on foot, and though it was tough, Junsu enjoyed every minute of it because they didn’t run like Junghyun said most vampires did. They took their time to walk like the humans they passed on the roads. Junsu liked it better this way. They didn’t have to sleep at night, so they had an advantage and could walk for quite a bit longer than humans, so they didn’t rest as much. But while they traveled, when they did stop to rest, Junsu would take to meditating before sleep. At those times, he would try to take up the link between him and the young man, Changmin, but sometimes he wasn’t able to grasp it. It did get easier over time, so he hoped he would become a master at it eventually.
He couldn’t control his powers completely, but Junghyun had warned him how problematic foresight was. It wasn’t really a power to control as give yourself over to, until you got the hang of it. During meditation, he would basically open himself up to let the power come to him. Sometimes he could grasp the power and delve in to find Junghyun’s or Changmin’s lines to see what was going to happen. Junghyun told him eventually, he would have the ability to reach into branches to read them as well. She explained that the lines would branch off depending on decisions people could make and he could find out how things would change, but as of yet, Junsu could only see one path of time, and he just followed that as best he could. Sometimes the lines just stopped and he assumed those were when decisions were to be made and he didn’t have the power to find branches. Other times the power just wouldn’t come and Junsu would feel discouraged, but would hope for better the next time.
There were still other times when the power would hit him unaware, the cloud rushing up to slam a vision in his mind before it left him falling to the ground shaking. One of these times had to do with Changmin comforting the woman Junsu had seen with him in the visions. She was crying in pain as Changmin held her silently, tightly. Another time had him gasping at Junghyun about a man who would try to kill them in the next town they went to. When pressed, Junsu sat down to meditate and found that the event had branched off, and followed each branch only to tell Junghyun that no matter what they tried (even passing straight through the town without stopping) that the man would come after them.
“I guess some futures can’t be changed,” she’d muttered in annoyance. “But at least we have warning so we can defend ourselves.”
“Then the future is now changed,” Junsu corrected, and somehow, it made her smile.
That evening, they survived an old grudge against Junghyun intact and eventually made their way to claim a property near a village on the eastern coast. The two settled into a comfortable life, just as they had before as Junghyun continued to teach Junsu and they enjoyed one another’s company, still as teacher and student.
Junsu kept using his power to try to learn more about Changmin, and while he saw things that were to come to pass in his life, even mundane tasks, he could never figure out where the young man was. Or why in the world he was having visions about him. It was clear this coven was in Japan, but Junsu never heard anyone name a specific city or location.
He had finally heard the name of the leader though—Kamenashi.
Having learned more of the language, Junsu thought about asking Junghyun to go to Japan, but he wondered if she would want to. But why would she want to chase after the vague information from visions that he’d been getting? Finally, after putting it off for weeks, Junsu suggested the move to Junghyun.
“No,” she replied quietly. “I don’t want to go.”
Junsu sighed to himself. Well, at least he’d tried.
“But you can.”
“What?” His eyes flicked up to stare at her and a smile touched her lips. Was she teasing him?
“Junsu, my job was only ever to teach you how to function in this world after having been declared insane for ten years of your life. You’ve done that and more. But you are not chained here as your friend Changmin is chained to where he is. I am not your master, only a teacher.” She grinned suddenly. “Besides, I wonder if you are becoming too smart for me and need to start learning on your own.”
Junsu flushed in satisfaction and modesty. He didn’t think he was anything besides curious. “Thank you,” he murmured with a smile.
Junghyun sighed and stood to walk over to him. “It truly is your choice to stay and live with me, or to go out on your own. Living with me means you have someone to work as a team with, and to lean on if things get tough. If you leave, you will truly be on your own.” She laid a hand on his shoulder to squeeze it. “But if you need to come to me for advice or anything, I will be here for you.”
“Here?” He pointed at the floor. “Right here?”
She laughed and shoved him playfully. “You know you can track me easily.”
He grinned. “I do.”
“See? You’re not even afraid to leave me, which means you are ready to travel the world on your own. You are a vampire after all. You only truly need blood to survive, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She sighed and looked around. “I’ve gotten used to you being here though. It will be lonely to suddenly be all by myself after five years of having a companion,” she admitted.
Junsu smiled and reached up to squeeze her shoulders. “You know I’ll visit. And that you can always come to me if you need anything.”
Junghyun smiled. “It’s good to know I have a friend.”
“Same here.” Junsu said and he pulled her into a hug that she returned wholeheartedly.
“Now,” she said when they pulled apart. “Let’s see about what you should travel with, and I’ll tell you about traveling by boat, since you’re so bound and determined to get to Japan.”
~***~
You know, I decided to teach you Japanese because the woman in your visions had a kimono on. I had a feeling you’d need it someday.
Junsu smiled at what Junghyun had told him the day he left on his own. At least from her advice, he hadn’t gotten himself lost or killed while traveling by himself.
He tried the countryside at first, living on his own and observing the culture in China. He spent time doing odd jobs as he traveled and enjoyed learning new things. It was over a year before he returned to Junghyun to tell her what he’d learned, and then finally made his way to the docks. He did a few odd jobs to get money for passage, and made his way across the water to Japan. He would have lied if he’d said he wasn’t afraid. Actually, he did lie a few times to the crew. They didn’t seem the wiser, and were happy that the rats on their ship seemed to be disappearing. Junsu would never confess to be the cause of that.
He had to admit though, once he was on land, Japan was completely different and yet all the same. There were still people and villages, and they went about the same tasks and such, but their manners and ways they interacted were just different enough to make Junsu curious. He would hire himself out for jobs here and there, mostly at night, and would take his time to observe people as he did so. He found it all so fascinating, from a vampire’s perspective anyway. He had to smile to himself sometimes—if they only knew.
As he traveled, Junsu sometimes got himself into trouble, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t get out of. His closest call was when a child in the village he was staying near went missing, and he’d felt a pull in his mind the moment he’d heard. Sitting down to concentrate, Junsu followed the pull and came to the image of the little boy trying to climb something. Taking a closer look, Junsu noticed the foliage and realized the boy had slid down a cliff near the village and had hurt himself. Springing to action, he ran off to rescue the little boy and returned him to his parents.
A frantic neighbor then accused Junsu of kidnapping the boy himself, and Junsu had to blurt out a story for them so he could escape on to another village to keep them from finding out what he was, and about his power. The moment was made worse by the blood he could smell from the little boy’s cuts and scrapes, distracting him from his explanation. Eventually, he came up with a plausible story about hearing the little boy singing as he was walking through the trees near where he was living, and then the singing stopping abruptly so that Junsu could realize he’d fallen. Once they believed his story, he stayed around only until they forgot he was there, and then snuck off to pack his things and get the hell out.
Humans sure were odd. Why did they always need someone or something to blame for events that were out of their hands?
It didn’t matter, though. Junsu considered the entire affair a victory, because he’d managed to use his power to find a stranger’s line and see their near future to figure out where they were. He wondered if he could do the same with Changmin. Then again, there weren’t any distinguishable landmarks inside the building Changmin lived in for Junsu to follow. He would just have to keep searching.
By the time Junsu made his way to one of the largest cities in the nation, Tokyo, he was more familiar with the customs and a bit better at speaking. He still got nervous when talking to someone above him, so to speak. He would never get it through his head why Junghyun told him vampires view humans as below them. Some of them were smart in areas he didn’t understand and he found that to be far above him. Maybe he was just too human himself. Or maybe it was how intimidating a large city like Tokyo felt. He’d been living out in the wilderness for so long with Junghyun and hadn’t seen so many people crushed together in one area before. Villages he’d been in had nothing on this city. It was hard to ignore the scents around him sometimes and decided to leave to head north for a while.
It was years later in Tokyo, after he’d gotten used to the larger cities, that Junsu ran into another vampire and was lucky that she didn’t belong to a coven. When he related that he was looking for another vampire, she let him stay with her for a few days if he helped her track someone. Junsu, wary of the proposition, decided to agree and find out if she knew anything. He didn’t really have much to lose if she didn’t. They then struck a deal—during the night they would search separately for the one she was tracking, and then would exchange information when they met up in the morning. Once she was gone the next night, without hesitation, Junsu used his power and the sketch she had given him to find the man she was looking for. Thankful for the events that had happened before, Junsu took his time and concentrated. It took him hours of meditation to find the man before he did a search through the events of the next day to find that he was meeting with someone on a bridge on the north side of the city the next night.
When she returned that night, he relayed his information to her, which made her happy, but luckily she didn’t ask where he’d gotten it. She must have figured he didn’t want to give up his informants, and was glad for her assumption. Finally, Junsu asked who the man was, and she explained that the man was also a vampire and an assassin from a coven run by one called Kamenashi. Junsu couldn’t keep from feeling anger at the mention of his name, and she saw it and told him how he’d had the assassin kill her mate for a petty insult to show off his power. Before she left the country, she was going to kill the assassin, and Junsu had no problem helping with this.
The next night, she left to slay the assassin and told Junsu the room was paid for through the morning. A thank you for him before she would leave after her kill. Junsu didn’t bother going with her, it wasn’t his business, and he’d been paid with the room, so he stayed in to meditate. He knew he was getting closer, because Changmin’s immediate future would come to him faster and easier than before. Either that or he was getting much better with his power. Maybe both.
Unfortunately, due to his help, Junsu found that he’d angered Kamenashi and that he was going to take out his anger on Changmin after he found out about his assassin’s murder. Junsu had to pull himself out and gasped for air when he finally pushed his power away. He didn’t want to watch Kamenashi beating Changmin. It only made him feel helpless. And it was then, with a sigh, Junsu realized he never asked the female if she knew where the coven was. Then again, if she had known, she might have gone in there and killed the assassin without having to track him all over the city.
He was back to square one—sort of.
Junsu pulled his pack over and pulled his journal out to write down what he’d seen while meditating. As he paged through his writing, he paused at one particular date. The morning he was to leave Junghyun to live on his own, as he’d been putting things in his pack for travel, a vision had come to him—he and Changmin holding one another. Nothing was said, and they didn’t move, but Junsu had known exactly the feelings being exchanged when the vision had let him go.
He had to find Changmin.
And one name was all he needed.
Kamenashi.
~***~
getting closer :3 comments are ♥
Part 9
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kjsadb,bf -dies-
I am waiting for your next update. :D
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he is getting so much nearer :D:D
i cant waitt~ :D
greta work as always :)
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thanks~
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/flails
SO CLOSE~!!!!!!!!!!!
sd;vgbyi;hsdyi;bvsuogyusgfyoebg
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I really like how he can look at humans like he never was one of them, because in a lot of ways (not least among which, being out of it for 10 years of his short life) he really wasn't. Just another thing that makes his character here so special.
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but he's so human himself, which i find amusing as well. he doesn't really identify with them, yet when other vampires see him, they think he acts so human because he's so carefree. he just doesnt have the baggage because he doesnt remember life vs 'death' so to speak XD
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D: How long are you going to make Min suffer? Hurry up Junsu!
*anticipation building up*
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I love it ^^
I love how you explain how Junsu's power grows, and now he's trying to find Changmin! *throws confetti* Go get your man Junsu! xD
LOL, I loved it, can't wait for the next one ^^
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i just want to say i love this fic so much♥
and im hating kame sooo muchpoor min♥ =(junsu to the rescue \8D/
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ah i'm so mean to the JE boys and making kame so evil D:!
hehe
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FINALLY.
I wonder how that is going to go.
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