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damalurbackupTITLE: The Execution of All Things, Pt. 1
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: Inspired by the Rilo Kiley album "The Execution of All Things." Before you read, take note - this story assumes 1) that Sakura, Syaoran, and Kurogane all lived through the final battle with Fei Wong Reed, while Fai did not; 2) that xxxHolic and X/1999 take place in the same world; and 3) that Yuuko & Kamui's land is called Japan, while Kurogane's is called Nihon. (Basically that's a cop-out so I can easily tell the countries apart, but anyway...)
MORE NOTES: Reposted from my old archive. Wow, this seems occasionally pretentious and downright weird now that I look back at it, but hey, it's still my baby.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
0.1 | a prologue
You're not sure where Syaoran and Sakura are. Somewhere off to your right, maybe, or inside the ruins, or in another dimension. It doesn't really matter. You're not at all surprised that it's come down to just you and him, back to back against the world. Not that you have much room for surprise, anymore; you're in that zone where all that matters is your footing on the sand and the glare of the sun and the point of your sword and the enemy's heart.
You are able to spare a brief thought for Princess Tomoyo; that's your one regret, here at the end, that you won't be able to return to your mistress. You'd promised, and she'd accepted, but perhaps the acceptance was as much for the futility of the situation as for your declaration. That's fine, though; there are other worlds than this, and other lives, too, and if there is justice in any of them you'll find a way to serve her again.
Because in the end, you have all you need. You have your father's sword; Ginryuu's scaled haft is rough against your palm, the better to keep your grip through the slip of blood. You have a cause, a banner, a princess equally deserving as Tomoyo; and you have a clear enemy, these shadow-creatures of Fei Wong Reed. Best, you have someone to guard your back - someone better than Souma, even, because Souma was quick and strong and responsive, but she didn't read your mind the way he does, didn't slip perfectly into the space created when you leap high and to the left, didn't block your side in a swirl of blond and steel when your false arm falters. He's wielding some sort of chain-and-scythe contraption with an easy, familiar grace, and the understanding between you is so perfect that you almost want to weep.
So that's how it is, at the end: Ginryuu in your hand, an army ahead, and Fai at your back. And you will make your stand here on the sand, you two will make such a stand that they will remember you for ages. So once more you charge forward, so once more they beat you back, so one last time you look up -
- and that's when you notice the sky is blue.
0.2 | some definitions
ex·e·cu·tion
n.
1. a mode or style of performance; technical skill, as in music.
The Execution of All Things
BEGIN.
Act 1.
1.1 | grindstone
Kurogane hates everything about this situation. Hates not knowing who to fight, hates the subversion of it all, hates the politics, hates that Princess Tomoyo refused to take refuge elsewhere, hates that he hasn't slept for days, hates that he's still not any closer to finding the attackers. He's not cut out for this kind of work; he can be subtle; after all, he's a ninja - but that doesn't mean he likes it.
Kurogane thinks of himself as direct; blunt is, perhaps, a more accurate word.
He's been awake for fifty-two hours, and even with the herbal stimulants in his system he won't be able to fight off sleep much longer. Souma's just as exhausted, but she hides it better, beneath a facade of calm competence. Still, he can tell; it's in the set of her shoulders, the barely-there sluggishness as she turns to answer one of Amaterasu's questions. They've been working in shifts, he and Souma, one of them always at Tsukuyomi's side, the other scouring the city to find the arsonists. Every forty to fifty minutes one of them searches Engyou-ji's grounds; at the very least they have a secure vantage point, on top of Mount Shosha.
He's been awake for fifty-two hours, and the final battle against Fei Wong Reed had been a mere handful of days before that. Sakura had, of course, extended her hospitality for however long he wished to stay in Clow Country. Kurogane slept two days through and left on the third day; he'd wanted to be home, in familiar surroundings, where the loss wasn't quite so raw, the guilt not quite so gnawing, the regret not quite so overpowering -
Stop.
He has been awake for fifty-two hours, scouring Himeji or sitting fixedly at his mistress's side. Tomoyo does her best to dismiss him, but he hangs doggedly on to consciousness all the way until Souma stumbles back into the room. Her beaten expression tells him all he needs to know, and with a sour huff he rises and goes to her.
"Nothing," Souma says. "No lead, no trace beyond what we've already found."
"Fine," Kurogane says, his usual curtness turned weary. "I need to sleep."
Souma nods. "I'll be alert enough for another few hours yet." She turns away, and he doesn't bother to reply, just glances back at the Princess one more time before leaving.
1.2 | on dreaming
The view that dreams are merely the imaginary fulfillments of repressed wishes is hopelessly out of date. There are, it is true, dreams which manifestly represent wishes or fears, but what about all the other things? Dreams may contain ineluctable truths, philosophical pronouncements, illusions, wild fantasies, memories, plans, anticipations, irrational experiences, even telepathic visions, and heaven knows what besides.
- Carl Jung
I cannot sleep for dreaming; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you coming through some door.
- Arthur Miller
1.3 | what besides
Kurogane dreams.
He dreams of his mother first. She is perfect and solemn, and she holds out her clenched fists to him. He reaches back, and into his cupped hands she pours an endless stream of mustard seeds, far more mustard seeds than her delicate hands should be able to hold. He tries to catch them all, but the seeds run through his fingers and scatter on the ground and his hands remain empty -
He dreams of the battle at the end, when he finally faced the man who killed his mother. The battle where the other fought at his back; the battle where the other's blood stained Ginryuu red, red that mixed with the blood of a hundred horrible things until Kurogane wasn't sure if he'd actually killed the other or just one more wraith-creature -
He dreams of the night before that battle, when the other came to him. He dreams of long white limbs and strong slender hands, of gold cat-eyes and fine yellow hair and a contented, lazy smile. He dreams of warmth and pleasure and some other feeling too precious too name -
And finally he dreams of a fox, peering at him from the shadows with those same gold eyes.
1.4 | excerpts from Report by Shinobi Souma on the Burning of Shirasagi Castle
...the assailants were somehow able to make their way unseen through the spiral maze of paths surrounding the castle. Evidence suggests that fires were started at five separate points by no less than three separate people. While it is possible that the arsonists were already positioned within the castle, Shinobi Kurogane, also under the service of Tsukuyomi, believes that magic may have been used to transport the arsonists or even to remotely light the fires. The use of magic seems unlikely, given the strength of the kekkei that protect Shirasagi Castle; however, the wards have been breached in the past...
...While the identities of the assailants remain unknown, it is likely that they are part of an organized plot against Nihon's rulers, rather than a loose coalition of dissidents; the group is...[p]ossibly connected to the refugees from the alternate world of Japan. After the collapse of most of Japan's kekkei, magicians of that country were able to open a portal between dimensions and send a portion of the population to our own land. Amaterasu graciously accepted a number of Japan's displaced citizens and set up a system to allow their integration into society. However, of late Nihon nativists have expressed resentment at the influx of foreigners, while the newcomers are upset at the immigration limitations that prohibit more than a certain number of refugees from entering Nihon at one time...This is especially urgent given that Japan's ultimate destruction is imminent; yet Nihon does not have the resources to support a large population explosion...
...Perhaps most disturbing are signs that yet a third presence, likely allied with yet another magic-user, is working to smuggle refugees from Japan's dimension into our own. The refugees have taken to calling this unknown person or persons "Blue John"...
1.5 | a list of people that Kurogane has loved
1. His father - deceased.
2. His mother - deceased.
3. Princess Tomoyo.
4. Fai D. Fluorite - deceased.
Final probabilty of you living if Kurogane loves you: 25%.
| >>
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai
NOTES: Inspired by the Rilo Kiley album "The Execution of All Things." Before you read, take note - this story assumes 1) that Sakura, Syaoran, and Kurogane all lived through the final battle with Fei Wong Reed, while Fai did not; 2) that xxxHolic and X/1999 take place in the same world; and 3) that Yuuko & Kamui's land is called Japan, while Kurogane's is called Nihon. (Basically that's a cop-out so I can easily tell the countries apart, but anyway...)
MORE NOTES: Reposted from my old archive. Wow, this seems occasionally pretentious and downright weird now that I look back at it, but hey, it's still my baby.
SUMMARY: Fai is dead. A world is ending. Kurogane copes about as well as you'd expect.
0.1 | a prologue
You're not sure where Syaoran and Sakura are. Somewhere off to your right, maybe, or inside the ruins, or in another dimension. It doesn't really matter. You're not at all surprised that it's come down to just you and him, back to back against the world. Not that you have much room for surprise, anymore; you're in that zone where all that matters is your footing on the sand and the glare of the sun and the point of your sword and the enemy's heart.
You are able to spare a brief thought for Princess Tomoyo; that's your one regret, here at the end, that you won't be able to return to your mistress. You'd promised, and she'd accepted, but perhaps the acceptance was as much for the futility of the situation as for your declaration. That's fine, though; there are other worlds than this, and other lives, too, and if there is justice in any of them you'll find a way to serve her again.
Because in the end, you have all you need. You have your father's sword; Ginryuu's scaled haft is rough against your palm, the better to keep your grip through the slip of blood. You have a cause, a banner, a princess equally deserving as Tomoyo; and you have a clear enemy, these shadow-creatures of Fei Wong Reed. Best, you have someone to guard your back - someone better than Souma, even, because Souma was quick and strong and responsive, but she didn't read your mind the way he does, didn't slip perfectly into the space created when you leap high and to the left, didn't block your side in a swirl of blond and steel when your false arm falters. He's wielding some sort of chain-and-scythe contraption with an easy, familiar grace, and the understanding between you is so perfect that you almost want to weep.
So that's how it is, at the end: Ginryuu in your hand, an army ahead, and Fai at your back. And you will make your stand here on the sand, you two will make such a stand that they will remember you for ages. So once more you charge forward, so once more they beat you back, so one last time you look up -
- and that's when you notice the sky is blue.
0.2 | some definitions
ex·e·cu·tion
n.
1. a mode or style of performance; technical skill, as in music.
- Fai's execution of the kiss stole Kurogane's breath away, made him wonder if there really could be such a thing as love.
- Fai's execution couldn't have been stopped, because Fei Wong Reed had planned it from the beginning.
- Kurogane arrived back in Nihon just in time to see the terrorists' fires do rapid execution to Shirasagi Castle; and for once his heart didn't leap at the thought of yet another battle.
- For the year after that, Kurogane made sure to carry an execution from Tomoyo with him at all times; otherwise people thought he was one of the rebels himself, out to burn their homes and steal their children.
- Fai usually got what he wanted, in the end.
The Execution of All Things
BEGIN.
Act 1.
1.1 | grindstone
Kurogane hates everything about this situation. Hates not knowing who to fight, hates the subversion of it all, hates the politics, hates that Princess Tomoyo refused to take refuge elsewhere, hates that he hasn't slept for days, hates that he's still not any closer to finding the attackers. He's not cut out for this kind of work; he can be subtle; after all, he's a ninja - but that doesn't mean he likes it.
Kurogane thinks of himself as direct; blunt is, perhaps, a more accurate word.
He's been awake for fifty-two hours, and even with the herbal stimulants in his system he won't be able to fight off sleep much longer. Souma's just as exhausted, but she hides it better, beneath a facade of calm competence. Still, he can tell; it's in the set of her shoulders, the barely-there sluggishness as she turns to answer one of Amaterasu's questions. They've been working in shifts, he and Souma, one of them always at Tsukuyomi's side, the other scouring the city to find the arsonists. Every forty to fifty minutes one of them searches Engyou-ji's grounds; at the very least they have a secure vantage point, on top of Mount Shosha.
He's been awake for fifty-two hours, and the final battle against Fei Wong Reed had been a mere handful of days before that. Sakura had, of course, extended her hospitality for however long he wished to stay in Clow Country. Kurogane slept two days through and left on the third day; he'd wanted to be home, in familiar surroundings, where the loss wasn't quite so raw, the guilt not quite so gnawing, the regret not quite so overpowering -
Stop.
He has been awake for fifty-two hours, scouring Himeji or sitting fixedly at his mistress's side. Tomoyo does her best to dismiss him, but he hangs doggedly on to consciousness all the way until Souma stumbles back into the room. Her beaten expression tells him all he needs to know, and with a sour huff he rises and goes to her.
"Nothing," Souma says. "No lead, no trace beyond what we've already found."
"Fine," Kurogane says, his usual curtness turned weary. "I need to sleep."
Souma nods. "I'll be alert enough for another few hours yet." She turns away, and he doesn't bother to reply, just glances back at the Princess one more time before leaving.
1.2 | on dreaming
The view that dreams are merely the imaginary fulfillments of repressed wishes is hopelessly out of date. There are, it is true, dreams which manifestly represent wishes or fears, but what about all the other things? Dreams may contain ineluctable truths, philosophical pronouncements, illusions, wild fantasies, memories, plans, anticipations, irrational experiences, even telepathic visions, and heaven knows what besides.
- Carl Jung
I cannot sleep for dreaming; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I'd find you coming through some door.
- Arthur Miller
1.3 | what besides
Kurogane dreams.
He dreams of his mother first. She is perfect and solemn, and she holds out her clenched fists to him. He reaches back, and into his cupped hands she pours an endless stream of mustard seeds, far more mustard seeds than her delicate hands should be able to hold. He tries to catch them all, but the seeds run through his fingers and scatter on the ground and his hands remain empty -
He dreams of the battle at the end, when he finally faced the man who killed his mother. The battle where the other fought at his back; the battle where the other's blood stained Ginryuu red, red that mixed with the blood of a hundred horrible things until Kurogane wasn't sure if he'd actually killed the other or just one more wraith-creature -
He dreams of the night before that battle, when the other came to him. He dreams of long white limbs and strong slender hands, of gold cat-eyes and fine yellow hair and a contented, lazy smile. He dreams of warmth and pleasure and some other feeling too precious too name -
And finally he dreams of a fox, peering at him from the shadows with those same gold eyes.
1.4 | excerpts from Report by Shinobi Souma on the Burning of Shirasagi Castle
...the assailants were somehow able to make their way unseen through the spiral maze of paths surrounding the castle. Evidence suggests that fires were started at five separate points by no less than three separate people. While it is possible that the arsonists were already positioned within the castle, Shinobi Kurogane, also under the service of Tsukuyomi, believes that magic may have been used to transport the arsonists or even to remotely light the fires. The use of magic seems unlikely, given the strength of the kekkei that protect Shirasagi Castle; however, the wards have been breached in the past...
...While the identities of the assailants remain unknown, it is likely that they are part of an organized plot against Nihon's rulers, rather than a loose coalition of dissidents; the group is...[p]ossibly connected to the refugees from the alternate world of Japan. After the collapse of most of Japan's kekkei, magicians of that country were able to open a portal between dimensions and send a portion of the population to our own land. Amaterasu graciously accepted a number of Japan's displaced citizens and set up a system to allow their integration into society. However, of late Nihon nativists have expressed resentment at the influx of foreigners, while the newcomers are upset at the immigration limitations that prohibit more than a certain number of refugees from entering Nihon at one time...This is especially urgent given that Japan's ultimate destruction is imminent; yet Nihon does not have the resources to support a large population explosion...
...Perhaps most disturbing are signs that yet a third presence, likely allied with yet another magic-user, is working to smuggle refugees from Japan's dimension into our own. The refugees have taken to calling this unknown person or persons "Blue John"...
1.5 | a list of people that Kurogane has loved
1. His father - deceased.
2. His mother - deceased.
3. Princess Tomoyo.
4. Fai D. Fluorite - deceased.
Final probabilty of you living if Kurogane loves you: 25%.
| >>
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-23 12:55 am (UTC)And now I get to re-read it!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-04 04:26 am (UTC)I can't decide of 1.3 or 1.5 are my favorites. Both have a certain cuteness but also scream what's in Kurogane's heart and mind. Thank you for sharing.
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Date: 2009-02-17 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 06:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 09:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-18 12:05 pm (UTC)I worship this story. I really do. I think, I read it for 4th time now. Just printed it this morning cause I always fear it could disappear or something... (32 pages on Open Office, but don't worry, I printed it duplex and on recycling paper XP).
Every time I read it, it's so intense, I'm sittin there with nearly tears, then nearly a grin but the whole time fully concentrated... I've got more than 700 stories in my faves (yes, I know that sounds insane) although I seriously never just add randomly.I just take the ones I really liked in there, but you see, I do read very much... anyway, taking into account all those I like, the level of yours is, in my opinion, just reached by very, VERY, very few of them - because this story is just pure poetry, pure bliss, perfection, really...
sorry for this outburst^^°. I just felt like making that clear again to show you how much your work is appreciated.