Interesting Times

Chapter Four

Byakuen was in the dream time.

In a matter of hours, his life had come to this; awareness dwindling down to nothing save the periods of waking and of dreaming. The dreaming was to be embraced. The waking brought the light. And the light hurt. Oh Kasou, it hurt so badly. Even now, the memory of it was enough to make him cringe and scramble back in his shackles though the movement brought him agony.

The trick was to keep breathing. A rather difficult task when one's lungs seemed little more than thick, smoldering masses of ooze, needing only the slightest hint of air to set them ablaze again. He shuddered, each motion causing tears to leak out of the corners of his eyes. He forced his breathing to steady. One. Two. Three. In with the good air, out with the bad air as one of Nasuti's exercise tapes had cheerfully proclaimed. Block out the pain. It doesn't matter. It doesn't exist.

But it did.

How long had he been here? He was no closer to the answer now than he had been the first time he'd asked the question. Time alternately seemed to crawl and fly. Had he been here a thousand years or mere seconds?

:Byakuen...:

The tiger turned man cringed, a soft breath escaping at the sound of that sweet voice. No. Not again. Not the voice. The light came with the voice. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to bury his face--

:Silly tiger: the voice crooned. The blessed, cool darkness was fading fast, light searing across his brain.

He growled and lurched forward, wanting nothing more than to feel the satisfying smack of flesh against his claws. His hand flew out and connected--with something. Not flesh. Harder than flesh, almost as if bone had suddenly been made flexible and warm.

There was a moment of silence followed by a low clucking. :Bad kitty: admonished the voice, the sweetness in that voice darkening to a rich chocolaty rumble. :Bad, bad kitty. You shall have to be punished.:

Something in Byakuen recognized the promise in the words and sought to scramble away before--

The light blossomed and there was nothing save agony.

And the sound of soft, blissful laughter.

***

"This is intolerable," Kokuen-Oh raged, pacing back and forth in front of the throne. "We had a deal!"

From her throne, Sachiriku yawned, examining several of her nails in boredom. Kokuen-Oh was so tiresome, she reflected. Too bad he was human at the moment. She rather fancied having that beautiful coat of his for a blanket. Or a garment. Perhaps when this was all over with she would return him to his normal state and have him skinned. Her mouth curved upward in a dreamy smile as she imagined the feel of silky tiger fur against her skin.

Beside her throne, Kaijin snapped at the restless former tiger, "You will speak respectfully towards Sachiriku-sama or your head will adorn a pike outside."

Kokuen-Oh's yellow eyes narrowed to slits. "You are most certainly welcome to try," he snarled.

Kaijin's hand went to the hilt of his sword, Kokuen Oh tensed.

"Stop it," Sachiriku ordered, "Or I shall have both of your heads. Put your sword away, Kaijin and stand down. And as for you, Kokuen Oh--I thought you would enjoy the little show I've put on for you."

Her hand waved expansively toward the large mirror to the right of them. In its inky depths, every excruciating, exquisite detail of Byakuen's torture was being played for them. His shrill screams made her blood sing and it was all she could do not to let out a throaty kittenish purr of satisfaction. Oh, it had been so long since she'd been present at a decent torture. The only thing that would make it better was if she was the one wielding the knife.

"I would enjoy it more if it was me down there and not one of your little servants," Kokuen-Oh replied echoing her thoughts.

"Patience. You'll get your turn when Byakuen no longer had any use for us."

"And when will that be?"

"When we no longer have any use for him," Sachiriku repeated simply. Her voice was calm, but there was an edge there that everyone heard.

"Mistress," Kaijin began, shifting restlessly at her side. Sachiriku suppressed the very real desire to roll her eyes in exasperation. He was going to be difficult, she decided. He was tiresome, too. Both he and Kokuen-Oh were so small-minded and petty. They didn't see the big picture, but she did.

"Kokuen-Oh," Sachiriku interrupted her servant, fixing her attention on the tiger man, "If you want Byakuen, then you must carry out your part of the bargain."

"I did!" he snarled. "Only someone went and changed the deal!"

"I did, didn't I?" Sachiriku demurred. Then she straightened, "The addition of this girl, this Slayer, to the mix has forced me to change our earlier deal. You understand this, of course?"

"Fine. I'll go and kill her. Then can I have what I want?"

"No," Sachiriku snapped, "The girl is not to be killed. Not by you. I have told you what is needed. Do you still wish to play or not?"

Yellow eyes glared balefully at her, as if trying to visually dissect. "I don't suppose I have much of a choice, do I?"

"No, not really."

"Very well. Sachiriku, if you think to double-cross me... I'll deal with you before I kill Byakuen," Kokuen-Oh replied slowly, distinctly.

"Why, Kokuen-Oh, I wouldn't dream of such a thing," Sachiriku replied in singsong. "Never in a million years."

***

Buffy was tired. Cold, too. She had been tramping around in the woods for nearly two hours now. Coupled with all the excitement earlier and the onset of what was probably going to be a majorly nasty case of jet lag, the Slayer found herself getting more than just a little cranky. And a cranky Slayer is not a fun Slayer, Xander would have quipped had he been here. It was probably a good thing he wasn't here; she really wasn't in the mood for a lot of witty Xanderisms anyway.

Her companion, if anything, was nearly as taciturn as Angel, a feat in and of itself. They had exchanged a handful of words during their search and Buffy was content to let the silence rise up between them. She could tell Anubis didn't trust her exactly and she didn't have the energy or the patience to argue.

"We've gotta be running out of woods," she muttered. As picturesque and pretty as the forest surrounding Nasuti's house was, it was unfortunately hell to search through at night. And it seemed to go on forever. Call me an old-fashioned city girl but my favorite kind of jungle is one made of plexiglass and concrete, she thought moving the flashlight Nasuti had given her in a narrow beam around her. Not only was it more familiar territory than this forest primeval but there was also less chance of nasty, creepy crawlies flying at you.

"Tired?" Anubis asked, startling her.

Buffy shrugged, then remembered that he probably couldn't see it. "I'm okay," she answered noncommittally. Like she'd ever admit to him that she wasn't.

"Good," he said, pulling a little ahead of her. She stared at his back. Friendly much? she thought.

"So explain this to me again," she asked, "We're looking for a guy who used to be a tiger?"

"Byakuen," Anubis replied promptly. "He belongs to Rekka."

Rekka? Oh. Buffy dimly recalled Nasuti's explanation of the Troopers' armors. Ryo's was Rekka, which meant...fire? Yes, that was it. Fire. Yay me, Buffy gave herself a mental pat on the back, and Giles thinks I don't pay attention. Then she frowned, "What the heck is a kid doing with a tiger?"

"He's not normally a child, remember/" Anubis said shortly.

"Okay, what's *anyone* doing with a tiger. A real one?"

He stopped short, turning around to glare at her. Buffy raised her chin, determined not to be intimidated even if he did loom quite impressively over her.

"Do you always talk so much?"

"Well, excuse me for wanting to know exactly why the heck we're out here in the forest in the first place," she snapped back.

"Don't ask, just--"

A low groan cut their 'discussion' short. Exchanging a glance, the Slayer and her companion nodded, then fanned out towards the sound. Buffy removed the crossbow she had snitched from Nasuti's collection from its shoulder strap, checked to make sure it was cocked and ready before turning her flashlight in a tight circle towards the source of the sound. Underbrush, tree roots, bushes... There! Buffy flicked the light back at the spot where she thought she had glimpsed movement. It looked like a limb of some kind, a gray arm with black stripes. Oh, please let it be attached to something, the Slayer prayed.

Warily, she moved towards it, crossbow clutched tightly in one hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anubis making the same hesitant path she was. She approved of that. Too often, Xander or Will had gotten into trouble by just rushing in. Though they were getting better at the Slaying gig, she still worried for them. And she still didn't like them patrolling without her.

Lying sprawled across the twisting roots of an ancient oak, was a man in a dark bodysuit of some kind. It was so dark that he very nearly blended in with his surroundings. They were lucky to have found him at all, she realized. If they hadn't heard him, they might have walked right on past without ever realizing it.

"Is this him?" Buffy asked, keeping a respectable distance. It never hurt to play it safe.

"No," Anubis breathed, warily approaching. He knelt down beside the sprawled body. "It's Kokuen-Oh."

"Oh, good," Buffy said. Then, "Who's Kokuen-Oh?"

"Long story."

"Ooookay. Is he a goodie or a baddie?"

"Well, he's not precisely a friend, but then I don't think he's on Sachiriku's side," Anubis scratched his chin. "Not that he wouldn't sell us out in a second."

"Oh." One of those, Buffy thought. Another Spike. Just what I need right now.

"We'd better get him back to the house," she said, laying her flashlight and crossbow aside to turn the body over.

"No, wait--"

Buffy let out a small shriek as she found herself on her back and looking up into a pair of not very happy yellow eyes and small, sharp looking teeth. The Slayer went into pure survival instincts, breaking the hold he had on her upper body and shoving him backward. He growled, a half-angry, half-pained sound and slipped down in a crouch as if he meant to leap at her.

"Kokuen-Oh. Slayer. Enough," Anubis snapped. The other man inserted himself between the two combatants.

"But--"

"This girl thing attacked me--"

"I attacked you? You wish--"

"Enough, I said!" Anubis roared. He turned towards the yellow-eyed man, "Where's Byakuen?"

Kokuen-Oh blinked. "Isn't he with you?"

"No. What happened?'

"We were attacked," Kokuen-Oh spat out, slamming his fist into the nearest tree. "Byakuen sensed something had happened to the Troopers and went after them. And I--"

"And you went after him?" Buffy interrupted him, voice laced with disbelief. There was something about this guy that she didn't like. Her Slayer sense was issuing all sorts of dire warnings.

"Hah! Like I care what happens to the little brats," Kokuen-Oh sniffed. "As it turned out, I didn't have to do anything. Those damned Shadow creatures dropped in on us. The last I saw of Byakuen, he was struggling to fight his way through them, shouting after those stupid children the whole time. One of them must have knocked me out for I don't recall much after that."

"Yeah and if you believe that, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you," Buffy muttered. Something was definitely not kosher about his story. In fact, it was downright rotten.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Kokuen-Oh bristled, managing to look both scary and dangerous.

"We don't have time for this," Anubis said. "We should get back to the house before Nasuti and the others worry. We'll get you bandaged up there."

"Fine. And you," Kokuen-Oh swiveled his head to glare at Buffy, "Stay out of my way."

Buffy started to snap back a reply, but the firm grip on her shoulder gave her pause. She glanced over to see Anubis shaking his head at her. She started to protest then realized that he knew. The hard expression in his dark eyes told her that she wasn't the only one who sensed this guy wasn't telling the truth. She exhaled slowly. Fine. I can be patient, she thought. I'm not going to let this guy get under my skin.

Then she remembered something. Crossing her arms, she cocked her head at Anubis, "Slayer? I have a name you know."

"I know. It's just Slayer is so much more dignified than Buffy," he shrugged.

***End of Chapter Four