That night they camped by a river. Larva was having a more and more difficult time staying on the mechanical horse, so they stopped early, before the sun touched the western horizon. Larva stepped down to the river to clean himself off while D set up the camp. He glanced down the the man from time to time to make sure he had not passed out again, and drowned. When he returned, he took some thread and needle from D, and sewed the black cloth D had given him to fashion a sort of cape that closed in the front, something that would stay on Larva's slender body. D stoked the fire, and found himself glancing to Larva quite often, watching the play of fire light on the mans thin face. Then the man slowly looked to D, and D started, and stood.
"I'm going to try and find some fire wood, you should be safe if you stay by the fire. And don't try running away, your a lot safer in this world with me than alone."
Larva gave D a look that seemed to ask why would Larva want to run away. Then D grabbed a torch from the fire, turned, and walked away from everything safe. He didn't expect to find any fire wood, not in this grassland, but he needed a task to distract his mind.
"Now, why to I get the feeling you are feeling a huge since of deja vu?" D did not reply. "And for a man, of all people!"
"Quiet, you."
"No, I won't be quiet, not this time."
D stopped and looked to the face in his left hand.
"It began to happen with that farm girl Doris, and now it's happening again, and just like last time, your running from it. What are you so scared of?"
"Your out of line."
"So? This has to be said, D! You keep resisting your vampire nature to prey on the living, but at the same time you are resisiting your human nature. Humans need companionship, they need to love and feel loved, but you keep running away from it. You are both vampire and human, D, and you are running from both, and both of which you cannot escape. One side or the other needs to be satisfied, and if you keep denying both, which side do you think is going to become more demanding in the end?"
D was quiet a moment. His friend made a valid point. "But it's a man."
"It's not a man, in fact, when don't know what it is. He is pretty cute though."
D started. "Are we sure it's not you instead of me who is taken with this man?"
"Who cares? Can you see him in your minds eye, D? Those eyes, that hair. The soft skin, the sad expression, the lithe body. I can think of only one word to describe this creature. Do you know what it is?"
D took his time answering. "Divine."
Suddenly, a high shrill shrieking erupted near D's foot and something sank it's teeth into D's leather boot. It wrenched D's foot from under him and D fell to the ground.
"Damn!" he cried. He lowered his torch to see what had his boot in it's grasp. D's eyes met an unholy beast; a snake with two heads, one at one end of it's body, and one at the other end of it's body, about 3 feet long and 8 inches in diameter. D reached for his sword, but the second head came around and clamped it's mouth on D's wrist, fangs just barely missing sinking into the flesh. D beat at it with his torch, but the snake thing quickly wrapped the length of it's body around D's as D struggled with it. He cried out again as the snake monster squeezed the breath out of D.
Is this it? Is this how I will die? Everything shaded over in a sea of red, and D thought maybe the blood vessles in his brain had burst from this pressure and his precious blood was leaking from his eyes and nose. But the red grew brighter, as though from a fire, and the pressure on D's body lessened, as though the beast were distracted. There was a flash, and searing heat, and the monster released D with a shreik of pain. D scrambled to his feet, noted the creature writhing in pain some short distance away, then turned to the source of the red light. It was Larva! The man stood there, clothed in his recently sewn black cape, wrists still bound and holding his hands as though he were holding a ball or shpere out toward the monster. But the only thing in Larva's strange hands was a tiny flame, which sat on nothing but the air above Larva's fingers. Somehow, Larva held this flame cupped in his hands, and was not burnt by it.
What sort of magic is this? D wondered. But there was no time to sit and wonder, the monster was regrouping. As D watched on, the flame in Larva's hands grew to consume his hands and wrists. Larva never flinched, and when the flame died back down into the tiny flicker of light, D saw Larva's flesh had not been damaged, but the ropes that had bound Larva now hung in ashes on the mans thin wrists, which fluttered into the wind when Larva parted his wrists into a more comfortable possition. D drew his sword and faced the monster, hoping his faith in Larva would not cost him his life. The monster charged, and D sliced off one head with his sword. The other head howled in pain and came around to strike D. D barely had time enough to jump back when the monster was engulfed in a wall of fire. It screamed in agony, and the smell of it's burning flesh made D gag. When the fire died down, the creature still moved, painfully, it's flesh seared away. With one swipe of his sword, D put the beast out of misery, then turned to his newest companion.
Larva stood there, hands at his sides, staring back at D. The man seemed almost appologetic in stature. The two stared at each other a moment, until D broke the silence. "Let's get back to the fire, before some other unholy beast tries to make a meal of us." Larva nodded and turned back to the fire, his eyes remaining on D. D walked to stand by the man, and both walked back to the sanctity of thier camp. They settled down on opposit sides of the fire, and stared across the flames at each other. Again, it was D who broke the silence.
"You could have escaped those bonds at any moment, am I right?"
Larva nodded.
"Why did you wait?"
Larva shrugged, again seeming appologetic for the previous dishonesty.
D shrugged. "You certainly are a quiet one."
Larva tilted his head at the man and gave him a strange look. He spoke; "It seems you have enough tongues for the both of us."
D was confused. "What do you mean?"
Larva lifted his left hand, palm to D, and pointed to the palm of his hand, then to D's hand. D started. "How did you know?"
Larva spoke again, that voice that could calm storm waters. "I know a great many things I shouldn't. Can I... meet him?" Again Larva pointed to D's hand. D actually chuckled. "I've never actually introduced him to anyone before. You and I are the only ones who know about him." D raised his hand to face Larva, and Larva crawled on hands and knees closer to D.
"Good evening!" piped up D's hand.
Larva smiled slightly, humored, and nodded his greeting back. He glanced to D. "He has no name," D reported, "since he and I were the only ones who knew of him, he's never had need of a name." D watched as Larva marvled at the face in D's hand. Quietly, he asked, "Who has controll over the hand?"
"You mean the fingers and like? Both of us. It's a mutual control, but I have the dominating control."
The face frowned. "Unfortunitly."
D gave the face a look, and Larva smiled. "I take it you two have been together a long time."
"Again, I repeat, unfortunitly."
Larva laughed then, it was the first time D had seen him cheer up since he awoken, and the sight of this lost and confused man smiling make D smile. When the merriness had settled down, the hand spoke up; "Well, now you know one of our secrets, you must tell us one of yours."
D gave his tiny compainion another glare, as it was being terribly rude. Larva waved D's look away. "It's a fair bargain, D. I'll answer some of your other questions in this answer as well, I hope. I am not from this world, as you might have guessed, but I'm not heavenly, nor 'divine.'" D thought he felt a blush creep up his neck, which he willed back down. Larva continued: "In my world, I am called a Shinma. We are a demon race of creatures, who usually fed upon human suffering. I'm not at all proud of this, but let me finesh. I think I know what you are, though I can't be for certain. I knew one, back in my world. She was a vampire, but that may or may not have the same definition here as there. There, vampires are born, sometimes unknowingly by the vampires themselves until they reach an age of maturity and their powers unleash themselves. Her name was Miyu, and I had been sent to kill her. But I did not, I believe I fell in love with her the moment I saw her, as a father might love his daughter. I watched Miyu grow and mature, until finally my task could no longer be put off. But when I touched Miyu, her vampiric powers were unleashed, and I could not perform the task. Since then, my personal failure, I said no word to anyone, even my precious Miyu, until arriving here." Larva paused, seemed uncomfortble. D's hand spoke up.
"You said your race is one of evil, then are you evil?"
Larva shook his head definately. "After Miyu's powers unleashed, I followed her guidance then. She became my master, and I couldn't have prayed for a better one. Miyu was of damned blood, but of pure heart. She knew what humans suffered as a result of my kind, and she sought to end it. So we hunted down my kind, one after another, sending them back to the reign they belonged to. When I arrived here, we had just sent the last Shinma back to the Dark, and Miyu and I had planned to follow it, and leave the human race back to the peace they knew before the coming of the Shinma and vampires. But something went wrong, and I ended up here."
It was D's turn to speak. "Can you get back?"
Larva shook his head, saddened again. "The physics of this world is different than in mine, I don't know how to open a portal here."
All sat in awkward silence for a while, when the hand spoke up again. "Well, for better or worst, D's glad your here."
D's jaw dropped, and Larva looked up.
"Yeah, he has all the emotional context of a corpse, but you've certainly aroused something in this corpss..."
"That's it!" D drew his sword, lay his left wrist on the ground before him, and raised the sword to severe the hand.
"D! D! Don't do this, come on, I was just kidding!"
The sword swung down, and almost made contact when Larva's hand grabbed D's on the hilt of the sword and stopped it's descent a mere few inches from the wrist. D looked up to Larva, mortified at what his companion had confessed, but Larva did not seem disgusted or offended at all. He had a small sort of strange smile on his face, and his beautiful eyes were tranquill. Whether he enjoyed the thought of D's affection, or just didn't care, though, was a mystery. Larva removed the sword gently but firmly from D's hand, and placed it back in D's sheath. He then picked up the trembling hand and looked to it. Quietly, he said, "Sometimes, silence is a virtue, small friend." The hand let out a sigh of releif. "Point noted." D remained silent, sitting in a huff.
Larva turned to him, "You are still angery?"
D did not reply, or even look at Larva.
"Is it so wrong to have feelings, D? To actually live alittle?" This was the hand. Still D did not reply. "Great, so your just gonna sit there and pout for the rest of the night?"
D glared at his hand once again and opened his mouth to say something when Larva interupted him, though not with words. Larva moved his hand to brush his long red nails against the top of the palm of D's hand. The nails were terribly sharp, quite capible of slicing right into the flesh beneath them, but the act was one of silencing, not of warning. With that simple move, Larva silenced both mouths, and both looked to him. Larva looked at neither, but eventually turned his gaze to D. His eyes were inviting, and D felt that if he could fall into those eyes, he would be warm and happy forever, and so he tried to. He leaned into those eyes, and gasped in surprise when his lips brushed Larva's. D hesitated a moment, and when Larva made no move to escape him, D pressed his lips against Larva's, tasting their softness. D closed his eyes and mentally groaned with his impatient comapnion complaned, "Hey, no fair, what about me?"
Larva broke away and glanced down to the pouting face, then looked back to D. "Can he feel what you feel?" he asked.
"Only from the hand till about here," D gestured about half down his forearm. Larva nodded and took D's left wrist gently in his hands. "Can you feel what he feels?" D nodded. Larva glanced at the hand, then D. Both were watching him anxiously. Larva moved one hand from D's wrist to gently cradle his index finger. This he brought to his mouth. He kissed the finger, and the smaller companion closed his eyes and sighed happily. Those eyes were snapped open, and he gasped when Larva took the finger into his mouth, gently easing his wet lips down over the slender shaft. Something stirred deep inside D. Of course, he had had sex before, with men and women, his human hormones demanded release every once and a while. But this feeling Larva aroused was something different, something more than just the want of sex. Larva's tongue massaged around the extended finger, his eyes closed. He seemed to be enjoying this almost as much as the other two.
"Larva..."
Larva opened his eyes and looked to D.
"I..."
The hand giggled. "What my friend is trying to say is he is horny, and he's wondering if you... ack!" D had gently pulled the finger from Larva's mouth and shoved it palm down into the ground. The hand's muffled complaints made Larva smiled like a shy school girl.
Such innocent things please him so... D thought. "Larva, I..." "Shh," Larva silenced him with a finger tip to D's lips. D gently pulled the finger away with his right hand. "Larva, we don't have to..." "Don't listen to him Larva!" came the hands muffled cry. Larva laughed again, whole heartedly this time. He shook his head and put a hand to his chest, then looked to D, laughter still in his eyes and on his face. It made D smile. "Life cannot be all death and carnage, D. Our friend makes obvious but valid points. The way you have existed thus far is not a way to live, it's a way to survive. What is the purpose of survivng if you do not truely live?" Larva let these words play in D's head for a moment, then he moved closer to him, eased himself into D's lap. D was so surprised, he didn't have time to respond before Larva had settled himself down, stradling D's hips. Larva silenced D again as he opened his mouth to protest, and the hand, having been lifted from the ground, spoke up again. "Two out of three of us are more than willing, D, your the only one holding us back. So just shut up and go with it!" Larva smiled at D, and D realised that his hand did make valid points.