Here it is, as promised, Kara and Nai's story. Seeing as how Toni and Sasha have decided to abandon me >.< my little dragons have agreed to pick up the slack. So, from now on, Kara is my Angst/Lemon muse, Nai-kun is my WAFF/Lemon muse, and Chala is my Art/Songfic muse. Chala's story will come later (I think...). Disclaimers: NONE!!! Karanya Li'She, Adonai Li'She, Li'Nara, Shi'Ko'Lo'Rai, the Drakon Nai, the Shadow Daemons... all mine! Symbol Key: *emphasis* ~telepathy~ Karan - Bright Adon - Gentle Nya/Nai - Winds Li' - Honorific of gods and goddesses born to the Eternal Life Goddess Nara - Element She - Feather Shi' - Life Ko - Darkness Lo'Rai - Evil Drakon Nai - Dragon Niyori - Brood mate ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Bright Wind, Gentle Wind by Ryoko Saotome ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Karanya frowned slightly as she twisted a lock of her long blond hair around her index finger, her feathered dragon wings rustling softly. Only sixteen years of age, she was one of the elemental gods and a warrior to the eternal goddess Li'Nara. "Niyori?" a soft tenor said, concern etched in that gentle voice. "Are you well?" The petite blond (she only stood around 5'3" tall) turned and offered a small, beautific smile to her twin. "Yes, Adonai, I'm fine. Just... worried." The delicate-looking auburn-tressed boy nodded, his long braid swaying slightly. He shared his brood mate's concerns; after all, the daemon lord Shi'Ko'Lo'Rai *was* a formidable opponent. What made it more worrisome for the lovely half-elemental twins was, the host body had once been Drakon Nai--and their father. "Don't worry so much, big sister," Adonai said with a shy smile. "It'll give you wrinkles." Karanya blinked her silver eyes, then snorted as she tossed her hair. "I don't plan on getting wrinkles any time soon!" she replied, laughter in her voice despite her almost harsh words. Then her smile faded somewhat and she whispered, "If he attacks soon..." "We're as ready as we'll ever be, sis," the slightly younger twin replied, his own silver eyes sad. "We just have to hope that it's enough." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Shi'Ko'Lo'Rai smiled darkly. His Shadow Daemons had done well. Not only had they managed to completely distract Li'Nara's entire army, but they had managed to acquire his true targets. The daemon lord smirked as he heard the angry growling coming from the female. The male had been silent the entire time, quiet fury in his eyes. The pair had been in their full dragon form during the battle, yet had been almost powerless against the sheer number of daemons that had taken them down. Shi'Ko' walked into his throne room, smirking broadly. The pure white dragoness growled once more, her long tail thrashing, silver eyes sparking furiously. The pale blue dragon next to her glared at the daemon, his wings rustling. The Shadow Daemons shrieked and flitted around the room, knowing full well that the two Drakon Nai were helpless in this realm. The dark lord smiled wickedly and sat down; the moment he was seated, a lesser daemon rushed in with a wine goblet for its master. Shi'Ko' sipped at the warm red liquid [1] and shot a look at his two prisoners. "Really, Ms. Li'She, Mr. Li'She," he said in his deep voice, "you cannot be comfortable in those large forms in such a confined space. Why don't you shift back to your humanoid forms, hmm?" His only response was a furious growl; then the white dragoness vanished, only to be replaced with a petite blond with silver-feathered wings. Karanya glared, her rage clearly written on her face. The blue dragon was replaced with an auburn-haired boy with bluish-silver wings. Adonai remained silent as ever. Shi'Ko' smirked once more. "Good chyldren," he purred. "It warms my dark heart to know that you still listen to your sire." "You might have our father's body," Karanya spat, "but you are not my father, you bat-winged bastard!" Adonai looked at his sister, eyes wide. Never, even in her moments of anger in battle, had he heard Karanya refer to anyone with no respect at all in her voice. Even Mort'e Grish'na, the god of death, held a place of respect in his niyori's eyes. The daemon lord's eyes narrowed. Without warning, he was by Karanya in seconds, one hand clamped tightly around the delicate beauty's throat, the other hand roughly gripping all of her long platinum tresses. [2] "Little bitch dragon," he growled softly, red eyes flashing with hatred. "For that comment, you've just gained a curse for yourself and your darling brother." "Leave him the hell alone, you bastard," Karanya gasped, struggling to breath. The hand around her throat was making it difficult for her to speak. "It's me you want, anyway." Shi'Ko' smirked. "I wanted both of you to suffer, but you will get the worst of this curse," he hissed softly. "Karanya Li'She, bright wind dragon, you will forever seek pain, forever seek injury to yourself, forever be in need of the pain in order to achieve pleasure." [3] As the girl's eyes widened, he smirked again... ... and pulled on her hair. Karanya shrieked as her platinum locks were torn, leaving her hair ragged and short. A single long section brushed over her neck, and she quickly tucked it behind her ear. She was not about to go through that again. Shi'Ko' actually smiled as he saw the tears in his 'daughter's' eyes, then turned to speak to both. "Karanya Li'She, bright wind dragon, and Adonai Li'She, quiet wind dragon, from this point on, you will be alone, you will never know true joy, you will never know true happiness, you will never know true love. You will forever be alone." As he spoke, a coldness dropped over both twins, leaving each with a void in their souls. To never find happiness... to never find love... it was a fate worse than death for creatures such as themselves. Shi'Ko' smiled; it was not a pretty sight. He turned to his Shadow Daemons and said only one thing: "Send them back." Within seconds, the Drakon Nai were gone, sent back to their home with Li'Nara. And Shi'Ko'Lo'Rai laughed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Li'Nara was worried. Ever since her beloved children had been returned to her, they had been distant. Karanya seemed to be bound and determined to hurt herself; the girl had begun carrying an array of jeweled daggers with her so she would be able to cut herself. And neither of her beautiful chyldren would speak to anyone. Finally, the goddess had enough. She confronted her son and daughter as they sat quietly in the gardens, Karanya once more slicing her pale flesh with a dagger. "Karanya, Adonai, something has happened," Li'Nara said in her mellow soprano. "Please, my darling ones, tell me what happened to you during that battle." Adonai stared at the ground, eyes sad, stroking his braid in an effort to comfort himself. Karanya stopped slicing her arms and tugged at the remaining long strand of her hair. Upon their return a few days ago, she'd had one of the palace servants even out her butchered hair and pleat the long section into a tidy braid. After several minutes of silence, Karanya spoke, relating the entire story to her mother, including the curses. "My poor poor babies," the eternal goddess whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "I wish I could reverse them, but maybe I can do something." Adonai looked up. "I don't think there *is* anything you can do, Mother," he whispered. Karanya nodded her agreement and twisted her braid around her index finger. "Do not doubt my word, my gentle one," Li'Nara said softly, taking her chyldren's hands in her own. "I can do something. "My beautiful daughter, my beautiful son, I grant you both eternal life, eternal youth, eternal beauty, and eternal love from a realm outside our own." [4] Karanya sighed. "There is no realm outside this one, Mother." Li'Nara smiled wisely. "You would be surprised just how many there are, my dearest," she said mysteriously. "You would be surprised." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Eventually, the young Drakon Nai pair had opportunity to visit one of these other worlds. They were much older, nearly three hundred years of age and still as beautiful as they had always been. As the twins entered the room that they had been told was called the Subspace Room, a neko-ningen looked up from a golden keyboard. Her blondish-brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her black-brown eyes sparkled at them from behind a pair of blue-tinted glasses. Her tail, which was the same shade as her hair, lashed back and forth as she smiled at them. "Konichiwa!" she greeted brightly. "You must be Karanya and Adonai Li'She. I'm Ryoko Saotome." Karanya got right to the point: "What exactly are we supposed to do?" "Well," Ryoko said, pushing her glasses up her nose, "basically, you do muse stuff. Y'know, inspire me to write in different styles and give me ideas." Adonai blinked. "I'm not sure we can do that." "Of course you can!" the neko-onna insisted, her smile never fading. "You just need to be more confident in your abilities!" The auburn-haired bishounen was about to protest again when he caught sight of several pictures on Ryoko's desk. They were mostly pictures of young men standing near mobile suits, and two caught his attention. Without a word, he drew two pictures out of the pile and placed them in front of Ryoko. "Write about them," he said with a smile. "They're very pretty." The brown-eyed neko looked at the pictures and blinked. "Duo and Wufei?" she asked. "Yeah, they *are* bishounen." Karanya smiled suddenly. "Write something sad," she said. "Someone dies. Or almost dies. And maybe use a song..." Ryoko smiled. "See, you're both muse material! Kara, you can cover angst, and Nai... hmmm... you have a knack for pairings, so you can be in charge of that." The dragon chyldren blinked at their new nicknames, then shrugged. This creature was a bit odd, but she was very sweet. Maybe she would be able to help break their curses someday... OWARI ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ [1] Blood, of course. [2] Not *quite* all of it. She still has one long section behind her left ear that she keeps in a braid. [3] In other words, Kara's a bit masochistic because she can't help it. [4] Hehehe, neither Imati nor Kas is from the same realm Kara and Nai come from!