He was, without a doubt, beautiful. Not in a delicate, feminine sort of way, not at all; more like a sleek tiger, or maybe a wolf. Long, softly waving white hair framed his face, which looked like someone had set out to carve their idea of perfection: high cheekbones, full lips beneath the shadow of a severely straight nose, and a pair of hawk-like golden eyes that seemed to pin me in place where I stood.
I realized belatedly that he was holding a hand out to me, and I retreated back a few steps. “Don’t touch me!” Yeah, it was rude. But after the day I’d had so far, natural caution won out over manners, hands down.
He just laughed. There was something about him that reminded me of the crazy guy with the copper eyes. Not human, and therefore not to be trusted right away….but his laugh was so soft and warm that I couldn’t help being put a little at ease by it, my suspicion melting a little despite my best efforts.
“You’re frightened of me.” He smiled, dropping down to his knees so I wouldn’t have to crane my neck to look up at him anymore. “I can’t say that I blame you. Unless I’m mistaken, you’ve already had one madman chasing after you today, haven’t you? But you don't have anything to fear from me. I'm here to make certain your lunatic friend doesn't have the chance to get his hands on you. What's your name?"
"Holly." I hated how quickly I answered him, and how calm and friendly my voice sounded to my own ears. Somewhere in the far reaches of my mind, I'd already started trusting this stranger, despite what the rational part of my brain was telling me to do.
"Holly. My name's Tengu. Now that our introductions are out of the way, why don't you let me do something about your injuries, so you'll stop bleeding all over my brand new boots?" He still sounded amused, as if this entire encounter tickled whatever strange sense of humor he had. I hesitated, a tentative trust based solely on his voice and a nice laugh would really only so far to allay my suspicions. "Come on," he cajoled, holding a hand out towards me. "It'll only take a moment, and you'll only have to move a little closer. I'll have to put my hands on you, but I promise not to grab you. If I do, I suspect you could kick me in the shin hard enough to give me pause." His smile widened into a grin, briefly, before the expression faded a little. "You have some bad cuts. They must be starting to hurt a little."
That much was true enough. I was starting to feel like the building really had crashed down on me, and somehow I found myself nodding a little and moving a few hesitant steps closer. Warm hands settled lightly on my upper arms, and almost immediately, my body was flooded with this…the only way I could really think to describe it was a warmth. A pleasant, humming warmth that flooded through my limbs and washed the pain away as if it had never existed, leaving me relaxed and content, and after a few seconds I realized with some vague, lazy surprise that I felt better than I had in hours….hell, I felt better than I’d felt all day long. When I opened my eyes….when had I closed them in the first place?....I could see a faint, golden glow that retreated back into Tengu’s hands as he withdrew, and I realized that I wasn’t bleeding anymore. When I looked down at myself, all my cuts and bruises had faded away completely, and I was left staring at Tengu in amazement.
"I'm a healer." He said calmly in answer to the silent question. "I'm assuming, of course, that you've already gathered that I and your....friend....are from parts quite unknown to you. Considering that our time is somewhat limited, it might be a good idea if I save the long, drawn out explanations until later. For the moment, perhaps you'll simply accept that I'm here to help you, and come with me...?"
Again, I hesitated. It was one thing not to run away screaming from the man. It was another to contemplate going off somewhere with him. But he seemed so nice....he was definitely making a better impression than....whoever-he-was. By a long shot.
I had my mouth open to agree with him....but my voice was drowned out by the sound of hurried footsteps and a sudden yell. "KID! HEY KID!!" Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw a dreaded flash of copper hair and I knew, instantly, who it had to be. What the hell was he, part bloodhound? "SHIT, kid, get away from him!"
I wanted to scream at him to go away, but Tengu beat me to the punch. His voice was no longer warm and calm; now, it was sharp and sarcastic, the amusement in it cold, and I suddenly felt a pair of impossibly strong hands grab my arms and jerk me backwards. "You're too late, sprite." The word meant nothing to me, but Tengu said it with such scorn and derision it could have easily been a curse. "Your own fault, really, Puck. You never have made a very good first impression. You might want to work a bit on your people skills."
Of course, I thought to myself. Logic one, instinct zero.
"Let her go, Tengu."
"Or what?" Grinning, Tengu took a few steps backwards, dragging me right along with him. "You'll lecture me until my ears bleed?"
Holly struggled, pulling against the grip on her arms until her shoulders felt like they'd tear out of their sockets, but it was useless. He was too much bigger than she was, and her mind was still reeling from the surrealness of the entire situation. What the hell could they want with her? She was nobody! For God's sake, nobody at the home even really wanted her there.
I struggled, pulling against Tengu’s grip until I was sure my shoulders would pop right out of their sockets, but it was useless. He was too much bigger than he was…Tengu had at least a good four inches on the other guy, and he towered over me. Besides, my mind was still reeling from the surrealness of this whole thing. What the hell could they possibly want with me? Nobody at the home even really wanted me. And they were going to fight over who got to drag me off to kill me or do whatever to me?
"No," I focused my attention on the sound of the voice in front of me again, and I realized with a start that there was a gun in the other guy’s…Puck's….hand, and his voice no longer sounded panicked; it sounded very, very serious. "I'll blow your fucking head off."
Tengu just threw back his head and laughed. "A gun? How very human of you, Puck! You're going to shoot a healer? Just how much good do you think that will do, hm? I'll have the wound healed before the bullet even exits. My little shield, however," He leaned down to purr the words into my ear, and I felt my skin crawl. "She won't be so lucky."
Those were the last words I could hear before the gun went off.
Panicking, I dived for the ground, and saw Tengu's body fly backwards, the thundering reports of the weapon blending together in my ears to make one long, horrendous sound that seemed to vibrate through my entire head. He fell to the ground and lay still.
"Come on, kid! That's not going to stop him for long!" It wasn’t? It sure as hell looked like it would have stopped just about anybody. Pretty permanently, too. But I didn't have time to voice that opinion before Puck had grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off at a dead run.
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The pair were gone far too fast to see Tengu stir, his entire body slowly enveloped by the same golden glow that had left Holly staring in wonder. Nor did they see the figure that approached him, descending from the rooftops to kneel beside his brother's glowing body, a mirror image of the man laying on the ground. He remained there in silence until the magic had done its work, and he was reassured that Tengu was breathing normally and beginning to stir.
"That did not seem to go as planned." The quiet statement earned him a murderous glare as Tengu pushed himself up onto his elbows, and Karu stood, offering his brother a hand to his feet. "I'm starting to think that this plan has certain....fatal flaws."
"Come on." Ignoring his twin's objections, Tengu straightened what had once been a very expensive silk shirt. "I do not look forward to reporting this to the Queen. Better if we can ensure that they don't make it out of this solar system alive."
