castleinthemist | The One who Will Lead

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buffy: harth fray [ou]

The One who Will Lead

Harth sat at the table, watching the few and the proud eat their fill while poking at an empty bowl as if he had eaten himself already. Just playing about, taking note of lingering smells on anyone who past. Namely for anyone who might have encountered the Duo's in passing in the last few days. Wouldn't be hard to tell. There was one other thing though, figuring out and listening to what the feelings of the remaining castle dwellers were. Would they could they accept a leader like himself? That was the plan, naturally. He was the one who would lead, and he was going to get them out of here, and if it had to be one body at a time? If he had to turn each of them and escape in the night? Then that's what he'd do. He'd open those doors and march them right out in the moonlight.

But he preferred a more subtle approach for now. Use what he had in this little game of chess. It was more interesting and useful to him to use them as they were now. Killing them, he learned, would only make another shadow spirit to contend with. Might also erase their unique abilities.

They were better utilized as they were. And for Danny, it wasn't going to be much of an option. For Haku and the Duo's, he may just have to keep them under wraps for a while longer.

___----____

Harth made sure he wasn't followed, even double checking for that woman of darkness he'd met. He opened the door in the pigeon room and stepped inside closing the door behind him. He looks down into the circle at the boys, approaching them both and caressing the chin of the newest addition with his hand.

"So glad you could keep your big brother company." Harth crooned, patting him patronizingly on the head.

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Instinctively, Duo jerked his head away with a snarl. Blue eyes narrowed, body tense in spite of how exhausted he still was, he didn't dare let his guard down around Harth.

"Fuck off," was all he said, watching the vampire closely. "Where's Haku? What'd you do to her?"

Harth levels his eyes on the boy, but not really withdrawing his hand. He grabs Duo's jaw and holds his head steady while he speaks to him.

"Now why would I tell you something like that?"

Edited 2012-05-08 21:23 (UTC)

"Nn--!" Duo grunted, trying to tear away from Harth but finding it useless to even attempt. "'cause... it's not like... we can do shit about it from here. I just wanna know she's okay!"

Sitting more or less back to back to his bro he grimaces a bit, glancing over at the monster as he held his duplicate's shin.

"Back off." He said, turning half way so he could better see Harth.

Such spirited little weaklings, aren't they? They were the most fun to feed on, really. Harth released the boy and stepped back, leaning against the wall.

"She's fine. Indisposed, but safe." He says this in a neutral tone. Nothing in his voice to suggest they should believe him but nothing really to suggest they shouldn't either. He was giving them so little. Notice, he was still in the circle while he spoke to them. With but a word he could easily mute everyone inside of it.

Duo snarled again, but his shoulders slumped at the answer and he went quiet again. That wasn't much at all... it didn't give him much hope for the now-human girl, nor did it give him any hope that the rest of their friends were going to make it out of this alive.

Duo seethed in his seat, letting his bound hands hang in front as he watched Harth carefully. Wish there was a way to talk for them not to hear them, but then how long has it been since he's been here? He grunts slightly, breathing out with a dry breath.

There was really no use wasting their words on these guys. They just had to wait til they were gone so they could actually get out of here.

Still, he glanced back to his double. "You holdin' up?"

"Why worry, little man? She's safe and sound and so are you. I don't think even the shadows or the queen can find you like this." Actually that was a curiosity. Part of Harth wanted the shadows to find them here. Wanted them to find Haku. It would be a worthwhile experiment certainly.

"As for how he's holding up... kind of a redundant question."

A strained breath was let out, but Duo didn't bother answering his double. He glared back at Harth again, seething under his breath.

"Go jump off a cliff, fucker..."

He was not in the mood for Harth's so called "humor".

The door to the circle room opened and Heero stepped through. He looked at the two Duos in the circle and then to Harth, before smirking at the younger Duo's comeback.

"Keep talking like that and we'll gladly throw you off one." He called out, moving to stand beside his sire and look down at the two trapped.

Duo tips his head down, peering up at his once friend now enemy. There was a way out of here, just had to figure it out. Just needed them to get the hell out of here and leave him conscious enough to actually think and act on it.

"You've been busy..." He says with a sneer.

Harth stands fully to look at his progeny, not quite showing much emotion but clearly pleased to see him here.

"Heero. Status?" He'd ordered a scout, check out where everyone else was and what everyone else was doing.

Unfortunately for him, his double was too busy being pissed off about the whole situation that he wasn't all that focused on finding a way out of there. He was focused on barking out insults, though.

"Try it! I'll climb back up as a fuckin' shadow and take your sorry ass out!" he yelled furiously. He wanted so bad to just deck Heero in his smug mouth right then, but for all his screaming he wasn't dumb enough to try and leave the circle again. He'd already done that once, and the result had not been pretty.

"The Heero Yuy I knew wouldn't serve this bastard!"

Edited 2012-05-08 22:39 (UTC)

"The Heero Yuy you know is dead. You'd better get used to that." He replied, eerily calm considering. Those threats and taunts didn't phase him because he understood how different he was now.

Turning to Harth, he completely tuned the two Duos out and refused on focus on them. No need to fuel their useless threats. "The remaining residents are in their rooms, resting for the meantime. No one appears to know of your plans."

"He's a changed man--well. Not a man but you get the idea don't you, Duo?" He smirks just slightly at the boy's restraint. Negative reinforcement at it's finest. He turned from them, moving to Heero.

"You'll keep your part in this secret for now. And have you met the shadow woman yet?" Harth asked, now ignoring the other two. Certain things didn't matter if they heard, but he was still very selective to what he said.

A soft grunt escapes him, he glances to Harth and Heero with dark eyes. As angry as he was he was doing his best to hang on to what energy he had. If he was exhausted before, he was numb now. He hunches over, looking back to his double. Let him do the talking. He'll do the thinking.

His anger simmered low again, further noises of irritation coming from him as he settled back where he'd been sitting before getting riled up. Why wasn't his double saying anything? He wasn't used to the older one being this quiet.

Ignored by Harth and Heero, he looked over his shoulder, studying his double closely. He looked tired, more so than Duo did, but there was a sense of tenseness he could feel in the silence between them.

He was waiting. Thinking. While Duo was throwing his voice around, his double was focusing on their situation. And that actually seemed to be working. He grinned faintly, turning back to the two vampires on the other side of the circle.

"Alright, fine, you brought us down. But what's next? D'you really think you're gonna get to the rest of the castle? Sooner or later they're gonna catch on and go in to hidin'. And there's a looooot of hiding places here. Not much of a kingdom to rule, yehknow? Plus there's the whole issue with the Queen... I mean, really... talk 'bout getting in over your head..."

"No I haven't. She's been lurking, however." That strange woman appeared to be watching the group of them carefully. He didn't know what her intentions were, but she was someone to keep an eye on. "I don't think she poses a true threat just yet."

As for keeping his part secret, he was still waiting for Harth to cast glamor on him to keep him protected from Toph. He hadn't really talked to anyone else except for the two Duos and that was fine. No one else would really would notice or care that he was around anyway.

And yes, he was still ignoring Duo.

"Keep your eye on her." She may make an excellent ally, but not a subordinate. Not yet. He nods though. Pulling from his collection of plants and trinkets he gives him the one he needed for the glamor, offering it to him.

"Carry it with you. It already has the spell cast on it so she shouldn't notice the difference." Heero would beable to feel the pulse of life from the thing.

"You'll need me to recast it. Six hours." He drops it in Heero's hand and then turns his attention back to the boy.

"You misunderstand me, Duo. All I want to do is help. I'll get us out of here. Everyone..." And he's in front of the boy again, ruffling his hair. "Assuming they all survive."

Duo scowls at Harth's patronizing of his brother, talking down to him and acting like he's a child. The lack of information of the plan was starting to get to him, but as for him? He just had to wait them out for now. Duo was more concerned about getting out of here and testing out a theory. How long has it been since Heero was turned?

If he's really dead, then is he a shadow like Toph was even with his body still animated? He needed to know, and he had to go confront the shadows to do it. They needed Heero back. He wasn't their leader by any means, but he did have strength of perseverance, even if he was in pain.

So he just watched the bastard focus on teasing his brother, barely even acknowledging Heero. Heero the mole. Heero the one who's going to trick everyone into playing into Harth's hand.

That was the thing that really filled him with dread.

Duo jerked away again, swatting at Harth's hand roughly.

"This isn't helping! You're so fulla shit..." he snarled angrily, "The rest of us are trying to work together! You just wanna control us!"

The trinket pulsed in his hand and it was a little unnerving, so he tucked it into his pocket. Six hours from now he would need to come see his sire again about having it recast on it.

While Harth paid attention to the younger Duo, he sat back and decided to watch. He'd go back out in an hour or so to check up on the whereabouts of the other residents. For now he'd content himself with watching his sire deal with his two old friends.

"Maybe then if you weren't so rutting inefficient." Harth replied, folding his arms against his bent knees before rising and walking away from the circle, stepping up to sit on the risen platform.

"I'm the one who will lead, Duo. And you don't have the will to stop me. I'm even willing to give you a choice. Follow my leadership and you don't have to be our meal ticket."

"Eh. Bullshit." Duo said in but a whisper. He wasn't going to extend mercy to either of them. They were expendable as anyone else. He closes his eyes, brows knit in silent fury.

Ratchet sat silently at his table. He slowly at the gruel that passed for actually food in this place, his mind on other matters. He was wondering just what he was going to do now. Alister was here but he wasn't the one he remembered. He hadn't seen Duo in a while and he was wondering where he could have gone. Everything was just seemingly so strange. How were they going to get out of here? Why were any of them here? And what was going to become of them? Between the shadows, the weather, and the food, what hope did they have?

He reached beside him and wrapped his fingers around the wrench, Alister's wrench. If hope was what everyone needed, he'd find it. He had to.

No hope at all perhaps. Or with him leading the way, all the hope in the world. He had no desire to stay here. As much amusement as he's had toying with the few individuals he has it was almost exclusively out of necessity and his own exploitation of them.

If not his hoard of lurks in Haddyn, heralding the end of days? He'll gladly take the helm here and lead them out.

"Ratchet. That's your name?" Harth asked, as if he didn't know.

Ratchet's ear twitched when he heard his name said and turned his head slightly to look at Harth. He blinked once and let his ear twitch again. "Yeah, that's me. Can I help you?"

"No. Maybe." Harth pauses for several moments before speaking.

"So many people have disappeared. Seems like it happens all the time now." He looks to him.

"What're we supposed to do here?"

"I'll say it again. Fuck. Off. I ain't followin' you! No one is!" Duo barked loudly. He was losing ground quickly, though, and his bravado was shaky at best. How much longer before he just gave up entirely?

"I'm not sure. We need to find them. That's our first priority. Then we need to find a way out of this castle. We can't stay here forever."

"They will." He's not looking at either of the Duos or Harth at this point. Rather he is looking across the room at nothing. "I only speak to them when it's important. What I say will be taken seriously"

Harth nodded his head ever slightly at Heero's word. It was trap set up by their own social interactions. Harth already knew what he had to focus on, Toph and that dragon to start, the other humans should be easy enough.

"You don't have much of an option. Be thankful you are already of use to us now. Should you submit, which is decidedly unlikely, I could make accommodations. But we both know you two aren't going to play, and that means you're exactly where you're meant to be."

Duo grit his teeth at that one, turning his eyes back to look at Harth sharply. Now he's defining their meaning for them? Great. Exactly what they needed to hear.

If there was a way for them to get out, and Duo had a few ideas by this point, it wasn't going to take them long, and by then? He was going to find a way to kill that guy. For starters, he bit his lip while pulling up some of the information that Haku told him.

"Oi. Heero. Does sunlight kill you?"

Edited 2012-05-13 03:49 (UTC)

"Obviously." Harth remarked, a brow raising. "And if they're all dead? Or shadows like what happened to Toph?"

Ratchet's ears lowered at those words. He didn't want to think about that. What if they were dead? What if they had died on his watch?

"...We can bring them back. The fountain can do it. But I'm sure they're okay. I'm sure..."

"Maybe. What if there are conditions in becoming a shadow to begin with?" Harth asks somberly, as if he does care. There's a certain apathetic air to his voice however. Maybe he's tired, or maybe something else.

He watches Ratchet, turning his head down. "Did you lose a friend?"

Duo finally went quiet, his double's question making him curious enough to actually shut up for a while. He still didn't agree with either of them, damnit, but all of his protests were just going to keep falling on deaf ears.

"I don't intend to find out if it does." He looked at the older Duo and gave him a smirk. Harth hadn't said whether or not he was, but he knew what the older pilot was thinking. Try and chase him out into the sunlight if they got free. He wasn't about to find out if it would happen.

Harth frowns at the older Duo, a brow raised at the question. What's the purpose of that question? His tone however indicated an ulterior motive. He remained silent, allowing Duo the privilege to ask the question.

Duo pauses as that, sinking down at Heero's answer, turning his head briefly to look at Heero. He had to choose his words carefully here.

"...Well really I just wanted to know why Harth can walk in the sunlight. Vampires are supposed to burn up, yehknow. So what? Is the big boss a supervamp? Do you get the same voodoo as he does or did you get the short end of the stick? That's what I want to know." Duo said, leaning back against his brother. Maybe... Just maybe that will buy them an argument. And if that might just leave them alone together for a while.

That's all he needed.

"What do you mean conditions?" Ratchet raised his head up more and paid closer attention to Harth. He isn't sure about that strange dualness in his voice just yet. Maybe it was how he always spoke?

"Yeah, I did. His name's Duo. The one with short hair."

"... heh. Man, talk 'bout gettin' gyped," the younger one chimed in with a snarky, smug grin. It didn't take much for him to catch on to what his double was trying to do. "You don't even get to be all that badass! Hell of a stingy vampire, if you ask me. I'd ask for a refund if I were you."

A part of him was very aware of what the two Duos were doing. They wanted him to focus on Harth with their questions and ignore them for a bit. However, a much larger part of him wanted to know as well. He needed to know in order to live. Did he have the same abilities as Harth, or was he made lesser?

Standing straight, he looked at Harth with a rather icy expression on his face. Hands clenched at his sides, he slowly stalked towards his sire.

"I'd like to know, too."

"It's because I have the benefit of certain magics unavailable to you, Heero. I know that isn't a satasfying answer but it's all I'm going to say on the matter. You will die if you walk into direct sunlight." Harth replied.

But then, he wasn't going to go on the list of other things that Heero was weak to, not in front of these two. Considering the reaction Heero had, it was clear that the two boys could still get under his skin.

It wasn't apparent that he was angry, he held himself flawlessly. No emotion through him, and he maintained face. He was looking at the two of them now, as if he was weighing which one looked better for food.

"What a cop out." Duo maligned, nudging his twin. Really they shouldn't be heckling, it was just more trouble. But it was all they had in their arsenal.

"Man, that's bull and you know it, Heero!" the younger one continued, "He's just afraid of some one being more powerful than him. Obviously. Why else would he give you such a crap answer?"

Harth was right. That was definitely an unsatisfactory answer. His sire had taught him the healing spell which could mean he might be able to perform other magics as well.

For now he'd drop it. Any information that was vital to him needed to be told to him in private, not with these two listening in. Besides, they were only egging him on, trying to make him distrust Harth and use him. That wasn't about to happen either.

He looked at the older Duo and turned on him, giving him a good swift punch to the jaw. It wasn't really all that strong, but it would be painful to talk for a little while. "That's for not knowing when to shut up."

Then he turned on Harth.

"You're going to tell me everything later." He hissed at his sire before he decided to step out of the circle room for a bit and watch the birds in the next room.

Harth watches him carefully, barely flinching. As Heero moves to discipline the older one, he tuts the younger one. He watches Duo whipping his head back, glowering back up at Heero, then looking attentive as the young one turned to him and ordered him about.

Tell him everything? Not likely. But enough.

"I will." He said with a nod, turning his head to watch him go, he turns his attention back to the boys.

"You know, I'll be honest. Capturing you? Not exactly an a-priority for me. Getting us out of here? That's the plan. That's my big evil diabolical plan." He mused, shaking his head. "Am I really more important than getting free of his place and that witch?"

Edited 2012-05-20 04:54 (UTC)

With that pelt to his face, he sunk a bit against his brother, watching Heero go. He stretched out his jaw, knowing it would be bruised from that sharp strike. He looked back to Harth, sighing. Still talking?

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The One who Will Lead

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