• 1-What Remains After Nothing

What Remains After Nothing

By Redbrytea

Rating: R/NC-17

Pairing: Rei/Teepo, Ryu/Teepo, some Ryu/Nina

Author's Notes: The culmination of blatant favoritism
towards a certain violet-haired punk (Teepo!) and frustration at not seeing his
story developed further. What happed in those ten years Ryu was running
around nekkid? I know Breath of Fire III has been out in America forever, but
it took me two times through the game (with about 100hrs spent on each
>_<) to finally work up the sand to write this.  For me, there were several plot lines that were left untied,
which is why your humble author is going to yaoi the crap out of them. If
Capcom is gonna be a bastard and not tell me what's going on, then IÕm just
going to assume that it's gay sex. 
*evil cackle* Ahem. Before I write my stories, I always like to include
a poem that suits the chapter's content. It helps me focus and its damn good
stuff.

Lastly, please don't be an asshole. Specifically a homophobic
asshole. You are grossly outnumbered by the hordes of pervertsroaming the
Internet who will have no qualms with spamming said asshole with gay porn.

For the hordes of perverts: this story contains a plot. Be patient.

*

'Slumber Song'

Sleep; and my song shall build about your bed

A Paradise of dimness. You shall feel

The folding of tired wings; and peace will dwell

Throned in your silence: and one hour shall hold

Summer, and midnight and immensity

Lulled to forgetfulness. For, where you dream,

The stately gloom of foliage shall embower

Your slumbering thought with tapestries of blue.

And there shall be no memory of he sky,

Nor sunlight with its cruelty of swords.

But, to your soul that sinks from deep to deep

Through drowned and glimmering color, Time shall be

Only slow rhythmic swaying; and your breath;

And roses in the darkness; and my love.

                                                            --Siegfried
Sassoon

*

The storm had started as soon as the sun had disappeared behind
the horizon. Rain poured from the heavens in torrents he had never seen before.
His fur was matted with mud and all of his belongings we soaked. He had a
nagging feeling that for some unprovoked reason, the gods were taking a collective
leak on him.

"Doesn't this just beat all?"

Rei scratched his head with a clawed hand as he watched smoke
billow from the chimney of his supposedly abandoned hideout. The were-tiger had
traveled non-stop form the desert that had housed the deadly fake-goddess Myria
for nearly six weeks. His companions had left as easily as they had come; Garr
headed home to the Angel Tower, Momo to the Plant, Peco had wandered off to
bask in the radiance of the Yggdrasil, and Ryu had followed Nina to Wyndia,
most likely to become her king. Which left Rei, thief extraordinaire, alone and
rather wet in Cedar Woods.

And now, as luck would have it, even his rundown, out-of-the-way
tree-shack was being occupied by someone else. The fruits oflife could
certainly be bitter. In fact, right about now they were tasting a lot like
shit.

"Feh." Rei strode forward in a semi-good natured mr, r, "I
bet some kids are using it to keep out of the rain." That would be sweet. Rumors
of a monster of unparalleled horror (which was none other that yours truly)
living in the area had been flying through McNeil Village for years.somesomeone
was either very stupid, very brave or outright oblivious. Rei was guessing it
was a cocktail of the three.

Well, whoever they were, they were about to get the shit scared
out of them.

Rei adjusted his pack and jumped lightly up the earth ramp of
his fort, agile claws sinking into the wooden barricade like they would into butter.
He gave a light grunt before hurtling over the wall. He landed on all fours and
slunk slowly to the front door. A sliver of light shone through the door, which
was open, just a crack.

Thieving instincts kicking in, he pressed his eye to the light.
Someone sat in front of the fireplace, a moldy bet wet wrapped around them.
Ragged, if not shredded clothes hung on the mantle drying. A small pile of
apple cores was neatly piled beside them. Rei suddenly felt his insides tighten.
Memories of a small, periwinkle-haired boy clutching the hem of his vest
laughing, caused him to pull back. He sat on his haunches and scratched his
head.

*Teepo* he thought sadly, *No. Teepo's dead. And
it's my fault. *

He growled softly and shook his head, trying to rid himself of
the bitter memories of his former best friend.

"Damn it." He swore, his mood taking a turn for the worst. Stealth
be damned. He didn't care anymore.

The were-tiger stood, marched to the door and slammed it open
with as much force as possible.

The blanket stirred. Rei felt his frayed patience snapping. 

"Show yourself!!"

The house intruder stood slowly, wobbling slightly, and the blanket
fell off of their shoulders.

Rei's heart stopped.

Naked, moonbeam pale skin riddled with healing cuts and scrapes,
with white-violet hair falling past hips. 
It was Him, but at the same time it was impossible. He haddied at Ryu's
hands, eating the lies the fake-goddess had fed him. The Dark One- the only
other surviving member of the Brood.

"T-Teepo...!" Rei choked on the word, stepping towards the
dragon.

A heart-shaped head turned, soft blood-red eyes focused on him.

"Rei..." the word struggled to pass through the dragonÕs
lips;it was laced with so much pain. Teepo shuddered, then fell. His naked body
landed on the floor with a soft thud. The were-tiger leapt to his friend's side.

Carefully, Rei took the dragon's pulse with a claw. He felt the
thrumming of a heart and relaxed slightly. Pulling the blanket back onto the
prone body of Teepo, he shook his head. He had the world's most unstable dragon
in his house. Naked. What was he going to tell Ryu? Better yet, was he
going to tell Ryu? He could handle the situation on his own right?

Right?

Teepo stirred in his arms and moaned softly.

Rei scratched his head.

"Doesn't this just beat all?" he muttered.

*

The dreams started the same way they always did. With
fire. He was trapped in his childhood body, straining all the muscles an eight-year-old
could have to keep away from the flames. Blood caked the side of his face and
the ashes of his home and friends clung to the congealing fluid. He screamed.
He ran.

The forest was a giant funeral pyre, and he was being pulled
into it- dead or alive. It was so real; the pain, the numbing heat
andsuffocating smoke. He could even feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"R-REI! RYU!" He called out their names, but he knew that
they would never answer. They could never answer. He was alone now.

ÒRyuÉÓ

Sometimes, he chose to stay in the inferno, letting the fire
lick away at his skin, melting his body like it had his friends. She liked it
when he did this, and encouraged it, claiming that it was purging him of his sins.

ÒReiÉÓ

But tonight, blinded by his tears, he stumbled away, into
a different nightmare. He was still eight. Still small and thin. His face smooth
and his hair long and girly. He'd been without a fitting meal for weeksby the
time he reached the checkpoint to Raphala. He was, after all, a fugitive now,
running from an infamous gang of thieves. He was so hungry that he would do
anything for a warm bowl of stew and a lump of bread. The Wyndia guards stared
at his shivering body and long, girly hair and saw something that they liked.

They invited him in, fed him, then showed him to a rusty,
lumpy bed.  He began to fight. He bit,
kicked and scratched. He aimed for all the painplacplaces. But he was small and
the guards were all big and strong. They stripped him, taking turns holding him
down, before tying him to the bedposts. He begged them for mercy. He cried.

As the first guard buried himself inside the thin boy, the
others began to draw straws. Teepo didn't register being ountounted and re-mounted.
It was all just one continuous stream of pain- throbbing, pounding, never-ending
pain.

In his dreams, he could hear the grating creak-creak noise
of the rusty bed joints, groaning in time with each of the guardsÕ thrusts. He
could feel his young, thin body being spilt unprepared and unwilling.  He was covered in blood again, only
this time it was his own.

 >

He screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

"REI!!!!!"

The Goddess, the Holy Mother, used this dream to punish him.
To remind him why he must purify himself as well as the rest of his race. To
show him just how dirty he was and would always be. Why he was to be kept locked
away in Eden for the rest of his life. 

Teepo strained against his bonds and sobbed, his voice hoarse
from screaming.  He bled tears.

The Goddess made him dream because he refused to remember
that horrible night. There was nothing there when he woke up afterwards except a
bubble of hatred searing for all that was human. And for himself.

*Rei, Ryu...Why couldn't I have died with you...*

*

Morning came all too quickly. Rei had stood vigil over feverish
Teepo for all of five minutes before he fell asleep, exhausted by his journey.
Songbirds roused his from his deep, dreamless sleep and he swore to hunt and
eat the damn things in the near future. Then he remembered the past night and
the lithe body wrapped in his bed. Rei rose from his comfortable place on the
floor rug and turned to his friend.

*Former friend*, he had to mentally remind himself.

He was greeted by twin rubies that eyed him in an almost arrogant
appraising manner. Rei dropped onto all fours, his hackles raised. Teepo cocked
his head and raised an eyebrow. The young man was wearing nothing but of of
Rei's extra shirts, which barely covered his...indecent parts, and the peasant
style collar (or lack thereof) showed most of his upper chest. Rei's tail
thrashed, irritated, and he observed his former best friend with distrust. The
dragon had tried to kill him, Ryu, and the rest of the tiny group that had saved
the world in Eden. It wasn't enough that Teepo was unarmed and virtually naked.
Ryu had shown Rei that nakedness was hardly a hindrance to a dragon.

"So," Rei began with a soft growl, pinning Teepo with his eyes,
"I guess it takes a lot to kill a dragon. You and Ryu. You're like cockroaches.
"

His friend smiled, the grin not reaching his eyes. "I suppose."

Rei stood slowly, hackles still raised, and noticed that he was
still a good head taller that his friend. It made the paternal instinct in him
spring to life. The were-cat's nose, heightened in perception by adrenaline,
could smell apple and sweat on the dragon, as well as his natural scent, which
was as celestial as his appearance.

Ryu had smelled like a summer day; Teepo smelled like a winter
night.

 He relaxed a little
and scratched his head.

"Gods, Teepo," he began, "What-what are you doing here? HOW did
you get here? What am I supposed to do with you?!"

The dragon looked at the floor, offering no answers.

"I mean," Rei continued, "You tried to kill me. You
tried to kill Ryu. Not too many people are going to be happy to see you
again. Heck, I don't knowII'm happy to see you."

Teepo slowly and methodically rubbed the wrinkles on his borrowed
shirt.

"What were you going to do here?" Teepo's voice was slightly
higher, and Rei swore that the dragon looked like a lost child.

Rei huffed and folded his arms.

"Well...I guess I was going to relax a while, then fix this old
shack up. Then I was thinking I'd enter the Contest of Champions and showoff,
you know? I haven't thought much further that just getting home. He scratched
his head and watched in near-awe as tld fld fire in Teepo's eyes suddenly
sparked and began to twinkle. Rei felt like he was sixteen again, with a
plotting violet haired boy by his side.

"The Contest of Champions, huh?" Teepo raised his eyes to meet
ReiÕs and stared at the were-tiger. "Maybe I can help."

Rei almost visibly shuddered at the mental image of Teepo fully
transformed, dark, needle-like claws extended, iridescent bat-wings spreading
the length of the Arena, mouth full of jagged, razor teeth open, inviting any
challengers to step forward.

"Uh. No. No, that's alright." Rei was caught in-between frowning
and grinning at the thought of the participants' faces.

"Oh." Teepo looked like he had just been kicked. "Then-then,
I can help you fix this place up. I--"

"Look." The were-tiger cut him off, "Don't Teepo. There's a lot
of dead trust between us. Let me think about it, okay? You're...you were my
best friend. I won't throw you out. But you're gonna have to prove yourself,
okay?"

Teepo seemed to tense, then the youth sighed loudly and fell
back onto Rei's bed, violet-silver hair splaying around him. Rei couldn't take his
eyes off of his friend's very long and very smooth legs, milky white in color
and tightly muscled. If the warren didn't know better, he'd of said that the
dragon was hairless. 

It wouldn't be wise to show those legs off in McNeil. He would
have to give his friend some pants. Nervously, Rei turned from his friend and
reached for his traveling pack.

"Here." He grunted, tossing Teepo the only extra pair of pants
he owned. When they got to McNeil, he knew they could buy more.

The longhaired youth stared blankly at the baggy black garments
in his hands.

"Pants." Rei gestured, "Put 'em on- we're going to McNeil."

Teepo sat up, an expression of excitement passing over him as
he began to pull them on. Rei trained his eyes religiously on the ceiling. When
they had been younger, the three of them had bathed and changed together in
relative comfort. None of them being old enough to understand sex or nakedness.
Plus, they were all boys. But now...

Rei felt somehow, that Teepo would no longer tolerate being watched.

"Finished?" he asked after a few moments, nervously.

"Sure." Teepo began sarcastically, "You got a rope?" The pants
barely clung to the dragon's lithe hips, and that was only because Teepo was
grabbing the waist with both hands.

Rei scratched his head and blushed.

"Heh heh heh..." he laughed half-heartedly, "Uh...hang on."

Five minutes later, Teepo's pants were now being held up by one
of Rei's thick belts, and the bottoms had been rolled five times each to reach
the bottom of Teepo's ankles. The young dragon had found an old tank top in
Rei's drawers, and the shirt fit like a second skin, riding up Teepo's torso to
expose a taught, smooth stomach and back. Rei looked his friend over, feeling
like some kind of fussy matron. His eyes caught a glimmer in his friend's
navel.

"Teepo?" he raised his eyebrows and pointed, "What is that?"

Rei almost smiled at seeing his friend color.

"Oh! That." His hands rubbed self-consciously over the crystal
drop that was attached to the metal ring in his belly button. "I got it pierced
in Wyndia, when-"

*When you were looking for Ryu and me. * Rei thought guiltily.

Teepo mistook Rei's glum expression as one of distaste. The dragon
fiddled with it and murmured;

"I can take it out."

Rei snapped out of his catatonic state and waved his hand
atthe dragon.

"No! No. It-" he fumbled for words. Suddenly it was important
to support the smaller youth, "It, ah, suits you! Really!" And it did. The
jewel nestled in the small pit of Teepo's navel like an egg in its nest.

*Great. Another thing to stare at. * Rei grumbled
internally.

"Okay!" the warren stretched, enjoying the feeling of his muscles
bulging and loosening. "Let's head out to McNeil! Place has been too quiet
without-" Rei snapped his mouth shut. He had almost said "us". Was he really
such a pushover?!

"-me" he mumbled quietly. He stomped out of the tree-shack, angry
with himself and with Teepo.

*It's my fault he was captured in the first place. If I hadn't
stood up to Balio and Sunder, we'd probably still be together. So why am I angry
with him? *

Rei growled and stormed down the little flower-laced path. Behind
him, the pitter-patter of feet was close; Teepo wore a contrite expression, but
didn't talk the entire walk. It was unnerving. Before, when they had been lil'
punks, Rei couldn't get Teepo to shut up. Now it was as though there was a
giant, black shroud covering the dragon's firecracker spirit. No one knew what
had happened to Teepo. It had been ten years. Rei couldn't guess what had
inspired the dragon's hated for his own kind, and his capture by Myria.

The were-cat had spent those ten years living in a state of near
madness, thinking of nothing bur the destruction of the crime ring that, he had
thought, killed his only friends, his only family; Teepo and Ryu. Revenge- even
now the word rang in his ears like a church bell. Had Teepo been the same?

Rei glanced over his shoulder to look at the young dragon. The
past ten years had been kind to his former friend. Teepo wasn't especially tall,
nor was he short. Without any shoes, Rei guessed the dragon was slightly taller
than Ryu (not counting Ryu's spiky hair). 
His shoulders weren't broad, but they appeared powerful nonetheless, and
from what Rei could see of Teepo's stomach and back, the youth was laced with
sleek muscle.

Still, the Teepo of old had strutted as though he had a sword
down his pants. This one hunched slightly, like a jungle cat on the prowl.
Teepo's exotic white-violet hair hung over his eyes like a veil. Rei felt
another paternal twang in his stomach. He wanted Teepo to be okay, he wanted
Teepo to live with him like old times. He really did. But the dragon had been
through so muchÉHe had been broken in body, spirit, and will by that malicious
'goddess'.

How could he, a simple ex-thief, repair a wound so deep?

*

*

End of Part 1