Fangs and Claws Side Stories - 1. Chapter 1

He really didn’t know what to do any more. He had trained for so long to reach this point, and yet…he was far from ready for even the reality of becoming some clan’s mage. He didn’t want to take his father’s place, something others seemed to want him to do. He didn’t want that type of pressure, and yet, they pushed him to accept it.

He was a mage, a child of magick and the earth, destined for great feats. Nevertheless, he could care less for his titles, his powers, and his reputation. He didn’t want to be the one who had to fight for someone just because he was needed, his powers the only useful tool he wielded with deadly accuracy. He didn’t want to be the one they depended on for miracles and hope. He wanted to be just him.

But he couldn’t be, since he was Li-Sine Rashael, son of the great Rin-Line Rashael and the pretty Marissa Rashael. He was expected to be great, just like them. He was expected to know everything they knew; to be able to do everything they did; to be everything they were. And so much more.

But he wasn’t them.

But, did they care? All they wanted was a child hero and they pressed him to be that because of his parents’ greatness.

He never wanted to be them. He just wanted to be free for once in his life. He wanted to know what the world was like outside of the training grounds that had been his home since the day he turned five. He wanted to feel like he was more than just some source of power, and a trophy, for a Vampire or a Were clan. He wanted more from life than what was being offered on a silver platter.

He had gone through all the applicants, all the clans that wanted him to work for them. He had many more than the other mages, garnering their respect, and their jealousy, like always.

He had rejected many clans right off the bat, knowing that they would just use him and then toss him away once the novelty had worn off. After that, it had been a matter of reading letters, responding to them, and then reading more letters. Again and again, the cycle went until he was down to two clans.

One Vampire clan and one Were clan. Both bitter enemies.

On one end, the clan that his father had worked for. On the other, the one that his cousin, Mi-Yan, would be working for as their healer.

A past-filled future and a new, scary future.

Looking up from the letters, he stared at his face, unable to quite grasp that he was looking at himself. It had been nearly five months since he had draped every mirror in his personal room with black pieces of cloth in his mourning, unable to look at himself and see his parents’ aura in his ever shifting eyes, in his hair that sparkled like the twilight sky, or even in the toffee-colored that covered every part of him.

He saw them. And now, looking at himself, his eyes sliding over his bared body right before his bath, before his ceremony, he couldn’t see them any more. He saw himself, and only himself, which rather amazed him. He had spent so many years trying to see them in who he was, be who they were, that he had forgotten who he had been. He forgot why he wanted to be a mage in the first place.

He had forgotten the magic of his magick.

Smoothing long fingered hands over his torso, he smiled to himself; it was a secret smile that spoke volumes to all those who knew him well. He knew that soon he would be able to shed all the masks, all the falsities of his personality. He would be able to show them who he was. He would be able to show all of them, finally, that he was not his parents and that he would never be his parents. He would finally be able to be himself and not this person he had projected so long ago.

Looking at the ceremonial robes, the very ones that his parents had given him a few months before their deaths, he smirked and stalked over to them. Picking them up, he easily ripped the silky fabric apart, pushing a bit of magic into it. His parents had always been impractical with their ceremonial gear. He would wear his own; he would shed this mask here and now.

He would embark on his own path starting here.

Stalking over to his wardrobe, his hair swaying like liquid onyx, the petite male threw open his armoire. Standing there in front of the half-full armoire, he looked down and smirked, easily finding the false section and pulling it open. Reaching inside, he pulled out a simple box that was still tied shut with twine and protected with a simple ward.

Walking over to his bed, he put the box down, stroking it lightly before leaving for his bathroom. Stepping into the candle filled room, the light dancing over his skin and hair, Li-Sine walked over to the copper-clawed foot tub. Turning the taps off, he grabbed a medium sized green bottle and poured it into the water.

He smiled pleasantly and lined his bathing supplies on the side of the tub while watching the water turn a soft green. As soon as the tub was done filling, he stepped into it, sighing in pleasure as the warmth slid over his cold skin. Settling in further, he slipped under the water before coming back up, the simple pleasure of the hot water making his smile grow.

Running his hands over his face and through his hair, he eyed the bottles lined up in front of him. Reaching out, he picked one and popped the top. The sweet smell of lavender filled his senses, taking him back to the days when he would escape and run through the woods with Mi.

Shaking his head, he poured a bit of the liquid onto his hand and set about washing his hair, working the sweet smelling lather into the long locks. Rinsing the suds out of his hair, he was soon reaching out for a pink bottle and smoothing some of the slick liquid it contained through his hair. He once again reached out for a bottle and used the viscous liquid to wash his body, humming quietly at the fragrant suds.

Rinsing his hair once more, he stood up, letting the water drain out of the tub as he stepped out onto a soft rug. Grabbing two towels, he swept his hair up in one, while he used the other to pat his body down, all the while enjoying the softness against his skin. Dry and content, he smoothed the body oil over his skin. He had made it days ago when the thought of completing his graduation in his own way had first made its way into his head.

Walking into his bedroom, he looked at the box for a few moments before opening it, tossing the twine and box top aside. Reaching in, he pulled out a pair of soft, dark red leather pants. They laced up the sides with matching red leather throngs and a dark red shirt made from light weight cotton.

Tugging his towel off of his head, he put on his shirt. He smoothed the sleeves down to around his knuckles, smiling at the feel of the shirt that hugged his body. Pulling the pants on next, which sat quite low on his slender waist, he made sure that they wouldn’t fall down by tying the throngs together tightly.

Turning to his vanity, his feet making gentle tapping noises on the floor, he looked at himself. Taking in the way his hair seemed to sparkle and his eyes had settled on a dark violet, he smiled slightly. He had always been amazed that his eye color shifted with his moods, mostly settling on blue or green. But occasionally, they settled on violet, always showing his happiness and contentment, like now – with his decision to take his future into his own hands.

Picking up a silver brush, he danced his fingers over the engraved vines that decorated its back, smiling softly in remembrance. His mother had given it to him in his first year of training. She had been so excited when she had learned that he had skipped over the first part of the training.

What she hadn’t known was that he had already known all of that due to his father, her mate. The man had taught him the rules from the very start, always telling him, explaining to him, what they meant. When he had joined the ranks of mages in training, he had been able to tell the teacher just what each rule meant, and what each rule pertained to which part of their magick and their lives.

His mother had never found out and she had continued to love him, being so proud of her genius child.

He shook his head to clear it of the memories of better, happier times, times before so much was put on him. He lifted the brush and felt the tingle of the magic as he pulled it through his hair. He had put several charms on the brush, including one to help him de-tangle his hair and to keep the brush in one piece, having found his room in shambles more then once.

Jealousy was a dangerous emotion for mages, and unfortunately, he seemed to inspire it in many of his classmates.

Finishing with his hair and putting the brush down, he opened a drawer, pulling out a small wooden box. On top of the lid sat a carved dream-catcher, the raised parts shifting colors as he moved the box to sit onto the dresser. Opening it gently and slowly, he rifled around the various ribbons and ties. Finding what he wanted, he carefully removed it and snapped the long piece of blood-red leather.

Turning to his mirror, he brought the leather behind his neck and under his hair, drawing it into a high ponytail. Tightly securing it, he smiled at the picture he made and nodded his head with a decisive smile. Putting the box away to be packed later that day, he turned to the door where a soft knock sounded from.

“Enter,” he called, moving to find the knee-high boots that he favored and would go well with his outfit. A diminutive male stepped in, his candy-apple hair pulled into a bun with some still falling. His sparkling green eyes took in Lis’ looks while a smirk curled on his satin-sheened lips.

“So, I see you’re finally leaving the past behind,” came a sweet, husky voice as Li smiled at the other. Smirking, he nodded.

“Yes, my dear Mi-Yan, I am leaving the past behind. Like you’d always told me to,” he said softly, walking over to his similarly dressed cousin, his arms coming up to wrap around the slim shoulders, stepping close to a deceptively small body. Mi would be leaving the moment the ceremony finished, going to a Werewolf clan to be their healer, leaving Li to miss the only family he was close to. “What about you? Are you ready to be a healer full time, and a stripper part time?”

“Of course,” Mi snorted, smirking and raising an eyebrow at the slightly taller man. “What about you? Where are you going and are you going to start a herb garden?” Nodding his head, Li smiled and pulled away from Mi, walking over to his desk and picking up a letter, handing it over.

“We’ll be on opposite sides of the city and on the opposite sides of the feud,” he told his cousin softly, sadness creeping into his swirling eyes. “I don’t want to be, but we will be. It’s a good way to show that I’m not anything like my parents, to break away from their shadows, but to also be around those I know and care for.”

“Justinyal and them, right?” Mi asked, watching Li nod with a smile. “So, we’ll still be able to see one another?”

“Of course, my cousin love,” Li soothed, walking over and hugging the other again. “I won’t ever leave you, just as you won’t ever leave me. Trust me to do that much at least. I can’t leave the only family that I have ever cared for.”

“I know,” Mi sighed, smiling and hugging his cousin back, his eyes falling shut with a smile. “We’ll live our lives; we’ll show everyone that we may be small…”

“…but we still know how to kick ass,” Li finished, getting a small laugh and nod from Mi. “Come on. The world awaits us. The ceremony awaits us. Just let me grab my jacket and shoes and then we can go,” he requested getting a nod and a smile. Moving over to his shoes, he sat down and tugged the black boots on and laced them up before looking for the long leather jacket he preferred.

Stopping in the middle of the room, his jacket hanging from one hand, he looked around and let himself remember all the good and bad that had happened there. He had loved here; he had lost first his virginity and then his family here. He had cried and raged in this room. It had been his home for nearly thirteen years, had been his sanctuary away from the politics of the school and of the world.

Turning to his cousin, Li received an understanding smile and nod. Sighing, he slipped the leather jacket on. Smoothing it out, he looked around once more and smirked before saying a few words, watching the bed go up in blue flames.

“Why did you do that?” Mi asked, blinking in surprise as the flames licked at the wood, curtains and mattress, never touching any thing else, never once spreading. Watching as the bed turn to ash, he turned to his cousin, who was smirking.

“I’ve always wanted to do that. That bed may have been comfortable, but it sucked big time for the most part,” Li said simply, tilting his head to the side. “I prefer futons, you know that.”

“Oh, yes. You hate the western style beds, don’t you?” Mi teased, laughing as the last of the flames died. Moving to the door, he opened it once more and offered his hand to his cousin, his brother. “Come on. The world awaits our grand entrance.”

“Hey, Mi, what’s with sex? Why do people like it so much?” Li asked, taking his cousin’s hand and stepping out into the light with him, the door shutting behind them.