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"The King and the Shaman "Written By:Jewel of Hell Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, Fantasy/Drama/Romance, Yaoi, lemon, language (the usual), peril, violence, animal shamans, neko Duo, king Heero, impending war, sentient-formless evil Pairings: 1x2, others Summary: Heero is the young king of a country
he wants to expand into an Empire. One day he is approached by a woman
who claims she is an animal Shaman, creatures of legend and myth.
She makes an offer Heero cannot refuse. " The King and the Shaman "
Heero watched the tiny, blind kitten work on the bottle of warmed milk. When the two Shamans left, he banned everyone from so much as knocking on his door, desiring to be left alone to process everything that had happened in the last few days. Things that had effectively turned his life upside down. He didn't like the name Al'duo'anon. It was long, so he dubbed the kitten Duo. Kal'an had spent the better part of two hours educating him on care of the tiny thing. Shaman young were always born as animals. Proof positive that they were, indeed, not human. Duo would remain a kitten until adolescence in the middle of his second year. Then he would transform into his semi-human form and stay that way for approximately four months. At any time during that duration his Shaman gift would manifest. Then he would be able to transform into a fully grown leopard sometime after that, and then he would reach adulthood, capable of shifting back and forth between his two forms at will. Duo would be able to understand Heero up to a point, like a very intelligent dog or cat. He would respond to his name after his eyes opened and he could move about freely. Kal'an had assured him he could let Duo outside and Duo would never stray far from home. Heero, for all intents and purposes, would be his mother, and as such Duo would never willingly leave him. He would not become truly sentient until his first transformation stage at adolescence, and that was when he would begin to speak. Duo would drink milk right up until he transformed for the first time, but he would begin wanting meat as a supplement to his diet after a year. The Shamans had made it clear they would not accept him treating Duo like a pet, and if it seemed the kitten was being mistreated, they would take him away. "You know," Heero murmured, watching the tiny thing work the bottle over, "you're really quite cute." The kitten made an adorable grunting noise around his noisy sucks. Heero waited patiently until the little thing turned his face away before setting the bottle down. Only then did he cast his cloak away, setting about getting his new little companion cleaned up. The grime of travel clung to his fur, which was almost all a solid pale reddish brown. Kal'an had assured him his coat would darken and develop the spots of a leopard with age. And his blind eyes would open in a few weeks. When he finished, he arranged a little basket bed by the crackling hearth. He placed a pillow in the bottom and tucked a very soft blanket over the whole thing, making a sort of nest. However, when he tried to set Duo down, he didn't get more than a few feet away before the kitten started the most horrible, keening cries. Okay, scratch that. Heero quickly lifted him again, bringing the blanket. "I'm right here," he murmured, stroking one finger over the tiny head. "I haven't left you. Shh, don't make that awful noise Duo. I'm here." In moments the kitten calmed again. Sighing when he quieted, Heero took some serious stock. How could he possibly leave Duo alone? He was sure Shaman mothers spent every waking hour with their young, just like wild animals. Lesser animals, Kal'an had called them. Heero was the king of Cairon. He couldn't spend time shirking his duties. Then again, he could put off most of them until Duo's eyes opened. The kitten would be older and bigger by then, and Heero would be able to leave him alone longer. He didn't know why he wanted to do this right so much. Perhaps because the Shamans utterly enchanted him. The idea of magic-using, intelligent animals appealed to him on a level he couldn't begin to define. He had never met anyone like Kal'an and her daughter, Tor'ai. "I don't like humans much," he confessed to the kitten, who made a tiny little mewling sound in reply to his voice. "They are distasteful at best, downright disgusting at worst. They have these annoying, ingratiating habits that make them . . ." he trailed off, not sure what word could apply. "Annoying," he finished. Duo uttered a tiny sigh, and moments later he fell asleep. Feeling safer to put him down now, Heero once more tucked the tiny bundle in the basket by the dying fire. It would be nice and warm there for him. He stole from the room, snagging a servant on her way by. "Could you tell the Head Cook I need to speak with her?" he requested. "I will be in my study." The girl dropped a deep curtsy and hurried off. Heero knew his servants deeply appreciated him. For though he hardly spoiled them, he never treated them poorly or unfairly. And he paid them quite well, too. Many lords did not pay their servants enough to live on. In his study, Heero relaxed in his favorite chair. He liked the quiet, musty air about him created by his books. Only his chamberlain could bother him in here, and only in case of State emergencies. A few minutes went by and a knock sounded on the door. "Come in," he called. The Head Cook smiled. "Your wish, Majesty?" she inquired. "Yes. I have . . . some special needs from now on," Heero said. "I am raising a leopard kitten, so I'll need warmed milk brought to me every morning, afternoon, and night for the next several weeks." She looked surprised. "A leopard kitten, Majesty? Mind my askin' where you got a leopard kitten?" He leaned back. "You have heard of the mythical animal Shamans?" he said presently. "Yes. I thought they were mere legend!" Heero smiled ever-so-faintly. "So had I." o8o o8o He had no idea what time it was when that awful crying woke him from a deep sleep. It had to be late, for the stillness of the night outside told of the dead hours after midnight. He floundered out of the heavy blankets covering him, near-desperate to reach the source and stop it. The fire had died down to fading embers, but it was just enough light to see the basket where his newly-acquired kitten lay. Duo was tangled in the soft blanket, pitifully struggling as his blind eyes searched for Heero. Sinking down, Heero pushed the blanket back and lifted Duo, nuzzling him against his cheek. "Shh, it's all right," he whispered, nearly panting in relief that those cries died down nearly at once. "I'm here. You really don't like being away from me, do you?" The kitten replied with a soft grunting, nosing the hand stroking his tiny face. Heero had no idea what Duo wanted until the kitten started trying to suck on his finger. Then he smiled. "Hungry again? You know, we really need to work on your sleeping habits." He did have some milk in the bottle from earlier, but he balked at the thought of feeding Duo that. It had been there for hours. It was probably sour by now, and would undoubtedly make his kitten sick. So he struggled into a thick velvet robe one-handed, which was quite a feat. But he didn't want to put Duo down again. Then he picked up the blanket, wrapped it around the fussing kitten, tucked the whole thing in the breast of his robe, and ghosted barefoot into the halls. With winter not quite ready to give up its icy grip on the country, it was still too cold to be wandering stone halls without footwear. Heero's feet were mostly numb by the time he reached the kitchens, but he found he didn't mind all that much. The thickly-insulated ice-boxes, losing so little heat in the winter that a blast of icy air blew out when he opened it, had glass bottles of milk. Heero grabbed a slender-necked bottle. It was too much for Duo alone, but he figured he could finish what the kitten didn't want. Back upstairs, he coaxed the fire back to life and heated the milk. He cradled Duo against him while he waited, murmuring to the kitten the whole time. "I don't know how you'll learn to hunt, but maybe since you're a Shaman, it doesn't matter. You are a wild animal, so you must have to learn survival skills somehow. I don't think Kal'an meant for you to spend your whole life with me. I wonder what kind of Shaman you will be? She did tell me they were hoping for a Storm Shaman, rare as they are these days. All right, here, it's done. Drink up, furball." He chuckled. Duo eagerly accepted the nipple, sucking hard and swallowing quickly. Heero tried to make him drink slowly, but it was a losing battle. He absently wondered what was in the powder Kal'an had given him. Probably minerals and protein that could only be found in a Shaman mother's milk. Things to help the kitten grow faster. "You have a much shorter growth-period than humans," Heero mused, "but I'm told you live as long as humans. Longer, sometimes. I wonder what you'll look like when you transform for the first time? That's still a long time off . . ." Duo grunted around his sucking, and he did his darndest to finish the bottle. He drank far more than Heero would have thought he could, and when he finally turned his little head away, his stomach was as round as a miniature pumpkin. The sight made Heero laugh. "All right, you fat little thing. I guess you're sleeping with me." After a moment of thought, he decided to lay on his side with the pillow from the basket right beside him. On top of this he lay Duo and his blanket, hoping this would minimize Duo's chances of getting squashed should Heero shift in his sleep. Then he lay down, tucking the pillow right against his chest. Duo seemed perfectly content with this arrangement. He quickly snuggled himself right into the curve where Heero's jaw met his throat, his warm, damp nose burrowing into the warm skin there. Heero couldn't help it and chuckled, which made Duo offer a sleepy little mewl of inquiry. "Shh," he breathed, carefully stroking the rounded sides of Duo's belly. "Go to sleep, little one. I'll be here when you wake up." Fifteen seconds later or less the kitten was breathing
deeply. Heero immediately followed him into peaceful slumber.
tbc |
