Across Sand and Sky and Gravel

BDS Fic: another mid-movie half-drabble

2009-12-01T04:21:48Z

Disclaimer: Standard.
Note: thinking I should start holding off on posting until I actually have something worth posting.

Rocco calls you 'brother' and in that instant you decide he has to die. On the next job, in an alley somewhere, fuck, outside this very church were Murphy not around to stop you. Because he will. It is usually you with the control, you stopping Murphy, but you only have the one brother, and he does not share. In this, neither do you.

~~

Yakavetta saves you the trouble.

BDS Fic: A Realization

2009-11-13T17:22:09Z

Disclaimer: Standard
Notes: Set during the scene where Il Duce meets the twins. Spoilers only if you've never seen the movie, and if that's the case, why are you starting with this? Watch the movie first!

A sound behind you interrupts the prayer for Rocco, and you and your twin turn as one, easily mirroring each other to point guns at the newcomer. You don't know who he is, but he shot Rocco, shot you, shot your brother, and only your twin's inaction keeps you from unloading the clip into his face. Rocco had been your friend, and that alone is grounds enough to open fire, but your twin, your other half, your everything, is more important, and that makes the offense so much worse. It doesn't so much bother you to be shot at; of the time people aim for you, you kind of deserve it anyway. If your twin had died in the last encounter with this man, this man would have died as well.

Then the man speaks, just as you start to squeeze the trigger. His words are not some vow of revenge, neither are they offers of work or begging for you to not shoot. His words are your family's words, the prayer you've known since before you could hurtshootkill, and you know without looking that, while your twin has not lowered his gun, he's also almost dropped it in shock.

The fucking bastard who shot your twin is your father. Your luck is funny like that.

On Plants And The Care Of

2009-11-10T00:12:41Z

So I have these two plants. An African violet that I bought from Lowe's in maybe February, and a hydrangea shoot(I think? What do you call a hydrangea that isn't yet a giant bush yet?) I got for free a couple weeks ago. With both plants, I was assured they would be very easy to care for- the African violet doesn't need much water and all I have to do with the hydrangea is keep it alive until spring when I can put it in the ground and let it do its thing. Not too hard, right?

Shyeah right.

I'd bought the African violet because it was dying and on a clearance rack and it wouldn't be so big a deal if the thing died on my watch (which it really would have been, because pride is my vice of choice and I would have taken offense to the violet's death). It kept dying for a week or so, until I gave up on watering it on a near-daily basis and the damn thing flourished. I had to re-pot it and I'm pretty sure it's long overdue for another pot, but the point is that it isn't dying so actively now. Also, despite being a violet, I have yet to see any flowers.

Now, the hydrangea should have been easy to keep alive. Keyword being 'should.' It started wilting the day after I got it, not helped by the fact that my sister ran off with the van before I could get the plants out. Being as we live in Panhandle Florida, mid-October is as hot as early May, if not hotter. My mother, who successfully raises fruit trees in the backyard, said I didn't need to water the hydrangea more than every few days. The hydrangea, I have found, is a very emo plant. It wilts when the sun is out and shining and now that Tropical Storm Ida has gifted us with ridiculous amounts of rain, is the happiest plant in the yard.

So yeah. I have the most contrary plants in the world.

Also, Boondock Saints is one of the better movies in the history of ever and I kind of want to write for it. Just a little.

Mutant 'Verse: Getting The Gang Together

2009-11-01T21:18:45Z

It's been a long time since I posted anything, and I really really wanted to post some of my more recent stuff, so here. Some of my cast in a 'verse with metas/mutants/supers/whatever the term is now. Not the first timeline-wise, but starting like this makes more sense. The old backstory I have for my canon cast is being reworked, but this has little to do with that anyway, so. On with the show

~*~*~

The scientists where Evan is, the telepath admits to himself, have done a rather good job at suppressing his powers. Evan should hope they have, he broke three of their best minds before they realized they needed to change the drug cocktail they were giving him. Evan pretends the latest works- it keeps him from damaging anyone's minds with his own, but it doesn't keep him from looking.

And so he watches the couple people the scientists have put in tall tubes of liquid just like they have with him. There's Tenzou, who, despite the fact that the chemicals he had been injected with have nearly killed him time and again, won't die. His powers with wood won't be of any use in getting them out, but Evan looks in on him time to time with his telepathy. Mina had the power to change into a bird, but died within the first week. Across had been John, incredible potential with fire, but the drugs the scientists use on him reduce his power to merely controlling the flames, not creating them. Evan could have used that, but a man came and rescued him. No one will come for him or Tenzou.

~

One day-or night, Evan can't tell- another boy is brought in. He's kicking and screaming so loud Evan can hear him through the glass- "So help me, I will murder you myself, lemme GO!"

His eyes meet Evan's-half-closed so the scientists don't realize he's awake- and Evan sees the sheer will to survive in his eyes. Even though the scientists have shot him full of a drug to dull his powers, one scientist still gets sent flying when Brandon hits him. He pokes the smaller teen's mind as the scientists inject him with a tranquilizer. Brandon, is it? What do you call your power?

Wariness and an odd sense of familiarity and a thought drift to the forefront of Brandon's mind, the last one a quote. That which does not kill me makes me stronger.

Evan approves. And waits for help that they'll need.

~

Next, after one month, two shattered containment tubes, and convincing Brandon they need more than just who they've got to get out of here, a boy blinks into view, almost as pale as his hair as he realizes where he is. "My God," he says, horrified. Tentatively, he approaches Evan's tube, and puts a hand on the smooth surface. He looks Evan in the eye. "I'm Mal," he introduces himself quietly, eyes hard. "Give me two days. I'll be back."

Evan nods slightly, and Mal disappears just as the door opens and the scientists appear. The telepath closes his eyes. Two days. They can wait that long.

~

As promised, Mal returns, with company. The taller boy strolls over to Brandon and taps on the glass, waking the teen. "Name's Justice," he introduces himself, and the metal of Brandon's tube peels away with a flick of his wrist. He catches Brandon as the teen collapses. "We got ya, kid."

"Not a kid," Brandon mutters and rights himself. A single well- placed punch shatters the glass surrounding Tenzou. "I'm Brandon, this is Tenzou. What's our exit strategy?"

"Helping your buddy out," Justice says, jerking a thumb at Mal as he pulls Evan out the conventional way. Alarms start blaring and Justice waves a hand, the metal of the doors flattening into sheets so they can't be opened. "Mal, ya planning on getting out of here this week? That patch job ain't gonna hold anyone for long, and I can't do much better if we plan on doing this right."

"Got him," Mal grunts, and suddenly flickers over to them with Evan, one of Evan's arms slung around his shoulders. Justice grabs Brandon and Tenzou by their arms and Mal puts a hand on Justice's shoulder. "Hold your breath."

Suddenly, they're all outside, in a wooded area. Evan catches Mal's thought without even trying-oh shit- and yanks Brandon out of range as the teleporter doubles over and begins throwing up. Brandon, not much caring that he's only clad in shorts and the questionable liquid they were kept in, crosses his arms. "We're gonna have issues if you do that every time," he says and looks towards the compound. Lights are still flashing, and Evan knows soon the surrounding area will be searched. "What's next?"

Mal motions Justice forward. "Do it. I can still 'port us home."

"Bullshit," Justice retorts. "You're barely on your feet now, Mal. We won't be able to get away-"

"We can hide." Everyone turns to look at Tenzou. The dark haired boy ducks his head. "I can hide us."

Evan grins. Their rescuers have no idea that Tenzou has the best control out of any of them, and how well suited his ability is to their situation. Also, what Evan senses from Mal should prove interesting in practice. "He can. Do your thing, Justice. It sounds like fun."

The older teen rolls his eyes. He stretches his arms out towards the compound, and slowly lowers them. All the metal that forms the buildings creaks down and within a few moments, the secret facility is reduced to rubble and flame and warped metal. Justice drops to his knees. "Dumbest idea ever," he says, breathing raggedly. "Some rescue this is turning out to be, the rescuers epically fail at the last minute."

"Look for me in the white forest," Evan says, grinning as Tenzou creates trees that look just like the rest in the forest, save for the large hollows. "Hiding in a hollow tree."

"Shoulda known you'd be an emo kid," Brandon snorts with no real heat behind his words. He puts Mal in one and Justices refuses help in getting into another. He climbs in another and settles comfortably against the back of the hollow. "Sure it'll be enough?"

Tenzou closes the trees around all of them, save for a tiny hole so they can breathe. "Yes."

~

"Thanks a lot," Mal says to Aya, a day later. The five boys are sitting around the table in her kitchen, eating like they haven't done so in forever. For three of them, it's pretty close to true. Brandon has given up on eating politely, and Evan is hard-pressed to not do the same. Tenzou still looks like he almost doesn't remember what it's like to not be fed through a tube. Evan thinks-he doesn't know, since he refuses to look through the minds of those he considers friends when it's not necessary- that he probably doesn't; he was in the facility longer than Evan.

The woman waves a dismissive hand and pushes the serving plate towards Tenzou. "Anytime, kiddo," she assures Mal. She leans against the table. "Are you sure you can't-"

"Yes," Mal says shortly. He looks down to his plate. "I'm sorry. I can't. They know that."

"That doesn't mean they like it," she returns. Shaking her head, Aya looks at the other four. "So what will you do now?"

Tenzou frowns. "I don't know," he admits. "I don't remember having a home or anything. I mean, I know I must have had one, but..."

"Stay here." Aya drops a hand on his head. "Arashi would love you, I just know it. And Kyouji and Kouichi don't mind having more people in the house. All of you could stay."

Mal walks away from the table while Aya chatters on and assures them it's the perfect solution. He makes it as far as the porch when a voice stops him. "You won't even tell them goodbye."

He looks at Kyouji, sitting on a cushion and plucking idly at his koto. "I didn't tell my family goodbye either. Why tell these guys I barely know when I'm leaving?"

Kyouji eyes him shrewdly. "Why did you save them?"

"Because I could." He shakes his head. "Well, I'm out-"

"Wait the hell up!" Brandon appears in the doorway. "The hell do you think you're doing? You're not going anywhere without us!"

Mal looks stunned. "Wha..?"

"You heard him," Justice drawls, walking up. "And me, too. You think you can just ask me to help you save people and think that's the end of it?"

The stunned look disappears in favor of an annoyed one. "Don't you have families to go back to?"

Evan decides to intervene before Brandon can start in on property damage. "I don't think going home is a good idea. They'll just find me again."

"Yeah, same here," Brandon agrees, the anger disappearing in favor of seriousness and a bitterness that likely has nothing to do with being caught and everything to do with his family situation. "It'll be good for Tenzou to stay here, kid needs a normal life and all. Tenzou can at least pretend to be normal. But me? I stay in one place too long and someone's bound to notice I put dents in things when I'm mad."

"We're coming with you, Mal," Evan informs him. "Whether you like it or not."

Mal shakes his head. "Can't win, can I," he says ruefully. "Guess we're heading out now."

"Malice." Mal's breath catches in his throat; no one since his family has called him by his full given name, and he remembers how much he misses them. Kyouji pauses. "I will tell your parents and your sisters you are well."

"Thank you, Kyouji."

The four boys disappear.

SPN-Fic. Sort of

2009-05-21T06:53:55Z

I started reading the fics long before I ever saw the show. And I'm up to episode eight of season one. So yeah, OOC here and there and possibly screwing around with ghost canon.

It's a long time before she figures out that she's dead. So long by herself in this place that she loves (never past tense, she'll never stop loving a place she fought so hard to make her own), she goes through the motions of her morning routine before going back upstairs and finding her body on the bed. It looks asleep. Peaceful in a way she hasn't known for a long time. She doesn't know what else to do, so she stays here and wonders how long before someone finds her.

Eventually someone comes, a petty thief. She watches and waits, curious to see what he'll do. That lasts as long as it takes for him to get to the bar and reach for the crystal glasses on display. At that point she throws a chair at him. He's stunned at first that someone caught him, and then terrified when he realizes that someone is kinda see-through. She doesn't think she's seen someone run that fast since she chased her brother off the property.

After the thief come the cops, and then the ambulance to take away her body. She considers following along, but what would be the point? If she's to be a spectre, she likes the idea of staying in her bar more than wandering circles around her grave. She understands a little when someone comes to box up all her belongings, her tools of the trade, but she only ever lets one person do it, some slip of a girl who reminds her of her sister- a mean little firecracker who doesn't let the idea of ghosts frighten her out of doing her job.

Time goes on, or she supposes it does. She counts time in the number of would-be thieves, frat pledges on dares, real estate agents looking to renovate, hopeful entrepreneurs hoping to use the prime location. All but the pledges stop coming by the time the dust covers every surface of the place, and she imagines the air might be heavy and stale. It isn't as though she needs to breathe.

One day she throws a glass (forgotten, but she likes to think the slip of a girl left a few on purpose) harder than she expected and the pledge bleeds to death right outside. She doesn't think she cares.

Someone does, she supposes, because two young men with salt and iron come not long after that. The shorter one blinks and she doesn't blame him. She met the last pledge at the door with a good solid glass, after all. This time she's just sitting on the edge of the bar. "You're the ghost?" he asks. As if she'd let any other spirit stick around, and says so. "You are... refreshingly not homicidal."

His companion (friend, brother, lover, she can't tell) looks to the ceiling for guidance, something which she knows from long experience isn't coming. "Why did you attack all those people?"

"They wanted what was mine," she answers and feels the familiar surge of anger at the thought of someone taking this place from her. It's the only emotion she has known lately.

He settles on the bench built into the wall, not minding the dust and leaning forward to ask, "This is yours?"

A glass breaks next to her. That happens lately, too. "I fought for it when no one else would. Kept it together when everyone else said it would fail." Even if it did, in the end.

"Because you love this place," he says and she nods. The next question startles her. "Do you remember why?"

She starts to answer, and then stops. She doesn't remember, only knows that she will drive away anyone who would take it from her. "It's 'cause you're losing parts of yourself the longer you let yourself stay here," the shorter man informs her. She'd forgotten he was even there. " Pretty soon all you'll be is anger, and I don't think any of us wants that. So why don't you do us all a favor and tell us where you're buried."

She stares. "...why?"

"So we can help you move on," the other one explains and she thinks she likes him better anyway. It helps that he isn't the one with the gun.

The clipping with her death announcement and funerary arrangements is right where that slip of a girl left it- tacked to the wall next to the bar. "If I move on, someone else will take this place," she says. "How will I know they'll treat it right? Love it like I do?"

The gun-toting one snorts. "Lady, I hope they don't love it like you do. You just hope they like it enough to not burn it to the ground around your ears."

She hadn't expected good reasoning from someone who looks so trigger- happy and says so. The seated one snorts and smiles and takes the clipping from the wall himself. "He's a real gem, isn't he," he says.

"He's a keeper," she replies.

"Every frickin' town," the gun-toter bitches and they leave.

Sometime after, she does, too.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

2009-03-26T04:12:14Z

今　夏休み、東京　に　参ります！！参りたい　から、　うれしい　でござる。　でも、私　も　しんぱいしている。　日本語　を　話すの　が　上手じゃありません。　がんばりますの　は　私　の　やくそく。

A Sandbox AU

2009-03-02T06:09:15Z

It's one of many that I've sent raven_scarlett . Probably not the last, though. I've got a Merc 'Verse too. I should maybe post Canon here. Eventually. For now, meet MiaS 'Verse:

Mal watches as Evan and Justice run back to his starship under heavy fire, followed closely by a small blond. "Who-" he starts to ask as the shots actually start hitting the ship. "What the shit, Ev, I leave you for five minutes and they're shooting at me and my ship! And who the hell is this?!"

"New medic," Evan answers breathlessly as he dives into the pilot seat, taking over the lift-off procedures. "Shut up and let me drive. Justice! Why isn't that door shut?!"

"It is now!" Justice yells back as a heavier blast actually meant for the ship rocks them. "I'm sending Donny up there until we hit atmo, don't bother me!"

The young man comes in as Evan finally manages to pull away and Mal gets the shields up and returns fire. "Hullo," he greets the new guy absently. "So you're Donny?"

"Brandon, actually," the medic corrects and does a double-take, looking around. "Wait, where- who said that? Intercom system?"

"Kinda," Evan hedges. "That's our captain, Mal. He's, um, he's the ship."

The fallout is even better than Mal expected. "The ship?!" Brandon practically shrieks, proving that he's not far out of puberty and Evan is no longer the baby of the group. "The captain is the ship?!"

"Yeah," Evan drags out as he sends the ship into a sharp upward spiral, making Brandon crash against a wall and Justice's curses reach all the way from the engine room. "Sorry, boys. But yeah, there was a- well, we're not sure how it happened, but we're going to That Great Mythical Place to get it fixed, or at least explained. Ah, here we go."

The clouds clear and Brandon's jaw drops as he sees space, up close and personal for the first time. Evan leans back and grins. Mal says, "Really cool, huh?"

Brandon snaps out of it almost immediately. "You're a ship!!"

Mal sighs. "Is it going to be like this all the time? Because if it is, I'm spacing him."

Justice comes in. "Now, c'mon, we kinda need him. At the rate Evan keeps getting shot-"

"At!!" Evan breaks in defensively as Mal makes the temperature drop drastically with the environmental controls. "Getting shot at!! Never been hit!"

"Then why are you bleeding all over the cockpit?" Brandon snaps, hauling him out of the pilot's seat and down the hall and ignoring the protests that it's just a graze. "This is just great, first time offworld, and I'm the medic on a ship where the mechanic triples as hired muscle and psychoanalyst, the co-pilot doesn't realize when he's been shot, and the captain of all this insanity is the ship. I should have stayed home and gotten married."

"Now, now," Mal cajoles. "That wouldn't be as fun."

Justice grins as Brandon starts a new tantrum over the disarrayed quarters that they've dubbed the medical bay. "Makes life a little more interesting, huh."

"Think I'm going to like having him around," Mal agrees.

Starting anywhere not the beginning was always my favorite way to go.

Spring Semester Blues

2009-02-28T02:21:27Z

So I wish I actually liked any of my classmates, because then I could ask them what I'm doing wrong with my project due in three hours and forty-ish minutes. They're not bad people, just better than me at all this programming business and a combination of hyper-competitiveness and pride won't let me ask them questions. I just really don't like having to deal with the attitude of "how can you be having problems with this?" when I ask questions. It's probably all in my head.

Trying to figure out what to give up for Lent. Also, will start posting my revamped Canon here after midterms are over. And maybe the thousand AUs my Canon has come up with.

EDIT: I'm amazing and found what I was doing wrong. Now to finish the assignment....

Public Service Announcement: Firemen's Revenge

2008-10-15T04:00:54Z

You're supposed to park fifteen feet from fire hydrants to keep stuff like this from happening.

Another post to the crossover comm

2008-10-09T05:18:09Z

This time it's Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and Witch Hunter Robin- Something Like Lucky

My sandbox and school keeps me busy.

Bad day at Hallmark

2008-08-25T02:32:03Z

For everyone who has to go back to school, or just needs a good laugh...

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

My tire was thumping.
I thought it was flat

When I looked at the tire...

I noticed your cat.

Sorry!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard your wife left you,
How upset you must be.

But don't fret about it...

She moved in with me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking back over the years

that we've been together,

I can't help but wonder...

'What the hell was I thinking?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations on your wedding day!

Too bad no one likes your husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How could two people as beautiful as you

Have such an ugly baby?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've always wanted to have
someone to hold,

someone to love.

After having met you ..

I've changed my mind.

-------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------

I must admit, you brought Religion into my life.

I never believed in Hell until I met you.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As the days go by, I think of how lucky I am...

That you're not here to ruin it for me.

####################################################

Congratulations on your promotion.
Before you go...

Would you like to take this knife out of my back?

You'll probably need it again.

********************************************************************************

Happy Birthday, Uncle Dad!

(Available only in Tennessee , Kentucky, West Virginia & of course Hope Valley )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy birthday! You look great for your age.

Almost Lifelike!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we were together,
you always said you'd die for me.

Now that we've broken up,

I think it's time you kept your promise.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

We have been friends for a very long time .

let's say we stop?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I'm so miserable without you

it's almost like you're here.

=====================================================

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy.

Did you ever find out who the father was?

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Your friends and I wanted to do

something special for your birthday.

So we're having you put to sleep.

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

So your daughter's a hooker,
and it spoiled your day.

Look at the bright side,

it's really good pay

A Question for Anyone Who Reads Naruto + Edit

2008-07-18T00:19:15Z

Is it 'gennin' or 'genin'? I prefer the first one, but a review at the pit called me out on it and says it's the second one. Wikipedia doesn't have an answer, so I figured I would ask over here. Thanks!

EDIT: Okay, they're right. *pouts*

Another Crossover Entry

2008-07-12T01:09:48Z

This time, Top Gun and X:Men. I have another Top Gun and FF8 in storage, might put it out soon. I'm on a bit of a Top Gun spree.

The fic

Also, for Top Gun slashers... a video

A Crossover From Hell

2008-07-06T18:26:12Z

From hell, because I wrote it. And because it crosses over Final Fantasy VIII and Top Gun

New SeeD Cadets

Original Fiction: Tags

2008-05-21T02:59:21Z

A possible ending for the boys. Mina and John were introduced in Meetings.

The news comes in when Mal and Evan are having a good laugh in Mal's apartment. It's the same apartment they all shared when they were in college. Justice and Brandon are due for leave and should be back from the Middle East within the next couple of days, Evan's on leave for a couple weeks and it'll be just like old times. "Better than," Evan votes. "Else Brandon's going to try to kill you the second he gets within arm's reach of you."
Then the phone rings, and, still laughing, Mal picks it up. "Hello- Mina?" The smile instantly disappears from his face and he leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Slow down, Mina, take a couple of breaths, and start again." A beat passes, and Mal says, "All right, we'll be there in five minutes."
Evan is already standing, has gathered their wallets and the keys to Mal's car. "Mal?" he prompts, toeing his shoes back on and shrugging on his jacket.
Mal throws on his own coat. "I don't know. She wouldn't say."
~
The drive to Justice and Mina's house on base is short, largely due to luck with the traffic lights and Mal's perpetual lead foot. It still feels like it's too long, Evan thinks, watching Mal's white- knuckled grip on the steering wheel, the sharp lines creasing his forehead. Evan and Mal have known Mina for years, first as friends, and then as Justice's wife, and they've all remained close. There are few reasons she would call them with something that can't be conveyed over the phone, and none of them are good.
Three year old Matthew is sitting on the couch when they arrive, looking confused and scared because his mother is crying. Mal leads Mina back to the couch and Evan settles Matthew in his lap. Matthew breaks the silence first. "Mommy says Daddy and Uncle Don are in heaven now," he says, and Mina breaks into a fresh round of tears. Something in Mal's face breaks and he holds Mina tightly. Evan swallows as Matthew's bottom lip trembles and the boy continues, "Why would God take them away and make Mommy cry?"
Evan wraps his arms around his best friend's son. "God doesn't want your mommy to cry," he says quietly. "Bad men killed your daddy and uncle, and God brought them to a place where the bad men can't hurt them anymore."
"Can Mommy and I go?" Matthew pulls back and looks up at Evan hopefully. "Can we be with God, too?"
"Someday," Mal tells him hoarsely. He tries to smile. "But your dad would want you to live and be happy and help your mom for now. Think you can do that?"
Matthew nods bravely and a tear drops onto Evan's arm. "I miss Daddy. I miss Uncle Don. They were s' posed to come home for my birthday..."
~
Evan drives them back to the apartment after Mina's parents and brothers come to the house to grieve with her. Mina had said they could stay, but Evan and Mal are a different kind of family, not the one she needs right now, and Evan knows Mal doesn't want to fall apart where just anyone can see him.
Mal drops onto the couch, settling his elbows on his knees again, and takes a breath. "Justice and Brandon are dead," he says quietly, as though it's hitting him only now.
The words feel like a sledgehammer to Evan's chest. "Yes," Evan hears his own voice crack and takes a shuddering breath. "They are."
Their world shatters.
~
The day of Justice and Brandon's funeral-just one, because they would have appreciated it, Evan knowsthinkshopes- is cold and clear and weirdly appropriate. John can't make it, and neither can Ethuil, but Kage and Celian show up, as do Evan's parents and Mal's mother. No one knows where Brandon's mother is, or cares to look for his father. Justice's parents make it just in time for the service. He and Mal speak, even though their words do their friends little justice, because there are some things that should remain between friends, and those who should hear it already do. Mal plays his violin, a piece no one has heard before or is likely to ever forget, and maybe, just maybe, the other people in this church who didn't know Brandon and Justice like they did, maybe they can understand a little how this feels to them.
Mina approaches them after the burial, hours after everyone else has already gone, and hands them a box. "I think you should have these," she tells them. "Justice and Brandon- I think they wanted this."
There are two sets of worn dog tags in the box. Evan lifts one out and sees that one tag is from Justice's set, and the other bears Brandon's name. "Yeah," Mal says, nodding once and he looks fragile, like he's going to break again and never come back together. They've lost both lost people before, but it never gets easier, and Justice and Brandon were their best friends. Evan isn't sure this is something either of them will ever really come back from, and this is how Mina shows that she knows it, too. "I- thanks, Mina."
Evan puts the tags on, and they hang right next to his, over his heart. Mal mirrors the movement a little shakily. They hug Mina tightly, and they leave. Mal curls in on himself once they're driving back to the apartment. "I don't ever want to wear your tags, Ev," he says quietly, gripping the tags tightly, hard enough to leave imprints in his palm.
Evan can't promise anything, they both know it. He nods and takes a hand off the wheel to curl it around Mal's fist. It's all he can offer. And it's not enough.
And then there were two.

I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.
But I always thought that I'd see you again.

Original Fiction: The Sound of Music

2008-05-20T01:52:18Z

Based on a true story

Justice starts humming as he and the other ROTC students unpack for their week-long training camp. "Listen, baby," he starts singing quietly. He's not Mal, but he sings just a bit better than Evan, which counts for something. "Ain't no valley high, ain't no valley low-"
"Ain't no river wide enough, baby!" one of his classmates, Roarke, continues with a grin. His bass voice is nothing like Brandon's tenor or his own baritone, but it all fits.
By the end of the first verse, the rest of the room is singing, and then the entire hall. But by the end of the second chorus all of them were face down in the courtyard, doing push-ups. "Ooh, I'm going to kill whoever's to blame," Roarke mutters as they go down on push-up number sixty-eight and Justice nods.
"I'm with you on that-" Justice starts to agree when their teacher starts yelling.
"You are not here to play Sound of Music!" the officer bellows.
Justice flinches and and he and the rest of his room avoid looking at the rest of the ROTC students from their and other schools until their commander lets them go.

Original Fiction: Double-Post

2008-05-14T00:25:52Z

I just realized I've been remiss and haven't posted so much of any of my sandbox as of late. So here's a sequel to Other Meetings:

Aiden watches Axe putter around their tiny kitchen and wonders if he'll ever remember who he once was. Mikhail had said sometimes after terrible shocks, people just lost their memories and didn't get them back, and said, trying to cut out all the medical terminology, that he wasn't particularly surprised that Axe had no recollection of his past. "Think about it," the doctor had put it during a phone call two weeks previous. "If you were him, would you honestly want to be that person again?"
He hadn't had a response for the doctor then, and isn't sure he has one now. Axe's former life had been pretty luxurious, and if things hadn't turned out the way they did, the redhead could be one of DC's most eligible bachelors. Instead, he is living in a cheap apartment on the other side of the country with someone he doesn't realize is there to protect him from his past. Aiden supposes it's for the best that Axe doesn't remember, it makes hiding that much easier. His own identity had been destroyed and remade, even though it was highly unlikely that people from Axe's old life would think to trace the rookie bodyguard who had barely any ties to the missing scion of a fortune. So unlikely, that the same people who had relocated Aiden and Axe hadn't bothered to change his twin sister's name or location.
He expects that it's best Axe not return to DC, as, while he had money enough that he would never have to work, there were enemies of his parents still around. "Until they are all gone or sufficiently believe he is no threat," Aiden remembers Axe's grandfather saying, "you are not to bring him back here or let him have any contact with any of us. Do not call me."
"Hey. Argos." Axe is suddenly in front of Aiden, touching his forehead. "You sick? I've been calling you."
Argos. That's who he is now, and will be for the foreseeable future. Aiden bats Axe's hand away lightly. "What is it?" he asks, almost warily. Axe has been reading up on current events and asking rather interesting questions. Such as what everyone's problem was with same sex marriage, and who are these idiots running for the presidency who want to pull out of the Middle East right now and completely destroy everything that they've managed to get somewhat right over there.
Axe points out the window at the setting sun. "Shabbat."
Argos hides a smile, wondering what Axe's Bible-thumping devoutly Baptist grandmother would say if she knew her grandson had decided to be Jewish right along with who he thought was a complete stranger. He sets down the computer parts he was fiddling with, and leans back in his chair. "So it is."
This isn't the way Aiden pictured his life going at all, but now that it is, he's rather curious as to how it will all turn out. Judging by his companion's outlook on life-Who I was has nothing on who I'm going to become- he's in for one hell of a time.

And something for Mal and company:

For a moment, Brandon is seven years old and alone on the playground. He is approached by a boy who says, "Hey, let's be friends" and "Are you any good at racing? Ev and me, we're the fastest people in the world! Well, just on the playground, but someday, someday..."
What the hell's going on?
"Brandon?! Fuck, somebody help!"
Brandon is eight years old for half a moment, giving into an older boy's order to punch at him and actually making it through the other boy's defense. His name is Justice, and Brandon lets himself be semi-adopted by Justice, and Justice is welcomed into the fold.
"Hold on, buddy, the ambulance is coming, just hang in there, okay? Goddammit, Mal, what the hell happened to him?!"
"I don't know! Ev and I kept going, he was right behind us-"
"No one's blaming you, Mal-"
"The hell no one isn't! Donny? Donny, stay with me, c'mon!"
I'm not going anywhere, Brandon distantly thinks. Am I?
Twelve years old again, Justice is starting high school and Brandon wonders if that means he won't be hanging with the trio of seventh graders he left behind. "Moron," Justice says affectionately, ruffling Brandon's hair. "No way I'll leave you behind."
It's not hard to believe him.
"Justice, you have to get out of the way, let the paramedics do their job-"
"Damn you, Evan, I'm not leaving him. I fucking promised-"
"No one's asking you to break that promise, you bastard, just move and they'll let you get in the ambulance with them. Ev and I'll bring your car. You just stay with Brandon."
Year fourteen is full of awkward limbs and changing voices and sneaking out to take advantage of the fact that that Justice now has his driver's license. "Don't worry," Justice assures him, laughing as Brandon trips over his too-big feet again and Evan's laugh makes a funny sound. "It'll be over before you know it."
Fifteen and he learns to drive while he and his best friends aren't talking and are trying to live without each other. Gets his first kiss and wonders why everyone thinks it's such a big deal. Goes back to being best friends with the others again and spends what's left of summer wreaking forgivable havoc. Sixteen and watching Evan's football games, Mal's concerts. Watching Justice pack up to leave, but "I'll be back, and we can work together if you want."
"We're losing vitals!"
"Sir, we need you to wait here."
"Donny, I'll be right there when you wake up, okay?"
For a brief moment, Brandon is seventeen and not quite fast enough to avoid the incoming car and dying.
And then nothing at all.
Brandon opens his eyes and gags a little on the scent of lemon cleaner and antiseptic. Justice is in a chair next to the bed, hand close to but not touching Brandon's own, fast asleep. Mal and Evan are sitting against the wall under the window, Evan asleep with his head on Mal's shoulder, Mal plucking idly at his violin. "Just missed him," Mal says, tipping his head towards Justice as much as he can without dislodging Evan. He smiles that too everything-but-the- truth smile he has. "Scared the shit out of us, you know. It's been over a day."
"Here...entire time?" Brandon asks hoarsely. He tries to be quiet because Justice looks like he's had a hell of a time just waiting and needs all the sleep he can get.
Mal looks at him oddly. "Where else would we be?"
Brandon turns his head a little and finds Justice watching him tiredly. "Welcome back, Donny."
The smaller teen closes his eyes and twitches his hand so it's touching Justice's. "Good to be back."

I'll have more for them all over the next few...whiles.

8 Facts

2008-04-26T06:15:03Z

The rules:
1. post these rules
2. each person tagged must post 8 random facts about themselves.
3. tags should write a journal entry of these facts
4. at the end post 8 more bloggers are tagged and named
5. go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged

I tag anyone who reads this! <3 Do tell if you're taking this up, I'd like to read them.

1. I'm really flipping lucky. Might be the power of positive thinking, prayer, stubbornness or the Force, but bad things have a tendency to work out and leave me relatively unscathed.

2. I have a tendency to write fan- and original fiction instead of homework or anything else I should be doing. Writing just comes easier when I should be doing other things. Give me a boring afternoon with nothing due anytime soon and I can't write to save my life.

3. I sing along at the top of my lungs to most of my mix CDs- windows down or not. Particularly if the song playing is from a musical.

4. I may or may not still have a massively high school crush on the same person I had a crush on my freshman year of high school. It's actually up for debate as to whether it's a crush or not, but on my mental hierarchy of friends, he's right there with my two best friends. And it's a lovely Catch-22 now- He's one of the few people I trust to not screw up going out with, but he's also one of the people I won't date because I don't want to screw up what we've got. No need to rock the boat when we're sailing along so well. That, and I heard mention that a long time ago he had a crush on my older sister and may or may not see the rest of us in a sibling way.

5. I actually like chocolate a hell of a lot more than I like vanilla, but always choose vanilla anyway because I'm contrary like that and choosing vanilla usually ensures I won't have to share it with anyone else. Same goes with a few other foods and other things not-food.

6. I'm a sucker for chick flicks, particularly the ones with the sappy endings. I make fun of them as often as I watch them. Top favourites have to be Enchanted, Elizabethtown(I don't care how much everyone else seemed to not like it), and Beauty & the Beast. I believe in twu wuv, so sue me.

7. My way of writing males may seem off to some people-it seems that way to me too sometimes- but I'm basing them off the interactions of the boys I know, and for the most part they're not the manliest guys out there. Two, in particular, I realized recently are heavily based off two guys I know IRL, and suddenly it makes sense that the two characters keep trying to get together in the little aside stories I drabble out to Delena-chan that have nothing to do with the main story line.

8. I have heard pretty much every pronunciation bastardization of my name in existence. No lie, there are maybe seven depending on what part of the world you learned phonics in and your accent.

Original Fiction: Other Meetings

2008-04-11T03:28:33Z

Simply because this sandbox is a bit larger than usual. These characters connect with the others-the triplets, their parents, all of them- but later on.

You opens your eyes and look at the cracked and water-stained ceiling and wonder when you fell asleep. The bed underneath you is lumpy and hard and you're pretty sure that the bit of metal poking you in the ankle is a bedspring. You sit up, looks around, and it's then that you realizes two very important things- you don't know where you are, and you don't know who you are.
Before you can start panicking, the door opens. A young man with dark brown hair in a low ponytail and wire rimmed glasses walks in, a brown bag in each arm. He looks at you, smiles, and says, "Oh. I was wondering how long you were going to sleep."
He then starts complaining good-naturedly about grocery store lines, and prices, and would you believe I had to bag my own purchases? While he talks he opens a bag of bread and starts putting together peanut butter sandwiches. His clothes-like yours, you note- are worn and patched in places, and he wears them as naturally as anything, but you think he would be more at home in slacks and blazers than worn jeans and threadbare t-shirts.
"Excuse me," you say, cutting off what sounded like the beginning of a tirade on the decline of Western Civilization. He pushes his glasses higher on his nose and waits for you to continue. "I don't know who you are."
He looks down, but not before you see a tiny gleam of sadness in his eyes. He smiles tiredly as he looks up and brings the sandwiches to you. "You can call me Argos."
It's an odd name, but you've more to worry about than the name of this stranger. "And who am I, Argos?"
Argos sits down on the bed, the plate of sandwiches between you. "That," he answers, picking up one sandwich and nudging the plate towards you, "is for you to decide, don't you think?"
You think whoever you were before is going to have nothing on who you will become and pick up the other sandwich. "Call me Axe."

Original Fiction: Signs

2008-04-11T01:42:28Z

Just a small piece featuring Celian and Kage again, but focusing on Ethuil mostly.

"People used to think Eth was deaf," Kage tells Celian offhand. They're lying on the roof of the school, heads pillowed on sweatshirt and textbook. They should be inside learning, really, but Celian has always been able to pick up lessons faster at night, and Kage is so far ahead that it's not even funny. She's brilliant, all three of the triplets are. Ethuil's specialty lies in computers and there are few in the school who feel the music quite like Mal, but Kage is jack- of- all- trades brilliant. Celian sometimes finds himself in awe of them, even though he's no slouch either.
"Why?" Celian asks, still contemplating the sixteen year old next to him. Kage could do so much, but all she really wants is that derelict bar across town. She says after the bar is up and running that she'll put her genius to other uses, but the bar comes first. He's not sure what got them on the subject of Ethuil, he doesn't like her all that much, really, but he's willing to listen if Kage is going to talk. He'll always listen to her.
"She wouldn't respond when people spoke to her, Mom said." Kage shrugs. "For the first year and a half of our lives, she didn't answer any of them, so Mom and Dad learned how to sign. We picked it up, too, and learned it faster than we did to speak. We liked it better."
Celian rolls onto his side and pushes his hair out of his face. It's actually strawberry blonde, but the shade is so close to pink that people actually think it is, the way they think Mal's hair is really white. "But you knew she wasn't deaf."
"Well, yeah." Kage turns her head and smiles. "Eth always responded to Mal and me. It just took everyone else a while to figure that out."
Celian laughs, because that is a typical thing for Ethuil to do. "She responded to the only people important to her."
Kage grins. "Ain't that the truth," she agrees.

Real World Update

2008-04-09T03:21:43Z

I'm taking a summer class so I can graduate from the university this coming spring (Guess where my tax return's going?). It's Database Systems, and an online class. Never had an online class before, so this ought to be an interesting experience. Still trying to catch up with, well, everything, and it's terrible that when I need to be working the most is when I get the most urge to write. I've been dabbling in an alternate line for my sandbox instead of school work, so hurray for sheer and utter laziness combined with a fight/flight twist. My major's maybe the scariest thing in the world right now, but I suppose it'll all turn out. Changing it won't make it better, since yeah. Too used to living on the internet.

Maybe will update my sandbox over here when I finish this C++ program I should've started last week.

EDIT: Oh, and to make matters worse, I'm considering trying to go back to Honors. It's a ridiculous idea, and I'm not sure I even want to, but I'm just curious.

Original Fiction: Meetings

2008-04-04T03:10:34Z

A look into the oldest triplet, Mal. Originally two pieces, but works just fine as one.

Mal scrambled high into the tree, watching his fellow seven year olds head for the playground. He didn't particularly like them, they made fun of his name. A lot. Eth had said she'd beat the snot out of anyone who so much as laughed at her name, which got her a lecture from Mom, Dad, and her teacher, so he'd learned fast that hitting the other kids wasn't an option. Neither was Kage's way, which was to smile and tell her classmates it was okay that they thought her name was weird because theirs were stupid. Mom and Dad had been called in to talk to her teacher, too. So Mal just avoided his classmates.
He pulled out his plastic recorder and started playing quietly. The piano was too big to take anywhere, so his father had given him the recorder and sometimes the music teacher let him play the piano because he wouldn't bang on it.
"Hey." Mal almost fell out of the tree, but a hand steadied him. Grey eyes shone merrily and the dark haired boy hauled himself up from the branch below. "What'cha doin'?"
"Playin'." Mal held up the recorder.
"Huh. So're we." The other boy pointed to where more boys were standing in a loose circle by the track. "We're racing. I thought you might want to come play, too."
"Why?" Mal was confused. He was just the kid with the white hair and the strange name.
It was the other boy's turn to look confused. "Why not?" Mal can't come up with a reason, so the boy grins. "C'mon, it'll be fun. My name's Evan."
"I'm Malice." He winced a little, waiting for the expected laughing.
It didn't come. "Cool," Evan said. "Never heard that one before."
"My sisters call me Mal." Eth and Kage had said if he ever found a nice person who didn't make fun of his name, then they could use the nickname.
Evan grinned. "Cool. Let's be friends, Mal, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he began tugging Mal's arm. "C'mon, they're starting!"
The other boys found out that while Mal had a weird name and different-colored hair, he and the new boy were still the fastest in the class. When Mal told his family, Mom smiled and congratulated him on making a friend. Dad asked about the races. Kage and Ethuil didn't say anything, because they already knew. They were scary like that.
~
Malice meets more people and makes more friends after Evan, but only a few meetings really stand out.
There was Brandon, a quiet blond that the adults just loved. He simply showed up on the playground one day and Mal befriended him in much the same way Evan had done with him- Hey, let's be friends.
After that had come Justice, a boy two years older than them who had lived in the area as long as Mal, but they hadn't had much in common until Brandon came along. Justice, wanting to show off his new self-defense from his karate classes, told Brandon to punch so he could block it. The eight year old punched- and went straight through Justice's guard and got him in the stomach. Evan hovered, worried that Justice would hit Brandon, but Mal, too used to having sisters, grinned and congratulated Brandon, "even though, you know, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean for you to hit him that hard". Surprisingly, Justice more or less adopted Brandon, and was by proxy adopted into their odd group.
Jessica was next at ten. Mal met her at the principal's office- him for being overenthusiastic with his volcano science project, her because she was correcting her teacher on his talk about evolution. "He's wrong," she said offhandedly. "Because if we came from monkeys, then that means God looks like a monkey, and really, if we were made in His image, then I'd imagine He'd like us to stay that way."
Mal really couldn't argue with that kind of logic, especially since he thought evolution was pretty stupid too. "Different people believe different things," he offered. "Just because we're right and they're not doesn't mean you should be mean at them about it."
The pigtailed girl thought for a moment. "There's no commandment for that."
"No," he agreed. "But it's common sense."
There were Daniel and Hannah, twins he met in middle school who the triplets had to fight for control of Beta Club. Mina was with him the day he, Evan, and Brandon blew up the chemistry lab his freshman year, and Justice swears up and down she must have switched out some of the ingredients to do that, since he just had that class the year before (they ended up going out). Then John, who was an Air Force brat and was really smart even though he looked like a slacker.
True to form in a mostly military town, the people moved, faces came and went. Jessica moved away the day after they finished sixth grade, and Daniel and Hannah went to a school for the gifted in upstate New York right after eighth grade. John had only been in their high school for a semester, and Mina's family got orders to move right before their senior year("The new kid again in senior year," Evan had said, shaking his head. "Bummer."). Justice had been gone for a year by then, choosing to enlist in the Air Force, and Brandon had mentioned wanting to go the same way, but his father insisted he finish college first.
"It's not too bad," Mal had tried to console him. "Who knows, you might even get stationed together."
At the end of the day, Evan is the only one who is there all along, surprising since both came from Navy families. Mal, now days shy of eighteen, leans over the bridge in the park. A thin layer of ice covers the pond, and it'll be a month at least before the ice is thick enough to skate on unless they get a sudden cold front. Evan is sitting with his back to the railing, trying to sketch out the skyline in the fading light. "Hey, Evan?"
The dark haired teen looks up questioningly. He's a little shorter than Mal now, but muscled, and is more than competent on the football teams(both American and soccer). "Yeah?"
Mal grins a little sheepishly, the tips of his ears going pink under his cap. "Thanks for being my best friend."
Evan smiles broadly and raps Mal's knee with his fist lightly. "Hey. First, last, and always."
"You said it." Mal ruffles Evan's hair and takes off running. "C'mon, I wanna make some gingerbread!"
"You are such a girl, Malice!" Evan calls, but stands and quickly catches up. "You don't even know how to make gingerbread."
"No," Mal concedes, "but Mom does. I figure I can get her to make it and reap the benefits."
Evan laughs. "Race you there."
It's a tie.

An Introductory Push Into My Sandbox

2008-03-16T03:52:43Z

Original Characters for the win. I've got a bit written for them, and will post them in the order that makes most sense. Which is to say, very little at all.
Worth Noting: Ethuil, Kage, and Malice are triplets whose parents-Artemes and Alesca- had much joy in giving their children odd names. Fortunately, the triplets are not alone in the weird names department. Eth is the mean one, Kage is the nice one, and Mal is the boy.

~~

    The building is old, built in the style of western saloons and about as structurally sound, but thirteen year old Kage things it's absolutely perfect. "I'm going to own this place someday," she announces.
    Celian looks up from the graph paper he's doodling on. "Okay," he agrees. "When you do, I'll make sure it's no longer liable to fall down around your ears."
    And no matter what Ethuil says or how Mal teases, Kage thinks this boy with the pink hair is nice.
~
    The building hasn't gotten any younger, and the newest thing about it now isn't the indoor plumbing but the demolition notice nailed to the door. Kage drags Celian over to see it, indignant that the city would try to take away such a work of art. He nods once, slowly, and says, "That's an idea."
    Two weeks later, seventeen year old Kage and eighteen year old Celian are the proud owners of a historical site. Kage smiles mischievously at Celian. "You promised."
    "I did," he acknowledges, and pulls out the plans he's been working on in his college classes. And of course, it's absolutely perfect and maybe Celian is just a bit more than nice.
~
    Ethuil is convinced that the building is going to fall on them anyway, and Mal is too busy trying to convince the Air Force that music is a valid major for him to make them pay for to really notice, but Kage is okay with that. She is one year away from a degree in management ("almost as useless as a degree in English," Ethuil says scathingly, but will knock the teeth out of anyone else who tries to say the same) and works nights at a bar across town to get experience.
    Celian is just finishing with his architecture degree and works in construction. He gets a few of his classmates to help work on the soon-to-be bar so they can claim to have experience in the field. Kage works alongside them all, and once Mal realizes what's going on, he's helping, too, and Ethuil helps in her usual abrasive way- being overly critical and making one of the young men actually cry, but supplying them with ridiculously good food and first aid. Celian initially hates her(Kage knows he's disliked her sister from the start, and this only makes it worse), but the fact that she went and cleaned and repaired all the plumbing while they were all at lunch one day endears her to him.
    "She's almost as singularly awesome as you," Celian says offhand one day while he and Kage are watching her coerce her maybe-boyfriend Firith into climbing the rickety ladder on top of a table to fix a light. Mal is holding a video camera and laughing. The ladder falls and Ethuil ends up catching Firith mostly by accident. Celian smiles at Kage as the two fall and refuse to get up. "Almost."
    The fact that he genuinely likes her family makes Kage ridiculously happy for the rest of the month.
~
    The bar and grill is finally finished, after almost a year of work. Kage and Celian sit in the empty bar long after their friends and Kage's siblings have left, doing nothing. A filing cabinet is behind the bar, and one of Kage's regulars at the other bar has already laid claim to a drawer, so Kage can easily reach all the fixings for her drinks.
    "You get to pick the name," Kage tells Celian, pouring him the first drink ever.
    He smiles at her and passes her his book of graph paper as he takes the shot glass. "I thought you might say that," he answers. "It's kinda cheesy and generic, but-"
    "It's perfect," Kage says, looking at the drawing of the sign that will soon adorn the front of their bar. She's pretty sure she's in love with this nice boy with the pink hair.
    Two days later, Kage's Bar & Grill is open for business.

~~

Oh, and I was wondering how people managed without having a song or sandbox constantly in their heads. I just remembered recently how it felt to not have both, and I mostly remember not being very happy.

Non-Update

2008-03-02T05:22:08Z

Soooooo how's the world going for the rest of you?

Naruto Fic: Untitled

2008-02-15T04:18:54Z

Actually, the working title is 'Kyuubi Approaching'. But rejoice! It's not precisemente Kyouji-centric, mostly for my Devil's Duo, Kotetsu and Izumo. I'm working out canon for Kyouji, so if you notice him being retconned on several occasions, don't worry too much, there's not much in the way of continuity where Kyouji is concerned. Delena-chan gave me horrible inspiration for a 'verse where Kyouji dies and comes back often and a lot, and everyone's cool with it. Think Kenny from South Park.

Another textbook mission completed, and Izumo is ready to head home. Fire Country is unseasonably warm for late October, and the crunch of leaves under his feet is loud even to his ears. He looks over to Kotetsu and Kyouji and grins. "Ready-"
"Quiet," Kyouji orders suddenly, sharply, eyes on the horizon.
Kotetsu tenses at Izumo's side, and the Kamizuki freezes as he felt a wave of malicious intent and chakra just seconds before a roar shakes the earth beneath his feet. "What was that, sensei?" Kotetsu asks, voice steady though Izumo can almost feel his partner shaking next to him.
"The sound of the world falling down around your ears," Kyouji informs his former students, but there is none of his usual condescension, no exasperation in his tone. Izumo's eyes widen as he recognizes what is in Kyouji's tone- fear.
"Sensei," he says, but Kyouji turns to them and his eyes betray how serious a situation this is.
"Run," the jounin commands and the ground trembles again.
Kotetsu and Izumo run, faster than they ever have before. Kyouji is right on their heels, urging them faster, faster, up the steep wall of a cliff-face, and then Izumo stops and turns and sees. A creature born of fire is there, numerous tails waving and wreaking havoc where they touch land. The forest all around the creature is in flames. Distantly he realizes the where the monster is, they just were minutes before.
Izumo is distracted from his terror by Kyouji pushing chakra into the seal on his shoulder, and the answering flare as the Yondaime Hokage appears in their midst. Minato opens his mouth to give Kyouji a piece of his mind-the blond is barely awake, still in his sleep pants- for calling when Kyouji is obviously just fine, but Kotetsu grabs the man's arm and points. "Look."
Minato stares, eyes widening as he too hears the sound of the world falling, and breathes the name of Konoha's doom.
"Kyuubi."
~~

The seal on Kyouji's shoulder blade is the Hiraishin Seal, the one on all Minato's kunai for his Hiraishin no Jutsu. More detailed explanation to come when I put Kyouji's complete information out here.