To say that Jari was devastated is to say nothing. He had vampire bites on his chest, on his neck and on his wrists, and they were aching badly. He was weak from the blood loss. He was feverish. So was Jukka. But still, they had to move on and find anything to prevent transformation.
Note: I don't own the characters (sadly), all the events described don't belong to this particular layer of reality
Warning: slash
Teemu did not seem affected by the vampire's bite, his wounds and bruises from fighting the creature were healing rapidly. However, he was suffering in his own way. He had seen his lover being seduced by someone else. And though Teemu clearly understood that Jari could hardly resist this ancient and powerful being, he felt strong physical rejection and avoided touching the older guitarist since he had dressed Jari's and Jukka's wounds. He couldn't even meet their gaze and knew it was not right at all.
Especially now that he risked losing them to something worse than death.
The ravens led Wintersun through a thick forest, but now it was not swampy at all. It would have looked magnificent, if the band was not so much in pain. The birds trusted Teemu much more than at the start of the journey: from time to time one of them landed on the young man's shoulder to rest.
“I'm thirsty,” Jukka said, sadly looking at Teemu's empty flask (his own had been empty long ago).
“Why on Earth have you drunk all the water at one sitting?” Teemu asked.
“I have, too,” Jari sighed.
“Ok. We're not in the desert, and I think, we'll soon find something,” Teemu calmed him.
“I'm cold, Teemu. I'm so cold as if I were freezing to death!” - the blond complained. The lead guitarist's natural pallor was grayish now, his features sharper than ever, dark circles clouded under his pale blue eyes. He was wearing his winter jacket, boots and a scarf with a blanket over his shoulders, but was shivering.
The rhythm guitarist touched the taller man's forehead, which was hot enough to fry an egg on it. Teemu decided to make a “pit-stop”. He overhauled his medical kit and extracted some more anti-pyretic drugs, giving them to his unlucky bandmates.
“I don't want to become that thing, Jari,” Jukka sobbed all of a sudden. He touched his fangs with his tongue and found that they grew sharper.
“At least, we'll live long enough to see Time II released,” Jari smirked.
And then they found themselves surrounded by a group of people clad in dark-green clothes and beautiful armor of matte metal that was surprisingly thin and flexible, having nothing to do with the heavy “cans” of the human Middle Ages. The strange people aimed their spears at Wintersun, and these spears were all made of white dazzling light.
“Who are you, strangers?” asked the man who had the longest hair in the group, tressed into a thick silver braid reaching his knees. “Why would and Elf and a Half-Elf bring a human to this sacred wood?”
“Good morning, sir, I am Teemu,” the rhythm guitarist answered with a slight bow. “And here are my bandmates, Jukka and Jari. They are very dangerously sick; I would say, they could die at any moment, so I beg you to help them...”
The spears of light disappeared from the strange people's hands simultaneously. Together with two bodyguards, the silver-haired man approached Jari and Jukka who were sitting helpless on the grass. Jari introduced himself and made an effort to give him a hand. The man shook it. Jukka tried to do the same, but the man did not react.
“My name's Vidblain,” said the man to Teemu, and the visor of his helmet slowly rose by itself, revealing his large shiny eyes. “I'll take you to Prince Ringar, he will decide what to do with you.”
“Thank you, sir,” the younger guitarist said. He tried to help Jukka rise on his feet, but the bass guitarist was nearly unconscious. On seeing this, Vidblain sighed and slowly raised his hand, levitating the man.
“Is this Alfheim?” asked Jari, surprised.
“No, it's The Land Beyond, a transfer zone between worlds. But our clan lives here and keeps an eye on it,” Vidblain answered. “One or two Dvergs or humans moving around is not a problem, but, you know, if they start arriving in hundreds, thousands...”
“Who are then the Elf and the Half-Elf you mentioned?”
“The Elf is Teemu, the Half-Elf is you. I may only guess how you found yourselves in the wild human world, but, anyway, you are our brothers. What I see! A vampire bite! Normally they don't drink Half-Elves either, but the one who attacked you must've been too hungry.”
That clearly explained the fact Teemu did not age, as well as his and Jari's extraordinary gift for music.
Vidblain whispered a spell, making Jari fall asleep in seconds, and raised him to the air as well: Teemu's fascinated smile was the last thing the front man saw. And when the lead guitarist opened his eyes, he found himself wrapped into fragrant silky sheets, lying in a vast bedroom with ivory-colored walls. It was already evening, and the light of different colors came from live flowers in the pots and some species of algae in the big crystal jars. The ravens were sitting at the window, cleaning each other's pitch-black feathers with tenderness no one could expect from them.
“That's incredible!” exclaimed Teemu, who was sitting on Jukka's bed (the bass guitarist still seemed unconscious). “While our civilization has been relying on mechanisms, coal and oil, they've been developing biotechnologies and their own brain! And I wouldn't say that's worse! Look! Your bites have almost healed!”
There was something unnatural in his voice.
“So I won't be a vampire?”
“The Elves arrived just on time to give you proper treatment, guys. But Prince Ringar said, if you'd became a vamp, you'd have been extremely strong and dangerous due to the presence of Elven blood.”
“How's Jukka?”
“Still sleeping. He can't recover so fast as we do,” Teemu said with a sigh. “The fever's gone, and Ringar promised he'll be all right when morning comes.”
Despite Jari's marvelous salvation, an inexplicable sadness persisted in his heart. The younger guitarist was speaking to him, but was not with him completely. The fact that he would not approach made Jari feel uncomfortable and even more. It scared him.
“Will you please give me the guitar?” Jari asked and slowly touched the strings, when the guitar was in his arms again. A long sound filled the room that seemed not to have any other furniture but two beds and a big chest by the wall.
“They've invited you to stay with them, haven't they?” Jari heard his own voice tremble, as he was shredding at the upper string.
“They have... The Elven folk is not numerous at all, they urgently need “new blood”. Each one counts,” Teemu said, lowering his eyes and brushing aside his long heavy mane.
"And what did you say, Teemu?.." Jari asked, his voice trembling. He felt that something desperately wrong was going on.
"I promised to return here when we release Kai..." Teemu said hoarsely. "But it was not my desire, Jari. I did it in exchange for your lives that the Elves appreciate so little."
Jari's lips parted, but he lost his voice completely.
"It was Ringar's demand: either I promise to join him and have you cured or I refuse and have you killed."
Jari's heart started beating faster, as it did many years ago, when he saw a shy slender teenager from Tampere shred like a devil. His fingers became icy - as they had been before his very first concert.
"That's nonsense!" he spoke feverishly. "You can break your word and stay with us!.. Look, such conditions are pure violence, you are not obliged to keep up..."
Teemu just shook his head, and Jari saw tears in his eyes.
"Wintersun is my true family. Not them," he gasped. "However, they saved you and Jukka. Ringar will help. He won't give us warriors, cause he doesn't want to mess with Hel, but he promised to provide us with some weapons and transport”, Teemu continued. "The snow wolves."
"You just love it here!" Jari exclaimed. "They are as beautiful as you are, they play curious tricks with matter and energy. I guess, they are immortal, right? Am I right?.."
"Jari, please..." Teemu lowered himself on his knees near the front man's bed, and bitter tears were rushing down his cheeks. "Do you really think I could exchange you and my audience for living among the creatures I don't know at all?.. But I have always kept my promises."
Jari knew the younger man too well, for they had worked together for more than ten years and shared much joy and even more pain. Teemu could not betray his band, because the night before he had killed a living being to defend his friends. He would defend them if even they had changed into the bloodlusty sons of the night. And there was the bitterness in his large black eyes that no man was able to fake.
“You still despise me for what I did?” Jari asked, as if nothing was more important at this moment.
Instead of answering, Teemu sat next to the lead guitarist, kissing his forehead and both his eyes. The next second, they melted into a long desperate embrace. Some time later, Jukka woke up hearing Teemu scream Jari's name.
(to be continued)
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