Dark Knight's Heir - Chapter five

[mangacat201]

Dark Knight's Heir

Author: Mangacat

Pairing: Jared/Jensen, others

Rating: R - NC-17

Parts: 1/20+

Word Count: 2800/60+

Disclaimer: I totally wanna own them... cough sadly that's not possible, nor is getting paid for this. I'll have fun and they're not going to get hurt … much. Promise.

Warnings: Erm, m/m sex, violence, language, gore (i.e. epic battle of the good against the bad), het sex (OMG), character death (minor).

Summary: Jared Padalecki lives a Joe Average life with his fiancee... until a handsome stranger with an unbelievable story and a mysterious tale of destiny breaks the peace to safe his life.

 
Masterpost

A/N: I know not much happening in this chap either… but I promise, there will be new guys, more cast pics, the official cast post and more action soon!!

This yummy tatooed Jay for you as an appetizer, eheehhh have fun with the new chapter!!

For the first time, Jared pondered what he had seen in the last few hours in the stillness of his own mind. Relentlessly, he followed Jensen down to the very bottom of the world – or so it seemed. Actually that was what he questioned first. Not that he had any choice but to follow the other man NOW, because the twists and turns had only become more frequent and complicated, sometimes including whole sets of stairs that branched to different levels halfway down. But he had given himself up to follow the lead of the other man without questioning his intentions once. Sure, Jensen had saved his life, (repeatedly,) and he might have explained some of his reasons along the way, but in hindsight that didn’t mean anything when he didn’t know a single scrap about the man.

Jared swept his eyes over the agile, lean figure in front of him.  Jensen was almost swallowed by the shadows flickering around the torchlight, and Jared asked himself what made him trust this man,, because trust it was that had led him here, a feeling that ran far deeper than a fight or a moment of locked gazes. There was a strange familiarity he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It wasn’t anything Jensen said or did, not in his gestures or facial expressions, not in his appearance. It ran deeper - a feeling just below his skin, like they had met before, and somehow their auras had touched and left a mark for the other to recognize.

He was also wondering exactly how he’d actually found words on magical theory thrown together in his head, when he’d never even touched one of those esoteric books you found lying around in the highly scented and sparsely frequented section of new age book shops. Oh he knew his fair share about all that new age stuff and monster stories and all that jazz. There was no way to escape it really, when there were all those TV shows with guys going after the evil of the world and so on.

The skin on his arms tingled, and he got the strange feeling that something was flowing beneath the dark ink; it made him uneasy and exhilarated in a way he hadn’t been in a long time. He wanted to touch the marks, to explore them, see where they led, and if the skin was really sealed as if they had been there for weeks or even months.

The more he thought about it, the more he wondered why he hadn’t actually had a really huge-ass freak out yet. Anyone would surely agree that he was entitled to one. This was a story that happened… well in stories only, after all. Only it didn’t feel like a dream or anything else but real. It felt like life, maybe more so than he had ever felt it. He began to realize that this might be what a person would feel if they had been deprived of one of their senses for a long time and suddenly got it back without warning. It was as if his ears had picked up the first sound since forever, and the more he thought about it, the more his mind felt like the confines of his skull weren’t enough to keep it all together. Quite frankly it was making his head ache. So instead of concentrating on himself, he tried concentrating on his companion again.

Jensen didn’t seem like one for a lot of talk, or at least, he didn’t offer to come forward with more explanations about either his person or his cause. But his stance was undeniably that of a warrior, someone proud and sure of their capability. He also seemed to be comfortable around here, even if it was an environment that didn’t exactly cater to human habitation. His strides were long and purposeful. On the other hand, Jared noticed first that through the calm exterior and the sometime stony façade there shone youth, and that clued him in to the fact that even if this man had the presence of an accomplished fighter – leader even – he couldn’t be much older than Jared himself.  He was surely not in his thirties yet. Jared wondered how he’d got into this life. If he had any family out there, someone waiting for him wherever they were going, and if he even thought he was really fighting the good fight no matter how futile it might seem. If he maybe, just maybe, was…

Jared tried to glance at him without being obvious enough to be called out for staring. He took in the handsome, appealing features, spotting a scar that ran down from under his right ear to vanish into the hairline - a very thin, almost invisible trace of formerly broken skin. He wondered at the story of that wound. Was it old? Did he get it in a fight or maybe an accident? Jared wanted to ask, but somehow he couldn’t get up the courage to ask something possibly as personal as this… instead what came out of his mouth was, “How long till we’re there?”

Jensen turned and gave him a look that made Jared cower and cringe at his own too talkative mouth. His mouth seemed to contradict all his philosophic background thoughts in the most tremendously stupid way imaginable. He waved his hand dismissively and proceeded to trudge on, starring into the upcoming blackness without expecting any comment whatsoever.

Which is why he was surprised when he actually got a polite and informative response.

“About ten minutes I’d say and a couple more turns.”

Jared decided that he’d demonstrated enough of his own foolishness for one day, so he thought it best to remain silent for the rest of the way. Jensen didn’t seem to mind. He strode on with a clear purpose that belied any suspicion Jared might have had concerning not knowing his way around this labyrinth, but he looked oddly far away. It was as if something was on his mind that he could quite figure out. Jared was well aware of the little glances from under the lashes he kept on getting from the other man, when he thought himself unobserved. He felt like Jensen wanted to reassure himself that he was still there, that he was really there, and he suspected there was still a lot more to the story than he’d been let in on. He began to get annoyed about it. It was one thing to get slapped with a name, a few life threatening situations and a lot of cryptic talk, but he wasn’t going to stand around and let these people push him where they wanted him without demanding answers. But before he could make up his mind about how to get there, a hand on his chest stopped him dead in his tracks. He looked down at the fingers splayed out over his shirt, soaking warmth and somehow comfort into his skin. Then Jensen took his hand away and looked at him with a contemplative gaze, inclining his head towards the wall Jared would have run into head-on if Jensen hadn’t held him back. Only on second glance did Jared actually recognize that there was a door carved into the smooth stone.

There was no handle or crack really, just intricate carvings that shimmered in the light of the blue flames. The patterns were woven together in a way that made it impossible to figure out where those lines began, or where they ended. It was altogether one elaborate circle. Jensen put his finger onto one line of the outer part and started to draw along the grooves, taking turns and twists in a seemingly random pattern that surely meant something more than Jared would have guessed. The lines lit up for maybe four or five inches as Jensen’s finger passed them, the blue stripe fading to naked stone again after that. Jared tried to follow the path with his eyes as Jensen wandered from the right side to the left and circled the center, coming closer to the middle as he went. When he reached the innermost part of the pattern, the lines stayed lit suddenly and formed an eye in the stone that blinked once, a grinding sound in its wake as it moved.

Jared nearly jumped out of his skin when it swivelled slowly to fix on him, the eerie glow making it shine bright in the dimming light of the torches. After a couple of seconds, it blinked slowly, and when it opened again, the pupil was a dark hole. Jensen swept forward and whispered some words into it that Jared couldn’t make out, and a gravely voice answered. The other man seemed satisfied and straightened again. He took his hand away from the stone, and all of a sudden the light spread out through the lines from the centre to the outer parts, forming the graceful arch of a doorway as, with a crunch, the stone moved to open, letting a sliver of firelight show from behind. Jensen grabbed Jared’s arm and led him through. In the very moment they passed the threshold and stood inside the doors, a deep rasping noise sounded, topped off with powerful thump. Jared knew that the door was closed and sealed behind him, there was no way back now.

The corridor he saw in front of him was actually not that different from what he had encountered all the way down. The walls consisted of the same dark brown brick, and the torches just went on the same way they had outside. Still it felt... lived in maybe. The air was not as stale and mouldy and the light somehow seemed more inviting than outside where the blue flames had only the sole purpose of leading someone through otherwise total darkness. Jared wondered what it was that made him feel at ease here, and then he noticed that it wasn't actually the surroundings but Jensen's lack of strung-out tension. His stride was still as confident and calm as on the whole way down here, but there was a definite air of comfort around him that made Jared breath easier too. He looked around as he felt a sudden tingle all over his skin, not uncomfortable or even all that noticeable, but rather like walking through a veil of feathers raining down. He caught Jensen watching him, looking for a sign from the other man to start explaining, but he looked more surprised than helpful just then, though the surprise was quickly covered up by a blank gaze.

When they'd reached the second set of doors at the end of the tunnel, Jensen paused for a moment with one hand on the age-withered wood and turned to Jared:

"This is your first social call with the motley crew, but we're pretty good at taking in strays, so you won't get too much hardship from anyone. You should be aware that there are many people living in here, but only some of them are part of the inner circle you're going to work closely with. Still, most of them will get to know who you are eventually and are bound to have some... preconceived notions of your person."

Jared looked at him a bit dumbfounded and then drew himself up to his full height.

"Well, all right, but I'm not Harry Potter you know? I'm a big boy, and I'll live. No need to get out all the big words."

Jensen angled his head to the side and frowned a little.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. And keep in mind that there also might be people who are, well not exactly people, so don't freak out on me all right? I've got to report what happened up there, and it might take a while to get you settled in. I don't know when we'll get to explain everything in detail, but you're going to get your answers, OK?"

Jared huffed and nodded, he still wasn't quite keen to believe all that bullshit about his family, but Jensen sounded like he would be able to come up with some pretty hard proof. Either way, he waited for the other man to push open the heavy wooden doors and let orange light flicker through as they made their entrance.

Jared looked down upon a big room that seemed a bit like a mine from the ledge they'd stepped out onto. A set of crude stone steps led down to what might be dubbed the first floor. It was a huge area littered with roaring fireplaces and charcoal black stoves that emanated heat, light and smoke, the latter of which went out through some chimneys and air vents that could only lead to other tunnels as far down as they were. Different stone stairs went up to similar ledges than the one they were standing on, some corridors went off from ground level, and the place was bustling with life. From their position, it looked like an energetic bee hive, but all in all there was a lot of people, all milling around with a unidentifiable purpose in mind. But while many of the folk down there looked like they could also have been travelling the busy streets of the city right now, (with maybe a concession to some very eccentric street outfits like carrying gauzy butterfly's wings on your back.) there were a lot of figures that definitely would have drawn as much attention in a precinct as a screeching canary in a coal mine. Some looked like they had set up shop for a certain profession; others seemed to have everything and anything. Jensen let him have a look over the place before he nudged him to go down the stairs.

"This is the Marketplace. It's one of the most secure places in Undertown, and it's the closest you get to neutral territory that isn't exactly dubbed as such. Many live and trade around here that wouldn't originally mingle, but the truce holds with mutual consideration, so don't go and get into a fight around here. Also, you won't find most of the nastier fellows around here, so there’s no danger regarding the guys that are out for your ass right now, they all live topside, and they don't know how to get in here because of the wards, so you're relatively safe out here.”

He led Jared down through the mass of people, weaving through the stalls and tables with the same practised ease he had shown in the empty tunnels. They turned quite a few heads, but Jared had the feeling that those looks were aimed at Jensen much more than himself. The other man in turn nodded to several people they passed on their way to the other end of the big cavern. He went for an inconspicuous little entrance, a doorway seemingly carved directly into the stone, wide enough for one man to go through at a time, and went up the winding stairs that spiralled up behind it. They left the noise and hectic activity behind pretty fast and followed the winding staircase up so many steps that Jared felt a bit out of breath despite his good condition. He felt another tingle wash over him, more insistent and noticeable then the first one, tied to much stronger wards as his brain supplied helpfully, appearing from somewhere in the back of his mind as if random facts about things as wards were actually supposed to pop up in his head any given time. Nevertheless he followed Jensen up the stairs while the other man held his head high as if he was looking for something on the walls. Suddenly Jensen's hand shot out behind him to grasp a handful of Jared's coat without looking back, and he spun around to the right on one of the steps, heading directly into the wall. Jared was too surprised by the move to object, let alone stop Jensen, so he could only close his eyes and anticipate a very hard hit.

 
Chapter six