.~.~.~.~.
Jake walked casually through the entrance to the Valley, walking over the bridge into the first room. Things were quiet, but not ominous like in his dream, which he greatly appreciated. The wind was blowing, but not too strongly (a selkie wisped by, but didn’t say a word), and the river bubbled softly to his left, not one bit the raging torrent he had seen in his dream that morning.
He crossed the small plot of fertile soil, and noted that it, indeed, had been cleared of the many weeds, grasses, herbs, stones, and stumps that had littered it not that long ago. Kyle must have come by here recently, probably this morning. It wasn’t tilled, though, so either he wasn’t interested in tilling it and only wanted the grasses or he was saving it for later, he didn’t know or care.
He came upon the middle of the room, and heard the tell – tale spark of a monster crossing over from the Forest of Beginnings into this world crack directly in front of him. A Goblin jumped out of the blast of green light, standing stationary for a moment before seeing him and launching himself at him.
Jake readied himself, pulling out his claymore quickly. He met the monster’s sword, the metal scraping and sparking against each other with a sharp sound. He pressed forward, parrying the monster’s sword away before slashing through it. The monster cried out shrilly, dropping its sword and falling to its knees. Jake stepped away, watching as it faded back into green light as it passed back into the Forest of Beginnings.
He eyed his sword carefully, looking for knicks, but the edge seemed to be holding itself well. He looked around – the portal the monster came through had to be close if it could sense him.
He saw it on the other side of the area right when there was another spark, directly to his left and so close it set the hair on the back of his neck on end with power.
He reacted quickly, slicing his sword through the monster before it even had a chance to see him. It too cried out, before falling to its knees and fading back into green light.
Jake rushed forward, slashing his sword through the portal a few times before it could summon any more monsters. He wanted to get through this part, the stronger and more worthwhile monsters were further in.
After a few slashes the swirling green portal started to shrink in on itself, before completely disappearing from sight, leaving no trace of ever being there. Jake stood up, sheathing his Claymore. It did well, he was very happy with how it held up against the monsters. He walked south, through a break in the trees, following the river down into the bowels of the Valley. Today was going to be a good, but tiring, day.
.~.~.~.~.
Jake exhaled, wiping his brow with one hand as he tucked his something else into his belt with the others. He was at the end of the dungeon, taking a quick break in the monster-less Bridge to Shrine. It was about three in the afternoon, so he had to start heading back soon – it was going to start getting dark soon, and his father would pitch a fit if he missed dinner, as annoying as it was.
He pulled out his katana, bracing himself for the fight back.
.~.~.~.~.
-- Note to self: change fight to him taking his anger at the thought of Kyle out on the monsters, it’s a little better that way. XD –
Jake took a deep breath, standing up straight as the swirling green portal he had just destroyed shrank into nothing. He gave his katana a quick once over, looking for chips and scratches. It had a few scratches, but other than that it was holding up extraordinarily well as well. He smirked, waving it around absentmindedly as he looked around. He was about halfway back to the beginning of the dungeon, taking his time with the monsters. There weren’t any more in this section of the Valley, so he headed to the next area.
The sun was setting, washing the entire landscape in a reddish hue, which was enhanced even more by the colors of the trees. It was so bright it almost hurt to look, but at the same time was so beautiful. The wind had died down to almost nothing, but it wasn’t eerily still. The river still bubbled softly along beside him, and he was feeling unusually calm. It was nice here. He should come more… often…
What was that? Jake looked around quickly, searching for the source of whatever he heard. It sounded sort of like a cough mixed with a whine…
Not seeing anything, he stood stock still, hoping to hear it again.
Jake looked around, still not seeing anything.
Sssfffht...
There was the sound again, directly in front of him and to his right, blocked by a row of trees. What was making that sound?
He pulled his katana in front of him, walking carefully in the direction of the noise. He parted the foliage carefully, searching through the semi-darkness. The twilight cast everything so deeply orange it was hard to see, but...
There was a form laying in the fallen leaves, hunched in on itself in the fetal position. It was a person.
Jake's eyes widened in panic, his heart beating speeding up. The figure was dressed in blue and white, a mop of red hair tied under a blue and white bandana.
It was Kyle, just like in his dream. The wind gusted, and his nose burned with the smell of his blood, acidic and strong.
Panic ran through him, and Jake walked up to him carefully, watching his surroundings.
"Hey! Human! What's wrong?" He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Kyle just twitched, not moving from his curled up position.
"...J- Jake?" he whispered, eyes finally opening, glossed over with pain. Jake tried to move him so that he was laying on his back, and he obeyed, face scrunching up with pain.
Jake frowned. Kyle had a large gash slashed across his stomach, deep and red, bleeding profusely.
"Gods... What the hell happened to you?" he asked, digging through the small satchel he carried with him, looking for something, anything, to try and cover Kyle's wound and staunch the bleeding.
"I..." he paused, taking a quick gasp of air, "I was looking around for fields here... I heard I could grow fall crops here, and the plot in the first area isn't big enough... I guess it was a bad idea to try and go further in." he chuckled, or at least tried to, having been cut off by the pain it induced.
"Idiot..." Jake snarled, pressing a large amount of gauze into the gash. Kyle gasped and struggled, but Jake held him down. "As far as you know, you have no experience with fighting. What made you think you could handle the monsters in this dungeon?"
"Wishful thinking?" Kyle joked, his small smile quickly changing into a grimace and a cry of pain when Jake pressed harder, the blood seeping through the gauze and coating his hands. It stunk, it stunk so bad it was making him dizzy. He turned his head away in disgust.
"Fucking hell." Jake snarled, glancing back down to Kyle, who was breathing heavily, eyes both watching him and not watching him. "I can't move you like this. I'm going to have to go get help.”
"I can't move ya like this. I have to go get help." Jake sighed, aggravated. Not only was this human annoying, but careless, too, and now he had to play hero!
"O- oh, okay..." Kyle said quietly, his breathing still heavy. "I'll be here..."
Jake snorted at his poor attempt at humor, standing up and rushing out of the trees. The human's blood was on his hands. It reeked, oh how it reeked.
It would reek even more if he died...if he died because he couldn't get to Natalie in time…
Jake ran through the forest, sprinting past monsters and portals, nearly jumping over the bridge in one bound. He took the sharp turn down towards the North Square, cutting through the de Sainte - Coquille Park into the East End of town, where the Alvarna Clinic was.
He opened the door with more force than was strictly necessary, and Ray snapped his head up from inside, where he was standing at the desk leafing through some papers.
"Jake? What-"
"Where's your mother?" he asked quickly, walking towards the infirmary where she normally worked.
"Right here." She said, popping her head out the door. "Is something wrong?" she raised an eyebrow at Jake, spotting the blood on his hands. "Are you hurt?"
"No." He said quickly. "The new kid is. Found 'im in the Valley. Come with me."
He turned around quickly, stalking out the door. Natalie rushed back into the infirmary, quickly grabbing a first aid kit and running back out.
"Ray, get the stretcher. If Jake didn't bring him with him, he must have had trouble moving him." Natalie ordered, rushing after Jake. Ray did what he was told, carrying the large unwieldy thing out the door.
.~.~.~.~.
Author’s Note: At this point I had an I hate my life moment. Oh, woe is an author submitting herself to National Novel Writing Month. *posts in the I Hate Myself And Want To Die thread on the NaNo forums*
.~.~.~.~.
Jake led Natalie and Ray to where Kyle was quickly, the three of them somehow managing to dodge all the monsters that threatened their quickness. They passed through the Valley, finally reaching where Kyle lay, not having moved from the position Jake hand left him. The gauze he had laid across his stomach was completely tainted with his blood, not a single speck of white was still visible. It staunched and dyed his clothes, running in ribbons down his sides, smeared on his sleeves and arms from when he was curled up on himself.
“Oh my…” Natalie said quietly, kneeling beside him, opening her first aid kit with a quick flourish. Jake backed off so Ray could get to the other side of him, and then went even further, just outside the break in trees.
He was worried. Why was he worried? Why did he care? His heart… was beating so frantically. This was just some stupid human, one he didn’t know at all, nor care to know. What did he care that he died? Why did he even feel the urge to help him in the first place? He didn’t – doesn’t – like humans.
Kyle cried out as he was lifted by Natalie so that Ray could push the stretcher underneath him. Jake cringed visibly, such an anguished cry made it feel like needles were flowing through his veins.
Why did he feel such a pull towards this human? The only thing he wanted was to rush up to him and hold him, make the pain stop. What was this urge? Why did seeing him in pain hurt him so much?
What was this?
What was this feeling?
“Jake. Can you lead the way?” Natalie huffed, breathless. She watched him carefully, an eyebrow arched. Jake quickly schooled his expression – and wondered for a moment what it might have looked like when she looked at him – and nodded, pulling his katana back out again.
Hopefully Kyle would be okay. But why did he care so much?
.~.~.~.~.
Jake led them as far as the door to the Alvarna Clinic. He didn’t allow himself any farther. Kyle’s blood was still on the doorknob.
The trip had caused quite the commotion, in such a small town it was nearly impossible to miss three people carrying someone on a stretcher. Jake didn’t want any part of it. He didn’t want to be asked questions or be drilled for information. He wanted none of this.
He didn’t want this feeling of panic, of terror. He was afraid. Frightened. Terrified that Kyle would die. Why? Suddenly, that human meant something to him. He wanted to figure out why.
He turned around and walked off, even as Mana called out to him from the door of the Pumpkin General Store. She asked him to wait. He did not care, and did not wait.
Why?
.~.~.~.~.
What was happening to him? What was it about Kyle that made him different? Why was he different? He was just a human. Just like all the others in town, he wasn't any different...
Or was he? He had the strangest feeling when he met him, like he wasn't just a being walking on the Earth, like all the other humans seemed to be. He was the earth, was a part of the land, a connection Jake had never seen in anyone except those of his kind. Except in people like him, who were of the race closest to the gods, he had never felt that sense of belonging. It was so strange.
Was that it? Was that strange, small connection between the two of them all he needed to start caring? He, Jake, who Max took great pleasure in describing as a cold hearted bastard? He didn't care about anyone but himself, and maybe his father and Cecilia.
Or was it something else?
He groaned, rubbing his face in anguish, sprawled on top of his bed, his weapons scattered across the floor in a messy line. Cecilia had almost had a cow when she saw Jake walk in, his hands bloody and he himself looking a little haggard. It took several minutes and the washing of his hands to prove to her that the blood wasn't his, and to calm her down enough so that he could tell her it was Kyle's. She had freaked out at first, thinking that he had attacked Kyle (which he was greatly offended by, he did not attack worthless humans), but he managed to assure her he had done no such thing and that Kyle was at the clinic. She had already rushed out in a flurry. The Ruby was still on the dining room table.
He did not know. He honestly, truely, did not know why he cared. Or why he cared about why he cared. Why was he putting so much thought in it anyway?
He had suddenly grown a heart for this human. And only this human, for reasons unbeknownst to him. What the hell.
He would just have to stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about it and see what happens.
Oh, and avoid Kyle at all costs. Yes, that sounded like a nice idea.
. ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .
Author's Note: I AM ENDING THE CHAPTER because I fail and can't seem to make myself make the timeskip without it. Plus, this chapter is INSANELY long and makes me cry with how much it rambles and fails in general. But this is National Novel Writing Month (see how I write it out completely every single time? Author's Notes are adding to my wordcount, woo hoo!) so rambling is nice. Oh, and I don't know what I want to do directly after this, and I stupidly unpaused Write or Die. I can only pause it once, and I have another... 650 or so words until I hit the goal and can quit. YAYAYAYAYAYAY I AM SMRT.
I might just skip ahead to the kissing, because I REALLY want to write that scene, and just read an AMAZING original fiction yaoi smut lime thing that made me sad because I didn't get my pronz and so incredibly happy because it was AMAZING and AWESOME and HOT and SEXY. 8D~
...I just sneezed all over the computer screen. XD Wooo, that made me dizzy... can you tell I'm just doing this for words? HEHEHE SO EBIL *shot*
.~ .~ .~ .~.
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