(AN: All the characters, settings, and original ideas belong to BONES Studios, everything else belongs to me)
"How long has it been?" Renton asked.
"A year and a half maybe?" Eureka replied.
"That's a long time to be away from home…"
"Yeah…"
… and the conversation dropped there.
There wasn't really much to talk about, they were both tired and the low-pitched hum of the truck was putting them to sleep.
"You two doing alright back there?" the driver called, looking at them through his rear-view mirror.
"Yes, thank you!" Renton called back.
Eureka had managed to drift off to sleep leaning on his shoulder. Her wings were folded behind her and hidden.
Looking at her, Renton smiled. In meeting this girl he got much more than he bargained for.
It was "love at first sight"… on his part anyways. He still remembers seeing her for the first time, emerging from an ancient LFO after decimating his room. They went through many ordeals and adventures, some of which were pleasant memories and others that were vicious, trying, humiliating, and some so terrible that they had to be locked away into the deepest darkest corner of the mind, never to come out.
"Bellforest right?" said the driver, interrupting his thoughts.
"Y-yeah" said Renton, a little startled.
"All right, but I can only take you to the edge of the town, you'll have to walk the rest of the way!"
Renton groaned, from the direction they were coming from. His grandfather's house would be, literally, all the way across town.
"We'll be there in two hours so get some shut-eye like your friend!" said the driver.
"Yeah…" said Renton.
"I wonder what grandpa Axel will say when he sees us?" thought Renton before he gave into sleep.
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"Hey kid…" The man said, nudging Renton.
"Hey get up!" The main said, a little louder this time. Renton didn't move.
"HEY KID WAKE UP!!" the man shouted, giving Renton a very hard nudge.
Renton groaned, stirred then groaned again before sitting up. Now fully regretting that he didn't go to sleep earlier, Renton stood up and began to wipe the crust from his eyes.
The driver was an older man, probably in his late 50's with a thick gray mustache and a farmer's cap hiding on his head.
"You can't sleep in the back of my truck forever." said the man.
"Oh umm… sorry…." Renton practically slurred.
"Hey Eureka get up we're…" Renton started, but Eureka wasn't in the truck. This was enough to stir him out of his stupor.
Then looking at the man, a small hint of panic in his eyes, said "Where did she go? Where is she?"
"Oh your friend, she gave no trouble unlike you," then he pointed to somewhere off the road.
Renton's eyes followed the man's finger until they found Eureka, standing in the tall grass, holding her hand high into the air.
"She's a little odd isn't she?" commented the man. Then he began go back into his truck. But before igniting it he leaned his head out the window and called to Renton.
"Hey boy, you never told me your name."
"Oh! Umm…" said Renton, startled by the question "it's Will!" he told the man with the most sincere smile he could muster.
The man saw right through the ruse, "Don't lie to the elderly boy!" he said accusingly. But his face softened into a warm smile.
"I know who you are and I can understand why you're trying to avoid being recognized."
Renton was taken aback. Many thanks to Ray=out and, well, the moon, he and Eureka had, more or less, become famous. They both wanted a peaceful ending to what they had both been through and that would be quite difficult with people constantly clamoring for their attention.
"You don't have to worry I wont tell anyone where you are!" He said with a grin, then pulled his head back in and started the truck.
Renton began to go get Eureka, all the while thinking how they were going to make it through town without being caught. He smiled, all the things he'd gone through and now the only thing preventing him from going home was something as silly as this.
"Hey wait!" called the man again, leaning out his window. "I almost forgot, this might help you!"
Renton turned around and went back to the truck.
"My kids have long since gone for college and left tons of clothes behind. Maybe these will help, I don't need them anymore." The man said, revealing two black hooded-sweaters.
"Thank you very much sir, these will help a lot!" he said gratefully.
"Your welcome and best of luck, I'll just let you know that you two have inspired a world, there's gonna be a Third Summer of Love coming, but this one will actually be made of love."
With that he pulled his he'd back in, made a full U-turn and drove back in the opposite direction from which they came.
Renton stood there, looking at the dust that the truck kicked off as it drove away. He couldn't help but ponder the impacting words left behind by that man.
"Renton." came a soft voice.
He turned to see Eureka approaching him from the grass.
"What is that you have in your hand?" she asked.
"Oh" he said smiling. "A gift from the driver… to help us be less noticeable"
"That was nice of him" she said, finally revealing her wings.
Renton couldn't help but admire. "Eureka, have I ever told you how beautiful you look?"
Eureka blushed. "Yes you have."
"Well" he said "I'm telling you again"
"Thanks" she said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Renton blushed too, it was involuntary. They were still so young.
"Here let's put them on" he said. Helping fit the hoodie onto Eureka before sliding on his own.
"Well let's go" Renton said cheerfully.
Eureka held out her hand, which Renton took, and they both began the long walk home.
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It was getting dark, now the street lamps were beginning to be turned on.
Renton and Eureka walked with arms intertwined and pressed shoulder to shoulder to preserve the warmth.
Winter was over and Spring was starting, but Winter still left behind a few chilly nights to remember him by.
The hoodies had worked. Nobody noticed Eureka or Renton as long as they both kept their hoods up and their heads down.
Both had been silent the whole time, hunger was nipping at their stomachs. The last of their money was spent on the way to Bellforest.
The walk was longer than they had anticipated, and darkness was rapidly descending. Both weak and tired from hunger, they decided to take a break at a bus stop.
There was no one around, no doubt because they were already retiring to their bedrooms.
It was now fully night time, the only light left was being given off by the few stores that stayed open 24/7, the street lamps, and the luminescence of the moon.
Both sitting down on a bench, they huddled close, comforted by each other's presence and body heat.
Finally Eureka broke the silence, "Look Renton, look at our moon." she whispered.
They both looked towards the moon. The moon, which had their names inscribed with a heart shape around it, was shining brilliantly that night, undimmed by the occasional cloud the passed in front of it.
"How do you think the Nirvash is doing?" asked Renton.
"Well, I think… it must be hard to hold the world together on your own. I miss her, when I was all alone she was the only one I could talk to." Eureka said sadly.
"Yeah, I miss her too." Renton said.
Eureka placed her head on Renton's shoulders and closed her eyes. Renton rested his head on hers and did the same.
"Good night Nirvash" they both said quietly.
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"Get up!" said someone. Giving Renton a kick in his ribs.
Renton turned his head to the sound of the voice. "Who…?" He started before getting another kick to the stomach.
"Don't talk just get up!"
Renton, in pain, stood up. He opened his eyes… to find himself staring down the barrel of a pistol.
Renton's eyes went wide as he looked at the weapon pointed at his face. The culprit had a baklava over his head, to prevent Renton from identifying him.
Then a thought ran through his head like lightning. Eureka…
He immediately lunged at the figure before him, hoping to knock him over.
But the gunman stood firm and threw him to the ground. "Don't try anything!"
Renton began to frantically look around for Eureka. He found her. She was standing up, a gun pointed to her head by another accomplice.
"Listen!" said the voice, which brought Renton's attention back to his captor.
"We don't want to kill you, just give us any money you have and this will all be a bad dream."
The voice didn't sound menacing, Renton noticed, it sounded almost… pleading.
"We don't have anything" Renton answered truthfully.
"Don't LIE!" cried the gunman. He got on his knees and, with one hand, began to search Renton.
His accomplice didn't move, he just stood with his gun pointed towards Eureka. Were his eyes playing tricks on him or was the accomplice shorter than her.
The gunman yanked Renton's hood off, hoping to find something hidden in it. But then he stopped… staring at Renton.
Suddenly he stood up and stepped back, stunned. He turned to his accomplice. "Bro take that one's hood off.
The little accomplice obliged and pulled Eureka's hood off. His reaction was the same.
Renton stood up. Each gunman was within an arm's length of their captives. Renton's eyes met Eureka's and they knew what to do.
In a flash both snatched the guns by the hilt out of their captors' hands. Then they turned the guns on their owners.
Both culprits, wide-eyed, immediately got on their knees and put their hands in the air.
There was a long pause. Then the little one burst into tears. "We're sorry! We…we didn't know who you were!"
"But you would have done this to anybody else right!?" Renton shouted angrily.
The bigger one took his baklava off, his face full of guilt. His appearance took Renton by surprise. His assailant was only a few years older than him.
"You don't understand!" He shouted back at Renton.
"What's there to understand?" Renton retorted.
"It's hard… so hard… I'm just trying to feed my little brother!" He cried.
Renton lowered the gun, he felt pity for him.
"If it makes up for it… here" he said, giving Renton a thin roll of paper money. "It's just so hard to get a job when everyone thinks you're a little criminal."
Renton refused the money. He looked the other in his eyes and said "Listen to me… I'm going to give you a piece of advice that helped me out a lot… Don't ask for it, just go out and get it, do that and you'll be rewarded."
There was another pause.
"My name is Luke" the culprit finally said. "and that's my brother, Perry."
Renton clicked the safety on the pistol and unloaded the clip and then the barrel. He then proceeded to disassemble it, much to Luke's amazement.
Eureka didn't bother disassembling hers. She simply emptied it then threw it away.
She held her hand out to Renton and said "Let's go… Renton"
They, hand-in-hand, walked away from Luke and Perry, who were still kneeling.
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It had been a few hours since their encounter with Luke and his brother Perry. The sun had just begun to peep over the horizon, before making his daily rounds above the sky.
The small light of sunrise had illuminated Bellforest, making it seem like a very different town.
They were now able to see what they had missed while walking in the dark.
Bellforest had changed, and for many reasons.
First of all, there were reffers running to and fro. Due to the seven swells phenomenon's effects on the trapper around it, Bellforest became a popular spot to catch some very strong waves.
It was no longer a boring unchanging town, now it was busy, full of hustle and bustle, and the shrieks of laughter as children dashed through the streets.
Being the place of birth of the hero Renton Thurston, Bellforest had its spot on the map.
Eureka and Renton also noted that their names were everywhere, on posters, on T-Shirts, on windows, and on everywhere else you could imagine. Along with their names was the word co-existence.
They were a little embarrassed, to say the least.
"Hey you!" called a voice.
The call startled both Eureka and Renton… surely it wasn't directed towards them…
"YOU!! In the hoods!! Over here!" called the voice again.
They both looked around hoping that they weren't the only ones with hoodies.
They were…
Very slowly and cautiously Eureka and Renton made their way to the source of the voice.
It was a boy in his late teens. He stood there looking at them with a wide and inviting grin. His hair was blond and his eyes blue, kind of like Doggie, but his face was broader and he had a small goatee.
He invited them over with a kindly gesture.
"How would you two like the latest copy of Ray=out!!" said the vendor loudly, he was practically shouting.
"Umm no thanks…" said Renton hastily and proceeded to walk away.
Eureka, however, stayed with her eyes fixated on the cover of Ray=out.
"Who is that?" she asked, pointing to one of the figures on the cover.
Renton hurried back to Eureka's side, wanting to know what she was talking about.
The vendor noticing her feminine voice, loudly exclaimed, "Ah! A couple, well for you two you can have that free!"
Then addressing Eureka, "That's Stoner, head designer of Ray=out!"
Eureka shook her head, "No, who's that next to him?"
The vendor looked closely, "Ah!! That's Maurice, photographer extraordinaire!"
Eureka snatched the magazine and pressed it close to her face.
Renton looked over her shoulder.
Indeed it was Maurice, standing back-to-back with Stoner, each with cameras hanging around their necks. Maurice had grown taller, almost Stoner's height, his hair grew out long and he wore a pair of no-nonsense glasses.
Under their picture it said "THE KEYS TO THE KINDGOM BEING PASSED DOWN!! MAURICE INHERITS RIGHTS TO RAY=OUT!"
Eureka, mouth agape, said to Renton, "He grew up while we were away…"
To Be Continued…
(AN: That's it! Hoped you all liked it! Review please! Comments and Suggestions also appreciated!!)