Faster and faster their feet ran, their sweaty palms clasped as they tumbled over weeds and roots, heading deeper and deeper into the dark, never ending forest.
"F-Faster!" A breathless voice grasped, tugging the hand behind him, urging the figure to speed up.
"I-I'm trying!" a girl gasped, her dark brown hair flying past her shoulders, her bright blue eyes alight with worry.
Baby blue tresses sway into the boy's sight, sticking to the light sheen of sweat already appearing on his forehead. He keeps running despite the burning of his muscles and he keeps his hand grasped around her's, yellow-green eyes determined to get them to some sort of haven.
Voices yell at them to halt and boots stomp the ground behind them, slowly losing the gain that they had had. Beams of light break through the darkness in the attempt to keep the two in their pursuers sights. He glances over his shoulder, knowing she must be getting tired too, "D-Don't let go of my h-hand."
She nodded quickly, her heart pounding frantically against her chest as her gold messenger bag thunked against her side. She stumbled, her flipflops catching against an uprooted branch. With a small cry, she stumbled forward, quickly gaining her balance and continuing to sprint, her lungs burning, her muscles tightening. She never let go of Haru's hand, fear settling in.
Here and there a stream of moonlight manages to break through the canopy, the still of the stormy night giving a foreboding note of more rain. Skidding to a halt, he takes a turn in another direction, the soles of his shoes sliding on the still-wet mud. He pulls her with him, spotting their next hiding place until the grunts give up.
He drops down to the ground, pressing his back against a tree as he scrunches up behind the many bushes. With their hands still linked he pulls her with him, letting her land in his lap as he holds her against his chest. He leans his head back, trying to catch his breath as the sound of demands break the tense air, directing the attention away from where they're hiding.
With small, shallow pants, Cyprien pushes her own deep brown hair out of her eyes, strands of blue catching against the light as she licked her dry and chapped lips, breathing deeply. "W-What was that?" She gasped in astonishment, grabbing at her shirt over her heart. She did not let it past her, the feeling of safety and comfort that Haru's arms around her waist brought her. Even if they had only met that morning.
Haru lets a small scowl cross his lips at the thought of those people. "Grunts trying to take us back to their 'Master'." His features soften greatly as he lifts his head back up, eyes locking with Cyprien's. With his already flushed cheeks from running, the slight blush doesn't get the chance to break through from the note of their position. "A-Are you okay?"
She ducked her head, nodding and tucking her wavy hair behind her pierced ear, untangling the others pale hands from around her waist and moving out of Haru's lap, sitting on the ground in front of him, her legs crossing under her body and her gold messenger bag being un-slung from her neck. "Ok, accounting for our situation." She chuckled lightly, eyes peaking through her bangs to glance at the other. "You?"
Running his fingers up through the bangs falling over his face, he gives a slight nod. "Yeah, I'm fine." Haru sits up, shrugging off the baggy, brown jacket that had begun to droop off his shoulders. After draping it over his lap, his fingertips reach up to toy with the single water drop earring; pure habit. As he does, his white shirt sleeve retracts up his arm, showing half of an image melded with his skin; several small blue orbs appearing to wind around a slightly larger blue orb. The whole image takes up the small area on the side of his shoulder, nothing more. "So, you're not from around here are you?"
Her fingers twitched, clasping in her lap as she resisted the urge to reach out and graze her fingers over the tempting image. Haru was a sight that would forever be engraved into her bright blue eyes. "N-No," she chuckled, smiling brightly. "Never really 'emember where I'm from, I can tell you that." She mumbled, her accent slipping past her lips by a slip of habit. She tucked some hair behind her ears, revealing a few white lines peaking out from the edge of her white jacket. "Are you?"
As his eyes fell back onto Cyprien, he couldn't dare to remove them. A small smile picks up the corners of his lips at the accent hinting in her soothing voice. It calmed his nerves just as much as it set them out of control. Not so much looking in the direction, he points from where they had run from. "Mhmm, right up there on the rim of the forest. But those guys probably have it under close watch, if they're not ransacking it." A soft sigh drifts over his lips, mind drifting back to the situation at hand. He peeks through the bushes, fingers brushing back a leafy branch. "I don't see any sign of them though. We should get moving before it rains again, don't want you catching a cold." He says absentmindedly, rolling up into a crouch as he tries to see through the thick darkness.
She chuckled absentmindedly. "Don't have to worry about that, now do you?.." She mumbled lowly, more to herself than the person in front of her. She stood, dusting off her legs and adjusting her shoes before slipping a band from her wrist to tie her hair up, sighing in agitation as strands slipped loose to fall in front of her face. "Well, where do you suppose we.. oh."
He was to his feet before he knew exactly what he was doing. He takes the small band from her fingers and reaches around her, standing up straighter to reach each of the strands to be pulled back into place. With one last loop around the bundled, chestnut locks, Haru takes a step back with a sudden realization of what he did. A slight blush dusts over his cheeks as he turns around, trying to think of where to go at the same time of attempting to hide the color on his cheeks. "We should probably stay one step ahead of them and head to the next town over. As long as one of us is safe, then their plan can't go through. Unless...you think we should split up."
She ducked her head, touching her own cheeks lightly to feel them warm with a small blush. "O-Ok.. oh.. um.." She stood up straighter, swallowing past the lump in her throat and the pounding of her heart. She stuck her hand out, a few silver rings glinting in the pale, summer sun. "We never introduced ourselves. My name 's Cyprien Lavallee. And you are?" She tilted her head curiously.
"Oh...right." he mumbles as he turns back around, lightly shaking her hand. "Haru Kurai." His grip on her hand lingers an extra pause before he pulls it away, stuffing it into his pocket. Taking a step forward, Haru glances over his shoulder, his shy tendencies slowly ebbing back into place, "You know why they're after you Cyprien?"
She shook her head, following after him with a light step, sticking to his side. Cyprien was only a few inches shorter than Haru, coming to about his nose to her forehead. "No.." she glanced up at him, her blue eyes swimming with emotion. "Why?"
Continuing forward, Haru slows his pace. "Those people are Team Rocket. They're after the legends; who are now bonded with humans like..well. There's always a way to tell if you've become bonded with a legend. After you've taken on their 'spirit', a mark will form on your body." He comes to a complete stop, a case of nerves being fought down as he places his jacket on a bush. Taking a deep breath, Haru reaches around his waist as he turns his back to her, fingers curling into the cotton shirt as he pulls it up just to his shoulders and holding it there.
Wrapping away from the azure mark on his shoulder; the small circles stretch to his back, performing small loops over his shoulder blade to end at the center of his back, which is where an opaque crimson diamond shaped mark rests on milky skin. "I'm one of them. Bonded with Phione. I've been hiding away here for a couple months." Having never shown anyone but his mother, Haru quickly lets the material conceal the mark as he picks up his jacket, back still to Cyprien. "Are you bonded?"
She gasped, hand outstretched as if to touch the spiraling mark against Haru's pale skin. As the other turns around, she blushes and drops her hand, fiddling with her rings for a moment before nodding and tilting her head to the right, lifting a hand to pull down her white shrug jacket, revealing a pale, smooth shoulder. Against her shoulder were spirals and deep, striking lines of the purest white, hidden and outlined by shocking shades of blue. Cyprien turned around, lifting her hair to reveal the white mark fading off her shoulder to small waves of blue dancing down her spine and past the hem of her black, strapless summer dress. "Bonded with Lugia." She murmured softly, dropping the edge of her ponytail back down to dance against her spine. A blush was pushing against her cheeks.
"It's a beautiful mark though." Smiling softly, Haru goes to pick their pace back up into a walk, fingers gripping the jacket draped over his arm while his eyes drift around them to scour for any further sign of their trackers. As he looks through the darkness, he realizes that now that they've been located and proven alive...there will be no rest for them. Trying to stay positive, he beats the thought of their inevitable fate out of his mind, not wanting to even consider the possibility of being captured...and having the legend...extracted from them. "It'll be hard to stay away from them and I don't plan on being taken to their headquarters. Do you still want to be traveling partners?"
Cyprien laughed warmly, shooting a fist in the air. "Hell yeah!" Her eyes took in the forest with an curious, child-like wonder, her fingers itching to reach inside her bag and grab her notebook. Oh what she wouldn't give to sit down for a few hours and just write.. She looked up from her feet, jumping over a few rocks, and gazing at Haru's back. His tattoo was intriguing, but what made her heart pound was the warmth and security she felt as he held her in his lap, the sense of wonder she got when looking into his eyes that even the most thrilling, heart stopping romances couldn't bring her. She worried her lip between her teeth. Oh she hoped she wouldn't mess anything up.
Coming to the edge of the forest, Haru pushes the branches of a flimsy tree aside, holding them back and gesturing for Cyprien to walk through. Stretched before them is a large area of tall, overgrown grass. Crickets chirp happily as the frogs and toads amongst the grass cry for more rain to pour down. Sitting in the middle of the unruly lawn is a dilapidated house, appearing as though it's only held up by gum and paperclips. Feeling like an adventurous little kid, Haru nods toward the structure, a chuckle slipping past his lips. "I know it doesn't look that great. But we could stay there for the night at least and get moving in the morning. What do you think?"
She giggled, grabbing her bag so it doesn't slap against her leg, and rushing forward, her feet carrying her to the house with a small spin and a wild, childish smile. "I love it!" Cyprien spun, smiling up at Haru with bright blue eyes, glinting against the summer sun. "Is this house yours?"
Haru smiles down at her, turning away as the question resonates in his mind like an echo. "It use to be." comes his hollow reply as he grabs the doorknob, lifting up on the whole door to open it wide. As he takes a couple steps in he lets his eyes trail over everything; the torn black couch in the middle of the room, the frayed rug, scoffed wooden floors, and light green walls stained with the past. Haru strides over to the couch, plopping down and sending a light spray dust into the air. Staring at the walls, he glances at Cyprien from the corner of his eye, "How long have you been bonded?"
She closed her mouth, tucking away her questions as she moved to sit next to the other, her bag set on the floor as she gazed around. "Two years," comes the simple answer, laden with hidden meanings as she chewed at her lip. Cyprien blinked up at him. "What happened? Here I mean?" She mumbled before a second thought crossed her mind.
His countenance shifts into one with an empty appearance, almost sorrowful. "Same thing that happens with all bonded." Haru leans back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "After I was bonded a year ago, Team Rocket was at our doorstep in a matter of days. Since my dad was always away on business and taking care of healing centers, I stayed with my mom. She believed me when I told her, so when they came to get me, we had a plan. While they searched the house and made a mess of it, we went off to the next town Dad would be working in. I didn't want to put her in danger so I left her the second we got to town." He swallows past the lump in his throat. "A few months back I decided to come back here, figuring that they wouldn't look in the same place twice."
Laughing lightly, he flashes her a weak smile. "The typical sad background. But that's what happens I guess. Anyways, I can show you to the rooms if you want to go ahead and settle down for the night." Haru stands up, stretching a little as he walks across the room.
A hand quickly grabbed at his wrist, tugging him to a stop. She stands shakily, head kept down as she swallowed loudly. Apprehensively, Cyprien swallows again, walking forward and wrapping her arms around Haru's shoulders, her arms slipping down to hang around his waist as she hugged him tightly, her head resting against his broad chest. "I'm sorry, about everything.. really." Her whispers were soft, fluttering against his shirt as her eyes drifted close, a tear leaking past her cheek. Damn her for getting emotional. But with him.. she couldn't help it.
The shock melts away as he wraps his arms around her, returning the hug in full. After a moment, he lifts his hands to rest on her shoulders, pushing her only a little ways back. He'd always stayed to himself his whole life, never really being showed such...kindness or emotion. Leaning his head down, Haru lightly presses his lips to her cheek. As he pulls away, he wraps his arms around her again, wanting to never let go of the warmth of heart she gives him. "Thank you," he murmurs into her ear, those two words barely enough.
Cyprien blushed, nodding her head. "Thank you, as well." She rubbed her neck, stepping around him to pick her bag up. "F-For saving me and all.. yeah." She swallowed, nodding to herself before turning to Haru and giving him a soft smile. "Now, I heard something about a bed? I'm exhausted." She laughed softly, slipping her shoes off next to the couch and wiggling her blue-painted toes.
Laughing lightly, more to try and shake the blush from his cheeks than anything, Haru walks toward a hall leading to the back of the house. "I'm not surprised. Follow me and I'll show you to one of them. I'm sure you want your privacy." Not looking back to see if she follows, he tries to subdue the blush on his way to the door directly ahead. Haru opens it and lets his swing open wide enough for eyes to see in. The sheets on the bed are tousled and hanging off the edge of the bed. Books from the bookshelf on the side of the room are strewn across the floor, one even propping open another door inside that leads to a bathroom. "You can stay in this one." Gesturing to the door they had passed, diagonal from this one, he flashes half a smile. "I'll stay in the other one. All the plumbing and electricity still works thankfully. So, make yourself at home."
She nodded, smiling at the comfortable air the room gives off. "Never were neat, were you?" She laughed warmly, walking in and placing her bag on the bed, sighing in peace as sun from the window gently warms her skin. "Thank you." She walks over, pecking his cheek quickly before shooing him out of the room and shutting the door, leaning against it. No point in letting him see her blush. They barely knew each other! Cyprien giggled happily, the sound almost contagious.
He stands staring at the thick, wood door with a blush raging across his cheeks and down his neck into the collar of his shirt. The lingering feeling of her lips on his cheek tingles as he grazes the pads of his fingers over the flushed skin. Haru shakes his head sharply, feeling ridiculous for letting feelings begin to stir after only mere moments of meeting her. He strides into his parents room, quietly shutting the door as he ambled over to collapse back onto the mattress. His heart fluttered in his chest, but he ignores it as he rolls over onto his side, already drifting into the clutches of sleep as lightning cracks through the sky outside, the thunder shaking the house.
As the moon sits high in the sky, rain pelting down against the house, lightning cracking and thunder booming enough to shake the poor shelter, a knock resounds on the door, almost quiet compared to the noises blaring outside. After a pregnant pause, the old wooden door creaks open, a voice shakily murmuring. "H-Haru?"
A groan pushes past dry lips as Haru rolls over, tugging the sheet back over his legs. Registering the figure silhouetted at the door, he cracks an eye open through the strands falling over his face. "Everything okay Cyprien?" he asks, just as another clap of thunder reverberates through the house.
A small squeak leaves her lips as she ducks her head, her dark brown bangs falling over her luminescent blue eyes. She was dressed in a baggy black shirt, and a pair of black and pink pajama bottoms, the left leg torn, shortened to be the length of a pair of shorts. "I-I.. u-um.. Nightmares and.. t-thunder a-and.." She closes her eyes to block the slight glow, ducking her head as she stuttered dumbly. "W-with you a-and.. .." she paused, licking her lips. "Y-Yeah.."
Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, Haru pats the other side of the bed, scooting over to give enough room. "Yeah...no problem. Come on over." Even partly out of sleep, Haru rolls over, his back to where she'll be laying in hopes of not coming off as most guys who would try to get there arms around the girl. Not that he's awake enough for planning something like that out. As he settles back into a comfortable position, he shivers as the chill of the air hits his bare skin, since he merely dons a pair of pants that he'd dug out of the closet.
She shuffles over, dragging the duvet against her legs from the other bed and curling up on the side of the slightly small bed, her forehead and clasped hands pressed against Haru's warm back as she moves the duvet over them both. "T-Thank you.." She mumbles softly, almost not heard over the roaring of the thunder. Her eyes drift closed.
As sunlight peaks through what remains of the storm clouds, the rays beam down to flash over puddles and thriving plant life. Haru licks at his lips as a yawn tries to break free, his efforts in holding it back not succeeding. He always did seem to sleep better than normal when it rained, or poured. Bringing up a hand to rub at his eyes, he opens one, seeing a head of brown and a peacefully sleeping face. Memory not yet jogging from the prior night - morning - Haru rolls over to sling his legs over the bed, only for them to get tangled. Not realizing he was still close to the edge, he rolls right off the side, taking the blankets and all with him. How he cursed being clumsy.
Cyprien sat up quickly, eyes wide with a shocking tone of blue. "H-Haru?" She lifts a hand, trying to stifle her laughter, her tone still slightly exhausted as she reached down, holding a hand out of grasping the others, pulling him back onto the bed. "Do you a-always.." she giggled. "Wake up so early, and so.." she bit her lip, giggles bubbling past as she laid back down, running a hand through her hair. "Eloquently?"
Rubbing the back of his neck, Haru tries to force down his embarrassment, looking away and towards the dresser sitting to the far side of the room. "Y-Yeah well...I didn't know I'd wake up to such a pretty girl sleeping next to me. Y-You surprised me is all." He moves to sit on the edge of the bed, yanking up the sheets and letting them drape back over the bed. "You can um, go back to sleep if you want. It is kinda early."
She blushed, smiling and nodding, allowing herself to lay back down, trying her hardest not to admire the way the muscles flexed against Haru's stomach that had even her teenage fantasies going through the roof. Cyprien lifted a hand, tugging Haru down by his shoulder. "You too." She laughed softly at his shocked expression as the fabric blinds fluttered shut, darkening the room for a few seconds as warm summer wind fluttered around the room. "I can only imagine it being around five, maybe six in the morning."
He met her blush with his own, letting himself lay down as well, eyes locked onto hers. His throat constricted, a lump forming as his eyes swept over the gentle curve of her jaw and the soft skin of her neck. Before he thought he'd be caught staring, Haru closes his eyes, reaching down and pulling the cover over them. He smiles lightly, giving the impression that he's going back to sleep as the words tumble from his lips before he can think twice. "You should laugh more often, it's a beautiful sound."
A blushed burned against her cheeks, her heart jumping in her chest as she curled up under the blankets. "T-Thanks. S-Should say the same about you not wea-wearing a shirt, eh?" She chuckled embarrassedly, hitting herself upside the head mentally as she closed her eyes and relaxed her body, her breathing evening out.
Not able to help it, he laughs, rolling over onto his back. "I burn easy. I'd look like a lobster by the end of the day." Smiling over at her, he closes his eyes back only to open them again to stare at the ceiling. "But, now that I'm awake. I'm going to go ahead and get dressed...maybe scout around to see if anyone has found us. Get some rest okay?" Haru stands up, stretching his arms into the air before striding over to the dresser, bending down to dig through it further.
She sighed softly, already missing the warmth, the sense of security the other brought. She didn't doubt in her mind that if they had both fallen asleep, they would of woken up in each others arms, preferably with her head against his chest and his arms around her waist and his.. She shook her head, rolling over and burying herself against the pillows. "'k." She mumbled, her voices muffled by the pillows and blankets, her hair splayed out behind her.
As he gathered up several articles of clothing in his arms, Haru glances back over at her with a yearning smile. He wanted nothing more than to just hold her, as crazy as that probably sounds out loud. He heads to the other room; slipping into tight fitting jeans, a long sleeved, dark green shirt, and of course his sneakers. Haru walks out of the room, running his fingers through his hair to try and pull out tangles without making himself go bald. He gives a sparing glance back into the room as he passes by before striding purposefully out of the house and into the grassy field littered with blooming flowers. After taking a couple steps forward, he pauses, glaring down at a particular patch of ground with fresh footprints pressed into the muddy ground. "Shit!" Haru spins around on his heel, dashing back to the house as he sees one of the people on the edge of the forest.
Incoherent curses slip past his lips as he slams the front door shut, breathing fast and continuing down the hall with a quickened pace from the danger looming so close outside. He turns sharply into the room where he left Cyprien,"H-Hey you need to get up. They found us faster than I thought they would. Just...uh...go get dressed and I'll bar the door to keep them out while you do."
Cyprien jumped up with a quick swear, eyes alert as she rushed out of the room, shoving her clothes onto her back with a quick 'Fuck it!' Her heart pounding in her chest. She rushed into the front room, slipping her shoes onto her feet with a hurried past, her eyes darting around as she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Haru!" She whispered loudly to get his attention, motioning to the door. "Let's go!" Her hands were shaking. Barely a moment to breathe, and they were running again. 'Here we go.'
~HC~CH~HC~
In my field of papers flowers, and candy clouds of lullaby~ I lie inside myself for hours.. and watch my purple sky fly over me. :heart: I adore this song so much.
Well, wa-la~! Here we go! Another story! We are advidly working on Sang, a side story for Sang, and our own personal stories as well; so you can expect a lot of updates in the next two months. This month is slightly busy for us both, but we are trying our hardest, we promise!
Any questions? Comments? LEAVE A REVIEW~ Bwhahaha. Chapter two up soon!
Cyprien is AMLF and Haru (-drools-) is Leah the Pervert~
Any words sweety?
[pouts] I am not a pervert...all the time.
Whatever you say, love.