Disclaimer: If I owned AF, or any other books/tv shows/something to that affect, I wouldn't be here, now would I?
A/N: This story is dedicated to my lovely publisher, ForeverDay, and the lovly author who was planning on being my publisher an beta-er except they weren't here for weeks and I got impatient, Waywards Passage. And no, in case you couldn't tell, I can't publish these on my own. All word and word-like programs despise my computer.
Also, this maaaayyyyy be(will)be OOC. For most likely everyone I put in in some small way. Because I suck at getting the characters right. You hath been warned!
Grub slowly walked through the streets of Haven, completely wiped out. His mud brown eyes still shone with determination though. Tomorrow. He would prove he wasn't completely useless tomorrow. At least that's what he told himself.
He dug his hands deeper into his pockets as a shiver wracked his rather thin frame. Underground Haven may have been, but that didn't mean the place didn't get cold at night.
The elf checked his watch, vaguely surprised to find it was almost past midnight. Then again, it was just another double shift. What was loosing a few more hours of sleep? Not that he'd be able to sleep in those few hours had he had them.
His eyes twitched. "Damn insomnia to the fires of hell." He muttered. He picked up the pace a little bit, desperately wanting to reach his apartment as soon as physically possible. There were light footsteps behind him which he promptly ignored. Probably just some night owl taking a midnight stroll. It's not like half the Haven citizens didn't do it!
A near silent scoff escaped the elves lips. It was the dark alleyways that people always seemed to take their strolls in that showed up in the news as some murder or another. Dark alleyways and stupid people just didn't mix. The sooner people acknowledged that, the better.
The footsteps were nearly right by him now and he quickened his pace again, now near jogging speed. The footsteps quickened as well. His eyes widened. I'm being followed. The horrible thought was enough to get him running as fast as he could. It was just a few more blocks (give or take)to his apartment now. He could surely make it that far without incident, right?
Apparently fate loved to prove him wrong.
The footsteps became faster once again. At this rate they were likely to get to him in a matter of seconds, which obviously wasn't nearly long enough to get back to the apartment that was still a good two and a half blocks away.
He turned sharply into a dark alley, hoping to loose his pursuers. No such luck.
A burly dwarf suddenly appeared in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks. He turned around, hoping for some other means of escape. Instead two more dwarves blocked the other side off as well. Grub was in a hole and he knew it.
"Now gentleman," He began, his voice much more confident then he actually felt. "I'm sure we can work something out here…" He trailed off as one of the dwarves, the leader it seemed, cracked his knuckles menacingly, a wicked grin showing his tombstone teeth.
The dwarf came a step closer, the others following. "We don' wanna 'work somethin' out', pretty boy." He drew his fist back, ready to punch. "We wanna enjoy 'dis." The first blow struck Grub right in the gut, making him double over in pain. The two lackeys laughed and one stepped forward, making a surprisingly well aimed leg sweep at the elves leg. It was a direct hit, causing him to crash into the hard pavement. He let out a quick, loud scream and the other lackey kicked him in the ribs.
One of them punched him in the face, causing the back of his head to crash into the cement. Normally magic would have healed what he now realised as a somewhat serious (though not bleeding, oddly enough) head wound, but it wasn't as if he'd actually completed the ritual in over six months. If he had been able to register the thought through pain he probably would have slapped himself. Not that he did register the thought.
He cried out as one of them stepped on his wrist, most likely shattering the fragile bone. A few pain induced tears streaked down his pale cheeks. More came to his eyes but he quickly blinked them back. I'm fine. He told himself. Nothing Trouble couldn't deal with, right? But it was a lie. Anyone could have been able to tell, but that didn't stop him from telling himself that, his confidence going down another notch.
The leader of the group gave him a kick to the chest and he sure he heard something crack. He inhaled deeply after a second, trying to get air into his lungs. Before he could get the chance though, someone kicked him in the back, winding him for the second time in so many seconds. He coughed, a little blood mixed in with the saliva.
And suddenly, they ran. Grub curled himself into the smallest form possible without causing pain in his ribs. Footsteps ran up to greet his pathetic form. Whoever it was touched his shoulder, causing him to flinch. "My God Kelp, is that you?" A concerned voice asked, her breath warm on his face.
He opened his eyes see an unexpected face. "Holly?" He asked blearily, though he didn't know why. There was no other fairy on the planet with one hazel eyes and one blue. Not that he knew of anyway.
She nodded, reaching out for his hand to help him up. "You okay?" She asked, like a classmate who was helping one of their friends up after falling off the swing. He nodded climbing to his knees.
"I'm fine. No need to worry!" He smiled, almost convincing enough for someone to think he really was fine. Holly shook her head, turning around and crouching down. A puzzled expression came to rest on Grub's face as he tilted his head to one side.
Holly rolled her eyes. "Get on my back."
"Pardon?" He asked, not even attempting to keep the confusion out of his voice.
"Get on my back. There's no way I'm letting you walk down to your apartment. You're staying with me for the night." Grub opened his mouth in protest, but something told him by her tone not to even bother. He got up onto her back and was slightly shocked to find she could lift him with ease. Then again it's not like he was exactly normal weight…
Grub tried to mutter a protest again, saying that he was actually just fine, but Holly read between the lines. The young Kelp was shivering and she doubted it was from cold there were fresh tear streaks on his cheeks. She was no doctor but she was also pretty sure that how limp his wrist was and that he was clutching it as his arms were around her neck that it was probably broken too. And who knows what other injuries he has! She thought angrily, promising herself that she'd inflict as much pain as physically possible on who did this.
As they neared the apartment Grub realised that it was actually the same building he was in. What an odd coincidence.
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