Hey! Omg thanks for the reviews! :) Sorry it's been so long but I've only just moved house so things are a little hectic right now. Starting to get settled now so updates should become frequent and regular. ^^ Anyway, enough from me! On with the show!
Part Two - Death of a Hero.
Zidane loved it when people touched his tail. He obviously never let on, being a man and all. Something like a tail does come in handy when one tries to distinguish oneself from other men. In that way, he supposed he was more animal than human; being unique just to impress a potential mate. Zidane stirred in his sleep as that word flitted through his subconscious.
"Mate makes it sound like i don't really care. Do i care?" Zidane's troubled dreams were causing him to groan in his sleep, stirring the nearby Luneth, who was, until then, napping also. He pushed himself up a little off the ground, clumsily twisting the top half of his body round to see his troubled companion. Zidane was lying on his back, occasionally twitching and uttering inaudible grunts. Luneth blinked the sleep out of his eyes and inwardly chuckled.
"Not so graceful now, eh?" He thought as he observed the older boy. The smile on Luneth's face faded as his mind moved to other matters. "Can i trust this guy? How do i know he is who he says he is?" A strong gust of wind blew, shaking the branches of the oak giving them shelter. Luneth's ears pricked up as he heard something falling from the tree, obviously dislodged by the strong wind. Quick as a flash, before he had time to think he threw himself forward. His chest hit the floor next to Zidane, stirring him from his sleep. Zidane woke to see Luneth's face, inches from his own, and his arm laying across his chest.
"Agh!" Luneth yelped as he fell back against the dusty floor. Zidane cocked an eyebrow and watched him struggle into a sitting position again.
"Wow, that was somewhat clumsier than our fight in the field." Zidane thought.
"S-sorry, Zidane! Hope i d-didn't frighten you." Luneth stuttered, confusing Zidane more so.
"Ummm, what are you doing, Luneth?" Zidane asked, watching as a red colouring spread across the younger boy's face. Luneth scrambled to his feet, thrusting his arm forward.
"An acorn!" He exclaimed, louder than he had intended. Zidane's confusion peaked.
"A-an acorn?" He said, still not understanding the nature of the situation. Luneth waved his hand in front of Zidane's face, causing him to focus on the acorn he held.
"It was falling. I-i saved you from it." Zidane stifled a laugh, suddenly understanding completely what had happened. Luneth could see now how stupid he sounded. He bowed his head, hiding the degree of his blush. Zidane could see the boy was struggling so he decided to help him out.
"Hey, thanks! That could have been pretty bad if it went in my mouth. Maybe worse if it got me in the eye." Luneth looked at him, dumbstruck. At first, it seemed like the older boy was making fun of him, but it looked...kinder than that. Zidane had an honest smile on his face. His tail flicked round to his face and brushed against his left temple. "Veeery difficult to fight with only one eye, y'know!" Luneth inadvertently giggled at this before holding the acorn in front of him.
"I know how sneaky these acorns can be." He smiled, joining in with Zidane's fun. The two laughed as Luneth settled back down in front of Zidane, who lay back and stuck his arm out to Luneth. Luneth stared at it, not knowing what to do. Zidane opened his hand, still not looking at the younger boy. when Luneth took no action, he finally locked eyes with him.
"Let's have a look then. I wanna know my killer." He winked at Luneth, who dropped the acorn into his hand, inwardly cursing his uncharacteristically slow uptake. Zidane brought the acorn up to his eyes and rolled it around in his fingers, scrutinising it. "I've seen quite a lot of Gaia, and more besides, but I've never seen an acorn this colour before." Zidane murmured. Luneth hadn't really noticed when he was holding it, but he'd never seen one as bright as that either.
"Gaia? Is that a city? do you live there?" Luneth asked, sitting cross-legged as he observed Zidane like a student observes his teacher. Zidane chuckled a little.
"A city?" He threw the acorn back to Luneth, who caught it no problem. "Of course not, it's the whole..." Suddenly, Zidane sprung to his feet, causing Luneth to instinctively raise his guard. "You don't know what Gaia is?" Luneth relaxed slightly.
"N-no. I've never heard of it." Zidane's eyes grew wide as he turned his attention to the wind-battered clearing they were in. "Zidane?" Luneth inquired, trying to get his attention. He stood up and took a step towards his companion. Finally, Zidane turned to face him.
"L-luneth, Gaia is the name of the planet i live on!" Luneth was stunned into silence, before his head snapped up to the skies. He ran out into the clearing, desperately looking up into the sky. Zidane looked upon him in confusion. "What're you doing!" he shouted to counter the roar of the wind.
"Damn! There's too much cloud cover! I can't see the sun or moon, or any constellations!" Zidane raised and eyebrow, appreciating how clever the younger boy's reaction was.
"Get back under the tree! The storm's too strong!" Zidane nearly screamed. Luneth started to make his way back. The events that followed happened far too quickly for them to register on any level above instinct. A shadow descended onto Luneth, dragging him down to the floor! Zidane, seeing that in his rush, Luneth had left his sword at the base of the huge oak rushed out to assist the younger boy, but was quickly met with a kick to the stomach, strong enough to knock him back against the tree. He yelped as he hit the tree and looked up at his attacker. He gasped when he saw who it was. He was staring at a crystal-like version of Luneth! Before he had time to process the information, the assailant dashed at him, the point of his blade trained at his heart! Zidane jumped to the right, narrowly dodging a strike that would have certainly killed him had it connected. In one fluid motion, he picked his blades off the ground and settled into a combat stance, but it was too late; his opponent had already recovered from his failed attack and was upon him, trying for a second strike. Zidane tried to dodge again but cried out as he felt a blade tear through the flesh of his shoulder. As he stumbled he looked over to where the real Luneth had fell and saw his companion struggling to fight off his opponent with no weapon. He recognised the battle stance of Luneth's opponent as his own but had no time to dwell on it as he threw himself out of the way of another attack. "What are these things?" He thought as he blocked attack after attack, staring into the lifeless eyes of his opponent.
"Zidane!" He heard Luneth yell, "Zidane, are you oka...Agh!" Luneth was knocked down, his foe standing above him. Zidane's eyes grew wide as he saw Luneth's opponent raise his sword. Suddenly, Zidane's enemy took advantage of his distraction and gripped his arm, throwing him against the tree, causing him to drop one of his blades.
"Agh!" He yelped as his opponent advanced on him, ready to kill. "L-luneth!" He shouted, desperately glancing over the shoulder of the impostor. His own impostor stood in the spot where they fought...but no Luneth. "H-he's dead!" Zidane dropped his other sword and fell back against the tree. "No!" he murmured as he lowered his head, resigning himself to his fate. Luneth's impostor lunged forward, his sword piercing flesh. Zidane raised his head to find that the killing blow had not come. Someone had protected him. Someone had taken the attack in his place. The sword had impaled Luneth! Using the last of his strength, Luneth grabbed hold of the blade in his side and pointed his free hand at the crystal monster. A pillar of fire erupted where it was standing, engulfing it completely. Zidane stared, wide-eyed at the scene unfolding before him. "H-how did Luneth save me?" He looked over at the Zidane impostor, who was still standing like a statue in the same spot where it apparantly killed Luneth. As he watched, it shattered into shards of ice.
"H-hey." Luneth stuttered as the flames died down, bringing Zidane's attention back to him. He was still holding the blade in his side.
"You could have run! W-why didn't you..." Luneth collapsed, but was caught in the arms of Zidane before he hit the floor. "He beat both of them! I was useless!" Zidane cradled the dying boy in his arms, looking down at his wound.
"T-this?" Luneth coughed, gritting his teeth at the agony he felt. "This is n-nothing compared to that acorn." His voice was now little more than a whisper. Zidane felt so helpless. Luneth was dying because of him! Suddenly, the injured boy caught hold of Zidane's tail. To the older boy's shock, his touch was gentle, so he did not withdraw it, but instead he half curled it over luneth's hand who smiled as he looked up at Zidane through misty eyes. "I've wanted to...wanted t-to do that s-since we met." Luneth gasped, forcing a smile as he slipped into darkness. Zidane stared down at the boy, his eyes wide and tear-filled.
He really did love it when people touched his tail.
Weeeeeeeeeell that was part 2 :P What's gonna happen next? Not even i know! (I so do!) Please tell me what you think ^^
