Back with chapter two so soon~ We all love Christmas break, don't we? More time to read and write fanfics :3 Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Elsword and its characters belong to KOG, not me.

Saving the Hero

by naeHaneul

Chapter Two

Aisha's POV

Stopping, Aisha leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She continued to stand by the idea that "exercise was for squares and books were better," but damn, she shouldn't be this out of shape.

"I bet the last time I ran this hard was when I had to go back behind Velder's gates and pull a certain idiot out of the way of a crashing tower..." she mused aloud, the memory and it's relation to him making her eyebrow twitch.

Her tears had long since dried and her composure hardened, but it still stung to remember their last argument. Did he really mean all that? Maybe she seemed a little jealous, but there wasn't much for her to be jealous of, having never met his sister nor knowing much of her anyways. She'd just wanted to give him something meaningful for his birthday to show how much he meant to her.

"I just wanted to tell you I love you, Els," she murmured into the mist.

She was determined not to cry, but at this rate, her future wasn't very promising. To re-occupy herself, she glanced around, trying to figure out how far she'd run. Aisha stood in the wake of a terribly foggy forest, the town of Velder behind her, and a shiver ran down her back. Indecisive, she wandered the outskirts of the forest, wondering if she should hide out here until tomorrow or go back.

"No. I'm not going back to that rude idiot! He can go screw a phoru for all I care!"

Her spoken thought was an effort to distract herself from the growing darkness as day turned into night. Fumbling with her staff, Aisha summoned a little ring of fire around her, three balls of flame that washed her in an aura of light. She had to admit, this forest was creepy-with-a-capital-K material—the trees were all bent and disfigured, the floor a mess of overgrown weeds and tree roots. Aisha jumped at every sound, This is all his fault! That stupid idiot!

She took a shaky breath, her fire and equanimity wavering; he didn't have to be so mean, she was ready to accept her mistake and move on, but he'd flat out turned her down with not so much as a smirk. As lost in thought as she was, it's no wonder she'd eventually trip, since Aisha was far from the most graceful mage in existence.

A tree root sent her sprawling, resulting in a scraped knee and hands, and mud on her favorite white coat. Her spell book and staff went flying and she cursed, wiping mud from her clothes and wounds. Tears welled up against her will as her circle of fire sputtered out, leaving her in a darkness only illuminated by the moon overhead. Sniffling, Aisha groped around for her spell book, when suddenly a foot came down upon her outstretched hand.

"Well, well, well... What's a cute little girl like you doing out here, huh? Crying over spilled milk again?" a voice leered, grinding their foot on the girl's hand.

"Chloe," she hissed, glaring up at the dark elf. "What do you want?"

"Oh, dearest, must you assume I always want something of you?" she mocked. "Oh no, I don't want anything from you, darling Aisha. I just want you."

In an instant, Chloe had grabbed a pigtail and drug the mage to her feet, eliciting a yelp of pain from the girl. The elf had her staff and spell book and she flipped to a page, reading off a spell. Soon enough, two of her minions had appeared and taken hold of the purple-haired girl.

"W-what do you think you're doing!?" Aisha yelled, struggling against her captors.

"I'm just going to borrow you for a bit," the dark elf purred and kneed her prisoner hard in the stomach.

The mage choked as air and light were forced out of her. Elsword, she thought, damn it, if it wasn't for him... and into darkness she fell.

Elsword's POV

"Alright, I get it! Enough already!" he cried, spinning to face his visitor. "Rena was already in here yelling about my stupidity and selfishness, and if that's all you want, save your breath!"

Raven raised an eyebrow, "You sound like you don't feel bad at all."

"So what if I don't? What are you gonna do, lecture me?" the Rune Slayer challenged. He was already pissed off enough, he didn't need more provocation.

It happened in a flash—a flash of dark hair and shining silver—and the red-haired boy flew out his open window, landing face-first in the dusty road. The sun beat down on him, and Elsword squinted up in anger, a swear and a shout already rising in his throat.

"Raven, what the fu-!"

He was cut off as the Blade Master sliced his sword to the others throat, it's dangerous blade steaming in the heat.

"In all our adventures, I never would have taken you as someone who would run away from a fight," Raven said, his gold eyes deadly serious. "But you really are a coward."

"What did you say!?" the boy growled, his anger summoning a few stray fire runes.

"I said you're a coward," Raven spat, unfazed, "you've no right to call yourself a swordsman, or, hell, a man in general."

"Tch! Don't scold me like I'm a kid. You don't know anything!"

"Maybe so, but I do know you, Elsword," he said, pressing the edge of his sword harshly against his friend's throat, drawing a bead of scarlet blood. "The Elsword I know," Raven continued, "wouldn't draw out a fight over a petty thing like jealousy. Besides, El knows, you're the one who's actually jealous."

The bitter truth of his words shut the boy up. Elsword could find no words to defend himself against his pitiful situation. It was true, it had been an ignorantly stupid fight, but what could he do now? Aisha wouldn't forgive him that easily.

A crowd had gathered at the sound of their heated argument, and was soon broken apart by a breathless, obviously distressed Rena.

"What's going on out here?" the elf demanded, running up to the two.

"Just knocking some sense into the kid," the Blade Master sighed and withdrew his sword. "Why? What's got you in a hurry?"

"It's Aisha. She's gone."

"What?" Elsword snapped his head up at her exclamation.

"I—her window was open and her coat and staff are gone. I've looked everywhere but there's no sign of her..." Tears welled up in Rena's eyes and she directed her gaze to the boy on the ground, "This is all your fault! Who knows where she went or if she's even coming back!" Her blonde hair sailed as she turned and ran back to notify the others.

"Tch. I don't know if it's even worth asking you to help look for her. You might have once loved her more than us, but now, I can't really say," Raven said warily and followed his girlfriend into the house, leaving Elsword alone in the sweltering heat.

"Damn it!" the red-haired boy punched the ground, sending a cloud of dust flying. "You're wrong...all of you! I-I do love her... I've only loved her..." he whispered. For the first time in years, tears pulled at the corners of his eyes, daring him to lose his composure. But what did composure matter in this situation? Hell, what did love matter when his girlfriend had turned up missing, without a word to anyone, and he was the only one to blame?

Rena had said Aisha was gone and they were going to look for her, but who knew the lost mage better than he? He was the one who knew she actually hated cake, despite her obsession with sweets; he knew she liked the stars better than a sunset and that she couldn't stay angry when he smiled. Elsword was the one who knew how self-conscious and insecure the girl actually was, how much she worried over little things; he knew that because of how impulsive and stubborn she was, Aisha would be hard to find, no matter who searched for her.

Letting out an anguished cry, the boy tore at his hair. He should have just sucked it up and apologized in the first place, not let this get so out of hand. He should have known that she didn't mean it like that, and Holy Lady El, he should have known himself better. Raven was right, he was the only jealous one here. He was jealous that Aisha seemed to worry more over whether his sister was coming back than he. Pounding the ground in frustration, the boy realized that, no matter if his sister returned, he had his friends beside him; he had Aisha.

Emphasis on the "had," he mulled over darkly. With an exasperated sigh, Elsword picked himself off the ground and trudged back into the house. He wasn't getting anywhere with these thoughts, and wouldn't if he didn't let off the steam that had built up from the day's events.

It was ironic how, even though it was his birthday, everyone was worried about someone else—including himself. As he plodded up the steps to his room, an acrimonious smile crossed his face. Sis would totally beat me up for this, he thought, she would drag me by myear and throw me in front of herand make me apologize, first thing... Aisha... Where did you go?

Retrieving his sword, the Rune Slayer headed out back to practice his swordsmanship, mind full of worry. Wondering what in all of Lurensia he could do to make it up to his love and his friends, he spun and unleashed an attack on an unsuspecting foe. When his Flaming Fist was parried with a knife, Elsword skid back in surprise, confusion written all over his face.

"Hmph, and here I was going to be nice and give you a hint at where your girlfriend was..." the dark elf muttered. Instead, she shrugged, "Guess not~ too bad Ran'll have to wait..." And with that, Chloe disappeared into the shadows, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts once more.

I like to think I'm really good at cliffhangers... teehee angry Els is adorable, no? Oohhh~ the things one does for love!