LADIES, LADIES, PLEASE CALM YOUR ORGASMS: This is just a re-write! I decided to switch Matt with Matsuda because Holic made Matt sound like a whiny bitch and I wanted to make him SUPER AWESOME— so you'll be meeting him later ;)
SORRY TO DISAPOINT *dodges tomatoes* NEXT CHAPTERS WILL BE UP SOON, I SWEAR! D':
Light wormed his way out of the abandoned Ziggurat temple's crawlspace awkwardly, having to exit backwards to be able to drag the burlap sack containing the loot.
"Light!" He heard the rusty grate behind his kneeling legs slide open, "Did you get it?"
"Pull me outta this damn hole and I'll tell you!" Light yelled into the darkness, the crampt crawlspace rendering turning around impossible.
"With pleasure," his partner in crime grinned, grabbing Light by his leather-clad ankles and jerking him out.
"Ah!" Light exclaimed as he hit the mossy ground below the adjacent grate, "What the hell, Matsuda!"
"Did you get it?" The impatient thief repeated as he grabbed the burlap sack and greedily dug into it.
"No, but I got some gold." Light sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He winced as he saw the idiot dump the precious treasures carelessly on the jungle floor.
The contents of the bag were mostly gold coins and jewelry, but one artifact stood out among the rest. It was a life-sized Persian cat, carved out of white gold and glimmering with fine jewels.
"Cool…" Matsuda said absently as he stared into the cat's ruby eyes, "How much do you think it's worth?"
"Not as much as the Sapphire, but I'd say around 100 *ints."
Matsuda sighed, "It'll do."
.
The Ziggurat was hidden in the rainy forests of the North Mountains, which were south of the Yagami Palace, so Light and Matsuda had to wear heavy cloaks to keep themselves hidden on their way through the town. Eighteen years before, the Yagami King and his family died in a large fire. No one knew the cause of the fire, and no one knew who was next in line for the thrown. For a while there had been rumors that the boy prince had survived, but since there were so many orphans running around Mortalitas, and because the boy prince had not made many public appearances, no one could say for sure.
An underground group of thieves known as Kira took this chance to take control of the wealthy Mortalitas. For a while Kira prospered in Mortalitas, but for the last few years there has been a terrible drought and depression, and the people have turned against Kira.
Light was only eleven when he was brought into Kira. He lived as a street rat most of his life since age five, for as long as he could remember since he suffered from amnesia (and still does). A Kira Officer caught him stealing a loaf of bread and gave him the group. Many orphans were taken in by Kira, including Matsuda. Matsuda and Light had been friends since in the streets, and were almost inseparable- almost.
"Pay attention!" Light scolded like a grade school teacher, ignoring protest as he placed both chalices on the floor, out of Matsuda's reach. "We've looked here, here, and here," Light pointed to three locations on the worn maps, each marked out with a large, red x.
Due to Matsuda's complaining for a drink, they were sitting to the back of a small, dimly lit pub, just outside the Royal City. Both the thieves had their heavy cloaks still on; to the villagers they must have looked like gypsies- which was good, because not one person wanted to go near them and sat out of ear-shot.
"Let's go tu th' Forest Towerrrr!" slurred the drunk.
"We're already chasing one legend," Light snorted, "two is too many."
"I wanna meet a pr'tty prenceesss~!"
"No princesses, you idiot! We need to get the Sapphire- then all our problems will be solved."
"Cain we go tu th' brothel?" Matsuda pleaded, his face reddening.
"No. Focus on our mission." Light said sternly, rubbing his temples.
"We cain find th' Forest Tower 'n' as' the witch for directions tu Cibola."
"That idea," Light began harshly, though he repeated it in awe, "That idea... Might just be stupid enough to work!" Light rose from his seat.
Matsuda flashed a toothy grin as Light's pointer finger skimmed the map, looking for a path the locals said leads to a tower deep in the forest.
†
The partners in crime changed their course. Originally wanting to go back to the Yagami Palace- now Kira's Headquarters- they had instead began heading toward the South Mountains, to the north of the Palace, which was surrounded by a thick coniferous forest.
Light and Matsuda were treading through an abandoned pathway carved in stone. Underbrush threatened to trip them, low branches loomed over to hit them, and large grasses tickled their arms. Matt stopped to look up at the sky. The tops of large trees covered most of what little daylight was left, and stars were beginning to form.
"We need to stop and find shelter. Who knows what's out here at night, Light."
"I'm sure if we just follow this path, we'll get to the tower."
"But what if we don't find it by nightfall?"
"We'll look for a cottage then."
"This path is unused."
"Then we'll sleep in a tree," Light smiled back at his friend, "Keep moving."
Matsuda walked behind Light, stepping in his footsteps.
The sun continued to set and the forest floor got darker. The thieves used gas lanterns they stole from the pub to see their way around. Every movement made or sound heard made them even more alarmed. Up ahead, they saw a large glowing wasps nest. The two men slowly walked up to it and stared, bewildered, as small, red, winged people fluttered past.
"Are those… pixies?" Matsuda asked.
"Yeah… maybe."
Then suddenly the fluttering stopped. An eerie silence fell over the forest. Light and Matt looked at each other.
"Maybe they went to bed," Matsuda gulped.
Then Matsuda screamed and held his ears.
"What? What's wr- AAAAAHHHH!"
Light's ears were burning, and he felt little dozens of nails digging into his skin. Tiny, high-pitched voices yelped in his head, chanting "Out, out, out!" repeatedly. He tried to get them off, but the pixies held a tight grip. The creatures dragged the two men by the ears off the path and toward a sharp cliff.
"LET US DOWN!" Matsuda begged, his eyes wide and full of tears.
The pixies shrieked in laughter as they headed the humans closer to the edge. Matsuda continued to scream and cry as Light, as calmly as he could, tried to find a peace with death.
"Legem saltus ducatur!" A husk voice behind them echoed.
The pixies stopped abruptly at the sound of the voice. With their fun over, they dropped the two men on the ground safely away from the cliff, the momentum planting Matsuda's still-open mouth into a ring of multicolored mushrooms. The things mumbled to themselves as they headed off.
.
The meeting with the forest nymph, Mello, was... eventful, for Matsuda, anyways. The stark-nude boy had sprinted towards Matsuda when he fell, genitals flailing, and began tending to the dirty boy's wounds with a variety of herbs he kept knotted in blonde locks of shoulder-length hair.
"Stupid humans!" The estranged nymph scolded, throwing Matsuda and Light over his ivory shoulders, hauling them up his to tree. How the nymph managed to climb up the tree with two human men flung over both his shoulders, was a mystery.
Mello had a small shack- bigger on the inside- planted, literally, in between the branches of the large oak tree. The shack was covered in drying herbs and empty bowls of many shapes and sizes. On the floor were two leaf beds, as though he'd been expecting someone. Mello laid the thieves down on the beds rather harshly, and immediately began to treat their wounds.
"Looks like you got bit quite a lot," the nymph said as he spread a gooey, red plant sap on Matsuda's ears and face. "You're going to be swollen for the next few days." Matsuda groaned in agony at his last remark.
"Who are you?" Light asked.
"Mello the Forest Nymph. I'm only here to treat your wounds and send you on your way, because I have a lot more important things to take care of- like gardening."
All of a sudden blood started spraying from Matsuda's ears.
"Shit, boy, you've got an infection! Look's like those punks poisoned you!" the blonde laughed as he got up to fetch another plant sap, "Your pertty face'll be puffed up for weeks!" Fresh tears began to form in Matsuda's eyes.
"Mello, it's great that you're helping us and all, but we really have to go."
"But, Light! My face!"
"Matsuda will be fine, trust me."
Mello cocked an eyebrow.
"Light! It's nighttime! Who knows what's out there! Pixies! Nymphs! What's next- an ogre?"
"C'mon, idiot," Light sat up, "I have a feeling the Tower is real close- maybe even right under our noses!"
"But we lost the path- and our lanterns-"
"Tower?" Mello asked, "You wouldn't happen to be looking for L, would you?"
**ints are the unit of currency for merchants among the Kingdoms, and many con-men and thieves use it for trade, too ._. ex: 5 ints equal to $2**