Capture Two: The Encounter

As if in a trance, he turned and walked towards. He had taken, maybe four steps before he heard the blare of a horn blow straight into is ears. He whipped his head around to see a magic vehicle coming straight towards him. He leaped forward as the vehicle swerved to miss him, then continued down the road. The near accident had caused everyone in the near vicinity who was still out and about at this hour to turn their full attention towards him. Including Lyon.

Their gazes locked for a few seconds before Gray jerked his head away and sprinted out of the street. Now back on the opposite sidewalk from Lyon he began walking away, stepping as quickly as he could without actually running.

Did he recognize him? He did give him an odd look, but then again, he was almost body checked by a magic vehicle. He looked up at the stares that were just starting to come out and wished that Lyon would just walk away and forget about it; go home and think that he had just seen his look-alike.

"Wait a minute!"

He gasped as he felt an icy cold hand grab his shoulder, forcing him to stop. He stood as riged as a board, not even daring to turn his head.

"You look familiar." The person behind him said, suspicion leaking from his voice, "Like someone I knew a long time ago."

"I'm in a hurry." Gray mumbled as he reached up to try and pry the hand from his shoulder. He dug into the skin with his nails and the grip finally loosened. Then he was walking again, the sound of his footsteps banging inside hie head, almost as loud as his frantic pulse.

"Don't you walk away from me!"

Gray felt an unsettling coldness surround his feet before he was forced to stop as a thick layer of ice engulfed them. That clinched it; this person was definitely his senior pupil. He stood, frozen in place, and waited for Lyon to figure out who he was. It didn't take long.

Lyon stepped around him so he could get a good look at his face. His eyes narrowed as he looked into his eyes.

"It is you, isn't it, Gray?" he asked, practically spitting out his name like it was vinegar.

Not knowing what else to do, Gray forced himself to smile.

"H- hey, Lyon." he choked out, unable to keep the uneasiness out of his voice.

Lyon hissed through his teeth, before reaching out and grabbing Gray by his collar.

"You've got a lot of nerve, coming after me. The clerk at the hotel said some punk was looking for me. I never thought it'd be you."

Gray looked into the others eyes, they still held the exact same hatred as before. He lowered his head and stared down at his frozen feet.

"Lyon, I..." the words caught in his throat, but he forced them out. "I'm sorry. I didn't-"

A fist collided with his cheek, cutting him off. It was so forceful that it would have knocked him over if the ice, and the grip on his collar, wasn't still holding him in place. He straightened back up, hand on his cheek, and looked up at Lyon. The others face was turning red with anger and he could feel his cold breath on his skin as he seethed through clenched teeth.

"Sorry?" he spat, "You came back here just to tell me that again? Sorry doesn't fix anything, Gray!"

"I know, but-"

"Shut up!" Lyon roared, pulling him in so their faces were only an inch apart and he could see every detail on his anger playing out in his features. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lyon's other hand twist around as he formed a spell. He couldn't tell what it was but he felt it as something cold and hard slammed into the top of his head. The ice capturing his feet shattered. Lyon's grip loosened and he fell back, hitting the hard sidewalk.

"I should just kill you now. You're nothing but a waste of air anyway. No, you're even worse than that; you're a murderer."

Gray's eyes widened at the hate filled words. He stared up at Lyon and saw the determination in his eyes. In the state he was in now he might actually kill him. He didn't really want to die like this and yet a part of him reasoned that if that was what Lyon thought he deserved then he probably did. He shut his eyes and surrendered to whatever the older boy had in mind for him.

He heard the sound of ice being formed.

His word went completely still and for an instant all he could hear was a crack. Then he felt an explosion of pain stemming from his right wrist. He opened his mouth, but he wasn't sure if any sound came out, as all other sense except for the pain were stilled.

He forced on eye open threw the pain and looked over at his assaulted limb. It was bent where there was no joint, the skin turning dark. He tried to reach out to it with his other hand, but something stopped it. Thew the searing flood of pain he felt another lesser pain digging into his hand. He opened his other eye and saw that Lyon was grinding into it with his heel.

"Tell me, what did you think you would accomplish?" Lyon's bitter voice was the only thing he could hear, "Did you really think that maybe I would forgive you? You? Some third-rate mage who doesn't even know how to fight back? You don't even deserve to still use Ur's magic."

He lifted something in his hands. Gray's vision was blurring over as his eyes grew moist, but he could tell it was some kind of weapon made of ice. He brought it down, mercilessly upon his other wrist.

His teeth clamped down on his tongue and he arched his back, writhing in the pain. He could hear Lyon snickering. Then he suddenly stopped and he could see his expression change. He heard people yelling and running in their direction. Lyon gave him one final glare before turning and running out of sight.

Two men knelt beside him as he tried to bite back the pain. He could vaguely tell they wore uniforms. Someone must have seen Lyon attacking him and called for help. One man grabbed his shoulders and shoved him against the concrete, forcing him to be still while the other examined his broken wrists.

He blinked a few times, seeing black spots dance before his eyes.

"It's okay, you're going to be all right." he heard someone say before blacking out from the pain.