7. 26. 2017
It took him a few seconds to fully register what he was seeing. Elsword pulled a hand back through his hair, letting out a sigh as a small smile twitched onto his lips. What laid before his sight was a certain curled-up purple-head, her hands pulled into fists that rested next to her chest. She was breathing lightly, tucked safely under the roots of a grand tree with the most adorable sleeping face. The female seemed extremely vulnerable at the moment and he questioned if she was the same one he had fought just yesterday. But here she was, nestled away from sight. She was rather small and petite so most who traveled through this forest probably wouldn't have noticed her aside from him. The male himself had grown accustomed to spotting the smallest of things, the mage's purple hair being one of them. Elsword had only been taking a stroll through the forest when he caught sight of her from the corner of his eyes which lead him to this very moment.
Kneeling down, the swordsman couldn't help the tiny chuckle that escaped his lips, the sight almost being too cute. He gazed over the mage's face, watching as her bangs slowly fell over to shadow it. Without thinking, he gently reached forward and flipped the strands away to get a better look. Wrong mistake. Within a second, Aisha's eyes snapped open and a knife came shooting out from within her sleeves, aimed right for this throat.
"Woah!" Quickly, the male dodged and grasped her two hands, pinning her down against the ground, "Morning sunshine, how was your nap?"
Growling, Aisha struggled against his grip, her body and mind still not fully functional from her sudden awakening. She felt the fear rise in her, her struggles becoming stronger as she tried to kick whoever it was on top of her off. Realizing that the situation could get worse, Elsword quickly positioned himself effectively, holding her legs and body down with his own. From afar, it looked like he was basically sitting on top of an unarmed lady.
"Calm down there sunshine, not a morning person, huh?" He chuckled, gently easing his grip on her wrist when he realized that he was holding it down rather harshly.
It took a moment before Aisha could understand the full situation that she was in. She took in deep breaths to calm her raging mind before fearfully looking up, finally taking in the full view of who her attacker was. Red eyes. She blinked once, twice, her mouth twisting into a frown as she gazed up at the cheeky grin coming from a certain red-head.
"You…" She whispered discontentedly, her struggles seizing as she glared up at him.
"Ouch, I have a name you know, miss Aisha," Elsword said jokingly, drawing out her name as a smirk flew across his flawless face.
"Yes, how could I have forgot, my deepest apologies mister dimwit," Aisha rolled her eyes, her voice coming out sarcastic and cold.
"Not exactly what I hoped for but apology accepted," Elsword grinned, pulling his grip back as the mage slipped her knife back into her sleeve.
The male climbed off and stood up, reaching a hand out. Aisha coldly brushed the gesture off, standing up and dusting her skirt off. With a soft sigh, she turned away, ready to leave before a warm hand fell upon her shoulders. With a heavy sigh, she turned back and eyed him carefully.
"What?" Her voice wasn't harsh, just exasperated.
"Got a question. Why in Elrios are you sleeping in the forest in plain sight?" The swordsman questioned amusedly.
The female stiffened at the question, flashbacks of her collapsion coming back clearly. She shook her head and let out a tiny huff.
"It's nothing. Why does it matter to you? You do realize that I tried to kill you and your gang just yesterday right?"
Elsword shrugged, "Just curious, and what happened yesterday happened yesterday, today's different."
"Is that so? Well, I'm leaving now so don't worry about me coming back for you guys." The mage muttered, getting ready to turn around and head off when Elsword opened his mouth again.
"You know, why don't you join us, Piercers? You're strong and I admire that,"
"Hah, I don't do groups. Plus, I'm a bounty hunter, you guys were just my next source of money," Aisha scoffed, reaching back and pulling her hood over her head, leaving her expression shadowed.
"Don't be like that sunshine," Elsword pouted, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against hers, "We have all the money in the world if that's what you want,"
However the female pulled back quickly, glaring daggers as she turned around.
"I'm not interested. This is the last time you'll ever see me," She murmured, walking off.
This wasn't good. Their encounter had lasted far too long, she had to leave now. By now, he would've memorized what she looked like and that wasn't good. She couldn't risk any more exposure and deemed that retreating back into the shadows would be a good choice as of now. Her last bounty kill gave her quite a bit of money so she would be fine financially. Gritting her teeth, Aisha made her way through the forest, a swift cyclone wrapping around her petite body as she vanished from sight.
Great. One word rung in her mind as Aisha sped-walked through the back-alleys of Hamel. He had followed her. She had no idea how due to the fact that she had basically teleported all the way back but he had done it somehow. She heard him close behind, whistling a small tune as she rounded the corner. She knew he wasn't a normal human, his swordsmanship skills being much more highly developed compared to others she had been in battles with. But this shouldn't have been possible! He would've have been running after her all that time if he had somehow wanted to catch up!
"Hey sunshine, where are you going in such a hurry?" His voice was closer than ever.
With a whirl, Aisha turned back, nearly bumping straight into him as she let out a surprised gasp. She scowled up at the sight him, watching as Elsword smirked back teasingly.
"Why are you following me?" She growled, her hands curling into fists as her lavender eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I'm pretty stubborn. I don't take 'no' for an answer, so I'll be following you everywhere until you agree to join," Elsword grinned.
"You're wasting your time," The female snapped back.
"Time is never wasted on someone as beautiful as you," The swordsman winked, his scarlet eyes twinkling.
The mage almost face-palmed herself. Great, he was a flirt- and an annoying one at that. Judging from his arrogant smile, she knew that he wasn't joking about being stubborn. The problems were beginning to stack and she was starting to get anxious. If he persisted in clinging to her, her identification was at risk and that would be dangerous. If she ever wanted to shake him off, the use of magic would be her only choice. Fine. She would play his game of chase. And she sure as hell wasn't going to lose at it.
Damn. I'm starting to get tired.
The sun was just beginning to set beyond the horizon, a mixture of gold and red swirled together to create a soft hue that spreaded across the sky. A certain purple-head was rested at the top of the pristine castle of Hamel, hidden from sight as she let out a heavy sigh. The wind gently brushed against her pig-tails as the female placed a hand over her chest, her breaths coming out hard as she bent over. I used too much magic again… She gritted her teeth. So this was the pathetic state she was in now, getting tired over the simple use of teleportation. The game had proved to be much harder than she expected, the swordsman not giving up as quick as she had hoped for. They had spent the whole day in a game of chase, Aisha teleporting since the beginning of the morning with the male following close behind. Just when she thought she had lost him, she would turn around and his cheeky smirk would come into view. The use of magic however was starting to put a strain on her body.
It's not like she didn't take a break from time to time, finding that the constant use of teleportation was definitely putting a decline on her health. She would give up on the game for an hour or so, resting just on the outskirts of Hamel with her hood pulled over and an arm slung over her knees. To her slight surprise, Elsword would disappear when she did that and return with either a drink or a parfait for the both of them. At first, she refused his offer, but the sight of Hamel's best parfait held right in front of her didn't help her stubbornness. Soon enough, she would pout and take it, ignoring his grin as she took a bite into the coolness which helped ease the burden off her use of magic. While it did hurt her pride to admit, she was starting to enjoy his company and small acts of kindness. Despite that however, she could never entertain the idea of joining Piercers. The time she had left was far too short.
With a sigh, Aisha raised her head and gazed around, noting that the redhead was nowhere to be seen. Had she finally lost him? She almost beamed at the thought, her body relaxing as she laid down against the rooftop. The sun had finally disappeared, leaving the sky a midnight blue with sparkling stars. The lights coming from Hamel's building gave the city an ethereal glow from where she laid. It wouldn't be wise to rest here where the swordsman could find her given time but Aisha couldn't find the energy to move. She was too drained to even turn her head when she heard the slightest sound of shoes landing on top of the roof.
"Looks like I won the game, sunshine," A husky voice chuckled softly, crimson eyes peering over from behind the mage.
"No… You haven't… I'm just taking a break again…" Aisha murmured back tiredly, reaching a hand up to wipe her eyes as she gazed upwards, taking in his tender gaze.
"Are you now?" The swordsman walked over to her sides, carefully slipping his arms under her head and knees before lifting her up, "Well then, let's take a break somewhere else,"
"...What do you think you're doing?" The female placed her hands against his chest, her pushes light and weak due to her tired state.
The male however ignored her questions, gently jumping down and off the Hamel castle while cradling her. His body was warmer than Aisha expected, almost like she was laying next to a soft flame. The warmth enveloped her cold body, leaving her muscles to relax as her eyelids became heavier. There wasn't much she could do in her current state to escape the situation, the darkness seemingly more welcoming than before. Before she knew it, her mind had begun to doze off.
A/N:
Hi, it's been a while c:
Sorry for being so inactive and inconsistent lol Not to mention the fact
that you guys were probably expecting an update for [Sacrifice]
and not this random story from like 2014? xD
Honestly, I quite liked this prompt when I went back and read my old stories
and my writing style has changed quite a bit since then~
Well, chapter one was from 2014 and chapter two is from 2017, though
I did write chap 2 in 2016 just didn't post it b/c I FORGOT -cough-
For those who are new to this story, better read chapter one
first or nothing will make sense haha
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this random-long-time update ^^~
Let me know in the reviews if you're interested in this getting updated or you just
only want [Sacrifice] to be worked on and updated instead xD
