Anyway, Brave Hero

ten.

At the same time that Matt and Raito were walking out of the small thicket of trees away from the river, L and Matsuda made it off of the trail leading from Oaken Villa and saw there in the distance a forest. They walked up to it without fear in the bright daytime and saw the leaves in the trees rustling from the wings of birds settling in their nests.

L had been hoping for some awkward silence between him and Matsuda but then his wishes had always had a bad habit of never coming true. Since they had left their home in the wee hours of the morning, Matsuda had been talking nonstop about how good it would be to actually be considered a hero for rescuing Matt from the dangers of the two armies. Matsuda, being a boy born and raised in Oaken Villa and having never set foot very far from the gate, was enthralled to be risking life and limb for anything, whether it was a strange whom he didn't know all that well or anything else.

L, however, knew of what lay beyond the borders and knew that no matter how gallant and romantic most things seemed, things like getting your arm bitten off or your skin eaten off of your bone was not at all gallant or romantic. This was probably one of the most prominent points on L's list of Why Not To Take Matsuda Anywhere - the boy could be so dense sometimes. L hoped to make this a quick journey so as to not get either of them killed. Even if Matsuda was a bit of an annoying butterfly-chasing airhead, L did admittedly have a soft-spot for him (hidden way, way deep beneath the surface) and would never want anything to happen to him. In cases such as this, the saying "protect him from himself" seemed to apply.

"Matsuda," L hummed, looking at the young man from his hunched over position as the two walked side-by-side into the forest. Matsuda stopped his ramblings and looked over.

"Yes?"

"You must make me a promise, all right?"

Matsuda perked up. "Okay," he said.

"No matter what your instincts are, you must listen to me when I tell you something as we are traveling together. All right? If something happens, do not get distracted by butterflies or whatever may be floating by. Yes?"

"Err… right, okay," Matsuda said, trying to sound confidant. Why would L think that he wouldn't listen to him? It was a little insulting but even as Matsuda inwardly pouted over the implication, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they were in serious danger and a butterfly did pass him. Would they be in real trouble?

As Matsuda pondered this, the light from the sun was obstructed by the leaves above them and came down on their faces in little specks. The sound of dried leaves and fallen twigs crunching from under their shoes surrounded them and it seemed to be strangely warmer being trapped down there with the sunlight. Matsuda sighed and fanned at his neck.

"At this rate," L said mostly to himself, "it will be very hard to catch up with Matt."

"You mean our pace is too slow?" Matsuda asked.

"Yes, that… I'm basing this strictly on the assumption that Matt isn't dead yet."

Matsuda's jaw dropped and he stared as L continued to walk ahead of him. The younger man scrambled to catch up. "Dead yet? You mean you don't have any faith in him either? You're like Aizawa and Rodger!"

"I'm no such thing. I am logical, while they are simply jerks." L looked up. "Really, Matsuda, Navariel is one of the most dangerous places and he, a foreigner, is traveling alone with only a map."

"But… but he has that rock he bought from you, also…"

"For all I know, that rock's only means of attack could be to be launched at someone's head."

"… You mean-"

"That rock he bought could be nothing but a piece of earth."

"What? But why in the world would you sell it to him?" he wailed, hysteric with grief.

"At the time, it seemed like a good idea."

Matsuda blinked and sighed. He stood there for a moment as L continued to walk, once again leaving Matsuda behind to catch up. The dark-haired young man looked to the side, thinking if Matt really was dead, what in the world would they do? He was about to start walking again when something caught his eye in the underbrush. Something was moving and as he was about to dismiss it as a bird, a little cat came out, looking u at him and swishing its bushy black tail from side to side.

"Aw," Matsuda whispered, not wanting to scare it. He kneeled down with his hands planted firmly on his knees and looked at it with a smile. "Hello there, little guy!"

"Matsuda," L called, not bothering to look behind himself. "Do not entertain the wild life."

"But it's so cute, L!" Matsuda reached out a hand to pet it and the cat let him fondly.

"Many things are cute."

"Oh, he has friends! Hello everyone!"

"And I've already expressed that we are lacking time."

"How affectionate you all are."

"So, again I say, that we must continue on."

"All right, I'm coming… Ooh, what pretty eyes. Hey, L, these cats have red eyes! Is that rare?"

"… Red eyes?" L stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, wishing that what was painfully obvious just wouldn't be. But, of course, it was and L came upon the sight of Matsuda kneeling by a bunch of red-eyed, small Kogs, some of them stepping onto Matsuda's shoes and licking at him.

"Haha, they're so sweet. … What's wrong, L?"

"I believe an immediate course of action is necessary."

Near stared down in front of him where a large board of chess was set up on the carpet. Each square was almost three inches in diameter and each piece was big enough for I to take up all of Near's palm. The two sides were set up, the white pieces in lines in front of Near and on the other side, the white. Near fiddled idly with the top of his white queen and the blue glow from the screens cast uniform shadows on the board as he moved the piece back and forth.

"Don't you think?" he asked, his cheek leaning into his raised knee. His gray eyes looked up from the board at the blond man standing at attention beside both Gevanni and Hal. The man's hat was held in front of him in his tightened hand and he seemed to be staring just over Near's head, which the young King didn't mind.

"Anything you command," Commander Lester said, lowering his gaze. "But do you really think they're that much of a problem? To send five regiments out at once is-"

"A bit drastic," Gevanni mumbled.

Near shot him a look. "I cannot understand you when you mumble, Gevanni."

The dark-haired man perked up, grinning sheepishly at Hal, who turned away as if to say Don't look at me for help. Gevanni looked back over at Near and said louder, "I was just saying that Oriciel is a very pacifist Kingdom despite the princess's violent tendencies. Their armies in the West are not very strong."

"I made a promise," Near said meaningfully. He spun the white queen around on the board. "I told Mello I would try to make their deaths as humane as possible. After all, this is an extermination, not a massacre," he said and lifted his head up, his gray eyes sparkling underneath his bangs. He said it in such a soft, sweet way that it made Gevanni fight a shiver as well as Hal and Lester just seemed unfazed.

Lester nodded. "I understand."

"So," Near hummed and moved forth five of the white pawns, one steps up. "Let's move out at dawn."

"Yes."

"If we break through the gates of Caranteen, it won't just be the army," Hal interjected attentively. She focused on Near's hunched over figure and in the back of the room, the train was stuck on the tracks, its whistle calling out in a sort of distress signal. Hal continued, "It'll be Navarielians as well…"

"We could block the desert. The Gatekeeper will keep them back," Gevanni said, looking at her.

"You know that isn't true. Ashami will let them have the run of the place. It will be violent once they invade Oriciel, your Highness," Hal urged.

Gevanni nodded.

Near raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember asking either of you on your opinion in this matter. As far as this is concerned, I will consult with Lester. Is that understood?"

Hal seemed to take the statement with a grain of salt and nodded quietly, averting her eyes to Lester, interested in what he would say. But of course, he would never go against Near's wishes, this Hal knew.

"Oriciel's armies will come through the Western Gate of Caranteen. If we leave in the morning, we can possibly beat them before they get too far into the desert but it would be prudent not to do so. If we draw them out to fight us in the desert, they will be completely uncovered and exposed whereas seeing how forested a land Oriciel is, if we fought them in their own territory, we would be at a disadvantage," Lester said, eyes focused on how Near kept spinning the queen in its spot on the board.

Near sighed and looked up, the blue glow from the screens watching Princess Mello as he walked about the room. He had gone a bit hoarse after cursing Near out in the last hour and now couldn't find the voice to even mumble under his breath. He just walked around the room like a caged panther in a very nice dress.

"Draw them out, then," Near said, watching as Mello ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "Hold our citizens back, if you can, but spare no one. We will handle this quickly and quietly, like an atomic bomb wiping out everyone in one fell swoop."

"Yes, your Highness." The Commander turned on his heel and headed towards the door when Near's voice stopped him.

"Commander," he called.

"Yes, your Highness?"

"Leave tomorrow when I give my signal to you instead of at dawn."

"Yes, your Highness."

"Matt, stop looking at me like that."

"You look bad."

"Thank you," Raito said, rolling his eyes. He did look bad, though. His face had gone rather grayish and even though he rubbed at it every two minutes, the lipstick print still lingered at the side of his mouth. Matt had guessed that he had been poisoned but one of the girls' kiss but when he asked about it, concerned, Raito told him that only a little had gotten in and that he would be fine in a while.

"Well," Matt sighed, giving Raito one final wary look before turning away, "I guess you know this stuff better than I do. It's just, where I'm from, poison no matter how little an amount always has some deadly side affects."

"Oh, it's not the poison that's deadly," Raito said.

"It's not?"

"They're deadly. The poison only lulls you to sleep so that they can have their way with men. When they finish, they take him underwater. Of course, he can't survive underwater, so he dies. But they keep him anyway."

Matt looked at Raito again, an eyebrow raised. "Is this in the guidebook? How'd you know that?"

"Oh, I've seen it happen."

Matt gaped. "Good God, that's horrible! Didn't you try to save him?"

Raito gave him a glare that was watered down with fatigue. "Not everyone is a brave hero all the time, Matt," he said and continued walking.

"You're pretty brave," Matt said. "You know a lot."

"Knowing doesn't mean too much."

"It obviously does here."

Raito shook his head. "The things I tell you are common knowledge. Honestly, I think you're just a little slow. But don't take offence to that."

Matt frowned. "Thanks, I won't…"

The two continued on the bright path that was no longer covered with the leaves of the trees overhead as they had left those far behind. There was a plain path that they'd been walking on much like the one out of Oaken Villa and on either side, there were occasionally some rocks but other than that, nothing. Matt, having had enough of Raito's irritation conversation skills, pulled out his map from his back pocket and unrolled it.

"Okay," he said aloud, "well, according to this, the next town straight ahead is Perry Town. But that's a pretty long distance… if we wanna stop, there's this little town a feel miles out of the way."

Raito shook his head. "No, no, we shouldn't make any unscheduled stops."

"Hn, you're right… and we do have enough food to last us at least until we get to Perry Town."

"Yes. Also-"

"AHHH!"

Matt jumped back when, from behind a large boulder on the side of the road, a green thing popped out five feet in front of them. Matt hit the dust with a thud and Raito grunted out of fear, taking a step back. Whatever it was, it was twisted all around itself in the fashion of a tornado. Out of one of its green swirls came a large array of jagged teeth bunched up together and sticking out like knifes. It made little sound, only a menacing humming that came from it in surround sound. It bounced and coiled around itself, all the time that serrated mouth pointed at Matt and Raito.

"W-W-What the fuck is it?" Matt stuttered, scrambling to his feet. He fumbled out his sword, nearly cutting himself with it as he pointed it to the beast. "Stats, Yagami, I need stats! Attack, defense! Magic abilities!" Matt was fast becoming hysterical.

Raito handled Matt's frenzy quite well and steadied himself from shaking. "I-It's a Jacte. I can't believe I forgot they were around here…"

"HOW COULD YOU FORGET?" Matt wailed.

Raito shook his head. "Just calm down, relax! You can do this, Matt, just-"

The Jacte lunged forward, springing on its hindquarters at lightning speed. Matt just barely ducked and Raito jumped out of the way. When Matt rose again, the shoulder of his shirt was torn and beneath it, he could see a small cut on his skin.

"Jesus, it barely touched me!" Matt shouted, looking back at it standing where he once did.

"Hurry up," Raito shouted.

Matt nodded and grunted with the force he was putting behind the sword as he charged forward. He swiped through was he expected to be the Jacte but was really air and when he opened his eyes, confronted with a dark shadow on the ground beneath him, he looked up in time to see the Jacte coming back down to earth and rolled out of the way, getting his other sleeve torn clean off when the Jacte rolled after him on the ground. Matt gave a series of high-pitched screams as the thing chased him and Matt didn't even have enough time to get up, he just rolled along the ground with the Jacte a foot behind him all the way, making that hungry-humming noise.

Matt dropped the sword as he rolled along the ground and bellowed, "YAGAMI!"

"Agh! Matt, you idiot, you dropped it! Pick it up!" Raito yelled angrily as he stood off into the grass just beside the road. He watched, horrified, as the Jacte came closer to Matt every second and Matt had no way to protect himself. At hearing the screams, Raito finally ran over, grabbed the sword with one hand and jumped over Matt as he came back around, landing on top of the Jacte and plunging the sword down into one of the coils. He brought the blade down in one smooth swipe and tore it clean in half.

"Ah - Mmf!" Matt yelled, turning around and getting splattered in the face with an odd substance that jetted from the cut of the beast.

Raito jumped back off, soaked a fair amount with the substance as well, and stood a foot away, breathing slightly hard. He held the sword tightly in his right hand.

Matt staggered to his feet. "That… that was nuts…"

"Don't ever drop your sword, are you insane? You could've died!"

"It was so heavy," Matt countered tiredly, "I couldn't get away properly!"

"You aren't supposed to get away at all! What if we had been in Navariel! If you were at the King's feet and fighting for Mello, would you try to run away?" Raito asked, eyes narrowed.

"Of course not-"

"Then don't do it now!"

Matt was quiet, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He looked at Raito for a long moment and then back at the dead Jacte. Raito came over and pushed the hilt of the sword back into Matt's hand. Matt looked at him, surprised.

"Let's go," Raito said and turned on his heel.

"MATSUDA!"

"I'M SO SORRY, I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW!"

L and Matsuda ran through the density of Kog Forest as a troop of Kogs followed them, some speeding through the boughs of the trees and others coming on foot, their large paws beating hard on the ground below. When they all stepped together, Matsuda and L nearly went flying off of the ground. Everywhere they turned, there were a pair of blood-red eyes.

"W-What do we do?" Matsuda shouted, keeping up with L but with a feet foot distance between them. Matsuda swung around the trunk of a tree and came out on the other side, dodging and jumping over fallen trunks.

"They'll only chase us to the end of the forest," L called back, arms and legs pumping like mad. "If we can get out, we'll be all right!"

"W-What if we don't?" Matsuda cried.

L didn't bother to answer.

Matsuda turned his head to look forward, to concentrate on just getting out, but squeaked loudly when the face of a Kog came down from the tree above him and lingered in his face, jaws open and saliva dripping from its teeth. Matsuda skidded to the side and ran straight into L, knocking him off balance and sending the two sliding down into a ditch. L fell underneath Matsuda and the younger male hit his head on a low-swinging branch, knocking him out cold. When they hit the bottom of the ditch, the mud and leaves comforting their fall, L looked up through bleary vision and saw the man's closed eyes.

"Matsuda? Matsuda," he whispered harshly, at the same time rolling his eyes upward. He heard the Kogs' footsteps.

Matsuda said nothing, didn't even open his eyes.

"Matsuda-"

There was a growl above him then and L jerked his head up, looking into two pairs of red eyes. L groaned inwardly and took Matsuda by the shoulders, hugging him close.

To be continued.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please tell me your thoughts, readers, because I take a LONG time to update when I'm not motivated! XD