"Mateiu! Gods, where have you been, child?"
I walked into Kyn's house nibbling on one of the chocolate chip masterpieces, and he just about jumped me. The sun had already gone down.
"Sorry," I mumbled through the treat in my mouth. "Mission took a bit, 'cause I don't have an axe." I held my sack of cookies to him. "Cookie?"
When my offer settled in, Kyn flashed an amused smile. "Where did you get those?"
"Client was short on money, so I told her I didn't need so much money." I removed my broadsword, and put it on the couch. "Rhet home yet?"
Kyn accepted a cookie. "I'm afraid he isn't." He took a small bit of cookie. "If that boy ended up going to the pub..."
I shrugged. "I'm sure Rhet can hold his liquor, Kyn," I assured him. "Besides, he said he'd stay if he drank too much."
"Either way, I still don't enjoy the idea of it." Kyn grimaced. "Are you hungry, Mateiu?"
I munched into a cookie. It was as chocolatey sweet and soft-baked as I imagined. "Starving. What's for dinner?"
Rhet.
"This shitty Longbow...I knew I should've practiced this mornin'...son of a bitch..."
By the time Matt arrived home, I was wandering the streets of Grazton with a 3rd-place medallion around my neck, feeling sorry for myself.
I knew it was fairly late, and I should have been home not long after sunset. But, I wanted time for my own self-pity before letting Matt reinflate my shattered ego.
Suddenly, the Longbow I had used vanished from my hand. Somebody had stolen it while I was distracted.
My heavy footsteps stopped. I turned sharply to my right.
"Oi!" I barked into a quiet alley. "Don't push me, you damn arse!"
In the light of the half-moon, I saw movement further in the alley. I followed, listening closely.
Looking back, I realize that was very stupid of me. I was a very stupid boy back then.
I followed the indistinct shadow, noticing subtle things. Like how he moved like an expert, or how his silvery-blonde hair glinted in the light...
The thief lead me right to a dead end. He stood in a corner, my bow in one hand and a knife in the other. The other corner held a few empty barrels. I didn't dare draw a step closer to him, and instead listened to his light panting.
The sound of the short, slight gasps struck a thousand memories...
The figure turned to me. "Heh...what happened to 'this shitty Longbow', Rhet?" He threw it to the ground with a wooden clatter.
My heart skipped a beat. "A-Aaron?!" I could never mistake that condescending tone.
Aaron took a step or two back, cornering me to the wall behind. My back pressed gently to the brick as I stepped back.
In the moonlight, Aaron looked...feral. His eyes, naturally a lighter shade of green, glowed blood red. The dark, hooded cloak he wore only added to the effect.
He showed his teeth in a cordial grin. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"
"Aaron..." I tried my best to stop from lashing out. "Aar, Kyn has...he's been beside himself-"
"I imagine he isn't the only one." Aaron's voice was cold. His grin, as well. "You think I can't see your clenched fists, Rhet? The pained expression?"
He stepped closer, making not a sound. The knife behind his back. I pressed myself closer to the wall behind me, nearly crushing my quiver.
I have...two arrows. If I could grab that damned bow...
Cold leather wrapped gently around my throat. Aaron's fingerless glove was in a perfect position to throttle me.
"You would...do anything to be with me again," Aaron stated. "Wouldn't you?"
He was eye to eye with me. I could practically smell his breath.
I hardened my gaze. "I won't leave Kyn and the boy. He raised us, Aar, you can't just-"
"We could never get what we wanted sticking with that old fool," Aaron snarled. His fingers tightened at my throat, and I could hsrdly breathe. "Matt was only dead weight to us. You could become legendary with Khamja. Noble, like your family, Rhet." He pulled his lip up and showed his teeth again. "Or, wouldn't it be Lysander?"
The use of my real name stoked a fire in my heart. I reached up, and wrapped my fingers around his wrist, my thumb on a pressure point.
"Don't call me that, you bastard!" I shrieked. I pressed as hard as I could on the pressure point, including my thumbnail, and heard him drop the knife. His façade dropped for a split second, and I picked one foot up and kicked him in the stomach.
Aaron stumbled backwards, tripping on my bow, and fell. I dove to pick the weapon up, nocking an arrow in record speed. I held the arrow to Aaron point-blank, adrenaline pumping through my veins.
This man. No, this 19 year old boy, whom I grew up with for eleven years. I was prepared to kill him.
His pupils consticted. "Plan B. Ewen!"
The barrels in the other corner revealed a boy, only Matt's age, with a kunai and a silver gun. I lowered my bow and arrow from Aaron, gasping.
"You damned cheat!" I cried out.
The boy dashed at me, stabbing the kunai shallowly into my middle.
I groaned in pain, entirely dropping my only defense. I felt the cold steel of the barrel of a handgun through my linen shirt.
"...Say your prayers." A sharp gunshot, and a pain wracked so thoroughly through my stomach that my vision went white and spotty.
I doubled over, and the boy, Ewen, retracted his kunai and pulled back. I fell on the ground. I caught a glimpse of the small ninja's knife; my blood, fresh and red, coated the first three inches.
"Humph. I thought you'd wait longer to resort to violence...old friend." My ears still rang loudly from the gunshot, but I heard Aaron's voice loud and clear.
Footsteps sounded as he and Ewen began to walk away. I took a ragged breath. "Aaron...! No!"
He chuckled. "You were going to do the same to me."
The footsteps grew slighter and slighter. I laid on my side, on the ground, hearing my own labored breathing. My two open wounds bled. A trickle of coppery-tasting liquid ran out of my mouth.
Of course, I couldn't stop myself from crying, or murmuring, "Aaron...Aar...on..." I couldn't move. I couldn't stop the bleeding. I curled in on myself, ignoring the agonizing pain in my midsection.
Slowly, bleeding and crying, I slipped into an uneasy unconsciousness, laying in a small pool of blood.