Together

Chapter Twenty

Death the Kid

The bonfire flickered greatly from the field behind the bridge. It's flames beaming up and dancing with the night sky, causing ash to float on down and singe the snow that lay against the ground.

The whole field as well as the bridge were crowded with people. Crowds of people trying to barge past others, people jumping in the river, one after the other. Tops flying and drinks spilling.

Music was blaring from somewhere, but due to the crowds of people I was unable to tell where it was it was coming from. But I could tell it was loud, due to the fact that it forced waves of vibrations in my chest.

My hand was laced with hers. Both of hers in fact. She clung onto me with both of her tiny fragile palms, gripping on as tight as she possibly could so she didn't get lost somewhere in the crowd.

I led her through, pulling her out onto the suffocating bridge, turning round to make sure she was still behind me. And relief drowned within me when I saw that she was.

"Are you okay?" I shouted above the blare of music.

Looking quickly from left to right, she nodded, watching almost everything and everyone she walked past. Her grip seeming to grown stronger by the second.

It was then that when we were half way across the bridge, I saw Soul standing next to the fire, waving the both of us over to him. And without wasting any time to hesitate, I moved slowly through the crowds of people twining my fingers with Maka's.

As soon as we stepped off the bridge, I stepped aside to let Maka stand in front of me. Placing the both of my hands on her shoulders to slowly guide her over to where my best friend waited patiently.

"Hey!" He smiled widely. "You made it!"

I didn't take my hands away from her. "Yeah, we did."

The green eyed girl stared towards the ground beneath her feet. Kicking at the snow with the tip of her tattered converse, watching as if the dents she created made her seem somewhat powerful.

Soul reached his hand out towards her. "My name's Soul."

Quickly, she looked up.

I stood there for a second, watching her intensely, watching her as she watched him. Her lips shaking from the pressure of having to create a sound to pass them.

"Maka..." She smiled. "My name's Maka."

I nodded. "So who's exactly here?"

Maka

The blonde haired boy in front of me searched from left then right. Looking at everyone and everything that surrounded him in order to see who was here and who wasn't.

"The football team's over there."

He pointed over to a group of ten boys, all of them equally muscular, some shirtless and talking to the girls, others crowding round two boys in particular who held bottles to their lips and were drinking as quickly as they could. Somewhat amusing the entire group.

He pointed once again, but behind me this time. "Ricky and James are over there with Kyle."

I wanted to see who it was he was pointing to, but for some reason I was just to nervous to move.

"Oh..." His tone of voice changed. "And guess who else showed up."

Kid's voice lowered in disgust. "Kim and the terrible twins?"

Soul nodded. "Yeah, god knows where they are now."

"I really don't wanna guess." Kid shuddered, "I really don't."

Due to his reaction, Soul laughed. "All I can think of is what poor guy she'll try to seduce tonight."

They both laughed, but I didn't understand why. I didn't know who or what they were talking about. What the hell was a Kim?

"I'm gonna get us some drinks." Kid patted my shoulders. "What you want Maka?"

"Uh," I stammered. "Waters fine."

He chuckled. "Okay, be back in a sec."

I tried to follow where it was he walked off to, but as I tried to follow him with my gaze he just vanished within the crowds of people, in the mists of bodies and booze.

As I turned back round to face the blonde haired boy, I caught him staring at me, smirking at the same time. Which forced me to feel uneasy, due to the fact he used to stare at me like that - every day.

He took a sip from his bottle. "Kid's a lucky guy."

I smiled slightly, staring down towards the snowy ground. Watching as ash tickled at it's surface, only to disintegrate whatever was left within that spot.

"He talks a lot about you." Another sip.

I lifted my head. "Really?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "You must mean a lot to him."

I suddenly felt warm inside, like the fire beside me began to spark something that had sat frozen inside me for so long. And I knew for a fact that it wasn't the beast which longed to consume me.

"Oh shit..."

Something had caught Soul's attention, he stood there watching something behind me. Watching it as if it could attack within any second that went past.

I watched him carefully. "What is it?"

Suddenly a high pitched laugh seized a hold of the animal inside me. Forcing it to turn inside the pit of my stomach.

"Oh Kyle you're so funny!"

I slowly turned round to see a girl stroking at another boy's arm. Looking up at him, blinking her long eyelashes flirtatiously in attempt to get his attention.

Her skin was extremely tanned, not even in a good way. Her hair and lips were bright pink and almost florescent, as if she was sure someone would feel the need to kiss her. But I couldn't understand who would. This girl was hideous.

She wore a shirt which was buttoned just above her belly button, in which the ends were tied together to create a bow. She also wore a pair of skinny blue shorts, which unfortunately showed off more of her ugly tanned skin.

And then she strut around in a pair of black heels, so tall and thin they looked like they could bend and shatter at any moment.

I whispered in disgust, "what is that?"

What I said was supposed to be inaudible, but the blonde haired boy behind me choked on his drink as he began to snicker at my remark.

I turned to face him in confusion. "What?"

He tried to stop himself from laughing but couldn't, which sadly grasped the attention of the tanned creature that was now walking towards us.

"Soul!" She exclaimed excitedly, "how's it going?"

"I'm good." He cleared his throat, turning away from her.

I however, stared directly at her.

She noticed. "Hey, I'm Kim."

I nodded. "I'm Maka."

Soul stood there, staring at the both of us. Watching carefully as if one of us would strike at any moment. Like two dogs put in a cage to fight.

But of course, we knew what dog was going to win.

"I like your hair." She smiled. "It's pretty."

I gripped at my hair and stroked at it with my fingers. "Uh, thanks."

She stood there staring at me, as if she were half expecting me to compliment her back in some impossible way. But no matter how much she waited, I didn't say anything.

She turned to face Soul. "Where's Kid?"

"Kid?" I rose an eyebrow. "You know Kid?"

Her hips dropped and she folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, you know him?"

I nodded. "I stayed at his last night."

Soul threw the back of his hand over his mouth to hold in his laughter. Trying his hardest as he watched Kim's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Yeah right." She huffed, "like you could score with a guy like that."

I turned to Soul in confusion, "score?"

"Yeah," Soul smiled widely, throwing his arm around me. "This is Kid's girlfriend."

Once again I faced him in confusion, "girlfriend?"

"Right!" She laughed. "Like I'd believe that."

Now I was facing her. "Why not?"

"Because you look like a dog."

Soul was now standing a few feet away from the both of us. Standing clear with others as a few more began to gather round.

"I look like a dog?" I questioned staring down at my overly large shirt with boxer shorts beneath. "But I'm covering up more than you are."

"Shots fired!" Someone shouted from the crowd, causing more people to gather.

Slowly she stepped closer, causing me to step back towards the river, feeling exposed as I felt it's presence only a foot behind me.

"Yeah, but there's a difference between me and you." Her eyebrows narrowed, "at least I'm actually pretty."

In that moment I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Only realising after that it made her more angry, and continue to grow closer.

Death the Kid

I tried my hardest to push myself through the crowd, but no matter how hard I pushed, it seemed as if the gathering of people had grown thicker, making it harder to move over the bridge.

"Kid!" Someone called out to me. "Your bird's in a fight!"

Quickly I dove away from the bridge, standing on the other side of the river, where I saw both Maka and Kim. Kim continuously forcing Maka to back up closer to the river.

I couldn't hear anything. The music was blaring and the voices of the people around me were just far too much to bare. I had to get closer, but I didn't know how.

"What the hell did you just call me?"

But it was too late.

Maka

Her hands were shoved against my shoulders, forcing me to slip and tumble over the bank of the river.

I watched as I fell away from both her and the crowd of people around us. And as I turned my head to see the expressions of laughter people held on their faces, I saw Kid standing in utter fear on the edge of the river.

Until the water was what took him from me and the shrill of screams was all I heard.

Death the Kid

"Run!"

Screams were everywhere. People running from every direction around me as the sound of snarling came from the bushes on the other side of the river.

"Kid!" Soul darted across the bridge to my side. "We have to get out of here!"

"Are you crazy?" I yelled. "She's still in there!"

I searched the surface of the river, but all that was there were the ripples of non existent movement that were now quickly fading down the stream.

The snarling got louder, and the field as well as the bridge was growing deserted. But all I could think about how she hadn't rose to the surface of the river.

"Screw this!" I exclaimed. "I'm going in!"

Quickly I stripped off my jacket and tossed it onto the ground behind me. Throwing it onto the surface of the ice, as I dived in.

Soul cried for me, but all I could hear was the muffled sounds of his voice against the splashing of the river.

The water clouded up my eyesight as I kicked myself down deeper, eagerly turning my head from left to right in search of the green eyed girl.

I couldn't see anything other than water, and nothing but the ground. But I swore to myself that I wouldn't stop looking, so I kicked myself deeper towards the river floor.

"Kid!" Soul remained to stand on the edge of the bank, waiting for my return.

My lungs were growing tired, and I could feel the air being sucked away from inside me. And it was aching badly with every second I remained beneath the surface of the water.

Maka was still no where to be seen.

"Ki-" Soul froze.

I was forced to the surface of the water, the cold stinging at my entire body as I jumped back towards the bank, feeling the pressure of the air try to rip me from the outside.

"Kid..." Soul said slowly. "Don't move a muscle..."

My eyes were blurred, but on the other side of the river, stood a large dog. And it seemed that with every second my eyes remained blurred, it got bigger.

I held my breath. "What the hell is that..."

I could feel the bank of the river against my back, the mud clinging to my shirt and stinging the skin beneath my clothes.

"It's a wolf."

It's eyes were piercing black and it's fur was dark and dirty. And I knew for a fact, that it was not happy with our presence.

Soul proceeded to whisper. "Kid, we need to leave."
"No." I snapped. "I'm not leaving Maka."

"Where the hell is she?"

My heart was thrashing fast. "I don't know, I couldn't see her in there."

He bit his lip. "Shit."

The wolf snapped, it's growling teeth shimmered as it snarled in my direction. Watching me with every breath I never took. It's eyes fixated on my very existence as if I were the only thing it wanted.

"Kid..."

"Shut up Soul."

My heart was thundering from inside me, echoing loudly as it hammered against my ribs again and again, and I could beyond tell - that the animal before me could hear every sound it created.

The water bobbed around me, pulling at my waist as I tried my hardest to grip at the bank. But as the surface of the water tugged and pulled at my helpless body, it forced me to slip deeper into the river.

Crap!

And the worst thing was...

As soon as I moved.

It did too.

"Kid!"

It leapt from the edge of the river, its jaw wide open with it's shredding teeth, ready to attack at my body. And I couldn't move.

Maka

I threw myself above the surface of the water, throwing myself in front of him. Shielding his body with my own as the wolf inched closer.

I was prepared to throw myself at it if I had to.

I could hear it's thoughts of torture and destruction, growing louder with every second it continued with the desire to rip apart Kid's body.

But due to my sudden presence - it stopped.

It leaned closer towards me, growling as it's eyes fixated themselves with my own.

Which forced the animal inside me grow closer towards it, pulling me deeper into the river as it snarled and snapped towards my body.

I gritted my teeth. "You won't dare, touch him."

Then on a sudden command - it stepped away.