Alright so, I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning, and honestly I don't know what time I'm gonna get back at, SO I have decided to post the next day's chapters slightly early!
Chrollo was worried for Kurapika ever since he had turn an interesting shade of red, making him insist to walk in front of him because "What if you faint and I can't stop you from falling off the ledge? The troupe would kill me if they found out that your fate was so simple!"
Oddly enough the blonde had complied to his request easily, seeming to be in a daze when he did so. Chrollo was glad he didn't have to exert a lot of energy to get him to do so, but even his agreeable attitude was worrisome.
"Kurapika, are you sure you're fine?" he asked again, just to make sure, and the blonde in front of him nodded, but made no sound.
He wanted to sigh, but didn't, knowing that it wouldn't do him anything if he did. That's when he heard a noise up ahead, making him grab Kurapika's shoulder to stop him.
"What are you-"
"Shh." he said, nodding ahead to indicate to listen, and that seemed to snap Kurapika out of his daze, his head turning sharply to the path up ahead as the saw a few demons walking towards them, seeming to be on patrol.
"So they said that they fell, but how far down do you think?" one asked, his feathered wings flitting as he looked over the edge.
"They didn't say, they just said we had to search for them- oh shit." the other demon cursed, his cat ears and tail flicking as he caught a glimpse of Kurapika and Chrollo staring at them.
All four of them stood standing there until a centaur demon behind them walked up with a bow in his hand, a quiver strapped around his waist, and… no way, it couldn't be…
"What are you two doing standing… oh my, Father won't like the sound of this." the new demon said, placing a hand on his hip as the other two demons looked back at him.
"Lord Leraje, what do we do?" the cat one asked, seeming unsure as of what to do.
Leraje seemed to think for a moment, gazing at Chrollo steadily as he made up his mind.
"Kill them. I'm going to go report that they had survived the fall." he said, turning to leave until Chrollo called out to him.
"Leraje? You mean Leraje Mammon, right?" Chrollo stepped forward and around Kurapika, noticing slightly that it looked like he might be protecting him, but he didn't care. He could do that and confront his brother at the same time.
"Yes, it is… how would you…" Leraje squinted at Chrollo moving his hand above his eyes and tilting his head until recognition spread across his face. He looked like he had been slapped in the face before he gave an uneven, deadly grin.
"My my, welcome back from the dead brother. We thought we lost you. Seems like you changed a lot though… we'll need to get experimentations ready… Change of plans. Remal, Orpheus, capture him, but kill the other." Leraje ordered, turning around, his tail swishing as he did. "I now have some good news for Father."
Chrollo wondered briefly if he was referring to Abaddon Mammon as "Father," but knew it'd had to be impossible. They were dead. But then how was Leraje standing in front of him…? He didn't have much time to ponder on anything else though, the ones Leraje had called Remal and Orpheus beginning their attacks on them simultaneously.
Chrollo attempted a swipe at the Orpheus one with his Benz knife, who dodged quickly and tried to slices at his arm with his dagger in return, Chrollo only getting nicked by only a hair.
Remal tried to go past them but Chrollo made a move to stabbing them, making the demon jump off of the path and spread his wings as a gust of wind drifted from the abyss, letting him guide himself behind Chrollo and be free to attack Kurapika. He cursed at himself but turned his attention to Orpheus. He was sure Kurapika could handle himself, even in a deterred state. He wouldn't be the Phantom Troupe leader if he couldn't.
They fought like that, back to back for a while before Kurapika had driven Remal to the edge of the path again, making him glide back over to his pal, letting them all take a quick breather between their exchanges.
"Kurapika, are you alright?" Chrollo asked under his breath, sparing a glance down to check on the blonde.
"Yeah…" Kurapika responded, face flushed and avoiding eye contact with Chrollo. "And you…?" he glanced over a bit before turning his attention back to their enemies, his face more red than before. Chrollo was probably going to have to address that soon.
"I'm good." was all he could get out before the two demons decided to attack again, both going towards Kurapika.
Typical, Chrollo thought as he managed to stop Orpheus again, but the cat demon seemed pleased that he did. Then he heard a smothered scream behind him, recognizing it as Kurapika's immediately. He activated his nen and stabbed Orpheus roughly in the chest, catching the soldier by surprise as their body became still as soon as Chrollo took it out of them. He turned to see Kurapika on the ground, his thigh bleeding heavily as he threw a chain around Remal's wing, making the bird demon drop off the side of the path. The demon was swung down into the cliff wall, knocking them unconscious, the chain disappearing and letting the demon drop into the blackness below, no sound of their landing evident as Chrollo ran over to Kurapika's side.
"Kurapika!"
"I'm alright, just calm down…" he said, pushing himself up only to wince at the pain in his leg, his eyes a bright red glowing still. "I can heal it, just let me…" he raised his right hand only to have the chains flicker in and out of view as his hand went to his eye, and Chrollo felt like telling him "I told you so." but deemed it inappropriate given the time.
"You used up a lot of your energy, rest for now. I'll find a place for us to hide before they come and look for us.
He only got a tired nod before he had gone to dispose of Orpheus's body over the ledge, then searching the wall to the right to see if there was anyway another path could be made from it. After finding a small hole, he used a little bit of nen on it before a small cave was revealed behind it, Chrollo approving of it instantly. It could've be worse, he thought to himself as he made his back over to Kurapika's body. You could have ended up sleeping on the path and risking the chance of rolling off the path and into the abyss in your sleep.
When Chrollo made his way back over, he found that Kurapika had passed out and was sleeping peacefully, despite the condition his body was in. After quickly arguing with himself if it was alright to even pick him up, he made up his mind and carefully held the Kurta by the back of his shoulders and knees, hoping that it didn't cause the Phantom Troupe leader any pain in his slumber.
He took Kurapika over quickly into the cave, placing him down near the back and going back to the the entrance and sealing it off, hoping that from the outside it didn't look too obvious. He turned and looked at Kurapika, trying not to think about how creepy this could possibly look from an outsider's view. Taking an unconscious younger man into a cave and seemingly closing it off to only leave them two alone? Yeah, seemed pretty bad. There was no way he'd be able to let the troupe know about this without explaining in large detail about how no, I didn't have a choice in this matter and yes, our lives were in danger, thank you very much.
He sighed, going over and sitting next to the blonde, watching the other's chest rising and falling with the shallow breaths he made in his sleep. He noticed that Kurapika's phone had slipped out of his pocket, and Chrollo reached for it, looking at the bright screen with squinted eyes until they adjusted to the light. What he saw was a picture of what he assumed was a young Kurapika and two adults behind him, smiling proudly as the young Kurta waved his hands at the camera excitedly. Chrollo felt himself smile at it, despite not really knowing why. He looked at the time, and almost laughed at how late it had gotten. He closed the phone and slipped down to lie on his side, facing Kurapika as he eventually succumbed to sleep, thoughts of what he and Kurapika had talked about during their time in the cave still lingering happily in his mind.