Rythian appeared beside Zoeya and Xephos in a noiseless flash – quite strange, really; Xephos had expected the usual particle effects or at least a puff of cartoonish smoke – and Zoeya immediately began tending to him as he slumped against the ground groggily. Instinctively, Xephos flinched, but Rythian was barely awake, barely alive, certainly not able to attack him; as the hideous wound on his shoulder, blackened and bloody, was sapping out all the mage's strength. Zoeya immediately began tending to him – she pulled apart the rip in his clothes so she could get a better view of the wound, before digging around in her inventory for potions, or at least their ingredients. Xephos' vision wandered as Zoeya began rubbing Rythian's wound with various ointments, and he watched Lomadia and Ridge duel for a moment, each clash of their swords making his instincts scream to protect the owlkeeper, but she was doing well enough; holding her own against Ridge, putting up a valiant fight – and that was what the plan called for. She wasn't supposed to win, only prolong the fight, get Ridge frustrated enough so he let his internal guard down. That was when Xephos would interfere – and not before.

"Xephos?" Zoeya asked him worriedly, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked at her, and she had Rythian's head resting on her knees, but she looked ready to get up and move. "Can you just…watch him…for a moment? I need to ask Lalna if he's got anything to help heal him."

"I...uh…"

"Look, I know it's a big thing to ask...especially of you...but it's only for a moment…"

"Uh…" Xephos itched to say no, and he knew Zoeya could have rather easily found someone else to do it, but he had spent too long trying to enforce the idea on friendship on all of them...and what kind of friend would he himself be if he said no? Zoeya had been the first one to accept his bizarre request, after all. "...sure. Sure thing."

Zoeya's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Xeph. You're a real sweetie." She said, grinning at him. She gently lay Rythian's head on the ground, and stood up, peering through the leaves.

/tp zoeya lividcoffee

She, like Rythian, disappeared with no sounds or evidence that she had even stood there at all. Xephos sighed, and shuffled on his knees to sit beside Rythian. He watched the mage, clearly in great agony, suffering through it in near silence, before pulling out Lomadia's mushroom soup from earlier. Lomadia had asked him to drink it in order to keep his strength up, but in the rush of events he had forgotten about it. The liquid in the bowl was warm and tempting, especially as his stomach gave an insistent growl, but Xephos could easily deduce that the man before him needed it a great deal more. Slowly and carefully he moved up to kneel beside Rythian's head, slipping his hand underneath his tangled brown hair and tilting his head up ever so slightly, to give him a better drinking angle. Xephos put the soup down beside him for a moment and gave a gentle pull on Rythian's mask, allowing it to slip down onto his neck…

In one sudden movement, Rythian had Xephos' wrist in a terrifyingly strong grip, despite his injury, almost cutting off his blood circulation. Xephos let out a surprised yelp, before cursing himself as he glanced worriedly back at the battlefield. Ridge and Lomadia continued to duel, neither one of them showing signs of slowing, nor giving any indication they had heard Xephos, nor even noticing that Rythian had gone.

"What…are…you…doing?!" The mage croaked, as with one hand he squeezed Xephos' wrist tightly, and with the other he firmly tugged his mask back onto his face. He glared at Xephos through crusted, bloodshot eyes, but the angry lilac glow burned through.

"I…" Xephos stammered, momentarily caught. "I…I was just trying to help." With his other hand he lowered Rythian's head and scrabbled around in the mud, searching for the wooden bowl of soup. He found it and showed it to Rythian, trying to prove his innocent intentions. "Zoeya told me to watch you."

Rythian's eyes narrowed. He pushed Xephos' arm away, and it was clear that this action caused him pain, as he clutched his shoulder, letting a hissed moan escape his lips. He pulled away his hand rapidly, as though embarrassed – or disgraced – to appear so vulnerable in front of Xephos. His fingers were wet with scarlet, and in his blood were crusty particles; little flecks of black; possibly from the reaction of demon-slaying blade against demon-skin. Xephos considered trying to help, but another cold glare from the mage put him off even moving an inch.

"Where is Zoeya?" Rythian grunted, partly in pain, partly in annoyance.

"She…she went to see Lalna." Xephos managed to stutter, before he clenched his fists. Why was he acting so weak, so…subservient…to this demon, whose powers were so far beneath his own? Xephos felt a familiar rage burning up inside of him as he watched Rythian glare at him before turning onto his side – an action that must have hurt him, and yet he only did it to be as far away from Xephos as he could manage. He had no reason to. Xephos had only been trying to help – no, to save him – and this was the treatment he got?

"You know, Rythian." Xephos said, his glowing eyes focused on the ground. "I haven't actually done anything to you, and yet you constantly treat me like…"

"Shut up, Xephos." Rythian said, and it was the complete, evident lack of interest in his voice – rather than the scathing tone Xephos had expected – that made something in Xephos explode in fury, making him dig his nails so ferociously into his palms that he probably would have drawn blood if his skin were not near impenetrable.

"Shut up? What do you –"

"I said shut up. Don't talk to me." Rythian repeated, a little more forcefully, though his bored tone remained consistent. He turned to Xephos, his lilac eyes betraying no emotions. "Don't pity me, or mock me. Don't make me feel better or worse. Just keep your mouth shut until Zoeya gets back." He turned back to face away from Xephos, leaving the spaceman hurt, confused, and irate.

Exasperated, he breathed heavily and rhythmically in order to keep himself calm. He had to remain cool, collected and composed, if not for the good of himself, Ridge and Lomadia; it was to prove to Rythian that he was wrong. Although, at this point, Xephos was tempted to just let him rot. Waste away. Or finish him himself, instead of waiting for his infection to take hold. Even if Lomadia had his sword, it would be easy enough to extend his claws, then rip out the mage's throat…or even better, gut him, disembowel him, then leave him to die a slow and painful death, fearing the cold clasp of eternal slumber all the while. It was only fitting for him to suffer and fear as he had made Xephos do so.

Xephos caught himself, his breaths stopping short. Why was he thinking like this? These thoughts were scaring him…Notch…how long had he spent mulling over all the possible ways he could murder Rythian? Why had those thoughts even wandered into his mind?

This is how a demon thinks, Xephos. Focus on the human part. You know it's there.

Xephos unclenched his fists, took a deep breath, and glanced up at Rythian. Defiantly, he shuffled over to the mage and grabbed hold of his shoulder, and gently but firmly pressed him down to the ground. Rythian protested, both with words and with actions, but his attempts at swatting Xephos away became increasingly feeble as he too remembered that Xephos' strength far surpassed his own. For a moment, Rythian felt a twinge of fear as he thought that Xephos might end his life there and then, but he was surprised to see the spaceman hand him the bowl of soup, before tilting the mage's head up again for him to drink it.

"I won't look if you don't want me to." Xephos assured him.

Rythian gave a slight nod. "Privacy...would be...appreciated." He said, and though he could not see the spaceman, he knew his eyes were closed, as the two of them were plunged into near darkness as Xephos cut off the only source of light – however pale and blue – in the forest. He lowered his mask apprehensively, and slowly lifted the bowl to his cracked and scarred lips, drinking deep from the bowl. The liquid was thick and warm, filling the mage with strength as it sloshed down his throat.

"You can look now." He announced, putting the bowl down beside him. The forest was illuminated with blue once more. Xephos lay his head back on the ground and shuffled back over to the clearing, peering through the leaves to get a better view of the action. Rythian noticed he was crouched, tense, ready to spring into action.

/tp zoeya rythian

"I'm back!" Zoeya announced, proudly showing off the many bottles of potions in her arms. "Oh, Rythian, are you okay?" she said, rushing to his side once she'd noticed he was awake, sacrificing a few potion bottles along the way in her haste. Xephos plucked the fallen bottles from the ground, scooting over to where Zoeya was crouched next to Rythian, and beginning to rub various more liquids on his skin.

"Yes, Zoeya, I'm fine." Rythian insisted, as the ointments began to prickle his skin, clearly working their own form of 'magic'. While she was working, she shot Xephos an appreciative grin.

"Thanks for watching him, Xeph."

Xephos was about to murmur something along the lines of 'you're welcome' or 'no problem' but Rythian was the next to speak.

"He did more than just watch me, Zoeya. Xephos was very…helpful."

Zoeya looked from one to the other, astounded. "Say what?"

"I was never a very good judge of character." Rythian continued. "It seems you are only the latest in the long line of people I have…misjudged."

Xephos, like Zoeya, was astonished. "Uh…that's…that's okay…"

"It's not really, though." Rythian said, shaking his head. Weakly, he dug around in his pocket and brought out a familiar looking item.

"An Ender pearl?" Xephos asked, taking it from the mage and inspecting it closely.

"Not just any Ender pearl." Rythian corrected. "My mother gave me one like that before she died. She told me…she said that if I thought about a special, safe place hard enough when I threw it, I would end up there." He gave a soft sounding laugh, though it sounded slightly sad. "Don't know about that, but it's a quick way to get out of a tight spot. Even faster than teleporting, I reckon. Only one-time use, though."

"Well…gee…Rythian…I…don't know what to say…"

"You don't need to say thanks. It's a pretty weak apologetic present."

"Xephos was being polite, Rythian." Zoeya said sharply, rubbing a little harder on his wound jokingly. She grabbed hold of his hand and extended it out, taking Xephos' as well. "I think an apology would be the best 'apologetic present', dummy."

Rythian blushed. "Rightly so. I'm…I'm…I'm sorry, Xephos. You were not the creature I believed you to be." The apology was a little muffled – and not just because of the mage's mask – but Xephos shook Rythian's hand in appreciation.

"Thanks, Rythian."

"S'alright." The mage mumbled.

Zoeya beamed. "See, doesn't the warm hand of friendship work wonders?"

A/N: Sorry it took so long to post a fairly short chapter, but exams galore means that you shouldn't expect another one for 2-3 weeks! :(

Anyway, I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favourited this - it really means a lot, especially since this is my first fanfiction (and - for the most part - I tend to just make it up as it goes along). You guys are awesometacular :)

If I can't post any chapters in the next few weeks, I would like to post a timeline of events (as either part of this fanfiction or a separate one) because this is meant to be part of the Yogscast canon, so I'd like to show you how I think everything fits in (because it is a little confusing ;)). Is that, or a sequel to Born From The Dark something you'd like to see? Please let me know!

Thanks, AJ