And I'm back from the dead! So very sorry for going away for so long, but I'm back now, with hopefully normal like updates from now on. Or at least, you know, until the next thing to make me slow down again. But yes, for anyone interested, I did end up completing NaNoWriMo, so yay for my first try. Very happy to be back to fanfiction though, and hopefully helping the currently completely overrun with junk +anima section.
But yes, here's the next long awaited chapter, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 36 – Of Revenge and Hatred
Even before he opened his eyes the next morning, Straton was confused. There was a stinging pain in his right arm for one thing, and it felt like a bunch of twigs were jabbing into him all over the place. The ground was hard and bumpy, like he was laying on uneven rocks and sticks. All in all, it felt nothing like the thin but overall comfortable mat and blanket he'd gotten used to over the past three weeks.
Then, in a sudden rush the events of the previous night came flooding back to him. Keane waking him up, the attack on the village. Running through the forest and Keane accidently cutting up his arm, and then finally stopping somewhere to hide in the underbrush and attempt to sleep.
Slowly the blond opened his eyes and pushed himself up so that he was sitting down instead. He tried to push some of the twigs that were jabbing into his sides away, but they just bounced back into place as soon as he let them go, so he decided to simply try to ignore them for the moment instead. Straton wasn't quite able to tell what time it was, but it seemed like it was still rather early to him. Keane was asleep, curled up in a ball next to him, his anima form still out from last night.
There was dried blood on one of his claws still, which Straton quickly tried to ignore. It had just been an accident, and it really didn't hurt that bad.
The younger boy hesitated slightly, not entirely sure if he should try to wake him up yet or not. Chances were he'd probably stayed up late, either because he couldn't sleep, or because he wanted to make sure that no one found them. Peaking around out of the dense growth around them, if anyone had managed to happen upon them it would have been by chance alone, or else they must have followed them. He wasn't even sure where they were at the moment.
Eventually his curiosity about what had happened back at the Kim-un-kur tribe after they left started to wear on him, and he gently started shaking the redhead in an attempt at waking him.
"Hmm?" Keane moaned, sitting up before he even really managed to open his eyes all the way, instead rubbing at them as he tried to stifle a yawn at the same time. When he did open his eyes, for a few short seconds there was that same sense of utter confusion on his face that Straton had felt when he'd first awoken as well, and then the briefest hint of shock when it all came flooding back to him as well. Before the blonde could even attempt to ask him if anything was wrong Keane had himself back under control again, closing his eyes momentarily before shaking his head and running a hand through tangled red hair.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Keane asked, really focusing on the younger boy for the first time. Straton managed to form a small smile, despite the worry nagging away at him on the inside.
He knew Keane made the right decision about running away last night. They couldn't risk their lives again, not when they were finally safe. Especially with what could happen to them if anyone ever found out who they really were. That didn't stop him from being terrified about what could have happened to everyone, or the What Ifs floating around in his mind for if they did stay. Would they have been able to help anyone?
Probably not. They were just kids after all. Just weak and scared and helpless, like during the palace attack. They hadn't been able to help anyone then either. Couldn't even take care of themselves. But that didn't stop the What Ifs.
"Fine, how about you?" he asked back, and the redhead just shrugged, taking to examining his claws and attempting to wipe off as much of the dried blood as he could while he answered.
"Okay I guess," he mumbled. It was pretty clear that he was just as bothered about last night as Straton was. "How's your arm?" Keane asked quickly after a moment, and Straton wasn't sure if he was trying to change the subject, or if he'd just remembered what had happened to his arm because of the blood and was worried about him again. They were both equally as likely.
"It's alright. It's really not as bad as it looked last night," he said, attempting to reassure the redhead. Keane didn't seem very convinced though, a frown on his face as he reluctantly nodded.
"If you say so… I just hate it when I hurt you," he conceded after a moment. Straton nodded, not having to have been told that to know it. It didn't happen all that often at all, but the blond could tell that it really bothered Keane in those few moments when things like this did occur.
"It's fine, you don't have to worry about me so much," Straton said. Keane could easily think of how that wasn't quite true, but decided not to argue it. Sure, all of the situations he thought of when it came to worry about Straton were rather extreme (getting split up during an attack, getting caught by slavers, being attacked by wild dogs and angry +anima, a raid on the village they were living in during the night) but they were all things that had happened to them, so he felt they were rational worries at least in that regard.
"We should probably go back to the tribe and see if anything's left," Keane said after a small moment of silence. Straton simply nodded in agreement, the two brothers crawling out of the thatch of undergrowth before standing up. All Straton could do for a few seconds was look around them, trying to decipher which way would actually lead back. Even out in the open now, he really didn't have any more certainty than random guesses.
"Keane? Do you remember which way's back?" he asked, turning back towards the older boy. A frown was on his face now as he surveyed their sounding area.
"I… I think it was this way," he said at last, starting to walk in what to Straton seemed like a completely random direction. If he thought it might be correct though, then it was better than anything the blond could have come up with.
The two boys walked in silence for a few moments, both too unsure and worried about what had happened, what was going to happen, to really talk. Finally though, after maybe ten minutes of walking Straton started to speak up once again.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" he asked quietly. Keane stopped walking for a moment, a frown forming on his face once again as he thought the question over. The older boy shook his head a few seconds later, sighing out his answer.
"Not at all, but I don't know if any other direction is either," he said. Straton simply nodded, the two starting forwards once again. The whole area looked both familiar and foreign at the same time, causing the boys' hope to take small, but drastic dips and highs as they walked. They were either going to right way, or were completely and utterly lost, but they had no way to know which was which.
After what felt like an eternity they happened upon one of the slim paths the Kim-un-kur had forged. Keane instantly let out a sigh of relief. Sure, he still wasn't certain which way actually led back yet, but at least now they had something to follow.
"Come on, I think it's this way," the redhead said, Straton smiling and quickly following after him.
"Do you think they're okay?" he asked after a moment. Keane tried to keep his answer optimistic for Straton's sake. Truthfully, he had no idea if anyone was okay, but there was no point in thinking like that until they knew for certain. After all, they'd managed to get lucky before, maybe they would this time as well.
"I'm sure, probably. Even if it was a surprise attack, there should have been more Kim-un-kur to fight than slavers. I'm sure most were able to escape, like us," he said. They hadn't gone very far when something up ahead caught Keane's eye, and focusing on the figure half hidden in the undergrowth he couldn't help but feel immensely relieved. That most certainly wasn't something he would have ever expected from the sight of the older boy, but that was before all of this had happened. He was just happy at seeing anyone familiar right now.
"Akule!" he called out. The figure in the bushes seemed startled when he turned towards them, having not noticed the two beforehand. Straton also seemed rather shocked, looking around them for any sign of the teen.
"Huh, Akule? Where?" the blond asked, and Keane pointed a clawed finger at Akule, who was slowly walking out from the dense forest.
"Right there," he said. The teen's +anima was still activated, much like Keane's. Curved horns jutted out from his head, and his feet had shifted into hooves. The redhead smiled at him, not immediately noticing the fierce glare Akule had set on his face as he continued to near them.
"We're glad you're okay. What happened with the attack last night, is everyone okay? We saw you fighting the…" Keane started to trail off, a snarl on the teen's face now and the anger burning in his eyes clear as day.
Before either of the younger boys were able to get another word in Akule charged. Keane just barely managed to knock Straton out of the way, the blond boy stumbling from being pushed and falling into the undergrowth, but otherwise unharmed. Keane himself wasn't quite able to dodge the angry teen, one of his curved horns ramming into his side and knocking the wind out of the boy.
The redhead immediately started scrambling away, going the opposite direction from Straton. He had no idea what was going on at all, but one thing he knew was to keep the younger boy out of danger. Keep the attention on himself and stay as far from Straton as he could.
"What's wrong with you?!" Keane yelled once he managed to catch his voice again. Akule practically growled his answer as he stalked up to Keane. The redhead was taking a step back for every step forward that Akule took this time though, so the distance between them stayed mostly the same. An aching pain was starting to set in where he'd been hit, and he was hoping that he wouldn't have to repeat that.
"It's all your fault! You god damn Sailandians!" he spat, only serving to further confuse Keane. The redhead could see that Straton had gotten back to his feet and was running to catch up with them, the worry and confusion he was feeling clear, even from this distance.
"What in the world are you talking about? We didn't do anything!" he yelled, eyes widening in fear when Akule chose to charge him again instead of actually answering his question. This time however, he managed to sprint around the teen and out of the way. "Stop that!" he yelled, turning back around to face Akule once again.
"I saw what happened last night! You're the reason they attacked us! You led the slavers here!" Akule spat, the absolute hatred in his voice combined with the horrible accusation freezing both boys where they stood. After a few seconds Keane started shaking his head in disbelief.
"You… you thing we- You think we're the ones responsible for the attack?!" he managed to stutter out. Instead of actually answering, Akule simply snarled at him again, running to charge the redhead for the third time. Once again, Keane managed to skate out of his path easily enough. When he wasn't having to focus on Straton, he was just a bit faster than the older boy, which was clearly starting to aggravate him even more than he already was, if that was even possible.
"Stop running, you Sailandic beast, and fight me!" he yelled. All Keane did was jump out of the way of his attack again, just barely managing to avoid the teen when he'd attempted to kick him with hard hooves.
He managed to catch a glimpse of Straton out of the corner of his eye as he moved. The blond was off of the path now, watching the two with wide eyes from behind a tree. He could just notice the younger boy's hand shaking as he tightly griped the bark, and the way he bit his lip uncertainly. Keane just hoped that he would stay where he was while he hopefully got everything straightened out. If Akule got a hold of the younger boy, he wasn't sure what he would do.
"There's nothing to fight about! We didn't do anything, we swear!" he said, Akule instantly scoffing at him.
"Don't lie! I saw you two. That slaver let you both go!" He spat, running up to Keane once again. This time though, when Keane attempted to dodge, the Kim-un-kur teen stuck his hand out, a large hunting knife slashing mere inches away from his throat. Keane stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own feet in his fear.
"Keane!" he heard Straton's terrified screaming behind him, the rustling of the undergrowth as the younger boy started to come out.
"Stop!" he yelled, not taking his eyes off of Akule as he did. "I'm fine! Stay where you are," he commanded, taking the silence of the undergrowth as an answer. When Akule attacked him again, the redhead was much more ready, twisting out of the way of his horns and knife and feet.
"I'm telling you, we didn't do anything! I don't know why that man let us go, we just started running! We wouldn't do something like this! Would you listen to me!?" Keane yelled, narrowly managing to avoid the older boy's attacks. Akule didn't even appear to be able to hear him anymore, instead just running after the younger child, slashing wildly.
All Straton could do was stay in the bushes, hidden off of the path and out of harm's way like Keane wanted as he watched. He had to leave his spot behind the tree in order to keep up with the two, Keane having to keep moving in order to stay out of Akule's reach.
This wasn't fair. They hadn't done anything. They never did anything, but people attacked them anyway. And Keane had to always be the one to fight them off. At least before Straton could at least try to help, but this time Keane had told him not to. He was doing better without his help. The only time he'd been hit was when he'd had to push the blond out of the way.
Useless. He was absolutely useless.
The two were near him again. Keane wasn't moving as fast as he'd been during the beginning of the fight, the blade coming closer to his with every swing. Straton was shaking, glued to his spot.
Positively useless. Couldn't do anything. Useless, useless, useless.
"It's your fault! All your fault!" Akule was shouting again. "They took her because of you! Naira's gone and it's your fault!"
"What?" Keane asked, frozen in shock. Akule didn't stop in his attack however, swinging his arm down to slash at the younger boy.
Straton had barreled into the teen's side before the blade managed to connect with the mouse +anima, knocking him to the ground from the shock. Keane was still glued to his spot, now from a combination of what Akule had said and Straton bursting out of nowhere and saving him. Again.
The next thing Keane saw was Akule's knife rising above Straton's form. The blond was still on the ground, not aware of the impending attack.
"STOP!" Keane screamed, running towards the two.
The knife came down swiftly, slicing cleanly into the young boy's back. A shrill shriek of pain escaped Straton, the red pouring out of the wound stopping Keane's heart.
"No!" Keane rammed into the older teen, knocking his away from Straton. The knife went flying into the brush off to the side of the path, although Keane didn't pay it any heed. Instead he slashed furiously at Akule with his claws, the teen not able to dodge the faster boy as effectively as Keane had.
"I'll kill you! Kill you! Kill you! Kill you!" Keane yelled, each word punctuated with a slice from thin, pointed claws. The older boy couldn't even attempt to fight back, instead just fruitlessly trying to get away from the sharp ball of rage.
Akule was covered in dozens of cuts and gashes now, blood dripping from his arms, chest, face. When the teen tried to take another step back, his hooved foot slid on one of the rocks jutting up from the uneven path.
The redhead was instantly on top of him, a blood covered claw raised high in the air and a wild look in his eyes. He wasn't even sure who he was looking at through the hatred and rage clouding his vision.
It could have been Akule, or Kazana, or the slaver who'd caught them, or the one who'd killed his mother, or the man from when he became a +anima. It could have been any one of them, it didn't matter. He'd kill them.
"Keane!" Straton's high pitched voice managed to break through the haze right when he'd started to bring his claw down again, causing him to freeze. Focusing on the figure below him through tears (when had he started crying? He didn't remember crying…) he could see Akule, staring up at him, absolutely terrified.
Very slowly, he closed his hand into a fist, bringing it down to his side before sliding off of the older boy and standing up. Akule stayed where he was for the moment, frozen to his spot in his fear and shaking.
"Go," the redhead managed to force out. His throat felt like it was closing in on itself for some reason, making it hard to breathe. Akule just stared up at him, as if he couldn't understand what he'd said.
"B-but," he stuttered out, Keane cutting him off before he could get in another word.
"I said go! Get out of here and leave us alone, or I really will kill you!" he screeched, and this time the older boy actually listened, scrambling to his feet and running off without another word.
The second he was out of sight Keane collapsed to his knees. He was still crying, and his hands were shaking and oh god he'd almost just killed someone!
The sound of Straton whimpering in pain knocked him out of his thoughts immediately, and he scrambled over to the younger boy's side. The back of his shirt was drenched in red, making Keane's stomach flip.
"Oh god, oh god, Strat I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the redhead muttered, taking off Straton's ruined shirt and using it to press up against the slash in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Straton attempted to smile at him through the pain, but it came off as more of a grimace in the end.
"I-it's okay. It… it's really not that bad," the blond insisted, but the strain in his voice clearly gave away the lie.
"Why'd you do that? I told you to stay. I told you," the redhead asked, shifting the shirt to a section that hadn't been drenched yet. It was still bleeding so much. Why wouldn't it stop bleeding?
"I just… you were going to get hurt," he muttered out, Keane instantly shaking his head.
"Better me than you. I'm supposed to protect you, but every time, every god damn time you get hurt. I'm so sorry," he said. The two were quiet for a moment, Keane having taken off his own shirt now and ripping it into strips, trying to remember the way those two nice merchants had done their bandages.
It clearly wasn't quite right, but the cloth wasn't actual bandages, and it was the best he could do. The blood had started to slow ever so slightly, and Keane wasn't sure what else to do.
"It's okay," Straton whispered at last. Keane didn't believe him at all though. Nothing about this was okay. It was never going to be okay. Even when they thought they were safe something went wrong. Straton always got hurt, and he just… he was going to… he'd wanted to…
The blond didn't say anything when Keane started sobbing, even though in the older boy's opinion he was the one who'd deserved to be crying right now.
And yes, finished chapter. I figured you guys really deserved something exciting after me disappearing for so long, so I hope this worked. Poor boys, things can just never go there way, can they? Once again, I'm sorry for going off for so long.
Well, as always, thanks for reading and please review.