Disclaimer: Yeah, Iown Hercules. (not.)
Author's Note: I L-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-VVVVVVEEE!!! ( Mushu, Mulan) I'M NOT DEAD YET!!! (Not quite, anyway) This story will be finished if it's the last freaking thing I do! Don't worry about that! Sorry about the long update. I was busy. (Ack!! School started!!)
"Iolaus, Come on. Wake up!" pleaded the demigod.
There was no response from the smaller man.
"No one esssscapessss my venom, fool," a hissing voice whispered.
Hercules turned around, fury and sorrow could clearly be seen in his azure eyes. He spotted his best friend's sword lying nearby.
Not wanting to leave his friend's body, he crawled over to the blade.
"You killed my best friend. My brother!" he whispered, standing up with the sword clenched in his fist. Unshed tears made his eyes glitter dangerously in the firelight.
"He died sssaving you, clumsy fool," hissed the monster.
"THEN I'LL AVENGE HIM!!!" the powerful demigod roared, charging at the freak.
He swung the sword at the spider, catching a leg and hacking it off. The beast snapped at him, but only succeeded in losing its fangs to the whirling blade.
It screeched in rage and pain. Hercules drove the deadly metal deep into the arachnid's belly, twisted it and then pulled it out, giving the creature a slow painful death. Blood and guts spilled from the wound and onto the cave floor with sickening splats and thuds.
He turned around to look at his best friend's body. And his heart nearly stopped.
"Iolaus!"
His eyes were open! He was alive!
"Hiya Herc," he said faintly. A weak smile graced his white face. A shadow of Iolaus' energy was left behind.
Hercules sprinted over to him as his smile turned into a grimace of pain. His body shuddered and he groaned.
"Hold on, Iolaus. We'll get you to a healer. You'll be okay."
The hunter looked deeply into Hercules eye, then said something that nearly broke the demigod's heart.
"Why's it have to be so hard, Herc?" he whispered, hovering near the edge of unconsciousness.
Hercules gathered his friend into a warm embrace, cradling his cold body to his own.
"Because, my friend, if it was easy, anyone could do it," the powerless man replied, remembering the time the little blonde had answered with that response in their childhood days.
"Oh…" the little man mumbled something else, but Hercules didn't catch it.
He shuddered again and lapsed back into unconsciousness.
Hercules started to panic. In the dying torchlight, Iolaus seemed to get paler. His skin went from freezing to burning in matter of minutes. Blood coated one side and the back of the worn out purple vest. His hair was matted with it from his head injury.
"Iolaus, you gotta stay with me, buddy," Hercules attempted a trembley smile through his tears.
He laid the compact warrior on the ground in an attempt to take in the blonde's injuries.
Iolaus' chest was already covered in black and blue bruises, indicating broken ribs. His right arm rested on the ground at an odd angle, the shoulder swollen to twice its size. A still bleeding cut was under his left eye, not to mention innumerable scratches all over both arms. Hercules' own arm was covered with his best friend's blood from the gashes on his back.
"Hold on, Iolaus," the demigod demanded fiercely.
Hercules gathered the smaller man more comfortably in his arms, stood up and then retrieved the torch. He continued to talk to Iolaus the whole way through the cave as he tried to find his way out.
He mentally beat himself up for allowing Iolaus to come with him. He knew the blonde's ankle was still hurting him.
The demigod swore aloud at his stupidity.
"Iolaus, you gotta stay with me," he warned, as another shuddering gasp wracked the small frame. "So help me, if you go, you know I'll go down to Hades and drag you back. If he doesn't let me, then the gods know I'll follow you."
A raspy sort of sound shook the short man's body. It took a terrible moment for Hercules to realize that Iolaus was laughing.
"Gods, Herc, you're starting to sound like me," he gasped weakly.
"Heh, we've been friend too long, I guess," Hercules replied, grinning.
When Iolaus started to go under again, Hercules 'accidentally' slipped on a rock and shook him, bringing him back to full consciousness.
"So, what do you think of Lauriela?" he asked, thinking of the first thing that popped into his mind and desperate to keep his friend alive and talking.
"She's like an angel, Herc. She's gorgeous. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life, and she may not talk, but she's so... caring and full of love," he continued on, rambling feverishly, answering Hercules' questions.
His eyes were glazed over, and Iolaus found it harder and harder to concentrate on them.
A groan escaped against his will.
"Definitely worse than the snake bite," he murmured sluggishly.
The pain was dulling his senses and getting worse. It felt like glass powder was running through his veins.
"What snake bite?"
"At… the Academy…" he attempted to explain, "You… found me in the forest."
"Oh, yeah. You were out there shivering, you lunatic. You never told me what you were thinking."
"I felt smothered… I needed to get out. You… know I hate that… kind of attention," Iolaus said.
"Well, you gave everyone a run for their Dinars. That's for sure. Chiron was -- "
"Herc?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm gonna be sick."
Gently but quickly, the demigod placed the slightly older man on the floor, where he became violently ill. His body was wracked with heaves until he had nothing left. He nearly collapsed.
Hercules picked up the exhausted man and was worried when he didn't even protest.
"Gods, Herc, it hurts so much," Iolaus mumbled, twisting the taller man's arms.
"I know," the demigod's eyes filled again with unshed tears. "You'll be okay. Don't you leave me. Don't you even dare."
"D-don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," the hunter's body went rigid in agony.
Hercules unconsciously cradled his best friend's body closer to his own in an attempt to keep him warm.
"Hold on," said the powerful man, "we're almost there."
He could see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were so close to the village. He started running, throwing the torch down.
They burst out of the cave and into the sunlight. The demigod continued to sprint, clutching his precious burden.
It seemed to take much less time to get back to the village than it did to get to the caves. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the inn.
"Someone get the healer!" he yelled to no one in particular, holding Iolaus out in front of him. Blood from the bites dripped onto the floor in a crimson puddle; the venom in it stung even the demigod's arms as it trickled off.
No one moved. Everyone sitting at their tables just stared or shook their heads sympathetically.
"What's wrong with you people?!" Hercules demanded. "He risked his own life to save yours from that… thing in the forest. And now you won't even help him! Someone. Get. The. Healer."
Iolaus mumbled something weakly. The demigod didn't hear quite all of it, but he caught, "Ania," which caused him to panic. ((A/N: for those of you who do not know, Ania is Iolaus' wife, who died a while ago along wit their children.))
"Iolaus, don't you even dare leave me," he hissed, taking him up the stairs and into his room.
The slim hunter let out a feeble squeak of pain as he was set down, writhing, on the bed. The agony of the venom coursing through his body was pure torture.
Hercules saw a shudder run through his partner's body, and a low moan tore from the hunter's throat. Blood still oozed from his wounds, coating the demigod's hands.
There was a soft knock at the door and it opened. A mass of black curls poked into the room and brilliant green eyes peeked in.
"Lauriela!" the girl jumped slightly. "Can you stay here with him while I get the healer?"
She nodded and Hercules sprinted out of the room. Lauriela crept over to the bed and grasped his hand. She was going to do something she hadn't done in so many years…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, that's it. I hope this makes up for the horrible delay. ::bows:: I'm very, very, very sorry everyone!!! Hope you enjoyed this.
- JILLIAN