Much love to all the nice reviewers who decided this series was worth checking out. I don't mind answering questions, and I love long reviews, so please. PLEASE. Leave a comment?
Cause, blue eyes, you are all that I need
'Cause, blue eyes, you're the sweet to my mean
-Blue Eyes, Cary Brothers
His entire world was pain. Pain and /need/ .
The pain made up most of it: the hundreds of tiny scratches rent into his hide, bleeding him like the pinpricks of a swarm of bees; the deep, unceasing ache of his bones and the audible grind of his joints every time he moved; even the throbbing beat of his heart, echoed in his pulsing headache, hurt him. He moved slowly and carefully, as if the leaf-covered ground was in fact covered by broken glass and tripwires; as much because each step sent lances of fire up and down his limbs as to protect the burden he bore on his back. He dripped blood as he moved, and his ears, pricked in alert, could hear the steady – steadier than his own footsteps - impacts of red droplets on the forest-floor.
/bloodbloodbloodredNO/
He staggered, and nearly fell, legs buckling underneath him; but he managed to keep his feet, leaning against a smooth-barked tree for a moment to let the forest stop spinning around him. The limp body he carried on his back – a weight he felt only too well, but one he would not trust to anyone else until he was sure – almost slid off. He shifted his shoulders, growling softly; the body settled back into a carrying position.
The pain was everywhere; but the /need/ was what drove him, under and above and beyond all the pain. His need to bring the one on his back /brother?brotherfriendonelikeme/ safe again; his need to finish this, this…this journey, this battle, that wouldn't be ended until…until…
His mind was muzzy. But he knew he had to keep walking. It wasn't so much a matter of getting from one place to another as to keep setting his feet down. He kept an unsteady metronome of steps, weaving on his feet as a wave of dizziness set in.
His eyesight was blurred and terrible, leached of any detail. Blood had dried caked over his right eye, gluing it partially shut. He was partially aware of a tall, slow-moving figure ahead of him, one that smelled of sweat and steel and the copper tang of blood; periodically the figure would stop and wait for him. He…he was following the man /silverhair/one-eye/ , more by sound and scent than by sight. /One-eye/ was going to where they needed…/needed/…
He /needed/ to return to /her/ .
A sudden onslaught of light and scent and noise startled him, and he almost sat on his haunches from the shock. Smoke, strong herbs, cloth and metals and a thousand other smells that the forest did not produce…the babble of voices, shrill and loud after the slow stalk through the woods. The shadows of the trees ended, and his blurred but sensitive eyesight winced away from the sunset light. He backed slightly, trying to decide if this was safety or more /danger/ .
But /One-eye/ was moving forward, towards the new noises. He hesitated, took a deep breath, and then padded softly after the taller figure, feeling more confident as the voices and scents began to fit themselves into a pattern that he knew.
And then /she/ was there, all sweet-smelling herbs and cherry-blossoms and fresh-cut grass, he was drowning in her scent, and he was falling into her voice calling his name.
And the /need/ uncoiled from within him, melting into something soft and warm and pure, and he finally, finally let himself fall into the sweet darkness.
TBC
Next chapter: Giant squirrels, Sakura's everlasting shame, and comatose people all around. Oh, and Neji whimpers.
AN
Augh stupid eff-eff dot net formatting, it keeps eating my brackets! Now I have to waste time redoing it, and in between slashes that look stupid...Last bit of fic I'll write until I'm back in Canada. Since, in the stress of moving back and dealing with fussy parents and bank accounts, I will repeatedly burst into tears, this is one of the last few pleasures I foresee myself having for a while. Hope you guys like it. XD
So the lyrics up there ought to have been altered to 'Green Eyes', to fit the fic. Eh. (shrugs)
Soundtrack
Blue Eyes (Cary Brothers)
Suteki da Ne (FFX)
Ignited Piano Version (SEED Destiny)
Akatsuki no Kuruma acoustic (SEED)