-

Only the serene whispering of the winds, and Axl's irregular breathing pattern was audible, now. Individual leaves skittered about the topography below him, sweeping the rubble and the oceanic waves of grasses. The graceful moon illuminated his surroundings, and appeared to smile down upon him, with it's slitted smirk. Starlight burst through the vast obsidian sky, and created individual little spotlights, which all seemed to be pointed at him. It would have been a breathtaking and memorable sensation, on any other normal occasion.

Had it not been for the insecurity, and fear that was plaguing him so greatly. Axl would have loved to admire his magnificent setting, as it was not something he usually had the luxury to enjoy. Sadly, these simple pleasures were almost invisible to him, as a much bigger problem had forced it's way into Axl's conscious. It was his general location that bothered him, above all other issues.

A welcoming, intricately designed balcony. It had obviously been embellished by a female Reploid, hence the fluorescent choice of colors, and the balcony itself was nice. But, a balcony such as this also meant a dead end for the wounded child. It was impossible to turn and go back, as Red would simply catch him, and he would be right back where he started. To his right side, was a pale, lavender wall, decorated with a small alabaster symbol; and he assumed his left side was the same, although he could not tell for sure. Lastly, there was of course, his only available option:

A thrilling little drop to the battle torn terrains below.

The swift, unmerciful flow of time had suddenly become the enemy, and Axl was not given any chance to make a decision. Red's silhouette appeared a short distance behind him, along with the malicious atmosphere that had always followed. The youth drew in a sharp breath, and turned to face his prior mentor. Red's face was marked with it's usual malevolent smirk, while his eyes were ablaze with malignity. He administered a venomous glare toward Axl, who was trembling violently.

"What a waste, don't you think? All that running for this," whispered Red, with an edge to his voice. "And you're no better off than you were back there. Although...I suppose I'll give you a bit of credit. After all, you did manage to get past me, and evade my attack. Hm, maybe I have taught you something."

Axl bit down on his bottom lip, and without realizing it, had drawn blood. It was of no importance to him, however, as he had much bigger things to concern himself with. He backed away from his predator, making each footstep with extreme vigilance. One misstep could cause him trip and fall, which would result in more injuries; overall, this would not be a desirable outcome.

...Or would it?

Axl's vision had begun to distort and blur, making it almost impossible for him to see anything. He believed his own thoughts were acting in the same manner; seeing as though jumping actually seemed like a good idea. The only positive point of this was that Red would be out of the base. Thinking along this same course, there was also the chance that Axl, himself, might survive. It was not a terribly long fall, about the equivalence of a human flagpole. The thing that was bothering the youth, was his condition. Was he resiliant enough to withstand that in his current state? While formulating another one of his bound-to-fail escape plans, he decided he should say something to Red; something just to tick him off, simply because Axl felt obligated to do it.

"Oh, don't be so modest," Axl replied sarcastically, narrowing his eyes slowly. "You've taught me so much. Like the title 'strong leader' doesn't always mean 'smart leader.' All the important stuff." The teenage Reploid finished his remark with an arrogant grin, which added to the overall effect of the words.

Red knew Axl was referring to the grammatical error incident, and his expression changed accordingly. He took a few firm steps toward the swaying child, and his eyes clearly reflected the agitation he felt at the moment. Before he had reached his destination, however, what Axl had done caused him to freeze in his tracks.

Axl had hopped up to the metallic railing that encased the balcony, and was casually sitting on it, as if the two were engaging in polite conversation. The problem with this, was the younger Reploid's unsteady movements. He would not be able to keep this balance for very long, before he fell to the rubble and grassland below. Axl was aware of this, and strangely, was grinning.

"You fool! What do you think you're doing?" Red inquiried angrily, clenching his free fist. "If you think you're actually strong enough to live from a fall like that, then you're not only brainless, but insane!"

"I guess we'll find out, now won't we?" whispered Axl, closing his eyes tightly. With that, he lowered his head backwards, causing his armored legs to rise up; as expected, he had kicked Red's jaw by doing this, and judging by the loud noise it had created on contact, he had most likely drawn blood. Axl's entire figure had fallen by now, and he desperately tried to regain proper positioning, so that he would land on his feet. He was given only a few seconds to do this, and in his condition, he was incapable of achieving this;

And, much like everything else, things did not happen the way Axl had hoped.

-

Zero absentmindedly released an elaborate yawn, stretching out his arms to add to his display of exhaustion. He placed his hands behind his head, walking nonchalently beside X. Normally, Zero preferred to just teleport back to the Hunter Base, as it conserves a fair amount of time. However, X always loved to enjoy the sounds and imagery in nature, so he had insisted they walk back.

"You always have to do this to me. See, I knew I should have went by myself," joked Zero, smirking at X. "Instead of watching grass grow, I could be asleep, which is much more productive."

X rolled his eyes, catching a glimpse of the base. It was only a short distance away, and would not take much longer. Of course, the walk may have been a little more enjoyable if Zero had not been complaining the entire time, but it was to be expected. Zero just did not appreciate the smaller, more simple aspects of life; nor did many other Hunters he knew, come to think of it.

"It's helping you put off the vital scans with Lifesaver, isn't it? Don't complain so much." replied X, keeping his tone completely free of frustration.

Zero had immediately hushed, since he disliked the mention of that medical Reploid. Everyone knew this; Lifesaver always had a bitterness towards Zero, as well as an eagerness to get the crimson Hunter into some form of trouble. This caused Zero to return the harsh behavior as a form of defense, simply because he was not the kind of person to take things like this lying down.

"Fine," Zero muttered quietly. "No need to go there." X stifled the laughter that threatened to burst from his synthetic lungs; he had always found Zero amusing, especially on a topic such as this. He merely shot Zero a friendly smile, and shook his head slowly.

"I had the strangest feeling you would agree with me on that." mused X, who felt particularly accomplished and proud of himself. It was not very often that anyone could best Zero in a verbal arguement, including him. Zero gave X a nasty glare, and crossed his arms in such a way to show his displeasure. Of course, it was not a real presentation of disgust, as there were things far worse than a confrontation with Lifesaver.

One of these things, was exactly what the two Hunters had encountered upon their arrival.

-

I hope the characters are diverse enough. I've probably taken everyone horribly out of character without even realizing it...Or maybe I'm worrying too much about stupid stuff?

Yay, reviews! Thanks guys!

Oh, and because it was asked about why I only made Axl half-blind, and it can't really be explained through the plot, I'll answer. It's really just something I've done to my personal favorite character in a lot of other stories I've done. (Since like...3rd grade?) There's no real story reason here. Unless you want to consider that Red wanted Axl to have the same mark...Yeah! Let's go with that one! The real reason's just never as cool.

Well, tell me what you think so far! It would make my day 9,618,574,293 times better. Or something. :D