Chapter Two
Running. Thud thud thud. Gasping. Clawed branches. Scratching, tears, biting, gnawing into his cheeks. Ghostly fingers that grasped and ripped off his ears. Screaming, bleeding, stumbling. Muddly puddles - bog and marshes. Voices. singing. Crooning. He fell, tasting grass and mud, able to tell what had passed here before - a rabbit? He threw up: once, twice, three times. Running again.
And then hands - grabbing him, hoding him. Ripping his hands from his wrists, as well as his feet from his ankles. He screamed something, eyes snapping open. Maes' purple eyes were glowing faintly, staring at him behind the bars. "Always get nightmares on the first night," he murmured, watching Roy nod and slowly wipe sweat from his face. He closed his eyes, listening to Roy shift around in his cage. He could hear him shivering, obviously trying to fight the urge to cry.
"I have ... an idea." Maes said slowly, surprised that he was talking so much to this person. Roy glanced up, ears perking up in curiosity. Maes placed a hand on one of the seperating bars. He gave a sharp tug, and the bar came out with a faint scraping sound. He had been tugging on the bar for a long time, slowly weakening it. Roy's head tilted, crawling forwards. He could easily fit through - they were both too skinny than they would have prefered.
Maes braced himself, kicking a bar in the door of the cage. The bar clattered away, rolling across the floor. Roy, who had just crawled through the gap, stared stupidly. Getting out seemed far too easy. The homunculus smirked, edging through the gap and taking a dangerous, teetering step. Having been confined since his 'birth', Maes had never learnt the dangerous art of walkin. He took a few steps, practicing, glad for his ability to learn quickly.
He stumbled backwards, letting Roy clamber onto his back, arms locking around his neck. Maes trusted his own shaky walk more than Roy's new limbs. He stumbled forwards this time, gripping the other's legs, wrapping them around his waist. He could hear, somewhere in the distance, an alarm howling, shrieking its message. He could feel Roy's face buried against his neck, clutching aat him desperately. Maes crooned something comforting at him, feeling sharp claws digging into his skin where Roy gripped.
He wasn't sure where to go - just ran as best he could. Kicked down doors, heard yells from somewhere behind him and kept on running. On numerous occasions he nearly dropped Roy, but the male's claws were dug too deeply into his skin to let go. He was making terrified mewing sounds, muffled by Maes' hair that he pressed his face again.
For a moment, as he struggled with a door, Maes wondered why he was bothering to help this guy. He didn't know him, and, as he told himself, he didn't care about whatever happened to the chimera. He should be looking out for just himself, leaving Roy where he was and climbing through a window - something he couldn't do with Roy on is back. But, as he felt Roy's racing heart against his back, he knew he couldn't just leave him.
Maes had never felt an urge like this before. He wasn't used to positive emotion, full stop. But now ... now he felt the need to protect Roy. To hold him and cuddle him, to keep him safe from the world that had already done him so much harm and cruelty. It was a new thing for Maes, and so he wasn't going to let Roy go so easily. He needed to cling to the person that made him feel even the slightest bit human.
He kicked another door open, expecting to find more confusing, maze-like corridors. But instead, a blast of cold air and something wet and faintly painful hit him. Maes instantly recoiled back through the door, unsure of what it was. This was his first time ever coming into contact with rain. Once Maes realised and was definately sure that it wouldn't hurt him or Roy, he hurried on, splashing into puddles as he went. He heard Roy whine softly against his ear, and sped up his pace.
As he ran, he saw a house, instantly knowing that no one lived there. The windows were boarded shut, and the lock was rusty from lack of use. He smacked a bottom floor window, pushing back the plants of wood behind it and climbing carefully through. It smelt old and musty, but Maes was in no position to complain. He set Roy down on a saggy old mattress on the floor, heaving a sigh. Turning back to the window, he stated, "Stay there, Kitten."
