Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer in use.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, adventures, OOC, curse words, etc.

Chapter 2

Daisuke sighed as Dark stumbled on a weed on the forest floor. They had just exited Takeshi's house a few hours earlier and entered the forest. The forest wasn't intimidating or anything, except there were lots of plants growing all over the floor, easy for someone to trip if they weren't used to it. Daisuke was used to it, but Dark wasn't. Daisuke was confused about that. Dark had a strong build (not that Daisuke notices or anything); shouldn't he be suave, strong, and etc? But then again, that's being stereotypical. He continued on in the dank dark forest, without looking back to see if Dark was okay or not.

Dark growled as another plant snagged onto his boots that he had borrowed from Takeshi. He doesn't want to dirty his expensive shoes; therefore he placed them in his pack and got some boots instead. The boots were heavy and the plants on the floor did nothing to help. And Daisuke didn't even ask if he was okay or not!

Okay. Dark was just annoyed.

But that didn't mean that Daisuke had to be so uncaring. But then again, Dark was rude.

Daisuke shouldn't hold a stupid grudge for that kind of reason though.

Dark tripped while he was thinking and landed into a strange pile of mud (thank god it's not dung). He groaned and spat out some mud that went inside his mouth. Damn it! Why is he tripping, stumbling, and now eating mud when Daisuke just walks like he done this his whole life? Maybe he did. He was probably a savage that was extremely lonely except with Takeshi. Dark toyed with that idea before he noticed he was still in the mud. He made a disgusted face and pulled himself up. He looked ahead and nobody was in sight. Wait. Nobody?

Where was Daisuke?

Dark screamed in his mind. He was frigging lost in a goddamn forest! Daisuke was probably laughing his head off at Dark's predicament and is letting Dark stay lost.

"Argh!" Dark snarled and he stomped in the direction that Daisuke went. Dark was sure that there would be footprints, but he was disappointed to see that the leaves that Daisuke had walked upon were blown away and he was stuck. Dark dejectedly walked forward. He knew that he couldn't go back to Takeshi's house. There wasn't any trail he could go through. Maybe Dark should just stay here and either wait for Daisuke to be nice again and find him or starve to death. He sat down on a log (wow, so convenient!) and placed his hands on his knees before putting his head onto the pile. He promptly fell lost into thought and didn't hear and animalistic growl near him.

That is, until the creature that made the noise pounced on him.

Slobber fell all over Dark's clothing and claws dug deep into his skin. The action was so abrupt; Dark couldn't protect himself and suffered the brunt of the fall. He landed painfully on his bottom and the weight of an enormous animal squashed his chest. Oxygen was hard to reach his lungs since the weight disturbed his heart, but Dark wasn't paying attention to that. He was staring at the sharp, pointy teeth that had drool on it directly above him. He was frozen with fear and time seemed to be on the strange creature's side. The fear gripped him so tightly; his face was white from terror. The canines seem to come slowly and antagonizing, teasing him. What seemed like hours was actually a second or two before an arrow's throng sounded a tree away.

Immediately, the creature's head and Dark swung to look at the bowman. It was Daisuke! It didn't matter that Daisuke magically had an arrow. All that mattered to Dark was that he had a chance of survival! The creature on top of him snarled hungrily and jumped off of Dark, making a way to Daisuke. Dark stood and quickly examined the beast in awe.

It was a lion, though why a lion was in a forest, Dark didn't know. He thought lions and tigers liked fields and areas similar to that. But he was wrong. The lion that attacked him had golden fur that shimmered like silk. The mane was a beautiful yellow that can remind you of light even if you were in the darkness for a while. Sharp claws glinted in the sunlight and dark eyes stared powerfully at Daisuke. It opened its great jaws and roared loudly. With its strong tail, the lion pushed Daisuke down onto the floor and walked on top of him.

Daisuke struggled with his bow at the lion, trying to escape. Dark looked around for a weapon and none was in sight. Desperate, Dark picked up a piece of stick and threw it at the beast's head. A sound thwack was heard and the lion snapped its head to look at Dark again. Too many disturbances. Redhead will be my meal. That was what the beautiful but dangerous creature thought as it turned back to Daisuke, ignoring Dark.

"Damn it! You stupid feline! I'm trying to subtly tell you to let Daisuke go!" Let's just say a frantic annoyed Dark is not pretty. Normally, if Daisuke saw him like that, he would stare in shock and slight fear, but this is not a usual situation. All Daisuke did was give out a frightened sniff as the lion bowed its head. Daisuke, without looking at what he's doing, grabbed an arrow and stabbed it into the lion. The wound wasn't exactly deep, since the skull must have stopped it from entering.

The lion whimpered and stayed still, trying not to aggravate a head wound. Taking his chance, Daisuke pushed the lion away. Dark had stopped moving when Daisuke had stabbed the lion. Wasn't he afraid that he would miss and the lion would kill him straight away? Daisuke shakily stood up and took the packs that fell onto the floor; he grabbed Dark's arm and shot him a look that definitely said 'Hurry up!' They both ran quickly, not wasting time unless necessary. They didn't pay attention to where they were going. But you can't blame them. What would you do if you just escaped from a hungry angry lion? We all know that you wouldn't stand around and wait for the lion to extract revenge.

"D-Dark. Y-you okay?" Daisuke asked, panting. They had stopped by a stream after fifteen minutes of running. Both were sweating and gasping for breath. Red in the face, Dark and Daisuke had swiftly drunk from the clear clean liquid provided to them from the earth. Dark nodded in answer to Daisuke's question and asked back about Daisuke.

"Y-yeah. You… You too?" Daisuke nodded with an appreciative smile. Though why Daisuke would smile when he was burdened with someone as useless as Dark, Dark didn't know. This just proved that the journey would be a peril to his life. All Dark had wanted when he left his house afternoon was just an inspiration for a new painting, not an adventure that can easily result in death! Blocking those thoughts, Dark glanced down at himself to check signs of blood. Only small droplets could be seen through tiny holes in his shirt where the lion's claws had dug into. The blood had dried already and Dark was glad that the animal didn't rip his flesh. He looked at Daisuke and saw that nothing was wrong. Both of them had feline drool on them and it smelled terrible.

Who knew what was in lion's saliva?

…

Okay, bad. There could be other animals, humans, plants, rotting fruits, etc.

"Ugh. This stuff is disgusting. Dark, you up for a bath or something? Lion slobber is not good." Daisuke said. Once again, Dark was shocked. Daisuke looked like a shy, innocent boy that didn't like to show too much skin. And once again, Dark was wrong. He nodded dumbly and Daisuke gave him a pointed look.

"Are you just going to watch me strip? Pervert!" Daisuke teased. His tone was joking and both of them were glad for the distraction. Dark looked away blushing lightly and began to take off his own clothes. Daisuke did the same.

Light was gradually disappearing over the treetops as both of them set up camp. They made their own respective tents and Daisuke built a fire. Dark just watched; knowing Daisuke did things slowly so Dark could make a fire the next time. Dark was sidetracked by the smooth, paleness of Daisuke's skin, however. Dark's thoughts became unfocused as he watched the nimble fingers moved expertly around.

Mentally, Dark groaned. He had just received a thought that was immediately recognized from his libido. The thought was something like this: 'Heh. I wonder if those lively fingers can dance over my skin as easily as they're doing now. We can put them into a much better use.' Needless to say, Dark was disgusted with himself. He was known to be asexual. Females didn't exactly interest him. They were too chatty and crave to be beautiful too much. Their need for perfection and happiness was too much a hassle as well. Males were… Well, Dark just never pondered about the wonders of gay.

The first time of thinking about it (which occurred during Daisuke and Dark's bath) was a disaster. Nonetheless, Dark's mind was more open now. That sounds cliché but it's the truth.

Flashback Start

Dark

As Dark took off his final piece of clothing, Dark heard a splash behind him. Like a natural reflex, Dark turned around to find the culprit. What he saw was a nearly nude Daisuke (he was still wearing boxers since they didn't have drool) with closed eyes. It seems like Daisuke had jumped in and his hair was wet. Beads of water slid down from his hair and eyelashes and curved around Daisuke's pouty lips. Dewdrops of water went over light skin of Daisuke's chest. Brown nipples were stiff from the cold water and small muscles were seen. Daisuke's body was lithe and small. Cute.

Dark sputtered at his thought. He turned around and noticed a … bulge in his boxers. His penis was erect from just a few seconds of staring. Damn. That never happened before. And besides that, Dark shouldn't think about a guy he was neutral about. Daisuke was sarcastic, but he was also righteous. Proof was when Daisuke saved Dark. This surely wasn't something Dark would contemplate over while cleansing. Since his back was towards Daisuke and he couldn't see, he didn't notice Daisuke staring at Dark in return.

Daisuke

Daisuke didn't know what to think of his quest partner. Was Dark really a partner? Or is he just following Daisuke around, waiting to be sent back to the realm where they came from? Gah. Too many questions. Hm… Daisuke needed an interruption before he gets sick from stressing over stupid thoughts. And what was this strange feeling he got when he's near Dark. It wasn't something like love, obviously. He didn't care if Dark liked him or not, how Dark thinks of him, or whether he was okay. Just a slight attraction. But an attraction for what? Friendship? Or dare Daisuke say it, lover?

Daisuke promptly deleted the last suggestion and thought about friendship. Eh… A new friend could be okay, but it wouldn't matter. Daisuke wouldn't see Dark after the journey is completed anyway. A disturbing thought echoed through his mind. What if they were stuck there?

Flashback End
Daisuke's mind was straying. The fire was about to be ablaze but Daisuke's attention on the wood sticks were waning. His movements slowed and the smoke stopped. Daisuke snapped out of his stupor and was embarrassed to see himself unfocused. He was never diverted from his tasks. His mind was clear and intelligent. Aggravated, Daisuke restarted spinning the thin stick into the other stick on the floor. The quick and jerky movements brought the flame alive. Daisuke pulled his hands back with a yelp when he was almost scorched. He saw Dark watching him and Daisuke blushed in nervousness.

Dark was concerned when Daisuke stopped so suddenly. Then he was worried when Daisuke started going overboard with his twisting. Now, Dark was confused why Daisuke was blushing and didn't pay attention when the fire almost licked his hand.

"Are you okay? You didn't get burned, did you?" Klutz. Dark was amused, apprehensive, and nervous. Daisuke was never like this. What caused his… anxiousness? Daisuke shook his head sheepishly and laughed uneasily.

"Nothing. I was just thinking. At the stream, I saw a town about a day's journey from where we are. You want to go?" Daisuke asked, trying to change the topics. Dark nodded, noticing his unease. Dark continued building his tent. His was terrible compared to Daisuke's, but it'll have to do. The next time they're camping, Dark'll ask about it. Without bothering for dinner, Dark entered his poorly made tent to sleep.

Daisuke rethought about what he said. 'Town? I forgot all about that! I think Takeshi said that there's a rumor going about a boy who is cursed. Something about bringing death to all around him. Maybe we can check it out when we get there.' Heh. Daisuke forgot about his day's misery. Now, he's wondering about this new challenge set before him.

Reviewer Stuff:
Hikari: I'm glad you're interested! The book is The Well Worn Path. But I'm not exactly sure whether or not libraries have Tarot card books. It might because I rarely go to a library so I wouldn't know.
animefreak121: Yay! You're here! You look great! –laughs- Thanks.
minceo: Thanks! Like this chapter?

A/N: I'm happy and yet I'm still not inspired to write much lately. My birthday is coming up! May 5! Let's hope I can work another chapter by then! –sticks tongue out sheepishly- Oh and I apologize for the characters' weird choice of words sometimes. It's how my friends and I talk. Ghetto, yeah. But it's how I live.