Chapter 12
Pain rippled through Andy's veins, his stomach twisting into knots as he ogled his ankle. A dressing of cloth was wrapped firmly around the swollen flesh. Red flares blossomed beneath the tattered fabric, sprouting from the deep gouges rooted through his skin. Andy shuddered, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders tighter around him only to wince at the spark of pain shooting up his leg. Andy's teeth grinded against each other, breathing heavily, until a cool tingle washed away the pain. He blinked down at the small block of ice settled around his ankle that slowly crept around the wound to seep through the dressing.
The gentle chill tickled the deep ridges ringed around his ankle, almost massaging the puckered flesh beneath the layers of cloth. Andy sighed, his eyelids growing heavy as fatigue gnawed at his bones, yet as darkness inched around him the boy shook his head with a jolt. He swatted at the thin layer of ice on his ankle through gritted teeth and rocking into the blanket around him slowly.
"You know," Andy jumped at the young man's voice, tearing his gaze from the ground up. The wind whistled along the rocks of the cave they were in, the thick tree debris and vines creeping along the cavern walls. Andy squinted at the miniscule fire crackling in the center of the cave, its orange hands painting the doppelganger's face alight with warmth and a twinkle in his eyes. The white cloak laid under the man's frame as he stoked the flames with a twig, his gaze trained on the embers greedily lapping at the shadows around it. "Straining to stay awake defeats the purpose of finding shelter."
Andy blinked, his lips thinning into a firm frown as he glanced away. His arms crossed over his chest. The young man brought the twig from the fire, watching the dark, bloody orange bleed into the bark.
"It's quite odd," he said, the embers glowing weakly along the bark, "how easy it is for light to be devoured in an instant when it lays with night." He gently blew at the bark, the embers instantly going out into a haze of smoke. "But then again, so does the dark when it lays with day."
Andy's brows furrowed, ogling the man as he murmured, "What?"
The man glanced at Andy with a blank stare then brought his gaze back to the fire. His twig stirred the embers of the flames idly.
"Just murmuring," he shrugged, the fire cracking under the twig.
Andy squirmed against his corner of the cavern, his fingers rolling the brittle strands of the blanket in his hand. Andy forced his self to look at the young man and felt his stomach twist. The man was a hand taller than him, his skin drinking in the glow of the orange flames to glimmer a paleness that was sickeningly beautiful. Andy's eyes trailed down the man's face; chiseled, yet cracked by time's hands. The jagged scar lacing his cheek scrunched along his jaw with every twitch of his mouth while his icy eyes stayed locked onto the fire before it could leap on them both.
Just like…
Andy bit his tongue, wincing at the sharp pinch of teeth. This isn't—can't and won't—Elias. Andy nodded absentmindedly as he stared at the man. Despite the split reflection of his face and lean build, Andy could not tear his gaze away from tamed jungle of hair ruffled on top of the man's head. There were no locks to be brushed aside from his eyes as a bang of hair swayed just over his brows while the ends of his hair framed his pale face with that pure, unmistakable color—
Black.
So dark the night found herself envious.
Andy flinched out of his thoughts with the feather light touch of fingers upon him. The man's hand hovered over his ankle, carefully peeling the dressing from around the wound when Andy jerked back. Pain seared through his ankle, shooting a bolt of heat up through his leg as he hissed. The man's lips twisted as he set his hand on Andy's knee.
"Calm yourself," the man whispered, feeling the boy's knee tremble under his grasp. His fingers brushed over the gray bruise mushrooming along Andy's knee. His gaze held onto Andy's, whispering once more, "Calm."
The words seemed to send a wave over Andy's jittery frame as he hesitantly stretched his ankle out to the outstretched palm. The man laid his hand over the matted cloth and peeled away the last few layers only to feel Andy tense beneath him. The boy's eyes nearly toppled out at the fiery red pooling within the deep gouges, hiccupping up a mixture of yellow-green pus that puckered around the swollen skin. Andy's breath caught on the back of his tongue, his heartbeat ringing in his ears until a flicker caught his eye. Buried beneath torn muscle and blood, laid a fragment of white popping out of the churned mess where a crack splintered through the tip; creeping like a spider web down beneath the depths of the wound.
The color in Andy's face drained as his stomach churned violently. He slapped a hand over his mouth while his throat struggled to gulp down the bile prying for his lips. The man laid a free hand on Andy's knee again, his thumb rubbing the skin. The gentle rubbing set Andy's jittery stomach lax as he blinked through glassy eyes at the serene line gracing the other's lips.
Andy swallowed the bile in his throat down thickly as the man's gaze bore into him, spouting a million words he didn't understand—yet the unspoken stillness quelled his hammering heart. The man turned back to the wound and let a small powder of blue drizzle from his palm. Andy winced at the iciness of the powder until the feeling grew over his ankle, numbing it from the pain. The man tugged his knapsack closer to him and yanked out a roll of cloth, carefully lifting the boy's ankle to wrap it around the flesh.
As Andy watched the man tie the last of the cloth around his ankle with a frown, he gently pulled his ankle away from the man. The man blinked, looking up at the boy quizzically as he asked, "Who are you?"
The man's bewilderment softened as he set the last of the cloth back into his knapsack. Andy's brows furrowed and his hand wrapped around the other's wrist.
"Who are you?" He said firmly despite the uneasiness pluming in his chest.
The man stared at Andy before placing a hand over the boy's. Andy's cheeks flushed a bright red as the man's lips brushed over his knuckles. The man tilted his head to the side with a soft smirk curling along his mouth.
"Who do you want me to be?" his cool lips whispered against Andy's hand.
Andy yanked his hand away from the man as if he burned him. The blush infesting Andy's cheeks scorched through every freckle on his face until chuckling brought him out of his daze. The chuckling quickly turned into snorts, then into unruly laughter that slapped against the walls. The man doubled over on the ground as his laughter writhed his body from side to side. Andy ogled the man until he rose back up, wiping a tear from his eye.
"You should have seen your face," he gasped through his snorts. "You're as red as a virgin!"
The blush seemed to grow darker than before as Andy curled his self into the corner of the cavern, his lips pursed between a frown and a pout. As the man's chortling finally died down, he tilted his head to the side with a grin.
"Aww," he mused, gently poking Andy's cheek while trying to stifle his laughter. "Don't make that face."Andy swatted his finger away much to the man's chagrin.
"I'm just asking for your name." Andy snapped. "Is that too much to ask?"
The man clucked his tongue, leaning back on his palms with a sigh. Andy arched an eyebrow at him as he ruffled his dark hair.
"Does it matter?" he replied apathetically. "You're still alive and fully intact as I far as I can tell."
"That's not the point."
"You're not from around here are you?" The man lazily trailed his gaze down Andy's flushed cheeks and makeshift clothing he spared onto his back. He rolled his neck to the side, sighing gleefully at the pop of his joints. "Anyone with a brain thrown into a riverbank and drowned would have enough sense not to walk through these parts of the forest."
Andy felt his cheeks heat up, his fists balling across his chest as he jerked up. Just as a snappy remark was about to fly from his tongue he froze. The nails digging into his palms grew as numb as the ice as he sank back against the corner. He shook his head.
Why was this stranger creeping through his skin so easily?
The man frowned as Andy nestled his self into the corner again, shooting him a wary glance.
"So," Andy started uneasily, "who are you?"
The mischievous glint in the man's eyes faded, dulled into the dark depths of ice, and narrowed his eyes. He leaned closer to Andy, the tips of their noses inches apart. "Like I said," his voice dropped into an icy slur as he whispered lowly, "Who do you want me to be?"
A shudder wracked down Andy's spine at the icy orbs staring into him. The man stared at him in silence before gathering his knapsack. He shuffled away from Andy towards his side of the cavern. The white cloak was smoothed out along the ground as the man spread his self upon it.
"I wouldn't recommend moving too much," the man said, eyes locked on the dark walls that jutted out above them. Andy squinted at him over the fire. "Pain can only go so long without a host."
Andy ran his hands over his face, groaning quietly. He slumped back against the corner and listened to the crackling fire fill the silence between them. As he scrutinized the dark locks sprawled along the ground. This isn't him, Andy thought with heavy heart.
"Can't be him." Andy's eyelids drooped ever so slowly with the small waves of warmth that washed over him and finally let his self fall into slumber's arms.
The boy's muscles finally relaxed beneath trembling skin as his breathing fell into an even pattern. Yet unaware to Andy, the man turned back around, staring at him through miniscule wall of flames between them.
Gray fractals pierced the remnants of night as the sun rose through the fog. Pale rays of light slithered through thick branches and rocks to linger over a cavern deep within the forest.
The weak warmth dripped through the vines sealing the cavern's mouth and fell upon Andy's eyes. The boy groaned at the darkened light roaming through his slumber. He begrudgingly leaned forward, a yawn escaping his lips. His eyes adjusted to the dust and dirt dancing on the frail smoke of the fire that had burned out well into the night.
He ran a tongue over his cracked lips, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes until his gaze fell upon the body just a foot away from him. A flurry of memories reawakened in an instant as he jerked back against the cavern walls. He watched the man's chest rise and fall among his makeshift cot of a cloak with his raven, black locks fanning out under him messily.
Andy's nails dug against the slick rock while his heart thrummed to life in his ears. Despite the calm aura rolling from the man, a flash of ice tearing through one of the hunter's stomach—spilling the frozen remnants of his entrails—and tearing of a bear trap sprint through Andy's mind. He sucked in his bottom lip.
You're next, Andy gulped at the thought.
His eyes quickly followed the trail of light coming from the entrance of the cavern and he glanced back down at the man's still form. The boy sucked in a deep breath and carefully rose from his corner, wincing at the sharp throbbing in his ankle. He tied the ends of the blanket around his neck and limped forward. Andy quickly tiptoed around the man, following the light at the end of the cavern. Once he reached the entrance, Andy casted a glance over his shoulder to find the man still asleep.
Andy sighed in relief, brushing the thick vines covering the entrance aside and stumbled out into the open. The boy shielded his eyes against the harsh glare of the light roaming through the trees, carefully making his way down the mound of rocks behind him. The reawaken throb in his ankle protested with each step as he slid onto a thick carpet of leaves and twigs.
Andy shivered at the bitter chill that seeped through the air. He limped forward, his wet earth bathing his feet in dew. The soft crunch of the ground lifted his heart from the fear of an icy death as the mound of the cavern grew into a mere haze camouflaging in the forest—albeit of a slow lifting, Andy mused sullenly with the pain in his ankle crawling up his leg, but lifted nonetheless.
Andy's thoughts dissolved as another shiver crept along his skin. The chill in the air seemed to thicken around him. He glanced up at the towering trees where the sun hid behind in a mask of gray clouds. A ghost of warmth roamed through Andy's memories where a boisterous blue bloomed from its floral head of gold, not matted down by a silent storm. Andy's heart ached at the thought of home, the pain in his leg and ankle dimming in comparison as he suddenly came to a halt.
His eyes widened as thought weighed down on him. I'll never see Arendelle again. He swallowed around the bow tying in his throat, quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. His breath hitched on a sob prying for release when he shakily stepped forward and felt the world fall from under him. Andy gasped as the earth met his jaw with a thud and was dragged downward. Thick twigs tore through the boy's clothes, lacing him with scratches and bruises with each slam his body made with the hill. A series of rocks roughly massaged the aches searing through Andy's limbs until he finally rolled to a stop on the flat land of the hill.
A rough cough tore from Andy's throat as he weakly tried to wind his arms around his self to no avail. While the rest of his muscles twitched and cried at the dents battering his body, the throb in his ankle soared to a burn that made fire cry. Andy screamed into the ground and bit into a mouthful of silt while his fists curled and uncurled. Tears melded into the soil as he tried to prop his self up on his arms. Wheezing around the cries that ravaged his throat, Andy squinted through thin rivulets of red trickling down his brow into the trees that fell out towards the edge of a stream.
Water!
Andy clawed at the ground, dragging his self towards the stream until his hands fell into the cool water. The boy threw his face into the silver stream. Grains of dead skin and beads of red fell from his face as the water rushed by him. He tossed his head back with a gasp, watching his breath plume from his lips in white puffs. Andy scooped the water in his palm, ignoring the rapidly falling temperature wracking through his limbs, and pressed it to his mouth. The water dribbled down his chin, yet left an icy gleam upon his tongue. The boy sighed, still whimpering around the pain, as he leaned in for another sip when a growl made his blood run cold.
Andy tore his gaze from the silver stream to stare into toxic gold eyes and a snarl caked in dried blood. Wet puffs of steam washed over Andy's cheeks, the bristles of the wolf's snout tickling his skin. Andy swallowed thickly over a curse and sheer scream that desperately wanted to fall from his lips and flee, yet the bruises littered upon the boy's body anchored the need to survive. Andy scrunched his eyes shut as the wolf's jaws began to open when a whistle pierced the air.
The wolf's ears perked as it's back straightened. It turned its gaze over its shoulder and quickly bounded away from the whistle. Andy's trembling locked his muscles together until the crunch of grass met his ears.
"Are you alright?" The thick—human—accent brought Andy's trembling to a halt as he cautiously opened his eyes. Dark violet orbs stared down at Andy, stretching out a free hand. Andy ogled the firewood red-brown hair rustled along the other's scalp, then at the hand.
"I," Andy wracked his brain for the proper dialect that would at least mimic the other man's, "can't."
The man arched an eyebrow as Andy nimbly wiggled his leg with red seeping through the bandages on his ankle. The man's boot sloshed into the stream and wound his arms under Andy's. The boy groaned as he was heaved onto the other's shoulder. Andy whimpered under his breath, his legs feeling like lead. He gripped onto the man dragging him across the stream and felt the wind tickle the back of his neck. Andy shivered, glancing behind him to find the wolf staring back at him. Golden eyes then turned to the fog rolling through the forest. Andy squinted through the fog and felt his heart skip a beat. A figure stood several feet behind the wolf—its white cloak flapping along the wind.
"Did you see something?" the man asked, trekking through the end of the forest.
Andy's mouth opened and closed, his heart hammering in his chest as he shook his head. But when he opened his eyes again the figure and the wolf were gone. He turned his gaze back to the man and shook his head.
"No," Andy murmured slowly. "Nothing."
Yet the further they ventured in the forest, the hotter Andy could feel eyes burning in the back of his neck.
A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
