Remember, this has not passed through the hands of a beta. If ANYTHING strikes you as odd, please let me know.
Chapter 4
Barely a couple of hours ago, Kaito had been sitting in a perfectly insulated room, with no immediate concerns except the looming exam. Now, he shivered due to the cold under a heavy coat of mud, trying to make sense of the world around him.
Had Gakupo transported them away from the city somehow? He had whispered something into his ear, just before the ground under their feet shifted. Was it some kind of spell?
Right on cue, Gakupo began singing; his voice was just a soft whisper against the storm, but the faint echo of his breath lingered on Kaito's cheek. Demonstrating an unexpected amount of strength, Gakupo surrounded Kaito's waist with his arms and leaped into the air, carrying them both into the turbulent sky. Kaito screamed, caught by surprise, and then vertigo made him press his face against Gakupo's neck.
The rain soaked them for a while as Gakupo flew around, looking for something Kaito could only guess. Given the current weather conditions, Kaito couldn't take the data assistant from his pocket to ask where they were headed, though in truth he doubted his arms would answer to his commands even if the machine still worked. He was squeezing Gakupo so tightly due to nerves that it was a small miracle that the fae could still breathe, much less sing. To compound the miserable experience, by now his clothes were utterly damp. Not even the warmth of Gakupo's body pressed against him was enough to stop Kaito from trembling uncontrollably.
Finally, Gakupo descended, so suddenly that Kaito let out a gasp. Gakupo stopped singing and mumbled something in his native tongue, perhaps an apology or reassurance. A moment later, they reached the ground, a narrow ledge on a mountain slope, close to a roaring waterfall. To their right, there was a chasm, brimming with rainwater and darkness. To their left, the rock wall opened into a roundish entrance, partially blocked with boulders.
Gakupo pushed the wet hair out of his face and flapped his wings a couple of times near the edge of the outcropping, sending raindrops everywhere. Then, he carefully passed through the narrow opening walking sideways like a crab. Kaito followed him after fishing out the flashlight from his pocket.
The trembling light illuminated a small cavern, with a surprisingly lived-in look. There were a couple of ancient-looking chests resting on the stone floor, surrounded by a wild variety of broken and old artifacts of human origin. Above them, bundles of dried herbs hung from ropes tied between the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Close to the entrance of the cave, an unlit fire pit was surrounded by faded cushions for seating. In the back, a small mount of dry grass and flowers presumably served as some kind of nest. A gloomy passage to its right continued further into the hidden heart of the mountain.
Gakupo went to a corner and retrieved a bundle of firewood. He knelt by the fire pit and tossed the fuel inside, then straightened up and adopted a look of concentration. He sang briefly, and fire burst before him, dancing from log to log. Kaito took off his backpack and knelt by the endling's side, warming his hands gratefully.
"Is this your home?" Kaito wondered aloud. It was hard to accept anyone could live in such poor conditions in that age, even fae.
Gakupo didn't answer. Instead, he walked towards a big chest and began rifling through it. To Kaito's surprise, it was full with clothes, blankets and bedclothes. Interestingly, many of the clothes were completely devoid of the adjustments needed to accommodate Gakupo's anatomy. Together with the many disparate artifacts around them, the size and normalcy of the garments made Kaito suspect Gakupo indulged in either dumpster diving, or outright stealing from human settlements. He frowned in passing disapproval, but it was hard to judge someone so isolated and helpless too harshly.
Gakupo finally extracted some blankets, a cape and two worn-down rags, possibly sheets, and handed one of the rags to Kaito. The young man examined it with puzzlement, briefly wondering what the fae expected him to do.
Gakupo spoke in the islander language, with a questioning look on his face. Kaito hurriedly took out the data assistant from his pocket, grimacing at the cracked screen. At least for the moment the device was still operational, so he pointed it towards Gakupo. After a few seconds, Gakupo repeated the question, speaking slowly. Kaito scanned the resulting list of words. It seemed the endling was telling him to use it as a towel.
"Ah, yes, yes." Kaito nodded several times eagerly. He stood up holding the 'towel' but then halted his movements. It wouldn't do any good unless he took off his muddy clothes. However, surely Gakupo wasn't expecting him to strip right there in front of him?
The fae obviously didn't share his qualms about it, because he nonchalantly dropped the white pants to the ground and began to dry his body with the other rag. Kaito boggled, too surprised to even look away. When he deemed himself sufficiently dry, Gakupo threw the piece of fabric and the wet pants near the opening of the cave. He then noticed Kaito's expression and let out a chuckle. Kaito apologized and turned around quickly, flustered.
Gakupo commented something in an amused tone and laughed again. Kaito continued examining the opposite wall until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find a smiling Gakupo with a woolen cape wrapped around his figure. The fae tugged on Kaito's shirt, shaking his head.
"I know, I know! I'll get on it right away, I just..." Kaito stammered. He took a breath, and after placing the rag on top of one of cushions, he began to unbutton his shirt.
Gakupo obviously sensed how nervous Kaito felt, because he went to the entrance of the cave and stood there for a while wringing out his hair.
Stop acting like an idiot, Kaito told himself, fighting with his gelid fingers. If you behave like a kid, he'll treat you as one.
As he undressed, Kaito peeked at the figure by the entrance curiously. With Gakupo leaning forward slightly and the long purple hair out of the way, it was easy to see the long slits on the back of the cape that allowed the wings to come through. Unlike many of the things inside the chest, the garment seemed hand-made, and specifically tailored to fit Gakupo.
The rag was a poor replacement for a hot bath, but Kaito cleaned himself as much as possible before tossing it and his clothes aside. Then, he threw one of the blankets around his shoulders and sat down next to the fire.
"Gakupo, I'm ready," he called to the fae.
Gakupo sat down by his side, smiling. "Kaito teach trick," he said in a slightly accented tone while pointing towards the data assistant. "Gakupo learn trick. Good boy!"
Now that was a surprise. "Ah, you want to learn how to search words in this? Sure, it's pretty simple!" Kaito excitedly began to demonstrate how to go back and forth between the two languages. Gakupo watched him carefully, then clumsily dragged his finger on the screen once Kaito handed him the device. Kaito realized he was watching someone completely unfamiliar with tactile technology interacting with his first touchscreen. He placed his hand over Gakupo's and gently guided his movements as the fae navigated the different options. After a couple of searches, the endling began to operate the device by itself, nodding occasionally and muttering. Kaito watched him in amused silence for a while and then turned his gaze to the fire.
"This has been such a long day," he commented quietly. He had run through a gamut of emotions during the last hours, battling anxiety and fear. Some of that fright still lingered in the back of his throat, when he thought about what would happen when he returned to the city, but the fire and the presence next to him were powerful tools to soothe the tension. Besides, Kaito felt a small measure of pride, as his eyes returned to the profile tinged by the firelight. Gakupo would fly the skies again, thanks to him.
How soft was the glow of fire on those features! Golden hues sought skin and hair, spreading their honeyed touch all over. Liquid metal seemed to take shelter inside the turquoise eye, changed into a miniscule and remote star. Could he ever hope to reach such a distant vision? There were things that even words couldn't convey, and they were still struggling with words themselves. And yet Kaito had to persevere, as the aching inside of him demanded. No other course of action was conceivable; nothing else would sate his heart.
Gakupo turned to look at him with a small smile on his face. Without saying anything, he placed the data assistant aside and held one of Kaito's hands between his own. The gesture had a certain quality to it, almost like a practiced ritual. Perhaps the lack of spontaneity, the sense that it was something Gakupo had witnessed others do and was repeating faithfully was just a consequence of Gakupo's imprisonment in the city of humans, or the results of a life of loneliness. But it mattered little, since his smile was sincere and his hands were steady and warm.
Kaito's heart began to race again, his thoughts in a whirl. Was it a good idea to break the silence? He would need to use the data assistant, and that meant letting go of Gakupo's hands. Ultimately, he stayed motionless, gazing at the fae, as one idea began to congeal inside of his mind: Maybe they would never fully understand each other. Words or no words, there are always shadowy places inside people.
But perfect understanding isn't necessary for us to be together, right? More than anything else...I want you to be by my side.
It was a simplistic way of seeing things, of course. Kaito had no idea how to integrate Gakupo into his life in the city. He didn't even know if Gakupo wanted to be part of it in the first place. But at that moment and place, Kaito could turn his back to the uncertainties of the future. Now, there was only Gakupo and the cocoon of night and raging wind around them.
What do you mean to me? I want to know. I want...
Before he could change his mind, Kaito leaned forward and kissed Gakupo softly. Gakupo seemed surprised, and Kaito realized he had no idea if the fae even knew what the gesture meant. Kaito pulled back, ready to apologize, but Gakupo smiled.
"Good," he said. He tapped Kaito's mouth with a finger. "Yes."
Kaito let out something between a wheeze and a laugh, relieved. He pressed his lips against Gakupo's, stretching the moment as long as he could. One of his hands sank into the purple hair he had admired for so long, the other explored Gakupo's back, between the wings. The fae stroked Kaito's cheeks with his thumbs, and then delicately traced the curves of Kaito's ears and the shape of his jaw.
Outside, the storm howled as it traversed the lonesome landscape. Inside, a torrential need for more guided Kaito's body, and he surrendered to it completely and unquestionably. His hands slipped under the folds of the cape, examining smooth, feverish skin. Flesh responded to him, fingers replicated his motions; lips searched his between sighs and indistinct words.
Fulfillment was an impossible cusp to reach. It would always be distant, like a mirage across a precipice, and he would always be useless and small, eternally yearning for something that had no name. That was the fear that had plagued Kaito, until that night. Now, with each caress, he rose higher and higher above the clouds of the mundane. With each kiss, the threads of his thoughts dissolved further in the sweet current. Fire burned outside and inside of him, in every crook of his body, in his innards, in his tongue, in his eyes. Gakupo sang and Kaito joined along with his own tune of unparalleled longing.
The storm outside raced the skies, washing away the night. The storm inside raced across Kaito's limbs and filled his heart with pulsing electricity, making him cry out again and again. Little by little desire tore away at him, until he finally feel asleep by the fire pit, cradled in the endling's s arms.
Consciousness returned very slowly to Kaito the next morning. At first, he had no idea where he was, other than it was considerably harder than his bed. He sat up rubbing his neck, blinking confusedly at the messy surroundings.
His eyes turned towards the opening of the cave, drawn by the shaft of daylight emanating through it. After his eyes became accustomed to the brightness, he saw Gakupo sitting on the ledge outside. His wings shone with a darkly purple hue in the sun, partially hiding the rest of his figure, but he seemed to be swinging his legs on the edge while humming softly and stomping the ground with his tail rhythmically.
Kaito rose, pushing aside the blanket and Gakupo's cape that had been covering his figure. He looked around for his clothes, but he didn't see them anywhere. He scratched his head, but finally shrugged and walked outside as he was. It was a bit embarrassing, though by now Gakupo had seen every part of him in detail...
As unerring as Kaito had come to expect, Gakupo turned to him before he could even say a word. "Good morning, Kaito." The words were only slightly warped by his accent. "Had you a good sleep?" The fae smiled proudly after this, waving the data assistant in his hands.
"Wow, you learn fast!" Kaito gushed obligingly. "Ah, good morning! I slept well." He approached Gakupo, but decided against sitting next to him when he took a good look at the view before them. In fact, some of the vertigo of the previous night returned in full force, as he fully realized how deep the chasm was.
"No fearing, I hold," the endling rushed to say and stretched out a hand. "Sit."
Gritting his teeth, Kaito carefully took Gakupo's hand and crouched down, scooting closer to the edge as gradually as he could. He unashamedly gripped the fae's arm as he dangled his legs past the ledge, squeezing his eyes shut. Gakupo placed the data assistant beside him with a chuckle and dedicated his whole attention to soothing Kaito, until he dared look again at the colorful scenery.
Below, far down, was a valley covered in trees of various types, mainly conifers. It was like a gigantic cup filled with dark green liquid, slightly rippling due to the breeze. The tiny valley was surrounded by mountains at all sides; so steep were the slopes and so thick the vegetation below, that wings were probably a necessity when travelling the surroundings. The only thing Kaito could see beyond the boundaries of the valley was clear blue sky.
The descent of the nearby river was broken into several waterfalls before disappearing into the trees, creating several pools of bubbling water. The closest one was circled with big rocks and vegetation; Kaito spied his clothes and Gakupo's pants fluttering below, hanging from the branches of a tree next to the pool. Presumably, the fae had washed them.
"Data assistant is hungry," Gakupo commented.
"Oh? Ah, right, I need to charge it. I brought a solar charger, it's inside my pack," Kaito wasn't sure Gakupo really understood any of that, but he clarified things by crawling back inside the cave and returning with the device in question.
"Flower," the fae noted, as he watched Kaito place the charger and the device on the ground, absorbing solar energy.
"Yeah, it's like a flower, it eats sunlight." Hopefully in time, Gakupo would be able to understand more complex scientific explanations, but that was serviceable.
Gakupo nodded thoughtfully. "You hungry too?"
"Me? Yeah...But I'd like to clean up first. You know, bathe?" Kaito pantomimed taking a shower, and pointed towards the waterfall.
Gakupo tilted his head. Abruptly, he circled Kaito's waist with his arms, pulling him close.
"Wha-!" Kaito's voice cracked into a little shriek when Gakupo jumped off the ledge. A second later, the fae began singing, his wings unfolded and their fall turned into a glide.
"Warn me before you do that!" Kaito squeaked, sounding less manly than what he would've preferred. Gakupo's smile grew, almost cat-like.
Tracing wide circles in the air, they descended right into the waters of the closest pool. While Kaito sputtered and sloshed around, Gakupo twirled and batted his wings, as comfortable in the water as he had had been in the air.
"Gyah, you...!" Kaito's first instinct was to crawl out of the icy current, but a proper response was needed first. He heavily swam closer to Gakupo, thinking of dunking him; however, all thoughts of vengeance vanished from his head when the fae smiled joyfully at him.
"I'm glad for Kaito!" The endling declared and kissed him briefly before bobbing away like a feathery cork.
"…uh..." Kaito replied eloquently. He floated debating what to say or do, with that familiar sense of having wasted the perfect moment to act charming.
After a while, Gakupo crawled out from the water; he stood on a big rock, shaking his hair and wings like a mix between a dog and the world's biggest pigeon, before lying down to bask in the sun. Kaito joined him, enjoying the warmth of the stone under his body. Out of curiosity, he reached out and pushed aside the wet bangs covering Gakupo's forehead. He touched the skin gingerly. It was hard to say without instruments, but it seemed to be warmer than normal.
"You are still sick, you shouldn't be exerting yourself," Kaito said worryingly. What was he supposed to do if Gakupo relapsed here? He had some medicine in his bag, painkillers, anti-allergens and antiseptics, but he didn't even know what the illness was in the first place.
Gakupo just grinned and caressed his hand. Undoubtedly, he hadn't understood a word of what Kaito had just said.
"I'll take care of you somehow, don't worry," Kaito said, mostly for his own benefit.
They rested there for a while, hand in hand, while the day gradually became warmer and warmer. Aside from the roar of the waterfall, the valley seemed very quiet, offering just the rustling of trees and the occasional chirp of a bird; Kaito wondered idly if there were any big animals living within the rocky walls.
Abruptly, Gakupo sat up, covering his mouth with a hand in alarm. "Kaito is hungry! Bad!" Before Kaito could stop him, he leaped into the air and descended further into the valley, quickly disappearing behind the cover of trees.
Kaito watched the swaying trees for a few moments, scratching his head. The angle of the slope was such that it looked impossible to scale (or descend) without the use of ropes, not that he was the athletic type. Out of options, he went to retrieve his clothes and then sat back on the rock, waiting for Gakupo's return.
Now that he had time to think, his mind went back to the alley and the men from the Pale Line. So they collected fae for the entertainment of wealthy humans? Was that legal? For obvious reasons, he wasn't exactly familiar with the laws of the region regarding usage of non-humans. But even if it was, it didn't make it okay.
At least they had escaped before those creeps could lay hands on Gakupo. Though that was in itself puzzling: if Gakupo had such an amazing ability, why didn't he escape sooner? Even if he was kept muzzled at every point since his capture, he hadn't teleported away during the hunt, just attempted to fly away in plain sight. The video on the exhibition clearly showed he had time to work his magic, if it only took a single whispered word.
Kaito was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that it was an absolute surprise when Gakupo landed by his side, carrying a basket of fruits and green leaves of some kind of plant similar to the lettuce. Unfortunately, that caused Kaito again to squeal in a rather undignified manner, but he recovered quickly.
"Um, thanks," he said, accepting the basket.
Gakupo sat in front of him with his tail perked up, eagerly waiting for a reaction. The fae had taken the time to dress, and was wearing another set of white pants and a short cape of the same weave.
Kaito bit into a fruit, an extremely juicy pear, and had to stop the liquid from running down his chin with his fingers. It was better than any supermarket food, for sure! He mumbled his approval as soon as he stopped munching. "Very good!" He gave Gakupo a thumbs-up.
Gakupo imitated his gesture with a grin.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Kaito offered a fruit to the endling.
Gakupo stared at him, wide-eyed. Curiously, he suddenly seemed much meeker, almost bashful. Without meeting Kaito's gaze, he muttered something that sounded like a question, before shaking his head and rushing to say something else, waving his hands.
"I might be missing some context," Kaito said. What could be bothering Gakupo? Had Kaito committed so kind of faux-pas in giving back the fruit?
Kaito cupped Gakupo's face with his hands, forcing him to meet his gaze. "I..." He began, before realizing he had completely forgotten how to say sorry in the islander language. They stared at each other for an increasingly uncomfortable long time, before Kaito released his hold on the fae. "I think we'll need the data assistant for this."
"Data assistant, good?"
"Um, yes?"
At this, Gakupo again launched himself in the air, this time flapping his wings in the direction of the cave. Not long after, he returned with the device in his hands.
"We're going to be in serious trouble if this things stops working," Kaito declared, running his fingers along the cracked surface of the screen. "Let's start from the beginning...'repeat what you said before', perhaps?" He made the device display the equivalent words, peering at Gakupo's expression to see if he had managed to convey his request.
To his surprise, Gakupo actually blushed and again evaded his eyes. Inside Kaito, his desire to spare the fae from further inconvenience fought with his need to know what was going on. Ultimately, curiosity won over his better instincts and he insisted.
Nervously twitching his tail, Gakupo slowly repeated the first phase and ended it with a few extra words. Kaito looked at the screen with the results, befuddled and bemused. Perhaps it was a fault of the program or the data it used, but it seemed as if Gakupo had asked him if he was trying to adopt him.
Before he settled on a response, Gakupo continued, pulling the data assistant and Kaito's hands closer to his mouth. This time around, it was something along the lines of knowing that Kaito wasn't a wolf and didn't have a wolf life. It didn't particularly help to make matters clearer.
Kaito finally shrugged and gave Gakupo a weary smile. "I don't get what you're saying." He pushed the basket aside and pulled Gakupo into a hug. "Let's be patient with each other for now, ok?"
"Patient," Gakupo muttered and kissed Kaito's cheek before resting his head on his shoulder.
"That's right."
Now that he had Gakupo pressed against him, it was easier to notice that he was still feverish, definitely worse than the night before.
I should've asked Gonzalez if they were giving him any pills…I'm such an idiot. Kaito squeezed the fae even harder, disquieted.
'Let's go back to the cave, you need to rest,' he typed in the data assistant.
Gakupo look bemused at this; he shook his head, stating something in a matter-of-fact tone. The data assistant rendered the words as 'I must go to Prima.'
"Prima?" Another error, no doubt; Kaito was beginning to seriously doubt the quality of the study that resulted in the list of words he was using. The alternative was preposterous.
"Prima, boss," Gakupo added.
No way. Feeling extraordinarily silly, Kaito flapped his arms like a frantic chicken. "The Prima? The huge, scary, city-leveling Prima?"
Gakupo chuckled at this. He flapped his own wings a couple of times, and opened his mouth wide while moving his head in an arc, as if spewing invisible fire before him. He then flicked his tail in merriment, seemingly amused by Kaito's shock. "Yes, Prima." He grabbed the data assistant from Kaito's hands and operated it briefly. "…I go talk to Prima, Kaito staying. I return soon."
"Absolutely not. If you are going anywhere, I'm coming too." The mere idea of facing such a menacing figure made Kaito tremble, but he wasn't going to let Gakupo wander about on his own. Besides, this was another layer to the mystery that was the fae before him. When he spoke of having non-human friends, Kaito had expected them to be very much like Gakupo in nature. But why was he working for a being that had claimed so many lives in her vengeance? Perhaps she was tricking him in some way, taking advantage of his innocence. All the more reason for Kaito to be there and protect Gakupo.
Gakupo's eyes went from the screen of the device to Kaito's face, shocked. His brow burrowed. "I go, Kaito staying. No humans."
"No," Kaito repeated stubbornly. They stared wearily at each other, before Kaito pulled Gakupo into another hug. "I worry about you, that's all. Please let me take care of you."
The trees rustled nearby, loud in the resulting silence. Gakupo's tail slithered along the ground, dancing nervously. Finally, he sighed. "We go…Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"This is long journey, I need rest." Probably hauling Kaito around required some effort on his part. No wonder he sang while they travelled, it was probably a spell to shoulder the extra weight.
So it was settled. They returned to the cave, Gakupo lied down to nap in his nest and Kaito was left to examine the items inside the cave at his leisure.
It truly was a crazy hotchpotch of things, more likely chosen because of their appearance rather than any prospective usefulness. There were a number of things that needed electricity to work, for instance, though in all likelihood they were broken in the first place. Kaito cringed as he compared his little apartment, full of comforts he barely used, to this literal hole in the ground. It wasn't fair.
Beyond the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, there were other things of interest. Piled up in a corner behind a stalagmite, he found some furs, a couple of leather-bound notebooks and climbing equipment. That was rather odd. Why would Gakupo need ropes and pitons when he could fly? Though they could certainly serve Kaito.
I'll ask him when he wakes up if I can have these.
Next, he examined the notebooks. The paper inside was clearly hand-made; it had the texture he had seen in some artworks from the beachside stalls. The pages were covered in ochre-toned scratchy writings in the islander language, sometimes interspaced with crudely drawn maps.
Kaito sat down with them by the fire pit, drumming his fingers on the covers. There was something odd here. Gakupo had a native language; they were only using the Warm Isles language due to necessity. It made little sense that he would use a second language to write these notebooks, and then throw them in a corner to get moldy.
Unless they weren't his in the first place…that would certainly explain why they were next to climbing equipment. Someone had been here with Gakupo at some point; someone that didn't have wings and had to climb down to the valley on his or her own. Who were they? One of Gakupo's friends?
Kaito again opened one of the notebooks and tried to decipher a random paragraph using his data assistant. As expected, it wasn't easy. He tried several pages and gradually the nature of the writing became clearer. It was a journal detailing human movements along the remaining wild lands of the continent: new settlers, troops, reconnaissance missions…in short, all humans that encroached into the lands where fae hid.
So they belonged to a scout or a spy. But why were they so carelessly piled up in a corner like that? For a second, Kaito was tempted to wake Gakupo and ask him. But he quickly abandoned the idea. The endling needed to get back at full health; the demands of Kaito's curiosity mattered little in contrast.
Hours passed by slowly. Kaito dug out a book from his pack and sat outside reading and occasionally eating a fruit. When he got thirsty, he carefully shimmied close to the waterfall and drank.
It was well into the afternoon when Gakupo emerged from the cave rubbing his eyes. "Hungry," he declared.
"You said it," Kaito replied, putting the book aside. The basket was empty by that point, as was his stomach.
Gakupo opened his arms wide; understanding the gesture, Kaito wrapped his arms around him. The fae smiled and jumped off the ledge, breaking out in song.
This time, they reached all the way down to the valley. Gakupo landed next to the river birthed by the waterfall, at a peaceful bend where a net crossed the waters. With Kaito's help, the fae pulled the mesh to reveal two tangled fish. Gakupo prepared them right away with the help of some implements inside a chest under a nearby tree, peeling off skin and discarding useless parts with practiced precision. He wrapped the resulting fillets in fresh leaves of the same lettuce-plant from before, which seemed to grow in large groups by the riverside. Kaito stood nearby watching, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. It was the first time he had met his food before it became food.
"I thought you only ate greens," he commented to distract himself.
Gakupo looked up to him with puzzlement, forcing Kaito to repeat the statement with the use of the data assistant.
The reply was in islander, spoken slowly and carefully. 'I prefer fruits and vegetables, true. But I need my strength back. Meat is better for that.'
Gakupo washed the knives and placed them and the cleaned fish inside a small basket from inside the chest, alongside two small sacks of condiments.
Finally, the fae turned his back to the river and walked pulling Kaito along. There was a small clearing to their right, with a well-used campfire with a grill above it, some logs for seating and even a canopy suspended between four ancient-looking poles. Under it, more furs and cushions rested over a wooden platform. Some firewood waited close by.
Okay, someone definitely must've used this valley at some point. Their surroundings looked so much like a picnic area that Kaito glanced around, almost expecting a troupe of boy scouts to pass them by.
Gakupo promptly cooked the fish over the campfire, and he and Kaito sat under the canopy eating in silence. Despite the fact that it was nothing but fish with some salt and pepper, Kaito found it quite tasty.
After they were done, Gakupo pushed Kaito down and climbed on top of him, resting his head on Kaito's chest. Any desire to interpret this as an invitation was quelled when Kaito touched the endling's face: the fever hadn't gone down one bit, as far as he could tell.
"Your boss...Prima...she doesn't have any doctors at her place?" He took Gakupo's hand and pressed it to his heated forehead. "You are ill."
Gakupo grunted, although Kaito couldn't tell whether it was an answer or just an attempt to get him to shut up.
Well, too bad, but he wasn't about to drop the matter so easily. 'This is not going to go away on its own. You need a healer,' he typed awkwardly in the data assistant, since Gakupo was above him, restricting his movements. Hopefully the word choice had been correct, since 'doctor' wasn't in the list of words.
"...Yuki there."
"Yuki…Um, will Yuki make you not ill?"
"Yuki makes not ill, yes."
"Good, that's good," Kaito said and kissed the top of Gakupo's head. The fae nuzzled him in return, with a satisfied hum.
A loud growl cut the silence that followed; Gakupo barely had time to lift his head, with a face white as paper; a heartbeat later, he was gone, ripped right out of Kaito's arms by two massive claws.
Kaito jumped to his feet, mouth agape at the sight before him. A huge wolf-like creature was standing in the middle of the clearing on its hind legs, holding Gakupo aloft. The fae was fiercely twisting around trying to escape the wolf-man's grip, beating his wings and shouting in his native tongue.
The wolf-man ignored the endling's struggles and fixed his golden eyes on Kaito, snarling.
Kaito's legs could barely hold his weight all of the sudden, and his heart seemed about to escape his body. And yet, the idea of abandoning Gakupo to his fate was too repulsive to even consider. Without giving himself time to consider what he was doing, he grabbed a log from the pile of firewood and ran forward. "Leave him alone!"
His heroic charge lasted only a few seconds, before the wolf-man nonchalantly kicked him in the stomach. Kaito went flying and hit a tree at the edge of the clearing. Stars exploded before Kaito's eyes with the impact, adding dizziness to the burning pain in his gut.
"Kaito!" He heard the fae cry out.
Gakupo, I'm coming…Kaito got as far as getting on all fours before the wolf-man appeared next to him, a predatory snarl displaying his sharp teeth. The beast had Gakupo slung over one shoulder; in any other situation, the sight of the fae's legs kicking the air pointlessly would've been comical, but now it filled Kaito with anguish.
"Please, don't-" Kaito's words were cut short when the wolf-man began savagely kicking him, each strike a harsher pain than anything he had ever experienced.
Gakupo was screaming his name again, but it sounded muffled and distant. Kaito was quickly slipping away from the world, pushed into unconsciousness. A second before he sank completely into blackness, something wet and cold touched his cheek. A crystalline voice sang, reverberating potently from across an undetermined distance. Oddly, it seemed to be calling him.
Kaito tried to reply, but it was too late; the assault had taken too much from him. He closed his eyes and rested his head on top of grass tinged by his own blood. The world was very cold around him.