Disclaimer : I don't own -Man
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Chapter 17
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Yet another leaf tribe came to see me today.
Geez, how hard it is to understand that I don't give a shit about them?
Twirling my own blue strand, I allowed my gaze to wander to my lovely blue strands in my hand, totally blocking out the voices of the leaf tribe before me. I knew he was screaming for my attention, I knew he was dying to let me notice him. Truth to be told, I do notice him, just that I'm not acknowledging him as anything that deserves my bonding time with my lovely strands.
Who cares what will happen to the leaf tribes anyway? They can die for all I care.
"Please, we need your protection!" The same sentence over again, time after time. Why aren't they feeling fed up with the same speech all these times? Oh, I'm such a dummy, smiling to myself as I laughed along with my strands as soon as a thought passed my mind.
Leaf tribes are just a kind that needs protection from us, and when I say "us", I mean "flowers". They can't survive without us, such a fragile kind.
"Leave." Once more, the leaf tribe left with such agonizing expression on his face.
Well then, now that we're finally alone, is there anything in mind that you want to do?
Hm? Water again? Such a glutton you are.
Oh come on, don't be mad, I said to them playfully, I heard that a flower from the outside may pass through here later, how about a little prank on that new flower?
Yes yes, you can have all the fun.
Anything for you, my lovely strands.
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Road Camelot
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What... can I do?
Witnessing the torturous rejection Neah was going through, Tyki could do nothing but to stare at him hopelessly.
There were no screams, for Neah had held his voice back.
Yet, that was what killing Tyki in the inside.
Silent is the loudest scream, he remembered someone told him that. He had once brushed it off as something off limits, not even believing it. Never had he once thought that he would experience.
Even when Neah was not screaming, he felt his heart squishing so agonizingly in the inside.
It hurts so much more seeing Neah suffering all alone.
"Neah... Are you alright...?" Such a dumb question to ask, but what else could he say to the black flower in such situation?
He saw Neah flashing a smile to him, clearly hoping to convince him that he was alright when it's not.
"... It's better than yesterday..."
Why of course it's better than yesterday. Yesterday was plain torture. He had no idea why he could feel part of the rejection as well yesterday. Was it because he spent so much time around the black flower that he caught some of the rejection as well? It's painful, but he himself won't die from it, at least that was what his flower told him. He had almost thought that he was dying— No, it was worse than dying, when part of the rejection reached him the previous day. How much pain was Neah feeling exactly?
The feeling of someone peeling your skin off so roughly and then ripping you apart limb by limb, followed by a feeling of sudden thrusting of something hard and spiky into the fresh open wounds, damaging the epithelial tissues further and dragging most of the flesh inside out of the wound as they did so...
Tyki trembled as the memories hit him so hard in the head.
If that was only part of the rejection...
"Neah, tell me who's your bonded partner," Flower had let it slipped that Neah's bonded partner was not the white flower the previous, so the identity of Neah's partner remained as a mystery. Somehow, when flower screamed at him, telling him that it was not the white flower, he felt so relieved out of a sudden. Though he had no reason why.
"I'll bring him or her here, it'll lessen your pain—"
"No."
Neah stubbornly refuse to tell him the identity even at times like this. What so good about him or her that Neah refuse to let him or her to see him in such state?! As partners, both pain and happiness should be shared from time to time isn't it? So why was Neah—
Oh, a thought passed his mind, Oh maybe that's why.
Neah's too gentle to his partner — He didn't want his partner to suffer along him.
It left a bitter taste in his throat, so bitter that Tyki could throw up anytime.
"Why not?! You're in pain now!"
"... He'll suffer..."
"He'll suffer? Then how about yourself? You're suffering here! Do you think your partner will stand such situation?!"
Neah hesitated, his blurry eyes slowly wander to the direction Neah thought Tyki stood by.
"Neah, please..."
"Get out." As soon as those two words came out, blood flowed out of his mouth so rapidly, causing Neah to cough as he choked on his own blood.
"Neah—"
"... OUT!" Even when he was suffering, Neah screamed out to Tyki, pleading him to leave.
Tyki tried to run to his side, wanting to catch Neah's collapsing figure before him, yet both his legs were caught up by something, stopping his movement to the front. Something was pulling him up from the swamp, he struggled against the unknown object, yet the unknown only gripped him tighter and continued their pulling motion. With his mind full with anger and frustration, he was about to scream at whoever that pulled him out when he found his voice stuck in his vocal cord. Up above at the entrance of the swamp, stood the flower with short blue strands.
"Up."
"Flower stop! Let me down!"
"I said, up. You know I hate repeating myself, Tyki."
With that said, she controlled the roots of the plants to pull Tyki out of the swamp while she herself jumping down into the swamp.
"Don't harm him, flower!" Tyki's voice was beyond breaking, before long, the voice evanescent into thin air as she reached the deepest part of the swamp, the same part Neah was trapped in.
"... Neah? I'm Road." She doubted Neah would remember her, but that was not her reason for meeting him.
Neah did not answer, but Road had long expected that. She continued on, "I did something really stupid. Will you forgive me?"
More blood dripped down from Neah's chin.
"I thought you died." Starting, she stared at the ex-strongest flower existed.
"I thought you died so I brought him back by force." Gently and slowly, she caressed Neah's cheek.
"If I did not do that, will you still feel this rejection?"
She regretted her actions since Tyki brought Neah back to the clan, yet what else could she do? That was a not a spell she could undo.
"I'm sorry."
Turning her back against the black flower, she slowly walked a little further away from him.
"As my punishment, I shall watch over Tyki for you. No harm shall meet him in my care."
She turned around one last time to see if Neah said anything, and she was glad she did.
"... Thanks." It was so soft— No, he could not even said it out. It was the expression he wore that tells Road his message.
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Right, when that leaf tribe crosses that bridge... Now!
Hahahaha! Yeah, I saw that! His face, oh my god!
Oh? Look there, here comes our main attraction today.
I heard that he's the strongest flower alive, but why is there a leaf tribe beside him? The wind said that he ordered none of his leaf tribes to follow him... The wind lied?
... Yes, you're right. There's no reason for the wind to lie to us.
Then why was that leaf tribe with him?
Observe them for a while? No, that's boring.
My strands, lets aim for that leaf tribe then. Yes, cut off that log he's crossing. Make him fall. On three... Two... One!
Huh? He's not falling...?
I looked to my strands, you cut them off nicely right?
"It's not nice to play pranks like that, whoever you are."
Argh, we've been found out. This is all your fault.
... Acting cute won't save you this time! I won't fall for that again...
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No.
I said no.
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Fine, you're forgiven.
The flower lifted the supposedly fallen leaf tribe up with his hair, twirling their hair together as he lifted him up to stand beside him. Why would this rumored strongest flower uses his hair to save a mere leaf tribe? Our hair is very precious...
"So, are you going to apologize, young lady?"
... See what you did? I asked my strands with slight annoyance before climbing down the tree to meet up with the duo below us.
"...Sorry." I should have made sure he fell off the cliff.
"I'm afraid I hear no sincere in that apology."
Great, an annoying one.
"I'm really sorry." Bowing my head, I apologized once more.
"Well, what do you say, Tyki? Should we forgive her?"
"I don't see why not." The leaf tribe replied him with a smile.
"Right, you're forgiven, young lady."
I breathed out a relief breath. I am so punishing you later... Yes, you're getting one no matter you like it or not— Stop trying to pull yourself off my head!
I could feel the stares from the two strangers before me, snapping at them, I glared so hard at them.
"What you guys looking at?"
The leaf tribe simply looked to the flower with a curious look, the flower in return shrugged at his unvoiced question.
"I see you're quite close with your strands. How may I address you, young lady?"
... Why in the world does he need to know my name?!
"You see, young lady, both of us need a secret spot that no one can find us." The flower smiled at us, "This place looks perfect as a hiding spot."
So in short... Both of them are going to invade our territory now. Look what have you done!
"... Road Camelot." I hissed my own name to the strangers, still finding it annoying that I have to share this territory with someone else.
"I see, nice to meet you, Road. I'm Neah D Campbell and this here is Tyki Mikk."
I stayed silent, eyes staring at certain strings joining them both together.
What do you think their relationship is?
My opinion? No idea.
I know, those strings only join when it means... But is that possible? This is unheard of!
"Excuse me, are the both of you...?"
"Yes, we're bonded to each other." The flower admitted proudly, earning an embarrassed light slap on his hand by that leaf tribe. "Oh, and that's a secret."
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Blackmailing sounds really good —
"Keep ours and we'll keep yours."
... Huh?
"The clan you're having now is only for show. You won't even bat an eye if they're wiped out. Am I right?"
I blinked, and blinked. Even my strands turned to me slowly, as if they were asking me how I would react to that.
"..."
"Blinking won't help, Road." That leaf tribe called Tyki said to me as he chuckled.
... Are we somehow the ones being blackmailed instead?
At least, it should be entertaining seeing them interact, right?
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Road Camelot.
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The white flower arrived.
Just in time, Road thought. She walked to the entrance of her forest, receiving the panic looks on her leaf tribes as she passed by them. Che, what are you even afraid of? That was one other reason she hates leaf tribes, they're all cowards.
Moving a little faster, she went and greet the intruders of her forest, a little glad that they arrive before Neah's existence being wiped off.
Neah only had about one to two days left.
Tyki was locked up in her tree so as to prevent the leaf tribe doing anything like visiting the black flower again. She even placed a spell on the door so that Tyki could not open it. It was cruel to let one of the bonded partners to die off with the rejection while the other lives on, she knows. However, the rejection only happened because of her mistake.
If she did not act so recklessly, if she did not bring Tyki back by force, the rejection won't have happen.
The reason the rejection starts now was because the bond's signal could not received any signals back from the partner. Before that it was okay since Tyki was no longer by Neah's side, so the bond interpreted Neah's partner as dead, which was partially true at that time, thus the rejection did not occur. However when Tyki reappear in his life, the signals calling out to Neah reached him, yet his own signal could not reach his partner. The bond self interpret it as "betrayal" between partners and so starting the rejection.
Tyki was affected as well, she saw. But he won't die from that since it was Neah's signal that couldn't reach Tyki.
The only one that will lose their life is Neah.
When she went down to Neah just now, she had hoped that Neah's last words to her was "I forgive you" or anything along the line.
But it was not.
Knew it. As if such sin could be forgiven so easily.
His last words to her were "Thanks".
No, she does not want the "thanks", all she wanted was forgiveness.
Why was she the one that does mistakes all the time?
In the past, her mistakes killed off her clan. It was okay since she did not really care or even tried to protect them.
But she realizes it was wrong to do so later on.
Her mistake kills off her clan.
Her mistake made her being hated by all other flowers.
Her mistake for losing her precious long strands.
And now — her mistake for Neah's death.
It was all her mistake.
She won't even mind if the white flower kills her later. For she was in the wrong.
If he really does so, she will only beg him for two things:
One, do not kill any of her leaf tribes.
And two, keep Tyki safe from all danger.
She figures if she can't protect Tyki by herself, she could still ask someone to keep an eye on Tyki.
Now, stepping onto the final stage—
"Welcome to my clan, Allen Walker."
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I'm sorry, I'm really sorry—
"Road, why are you crying— Shit, what happened?!" The duo appeared from behind me, shocked at my current appearance.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling my head so much lighter than before, it makes me want to cry even more. This is all my fault—
"We heard that your clan was attacked, it's not from that attack, could it?" Tyki asked gently, passing me a bucket of fresh water while his flower twirling his black strands with my now-dead blue strands, trying to heal them.
Who would care for that clan?! If only, if only I did not go back to see them one last time—
Why, oh why did I go back?
Even when you plead me not to, I ignored your wishes.
It's my wrong that my clan being attack, I didn't even lift a finger to help them.
It's my wrong, I know.
But never would I thought that my leaf tribes would sell me out.
They told the enemy what I treasure the most.
If only I didn't go back, if only!
Shaking my head once more, I refused still to believe that I lost you, my lovely strands.
Please, work please. I begged silently, eyes glued at Neah's strands that were helplessly trying to bring you back to me.
The fallen strands I held on my hand showed no signs of coming back alive.
No.
Come back.
Return to me.
Please—
— I'm begging you.
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Road Camelot
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TBC
A/N : Road always talks to her hair. But she always thought it was her imagination, even though she enjoys it, thats why in the last chapter's flashback, it revealed that she realizes her hair was truly alive, that it was not her imagination at all. When she first meet Tyki and Neah, she was annoyed xD 'Cause they'll be there in her secret playground since then. In the end, she still accept them. Neah's so sweet trying to help Road~ (Awww) My favourite part for this chapter was the flashback where Road first met Neah and Tyki. It was so fun to write~
REVIEWS:
DarkestWritterEver : Congrats on guessing correctly regarding her identity :D
Candy Crackpot : In the actual Flower Of Animosity, it didn't stated specifically that they live, but they move freely and flowers usually don't really care how it moves as long as it doesn't get too annoying. But the hair of flowers in the original text is really good as they only move when the flower wished to. Cute right? x3
Tokyo10 : His current one is Road LOL Tyki's real flower is Neah, but after the destruction of Neah's clan, Tyki was then accepted by Road as her leaf tribe to keep him alive. Hope this clear things up ^0^
Shadow Spears & Silent Death Walker : Glad you guys still read this fic! w ((hugs)) Be sure to enjoy this chapter too, 'kay~?
Latias426 : More of Road's side of the story will be revealed in the next chapter. Actually, this chapter consists of tons of it xD Glad you enjoy this fic!