Another -18 Jan'12
Disclaimer: G-boys are not saru's... and saru already forgotten the details of the anime too.
chapter 8
The fire filled the silent air of the night with sounds of hissing and crackling, while the small river made the back-sound of running water endlessly. They were far enough from the stream but the silence made it audible enough for his human hearing.
Even the night insects didn't make a sound, much less of rampaging beasts.
Duo sighed, his dinner of river-fish-on-stake started to get burnt on the fire; he pulled the stick from the ground and inspected the fish.
"...you sure you're not hungry?" he asked for the -nth time, feeling the awkwardness started to oppress him more than he wanted to admit. The demon only glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and then fled somewhere only-demons-knew-where again.
He'd stayed silent after they got out of that village-road.
. . . the sole village road.
He'd recognized the ancient-letters carved on the statues planted at the sides of the road too. Definitely some sort of spells.
. . .-no?
Or was it some sort of prayers?
He didn't get to inspect them closely so he couldn't decide what to suspect.
Duo sighed and started munching on his fish, picking on the loaf bread he had in his bag for his journey, it's already hardened with an almost musty smell, and quite battered by all the tumbling and rolling and running he did since yesterday, but his stomach won the debate over matters. All the while he openly eyeing the demon who lost his mind in the dancing fire, knowing he'd be too occupied to notice him staring. He couldn't help but replayed today's happenings in his own mind, as frown-earning as they were...
"It's alright. The trees are here for us."
That's what the demon whispered into his ear when the shadow-fishes passed through. He didn't understand what it meant until the death-convoy left the scene, leaving them crushing each other's body into one petrified bundle ...or, it was him alone who was petrified; remembering how calm the demon was when he embraced his body, covering Duo's back with arms at his upper back to his head and around his waist; as if knowing that he had felt most vulnerable exposing his back without protection at all.
Duo paused his chewing and swallowed. Was he trembling that much at the time...? He sniffled his inferior-feelings in and took small gulps from his water pouch. Remembering what the scenery around them had looked like after the fishes disappeared made his trembling worth it, though; with the moldering remnants of trees made a wide-long blackened line splitting the forest to the edge of the cliff... even the rocks were crumbling to piles of stale dirt; leaving a colored blotch which was them squatting on a small circle of ground, like a spot on the painting of some artist that missed the black colored brush of paint because the canvas had a small hole on it. He had never seen anything like it and prayed he wouldn't have to see that again, to experience it again.
The blackness sticking to his shoes and the ends of his cloak were a sickly reminder of that feeling of helplessness. He didn't washed them by the river when they came across it that evening... couldn't; he had to not forget what death's gentle stroke felt like, so his soul would remember what it's like anticipating death's wrath. He closed his eyes and clutched at his chest, shuddering slightly when his core rippled with the tingling sense of expectant. It felt like being really alive...
A diverting thought popped out in his mind, before he got himself too excited; since the demon was cool and collected through the whole ordeal, was it normal occurrence in his land? He admitted the fishes were kind of beautiful and somehow elegant to see... if only they weren't as deadly.
. . . was it what had made the demon seemed so distant now? Was he somehow feeling homesick?
Duo opened his mouth impulsively, but his mind couldn't put his curiosity into words, so he clamped it back with a pout; frowning with remorse. Perhaps he shouldn't stick his nose to other's business too much. Like in the village, the demon had motioned Duo to wait for him at a respective distance while he talked with a villager he visited.
Duo cocked his head to the side, as if by doing so he could inspect the demon's face for whatever was occupying the demon's mind to made sense for him. Back then in the village, it seemed the demon gave something to the villager, a young man who smiled a lot and bowed as much. The demon had said something to the man, something shocking, and eventually made him crying... but the young man smiled in relief in the end; albeit sadly. For some reason it had made Duo felt left out; it felt bizarre watching the demon being hugged affectionately by a mere peasant in some small village far away from the Palace. Shouldn't villagers be more cautious about demons and beasts more than town-folks...?
"Heero..." this time the word escaped Duo's mouth without him realizing it and before he decided to swallow it back; he looked caught for having said it aloud, but was glad when the demon turned his face to him slowly, although the demon's eyes were glazed and Duo knew that the demon's mind was only halve registering him. ". . . are you sad?"
The whisper was too soft and uncertain even for his own ears, a part of Duo's mind wanted to shake his brain to certainty but the most part of it was focusing on the demon's face in front of him, separated by the small fire dancing lights onto the pale white skin, the ends of the fuzz of his white fur-hat glistened as if catching lights and shimmering gently, cupping his face and hiding his wings which Duo had been so conscious about since the brush with the shadow-fishes.
"Rest."
Duo blinked at the demon's soft word, noting that the demon had reverted back to his own mind-loop as he stared at the fire again. Duo sighed after waiting him to make another reaction, but eventually his exhaustion won now that his stomach was full; patting his makeshift bed of a spare cloak from his bag to be more comfortable, like a cat clawing at its bed before balling on it, he lied down on his side muttering a low good-night; although his frown showed that the deed didn't work magic as to make his bed felt the slightest bit comfortable.
He snorted to the night air; the crackles of the fire answered his complaints.
"RUN LIKE HELL ITSELF IS CHASING YOOOU!"
Odin shouted to the other soldiers on their horses, taking the role as the back line as he rode behind all the men, sometimes pausing and swishing his sword into the air as some vultures closing their backs. He and the men had more additional wounds now, bleeding fresh blood all over their rides and the dirt road; the eight soldier had seemingly fainted on his horse as his comrade helped him steered the horse rein at his left and another on his right steadying him so as to not falling from the horse's back. It would be safer if one of them got the fainted man riding a horse together, but that would slow down the horse carrying two charges...
Lieutenant Cail took fast glances passed his shoulders; Odin smirked at his back knowing the man must be wishing so much that he had a bow and some arrows right now. A loud shriek and a sharp sting cut the air, Odin was thrown to his right with a grunt, but still managed to keep his balance on his steed. He smirked wider at Cail when the man glanced at him with a hard face; make it a crossbow and an endless supply of arrows, he corrected while licking the blood trailing down from a new cut on his cheek.
"Commander!" the Lieutenant called out, "The Sauria is fell behind...!"
"Are you worried, Lieutenant?" Odin chuckled, almost leering when he knew the man caught his implying that they had become too dependent to that lizard in the past hour or so; Cail gave that frowning-pout again, but didn't voice out his objection. "The Lesard is keeping them behind us. So, just concentrate with your escaping!" Odin shouted the last words to others as well.
Some flashes of light flared at some distance behind them, hidden by the trees that were overshadowing the curved dirt road. Cail was about to stop his horse when he saw those lights, realizing the shrieks of the vultures behind them were a few too many, even if it was a Sauria fighting those flying-beasts.
"Go!" Odin shouted his command behind the man, but it's just their natures that the man would feel like he wanted to rebel to the Commander's order; so he pulled his horse to stop. Odin tsk-ed and pulled his steed to stop as well, a little behind the man, as if he was obliged to do so, still defending the back line.
Some more flashes of lights and some explosive flares with muted seconds of intervals, the horses were scared enough that the two men had to steady them pulling at their reins, making small circles on the grounds in agitation. Cail held one of his twin swords in his left hand; he's ambidextrous but preferred more to face assailants coming from his left side.
A bright explosion of light blinded the men for a couple of seconds, followed by a loud boom that deafened the woods for a short moment, the horses jolted in panic when the beastly shrieks intensified and the crackling of tumbling trees heard.
"...Sir!" Cail fought to steady his horse, but he too felt the scale of vultures' attack now was heightened a few levels up. They probably joined forces to manage that scale of blast. His skin stung feeling the sharp air; even his bones felt the rippling power traveling the air.
Lix couldn't put his thundering-tail to a good use against the Whipping-vultures; the beasts had the same ability with the lizard and they're charging from a higher view as well. The men had witnessed it too before Odin decided they should flee.
The vultures' shrieks now heard in a more savage brawl, as they dove into the circle of burnt trees in the woods, just a straight line from the bend of the curved road to the men.
"COMMANDER...!" Cail called out in an emergency.
"Keep running!" Odin ordered the soldiers who waited for them at another curved slope of the bumpy road.
And just as if hearing Odin's order, with a sudden loud rustling sound, Lix came out of the dense woods running straight to them. The lizard's eyes were wide open, with almost frowning brows, jaws clamped tight with ends curved down, bits of the vultures wing and claw sticking and dangling from its mouth; it held its head high, like showing its dignity, but it held its normal tail high too, looking like a letter 'U' on legs, running from the battle with dignity at top speed.
The Lieutenant was a little stunned with how the lizard could make expressions on its simple face...-muzzle, that he forgot to react, eventhough he saw the flock of vultures clouding the forest top behind the lizard.
"NOW! Go, go, go! RUN LIKE HELLLL!" Odin yelled as loud as he could, the men jerked to motion at his voice and ran in panic knowing their shield ran towards them with such speed pulling the lines of vultures behind it.
crackles...
lights...
mute.
explosions...
The chain repeated interflowed with the shouts of fear or surprise from the men and their horses, and the screeching vultures up there. The ground was left with holes along their way; some shattered rocks were falling off the cliff at their right side hindering their escape. Not long the men and the horses already worn out by the intense assault; the men panicked when some explosions got too close adding some more wounds and scrapes to their battered bodies, and their horses panicked when their riders got panicked.
"Steady yourselves! We're almost there!" Odin shouted; his ears picked up the lizard's long clucking sound of anticipation as it knew their goal was already on sight as well, but Lix obligatory kept itself behind the line of the humans at respective distance. Odin was pleased at the lizard's performance that in a moment's weakness he even thought to buy some sweets for the lizard when they reached town, though he wouldn't admit to that thought later.
There were shouts of surprise from the men on the front line as their horses suddenly halted and in fear tried to back away from progressing. The men urged the horses in haste, looking passed their shoulders at the two men followed by the lizard and a flock of rampaging vultures; as the emergency pressed the distance between them, eventually the fear of the rampaging vultures won and the horses ran forward again. Cail saw his men were too close with their line so he pulled the rein and steered his horse to face the oncoming beasts, Odin tsk-ed and followed his action beside him; Lix let out a long screeching-'Kreeee-!' that it's been holding since a few hundred meters away before and followed the soldiers running passed the two men looking dumbfounded at its action.
In another couple of seconds later, the first line of the vultures arrived at their standing ground; with a surprised hiss Cail pulled out his other sword and braced himself for a bloody assault; but to his shock, the vultures collided with an invisible wall just before him, and recoiled behind screeching in surprise.
At their right, now that they were facing the vultures, the sun was setting; casting yellow-orange flares in the sky with brushes of purple clouds hiding the fiery-circle of the sun before the forest tops swallowed its glory for that day...
Duo woke up with a little jerk, feeling like somebody just threw his mind out of the slumber-land back into his body. His instinct told him that it was still midnight. He groggily searched around, finding the fire was already dead and the woods shadowing him from the gentle moonlight streaming down from between the leaves. Sitting up, he found the demon was nowhere to be found and a fear of being left behind woke him up entirely; when he stood though, his mind felt, more than saw, what seemed to be the rustles of the demon's wings feathers on the ground, behind the large fallen bough the demon used as seat when the day set to dusk.
Approaching on four, Duo found the demon lied on the ground there, without so much of a sheet under him on the damp soil. Duo frowned, feeling something amiss; if the demon wanted to rest then he should have woken him up to take the watching shift. Wasn't the demon implied that when he told him to rest first?
Straightened up to his knees, Duo examined the demon's lying body; his frown got deeper. He stood up, looking down separated by the bough and a realization hit him like a slap on his face; the demon's position, pose, was as if he wasn't lying down purposely... more like he fell behind, like fainting.
Carefully stepping over the bough, Duo knelt beside the demon's side; he was almost on his sides with arms bent up, hands slack in front of his chest, eyes closed, and his breathing...-
Breathing?
Duo's eyes snapped wide and he loomed over the demon's body; half expecting that the demon would suddenly open his eyes in a snap and yelled at him for intruding his space. To his dismay he didn't hear the demon's breathing sounds, eventhough his face was just a whisper away from the demon's. The leaves rustled by the wind as if mocking his hearing, and the clouds were cleared from the sky giving him enough moonlight streaming down on them to see how pale the demon's face was; he never realized it before, due to the intense exertion of the day's events, but know he saw the demon's complexion was almost one of those dead bodies'...pale, whitish softness like a body that was drown in icy waters; as if when he touched the skin he'd feel the cold of that ice water.
". . . Heero?" Duo called in the most silent whisper he'd ever made; not sure whether he should call out louder or shook the demon.
His eyes searched wildly on the demon's torso and face and bent arms, expecting any slight movement indicating the demon wasn't dead. The night wind blew passed them and there it was again, the rustles of the wings feathers he felt in his mind; his eyes stared at the still face then, realizing the flap of the fur-hat was dangling to the back side of the demon's head, leaving his wings cupping the pale cheek bare... the moonlight made the striations of the feathers glittered, like twinkling small stars.
Duo sighed his worries out and took a deep breath; right hand tried to touch the pale soft cheek but his fingers shied away before the contact, fearing to feel that coldness his mind had been picturing from moments before. Then he reflexively turned his palm up, feeling the soft wings with the back of his fingers just ghostly...
"Don't. You'll regret it."
"-Waaahh!" Duo recoiled in surprise, his foot tripped on the bough and he toppled over on his back, hitting his head in the process.
"-ooooww... that hurts!" Duo moaned his complaint, rubbing his head with his right hand, didn't give a care that he was sprawling undignified-ly on the forest floor; all his senses felt, beside his pain on his back and head, was the brush of that unearthly softness tingling on the back of his right hand fingers.
"What's with you...?" Duo propped his body on elbows and complained with tearful tone, tears glistened in his eyes, caught by the thick eyelashes and the moonlight made it even more visible.
The demon snorted softly.
"You'll die if you touch a demon's wing." the demon's voice was barely a whisper, but Duo could hear it as if it was a normal conversation-voice.
"Riiight... so does everyone say." Duo answered skeptically, straightened his body.
"I'm not everyone, I'm a demon." the demon said in a flat whisper, but didn't move a muscle.
Duo paused for a moment; "...you... are you alright?" he scooted over and asked softly.
"I'm playing dead."
"What?" Duo asked in incredulity.
"Which is not working with you making me wording my thoughts aloud."
Duo paused again. Aloud? He called that aloud...? His mind objected to the accusation.
"Why are you playing dead, again?" he bent closer and whispered.
"There's a Maggart looming over us on the top of that cliff behind you."
Duo's eyes widened and he turned his head reflexively, "What's a Magg-"
"Don't stare." the demon's hand sought his head out and pulled it into his embrace, making Duo lied on his sides as well, his feet rested on the bough half-bent by the knees. "Maggart is a type of fiends; formed by the negative thoughts or feelings of a dead person's when meeting their demise."
"A..." Duo frowned, getting half used to the fact that the demon wasn't feeling physical restriction of holding him; "...dead person's feelings?" he asked flatly.
"If it's strong enough, and hungry enough, it could swallow lesser beasts and entities to form its tangible body."
"And that body is a Maggart?" Duo repeated, his jester-mind somehow picturing a giant maggot with a humanoid head twitching in the moonlight, which failed to be funny; ". . . hungry?" though he didn't like the way this conversation flowed.
"A Maggart will consume your mind before killing you, turning all rationality upside down. Once you see into its eyes and mark you, it won't forget you forever."
Duo blinked at the fact that the demon used two full sentences for that explanation. "Romantic..." he commented off-handedly.
"Unfortunately, it is so..." the demon's sadden tone lingered in Duo's mind for the rest of the night... because he couldn't sleep with his head cradled in the demon's embrace like that, his mind pointed out that he still didn't hear the demon's breathing. Not even once. He wanted to check the demon's heart beats, if his heart was beating at all, he tinkered for changing the angle of his head to flatten his ear to the demon's chest, but somehow his body wouldn't move... as if it was asleep while his mind beating itself with thoughts. He wondered if that what it felt like to be dead and becoming a lingering spirit.
. . . so, what a Maggart felt in its 'forever' like? Unfulfilled hunger for limitless of time...? Such a sad thing of a person's spirit could become. For some alien reason his heart felt for that Maggart he'd yet to see by his own eyes.
Cail stared wide eyed at the oncoming onslaught of the vultures against that invisible wall, the large birds kept ramming their bodies onto that unseen line but kept being recoiled back, hitting their owns in the backward momentum. Their screeches turned into wrath, and the man's blood tingled with the fear at hearing their vengeful cries.
The horses had calmed down sooner than their riders.
Odin looked pass his shoulder, easing his sword down beside his thigh, making eye contact with the lizard trying to catch its breath on some distance behind them; its tail already curved down at the end, the long neck hunched forward a little, chest heaving with deep breaths; eyes wide, with brows arched upwards, drools dripped from its slack jaws to the ground, already spitting the bits and other things from its mouth. The lizard looked relieved to him, and for some moment he could see traces of fear in the lizard's pose and face, he felt guilty to some extent for ever depending to that creature at all.
". . .-wha...?" Cail's choked voice made Odin turned his head to his front again.
Looking down and recognizing the slightly different color of the dirt road making a straight line marked with two almost-crumbling stone statues by the either sides of the road, he sighed his relief and thanking his Fates that they made it there just in time. That Fates had led him there before...
"Commander..." a young man's voice called politely from behind them, carrying a smile; "Fancy meeting you again in just a short time...!"
Cail turned his horse to that voice in his still dumbfounded state; Odin only turned his head to the young man.
The young peasant was smiling wide in earnest at the two men; their horses made a low snort in unison and bobbed their heads as if bowing repeatedly to him, calmed like an undisturbed air of the morning. The vultures let out high-pitched shrieks and backed away; they eventually flew further and dispersed, until they're gone from their sight. That happened only in minutes span.
The soldiers gaped on their horses at some distance further into the single village road, they were hunched down with exhaustion and relief, and almost making the same expressions with the one on the lizard's face before, minus the drools. Odin glanced at them, and back to the peasant; he still had his wooden basket strapped like a backpack to his shoulders; for once Odin glanced at the mountain-vegetables inside the basket now that it was still bright enough for him to see, recognizing the contents. He stared back at the smiling face of the peasant, and nodded.
"Seemed like you need some place to rest for tonight..." the young man started, "...and some herbs?" he implied with a more serious tone, tilting his head in a supposedly polite gesture.
Odin didn't like the fact that they couldn't get out of the village road without risking being attacked by some other flock of beasts, he didn't like the fact that the young man was the only villager left in that village, he didn't like the fact that his demon was somewhere in that vast wilderness and not even a bit close to his embrace, he hated the fact that his nose told him otherwise, he hated the fact that he had no other option than to take the young man's offer. By nightfall any other beasts would take them as food. But he had to ask something first...
"Did my demon come here before us?"
"Yes." the young man answered without hesitation, "You missed him for about..." he paused in thinking, "...roughly three hours?"
"Was he with someone? A boy around his height wearing perse cloak...?" Cail interjected hurriedly.
"Perse, sir...?" the peasant hunched forward in an almost bow.
"Dark bluish gray cloak, almost dusty purple if you'd say...!"
"Ooh...!" the peasant's face brightened, "That was a boy? I thought it was a girl, what's with two long braids down the shoulders like that...!" he chuckled to himself. Cail looked at Odin with uncertainty, but then he brushed it off as perhaps the master wanted for others to think that he was a girl to trick his pursuers.
"What's the hair like?" Cail tested.
"Brunette mane down almost to mid-thigh...?" At the young man vigorous nods and earnest smile and answer, the Lieutenant let himself to feel some relief.
"Did they look wounded to you?" Odin asked flatly, Cail glanced back at Odin with surprise but he realized grimly that it was inevitable for those two to get some pursuers catching up to them.
"Hmmm..." The two men wanted to urge the peasant to hurriedly cough up his answer but they refrained themselves, "They're not visibly bleeding, sir; buut..."
"But?" Odin and Cail asked together.
"Your demon..." the peasant pointed at Odin in front of his chest, not wanting to look rude; "He looked exhausted to me... he was more collected when he was with you the other day." he nodded a couple times to end his words.
Odin frowned at that piece of info; he wanted to ask him to which direction they had gone to but realized that the soldiers couldn't be left to themselves... definitely not in that shady village.
"Lead us." he said flatly.
The young man nodded deeply and said, "Please follow me..." and walked towards the other end of that road-side village where his house should be.
saru's note:
hahaa... this is kind of late, but saru wanted to post it with the greeting too.
Gong xi fat choi, for everyone who's celebrating it! May this year be a good year too... XD
saru went home on Friday night, second-uncle wanted for the family to pray together too, so we prayed together on Saturday evening (not exactly on the new year).
saru ended up with the scrubbing work for two days since Monday, Mom wanted to repaint the wall so we had to scrub the old paint from the wall first. right hand and shoulder are still aching from all that scrubbing... heheheh
saru thought it would have been easier doing the work using some paint remover; but Mom asked the mighty question of : "Do you have the money for it?"
saru just grimaced, and Mom just said "Then, let's scrub...!"
the good thing about us is that we're both monkeys, so we tend to be immersed with the work once we started; it's like you feel the hunger to pluck more gray hair after you pluck one (Oni-tan is complaining about her gray hair and saru's hunger... gyaahahahahahhh) :D her blood-type is O so she should be the one to get bald first, and saru is a B so saru should be right behind her (plucking her gray hair too...) -cackling evilly-