Second Chapter up! I got all giddy and warm inside when I read the reviews so I just had to hurry up and get a new chap up. I hope you'll enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of this.
Weighted and measured: Thank you so much for the review! I actually don't know what a WIP is...so I can't answer that . And I realised that I forgot to write that they would be a bit OOC...I hope it's not too bothersome. Thanks again!
Bankyon: Oh, now you made me blush! I hope you'll like this chapter too! Thank you for the reiew!
Banshee-chama: Yes, I decided to make Piers uke since I think it's cute...and I found pictures of him being uke-ish so... I'm glad you liked it Here's your update!
Rikku1993: Thank you so very much for your review! And those three words are the best words ever! Hope you'll like this chapter too.
Onwards with the chapter!
"Phwew…why does he always leave the hard work for me?"
Felix whiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead and stopped to overlook his work. The tent was up, the big bottles of water were filled and starts to a simple dinner had been made. He nodded to himself and then noticed just how hot it'd become. The stones placed around the campfire hadn't been the easiest to find and put in place.
He glanced over to the river.
'Piers said it was nice…and I did fill the water bottles in that water, but still…'
His thoughts were interrupted by a small wave rippling the surface. He quickly dismissed the idea of a bath.
Felix let out a sight and sat down on a big rock. He decided to take the opportunity to brood. He didn't have much time to do that anymore and instead, he'd begun to talk a bit more. Only a very small bit more, but anyway. The Earth Adept shifted his position to get more comfortable. It was all Piers fault. He was so…easy to talk to. Always calm and ready to listen and seemingly the only one who understood him for real.
Feh…Piers was probably the only one who had more problems than himself and anyone else.
Felix didn't know much of Piers past, other than that the only family the Lemurian had was his father, whom Felix didn't have any idea where he was, and his mother who had died when Piers was with them, and his uncle who still lived in Lemuria. The senate hated him, particularly Conservato, and treated him like a traitor. He'd become an outcast. But Piers never mentioned anything about it at all…
'I probably should talk to him about those things…'
"KWEEH!"
Felix almost fell off his "brooding-rock", startled by the birds who suddenly took flight in a chaotic demeanor from the forest.
"Stupid, stupid birds…Echo, stop laughing!" Felix muttered to his earth djin, who'd happened to see the accident.
Glancing over to the woods, he searched with his sight for his lover. No long blue hair met his eye and no mysterious golden eyes were looking back at him.
"Damned…Piers, you hopeless Lemurian…where are you?"
Grabbing his sword, Felix brown eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot any incoming enemies. Seeing none, he silently decided that Piers had been gone way to long for just collecting firewood and birds didn't just fly away like that if they weren't scared of something.
"Call me overprotective all you want. I'm going to look for him." Felix said to his little djin, who chirped as answer and floated in the air beside him.
The Venus Adept held his sword ready as he walked into the forest, the same way that he'd seen his boyfriend do before.
--xXx--
Piers wasn't so sure anymore that the alluring peace and calmness was a natural cause.
As he chopped through the thick shrubbery of green waist-high fern, he came closer to the river that streamed through the forest, the same water he'd bathed in not too long ago. He felt safer around his natural element and for some reason he didn't trust the forest anymore.
With the sword still unsheathed, he pondered about the whereabouts of the thieves that they were chasing. His yellow eyes widened when he remembered exactly what they'd done. The sleep-spell! The priests had been put down with a sleep-barrier by an Adept!
Suddenly he found himself in a clearing, the river flowing peacefully in the eastern corner of it.
"Shit…" Piers cursed out loud.
The clearing was obviously inhabited, since a raggedy tent and the burnt ashes from a campfire were present. A big sac caught his attention and, seeing as his citrine eyes wasn't the only catlike feature he had, his curiosity made him go closer. The hymn of streaming water reminded him of the closeness of his element, and it made him feel safer as he picked up the heavy, cloth-wrapped thing inside the bag.
Slowly and silently he unwrapped the tattered cloth stripes and his suspicions were confirmed. It was the tablet from Vale. The one he and Felix were searching for.
"Look who's here! The vermin from Vale."
Piers whirled around, the sudden movement made the nervous birds fly, and he faced the person that the deep and harsh voice belonged to. About --, in the outskirts of the clearing, stood a very large man.
"You're the thief we're hunting. Give up if you don't want to get beaten to a pulp." Piers said cockily, smirking teasingly at the man.
The man laughed; no it was more like cackling. He stepped into the open and Piers saw the whole body of his enemy.
He was big. Huge. Scars littered the bare arms and face; even the bald skull had a web of intricate patterns of discolored skin. The huge muscles flexed, trying to intimidate him. He missed one eye, probably lost in the fight which had given him a scar that mutilated his face, twisting the mouth to a grim sneer.
The dirty clothes hugged the muscular body, and Piers couldn't see any kind of weapon besides the mans bare fists whom where raised in a battle-stance.
"You're cocky little brat. But that pretty blue hair of yours is going to get ruffled." The man barked out.
Piers eyed him carefully, mentally readying his psyenergy for a quick fight. He felt no traces of psyenergy in any form radiating from the man, concluding that he wasn't the Adept. "You're the one going down. My pretty blue hair isn't to keen on getting messed up, but I doubt that you even can touch me with your level of strength."
The big man obviously got tired of the tough-talk, and growled aggressively and charged at Piers, who easily evaded the blow and used his sword to cut the mans arm.
Shrieking in blind rage, the thief turned around to attack again. Not caring to evade this time, Piers used his psyenergy to create a barrage of razor-sharp icicles, effectively stopping the man.
"Feh…you're stronger than expected pretty one." He licked his lips, the red snake-like flesh darted out to lick the blood from the wound on his chin that the icicles had made. "But I like the feisty ones. I'll have so much fun with you when you don't have any strength left!"
Piers cringed a bit, abhorred and a bit taken aback by the comment. "You disgusting human! You won't lay a hand on me!"
Summoning up a powerful wave of psyenergy that streamed through his body, he charged at the bald man. The Water Adepts sword pierced the mans left arm, and just as quick as he'd struck, Piers was on the move again, dancing around his opponent with excellent skill and precision. The blood gushed out of the wound, drawing an enraged howl out of the brute.
Piers allowed himself to smirk. "You're to slow, big guy. Give it up! You stand no chance against a Lemurian warrior on your own."
"No, I see he doesn't. But perhaps if we're two. Nighty-night."
Piers didn't have time to react before he felt the blunt and heavy impact of a sleep-spell. He felt his legs give in underneath him and he fell to his knees.
A figure stepped out of the thick forest. He, for the voice was definitely male, was thinner and had a more slender build than the other.
"You're...the Adept..." Piers slurred, fighting against the spell.
"Yes, I am. Now tell us where your companion is! We've been aware of your presence long enough to know that there's two of you." The new, weasel-like person said.
The spell was weak. Probably because of the low level of the Adept himself and Piers could feel his legs waking up. 'If I just could use a djin to divert their attention...'
He snorted. "I would never tell you bastards anything." His legs moved a bit.
"Oh well, then we just have to-HEY! Why aren't you sleeping?!"
"NOW SERAC!" Piers sprung from the ground, albeit a bit wobbly, and dashed towards the woods while djin launched its powerful strike.
But the spell hadn't worn off completely, and Piers pace was slower than usual, nothing like his real speed and agility. He cursed under his breath and urged his legs to move faster.
"You fucking brat! SLEEP!" The spell-casters voice growled, and yet again Piers felt the blunt force of psyenergy invading his mind. This time a stronger kind.
Falling to his knees, only a few metres from the woods, Piers eyes burned with rage and the urge to fight soared through his tanned body. But alas, his head became dizzy and his sight got blurry. He heard footsteps running up behind him, but couldn't muster up the strength required to stand up and face his enemies.
A chilly feeling fluttered in his stomach, something he recognised as fear. He clenched his fists in the thick, slightly moist grass.
It's been a long time since he felt like this...the last time he could remember was at the final lighthouse, wondering if they'd actually screwed up and doomed the world forever. But this was not only fear for his own well-being, but for Felix' too. The one and only he'd do anything to protect and then he went and did something like this! Stupid...stupid...the death-grip he held on the grass started to slacken against his will.
The footsteps stopped right behind him where he was hunched over on all four.
Suddenly a hand with rough fingers ran sickeningly slow down his hair and continued down his back. The Mercury Adept hid a disgusted shudder and tried to move his arm to slap the unwanted hand away. The attempt became a weak and pitiful wave, and he instantly had to put his hand down on the ground to stop the world from spinning.
He heard his captors snicker at his weak state and he growled through clenched teeth.
"Such temper! I'll absolutely have fun with you!" The hand stopped travelling and settled for playing with his blue tresses. "Now tell us!" It yanked at the hair, making Piers raise his head a bit.
"No...n-no...I won't...y-you bastards!" The Water Adepts incoherent mind managed to form a stuttering sentence while he fought for his vision not to darken.
"Hmpf! Suit yourself."
The blunt end of a knife handle came out of nowhere and collided with Piers temple and the sheer force of the impact made him topple over to the side, falling face first to the ground.
The incredulous pain, combined with the already working spell, stripped him of his last traces of consciousness and he felt himself go numb and starting to slip into the comforting darkness. But one thought still lingered.
'Felix...Felix please be safe..."
And everything turned black.
--xXx--
Something was wrong. So very wrong.
'He should be here somewhere...please Piers, make a sound. Do something!'
Felix quickened his pace, spurred on by the lack of movements and sounds. Even Echo was beginning to feel nervous, since the contact with Serac was disturbed. Normally, it shouldn't be.
'Please be okay, please, please, please dear Gods keep him safe...' The chant grew more and more frantic as he couldn't spot anything blue at all.
As the true elite warrior Piers was, he hadn't left much trace to follow, so Felix only hope was to follow Echo as the little djin sniffed his way through the shrubbery, following his master's boyfriend's scent.
Suddenly a howl of rage and pain broke the still silence. It was coming from a bit further ahead.
It was definitely not Piers voice. It was too rough, too raw. Nothing like his Piers, who's voice he could distinguish from thousands of others in a heartbeat.
Thus it was an unidentified being, possibly an enemy who, if that was the case, probably was fighting someone, someone who just might be Piers. Lots of 'maybes'.
If the 'maybes' was actually confirmed, and Piers really was fighting someone, it wasn't very appealing. Not for the other guy that is.
Felix fell into a quick stealthy run, his brown and green clothes camouflaged him perfectly in the forest. Soon he heard the faint sound of flowing water and sounds of a fight. People were yelling and strong psyenergy seeped through the vegetation. He smiled slightly and stayed hidden in the thick foliage. It was a while since he'd seen Piers fight…the sight was quite sexy if he could say so himself.
He slowly peeked over the bush that was covering him. The sight that met his brown, expectant eyes shocked him and he froze at the spot.
His love…on his knees…panting…his beautiful face twisted in disgust and anger…two unknown men standing beside him, jeering down at the blue hair. They were definitely not friendly. He noticed a wound that still bled on the bigger mans arm, and he smiled humorlessly at it. So he was the source of the scream he'd heard earlier. Good.
"-have fun with you."
Felix cursed under his breath. He had to hear what they were saying.
"Now tell us!" The bald, big man growled.
The Venus Adept noticed with a surge of anger that the brute had his hand tangled in Piers blue tresses and that he'd yanked it hard enough to get his boyfriend to raise his head slightly. The look on the mans face showed all too evidently that he enjoyed this and what he wanted to do with his love.
His ears picked up the low mumbling of the Mercury Adept, nut he couldn't make out the words. But he did see the suppressed shudder, slightly running through the tanned body like a small electric shock, when the scarred guy touched his hair.
Anger flashed over the smaller mans face. Apparently Piers answer didn't satisfy him. He motioned with a knife he had stuck in his belt to the other, who took it from him. Felix eyes widened in pure shock and terror, his heart understood what might happen next but his brain didn't react in time.
Never had a time gone so slow and never before had a motion caused him so much agony.
But, as the handle of the knife hit Piers temple with a sickening 'thud', he couldn't help to let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. As the Water Adept fell over to his side, Felix was sure he felt his heart break at the sight, knowing he just witnessed his beloved get struck unconscious. But he was still alive. Felix could feel the weak aura of psyenergy surrounding the motionless body.
He took a quick look around. How much he ever wanted to, he couldn't rush headfirst into battle. It could be fatal, if not for him, but for Piers who definitely couldn't defend himself right now. The woods around his were empty and the tent too, so he could narrow it down to two enemies. He doubted that they had any djins. They looked to stupid for that…
The grip on his sword had tightened until his knuckles were white and his nails dug into his palms. But before he could lunge at the foes, they moved over to Piers side. He couldn't take the risk to hurt him…with narrowed eyes, he followed their every step. He didn't like this one bit.
"He didn't talk." The skinny one talked while the one-eyed man put some herbs on his bleeding arm.
"Feh…stubborn shit." The big man put his foot under Piers unconscious form and ruthlessly shoved him over so he was lying on his back. "I prefer women but this one will suffice as a replacement for now…he sure looks good enough."
The smaller one only shrugged his shoulders and snorted.
Everything before Felix eyes turned red.
No one ever EVER dared to touch or talk about his Piers improperly! NO ONE!
With a howl of rage he threw himself at his enemies, dealing blow after blow with psyenergy-enhanced strikes. Before his brain went into berserk-mode, the only thoughts present was:
'I'm going to get Piers back no matter what…no matter what happens, I will get him safe!'
Arrrgh! Fights are so hard to write! Please forgive me if you don't get the battles...I had it all in my head and tried my best to describe it. Anyway, please review and I'll try to work twice as hard!