By: Lady Sapphire
AN: I am slow. I admit it. But it's not my fault! If you must blame something, blame school! During the past 2 months or so (I've lost count) I've been preparing for this major presentation and research project. (It was worth 30% of my mark! How can I ignore something that huge?!) Do you know how much I hate presentations?! I can't talk in front of an audience...scared as hell... And then not too far from that, came the final examinations... Well, it's all over now, school's out for the summer! ^_^ Now to work on this story, plus a few other ideas I have in mind ;)
(BTW, if anyone cares, I got 55/60, which translates to like 27% out of 30%, for that assignment! I'm so happy I didn't totally screw it up!)
Here's the deal: I split up another chapter :P...I originally planned this and the next one (that I am still trying to write) as one part, but it was growing too long and I really wanted to update, so I cut it. If I'd kept it as one, it'd be over 4000 words, probably nearing 5000 O_o...but I got bored of typing so...
Chapter 13: Revelation
It was close. He could feel its presence drawing nearer and nearer, slithering across the dirt ground, twisting menacingly, moving stealthily beneath the underbrush. It was approaching, a long, overgrown, venomous snake, deadly with the pierce of a sharp fang.
He knew it was coming…but where? Pivoting with alert senses, he surveyed his surroundings, memorizing each object. He had to be prepared for its fatal blow. There stood the girl, bedazzled by his cautious motions, but he did not intend to frighten her with news of a deadly lurking reptile.
Then, it all made sense. The girl! It would strike the girl, his current and only weakness. The snake knew; it was taunting him, purposely aiming for the unsuspecting victim.
Ha, but he'd show it. He'd show that damned reptile that he would not let it have its way. He would protect her at all costs…even if it meant his own life. A voice rang throughout the air; it was her voice. She spoke the same words as the night before, about love and emotions. Suddenly, all became clear. This was more then just a feud between a snake and himself; he loved her, and it had taken him all this time to realize it. All the insults, their fights…it was all a cover up of true, hidden emotions. And now that it was realized, it may be too late, for the snake's descent was upon them.
He ran towards her, the only objective was to save her. But, something was wrong. He felt his feet move, but it was like he was frozen in time. He was neither moving forward nor backwards. He reached out to her, crying out her name, but he had no voice. It was like crying into deep oblivion, where existence was void. The world around him turned pitch black, while the only light remained upon the pink-haired girl, whose back was turned. It seemed as if the predicament with time was also affecting the snake, for it fell, slowly and painstakingly, always approaching but never reaching its target.
The girl now turned, whipping a head of pink hair gracefully around. Golden trance-like eyes now met his. A certain look of regret mixed in with fear and resentment could be seen in her eyes. She spoke, but he could not hear, and then slowly the image of her figure disintegrated, gradually fading into thin air. Kai yelled out, extending an arm to reach for her, but it was hopeless for all was lost.
The snake still poised in midair, now froze. Slowly it turned in a curious manner towards the immobile boy. It gave a hiss, baring its teeth, and then it performed the most peculiar action. It grinned. Oh, but it wasn't an amiable grin, it was devious, malicious grin, almost as if it were mocking him…
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A gasp filled the air. The blue-haired boy with the blue-marked face woke up in a cold sweat. It took him a moment to revitalize his surroundings and to realize he had just woken up from a deep sleep. It was just a dream, a nightmare, merely a figment of the imagination. But it seemed so real…
Had it really happened? Yes, he was certain it had…and he was certain that Mariah wasn't hurt. He had saved her just in time…hadn't he? His head ached when he tried to think, but he found that he couldn't move either arm to quell the pain. His right arm felt numb, alien to sensation, but his left arm seemed to be pinned down by an inexplicable weight. He looked down to see that the pink-haired girl sleeping soundly against his arm. A calm serene expression graced her soft features.
Was she asleep? Or…had she fallen victim to the snake after all and this was beyond mortal sleep? Had he failed to save the only one he had ever cared about fall to the clutches of death?
"Mariah!" whispered Kai, with a frantic fury in his eyes. He willed his arms to move and held her by the shoulders. Shaking her wildly, he attempted to awake her, but it was no use. She would not awaken. Soft strands of brilliant pink hair swayed with the shaking motion, free from their usual confinement to the pale ribbon. Her head rolled dully in time with the motion. Bright golden eyes would not reveal themselves.
Then, something unusual caught his eye. Something bounded his right arm…something pink. He recognized it at once to be the eminent pink ribbon of the sleeping girl, but how did it end up around his arm, and not her hair?
Grasping his arm, a sudden pain sprang through it, and all of yesterday's remininces came flowing back. He had saved her, but with the price of his own safety. But, he didn't care at that time. He had one objective and that was to keep her safe. And he had succeeded, the proof being the wound, which he adorned.
He glanced at the floor of cave and saw a stem of the healing herb he had used on her ankle…and dried blood staining the ground. The sight of the herbs didn't bother him, in fact it made him proud that he had taught her something useful, but he paled at the sight of the blood. Closer examination concluded that, the blood was not normal. It was poisoned. It didn't take long for Kai to piece the pieces together and figure out what had happened. She must have tried to save his life!
Kai's eyes widened in realization and in shock. She couldn't have done that! How could she be so stupid?! Doesn't she know that in order to save him, she now might have absorbed some of the poison herself? And the sole purpose of him taking the bite for her was that she wouldn't get hurt! It was all in vain…
"Mariah, wake up!" he hissed desperately, shaking her in the process. He did not want to bear losing her. Not after saving her. "How could you? Foolish girl! I never asked you to do anything! I didn't want your help…Mariah…" He embraced her, eyes closed. It would have seemed as if he were holding back tears…but he was probably just having a moment to think alone.
Abruptly, her eye twitched ever so slightly, unbeknownst to Kai. Mariah had awoken from a very peculiar dream indeed. She was on a boat, a rowboat sailing across the river. She had almost reached the other end, when she heard someone calling. It was Kai's voice. She had been left him behind! She had to go back, she couldn't leave without him. However there was no turning back. She was still lightly floating. In a desperate attempt, she flung herself into the water and swam back to shore…to awake to the reiteration of her name.
Slowly her eyes fluttered up. It took a moment for her vision to clear, and when it did, she found herself staring at Kai's mourning countenance. Lifting up an arm, she stroked his cheek, caressing it with the back of her hand.
Kai jumped with a start and opened his eyes to meet her radiant gold orbs.
Mariah shot up from her position. She had just realized that he was holding her in his arms. It wasn't the fact that she was being held that stirred her, but the fact the he could actually hold her. A smile spread across her face, "Kai! You…you're alive!" she exclaimed, bring her other hand to touch his other cheek, proving to herself that she wasn't dreaming.
"Oh, thank God you're alright," she breathed, throwing her arms around him, and burying her face into his chest, sobbing softly. "I thought I had lost you…"
Astonishment strew across his face. Wasn't he holding a lifeless body just a second ago? But then again, he never did check her pulse to determine her state. He had just assumed she had died, seeing the blood on the ground. Relief and joy flushed through every corner of his body as he realized the truth: no one had died from the snake encounter.
Absent-mindedly, he began stroking her sleek hair in an attempt to calm her.
"Mariah…" he mumbled. He wanted to say something, he knew he should, but he didn't know what. He held her for few more seconds before he finally spoke. "Thank you…for saving my life but-" he paused and gripping her shoulders, he pulled her away to give her a stern look. "You should have never tried that stunt. Do you realize that you could have ended up with the poison?" he questioned, firmly looking through her eyes.
Mariah nodded.
"Then why did you?"
Silence. Gazing into piercing eyes, Mariah knew her answer already. But was it the right time to admit to it? And how would he react? She was certain he did not feel the same way. How could he? He was always cold and emotionless. She was sure that he had saved her only to protect her, like he has done from the start.
Or had he?
"Because…you saved me first. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't taken the bite; the snake should have gotten me, not you. I wanted to return the favour for all the times you have saved me. Thank you, Kai…" she said finally, flushing. It wasn't exactly the answer she had in mind, but it was what came out of her mouth. "Why did you save me in the first place then? If you knew the poison could kill you, then why did you risk yourself for me?" she asked, skilfully reverting the question back to its interrogator.
Another silence hung in the air. This time, it was Kai's turn to ponder. His mind urged him to say it was simply a reaction, a swift act of instinct, an impulse of nature that he pushed her out of the way. But his heart told him otherwise. His heart told him it was something more; that he should stop denying it and just tell her the truth.
In the midst of his inward struggle, the question was remained unanswered, but Mariah didn't care. All she cared about was that he was safe. Wrapping her arms around him again tightly, she smiled and buried her face in his chest. "Kai, I'm just so glad that you are okay…promise me something?" she inquired, looking up at him.
Kai, relieved that he was let off the hook, raised a curious eyebrow. "Hm?" he questioned, looking at the girl that had protectively encircled her arms around him. He didn't mind, in fact, he liked it.
"Never try to save my life again…not if it means risking your own," she declared, only half-jokingly.
An amused expression broadened across his face. It was something he could never promise, that was for certain. She meant too much to him to give up on her. Instead of agreeing, he asked, "Why? Do you want to die?"
"No…" she started, unsure of what to say. She pulled back from him and looked into his piercing eyes, and all of a sudden she could feel tears brimming. She sniffed, using all of her will power to hold them back. There was no way she would let Kai see her cry. "It's just that I…I don't want you to get hurt…not because of me…"
"Why?" he asked. He was curious to know what she was thinking. How did she feel about him? Did she save him just because he was a friend? Or was there more than meets the eye?
"I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of me…if I'd failed to save you…" she said softly, becoming a bit uneasy with his questions.
"Why?" he pressed on. He knew he must have sounded annoying, but knowing her temper, he knew she wouldn't last out much longer. She was bound to explode, revealing everything he wanted to know.
God, was he irritating. Frustrated, she shouted, "Because…because I love you, okay?!" but the moment those words left her lips, she gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, backing away. She hadn't meant to blurt it out, but he had tricked her! A blush crept through her cheeks as she tried to cover herself, "…what I meant to say was that…well I…" she stammered nervously, not daring to meet his gaze, but before she could say anything more, she found her lips pressed against Kai's in a deep kiss.
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A/N: Ok, now here I'm going to explain my little dilemma a.k.a the alternate reason why I took so damn long. Do any of you know how difficult it is to keep Kai in-character and have him be romantic?!?! Argh, I spent countless hours pondering over this! How to make him do this, say that, react to this...and at the same time, not totally destroy his character! I couldn't make him too mushy, that isn't Kai; I couldn't make him too cold, that wasn't the point! I wanted him to say "those three little words" but in my opinion, that isn't very Kai-like, so I had to think of something for him to say that meant somewhat the same thing, but just not using "those" words directly....*faints* This whole scene has killed me! X_x I tried...I can't say I didn't...I really TRIED! Whether or not I succeeded, you be the judge, but I have this sinking feeling that I totally bombed.
*takes a deep breath* Now that's off my chest! Oh and by the way, all this I've been ranting about...occurs in the next chapter...
*everyone sweatdrops -_-"*
Sorry! I am almost done typing it up...it'll be up soon....I think....THANK YOU everyone for all your reviews and patience!
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Nightswift: Hey, I've watched the "The Return of The Condor Heroes" before! Actually, I have the whole series recorded on tape! And watch it every so often! I've also seen the first one, with their parents, and the last of the trilogy, "Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre". Lol, and to be honest, from Chinese TV series is where I got that idea with the snake. I love these Chinese romance stories, they're so cute! Especially the olden time ones. I can watch them over and over...^_^
Oooo! I have the new Harry Potter book! I'm gonna go and read it now! Bye! (It's so cool! I love the Harry Potter books!)