Keep Tryin'

All Characters are owned by Konami. I own nothing absolutely NOTHING at all and I do not hope to gain any profit from this. Set in an Alternate Universe…Sort of. All track titles from the album "ULTRA BLUE" are not owned by me too.

Thoughts

"Speech"

Chapter 3: WINGS

Morning came and still Mueller's portion of the room was left for the dust to settle. These momentary bursts of rage from the older man came and went like the wind but then again they could be as unpredictable. Amongst the two beds that filled most of the space in their tiny temporary abode, Richard found himself waking up in Wilhelm's part of the room. Even more alarming was the manner in which the both of them slept. On the space constrained single bed laid Wilhelm, whose arms were wrapped tightly around the smaller boy's.

Of all the years the trio had been together, Richard was never allowed to share a bed with either of them due to Mueller's harsh principles of keeping the formality of a guardian and the child under his care at a distance close enough to be observed but far enough to prevent any form of development. It was the first time he had ever been so close to anyone, even his deceased father kept a cold distance between his own flesh and blood. Unsure of what his next move should be, Richard froze at a very awkward position lying with both of his arms unable to move. His left arm was sandwiched between the bed and his body while the other was sandwiched between his and Wilhelm's body.

It was only when a cold draft from the wind coming from outside the window brushed his skin that he realized how warm Wilhelm's body made him. Observing a sleeping giant, Richard's eyes trailed Wilhelm's whole body, going as far as his position would take him. Dressed in only a white tunic and comfortable looking shorts, Richard gazed at his neck right down to his chest where it raised and collapsed with hypnotic rhythm. Richard felt a strange euphoric sensation which he could not explain. He felt as though he could stay on the bed for eternity, scrutinizing the older man's body like a map of another world, charting mountains and rivers.

Thinking about Wilhelm made Richard light headed. He carefully moved closer towards the giant, head resting on its warm and welcoming chest. Perhaps with a little too much force, this caused Wilhelm to abruptly wake up with a shock.

"Hey…you hit your head or something?"

"I'm so sorry I woke you up."

"Gah no worries. You woke me up just in time. We're headed for a mission today."

"Didn't we need to see our client?"

"The old prick did that and he made us go on the mission. Now let's go before he comes back and whine again."

Richard nodded and moved away to release himself from Wilhelm's embrace. The older man breathed nothing about their position, more like he planned it as he wore a confusing expression between an attempt to stifle a yawn and a cunning smirk. Richard usually was the first one to go to the showers, much earlier than the two of his companions. This gave him an opportunity to order and prepare breakfast for them but this time, much like yesterday, waking up early did not have much purpose since Wilhelm only ate for Richard sake and Mueller was the only one that truly needed a bite in the morning.

The events from the day before happened too monotonously for Richard to remember. All he remembered was how he and Wilhelm spent the entire day searching for Mueller, who had previously stormed out of the room in anger. Like a lost kitten in a big city, Mueller was almost impossible to find in Haud, which had complicating junctions and sidewalks which almost looked the same. Every turn they took seemed like taking a step back and not before long both of the mercenaries were dead tired from the searching. Now early in the morning, Richard still hasn't caught a glimpse of Mueller anywhere apparently Wilhelm had spoken to him the night before.

"Wilhelm, when did you see Mueller?"

"He came up to the room last night. You were sleeping so soundly he didn't want to wake you up. He gave us the job and our client's name and left as quickly as he came. Don't ask me why, I'm as clueless as you are."

"Is he alright? Did he eat at all?"

"Yeah, the old prick's definitely alright. Don't you worry a thing, someone as old as him won't die that easily."

"But Wilhelm, aren't you two the same age?"

"That, Kid, wasn't my point. Now go take a shower or something while I get breakfast. Make it snappy too."

As soon as their preparations were done, the two set out for the forest nearby. Due to the busy sea route that Haud village possesses, security there was at a somewhat higher level than other villages. The client was a wealthy businessman and the sea route meant a lot to his revenue but recently there has been a ferocious beast terrorizing the incoming merchants' caravans and it has put a temporary stop to the flow of goods. The beast was described as a giant reptile capable of swallowing caravans whole but the two knew better than to listen to rumormonger's ramblings.

"Will we be alright with just the two of us?" Richard stared at Wilhelm while the both of them entered the forest.

"Hey! Mueller's not the only muscle in this group!" Slightly outraged, Wilhelm flexed his well-developed muscles in front of him. Richard couldn't help but giggle at Wilhelm for his desire to prove himself.

Wilhelm was a rugged mercenary who has seen many terrains and situations which require him to bring out the savage part of himself. He was well suited to the dense vegetation in the forest with barely any sight of a visible footpath. But all it took was a few hard swipes of Wilhelm's sword to take down the impending branches and bushes to form a path for the both of them. Richard, on the other hand, was not trained intensively on surviving the harsh conditions of jungle warfare as he was focused too deeply in sword arts to delve into anything else. Not sure of what to expect, he stumbled a number of times on some branches on the way. Wilhelm couldn't help but let out a thunderous roar of laughter, which made Richard blush with embarrassment.

"Hey! At least I'm trying here!"

"HA! Alright, I'll give you credit for that. Anyways the monster was sighted around here, I think. Better keep on a lookout, jungleboy."

Richard gave Wilhelm a very visible pout before following him onwards. Wilhelm spotted a glance of it and tried to give the boy a smile before something else caught his attention. A roar ten times louder than Wilhelm's atrocious laugh rumbled the floor causing Richard to stumble a little. Apparently Wilhelm's laugh awoke the beast from its slumber and now it grew more and more agitated by the minute. The older man quickly yanked the boy close to him and began treading the ground with extra caution. The beast was around them but it was too well-hidden to even give an estimation of where such a behemoth could hide. All they could do was scout in all directions while walking carefully onwards.

Not before long, the two chanced upon a clearing. The light barely shined through, making the atmosphere around them gloomy with a tint of green. It had a slightly dreamy effect on the two, but they were still as cautious as ever for any sign of the giant lizard. Then suddenly a large shadowy figure comes lunging towards the duo with incredible speed for its size. It was most definitely the creature they have been searching for. The creature stood with its head to the ground and eyes fixed upon the two humans as it circled in the same cautious manner as the duo. It was bright green and adorned a colorful and flamboyant red crest around it neck. It almost looked like a salamander but two hundred times bigger.

Wilhelm, being more of a person who hits first and talks later, charged forward at the beast without hesitation. Seeing a miniscule figure dashing its way, the beast swiftly turned to it's behind and let its tail do the work. The size of the tail alone could squash Wilhelm into an unrecognizable mess but it did otherwise as it swept the comparably tiny Wilhelm off his feet and hit it hard like a baseball bat to a ball. Wilhelm rocketed in the other direction, slamming against a tree, seemingly rendering him unconscious. This act of charging towards a creature a hundred times larger than himself left the inexperienced Richard alone to go against the behemoth.

Although he was not as skilled as Wilhelm in jungle warfare and tactics, Richard was definitely up to par in his skill of wielding a weapon in his hand, more correctly, a sword. Like second nature Richard unsheathed his sword and stepped back for a defensive battle stance as the creature lumbered clumsily but swiftly towards the boy. Richard was more used to the defensive arts which required thinking and planning ahead, far in similarity to his older partner whose mindless hacking landed him in the most unfortunate state at that point of time. As the creature tried to tear Richard with its claws, Richard did the exact opposite and deflected each and every one of them.

After several more swipes and clawing, the beast finally figured out the ineffectiveness of its offense and tried something different by using the other end of its body as a weapon. Richard knew what the beast was about to do and prepared himself for a huge attempt at deflecting the beast's tail with his sword. It was a daring attempt but Richard knew of no other way at that point of time, pumped with adrenaline and clouded in a battle instinct. The tail went straight for Richard and the boy couldn't help but close his eyes, waiting for the uncertain outcome of the impact. Strangely enough, Richard felt the incoming tail was delayed and quickly opened his eyes only to see Wilhelm at the top of the creature with a sword in his hand pierced deep in the creature's hide straight for the heart. Wilhelm had killed the creature, surprisingly and jumped off it as it gave one final roar of defeat before finally dropping to the ground, dead. Wilhelm suavely smiled at Richard as he walked towards him. Richard couldn't help but worry about Wilhelm's condition even though it looked like the crash with the tree didn't affect him much.

"Are you okay, Wilhelm?"

Richard stopped in his tracks just in front of the older man, waiting for him to respond.

"That's not the way to fight it, waiting for it to hit you."

Upon finishing the sentence, Wilhelm dropped to his knees. Thankfully, Richard managed to hold him up just in time. Richard laid his head over his shoulders as he spoke.

"Don't let me worry about you again, you hear?"

"Look who's the one causing worry now."

Relived, Richard stroked the older man's pink hair, doing exactly what Wilhelm would do to him whenever he was afraid or upset when he was younger.

So so sorry for the long delay. Somehow I had a writer's block, I guess. The last part was a little lackluster coz I finished it in a hurry, I really didn't want my readers to wait any longer. Now…for another chapter of Prime XD