Yes, two updates on the same day! Now that I finished the last chapter, I've had enough motivation to write again, soooo, yeah, why not? I couldn't wait to write the chapter where Ha-Ru meets Rin, so here you go! Rin's pretty cocky though. I hope that's how you like him!

Enjoy!

He can't believe it. He is so near. He can almost feel the wild water splashing over him. The clattering is so loud but to Ha-Ru the sound was like angels chanting. From where he was standing he had a complete view of the Outlands. Nothing but vast land with giant rocks sticking out. To his surprise he noticed that the river didn't continue. Although the waterfall continues flowing he couldn't see any sign of water further from where he was standing. What was there? Is this really because of Ru-O's curse? His curiosity about the Outlands was only brief. For a while he stood there gazing at the waterfall, a strong current with tons and tons of clear water shimmering in the sunlight flowing in a yet invisible pit. Slowly Ha-Ru felt drawn, his body moved on its own accord and without even realizing he was heading to the edge of the river. Water hitting against the rocks and spattering on his feet. He wanted to feel the water. Just feel it. And he will leave. He extended his hand. Every worry was slowly slipping away from him. Na-Gi or Rei spotting him. His mother telling him what to do… He sat on his toes, so he could bend over. The moment his fingers touched the water he slightly shifted because of the currents power. Suddenly a strong gust of wind came up from behind making Ha-Ru lose balance. With a loud gasp Ha-Ru fell forward and like he was a lightweight the boy got carried away by the water.

Ha-Ru tried screaming as he got carried away but the current made him dive underwater, so he tried to gasp for air as much as possible, but it was almost impossible to get to air, since his head was being dragged in and out of the water. Ha-Ru's panic reached its highest point when he felt himself falling backwards. In absolute fear he saw the clear blue sky and the sun shimmering upon him, like nothing was wrong. But there was something wrong. So much was wrong. I'm going to die, Ha-Ru thought, this is the end. He already thought of dying in the water. But he wanted to die peacefully in the lake when he was an old man. Not like this. His stomach made a triple somersault and felt himself getting sick as he fell. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the somersault quit and his back fell on a cool hard surface. Then everything went black.

When he regained consciousness, the only thing he saw was red. Pure red. Everything was spinning and everything hurt. But wait. It hurt, so that means he was alive. He blinked with his eyes several times and realized that the smudgy red stuff was saying something.

"Hey! Oi! Ya waking up? Y'okay?"

Ha-Ru blinked again and saw a pair of bright red eyes and cherry hair staring at him.

"Hey you idiot! You're a Pridelander, aren't ya? Almost ruined our water supply!"

"W-wha-" Suddenly, Ha-Ru started coughing like mad and turned around to cough up the last bit of water that was left in his lungs.

"Yeah, cough all ya want buddy. If you were a bit fatter, all our water would be gone, all in that ugly pit of y'ask me."

"S-sorry" Ha-Ru said with a horse voice.

"Whatever." The red haired boy said with a huff.

Aside from the boy's odd appearance, he couldn't barely believe he was still alive. He was still here. In the Outlands, alright. But he lived.

"Thanks… for saving me." Ha-Ru said after slight hesitation. Now that the shock has washed over him, he realized how sore his back was and now had the opportunity to look better at his red haired companion, as he was brawling about the fact that Ha-Ru almost cut of his water supply by falling on the rocky bridge he had tried to enforce. The boy was incredibly skinny. He had little muscles on his arms from all the hunting, presumably, but everything else was skin over bone. The boy's cheeks were hollow and so were his eyes. His skin was covered in sand and he had his dirty sandy hair tangled up in a messy ponytail.

"Get up." The boy suddenly commanded. "Get up, for fuck's sake."

Ha-Ru tried to stand up as fast as possible, but it was hard because of stinging pain in his back. Panic for the boy was starting to rise up in his chest.

Right, this boy was an Outsider, of course the boy should hate him. Ha-Ru has everything while the boy has nothing.

"So why're ya here, Pridelander?" The boy said menacingly. Spitting out the word 'pride' like it was something disgusting. He was holding the sharpest spear Ha-Ru has ever seen, and that spear was pointed directly at Ha-Ru's chest. The boy's teeth were sharp like some wild animal. The boy in total was like a wild animal, and Ha-Ru had every reason to be afraid. Shivering and all panicky Ha-Ru backed up with his arms around him, trying to protect himself from the spear the boy was holding, bottom lip trembling along with the rest of his drenched body. He was going to die here, wasn't he. Even after falling from that gigantic cliff. Ha-Ru was shivering again. He was so scared. He was oh so scared. Suddenly the boy stopped growling like some tiger whelp and cocked a red eyebrow.

"What are ye doin'?

"Y-you.. What? Protecting myself!"

"What, fo'real? Ya think shivering like a nutcase will bring ya that far?"

"I'm scared!" Ha-Ru shouted. He realized he could only be honest with himself. He doesn't think there is a reason to act tough around him. He already proved his toughness somewhere along the waterfall.

"Wow, scared ya definitely are! The hell, I knew it, Pridelanders are all the same. They've all they already need. Th'animals just lie dead in front of ya. Ya don't even need a hunt…"

All of the sudden he heard growling beside him. For a second Ha-Ru thought that more of the boy's kin has arrived, ready to eat Ha-Ru alive. But the beasts that appeared in front of the two boys were not humans, but looking from their watering mouths they sure were going to eat them alive.

"Shit! Hyenas!" The boy shouted. "Run, fattie, RUN!"

Ha-Ru, who already has been threatened by death for the third time in a row, was completely astonished. He backed away when he saw the hyenas take charge and followed the red haired boy as fast as possible. He looked at the cliff and saw, oh help, the boy jumped past the waterfall's current, and jumped on the rocky cliff. The boy waited there and turned around to see Ha-Ru still running for his life.

"You can't even walk because of all that fat!" He shouted.

"Don't call me… FAT!" Ha-Ru shouted back with a voice already as horse as it can be. He made the biggest jump in his life and managed to crawl under the waterfall's current. Just fast enough so the three hyenas got caught under the water's power. Ha-Ru clumsily crouched up and climbed up the rocky cliff as fast as he could. Meanwhile the red haired boy was almost on the top of the cliff? How could he climb it so fast?

After a while Ha-Ru looked down and didn't see the hyenas anymore. Despite the relief, Ha-Ru still held tightly on the rocks and climbed as quickly as he could. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins and his senses were on sharp.

After climbing several minutes he finally managed to hit the tall warm grass. He was so worn out and decided to lie down for a bit. When he regained a bit of his breath he remembered that the boy was here somewhere as well. He stood up, the stinging pain in his small back returning again, because the adrenaline's effects have worn off. After a few seconds he saw little strands of cherry hair lying a few meters away from him in the tall grass. He pushed the boy, trying to wake him, but saw that it wasn't necessary, because he was wild awake, and still regaining breath. The redhead turned around and looked at the other, chest heaving fast.

"You're lucky… (huff)… that ya met me along the way… fattie…"

"Thank you." Ha-Ru said, dead serious. "I am indebted to you…You were very brave." Ha-Ru didn't smile often. But when he did smile, it was usually faked. He only smiled to satisfy others, not to satisfy him. But now, for the first time in Ha-Ru's life, the smile came right out of his heart. He had to smile for himself. He didn't remember being ever so grateful to someone in his life. Meanwhile the boy's hollow cheeks we're getting as red as his hair.

"I-uh-.. uh.. yeah, 's what I do… uhm… the name's Rin, by the way."

"I'm Ha-Ru." The raven said, unable to take down his smile now.