Warnings: Uh... blood?
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note!
A/N: So, here I am with the fourth chapter! I really enjoyed writing this ans therefore, the update came pretty fast!
You guys are such nice reviewers! Please do not be afraid of telling me whatever it is that you think! I am at full alert of your opinions!
Thank you for being supportive!
By the way, there will be yaoi in this... eventually! Please be patient until then! I am still a bit nervous about this whole fic, seeing as I am desperately afraid of messing up my favorite fandom!
Now, on to the chapter! Please enjoy!
Game Over
Chapter Four
"Beaten"
-
Large, edgy stones were ripped loose as they tumbled down the mountain-side, some of them big enough to actually crush them. The sounds that surrounded them grew fast and steadily, until it was a roar of clattering stones and other hard surfaces slamming together. It ringed in their ears, and Light was surprised he had yet to turn deaf.
Luckily, most of the gray murder-weapons were thrown down before them, or slid free from under their bodies so fast that they reached the forest in a matter of seconds. Sharp, twisted roots stuck up beneath them, scratching their bodies mercilessly, leaving their skin bruised and bloodied.
With each trow, Light felt the air being knocked out of him, and sometime during their descent, L's knee hit him in the face, causing great pain as his nose made a loud, cracking sound. His stomach was fighting a battle on its own, as the urge to throw up was stronger than he had ever felt it. He imagined his guts to be completely squished and his insides nothing but a bloody mass.
Quite frankly, he was frightened as hell.
He dared not keep his eyes open for long, but from the small glimpses he got when he took an occasional peek, he saw the surroundings only as fleeting images in green, gray and white. His vision was somewhat clouded with pain, and every time they were thrown around, he begged to whatever God there was that L would not land on top of him. Which he, of course, did quite frequently.
Both of them kept groaning and sometimes, Light could hear L wince in pain.
His whole corpus hurt and he bet he had hit his head a dozen times. He was bleeding badly from the nose and his palms were scraped to the bone it seemed.
How the fuck had it come to this?
One second he had been leaving L on the hill, and the next they were both crashing down the mountain side?
He could not believe it!
He had yet to check his wrist, but he was sure that if he did, he would see a familiar chain and the dark metal of the cuff attached above his hand would have appeared lifeless compared to his skin.
The tug he had felt just before their departure had already been burned into his memory, it had even bothered him in his dreams, long after L's death. He had felt it a million times before it seemed and had it not been for the urgency of their current situation, Light would have been raging mad, to the point where he would have gnawed off his own arm in pure agony.
How the hell could he possibly be chained to L again?!
Tears were already forming in his eyes, and gritting his teeth desperately, he tried to withstand the jolts of pain that shot through him each and every time his body slammed into the ruthless stone-wall.
The trip down was drawn out and incredibly long lasting. Sometimes, it seemed as if they were almost flying, air slipping through their clothes, icy and unforgiving, making goosebumps appear on their broken skin. Somewhere along the way, Light had somehow managed to get a grip on L and now, he was clinging to him like a baby. This, of course, made the chances of L landing atop of him bigger, but it also prevented him from flailing his limbs during the fall, so that they were in less danger of breaking.
He held on to L's lither form as if it was his lifeline, and oddly enough he found himself wondering why the detective had not already shattered, as frail as he looked.
L, himself, was gasping loudly and his fingers were tangled in Light's hair, the grip painfully tight. The back of the insomniac's shirt felt warm and wet against Light's hands and the auburn haired male was unsure of whether it was blood or sweat.
Probably both.
Glimmers of sunshine flickered upon his retina and his eyelashes fluttered uncontrollably as he was now unable to keep his eyes fully closed. Dry sobs escaped him and when his cheek was crushed against the harsh, moving ground, a loud cry of pain echoed through the air. It burned like a thousand bonfires and every ripped muscle in his entire body tensed as he tried to overcome the gruesome sensation. At that moment, he wanted to die, but remembered without a single trace of irony, that he was already dead. By now, he was sure, this had to be Hell.
Not only was he attached to L once more, but he was being knocked senseless by a damn mountain!
Fate was such a cruel thing.
However, it seemed said fate, soon turned the tables and suddenly, their bodies collided with something that could not be anything but trees and Light did not have to open his eyes to understand that they had finally reached the forest. Leaves and branches whipped across their thorn forms and after a particular loud bang only centimeters from his ear, L's hands released him and the only thing that prevented them from parting with each other was Light's aggressive hold on him.
Next, his back slammed against a wooden surface and Light found himself laying unmoving on the ground, covered by a dead-weight he assumed had to be L. The detective was not moving, and Light could not feel his breath either. A spidery arm had fallen in front of the young genius' face and the delicate, pale skin was smeared with blood. It looked as if the insomniac had been suffering far worse than himself during their fall.
The pressure on his lungs were beginning to hurt and Light understood that he needed air. He needed to get L off of himself. This, however, seemed to be an almost impossible task, seeing as Light did not even think he was capable of lifting a finger. He was trapped between L's seemingly lifeless form and the massive tree-trunk behind him.
Kira felt like crying just then.
Blood hammered through his veins and his heart was pounding so rapidly that Light was afraid it might stop from exhaustion. Crimson poured from his nostrils and the upper half of his face was nothing but an inferno of pain. He was sure some of his teeth were loose and his kneecaps felt as if they had moved several inches form their right spot. It was fair to say he had never been this beat up in his life and to be honest, Light Yagami did not like being in pain. Quite frankly, he detested it.
He suspected that had they not already been dead, this fall would have caused them both to die, if L wasn't already dead that was.
He knew he had to pry the detective off, it anything, so that he could check if he was still alive. Not that he cared about that really. All he wanted was the information, which he was sure had to be useful.
Was it possible that one could die over again in this place?
What even the answer to that question would be, Light sincerely needed to breathe properly now, and finding the last remains of his strength, he managed to force his leg free from beneath L. After that, their tangled forms soon unlatched, and within a couple of seconds, L was laying face down on the forest floor, beside Light.
Panting, Light let his oxygen supply fill, and squeezing his eyes shut, he lifted a hand to his nose.
Oddly enough, it did not seem to be broken, but the pain was almost unbearable nonetheless. Furrowing his brows, he wondered if broken limbs could heal themselves here. He had been so sure that he had heard the bone snap.
Groaning, he slithered a couple of inches away from the trunk, head spinning with every movement. He needed to check upon L.
As he forced himself closer, he remembered something, and with a great effort, he held out his wrist.
No cuffs.
This made him frown deeply.
How could there be no cuffs?
He had felt the tug from the chain and L had indeed come flying against him.
He shook his head and immediately regretted it, as everything began to rotate. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he calmed his breathing and focused on the task ahead of him.
Or rather L.
When he finally reached the unconscious investigator, he lifted his hand and grabbed a hold of a bony shoulder. Twisting the detective around, so that his dirt-covered face was pointing towards the sky, his fingers searched for his pulse. For a couple of breathless seconds, he waited, but just as he was beginning to wonder if the insomniac was in fact dead, he felt a small, weak throb against his index-finger.
He was alive then.
Light did not know if he felt disappointed or relieved.
A mixture of both, he presumed.
As his hand covered L's pale, fragile neck, he suddenly found himself thinking about how easy it would have been to kill him, had they ended up it a state like this back on earth.
After a fair amount of time, he noticed how L's chest heaved and fell, very vaguely, but he was for sure breathing.
All of a sudden realizing that he had yet to remove his hand from L's neck, he quickly tucked it to his chest and for a moment, he almost chuckled at his own behavior.
For a swift second, he had reminded himself of L, the way he always touched things as if they were infested with bacterias. This thought, however, he killed very shortly after it was born, and the snigger that had been playing in his throat was strangled before it could erupt.
He and L were nothing alike.
Staring down at the detective, he wrinkled his nose a little, face mirroring the disgust he felt inside.
Seeing L like this, all defenseless an wounded, kind of decreased his status and made him a much weaker opponent.
Kira did not engage in battle with weak people.
He scoffed inwardly.
This was supposed to be L, one of the world's three greatest detectives. This broken wreck of a man was supposed to be his worst enemy!
Right now, he looked more like a sleeping kid.
Obsidian orbs were hidden behind heavy lids and his unruly, black hair framed his features, making them appear somewhat softer than they really were. There was nothing crooked about his posture now and Light was brought back to the day of L's death once again.
He had looked so peaceful back then and even though victory had hammered in his chest, Light had felt somewhat envious of that peace. He recalled that he had been wondering if the detective had been feeling that peace himself when he died and for some reason, the thought of that had not angered him. It was not important whether the insomniac had died without knowing who was responsible. Even if L never knew that Light Yagami was Kira, Light would have won.
He tried to push himself to his feet, but apparently, he had spent his last powers to get over to L. Instead of actually moving, he fell, quite literally, atop of L, head landing on the detective's chest.
Cursing, he tried to move, but his mind was foggy and his limbs did not seem to obey him. He twisted his fingers in L's white, cotton shirt, but he could not prevent himself from slipping into a welcoming darkness.
-
He woke with a yelp, followed by a hiss of pain as he was stirred from his sleep by something moving underneath him. Blinking, he realized that he was soaking wet, and as he lifted his head to look up towards the sky, he felt heavy droplets collide with his face. The sky had darkened and the clouds lay as a iron carpet, hiding away the sun. The treetops seemed unnaturally far away and the ground felt muddy and slippery against him.
He lowered his gaze and found black orbs staring widely at him and though they seemed a bit confused at the moment, he quickly decided that he should move before they turned vengeful.
What the hell had just happened?
Apparently. He had passed out on top of L, and God only knew how long he had been unconscious. Groaning, he rolled off the detective and winced as every single part of his body burned. He was stiffer than an old man and on top of that, he was cold.
Ice cold.
He supposed they had been laying like this for quite some time and he wondered of he would perhaps catch a cold, if that was possible here.
"Yagami-kun?" L's voice was stained and barely above a whisper. He appeared to be freezing as well, judging by the way his words trembled.
"Hai." He managed to croak, teeth clattering violently.
"What happened?" He sounded weak and Light turned his head to look at him. L was still on his back, face fully exposed to the poring rain. His skin was sleek, and tiny, crystalline droplets clung to his long, dark lashes. The left side of his face was badly bruised and he had a bleeding cut on his forehead. His now, see through shirt clung to his body, tattered with red spots all over.
"We fell." Was all Light cared to reply, and he almost felt amused by his own words. It would not take a genius to figure that out. L seemed to be thinking the same, as he gave a small snort, before pursing his lips faintly.
"We are not wearing chains Light-kun." Was the slow reply and Light's own confusion was mirrored in his voice.
"I know." He answered.
"But you felt it too, right? The jerk?"
"Hai."
Light had no clue of what was going on. What kind of trick had destiny, or rather Death, pulled this time?
There was no such things as invisible object, and Light had never believed in magic. Well, he dryly reminded himself, he had not believed in Shinigamis either until he met Ryuk.
Ryuk that betraying bastard.
He was still angry at the Death God for writing his name down, but he also knew that it was meant to be that way from the start. He had picked up the Death Note and therefore accepted the deal that said that Ryuk would take his life.
However, he had not wanted him to do it so fast.
He could have bloody waited!
Light guessed the Shingiami had thought he had lost and no longer found the human amusing.
Still he could have waited a while longer! At least that would have saved Near -that damned brat- the recognition.
Urgh... He really needed to keep that white haired bastard out of his mind.
They lay in silence for a while, neither of them capable of speaking. They were both covered in mud, the deep brown mixing with vibrant red. Somehow, the rain felt soothing, and it dulled some of the pain from their open wounds. Light closed his eyes and let the water stream down his face, feeling how it washed away some of the blood and pooled in the deep, open scar on his cheek. Despite his shuddering, he felt rather content just then and wondered vaguely if he was about to pass out again.
Then, a lighting ripped the clouds and only seconds later, thunder followed with a deep rumble.
He was startled as a cold, wet hand was placed on his arm, and when he turned his head, he saw L gazing at him, pupils narrowed.
"We should move Yagami-kun."
He knew the detective was right.
Staying under a big tree like they did now, was not a good idea. None of them knew how to get out of the forest, but they were both intelligent enough to realize that they needed to at least find another resting spot.
Gnawing on his lip, the auburn haired male nodded.
"You're right.
He proceeded with collecting all his willpower, forcing himself to tilt over and bucking his knees while pushing upwards from the ground. At his side, L was doing the same thing, and after what seemed like hours, they were both more or less standing on their feet. L, however, seemed to have a sprawled ankle, seeing as he fought hard not to lose his balance on one leg.
Light's knees threatened to give away under him any minute, but there was no way he was going to back down now.
Hesitantly, he took a step towards the detective, who lurched and nearly fell over. Light caught him just before he fell and watched how ebony eyes widened.
"Let's go." He said simply, keeping the insomniac standing.
Light had realized that if that "invisible" -he still did not want to believe it- chain was still connecting them somehow, he would not be able to move unless L did.
Not caring to elaborate, he placed an arm around the detective's waist and began to walk, feeling how L leaned against him like a sack of potatoes.
How much stranger could it get really?
He quickly reminded himself that this was only necessary. It wasn't like he enjoyed helping the detective or anything.
He had to if he wanted to get going.
This was nothing but a selfish act, he assured himself as they teetered through the deep, overgrown forest.
A/N: Yup! That was kind of sweet wasn't it? At least I thought it was! Hee hee.. :swallows: So, I hope you enjoyed that!