Chapter 8
Near groaned inaudibly, the barest hiss of breath escaping pale, chapped lips. He felt nauseous, and weak. A brief attempt to move to a sitting position achieved nothing more than a slight twitch in his fingertips. The boy stared meditatively at the insides of his eyelids as he attempted to force movement by strength of will alone. He became more aware of the various painful sensations assaulting his body – like his organs were spontaneously liquefying in hydrochloric acid, while he suffered from motion sickness and a head splitting migraine.
Dilated pupils shifted attentively beneath the pale eyelids. He vaguely remembered something that tasted foul, and snippets of conversation that made little sense to his half-conscious brain. Near hazily acknowledged that he was not, in fact, imagining his motion sickness. He was moving—being carried? No.
The sound of familiar voices captured the Seer's wandering attention. They were garbled, and confused him in his current state, but slowly began to take form over the course of a few minutes. Something to do with work. Or abilities.
Near slowly forced his eyes open to see his travelling companions walking in front of him, staring intently at each other as they walked. Walked? What about the horses? His lips parted in an attempt to get some answers, but released nothing more than a dry rasp that went ignored.
"Hey, it's not like I asked to be a Princess." Light's voice was annoyed, and defensive. "The perverted mirror did it."
"Mikami?"
"Yea—you know him?"
"I should believe so," L's low monotone replied, "he was responsible for my own predicament when I was your age." There was silence for a few seconds.
"… He didn't… destine you to be a Princess, did he?" Complete disbelief. The Neko actually looked amused at the thought.
"No, Light-kun, he did not." L replied. Near was more amazed that the two were managing to maintain a civil conversation with one another. How long had he been out?
Light could no longer contain his curiosity. "Then what are you, really?" L brought a thumb to his lips, looking at the sky aimlessly as he considered the question. He was slightly aware that The Seer was beginning to stir, but chose to ignore it until the boy was fully conscious.
"The mirror told me I was supposed to be a knight." L mused. Light stared at him for a few seconds before snickering quietly.
"You're a Knight?" He asked in disbelief. L's opaque gaze turned to stare expressionlessly at the scoffing teenager.
"No." Light blinked.
"But you jus—"
"I said the mirror proclaimed that I should to be one." L interrupted him plainly. "I never pursued this occupation."
"… It's impossible to 'not pursue' your destiny, L." The teenager pointed out with an incredulous expression. "It just happens." L stared flatly at the Princess with an expression of bland annoyance.
"Only if you allow it to 'just happen,' Light-kun." L mumbled. "Knights are pawns, with nothing more to aspire to than rescuing screaming damsels, slaying dragons, and worshiping their kings/liege lords." Mahogany eyes stared thoughtfully at the hunched figure next to him. He honestly did not know what to make of the man. One minute he's an irritating, obtuse little smartass. The next a deep, thoughtful individual. And then a childish twenty-five year old who thinks cake is a dinner food… "Light-kun?"
Light shook his head and focused on the wide eyes staring at him. He supposed his expression must have given something away to make the Neko question him.
"Just wondering what you'd consider yourself at this point." A strange little smile suddenly painted the Neko's face, a sudden childish glee that made absolutely no sense to the brunette.
"Mysterious Exiled Theif-Knight-Lord." Light blinked.
L grinned.
"Ryuuzaki, that's ridiculous." The wide-eyed smile turned into a pout, although the dejected expression did not reach his eyes.
"So is a male Princess."
…
They both lapsed into silence.
Light shook his head in hidden amusement. There was something seriously wrong with the both of them, though the teen could admit that he was quickly adapting to the man's strange quirks. The ogling was almost tolerable now, if still fairly creepy.
L mainly ignored the brunette, savoring every moment of his precious silence.
It didn't last long.
"Sir Lawliet." Light turned to him with an evil grin as the title just seemed to roll off his tongue. L stared in his usual wide-eyed manner, though Light fancied that he was annoyed.
"Light-kun should not address me as such." L informed him around the digit he was nibbling on.
"Why not, Sir Lawliet?" Light inquired innocently, relishing the faint narrowing of the thief-knight's eyes as he put emphasis on his non-title. The former Princess paused as L allowed his hand to fall to his side and drifted to a stop to look the younger man straight in the eye.
"Because it feels as though Light-kun is flirting with me," L clarified, "and that is a most uncomfortable thought." Light smirked in amusement as the older man started to walk again, which slowly faded as the implications of the statement began to sink in. His feet faltered to a halt as his face blanched, then flushed a deep crimson. L continued on for a few steps as though oblivious to Light's sudden horror and turned when the teenager was no longer next to him. Light felt his face grow hotter as the man looked at him as though he were an interesting portrait on display. Light slowly convinced his feet to move and was soon walking next to the scruffy Neko-san again.
"It wasn't flirting." Light said, abruptly breaking the awkward silence that had settled around them. L gave him an expressionless stare. "There's a difference between flirting and teasing, L." He explained quickly, maybe a trifle too defensively. L brought his thumb back up to his lips.
"I see," Light glared scathingly at the endlessly monotonous entity next to him. Was that the beginnings of a smirk he detected? No. He was imagining things. L didn't have emotions. Evil, creepy, manipulative gargoyle that he was… with cute fluffy ears and giant, staring eyes… Light scowled at him outright, not bothering to hide his irritation with the should-be-knight.
"How would you know what flirting is anyway?" The teenager demanded in his defense. L quirked an eyebrow as he turned his head to regard the brunette.
"Contrary to popular belief, Light-kun, I often find myself dealing with such situations." The Neko stated. He refrained from comment on how unpleasing the slack-jawed expression on Light's face proved to be. Light's mouth worked silently as he tried to give voice to his disbelief. L the target of sexual advances? The very thought was absurd.
"… You're kidding, right?" It came out more high-pitched than he liked. L blinked slowly, a smile playing about the edges of his lips.
"Does my sex-life interest Light-kun?" Wide innocent orbs. Light sputtered indignantly.
"W-who the hell said anything about sex?" Light cried. "No!" He answered anyway. "No it does not!" It was L's turn to invade personal space as the Neko stopped and leaned forward to stare intently into the brunette's mahogany eyes. Light backed away in alarm, looking about ready to have a panic attack.
"I find Light-kun's over-reaction to be very suspicious in these circumstances." L observed aloud, dancing with glee on the inside as the teenager blushed again, his face reaching new heights of horror.
"I'm not over-reacting!"
"D… Do w… any… water?" Near whispered from his position on the gelding – not quite ready to attempt complete sentences, but finally aware enough to communicate. Light whirled toward the gelding he was leading with an expression of relief. He did not want to deal with anymore of the creep's psychoanalysis nit-picking.
"Near!" Light exclaimed and tossed the reigns to Ryuuzaki as he went to check on the young albino. L, for the most part, froze after instinctively grabbing the reigns out of the air. His expression suddenly took on a murderous quality. Perhaps he could intimidate the beasts into submission. The gray ignored him. The mare simply snorted in his direction, completely unimpressed.
Apparently not.
"How're you feeling?" Light asked as he loosened the straps keeping the boy in the saddle.
"Fine." Near lied. "Water?"
"Give me a second." Light quickly finished undoing the buckles and slid the limp body from the horse. The Princess grabbed the water canister from his belt and held it to Near's lips, pointedly ignoring the impatient stare directed his way from a certain fluffy-eared nuisance.
"Light-kun…"
"We should stop here for the night." Light said, ignoring the blank expression that surely hid an intense killing intent from the older man. Near shrugged in response, slightly uncomfortable with being held by the chatty brunette.
"It is not yet nightfall." L deadpanned, and bristled as the Princess flicked his hand in a dismissive manner. Prissy little… The Neko clamped down on his irritation. He would not get annoyed.
"Can you take care of the horses, Ryuuzaki?" L sighed. This was going to be a long trip…
--
L reluctantly tied the horses to a tree, and jumped back before the mare could get any ideas about chewing his tail off. Near was once again unconscious. L frowned irritably as the brunette ordered him to find water, and wondered when they (he) had elected Light as the new group leader… but he did as he was asked.
"Do not wander, Light-kun." L warned as he headed in the direction of a stream he could hear a few hundred yards away from their 'camp.' He received a noncommittal noise in response, but decided that was enough. The teen seemed quite busy fussing over the unconscious albino.
Sparse pine needles lightly prickled his bare feet as the Neko strolled his merry way toward the water his ears told him was nearby… Thinking very important things as he did so.
About demons.
And Prophesies of Doom/Death.
…
… And not fussy brunette Princesses with nothing better to do than get in his way.
L scratched an ear in distraction as the river finally came into view, almost blinding in the late afternoon sun. He was over thinking events again. He should know better by now that he could not predict the situation anymore than Near and the Seer's colleagues could. The Neko pulled a fairly large water canister out of his pocket. It could stretch to hold up to eight gallons of liquid if he needed it to, which was good since they were travelling towards desert country. The Neko crouched gingerly on the river bank and dipped the waterproof container into the stream, fighting down the instinctive urge to snatch his hand away from the chill water.
L quickly capped the container and lifted the water skin from the river. He slung it over his shoulder and headed back to the camp.
The Neko paused as he stepped back into the small clearing.
"Light-kun?" He inquired, glancing around to see if he had missed the tall figure somewhere in the trees. Nope. There was only Near, laying in the exact same pathetic condition he had been before the Nekomimi left. L dropped the water with a silent curse and shot up the nearest tree, nimble toes and fingers finding easy purchase on the rough bark. The Neko stopped on a branch halfway up the tree, crouching with toes curled to balance on the swaying limb. He glared—yes, glared. Quite angrily—at the concealing underbrush, straining his ears for any sign of the missing brunette… Nothing.
L frowned.
He would be severely chagrined if he discovered that the Princess was kidnapped or some other nonsense. He had never been one suited for dashing rescues, or daring escapes. The Nekomimi's ears twitched. His legs tensed and launched him at a branch across from his tree. The tree limb sunk precariously under his weight as the Neko successfully landed on the slender branch and continued forward.
L dropped a few levels lower as he caught sight of light brown in the green foliage.
"Light-kun!" He snapped and dropped directly in front of him. The princess gave a startled shriek and wacked him with the plants he was holding. Repeatedly. L lazily held up an arm to defend against the entirely frivolous strikes.
"What, the, hell, Ryuuzaki?!"
Each syllable punctuated by a bush slap. The Neko snatched the leafy greens from the Princess impatiently, unintentionally crushing the delicate plants in his fist. "Hey! I need those!" L frowned.
"Light-kun should have thought of that prior to leaving my sight and deciding to pulverize them against me when I attempted to search for him." Light glared at the obviously put out feline. The princess paused.
"Were you worried about me?" Light asked suddenly. The Neko's eyes narrowed, silently telling the brunette that he was being ridiculous.
"What are the plants for?" L muttered, ignoring the foolish question. Light forced his expression to remain pleasantly neutral, though inwardly he was smirking. He decided not to push the issue.
"For Near." L gingerly handed the plants back, and moved to chew absently on a thumbnail as the brunette resumed whatever it was he had been doing before. Ew… plant juice… The Neko made a face and shoved his hand back in his pocket.
"I see." He really didn't. L watched the brunette work a few moments longer before turning his attention elsewhere. It was boring. Was it a good idea to leave Near unattended?
It would probably make no difference.
What did bother him was that Light had overheard the Seer use his real name, and seemed to have no doubt that it wasn't another alias.
L scowled as the Princess broke him out of his thoughts with demands that he 'do this' and 'do that' when they reached the clearing… which was soon followed by 'stop it' and 'don't touch that.'
"I am amazed at the amount of practical skills Light-kun has acquired, given his occupation." Ryuuzaki observed, unable to completely suppress the minor feelings of resentment at being ordered around by a… well, anyone. It was annoying watching the teen combine ingredients in a pot of water that L had to boil – hey, making fire was hard without spells or oil!
"Oh, shut up." L blinked questioningly at the suddenly irate brunette. "You make it sound like a bloody miracle, Lawliet."
"Do not use that name." L muttered – paranoid tendencies spiking. Light huffed, but did not argue as he removed the pot from the fire to cool. L wanted to ask how on earth that horrible smelling, green slop was supposed to help the indisposed seer, but he assumed it was like a potion or something. Healing potions always tasted like they were going to kill you, so he wouldn't doubt it.
Light quickly felt the young boy's forehead. His cheeks were flushed and clammy, but he felt cool to the touch, which could not be a very good sign. The teen retrieved some blankets from their packs and bundled the snowy child up in them as he waited for the mixture to cool.
"Are you really the L, or is this all some twisted joke?" Light demanded bluntly of the vacant-eyed madman crouching next to him.
"A joke." The Neko replied without hesitation. "I am a very sadistic person, Light-kun."
"I hadn't noticed," Came the sarcastic retort. Light glared at the perpetually infuriating creature next to him. "Give me some credit here, Ryuuzaki. I know you're lying."
"Then there is no need for Light-kun to make such inquiries."
"Yes there is."
"I fail to see why." Light rolled his eyes, but decided that he was getting nowhere with the pointless conversation. L frowned as the Princess remained resolutely silent. "This does not concern Li—"
"It does concern me, L." Light interrupted, his expression completely serious. "If I'm going to be stuck travelling with you, I think I should know a few things." The dark-haired man shrugged. Not that he disagreed, but he had never been very comfortable with telling the truth, even if there was no harm in it.
"Then yes, I am L," the Nekomimi admitted suddenly, "does this satisfy Light-kun?"
"… Not really." The teen checked on the cooling potion. "Ok, we're going to have to wake him up for a moment." L looked at him like he was an idiot. Again. "Stop giving me that look. He can't drink it if he's asleep." The Neko regarded the sleeping boy silently. He supposed there were plenty of ways to wake him up. Dump him in the river, stick his hand in the fire, hit him with something heavy… think unbearably unpleasant things at him… Since he suspected Light-kun would object to the others, L decided that the last option was the most prudent, if a little invasive.
"… What are you doing…?" Light asked as the Neko rested a single index finger on Near's forehead, an expression of extreme concentration (or maybe just boredom) settling on his pale features.
"Thinking."
"And how is that supposed to help?"
"… He's a Seer, Light-kun."
The brunette decided he had said enough after that.
Light noticed the boy stirring, eyebrows creased as he struggled toward consciousness. He couldn't help but wonder what on earth the Neko could be thinking at him.
Near cringed away with an almost inaudible moan.
"Oh bloody hell, Lawliet," it came out as a raspy whimper, eyes still screwed shut. "There are some things I do not need to know… And your rampant perversity is one of them…" The petite albino buried his face in Light's lap, monotonously demanding that the brunette save him from the Nekomimi's thoughts.
Light sent Ryuuzaki a glare and swatted the bony hand away from the apparently traumatized albino. Ryuuzaki huffed in mock irritation as the Princess fussed over Near. At least he hadn't had to wrack his imagination too much. Mostly useless, and annoyingly talkative, at least the brunette was pretty to look at. Well, maybe a bit more than 'pretty,' but the Neko was not about to dwell on it. Though he supposed that wasn't really a surprise since Light was a Princess and all…
Ok, not dwelling on it.
Near made a sickened face as Light practically force fed him a cup of the bitter potion.
"How long until Near can travel?" L asked, discontentedly eying the sun as it slowly migrated down the horizon. The albino had already lost consciousness again.
"He should be fine after a night's rest, why?"
"No reason." L murmured, subtly sniffing the western breeze. Sweat, and old blood. His senses were not that keen; it had to be fairly close for him to smell that. No more than a mile. Ash… Smoke was strong, he could smell smoke from anywhere within ten miles, but he did not know what the smells meant. They were too vague. Burning meat? The war couldn't have reach this far, yet. The Neko quickly shuffled over to the fire and began drowning it in dirt.
"What are you doing?" Light demanded from his seat next to the slumbering albino.
"We are hunted men, Light-kun." L explained. "It is dangerous to have a fire after nightfall."
"How will we keep warm?"
"Curl up with Near. He's in no state to complain." L murmured while heading for a nearby tree.
"What are you doing?" Light was beginning to get nervous. He did not know much about the Nekomimi, but he knew enough to recognize when something was wrong. The man was back to short answers, and his ears flickered everywhere in alert paranoia.
"Go to sleep, Light-kun," L ordered before launching himself up the tree, "I will keep watch." Light frowned at the figure huddling in the tree ten feet above him. The colour was beginning to wash out of the area as twilight set in.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Luminescent orbs blinked down at him in the half-light.
"I will if I believe something will come of it." The Neko replied, deciding that there was no use in creating unnecessary worry. Light sighed quietly. He knew he could expect no more from the secretive Neko, but that hadn't stopped him from trying.
"Yeah, well, warn me when we're all about to be murdered," Light grumbled as he settled down for the night.
L watched the Princess for a few minutes, ears keeping watch more effectively than his eyes ever could. He did not really know what to make of the situation. He smirked; it almost as ridiculous as a Knight becoming a Baron. He was accustomed to accomplishing results on his own, and yet everything indicated that he was not going to be able to do that this time. It was… bothersome.
The Neko shifted his weight, shivering in the quickly chilling air. He stealthily crept to a higher vantage point and stopped with his back to the tree trunk. Dark eyes restlessly scanned the forest area, furry ears craning back and forth in an attempt to detect foreign sounds.
The human kingdoms were out of the question. Or, most of them were. They were getting caught up in that psycho little religion, and would probably start another crusade to purify the world of the non-human races.
Idiots.
Just what they needed with the entire demon race on the verge of swooping down on them any month now.
L sighed tiredly. He now had to try and convince the other races to fix it. The Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Were Beasts… he'd even welcome the bloodthirsty Vampire race at this point, and their army of countless undead. The Neko blinked slowly for a moment. That might actually be worth pursuing… but only the eldest. Any younger than a century would cause more damage than good with their lack of self-control.
His head jerked suddenly to the right. The Neko breathed slowly inward, dark orbs scanning the underbrush. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. L crept his way down the tree, toes and fingertips shifting silently across the branches as he made his way toward the ground. He felt his stomach drop at the glint of metal in the underbrush. He wasn't imagining things then.
"Light-kun," The Neko hissed as he slid to the ground next to the brunette, eyes still fixed in the direction of the lurkers. He quickly prodded the sleeping Princess when he did not wake. No response. "Light-kun," L growled a little more vehemently. His ears flicked back at the sound of a snapping twig. The quiet Nekomimi suppressed the panic that threatened to surface as he felt something cold and sharp rest against the back of the neck. He could easily get away, but he needed to determine how to get Near and Light out. He dug his fingers into Light's arm, silently willing the brunette to avoid any sudden movements. Long eyelashes fluttered for a moment before Light's eyes slid open.
"What do you want?" L deadpanned, trying to let the Princess know that they were not alone, so please don't move. A scoff sounded behind him.
"Wha'd'you think?" It was a rhetorical question. Bandits? Slave traders? … Imperial patrol guards? L gave his wrist a light flick that detached the short dagger from its harness on his forearm. He let the blade slide down his sleeve to land directly next to Light's fingers. L knew he was in no position to pull off any miracles with a longsword aimed directly at his spinal column. The Neko slowly rose at the urging of his captor and turned to face the man. Definitely a brigand of some sort. His armor was rusted and fit poorly, clothes little more than mud stained rags.
Do something, Light-kun… The Neko's eyes darted around as others began to reveal themselves. Now…
"Wha'd'you reckon we can get for 'em?" The man holding him at blade point gruffly asked of someone out of L's line of sight.
"Eh, probably nothin' fer th' cat. Th' other two'll w—"
L tensed as the man before him screamed in agonized anger, blood literally spraying from a newly inflicted leg wound in rhythmic spurts. An artery must have been severed. The Nekomimi pulled two Sai from their positions sheathed at his back and stabbed him through the throat. L kicked the bandit away and whirled to face the sound of swords sliding free of their sheaths.
Both sides paused. The bandits not quite believing one of them had been taken down so quickly, Light staring at L in wide-eyed silence as the slick fluid soaked his clothes and hair.
"Take Near." L murmured. Light gulped. The man looked animalistic, fallen into a defensive crouch nearly parallel to the ground, eyes glittering eerily in the dark above his two companions.
"… Are you sure?" Light clamped his mouth shut as the Neko gave him a look that would tolerate nothing short of absolute obedience. The Princess nodded quickly in acceptance and scuttled to his feet with the young boy bundled in his arms. That seemed to be the last straw. Light choked back a scream as one of the bandits suddenly lunged for him, backing away as quickly as possible. L darted under the man's sword arm and raked through his abdomen, fresh gore showering the Neko as he spun out of the way of the tumbling body.
"Go," L snarled, shifting his grip on the Sai as the Princess finally took off. And don't get caught… L added silently. He could handle this. There were less than a dozen. But it would be impossible if he had to defend two invalids at the same time.
L threw himself into a side roll just as a broadsword buried itself in the ground where his back had been moments before. The Neko used the roll's momentum to launch his leg at the man's knee. A satisfying crunch sounded, followed by a howl of pain. L continued forward, twisting easily to avoid the slashes aimed for his body. He quickly hamstrung one man, and broke another's ankle. L quickly blocked a dagger thrust aimed for his face. He knew his was in trouble when he caught sight of a second bandit out of the corner of his eye.
The Neko kicked the dagger wielder in the groin and jerked the man forward to take the axe about to remove his head from his shoulders. L spat the salty liquid from his mouth and shoved the body away with a grimace.
No matter how often it happened, L would never get used to the drench of warm blood.
--
Light swore and stumbled to a halt beneath a flimsy alpine. His lungs and arms burned in exhaustion, mind working a mile a minute. Was it a good idea to leave Ryuuzaki back there? What if he had been followed? Is Near going to wake up?
…
That was the least of his worries! He left that stupid, mentally deranged bastard back there to be slaughtered! What the hell?! What if he was killed? Injured? Captured and tortured slowly to death for no reason? Each scenario became more gruesome, horrifying and unbelievable by the second as Light's imagination supplied thousands of reasons for why he shouldn't be running right now. Light glanced down as Near groaned suddenly.
"Please…" Near mumbled. "Don't." The quiet voice knocked awareness into the furiously panicking brunette. "He will be fine… jus' wanted us out of th' way…"
"But what if—"
"Light," the Seer interrupted gently, because he did not have the strength to be forceful. "I would know if something happened." The Princess paused. That was true. The flood of relief allowed Light to notice just how fast his pulse had been racing. He flushed as the Seer gave him a knowing smirk before slowly closing his eyes once again.
"Alright," Light mumbled to himself. "Guess we should… keep walking then…? Or find a place to hide." Light hoisted the boy in his arms a little higher, carrying him much like he would an over-sized infant… or a bride, but that mental imagery creeped him out too much considering the boy was dressed completely in white. "Over here looks good…" The teen mumbled, knowing that the albino was in no position to listen, but feeling a little better breaking the oppressive silence. He walked over to a rocky outcropping several yards away and stooped to settle beneath it. Didn't want to hide too thoroughly, or Ryuuzaki would probably walk right by them. Besides, if the Neko was killing the bandits, there was nothing to worry about.
Light nodded decisively to himself. Right. No need to panic. He would simply wait for the man to find them, and then they could continue. Near would know if L was killed, or captured, so he could be patient.
--
Glossary:
Sai: long, dagger-like weapon, typically used as a pair for a complex, two-handed fighting style. If you've seen the movie Electra, those are what she uses. Think ninja daggers!
Author's Note: You should go to my profile and look at the video that Nardaviel found a while ago. No, it's not mine (obviously), but you look at it and tell me I'm crazy for seeing L with cat ears! I've had to watch that thing every five minutes in order to slap my muses into action for this chapter. xP And trust me, I know it shows.
And this is the part where I list all the useless things that have stopped me from updating properly. Obviously, I have writer's block, which results in this sort of crap (I swear, this is the eighth time I've rewritten this thing – it's driving me nutty). I've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately that has me really not in the mood for funny (which is probably the biggest thing – it's so hard trying to write this with some horrible, fatalistic little voice of pessimism ranting in the back of my head). Work has been INSANE with all the people calling in sick lately: gotta love those bloody ten hour shifts! xP The only reason I'm managing this now is because they gave me a mini five-day holiday (which I literally slept through the first three days). AND we have renovations/painting to finish on the house before winter really sets in. DX We have two days of sun (according to Mr. Weatherman), so I get to spend my morning painting the roof. And putting up flashing. -_-
…And playing with power tools. =3 Mwahaha! XD Yeah… I wouldn't trust me either… D=