A/N: wow, this has taken a little longer than I had hoped, but whatever. I do the best I can. And this is in some insane detail so I work as fast as I can.

Disclaimer: idea is by Crushed Hale.x, written by moi, and characters are owned by MOA

Kevin moved the rock and the two of us moved out into the world above once more after a long night's rest. His features seemed to have severely softened after sleeping on the pile of wings. He had given me enough to make a nice, comfortable bed for myself before crashing on the pile that I assumed was his own bed. He snored like a chainsaw, but I was too tired to care. I was too grateful to have him to even think of complaining.

The red light bathed over us as we walked up into the landscape. Kevin moved the rock back over the entrance, his muscles and tendons straining as he pushed it. I watched him for the longest moment until the large stone covered the entrance. Then Kevin turned back to me, sweat lacing his brow and began to move into the distance, me close behind him, a wing still covering me like a shawl.

"We got a long day. We won't get back there 'til real late. Full twelve hours 'round here, even though it doesn't always feel like it." His hulking form kept lumbering along, the color of his body blending in like a natural camouflage, the only things standing out were his tail and his wings against the harsh, blood-red landscape. "Think you can deal with that?"

I nodded quietly, focusing on keeping up with him and watching out for any signs of attackers that lurked in the shadows like a wolf watching its prey. I clutched the wing tighter to me with a shiver. I'd have to make myself some warm clothes eventually. My tattered and torn jeans and kitty shirt wouldn't last long here.

"You can speak," he said, voice containing a touch of a throaty laugh. He looked back at me slightly, his pair of golden eyes that were a clear trait of Fourarms glistening with amusement. "Nodding won't get me to save you in a fight out here. I can't spend every second watching over you."

"I know," I mumbled, shuffling along quickly to keep up with him. "I just... I'm not sure what to say around here. You're the master and I'm the apprentice." I looked up at him, his ebony hair striking against the dark crimson sky that lingered above us. "I have to learn from you to survive out here."

He paused and I stood next to him, wondering if he was worried over what I had said. His face seemed twisted in fear or panic. I blinked, hoping he didn't fear me leaving him. I didn't want to leave him. I needed someone to be with. No matter how much I hated Ben, he had always been like my best friend. In a weird sort of cousinly way. I needed a companion. And as Kevin had revealed the night before, he needed one too. Just as much as I did. We relied on each other for company, although I needed him for so much more than just that.

My gaze remained on him as he stayed frozen in that one spot. Minutes passed. His body was rigid. "Don't. Move." His tone was a strong but hushed hiss. "They're watching us."

My grip tightened on be wing around me and I held it tightly, praying for some miracle to save me. I knew I was going to die here. And if not in that very moment, I would die in the depths of the Null Void. I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I would die and that would be that. My whole life would be ruined before I could live it to the fullest.

Without warning, Kevin's Heatblast arm shot out a massive blaze around us, setting fire in a perfect circle. His lips were curled up in a vicious snarl as multiple Necrofriggins turned visible just outside the ring of licking and lapping flames. They all winced away from the heat and sudden bright light. He snarled at them, thrashing his arms in all directions.

They scattered, but only for moments. They all came around closer again, presing against the edges of the flames, and hissed at us. I pressed myself behind Kevin, feeling intense heat radiating off of him as if he himself were the blaze. One of his hands reached back and pushed me tighter against his body. "Back OFF!" he howled, the cry shattering the silence that had consisted of the quiet crackling blaze only moments ago.

The group of them all backed off for another long moment. Then closed back in on the flame again. Kevin kept me tucked tight against his large frame. "Stay away from her," he snarled, sounding feral in the quiet. He shot out more flames, this time directly striking a creature, sending it crumpling to the ground before it soaked into the russet colored dust.

I felt panic welling up in my throat, one hand against Kevin's skin for comfort. My other hand was clasping the blue and black wing to the base of my neck as I tried not to scream out or cry. Fear knotted my insides together in a giant ball and Kevin kept shooting away at them with the blaze of Heatblast's flames.

Something came from the ground beneath me and I found one of the Necrofriggins standing right in front of me, hissing and snarling like a rabid cat. A cry welled in the back of my throat but wasn't released until the creature's long blue claws gripped my arm tightly before flying up into the scarlet sky. I felt sharp, digging pain slice up my arm and a fiery pain flood my veins. I cried out and I could hear the faint swish of Kevin's hair as his head swiveled to see me being carried off.

I cried out again as a hand clamped around my ankle. I closed my eyes, wishing it all to end right there so that I didn't have to suffer another day of maddening torture. My body was being pulled in two different directions and blood spilled from my forearm.

For some reason unknown to me, the Necrofriggin released my wrist, the blood still dribbling down it as I fell directly into Kevin's warm arms. He held me tightly to his chest as I clutched my injured arm to my own. His fiery blazes drove through the flames, canceling out the ring around us. His bulky body pushed through the fire, his wings flickering and flitting. Then his feet began to run and within seconds we were right outside the rock.

A mere moment passed as he looked back, the fire out of view. Then he carefully used the two arms that weren't holding me in his tight grasp to push the rock out of the way. I saw sweat touch his brow once more before it moved off the entrance down into the cave. Then he slowly carried me down into its warm, welcoming depths.

I felt myself placed on my pile of wings as he pulled a rock over to sit on. He had a wing in one massive hand and he gingerly took my hand. Reluctantly, I extended my arm so that he could see the full extent of the wound that ran down my forearm.

That was when I got a full look at it. The claws had ripped the tendons of my inner arm and I could faintly see the white glow of the bone. A gasp escaped me as tears welled in my eyes, the pain setting in as I saw the ripped and shredded muscles beneath my torn and tattered skin. Dirt laced the flesh around it and I looked away.

Kevin's hand ran over the tear in my skin. Then he took the wing of a Necrofriggin from one hand and began to wrap it around my forearm with precise care. His large fingers moved deftly and it was soon bandaged and held fast by a ring of Diamondhead's crystal-like metal that fit around my arm like a tight bracelet. He created a few more of those to be sure that it was held in place.

For the longest time, I sat there and cried. I cried quietly. I cried like a little baby, pain finally swallowing me whole. It wasn't because my of my injury or because I was going to be scarred for life from this one battle. It was all the anguish that built up inside of me from the past days finally boiling over and driving out of me in a flood as strong as the one God had sent upon the world, saving only Noah and his family. My sobbing racked my body, letting out the pent up anger and depression that had been hidden inside of me all this time. My mind ached in the knowing that I wasn't going to be saved. Ben wasn't coming after me. I hated him for that. I missed him for that. I wasn't going to see Grandpa Max again. I may never see my Nobel Peace Prize. I was just going to die in this hole in the ground with a monster as my only friend. Kevin was all I had. And I had wanted so much more by the end of my life. The crying must've lasted for a few hours because all I knew was the pain that seared my heart and mind. My body let it flow. I couldn't hold back the tears. The agony was too great. I was losing everything before I even had it.

Later, when I looked back, Kevin was sitting on the other side of the cave, a fire now roaring in the circle of stones. His eyes were concentrated on it as if it were the only thing in the world he had to live for. And my arm was neatly patched up. I couldn't help but look at it and think that it was actually very pretty the way that it was decorated like that. Crystal-like diamonds over a blue and black cloth. Like an arm warmer sort of. With diamonds on it.

My eyes found Kevin again and I said two words to him.

"Thank you."

He smiled softly before looking back to the fire, the smile still upon his lips in a weaker form. We were still trapped in a prison of angels and demon under a bloodshot sky of red.

A/N: honestly, I'm shocking myself with how good this is turning out. May be one of my best works yet. Give me your thoughts and comments in a review! Thanks!

~Sky