Sorry for such the long wait...especially with that cliffhanger and all. Anyway, here's the next chapter, things are getting JUICY. Hope you like!
I do not own Kingdom Hearts...:/
PLUM WINGS & A MIDNIGHT DIRGE - TRAPPED
I could feel my feet slipping through the mud, but I had to get Demyx back on the cliff. I couldnt just let him fall, who know what could have been down there? But even as those thoughts came and went through my mind, I knew at the same time that I wasnt going to be able to succeed. He was clawing the mud in front of him, trying desprately to get back, but when he failed, and all of his weight had to be supported by me, it was such a sudden change my foot slipped and we both went tumbling down into the revine. Demyx was screaming next to me, twisting in the air. I watched him, steadying myself and trying to get my back towards the trees below, but I was not able to.
The trees were closing in, and Demyx and I covered our faces and closed our eyes, hoping everything would be alright when we reached the bottom. We were tumbling against hard and sharp twigs, slamming against thick branches and rolling through the blind trees for what seemed like hours instead of just mere seconds. I fell out of the trees and onto the cold ground on my back, having the wind knocked out of me. Demyx was already on the ground, trying to get up from his weak hands and knees. Gasping, it took me a full minute or two to regain my breath, by which time Demyx was mostly back to his normal sorts. He was staring at me with sad and fearful eyes, like he was about to cry. I gave him my stare, but I wouldnt be able to tell you what it was like.
"Zexion..." He whispered my name, waiting to hear confirmation to a situation he did not want to be in. I simply nodded.
"Here we are,"
No words were spoken for a very long time. Demyx was sitting across from me, huddled in a ball. All around us, there was nothing but trees and bushes. We had landed on a dirt ground, thank goodness, that had been covered with grass, most likely due to the trapped moisture in the revine. There was only one small opening in the canopy above us, and it was the one we had fallen through. It let in only a small amount of light, but it was light nonetheless.
On the way down, we had suffered many injuries. The worst one I had was a deep wound from landing right on a branch that had a thicker twig broken off of it earlier, there was an impressively deep, half-inch or more, stab wound that had ripped part of my sleeve and went right into my upper arm. When I first landed, I felt the pain, but I did not see the severity of it until I saw the amount of blood gushing from it. Of course, I did have my share of minor scratches wherever my skin wasnt covered. So, mostly my arms and half of my face. Demyx, on the other hand, had no wounds as bad as the one I had, but did have one long scratch across his face, which he was not happy about, as well as the other, smaller injuries he suffered.
All in all, we were both pretty beat up, if I do say so myself. And neither of us had anything to bandage or clean ourselves with, Demyx's bags were left on the cliff, unfortunately. Setting all negative aspects of the fall aside, I glanced at Demyx. He had his head down in his folded arms, silent. I couldnt help but sigh.
"Demyx," He did not look up. I narrowed my eyes from my determination and continued anyway. "I know as well as you do that this may not be the best time for confessions, but-"
"I did it because I wanted to see if anyone would miss me..." I stopped.
"What?"
"I...I wanted to see if, well..." He turned his head, laying it down sideways across his arms. "...if I would be missed by anyone. Whether or not Id be missed by you," I didnt have anything to say to him in reply. There were no words. I just wanted to tell, or, rather, try to tell him, what was wrong with me. But I had no idea myself, so it would have been near impossible.
"Demyx, listen, I..." My voice faded, and I sank into thinking. After a moment I spoke once again. "What could have possibly made you think that I wouldnt miss you for a second after I found out you left without a word?" I heard his movement, and I felt his eyes on me, but I was looking up at the moon through the break in the trees. It was starting to fade from view. It would be dawn soon enough.
"Well...when news about Axel came, I kinda started thinkin' what could have made him go. Roxas wasnt the same, he didnt even talk or look up when Larxene and Marly said something. I guess...I guess I thought he was running away because he didnt want to be around. Then...I thought about me, and I figured, in the end, that I didnt want to be around. So, I guess...that excuse earlier was just spur of the moment," He had a laugh at the end of his statement. Im not sure, but I think smiled a little.
"Well, guess what, Demyx?" He waited for me to finish, I knew it. "When you woke up to leave, I was waiting." I looked down at him, staring him right in the eyes, "And the very second you left I was out of bed and ready to chase you wherever you were going. I have hardly gotten a wink of sleep for days. I was waiting for you to run. And for the first minute you were gone, there was nothing else on my mind but you." He looked at me with eyes full of affection, like it was the happiest thing he had ever heard.
"For days?"
"I have been awake for nearly five days. The only time I have rested was for ten minutes at the end of two of my classes. In all honesty, I am surprised I havent started hallucinating."
"Zexion...why," He unfolded his arms and legs, inching closer to me. "Why did you do that?"
"You are my only friend. My best friend, and my brother. I couldnt let you do this to yourself."
"Im sorry,"
"Do not say you are sorry," He was visibly taken aback at this. "This is not a time for apologies."
"Then what is this the time for?"
"The truth." There was silence. Neither of us spoke for a minute or two, but Demyx moved and came to sit next to me. After a while, he said something.
"I wasnt right," He said. "I thought you hated me and didnt want anything to do with me, anymore. I was...Im so stupid for thinking something like that, I..." He stopped, on the verge of tears. "You're the only one who has ever been this close to me, Zexion, if anything'd happen to you, Id...Id...I dont know what Id do..." He buried his face in his arms, trying to hide from me that fact that he was crying. I knew it, though. I know him better than he knows himself, and he knows me better than I do. I had to go around to the other side of him to put my uninjured arm around his shoulder. He looked up and saw my arm, which was coated with blood, at that point.
"What did you do to your arm?" He asked, sniffling.
"It must have happened when I hit one of the trees when we were falling. I believe Ive broken it,"
"Do we have anything to fix it?"
"We cant fix a broken bone, Demyx."
"Then...we can splint it, right? I can get some sticks and, and Ill rip this-" He grabbed hit jacket, which was ripped when his arm was hurt. "and we can tie the fabric around the sticks, and..."
"We need to find a source of water," I stood and looked up, straight through the canopy. "Its still raining. And because everything down here seems to be green enough, that means there is a way the water is getting through the tops of the trees. We have to find something. We don't know how long we will be down here, come to think of it..." I thought. "Speaking of which...hm. And, it's almost dawn..." I looked at Demyx, who was looking around himself for something. He turned around to me with the smallest trace of a smile.
"Let's get some leaves and pick a spot to sleep and when we wake up tomorrow we can make a shelter and find what we need. Come here, into the light so I can see. Look, Ive got some sticks. Give me your arm." For once, Demyx was taking reasonable action. I chuckled, lifting my arm in the least painful way away from my body so he could put the sticks where they needed to be. I held them in place when he ripped his jacket, and he tied the torn cloth around the sticks firmly. It took us only a little while to find what was sutible to sleep on for that time, and we used what we could of his jacket as some form of cover for the two of us when we slept.
It was a cold night, but we made it by well enough to live the next day, and the morning was just as frigid. But like we had agreed on, before, we set off in search for water. I dont know how long we were looking, although it seemed like a very long time. When we couldnt find anything in the way we were traveling, we turned around and went back to our spot. We were not able to see the sun too well, so there was no way to estimate the time. Even so, I went in search of leaves and plants and things of the like, (after all, I only had one useful arm) and Demyx went to gather branches and sticks that we could use to make a shelter of some sort. But everything was much harder than we thought it would have been.
Once most of the things we needed were gathered together I had to think of a way for the two of us to use what we had and make it into an entire shelter big enough for the two of us. I wanted us to stay where we had fallen through, then there was at least some form of visibility and light, plus people may have a better chance at finding us. But even with multiple attempts at a standing shelter, only to have them fall down plan after plan, the one thing we got to work successfully was a lean-to style shelter where there was only enough room to sit up at the front, and lay our heads in the very back. We made a roof and bed for ourselves with various leaves and long grasses from other parts of the revine, and we tried to make some form of blanket by weaving long leaves in and out of each other, but they did not turn out as we expected. All together, we had made five four-by-four leaf "blankets" that we made one bigger blanket by tying the corners and sides together with thick plants. Sure, it wasnt too warm, and it was itchy as hell, it would have to do. We needed to survive, and if sleeping with itchy leaves at night meant survival, that's what we would go with.
We drank the excess water and dew from the leaves in the trees in the morning, and used what we could to bathe ourselves. We ate the same leaves as our only food. Nights were cold, and safety was almost a luxury. Night was when we had to be the most careful. There was a time when Demyx had awakened in the middle of the night to find a squirell destroying the skin of his leg, and that had convinced us to switch our watch hours for a few days.
"Hey," Demyx said one night.
"Hm?" I turned over, for I was lying down, to see him.
"What do you think of our friends?"
"What?" That was a very out-of-the-blue question. "Well, anyone specific?"
"Hm, Luxord, Marly, Larxene..."
"Luxord is clever, which is admirable, but is a drunken bastard most of the time. Marly and Larxene are clones of one another, always searching for drama and gossip like it is the air they breathe,"
"What about Roxas and Axel and Xaldin? And Sora and Riku?"
"Xaldin I do not mind. Come to think of it, I hardly see the man. Roxas and Axel are by far the two easiest people to be around. They're not like the rest of them, whatsoever. Sora seems rather mindless and carefree, but with Riku clinging to his side it seems to mellow him down quite a bit. Riku is quiet, and keeps to himself as I do. I dont really have any strong thoughts about him, though,"
"Then what do you think about Xemnas, Brother Lexy, Saix and Xig-"
"I would rather not be around Xemnas. He's too leaderly, like a dictator, with Saix right by his side. Lexeaus is quiet, so I really have no literal problems with him," I fell quiet, not wanting to talk about Xigbar. I could feel Demyx's emotions, it was a mistake he had said the name, and now he was regretting it. I took a deep breath, and spoke my thoughts about him. "Xigbar is a thoughtless, inconsiderate piece of mongrel rubbish," I said in tones of irritation. "He only thinks for himself, and thinks the world revolves around him. He would go out of his way to hurt someone for his own gain without a second thought..." My words drifted out to silence.
"And, me?" Demyx whispered. I sat up. "What do you think about me?" He turned to look at me, and I felt my face get red. Thank goodness it was dark. I sighed, thinking.
"Well, what about you? What do...what do you mean?"
"Tell me what you think of me, like you did with the other's." Again, I sighed.
"Well," I thought, leaning back on my elbows and looking up. "You...are the best friend anyone could ask for. You may not be the brightest, or wittiest person out there, but anyone who has the honor of meeting you will never forget your face. Sure, you're clumsy and tend to do things that are not of the smartest option, but I don't care. Without all of that, you would be just another walking human being, with nothing to say about you. It's a good thing you're the opposite, which, I suppose, is probably why I-" I stopped short. I was rambling, my mind was gone and I was now in a situation I did not want to be in. Demyx was questioning me, begging me to finish. I said not a word for a long while. When he finally gave up, I spoke.
"On a scale of one to ten, how badly do you want to know what I was going to say?"
"At least a seven," He smiled at me, eyes glistening in the dark. Well, fantastic. He wanted to know badly, but I really did not want to tell him. I sighed.
"Demyx, if I told you a secret of mine, would I be able to trust you with it?"
"Mhm! Cross my heart!" He was excited, smiling widely and pulling his fingers across his chest in an X.
"I don't know if you have been able to see it for all of this time, but, do you know the reason I turn down all of those girls who have the courage to come after me?"
"Hmm, because you dont like any of them?"
"No, no...Demyx, not that. Well, sort of that, but, not exactly. It's more of a...general sort of thing."
"General?"
"Yes...as in, 'generally, I don't like those...girls...' Understand?" I didnt mean to beat around the bush, but I must confess, I was feeling rather nervous telling him all this.
"I...guess,"
"Then what do I mean?"
"Huh? Oh, um...I think it means that you...you don't like girls?" I sighed. This was one of his smart days, thank goodness. I nodded. We were quiet, and I was afraid that he was frightened. "Oh, I knew that a long time ago!"
"W-what?" That certainly surprised me.
"Hehe, yeah! I knew it a while back,"
"You, you did? How!"
"Did you really think that I would think that you turn down pretty girls everyone else would die to be with just because you didnt like them?" I stared at him in disbelief.
"Yes." That was a serious answer. I didnt care about any of them...
"Oh...well, I always caught you sneaking glances and other guys, which is why you were so nervous to change in front of me." He stuck out his tongue and giggled at me.
"H-hey!" I blushed. "You...well, what about you? What are you like?" It was more of a demand for an answer than a question. But surprisingly, Demyx didnt hold back his answer.
"The same as you,"
"What! How come I didnt know this?"
"Why didnt you want to tell me about you until I asked?" He was enjoying himself a bit too much. I stopped bickering, and turned over to lay down.
"Im going to bed. You don't need to stay on watch if you don't want to. I think that squirell is done messing with us, Demyx." He shrugged his shoulders and agreed silently, but I got uneasy when he layed down beside me.
"Can you finish what you were gonna say before?" He asked, just as I was calming down. Damn his timing. I said nothing for a short moment, and finally, just came out with it.
"I was going to say that it is a good thing you're not like every body else, and that that was probably the reason why I..." I swallowed in nervousness. "Why I...sort of...really, like you..." Nothing was said. I bit my lip, hoping he didnt think less of me or anything to that fact. Instead, I felt his happiness emenate off of him. He let a small, quiet giggle loose before saying the final words before we fell asleep.
"Same here,"