A/N: chapter six!! I'm so happy with the amount of reviews I've got for this. Maybe if I'm lucky I can beat the amount I got on The 'Reno' Diet. D

Enjoy

Chapter Six

Elena sat awkwardly, with her legs drawn up to her chest and her head rested on her knees. It was so uncomfortable, but she didn't dare move. What she found strangest was that Reno often sat like this, and seemed to find it perfectly comfortable.

Silence. That was all she heard. Even the birds in the trees and bushes had stopped singing, and everything was dead quiet.

She looked over to the redhead, who was sat completely opposite to Elena. His back was resting on a tree and his head lolled to one side. His slender arms were folded across his stomach and his long legs were crossed at the ankles. Elena wasn't sure if he was asleep or not, as she couldn't see his face. It had been several hours since Reno had spoken of the whispering voices, but Elena's heart was still going at the same pace. Looking around her, and noticing all the open space, she decided she would probably feel much safer if she were to move closer to Reno.

Taking a deep breath, Elena stretched out her legs, feeling the bones crack and her muscles cramp up. She crawled over to Reno on her hands and knees, ignoring the uncomfortable scraping of the bracken on her shins.

"Reno?" she whispered as quietly as she could. Even that sounded too loud. She poked him in the stomach, and received no response. Sighing, she concluded that the only way she would get a response would involve a lot of shouting, so she settling with moving as close to Reno as she could, resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled as the dozing redhead lifted up his left arm, and wrapped it around Elena's shoulder.

It was strange how comfortable she suddenly felt; like nothing in the world could hurt her. The redhead's slim arm around her was like a protective barrier, and for someone so bony, his shoulder was extremely comfortable. The only thing that spoilt this amazing feeling she had, was what she saw when she looked around. Dark, dismal surroundings, and depressing weather. It just reminded her of how scared she had been earlier. Deciding it was best, she closed her eyes; that way she could think of whatever she wanted, and nothing would spoil her peaceful, relaxed mood…

Elena awoke with a jolt, feeling strangely cold. How could she have fallen asleep? The events of last night were a blur to her; the only thing she really remembered was Reno hushing her. Things looked so much more positive in the daylight, except for one thing…

"Reno?" Elena said shakily. The redhead in she had fallen asleep in the arms of was nowhere to be seen. "Reno?!"

The blonde stood up and stepped forwards, calling Reno's name again.

"Alright, alright…" came an irritated voice from behind a tree. Reno stepped out from his 'hiding place' and glared at Elena.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" Elena asked angrily.

"Takin' a piss, what were you doin'?" Reno said grinning. "Hope you weren't peekin'…"

A slap on the side of the head was what he got in reward for his snide comment. Elena rolled her eyes as Reno rubbed his head, shooting her his best innocent look.

"You scared me. Don't keep disappearing." Elena said, trying to ignore the look on Reno's face.

"You remember last night?" Reno said in a more serious tone. "I checked it out, but I can't find anything."

"I didn't hear anything anyway." Elena said crossing her arms. "are you sure you weren't just messing with me?"

"Nope, I was bein' deadly serious." Reno said. Elena stared at him directly into the eyes, knowing that even if he was lying, it was unlikely she would be able to tell. "Wanna carry on walkin' now?"

"Yeah…" Elena said distantly. She gazed out into the distance, staring at the beautiful colors the sun was casting in the sky. Oranges, pinks and purples; all so peaceful. It was hard to believe they were even on a serious mission. The nerves that Elena had experienced were gone, except when she thought Reno was gone that morning; but of course, she had a right to be scared then. "What time is it?" she asked suddenly.

"Just about to ask you the same question." Reno said grinning.

"Oh…" Elena looked at her forgotten watch on her wrist. "10 past 4… how could you let me sleep so long?"

"Well…" Reno shrugged. "I figured you must be tired, so I left you." He grinned suddenly. "I must be rubbing off on ya; it's usually me that sleeps late."

"Must have something to do with the fight I had while you were asleep in the hotel room." Elena said sarcastically.

"Whatever." Reno replied. "C'mon, let's get a move on."

Elena sighed and followed Reno away from the clearing and into the deeper parts of the forest. It was annoying when he did that, and he did it all the time. He knew he was wrong so he would completely change the subject in a way that Elena wouldn't notice until it was too late. Wordplay.

It seemed to be getting dark earlier than the night before, and the colors that Elena had noted in the sky earlier were fast turning into darker grays and blues. Elena looked at her watch again; only 5: 30. How curious that it was darkening so early.

"S'up Laney?" Reno asked her after a long while of silence.
"Nothing." Elena said. She was of course lying. She hadn't been banking on getting tired so easily, but as she looked over at Reno, he still looked fresh, and didn't look tired as well. The last thing she wanted was to show weakness in front of him. "Hang on…" she said suddenly.

"What?" Reno looked at her innocently, obviously noting the bemusement that just clouded over her eyes.

"Do you actually know where we are?" she asked him.

"Sort of…" Reno said awkwardly.

"Sort of?"

"Well… we got kinda side-tracked with that clearin', 'cause I didn't even know that was there… but I know roughly where we're goin'"

"So how much longer until we get to the Forgotten City?" Elena asked politely.

"Dunno… maybe get there tomorrow? It's only a few hours…" Reno said, trailing off slightly at the end of his sentence.

"So how come yesterday you said it was two days journey?" Elena said, smiling disbelievingly. "You really don't have a clue, do you?"

"Do to." Reno said pouting slightly. "Besides, things always work out in the end for me… this forest ain't that big…"

"Right…" Elena said, deciding to end the conversation. She could have quite easily argued with him for hours, but he being the skilled conversationalist that he was, Elena knew she would never win. Besides, she didn't really want to fall out with Reno, since she knew deep down that she was relying on him to protect her. He was stubborn, and if he didn't want to do something, he wouldn't do it.

Shivers ran down Elena's spine as the wind picked up around the two Turks. It was basically dark now, and the only light Elena could actually see was if she looked into the distance sky, where the dark blue was occasionally pierced with white when the thunder of a distant storm struck. Even that was getting harder, as the two of them were heading down a path which was getting steadily steeper. Either side of them was a steep, grassy bank, topped with skeletal trees.

Elena turned sharply as she heard Reno singing quietly. She could quite hear the words, but she could tell that he was only doing it to distract himself from their less-than-pleasant surroundings.

"Reno?" Elena said. She desperately wanted to make conversation as she knew she couldn't distract herself so easily.

"Hmm?" the redhead stopped singing and turned sharply to the blonde.

"How much longer have we got to walk?"

"No idea…" Reno said, obviously no longer caring what Elena thought of his currently less-than-perfect sense of direction. "We're headin' north-east, that's all I care about."

"Fair enough…" Elena said, gazing up the bank to her right. Silence followed, which she detested greatly. "Talk please…"

"What about...?"

"Anything… I just…"

Elena stopped dead in her tracks, praying that her eyes had just deceived her. As she looked up the bank at the shadows the trees were casting, she could have sworn for a split second as the sky lit up behind ahead, she saw the silhouette of a figure standing above her.

"Elena!" she heard Reno shout in a way she had never heard before. Desperate; like he truly needed help. Swallowing hard, Elena turned around, dreading what she might see.

But she never did see. As she turned, she felt a tremendous pain in the back of her head, and she screamed along with Reno. She had no idea what was happening, and just as she was about to yell Reno's name, when her vision turned completely black, and she swayed, losing her balance, and began to fall. She didn't feel the floor against her cheek or her hands, only that ever-lasting darkness.