Near nuzzled against Mello as he awoke early in the morning.

Both Matt and Mello were still asleep. Both had been disappointed when they discovered that the river only led to a waterfall, which ended a couple miles off, but was still smack-dab in the center of the forest, which they were trying so hard to escape. Near didn't get why they were so disappointed until he realized that it was an escape route that they were searching for and not a food source.

The teens had whispered back and forth. The eldest shook his head, making his blonde hair sway side to side, and the younger gave him a look of disbelief with wide green eyes then glanced over to Near, who at the time had been sitting quietly a few feet from them. Near wondered what they were speaking about, but didn't bother trying to figure it out. It would've been a waste of his time.

Or so he thought.

The strange teens he was with were very cagey around him, but on the bright side the eldest seemed to be the nicest. Meanwhile the younger redheaded teen was distrustful and more cautious around Near than what Near thought he should've been. Not that the albino cared. No, he just found it annoying that Matt would watching him and whisper stuff to Mello and act…well…very, very unusually strange.

Anyway, the two decided to camp for the night.

The next morning Near woke hearing something move a couple feet from where he lay.

Something that had moved in the underbrush brought Near to full consciousness. He quickly climbed a nearby tree and watched warily as a small creature came out of the shrubs and foliage. He recognized it as a creature that needed to be avoided. It was a skunk. Near recognized the disgusting, little creature and climbed higher into the tree. As a small boy he'd seen his fair share of skunk attacks and didn't like the smell they sprayed on their enemies or attackers, at all. He let out a loud, warning cry to Mello and Matt who both woke up after several minutes. Matt was the one who angered the skunk when he let out a cry of alarm upon seeing it. The skunk hissed and with each moment that passed it was becoming angrier. Its hair rose like a cat's hair would and stood on end. Mello ran off into the woods not wanting to get sprayed, whilst Matt followed.

Near watched from his hiding place as the skunk waddled over to where Matt and Mello left their bags. It sniffed their bags and to Near's surprise unzipped one of the bags. It sniffed some more before it pulled out a rectangular bar wrapped in some sort of shiny material that Near had seen before, but didn't know the name of. He watched curiously as the black and white creature sniffed and gently clawed at its prize. Near, feeling curious, dared to climb lower to watch the creature. Soon he was on the ground and crouching down close by the tree trunk. He watched as the skunk turned to stare at him. It sniffed the air, hissed then ran off in fear sensing Near was a threat to be avoided at all costs. Near moved over to the rectangular bar after the skunk was gone.

He sniffed at it as the skunk had. It smelt sweet. Not too sweet, but simply sweet, in a good way. He liked the smell of it and decided it must have been good, but was still cautious. He pulled some of its wrapper off, slowly, at a random corner. A brown corner was revealed. Near stared at it for several moments.

He gave it a curious look.

Licking his lips nervously wondering what to do next Near done the only logical thing that came to mind and bit off a small bit of the corner. It was bitter, yet had a sort of sweet edge to it in his mouth. It melted on his tongue as he moved it around in his mouth experimentally. He decided that he didn't like this substance very much. It lacked a certain flavor Near was used to and besides that it was much too bitter for his tastes.

He was about to toss it aside when he heard a strange clicking noise. A shadow soon cast over him. His eyes widened temporarily as he just stared at the ground. He looked up and saw a strange looking man who held a weapon similar to Matt and Mello's. "Come along quietly, or else I'll kill you." He said through gritted teeth. Near felt his body start to involuntarily tremble. He looked around for Mello and Matt, but saw neither of the teens were around. He looked down at the bar he held and then to the man.

What choice did he have?

He thought for a minute and knew he had no choice whatsoever. The man had a weapon and he had no weapon. The one with the weapon always won. Near knew this, for he was no fool. He'd learned from watching many fights that if one had a weapon then their chances of survival were pretty high, but those without a weapon had more of a chance to die than to survive.

Wrapping the material back over the exposed substance he put it in his pocket and stood up looking down at the ground feeling helpless. He didn't struggle when the strange man forced him against a tree and tied his wrists behind his back. Near erased whatever hope he had at escaping by climbing a tree. He was shoved forward and fell. He was promptly kicked afterwards he was forced to his feet and led off having a bad feeling. No, he had a dreadful feeling that something bad was going to happen to him. Near whimpered as he felt something strike the back of his head. His last thoughts, before he blacked out, were wondering where Mello and Matt had run off to or if they'd be able to help him.

His body fell to the ground limp.

Mello and Matt stopped running.

"Where is Near?" Mello asked his friend who looked around after being asked. "I-I think he was back there." Matt said looking in the direction they'd came from. "Damn, we're gonna have to go back for him and our stuff now." The redhead added bitterly.

"Oh well, let's just hope he hasn't been sprayed." Mello said sighing, then chuckling nervously.

Matt groaned at the idea. "If the brat smells like road kill we're dumping him." He quickly said with a small, joking grin. He then started to laugh. Mello laughed with him.

They stopped and headed back to camp after a few minutes but found Near had vanished completely. "Where did the little fella run off to?" Matt asked Mello who shrugged. The blonde inspected the bags, whilst Matt looked around for Near. Mello was pissed to find one of his last four chocolate bars were gone. He looked about making sure that Near wasn't hiding in some bushes or in a tree or whatever.

"Mels, I found something!" Matt yelled before he ran into Mello.

The two collided and landed in a fighting heap. Mello came out the victor. He stood angrily. Kicking Matt in the ribs he swore so loudly and said so many obscenities and insults that a sailor would have blushed with shame if he were to have heard. Finally when the blonde was finished beating his best friend to a pulp and Matt regained his senses he stood up and prepared to snap at Mello, but then decided against it.

"I found some blood."

"Blood? Where?"

"Follow me." The redhead said after grabbing his bag and running off in one direction. Mello followed Matt a mile away from where they were and Matt showed him several drops of blood, which stained the grass. The blood started to puddle in some spots, and then, unexpectedly screams ripped through the air. Both of the friends found themselves running towards the awful sound, but by the time they had got there all was silent.

Near was huddled between some bushes crying and a corpse lay mutilated and in a huge puddle of blood. Arrows protruded from the corpse's chest and throat. Mello looked to make sure Near was okay, meanwhile Matt looked the body over used to seeing such horrible things by now. He turned to his friend who was comforting the younger boy.

The small boy, however, refused to be touched or even spoken to, therefore Mello didn't get any answers when he begun asking Near about what had occurred between him and the strange man and where had the arrows came from. "Near? Who was that?" Matt demanded when Mello gave up. Near shook his head and whimpered, refusing to speak.

But he knew what the man's intentions were. He knew that this man was bad. He was not a cannibal. He was an outsider, like Mello and Matt, but he was an evil outsider. Mello and Matt weren't evil. They were good. That was what Near reasoned, anyway.

He watched as Matt pulled an arrow from the man's body and examined it.

"Mels, these were hand made."

"How can ya tell?"

"The arrows look like they were carved and painted. That's all I really need to see to know that these were hand made."

Near groaned feeling sickened when he felt something crusty on his throat and the front of his shirt. He wiped at it and studied it in his hand. It was that sticky, wet stuff. Ugh. He made a face of disgust as he realized that it must have dried. Matt noticed and didn't have to be a genius to put two and two together.

"Mels," he whispered, "I think he was almost raped."

"Huh?" Mello gasped looking at Matt with an expression, which was caught between curiosity and shock. Matt motioned to the dried white stuff, which the blonde automatically realized was probably cum. It didn't take Mello long to realize what Matt did and he suddenly felt glad that the body before him was dead.

He gave it a rough kick, the turned to Near who was whimpering quietly to himself. The blonde crouched down beside the pale boy who inched himself away from the blonde. "It's okay." The chocoholic reassured. "We'll get out of this damned place eventually, and when we do, we'll be safe. You'll be safe, too, Near."

He wrapped an arm around the boy's scrawny shoulders reassuringly. Near took this time, one of the worst times, to pull the bar from his pocket and show it to the blonde who went wide-eyed. "You took my chocolate?" he exclaimed snatching it from Near's hand. The boy jumped slightly. Matt chuckled and rolled his eyes. Mello glared at Near, but knew that the boy didn't know that it was his addiction, so he gave Near a soft smile and curtly explained why he shouldn't take his chocolate. Matt knew that the little cannibal got off with a good warning. It was better than getting your ass kicked.

There was a sudden inhuman howl and all six eyes looked around frantically. Near let out a terrified half whimpering, half scream sound. Mello knew that something bad was about to happen, but it wasn't until Matt let out a cry of pain that he knew what.

Matt didn't have time to speak before an arrow pierced his left shoulder, and then his right. Another arrow pierced his leg and another went into his arm. Three arrows went into his back at the same time. He fell to his knees then landed facedown with blood dripping from between his lips.

Mello let out a strangled cry that was blocked by a sob. Near seemed to have went limp and gone blank, dazed by what had just occurred. Mello forced him to his feet and kept a firm hold to his wrist before they started running. Unfortunatly, what Mello didn't know was that Matt was still (amazingly) alive and breathing. He saw a hazy figure appear a few feet from him. He wondered what would become of him, but soon found out.

Screams ripped through the empty air making birds fly, and then all was silent.