Hunted and Hated
An X-Men Evolution Fanfic by Quill N. Inque
I do not own X-Men.
Chapter 7: On the Run
In many creatures, humans included, the possibility of death tends to sharpen our senses. The world becomes sharper and clearer as we look for an avenue of escape. Panic sends adrenaline coursing through our veins, lending us abnormal strength and stamina. We see and hear little details that could possibly aid us, details that would have normally gone unnoticed.
So it was with Kurt.
His warped toes were cut and bleeding as he leapt from boulder to boulder with the unconscious Kitty in his arms. The mutant didn't dare walk on the trail that lay in the woods before him, as his unique footprints would lead the Inquisition right to him. It was better, Kurt reasoned, to run on rocks or cross through streams whenever possible. Kurt was willing to try anything if it meant slowing the Spaniards down a bit.
The orange glow from the bottom of the hillside sent a pang of guilt stabbing through Kurt's heart. It was his fault that such ruin had befallen Kitty, his fault that her livelihood now lay burning to cinders, his fault that such a sweet girl now lay dazed in his furry hands, with nothing other than a broken ankle to show for his surprise visit some weeks back.
Kurt had no doubt that, if the Inquisition caught up with them, Kitty would share in his grisly fate at the hands of the Church. He'd seen it all before: the Inquisitors would ship the accused 'heretics' back to Rome in a prison cart, to be tortured and burned at the stake while the citizens jeered. The mere thought of his friend screaming as the fire engulfed her made Kurt sick to his stomach, and he gritted his long fangs in silent determination. No matter what, Kurt vowed, he would see to it that Kitty made it out of this mess alive.
Even if he didn't.
A soft moan distracted him momentarily, and Kurt's heart twisted with anguish as Kitty shifted slightly in his grasp, undoubtedly from the discomfort of her injury. Kurt's legs pumped like pistons as he ran gamely on, and he tried to be assuring as he whispered in her ear. "Don't worry. I'll protect you, Kitty."
Meanwhile….
Pedro Sanchez tried to control the anger that blossomed like fire in his gut. So close! The demon had been within his reach, only to slip away from the Church's justice yet again! The Spaniard's teeth ground audibly as his gauntleted hand clenched. It was merely a setback, yes, that's all it was. Tomorrow he would pick up the demon's trail, and the girl….
Unbridled fury made Pedro's entire body shake. He would have some special punishments in store for the woman who'd allied herself with evil, the traitorous heretic who had forsaken God and the Church through the Devil's temptation! Catherine Hernandez would beg for death by the time the Inquisition was done with her, and the last thing she saw would be the demon's charred corpse bound to a stake!
"Captain!" the familiar voice of Nunez snapped Pedro out of his deranged daydreams.
"What is it?" he asked curtly as the other man saluted. "We need to move out before the trail grows cold!"
"I already have scouts working on it," Nunez replied smartly.
Pedro glared down at him, and his eyes reflected the rage he was feeling. "Working on it? Working on it? The demon escaped because of YOUR incompetence!" In actuality, Nunez was not to blame, but Pedro needed a scapegoat to vent his rage upon. "Idiot!" The captain continued scathingly. "You were so busy burning and plundering the house that you failed to guard the rear exit! THAT is where the demon made his escape, and had you guarded it properly, the beast would be DEAD BY NOW!" Pedro's voice rose to a thunderous roar, and his eyelid twitched rapidly "FOOL! KNAVE! IDLING BUNGLER! IT IS YOUR FAULT THAT SPAIN IS STILL PLAGUED BY THE DEVIL!"
Nunez's voice took on a dithering tremble as he tried to appease his unstable Captain. "Sir…I am sorry…Give me just one more chance…"
Pedro's voice softened, and he nodded understandingly. "Another chance, hmm?"
"Yes, Captain."
Sanchez's double-edged rapier made a noise like an angry wasp, and blood spattered the grass as the insane Inquisitor decapitated Nunez in one devastating blow. Even Pedro's most hardened soldiers gave a simultaneous moan as the lifeless body of their comrade lay in a pool of crimson.
"Let that be a lesson to the rest of you," Pedro continued in a dangerously calm voice, wiping his blade callously on Nunez's body. "Failure will not be tolerated…"
Deep in the Zaragoza forest…
Kitty groaned softly as consciousness returned to her. The broken ankle she had acquired earlier pained her abominably, and Kitty was momentarily startled by such unfamiliar surroundings. Then the memory of what had happened hit her like a thunderbolt, and she was unable to restrain a small, angry sob.
Kitty remembered it all clearly. The Inquisition had tracked down Kurt somehow. The successful shop she had worked so hard to establish now lay in ruins along with her home, her fields, and probably even her livestock. Tears of sadness made Kitty's eyes sparkle in the darkness of night, and it was only with Herculean effort that she did not break down completely.
That was another thing. Kurt had not built a fire, and if there was anything to eat, Kitty would not be able to see it until her eyes adjusted. It made sense, though. A fire could be seen from very far away on clear nights like this, and there was no sense in risking capture for the sake of a hot meal.
The thought of capture made the color drain from Kitty's face. She'd heard horror stories of the Inquisition's methods, tales of cruelty and barbarity that would make even the Moors tremble with terror. Until recently, though, Kitty had never believed those rumors, for surely the Church was not capable of such things.
Kurt's arrival had changed all that. He had suffered the most heinous tortures the Inquisition could come up with, and he had the scars to prove it. Kitty had seen old soldiers, hardened veterans of King's wars, die from lesser injuries than those her friend had received. And if wounds like that could lay even the mightiest warrior low, a young woman like Kitty wouldn't last a nanosecond in the Inquisition's dungeons.
Leaves crunched behind her, and Kitty's whole body was momentarily suffused with terror. But her fright died as quickly as it rose, for the noise was only Kurt returning from…wherever it was he had been.
He certainly looked the worse for wear, Kitty thought. Kurt's face was haggard and drawn with exhaustion. For a moment, it appeared as if he were going to sit with her, to watch over her, but Kitty was bitterly disappointed when he took a seat several feet away, facing away from her as if ashamed.
With considerable effort, Kitty half-crawled, half-dragged herself over to him, extending a hand intended to reassure him.
Kurt twitched away from her. "Don't," he said simply. "I…I did all of this…"
"What?" Kitty couldn't help sounding puzzled.
Her friend's voice shook. "I am responsible for what has befallen you," Kurt whispered mournfully. "You cared for me and looked after me when no one else would, and in return I brought the wrath of the Church down upon you. Your house, your life…It's all gone because of me. If I hadn't crawled into your bedroom that night, if I had just let them have me, none of this would have happened." Tears of sadness and despair trailed down Kurt's blue, furry cheeks. "I'm so, so sorry, Kitty…I can't even look you in the face…"
"Do not be ashamed, Kurt." Kitty's tone was laden with extreme gentleness.
"W-What?"
Five slender fingers gripped his shoulder firmly. "I know what the consequences could be," Kitty said quietly, "and I would willingly face them if it meant doing the right thing. Do not blame yourself for what has happened. I am not angry with you," she enunciated slowly. "And in my opinion, meeting you was worth going through all of this, for better or worse."
The hope in Kurt's golden eyes was almost tangible. "Really?" he whispered.
Kitty nodded. "Really."
His normal, cheery demeanor returned instantly. "Great! Now I'll need you to hold still, because I picked some herbs to dress your ankle. It won't heal instantly, but it should deaden the pain a bit." Without further ado, Kurt gently lifted Kitty's injured foot of the ground, propping it in his lap so he could work with both hands. It was fortunate that the twilight hid the blush that made his face even bluer than usual.
For her part, Kitty barely kept from gasping at the touch of his hands. They were so soft, like fine velvet gloves, and arcs of pleasant electricity coursed through her entire body. For his part, Kurt had valiantly kept his mind on mending Kitty's hurts, rather than on the fact that he was touching a fairly personal part of the girl's person. In short, the awkwardness of the whole situation was not lost upon either of them.
Kitty gasped in surprise when Kurt finished his ministrations. "It hardly even hurts at all! How did you do that?"
Kurt grinned ruefully. "I've had a lot of practice, Kitty. When you have to escape with a musket ball in your leg, you quickly learn what works and what doesn't."
"Thank you," Kitty said sincerely.
"It was the least I could do," her friend replied. "After all you've been through for my sake, it would take a lifetime to repay your kindness."
Kitty blushed furiously. "You are merely flattering me."
"No," Kurt said as he reached for a rather obscure-looking plant, "I am telling the truth."
A/N: Hi guys! Here's another chapter for you, just like I promised! I hope you all have been enjoying the story so far. ^^ Please, please, please review! I didn't get ANY reviews for the last chapter, and the readers' feedback is what an author lives on. So if YOU have any ideas, advice, or constructive criticism, LET ME KNOW! I take the readers' suggestions very seriously, and I would LOVE to hear your ideas on how I can make this story even better! :D
Your humble servant,
-Quill N. Inque
P.S. Just wanted to let you guys know that this is the first of THREE different historical KURTTY fics I'm planning to write, each with set in a different era of history, each with its own plot!
Thought you might like to know…. ;)