Knights of Cygnus: Lupus
Chapter 4 – The Unbearable Truth
Lupus...
*
Lupus stopped in his tracks. There was Abbie, standing right in front of him. She crossed her arms and pouted.
"Honestly, Lupus, you're hopeless! Look at me! I've been waiting for you for a good twenty minutes. Why do you take so long to run down some stairs?" She smiled and held out a hand. "Here, let me help you..." Lupus stepped back, grimacing.
"Get out of my way, Abbie! I'm not going to be the one trapped in this tower!" He snarled at her, taking two steps back.
"Oh gosh, Lupus, so harsh! Then, why are you stepping away from me?" She laughed lightly. "Oh dear... If you're being this slow then you're just doomed to die I guess... Oh well, it was nice knowing you!" She began to turn away from him. Lupus ran towards her and slapped her across the face, running past her and down the staircase. He turned round the spiral staircase and jumped to the bottom. Abbie was right in front of him.
"Lupus! It's not nice to slap! Where have your manners gone? Haven't we been friends? Why would you do this?" She pointed to a small graze on her cheek.
"Get out of the way, Abbie!" He punched her flat in the face. She fell to the ground, out cold. He sprinted past her.
"Oh, Lupus?" The body rose to her feet. She had her back to him. Blood gushed from her head. "You'll have to do more than that to get past me." Her head twisted round to face him, bones cracking and more blood pouring. She rushed towards him, cackling.
"DIE!"
*
Abbie stumbled towards the 65th floor. It must have been several hours since she entered. She raised a bruised wrist and checked her watch and she flicked its face. It seemed to have stopped... Hang on... Isn't that the time when I entered? She tripped again, weakly falling to the floor. The time hasn't changed... The thought of all her work being forgotten made her break down in tears.
No one will notice the suffering I've been through... I feel... so insignificant... Even Lupus doesn't care anymore...
Her tears mixed with blood and trickled down her face onto the cold, hard, plastic floor. It dripped through every crack and crevice as if it was seeking him out.
And, surprisingly enough, it found him.
*
Lupus slid his knife back into its holster. Darn imposter... The clone's body was strewn across from him. It chuckled, then disintegrated into the air. Just another illusion...
A bubble of red burst on his head. Curious, he rubbed his finger against the red.
Blood.
He took one look at the drip on his finger and ran. Abbie!
*
Abbie opened her eyes. She could see someone's shoulder. Her body had been flung on the back of another. Was she dead? No... She was moving... She breathed in the unknown person's scent. Lupus... I knew you'd come back for me... She smiled inwardly.
"Hey." She managed to croak into his ear. Lupus' warm, musky scent filled her nostrils. She buried her face in his head, suppressing a laugh.
"Abbie?" He turned his head and grinned. "You need to be more careful."
Lupus... I haven't seen you smile like that in years...
"I figured it out, Abbie." She perked up at this. Eh? "I know how we get out of here."
"Seriously!?"
"Yeah. It's so simple. If we'd thought of it before, then we'd have been out ages ago." He smiled again. "It's a test of friendship. We leave together."
At this, Abbie simply smiled and lay her head on Lupus' shoulder. "Thanks." She lost herself in the sounds of the air brushing her face, as Lupus polished off the last few floors. He dropped to the ground floor and looked up. There was the door. It could only be described as modest; he had to duck to walk through.
Lupus kicked open the door and walked through. The bright light blinded him temporarily.
"I wonder where we've come out? I'd at least expect that goat dude to be down here..." He looked around to see grassy hills and a large oak looming over him, perched on the end of a steep gradient, roots flaying out in all directions. The grass leant forward in the gentle breeze; a warm smell of meadow dew filled the air.
"Lupus, this place is so beautiful..." she whispered. A bird cawed overheard.
"Abbie?"
"Mmhm?"
"Can I put you down now?" He smiled, dropping to his knees to let her off. She stepped down to the soft, earthy ground, which felt almost spongy underneath her feet. She staggered upwards and swiftly slipped her hand into Lupus'. Has he noticed? He gave her hand a brief squeeze to tell her he had. Then they walked across the meadows.
"Where are we even going?" She asked.
"No idea. I'm just following my nose." He murmured back. "There. You see it? I bet that's where we're headed." He pointed to a large oak tree off in the distance. "Wanna run there?"
"No. I'm fine." She smiled leaning on Lupus claiming that she was still 'tired'.
When they got closer they could see five people there, all dressed in various outlandish clothing. One of them looked round and saw them, waving.
"Over here! Hurry up, you two!" One of them shouted. Lupus pulled Abbie along as he sprinted to the oak tree, waking her from her dopey state. Hawkeye was there to meet them, along with four others, Mihail, Oz, Icarus and Irina.
Hawkeye was a somewhat grand affair, fitted with vast expanses of pirate equipment. He had bright orange hair and his skin was tanned. His hat had the traditional piratical symbol with a bright plume of white feathers perched on top. He wore a large cape, which was tied around his shoulders by a large emerald, which flapped in the wind.
Mihail had coarse blonde hair tied around with a white and golden headband. In fact, most of his attire was golden and white. He had large shoulder plates and a full suit of armour. In his hand he held a large golden sword.
Oz was a rather pale redhead, wearing robes, a cloak and a hood which made her look somewhat shady. Her attire was completely red and she held a large wooden staff in her right hand, with an intricate design similar to a snake wrapping its way up the staff.
Icarus was the darkest of the lot. He wore a mask over his face and dark clothes. Occasionally he would peek over his mask to reveal black eyes that looked like holes in his face. Not much could be said about him, since he was perched on a branch in the shade.
Irina was a real beauty. Bizarrely, her hair was green, and so was the majority of her clothing. Her skin was quite pale, too, and her eyes stood out among the rest. Hers were bright gold, possible amber. She had a silver bow, wrapped in vines.
"It's about time you two arrived! So, who's it gonna be?" Hawkeye smiled, showing one pointy tooth.
"What do you mean?" Abbie replied.
"You need to choose which Knight you'd like to follow." Irina explained. "I represent the archers, Hawkeye, the pirates, Mihail, the warriors, Icarus, the thieves and Oz, the magicians. What'll it be?"
Lupus looked at each candidate carefully.
"I like the sound of a thief. I choose Icarus." He pointed at Icarus perched high up in the tree. Icarus seemed not to notice, and if he had, he didn't care.
"Then I'll choose Oz." Abbie smiled, pointing at Oz who beamed widely at her. While Hawkeye looked a bit left out, everyone else, (except maybe Icarus, no one can tell), seemed happy.
"Right. You'll start work tomorrow. Erev's over that way, so I'll see you when you become superstars." Oz laughed. "Bye."
And thus their adventures begun...