THE CAVE: CONTINUUM
Part Twenty
The sun streams through the open areas in the forest's canopy. Acres of tall plume ferns whisper in the soft breeze swaying back and forth gently. The warm sunlight flickers across the delicate fern stalks from the leaves above, fluttering with the wind. A light-sweet scent drifts in the air from vines where flowers climb and twist their way up the tree trunks spreading out amongst their branches.
The young couple walks hand-in-hand along the moss covered path enjoying the perfect warm day. Timcanpy soars through the wide open spaces of the forest flying low to glide through the field of ferns, smiling and acting giddy in his romping.
The beauty surrounding them brushes away the earlier tormenting thoughts bringing peaceful and calming emotions. They have been walking for a good part of the morning and the last hour has been strolling through this plush green wonderland. The only sound is the creaking from the limbs rubbing against the trees, branches moving with the wind.
Allen squeezes Kanda's hand as they walk along. A sideways glance from Kanda at Allen brings a hitch to his breath. Allen's longer white-hair wisps around his face and gently lifts with the breeze. His face has no worry lines, but fully relaxed and his eyes sparkle when he gazes back at Kanda, a warm smile crosses his face.
Allen's love is emulating from him and Kanda turns capturing him in his arms, bringing his warm lips to Allen's plush pink ones in a tender kiss. They stand enjoying the pleasure of gentle kisses stirring their emotions for one another. Kanda pulls back and gazes again into those smoldering gray-silvery eyes and sighs softly.
"Let's rest for a while," Kanda whispers. Allen has no voice right now overwhelmed with his emotions and the beauty surrounding them and nods yes.
They sit down. Kanda leans against a tree trunk and Allen sits down in front of him between his legs. He wraps his arms around Allen gently pulling him back to lean against his chest. There are no words spoken, only the sharing of this intimate time together in this peaceful setting.
"Maybe we should eat something before we continue on. I'm not sure how much further we have to go before we leave this forest," Kanda softly says near Allen's ear then kisses it.
"Okay, I need to rest longer anyway and food will give me more strength to continue on," Allen says softly. "Though, I could sit like this for the whole day with you."
But Allen moves away from Kanda's warm chest and reaches for the knapsack containing the food and drags it towards him. Kneeling they set out food for a snack. Kanda slices an apple and Allen cuts the cheese. He looks up from his slicing and sees Allen looking at him and leans in for a kiss.
Timcanpy sits quietly to the side watching his masters enjoying themselves and not interfering for a change. They sit and eat gazing at each other as lover's do and sharing kisses off and on. When they have had enough to eat they pack up the food to continue on their journey.
A few miles down the path the terrain starts to shift, so they are walking downhill. The soft green moss and ferns are replaced with a rockier, drier dirt ground and the moss is now brittle and yellower in color. Rocks protrude out of the dirt in the middle and sides of the path.
The path continues down, becoming steeper, and is more gouged out, as if torrents of rain had flowed heavily here at one time. The bright sunlight is gone and it turns the path to deeper shade with dark green foliage and vegetation as they make their way to the bottom where the area is now flatter and easier to walk.
Not far up the path, they encounter a spooky grove of trees which appears to have once been an old apple orchard. The trunks of the trees are gnarly and twist upward, appearing angry. Their rambling, spindly branches sprout up and spread outward from their sinuous trunks – their thin leafless stems curling like tendrils.
This grove of ghoulish trees twists and knots into its own evil forms and their roots protrude from out of the earth seemingly ready to walk at any given moment. Out of the hundreds of barren trees, there is one that has a lone apple hanging from its branch.
Not only is the lone apple a strange sight to see, but what is weirder is the apple has a huge bite taken out of it. The young couple is bewildered at how one apple has survived in this darkened alcove of the forest. They are more curious about how there is huge bite taken out of it – an answer they may never know.
Timcanpy is also curious about the oddity of a single apple hanging with a bite taken out of it. He flutters in front and around it, examining and sniffing the apple. Something spooks the golem and he rushes back to the safety of Allen's shoulder covering his round body with his wings, thinking his is hiding. Kanda and Allen look at each other in surprise.
"Told you he was a fucking coward," Kanda whispers, snidely, scowling at the golden golem, but Kanda grabs Allen's hand tugging gently to draw him closer to him. He's not that stupid about the golem that if Tim's spooked it's because of some possible threat.
"Stay close to me, Bean Sprout," Kanda whispers cautiously to his husband. Allen presses closer to Kanda's side; they both look around scanning the area.
"We'll walk slowly through the grove. Keep an eye out for anything unusual," Kanda says quietly.
"You mean other then what we are seeing right now," Allen asks, trying to lighten the situation. Kanda squeezes his lover's hand and grins down at Allen acknowledging his attempt at humoring them and nods his head.
They tread lightly, nervous if these angry looking trees could actually get up and walk towards them. Nothing would surprise them at this point with what they have had to deal with in this forest. Allen feels a tap on his shoulder and he tugs on Kanda's hand to get his attention.
"What's the matter, Bean Sprout?" Kanda asks, looking over at Allen.
"Something just tapped me on my right shoulder," Allen says, and they both notice Timcanpy has moved over onto Kanda's shoulder. Allen feels it again and turns his head slowly to see who is there and so does Kanda.
"Uh, Kanda, I don't remember that tree being this close to me before," he says nervously.
"Well, if it wasn't there before it is now," Kanda replies, looking at the barren tree branch hovering just over Allen's shoulder.
"Just keep on walking slowly and see if it is actually moving," Kanda whispers as they begin walking again.
Kanda's hoping there isn't much further for them to go to get out of this strange orchard. He wants to pick up their pace, but is unsure what to expect if they do. He feels Timcanpy move to his other shoulder, so he is now in-between Allen and him. A low growl comes from the golem.
"That's not a good sound to hear from Timcanpy, Kanda," Allen says softly, keeping his eyes forward. Timcanpy gives another low growl and backs down in front of Allen and scoots inside of his coat.
"That is definitely not a good sign," Kanda remarks quietly. Kanda feels a tap on his shoulder at the same time Allen feels one too.
"What the fuck is going on?" Kanda growls under his breath, giving Allen a sideways glance. His glance is met by Allen's fearless eyes and a guileless smile, meaning he is ready to do whatever Kanda's command will be.
They both slowly look behind them at the startling sight. The groves of trees are now freakishly behind them – the path gone. With the ghoulish trees planting themselves in the path behind them there is no other direction to go except forward.
"Shit, what the fuck kind of orchard is this? If we don't make a run for it, Bean Sprout, I'm afraid these angry trees are going to block our way out," Kanda whispers, making his decision to run.
"I couldn't agree with you more, so let's do it," Allen replies softly.
Holding Allen's hand tightly, they don't hesitate and start running hoping the end of the grove isn't too far ahead. Behind them they hear the ripping and rumbling of the earth and feel the tremors under their feet as they race to the end of the grove. Luckily, the trees in front of them made no attempt to uproot and block their path as they scurry out of the grove back into the dark foliage of the forest.
They didn't stop running until they were out of sight of the angry orchard then slowing their pace they finally stop to rest. Allen's holding his side with pain rippling throughout his upper torso and gasping for air. Kanda let's go of Allen's hand and leans forward with his hands on his knees panting heavily.
"You're in pain Bean Sprout. We'll rest here for a while to try and calm it down. Tiedoll didn't leave anything to help lessen the pain, I hope rest will work," Kanda says, worried at the discomfort his husband is in.
"I'll be fine. Resting will help with easing the pain," Allen assures his partner.
"We'll eat something before moving on," Kanda says, pulling food out of the knapsack and handing Allen the canteen of water.
They ate in silence then Kanda gently pulls Allen back into his arms to rest. Nothing feels more reassuring than having Allen close to him, holding him. He turns Allen's face up to his and kisses his soft warm lips, wanting to take away the pain Allen so bravely endures for them to keep going.
"Are you ready, Bean Sprout?" Kanda whispers.
"Yes, it'll be nice when we won't have to keep moving on like this and we finally settle in one place," Allen says softly, looking into Kanda's cobalt-blue eyes and receives another warm kiss.
Kanda puts the food away and helps Allen to his feet. Timcanpy is dozing on a rock, but the minute he hears the two of them moving to leave he hops up on Allen's shoulder. There's no way he's going to be left behind.
Traveling a few more miles they see a rock mountain up ahead, both wonder how they are going to climb its steep cliffs. The path will end soon as they get closer to the rock cliffs. Looking ahead, they see through the trees what looks like a black spot on the rocks, but as they get a clearer view a large cave materializes in the cliffs wall.
As they walk even closer to the cave's opening they see there is a stone stairway leading upwards with a curve mid-way up. At the curve there is a glimmer of light giving the young couple hopes that the top is not far from that point. Standing hand in hand they take a few more moments gazing upward. Kanda looks down at Allen and kisses him on the top of his head.
"It looks like this will bring us out of this malevolent forest, finally," Kanda says, quietly, squeezing Allen's hand.
They look at one another, their hands tightly together, and start up the stone staircase. It's further then they were thinking, to reach the curve in the stairs, but as they round the bend standing before them is a Torii gate. It is breathing taking with the light shining behind it, towering ahead of them with its spiritual grace.
"What is that, Kanda? It's beautiful" Allen asks in awe.
"It's a gate that marks we are approaching a shrine or temple," Kanda says, also in awe by its majestic beauty.
Walking under it, Kanda stops and pulls Allen into his arms and gives him a deep, loving kiss.
"What's that for?" Allen asks, breathless from the unexpected kiss.
"Maybe it will bring us good fortune from here on out. Anyway, I felt like kissing you," Kanda says, giving his lover a grin. Sometimes Allen has to pinch himself when he sees so much love in his partner's eyes.
Taking Allen's hand, once again, they continue up the stairs until they reach the top and are outside of the cave. The rush of fresh air covers them and they breathe in deeply to exchange the stale air in their lungs with the new cleaner air, making them feel refresh. Also, the light is brighter now that they are out of the cave and have to wait as their eyes become accustom to the brightness.
The ocean is to their left with a range of rocks forming an almost complete circle out into it. There's a low section that allows the tide water to flow in and fill the basin with its clear blue water and low shrubbery grows along the spine of the rocks giving it a wondrous sight.
They turn to continue walking when up ahead, in the far distance, is another Torii. When they are closer to it the colors of orange and black are more vivid then the one they had encountered in the cave – but just as majestic. Their eyes look overhead at its awesome beauty. Allen stops and pulls Kanda into an embrace and kisses him deeply hoping Kanda feels all his love inside of him.
"Maybe that will seal our possible good fortune," Allen says, his eyes sparkling as he gazes into Kanda's. Kanda pulls Allen back into the embrace and kisses his lover back.
"Yes, maybe Kami will be looking over us from now on," Kanda says, seriously.
As they left the second Torii behind and walking a little further up the path they encounter a tall, long stone wall. Looking up they could see the roof of the Temple proudly peaking above the wall. After they walk beyond the Temple they go under yet another Torii leaving the sacred grounds.
Dusk is commanding them to end their travels for the day and they find a suitable spot in which to set up camp for the night. Allen gathers wood for a fire and lays out blankets for their bed.
Kanda gets a toasty campfire blazing in their secure little alcove. Once they have eaten, Kanda and Allen snuggle together in front of the fire. Allen sighs peacefully relaxing in his lover's arms.
"You know Kanda, I was a god at one point. I should have used my powers to get us out of that situation at the orchard," Allen muses, warm in Kanda's embrace.
"Yeah, you were a god alright, one that was ready to be sacrificed to a beast. You know, Bean Sprout, being bound with that blazing fire lit underneath you, you would've been cooked like a hot wiener," Kanda teases, a smirk on his face. Allen looks up with surprise that humors Kanda even more.
"Don't get me wrong, Bean Sprout. I love you hot, especially when I'm eating you up, but not charred and over cooked," Kanda smirks, unbuttoning his husband's shirt and pants.
"Kanda, you can say the darnest things, and still make it sound totally sexy," Allen pants heavily, melting with Kanda's kisses now hot for his lover.
The sounds of the night are their soft moans and lovemaking filling the air around them.
To be continued …
A/N: Well, these two have finally gotten out of that strange forest! Now maybe they can find Komui's house so they can start settling in, but we'll see what the next chapter will bring us. It's all about where my writing takes me. ;D Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I love ya all!