Hey y'all. Sorry for the wait again, I just have a terrible time keeping on schedule, don't I? It's just been life as usual, and it's 6am and I haven't yet slept (seems like Straton and I have something in common), but figured I should start on this anyway, even if it's actually the opposite of what I should be doing.

Chapter 14 - Of the Sleepless and the Clueless

Straton stared out at the desert stretched before him. He'd been doing it for several hours now, and he figured it had to be nearly noon at this point, at least from the position of the sun. He'd yet to go to sleep, and even though fatigue was starting to pry at him, he couldn't let himself relax. Besides not wanting to face whatever dreams he could possibly have, they weren't nearly as hidden as their last spot. It'd be a good idea for one of them to stay awake and on guard, and he wasn't going to make Keane do it if he was already asleep.

The only problem was the absolute lack of anything to do. He usually wouldn't mind not doing anything really, but his mind kept going back to the thoughts he was trying to ignore. He couldn't let himself get carried away by his emotions. People would be surprised if they knew just how determined the normally timid boy could be.

Staring up towards the sky, he sighed lightly. He just had to wait until night for Keane to wake up. He could wait that long. His eyes were starting to get sore from the bright sunlight and his own weariness, and his vision would become blurred for small moments at a time, but he could deal with it for now. He'd be okay to sleep in a little while, maybe just one more night. He could last until then.

When Keane woke up it wasn't quite night yet, the sun behind them, but not completely under the horizon. Rubbing his eyes, the redhead pushed himself up before brushing any of the sand that insisted on sticking to his skin off. Looking over he saw that Straton was awake.

"Hey, how long have you been up?" he asked, and the blonde shrugged slightly.

"A few hours," he lied, not that Keane was aware. After all, why would Straton lie about something like that? "We should wait a bit longer before we start to move," Straton said, and Keane nodded. Glancing out towards the barren land in front of them, he frowned to himself. There was no way they could survive out there…

"Move to where? I mean, should we head back into town or…" he asked, trailing off at the end, not really knowing what other option there was. Their goal was Asteria, but how were they suppose to actually get there?

"Wouldn't that be opposite of what we should do? We want to move east, not west," Straton said, and it was then that Keane noticed the bags under his eyes. They were a bit bloodshot too. Well, he hadn't actually been sleeping as long as the redhead was, and considering what they'd just went though, he guessed it was probably normal. He'd get back on track soon, or well, not back on track, since they weren't actually sleeping with a normal schedule. He must just not be used to sleeping during the day yet.

"W-well yeah but… it's just desert out there," he said, and Straton seemed to think for a moment. It probably wasn't a good thing that he was just letting Straton make all the decisions, but he was too scattered to actually think right. He'd probably just end up leading them to their deaths. It's be better if Straton lead.

"It's not just desert… there are towns, I'm sure we'll be able to… get to one before too long," the younger boy said, and Keane just nodded. He guessed that made sense, there couldn't be that big of a gap between cities. If Straton said they'd be fine, then he guessed they would.

"Alright, if you say so," he said, and the two children decided that it would be best to wait at least another hour, when the sun was completely gone and the chances of people wondering around was lessened. After all, who would be stupid enough to go off blindly into the desert at night? Once they felt it was safest, the two stood up and started east, just like they wanted.

Neither said anything for quite some time. Keane couldn't help but notice that Straton was being much quieter then the night before. It probably wasn't anything too serious though. Hopefully, at any rate.

"Oww…" he heard the blonde beside him mumbled.

"What's wrong?" he asked almost instantly. Straton just shrugged though, smiling slightly at him. Keane could tell it wasn't exactly a real smiled. It was hard to see in the darkness, but he looked really tired. It was probably just a trick of the light and the desert though, after all, he had said that he'd slept. At least, he hoped it was nothing.

"Just some rocks, no shoes," Straton explained, pointing down at his feet. He was telling the truth, Keane remembered noticing it before, but had forgotten. Keane had fallen asleep in his day clothes, and while his jacket was ripped to shreds and gone and the rest of his clothes not faring too well themselves, torn and dirty, they were still a bit better than what Straton had. He at least had shoes, at any rate. It was pretty obvious that they hadn't really cared what their newest bunch of slaves wore, especially considering what they'd done to get them.

"Sorry, you can wear mine, if you want," Keane suggested, but the blonde just shook his head.

"That's fine, but no thanks," he said, and the two continued walking yet again. They'd have to find him some shoes in the next town they ended up in. They had to get food there too, since there wasn't really that big of a chance for them to find any fruit or anything in the desert.

They walked for a few more hours, able to get by with the light of the moon and stars. It wasn't much, but it let them see any of the bigger obstacles they needed to avoid. The two were sitting on a couple of rocks now, both worn out and hungry, with no signs of a town anywhere close. It'd be fine though, they'd find one soon enough. You couldn't starve in a day, after all.

"Are you sure you don't want to wear my shoes for a little while? This ground isn't exactly like the one in the courtyard," Keane offered yet again, noticing the younger boy rubbing the soles of his feet. Straton looked a bit apprehensive at first, but Keane could tell that he was considering it much more than he had the last time he tried to offer them.

"You wont mind?" he asked, and Keane shook his head, already starting to unlace them, trying to ignore the dried red crust causing the strings to stick together.

"Not at all, we'll get you a pair at the next town," the red head said, as if it would be as simple as that. Of course, considering the fact that they would most likely have to steal them, and they had no clue where this town they were heading to was, it wouldn't be simple at all. They didn't need to think about that though, Keane handing the pair over. Straton said a quick thank you before lacing them onto his own feet. They were a bit big, but definitely better than the nothing he had before.

"So…" Keane started again, not really sure what they should do next. "how far do you think we should go tonight? If we don't end up finding a town," he asked, and Straton shrugged, looking up towards the moon, as if trying to figure out the time from it's position. It was almost directly above them now, and the redhead wasn't really sure what that meant, he guessed about halfway through the night. Like how the sun was up at noon.

"Not too much father, I guess, since we didn't have any food. We shouldn't over… overexert ourselves," Straton said, getting a bit caught up on his wording. Keane nodded, that made sense. He did wish they had some food though, he wasn't used to going hungry like this. It probably wouldn't be the fist time he'd have to though, so he should just get used to it.

"That sounds like a good idea," the older boy said, and after a few more minutes of rest the two started up again. Keane tried and mostly succeeded to keep any sounds of pain from sounding out as he walked over the uneven and rocky ground. It surprised him how far Straton had went like this without complaining. Well, he could do it too then.

"Do you want your shoes back?" Straton asked after Keane let out a small hiss of pain, having accidentally stepped on one of the more jagged rocks. Keane just shook his head though. He was his little brother and the only family he had left, he had to look after him somehow.

"It's fine, I just wasn't watching where I was going, keep em," the red head said, and Straton reluctantly let it go. After about another hour of walking, the two had no idea if they were still even heading east, or how much farther it was until a town, but decided to stop none the less. They were both physically and mentally tired, and had managed to reach a spot of boulder like rocks that jutted up from the ground in a way that almost completely surrounded them.

"Should we just stay here until tomorrow night?" Keane asked, and Straton nodded, sitting down on one of the smaller rocks.

"Yeah, it'll be too hot to walk around too much during the day, but I guess we wont have to sleep all day if we don't want to either. I don't think many people will be coming around here," the blonde said, and Keane agreed. It did get hot as anything during the day, and even though it was actually pretty cold at night, it was better than overheating. At least, he assumed it was.

"So, we should just get some sleep for now then," Keane said, sitting on another one of the smooth rocks, and Straton nodded.

"Keane?" the younger boy said quietly after a few moments of silence, neither one having actually made any move to head off to sleep.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"I'm hungry," he mumbled, actually sounding like the eleven year old he was, and not the stronger front he tried to put up. Keane nodded, picking at a crack in the rock underneath him.

"Me too," he sighed, thinking now that it probably would have been a better idea to have headed back to town, grabbed some food there and then head out, with at least a little supplies. They were too far away now to head back though, he wasn't even sure of the way, and just far too clueless to really have any plan.

Keane's head shot up at the sound of something moving off to his left, startling Straton a bit. Almost without thinking, his ears had transformed themselves into his anima form, but only his ears. Blinking, he felt them a bit. He didn't even know he could do that, only have one part activated at a time.

"Keane, what's wrong?" Straton asked, standing up off of his rock. The redhead guessed he hadn't heard anything. With his improved hearing though, he could definitely tell something was moving around off behind the boulders.

"I hear something out there… but I don't think it's a person…" he said quietly, realizing then that it didn't sound like a person. It was quieter, and it's footsteps definitely didn't fall like any of the people's he'd heard last night. He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing though. If it wasn't a person, they couldn't capture them and make them slaves, but that still leaves the problem of what exactly is it?

"An animal?" Straton asked, walking so that he was now standing behind him. Keane just shrugged,, knowing that was probably it, but having no clue as to what animal. Hopefully it would just leave.

Out from behind the boulder Keane had thought the animal had been walked what appeared to be a medium sized golden tan dog. It was sniffing at the ground, and although Keane didn't ease up at all, Straton relaxed, coming out from behind the redhead.

"Oh, it's a dog," he said, not sounding worried at all. It almost made Keane feel like there wasn't any problem with the animal, but quickly reminded himself that that wasn't true. They didn't know anything about it, it could be wild. Lightly, he grabbed Straton's arm so that he couldn't walk any farther towards it. Even though he didn't have his claws out, he was still worried he might end up hurting him again.

"It might be dangerous," he said, but it didn't really seem like it got through to the younger boy any. It was weird, he was usually more perceptive than this. He still looked exhausted, but it was only now that it was starting to worry Keane.

"I'm sure it's fine," he said, taking one more step towards the animal. Keane didn't let go of his arm though, and it seemed that the dog finally noticed them, looking up from the ground and locking eyes with the two. Keane tried not to feel scared, but the way that they were gleaming green in the lack of light was pretty unnerving.

"Straton, I don't think this is a good idea…" he mumbled, but before the blonde was able to say anything, the dog barked, causing both boys to flinch as the sound resonated off the rocks surrounding them. It was only then that Keane noticed they were trapped. The golden dog started walking towards them, growling now, and Keane pushed Straton behind him. He wasn't strong, and there was something very off with him, there was no way he could protect himself.

"K-Keane?" Straton asked, only now starting to sound scared. Keane was acting on instinct now, letting the rest of his anima appear, the popping and clicking of bones and rapid growth of fur feeling less odd with each transformation. "What are you doing?" The red head just shrugged.

"I-I have no idea…" he admitted, backing up slowly as the dog approached. He didn't just survive everything back at the palace to be killed by some wild dog. Gulping, he got into a clumsy fighting position. If he had a sword, he'd be much more confident, but he didn't. He only had his claws, and who'd ever heard of a mouse winning a fight against a dog?

Woo, cliffhanger. Sorry about that, but I couldn't help it (totally isn't that I'm nervous about writing a fight scene and having it suck, not at all). Straton isn't able to really think straight after almost 48 hours of no sleep, and being traumatized, and Keane is just traumatized and thinks he'd be a terrible leader, so he lets Straton make the decisions. Not a good move on either of their parts.

Well, I hope you liked this chapter, and please review.