New chapter once again. First of all, my computer's fixed, so yay. Also, hurray, thanks everyone for helping me get to 100 reviews. If you didn't see, I posted a bonus chapter to celebrate that.
Anyway, so yeah, I was kind of excited for this chapter, which I guess is why I actually managed to write it bit earlier than normal. Even though I have a bunch of other stories that I really need to update as well. At any rate, hurray for not being super late.

Chapter 24 – Of Rescues and Revelations

Keane sat in the back of Ed's cart, staring blankly as the scenery went by. They'd been traveling for almost a day now, and the black haired man said that they were going to stop for the night soon. Keane sighed and stretched his feet out, not really having anything else to do. His hands were still bound, but it was loosely, and there wasn't really much else in the back of the cart anyway. Just a bunch of supplies in order to last them the trip.

He knew he had to get out of there. He needed to find Straton again. It was just this one guy; he could probably take him if it came down to fighting. Even without his anima, despite the fact that he was bigger, he didn't really seem like much of a fighter.

Oh course, he hadn't expected the fruit vender to be as strong as he had either, and this guy was a professional trader. He had to of had something in order to keep all of his slaves from simply running off. They were already pretty far away from town too, and he had no idea where Straton would have gone after they dragged him away. He could practically feel any hope he had curling up and dying as he thought about his situation more and more.

The redhead was lurched forward slightly when they finally came to a halt. Without a word Ed hopped out of the front and walked around to unhook the back of the cart. Keane slid out silently, the awkwardness between the two practically bubbling over.

The redhead still didn't say anything as he sat down one of the rocks that was slightly flatter than the others. Absently he started messing with the collar now hanging around his neck. The symbol of a slave. He never would have imagined having to wear one, even after he became a +anima. At least, not after he found Straton again. He'd actually thought that they would have been able to make it to Astaria together. All this really was proving just how delusional and idealistic he'd been.

Without much warning Ed tossed him a blanket, which he was just barely able to grasp with his hands linked together. So far the trader hadn't really said much to him. Keane could imagine that he was used to his slaves ignoring or giving him the silent treatment though. Plus, he really didn't think he'd want to talk to him if he did try to make conversation.

"Get some rest, we should get to Deftian sometime tomorrow night," he said, and Keane nodded his head slightly. Not sure what else to do he laid down as he'd been told. It was strange how all the anger he'd had earlier was zapped away into this hopelessness he felt now. Something inside him kept yelling at him to fight. There had to be a way out; he'd survived worse already. He needed to go back and find Straton so that they could make it to Astaria together.

Astaria was so far away though, and there was a mountain rage that Keane just didn't believe they would be able to cross alone. Basim had promised that he'd find his brother and make sure he stayed safe. For some crazy reason the redhead trusted him too.

Plus, Straton wasn't a +anima. He wasn't the former crown prince. He'd never fit in with royalty, no one would ever suspect that he had anything to do with the old ruling family. He could stay in Sailand; could make a normal life for himself and just forget everything that had happened to them. The redhead was probably just hurting him more if he went out and tried to get him back again.

Straton wasn't sure how long they were up in the air, following the trail in between the two cities. After what felt like an eternity though the sun was starting to rise. "Um, aren't you tired? We could take a break if you want…" the blonde asked Kazana, who simply shook his head.

"That's fine. I think I see something up ahead," he answered. Straton looked out to where he assumed the teen to be talking about, and it wasn't long before he was able to spot it as well. It was almost just a dot in the distance, but it did stand out from the rest of the empty desert landscape.

As they got closer, Straton tried to not let his hopes get up too high. It was definitely some sort of small cart, but that didn't mean it was necessarily the one with Keane in it. Despite the fact that he had been the one to stop Kazana from just barreling into the trader's home, he couldn't help but be both annoyed and very confused when the teen started to turn around and landed quite a distance away.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, trying not to sound impatient, but not about to figure out why they were stopping now when they might be so close. Kazana lowered him to the sandy ground before he started to explain.

"You should stay here. I'll go see if it's your brother, and will bring him back if it is. The trader might have weapons or something, it'd be easier and safer if I only have to carry one kid around," the black haired teen said, and reluctantly Straton nodded.

It made perfect sense. For some reason though even after everything Kazana had done for them, the blonde wasn't entirely sure just how much he trusted him. It wasn't that he was a +anima, he didn't know what it was.

Well, if he thought about it, it was probably the fact that he didn't want to trust Keane's safety with anyone. Especially not after everything that had happened to them. There had been so many guards in the palace. Those people were supposed to protect them in case of something like the revolution happened. They hadn't even bothered to try and get the crown prince out of there though, Straton had been the one to go into his room and drag him out.

Quickly, he tried to pushed all that from his mind. Kazana was going to save Keane for him, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Without another word Kazana set off into the air again. Straton watched him until the hawk winged teen finally disappeared from his view as he went down to land. Now all he had to do was wait. If Keane really was there, then Kazana would get him, and they would be able to leave and try to make it to Astaria again. If he wasn't, then they would just have to keep going along this path until they did find him. Those were the only two options. Straton couldn't let himself think about anything else.

Keane hadn't been able to sleep all night. His mind was fighting with itself. Despite how much he wanted to give up, something inside him wouldn't let him. Or maybe it was the other way around? Even though he wanted to fight, he couldn't bright himself to believe it would actually work. He just didn't know anymore.

His +anima was still activated though. He hadn't brought it back in after Ed had asked him to transform back at Basim's, and the sound of something landing a few feet away was caught by his heighted hearing. Looking to his left, he saw that the black haired trader was still sound asleep. Footsteps from whatever it was started to resonate in his ears, and he turned towards whoever had happened upon them.

Keane didn't know what to think at the sight of Kazana walking towards him, a smirk on his face. How had…? Disbelief wracked his body as he stood up almost completely on instinct. It was rather clumsily, his hands still bound together, but he really didn't focus on that. He probably would have still looked a mess even if he had full control of all his limbs, he was that surprised.

"K-kazana? What?" the redhead asked quietly. The hawk winged teen just glanced over to the still sleeping Ed before answering him.

"Your brother came and told us what happened. Come on, let's get you out of here before he wakes up," Kazana whispered, leaning down in front of Keane. Before he could focus enough to help in any way the teen had grabbed his wrists and started working on the rope that bound them together. What Kazana had said finally clicked in the redhead's brain, and he started looking around frantically.

"Wait, my brother? Where is he? Is he okay? They didn't hurt him, did they?" he asked, wishing that the younger boy would just show himself and make him stop worrying so much. Kazana just nodded slightly, having been able to untie one of the ropes already, and moved onto the last one.

"He's fine. I dropped him off a little ways to the west of here, in case anything happened with the slave trader and we needed to make a quick getaway," the hawk teen explained. Keane nodded, letting out a long sigh of relief. Straton was alright. That was probably the best thing he'd heard in the past three days, ever since they'd been caught by that fruit vender.

After what felt like an eternity but was actually closer to maybe two minutes the last of the rope dropped to the desert ground. Before Kazana was able to pick up the younger boy and fly them both away to safety, a groaning sound alerted the two. Looking over, Ed was pushing himself up off the mat he'd been sleeping on and trying to regain his focus from sleep. When he finally did, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw.

"What's going on here?" he asked, attempting to sound threatening but coming off more scared about the situation than anything. Keane didn't really blame him. Kazana had some really impressive talons, and even if his anima wasn't the most threatening animal in the kingdom, his claws were still needle sharp. He wasn't tied up anymore either, which definitely didn't hurt things for them.

"I'm taking the kid, and I'd like to see you try and stop me, got it?" the black haired teen growled threateningly. Keane surprised himself a little by offering Ed a smile as he unhooked the collar still around his neck and tossed it over. He did not want to be wearing that anymore. Even if it might have come in handy for tricking people later or something, he just didn't want to look at it ever again. It felt so wrong being tagged like cattle.

"You can keep the collar though, bye," he said, unused to the fact that he actually sounded happy for once. The shocked man just nodded, never taking his eyes off of the two as he bent down to pick up the discarded piece of leather.

Without any warning Kazana picked him up after that and took off into the sky. Keane couldn't help but be impressed with how effortlessly his wings were able to carry them both. Not to mention the fact that he had probably flown all the way from the last town to where they were, carrying Straton no less. Even if he didn't look it, the teen was probably exhausted.

When they touched down, Keane didn't see Straton at first. The slight fear that was still in the pit of his stomach seemed to multiply by the thousands instantaneously. What if something or someone had found him while Kazana was saving him? Dang it, he did not think he could keep going through this sort of cat and mouse game with him if it came to that. He would just end up crumbling into a shattered mess of stress if that happened.

"Keane?" the redhead whirled around at the sound of his name, relief pretty much overflowing at this point. He'd seriously didn't think that they would ever be able to see each other again when he had them drag the blonde boy away at the slave trader's. Once again though, Straton proved himself to be the smarter part of the duo, at least in Keane's opinion.

"Straton! I thought I was going to be a slave the rest of my life and never see you again!" he yelled, trying to ignore the emotion that strung through his voice as he ran up to the younger boy. The relieved look that had been on the blonde's face a moment ago was quickly replaced with anger, something Keane was not used to seeing on him at all.

"Then why'd you have them take me away! We could have thought of something and got out together!" he yelled, despite the tears of happiness that were coating his eyes. It managed to stun the redhead slightly, but he quickly got over it and started to defend himself.

"I already told you it was too dangerous! You're not a +anima, and once they found that out something really bad could have happened!" he argued. Really, he had not expected to start fighting with Straton right after getting back together with him, especially since they never really fought much to begin with. He wasn't really thinking about that when the blonde answered him however.

"Worse than never seeing each other again and living your entire life as a slave?" he asked, and Keane nodded. Even though they were fighting, it almost felt like they were doing it just to make sure the other was really there, and this whole thing wasn't just some trick or dream.

"Yes! At least that way one of us would be able to get away safely!" he yelled back. Both boys were so wrapped up in their argument that they didn't notice the shocked way that Kazana was analyzing them.

The teen did not understand at first why they would have been using fake names. It was pretty clear that's what they were doing though, seeing how they'd slipped up just now with their guards down from all the emotion. The hawk teen frowned in thought as he stared at the redheaded boy. His real name was Keane. He'd heard that somewhere before, but for some reason it wasn't clicking in his head exactly where.

The revelation felt like a slap in the face when it finally hit him. There was no way. When he really looked at the older one though, it made nothing but sense. He'd never actually seen the prince, but there was no mistaking that fiery red hair he'd heard about. His frown of confusion quickly started to transform into an angry snarl. Clenching his fist he started towards the two boys that had been deceiving him all this time.

"Kaveh and Sargon, huh?" he asked, the bitterness in his voice clear. It quickly caught the two's attention, and they stopped fighting. Turning towards the teen, they didn't realize their blunder at first. "I can't believe I was such an idiot," he growled, and both boys seemed to figure out just what was going on at the same time. Without thinking Keane jumped in front of Straton.

This wasn't a dog though. This was even worse than the fruit vender.

"We don't want to cause any trouble! We're just trying to go to Astaria," Straton tried to defend themselves.

"Shut up!" Kazana yelled, causing the young boy to flinch. "Keane… crown prince Keane! And I've been helping you all this time," the teen spat. The redhead tried to keep the fear bubbling inside him from showing, but he could tell it wasn't working nearly as well as he would have wanted.

"Please, just leave us alone. Thank you for helping us get back together, but Straton's telling the truth. We just want to get out of here, so there isn't any reason for you to stay," he said, trying to sound like he actually had some authority. If anything though, it just seemed to have the opposite effect from what he wanted.

"You can not order me around, got it?" he growled, coming closer to the two boys. Keane desperately tried to get into a fighting stance, although he could tell it was probably horribly sloppy due to his fear. They were so close too! Now… now he didn't know what was going to happen.

Kazana was going to kill them. That's what was going to happen. Kazana was going to kill them, and the only way for that to not happen would be if he actually fought the angry teen off. The only real fight he'd ever won was against a dog though, and that was only with Straton's help. Even back at the palace, before all of this had started, he couldn't even beat Myrrha half the time, and the kid was three years younger than him.

Yep. They were definitely going to die.

Woohoo, cliff hanger! Keane and Straton man, they just don't get any chance to breath, do they? This chapter was pretty fun to write though, so hurray. And early too, because as I said at the beginning of the chapter, I got excited about it. I feel kind of bad for Ed though. He didn't get much focus at all, just came and went like poof. Didn't mean for it to be like that at first, but the revelation with Kazana really wanted to happen in this chapter, so Keane's time on the road was cut short.

I do hope you all liked the chapter though, and please review.