Hello everyone. Guess what, I'm in California! Never been anywhere before, so traveling all the way across country was crazy. First plane ride for someone afraid of highs. Actually found a little downtime though, so I figured it's be a great time to start on the next chapter, what do you say?
Chapter 25 – Of Slashing Claws and Throwing Stones
Keane stared up at the angrily approaching teen, not sure at all how he was possibly supposed to protect both himself and Straton. With a slight shudder he realized that he couldn't. He would be beyond lucky if he could just get Straton away safely.
It nearly broke the redhead then and there when he realized that this was just like the slave trader's all over again. After going through all that and only seeing his brother for less than five minutes, only one of them was going to get out of here. Once again, he was going to make sure it was Straton. The only thing different was that he might not be getting an ending as happy as slavery if the sharp talons that were Kazana's feet had anything to say about it, which he had no doubt they would.
Before the redhead could even register quite what was happening Kazana took off into the air, although it wasn't anywhere high enough to make it seem like he might be leaving. It was high enough however so that his talons were coming straight at Keane.
Without thinking he attempted to defend himself, pulling up his arms and trying to slash at the plated feet with his claws. It didn't seem to hurt the teen at all though, and he just few up slightly higher to get out of reach from Keane's pathetic attack.
When he came down a second time, the redhead's defense was even worse than before, and he found himself being pushed to the ground with ease. He started slashing out wildly in an attempt to keep from getting injured, any training he'd had before fleeing his brain in an instant. He did not want to die! If it was going to happen now then why'd he even become a +anima in the first place? He could have just been killed with everyone else!
"Keane!" Straton screaming his name shook him out of his panicked frenzy slightly, and he attempted to at least aim for Kazana's feet. When the teen above him did take off into the sky again, it wasn't because of Keane's claws. The redhead stayed on the ground for a moment, the confusion keeping him from acting fast.
"Get away from him you monster! You said you help other +anima! Keane's one now! So leave him alone!" the blonde boy yelled, hurtling rock after rock at Kazana's wings. He didn't seem to have any problem dodging most of them, and a few almost hit Keane himself, but it kept Kazana away enough for the redhead to get back to his feet.
After a few moments Straton stopped throwing the stones, too intent on keeping his eyes on the winged teen to bend down to pick up any more. Kazana still looked absolutely livid, and once again Keane made sure to get in front of Straton. He didn't know what he would be able to do to protect him anymore though. The blonde should have just ran when he had the chance, but of course if he did that then Keane would probably be dead at the moment. He highly doubted that the black haired teen would let his brother go after what he just did though.
To Keane's surprise, Kazana didn't immediately attack again. Instead, he was looking back and forth between the two boys, glaring intently but seemingly thinking something over. The redhead held his breath. There was no way that he was actually considering what Straton had said, right? Sure, he was a +anima, but he was also the Crown Prince. Kazana made it clear how much he hated the old rulers, and with good reason too. Keane had seen first hand the type of world his father had created now, and it wasn't something he was proud of in the least.
The few moments the hawk teen stayed silent seemed to stretch on for ages. Finally he started to speak again, still hovering in the same spot a few feet away.
"You're right, as much as I hate to admit it…" he started, and the two brothers were frozen from their shock. "Keane is a +anima now. While that doesn't make up for what you royals have done at all, I'll let him live," Kazana finished. The redhead couldn't even understand what he was saying at first. He wasn't going to kill them?
"Really?" Straton asked, obviously in just as much shock at the older boy, but somehow managing to find his voice despite it. Kazana nodded, his eyes now fixed solely on the younger boy.
"Yeah, I'll let him live… and maybe losing you will make up for some of the pain he's caused!" Kazana yelled, swooping down towards the blonde boy before either child could react.
Straton wasn't able to hold back his scream as the hawk +anima's talon tore into his shoulder. Immediately he fell to the ground, no where close to being able to stand up against the force Kazana had against him.
"No!" Keane screeched, barreling into the older boy without a single thought. The redhead was shocked when he actually managed to knock the hawk +anima off of his brother, but didn't stop to think about it as he slashed rapidly, running completely on panic and adrenalin now.
Kazana kicked at him again, and this time managed to make a hit. Keane yelled in pain, one of the teen's talons cutting his leg open. The shock of it ran through his entire body and caused Keane to collapse to the desert floor in an instant.
The redhead stared up, frozen in fear that Kazana would retract his earlier decision and just kill him then and there. He had the chance now, after all, and it wouldn't surprise him. But as the hawk +anima stayed hovering over the child, Keane was beyond shock to see another rock come and this time hit him square on the wing.
Immediately his head swerved around to see Straton, sitting up from where Kazana had knocked him down. He was clutching his right shoulder as tight as he could, breathing heavily and desperately trying to stop the blood that was flowing from where Kazana had attacked him. It was obvious how much pain he was in, but in his shaking right hand was another rock, as if he planned to throw it if the teen tried anything.
It took everything Keane had to not stare at the blood running down his arm and throw up. It made him think of the palace. There had been so much blood there, and he couldn't stand to start thinking about it again.
"I told you… to leave him… alone," the blonde struggled out. To Keane's surprise Kazana didn't instantly attempt to attack Straton again. Instead he just stared at him, apparently in as much shock that the young boy was still trying to fight back as Keane was.
Bracing himself for the pain that he knew was going to occur, the redhead leaped up while the teen was distracted. Desperately, he clung onto one of Kazana's wings with his claws, even going so far as to bite it. It wasn't like his teeth transformed to mice like with him anima or anything, but he figured it still had to hurt, and he was gripping at straws.
He didn't even notice when they both crashed to the ground, Kazana not able to keep himself alight with the boy dragging down one of his wings.
"Get the hell off of me!" the black haired teen yelled, attempting to reach around to where Keane was and pull him off. He couldn't quite reach him on the back of his wing, however, and Keane wasn't letting go of his bite in order to speak.
"I said get off!" he yelled again, thrusting the wing the redhead was clinging to roughly. Despite his attempt to stay on, Keane felt himself get flung across the desert, skidding on the compact rock. Several feathers came flying with him, clutched in his claws, and a couple in his mouth. The redhead quickly spit them out, getting back up in order to attack the teen again if he even took a step towards Straton.
The wing he had clung to looked pretty mangled, feathers bent every which way. It had to have been painful, but Keane didn't care at all about that. Kazana was glaring sharply at him, obviously trying to downplay the damage the boy had caused it. Even still, it was pretty clear that he wouldn't be flying with that wing anytime soon.
"Don't touch him!" Keane yelled, hoping to keep the teen's attention on him. "Straton's the last person you should take anything out on! He's the only one who ever understood what was even going on!" he really doubted that Kazana would listen to him, but it was the truth. Out of all of the princes, except for maybe the deceased Myrrha, Straton was the only one who looked at the big picture of what they were doing. That the +anima were actual people, and just that everything wasn't okay with the way they were running things.
If despite all of that, the blonde died because of everything he knew was wrong to begin with, Keane didn't know what he'd do. He'd probably ask for Kazana to just end it and kill him too. No, if he ended up being all alone again and having to watch the only family he had left be killed right in front of him, he would end up just like Myrrha. Either by Kazana's hand or some other way, he doubted he would care by that point.
The hawk +anima was staring at Keane now, before looking over at where Straton was still sitting on the ground. The redhead couldn't tell if he was glaring at them or thinking, probably both. Keane was wound up to attack if he decided to go after the younger boy again, ignoring the sharp pain shooting up and down his leg.
Once again, time seemed to stop as the teen reevaluated the situation, but Keane doubted he'd do anything as 'nice' as before and let them live. He was probably just trying to figure out which one he should kill first.
"Nothing you two say can make up for the years of slavery and abuse that we've had to go through," Kazana started, and Keane prepared for him to attack again. "But…" he said with a sigh, "I'm not going to kill a couple of kids who can barely keep themselves from falling apart," Keane didn't move from his spot, not trusting the teen at all.
"Why would you change your mind now all of a sudden?" He asked, practically growling at the older boy.
"Because, you're both pathetic! Plus, you're just kids, you couldn't have made any actual decisions politically," Kazana explained. Keane still didn't relax, watching the teen as he turned away from both of them. "You sure as hell better be telling the truth about going to Astaria though. If I ever see either of you again, don't think you'll be getting off this easy," he called back.
Neither boy moved until the teen was completely out of sight. At that, Keane fell backwards, making sure to not land on the still bleeding wound in his leg. The thought of his injury just made him remember about Straton's, and he tried to stand back up. He couldn't crawl over with his leg, despite how much he wanted to, and the same injury just made him fall back to the ground before he was fully up.
"Keane!" Straton called, able to make it over to him instead, since neither of his legs were actually hurt any. The redhead managed to ignore the slight shame of that in order to focus on the gash in the younger boy's shoulder. "Are you okay?" the blonde asked, and Keane was just barely able to force himself to nod.
"Yeah… yeah, we need to bandage these… somehow stop the bleeding," he said, trying his best to think clearly and not panic. Like Straton usually was. The younger boy nodded and pulled a bag off of his uninjured shoulder and opening it, pulling some fabric that Keane assumed could have worked as a small blanket and attempting to rip it into strips. He wasn't able to with his arm, and the redhead quickly took it from him, just then noticing that he'd never seen the bag or anything in it before.
"Where'd you get this stuff?" he asked. It was half to find out, and half to distract them as he started wrapping a few of the strips around Straton's gash. It was worse than his own, and he would have tried to treat the younger boy first even if it wasn't.
"The nice slave trader. He said you told him to make sure I was safe," Straton explained, and Keane nodded as he tied a knot in the cloth to keep it on him. It was no where near as well he wanted to treat him, but it was the only thing he could do with what they had. He had no doubt that both of their injuries would end up scarring. Tearing a few more strips he started working on his own wound before speaking. Any of the scratched and scrapes he got from skidding when Kazana had thrown him could be fine healing on their own.
"Yeah, Basim. I don't know why, but I trusted him. I'm glad he was able to find you," he said, wondering if he should transform out of his +anima or stay in it after he treated the wound. It would probably hurt like crazy if he tried to transform his leg while it was cut open like this, so it would probably be a good idea to stay as he was for the moment. At least until he healed. It would draw extra attention to them, but hopefully they wouldn't be going near anyone for a while.
"He didn't really find me… I went back with Kazana to try to free you, but you'd already been sold…" he said quietly. The older boy was about to start talking when Straton continued. "I'm sorry for giving us away…" he practically whispered, and Keane almost instantly started shaking his head.
"It wasn't your fault. I didn't remember the stupid fake names either. Plus, you were the one actually smart enough to track me down again. We should just be glad that we're both still alive, and rest while we can," Keane said, and reluctantly the younger boy nodded. The redhead had managed to tie up both of their wounds now, although he was almost positive that he hadn't completely stopped the bleeding.
It shouldn't be enough to kill them though. He just had to keep telling himself that.
"So, what else is in that bag?" he asked, not really sure what else they should be doing. Straton started going through and pulling everything out to show him. It wasn't really much, just the dried food and money left, but Keane nodded in approval.
"If we keep along this trail, we should be able to reach the town in maybe two days, since Ed, the guy who brought me, said that it was about another day or so with his cart. We should probably rest for a while, but the food should last us… three days? If we're careful, and after that we can use the money to buy us some real supplies," he said, half talking to himself and half to Straton. The younger boy just nodded, everything Keane said sounding reasonable.
After a few seconds Straton blinked, starting to stare at the redhead as he took the money out of the satchel and started to count it. He seemed to be in his own little world at the moment, not even noticing his brother as he studied him.
Straton hated to admit it, but he tended to forget that Keane was the Crown Prince at one time, since he actually let his guard down around him. There was a reason that their father had named him second in line to the throne, behind only the little prodigy that had shattered like glass without any warning.
Keane did have the potential to be a leader, and it was only now that Straton was really starting to see that.
Hooray, completed. So, now that I've actually walked through a desert and seen actual mountains I got a lot of inspiration for this story. You really don't know what it's like until you do it, and so even though what I did was nothing compared with what these boys are going through, it should help me write this story with more details. Yay for inspiration.
And yes, Keane's finally starting to take charge a little bit. I feel rather bad for them in this chapter, since really, it was unlikely that they could have gotten out of this alive. Kazana just doesn't seem like the type to kill a couple of kids who are obviously struggling like crazy to survive though, so they got lucky on that one. A well intended extremist he is, but not one to murder children.
Well, I hope you liked this chapter, and as always please review.