A Beginning

The emotionless clouds sent down daggers of rain in a hateful sort of way. Darkness covered the land as though it were in eternal sorrow. Even the few creatures that dwelled in these lands were similar to each other. They made it their goal to make your journey here as difficult as possible- and if possible- to end it here. Here in the underworld of reality; where flames were numbing cold and winds did not sing but scream curses at us.
Roiben glared down at the churning dark waters with a sense of hatred and fear. Metal handcuffs burnt his wrists along with the barbed wire wrapped around his upper chest. Two grisly looking men were holding his upper arms in a death grip to ensure that he wouldn’t make an attempt to escape.
“ You have soiled our plans for the last time, elf.” An elderly looking man with long black hair and yellow eyes glared at Roiben from the sidelines. The man wore black armor with a purple insignia printed on his chest. His piercing cat-like eyes flickered momentarily with distaste.
“You are still capable of redeeming yourself if you do what is asked of you.” The dark lord raised his bellowing voice over the harsh wind. Roiben remained silent and continued looking down the jagged edge of the cliff.
“You’ve had your chance- now I can watch with enjoyment as you plunge to your death.” He made a signal with his staff and watched as the two men holding Roiben began making their way to cliffs edge.
Lightning lit up their short path as they sauntered toward the edge. Rain stung their eyes but they ignored it and watched on. The two men shoved the elf off the side of the cliff and watched as he plunged to his death- or so they thought.
Roiben felt the sudden breath-taking shock of the ocean water as he came into contact with it. The harsh current snatched him up with its claws and tossed him around violently. Wincing, he was thrown into a boulder and then another. Frozen with a secret fear he was unable to move, let alone swim, he kicked his legs to try and keep his head above the dark water. Seconds later, he was tossed into another rock and felt a sever pain in the back of his head. Closing his eyes, Roiben became less and less aware of his surroundings as he blacked out.
1

~*~2

Troy sat beside the large river and looked up into the night sky. The sun had set a few hours ago, but troy wasn’t ready to head home just yet.
It had also begun to snow not too long ago giving a new chill to the surrounding area.
“ Hm…what is that?” Something washed up on the shore of the river a few feet away. Troy swiftly stood up and walked over. Upon reaching the strange object she noticed that it wasn’t an object at all. It was a wounded elf. Kneeling beside him, Troy turned him onto his back and watched as he coughed up water.
“ Are you alright…?” Her voice was somewhat soft but was heard above the river.
Roiben opened his gold-colored eyes and looked up at her. 3

~*~ Roiben’s Pov ~*~4

I woke up and found myself lying beside a river, which ran through a forest from the looks of it. A piercing pain made its way through my body as I made an attempt to sit up.
“ Where am I?” I looked up at the blue-haired girl kneeling beside me with slight suspicion. Hating this sense of utter helplessness, I managed to sit up. Pride was my only strength at this point.
“ Sauvignon Forest… You just washed up on the shore which is where I found you…” Her voice held a hint of what sounded like concern but that did not matter to me.
“ Where is the nearest town?” I did not care, really, to know who she was or why she was even out here at this time of the night. What I did care about was getting my revenge, and pretty much starting over from scratch…again.
“ Depends, there’s a village 15 minutes from here and a city a good hour away… If you want I can find you a place to stay for the night…Who are you, exactly…?” Ah, I knew that famous question was going to lodge itself somewhere. Hm…now for my famous answer, none.
“ That won’t be necessary- just point me in the direction of the city and I’ll be alright from there.”
She gave me a weird look before answering me.
“ Why would you want to travel this late? The city isn’t going to be going anywhere…and you’re wounded…”
Mentally cursing, I sent her a mild glare.
“ I’ll live- now where is the city?”
The look in her azure-eyes pretty much told me what she thought of my attitude but that didn’t mean very much to me.
“ You don’t have to act so rude, you know… and if you think you can handle yourself so well then go find the city yourself.” She stood up and I silently cursed again.
“ Where are you going?” I asked her as she brushed the dirt off of her jeans.
“Well aren’t we inquisitive… and I am going back home- have fun finding the city.” And with that she turned and was about to leave when I stopped her.
“ I’m robin by the way…and If it’ll make you change your mind about telling me where the city is ‘ I’m sorry ‘ for being so rude earlier…” Mentally, I was cringing and gagging on my own verbal bile. Apologizing?- What for? She was the annoying one.
She glanced down at me and I caught the amusement in her eyes.
“ Hm? Sorry I didn’t catch the last part of that.” I sent her a dull look.
“ I’m ‘sorry’.” She kneeled down beside me again and smirked.
“ You make it sound like it’s some sort of disease… and do you want to stay in my village for the night? You look like you’re going to pass out at any given second.”
And yet again, she was right. My head must have been hit a bit too hard because I could feel the blood running down the back of my neck. Along with the wound, I had others along my body. But hell would have to freeze over first before I told her anything about it.
“ I’m fine but I’ll take the offer.” Hoping that’ll make her satisfied, I watched for any signs I should be suspicious of.
“ Alright…can you walk?”
“ Of course I can walk!” Who the hell does she think she’s talking to ?! Of course I can walk… I shifted slightly and that itself sent another wave of pain coursing through my body. Ok…maybe I couldn’t.
“ Riiight…” Amusement could be detected in her voice as she moved her arm around me; helping me stand. This just wasn’t my night.
I couldn’t help but lean against her heavily and that itself annoyed me. Oh well, the sooner I heal the faster I can get out of here.
“ So, 15 minutes until we get to your village?” I asked her as we started walking.
“ Yeah…this path will take us there…” she led me to a path, which twisted and winded itself through the dense trees.
As we walked on in silence I gave my all to just keep up with her pace, as slow as she made it. I hated to admit, but I knew that I really would not have gotten that far w/out her if anywhere at all.
Lost in thought, I didn’t see an upraised root growing along the trail and caught my foot against it. Next thing I knew it, I was falling forward and then collided onto the frozen ground.
“ Well this is uncomfortable...” I tried to move but noticed that the girl had fallen on top of me as result from that stupid upraised root.
“Sorry…” she murmured. I looked up at her and noticed that she had gone a faint pink. Giving an amused smirk I turned completely onto my back and watched her blush a darker pink.
“ You’re blushing…” Tilting my head slightly, I watched her change a darker shade of pink.
“ I am not!” She tried to get up but noted that she was kind of stuck.
Snickering, I moved my hands to her waist and managed to move her off of me. Sitting up I ran a hand through my tousled hair and watched her regain her composure.
“ Lets get going…” she mumbled and helped me up again. Smirking again, I let her help me and we both continued walking.
Another long lapse of silence followed this but I broke it,
“ What’s your name…? You never told me.” A part of me was curious but the larger part of me didn’t care either way.
“ Hm? My name’s Troy…”
It had become darker as time went by and I was surprised that she was able to stay on the path let alone not trip on anything along the way. After what seemed like an eternity+ I was able to make out lights up ahead.
“ Is that your village..?” I asked and felt her stiffen slightly. She quickly shook her head.
“ No-“ Curiously she changed course completely and stepped off the trail, me being the helpless one, was forced to follow her.
“ What are you doing?” I asked, not able to keep the suspicion from my voice.
“ Shhh- be quiet…” Troy had brought me behind a large tree and kneeled down. I sat down beside her and gave her a weird look.
“ Don’t tell me to be quiet- now what’s going-“ She gave me a sharp look and I decided it was better to ask questions later. I heard voices coming closer and whoever it was didn’t sound very happy.
Her grip on me tightened slightly and I looked over at her.
The voices belonged to what sounded like a group of gruff men who were obviously up to no good. One of them sounded as though he was drunk and was talking loudly but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I looked down and noted that my weapon was gone. Mentally cursing I snuck a glance from behind the tree and looked over the group.
They were bandits from the looks of it and carried w/ them threatening-looking weapons and stolen goods. Now that I could hear them better, I could make out their conversation.
Somewhat disgusted, I heard one of them go on and on about his experience raping an orphan girl. They other men laughed but their laughter was cut short. Their footsteps stopped and one of them had raised his hand to silence the rest of them.
“ I smell fresh blood…” One of them announced and looked around at their surroundings.
Troy glanced at me and looked over my blood stained clothes. Her look told me that she really wasn’t worried about herself it was me. Because irritatingly enough, I was the one who could barely walk let alone fight for myself.
“ Where is it coming from Brock??” this bandits voice was high and annoying. Sort of like an insect if they were ever given a voice.
“ Silence…” The one named Brock snapped and looked around him. Suddenly he glanced in our direction and smirked.
“ From there… Andy, go with sly and check it out…”
I quickly began to think of a way out of this but wasn’t fast enough, A pair of large strong hands grabbed my shoulders and picked me up. Not even a second later I was thrown onto the path before the man named Brock. Troy was now beside me again. I winced as I sat up and glared up at him.
“ So, what do we have here…?” Brock smirked and looked down at me. This couldn’t be tolerated. I quickly murmured an incantation, which made his legs freeze to the ground. He shouted something and tried to move but wasn’t able to.
I watched one of them grab onto Troy but he soon fell onto his knees, breathless. I recognized what she had done but didn’t say anything of it. I glanced back at the third bandit; I gave him a look, which made him stop in fear. Murmuring another incantation, I watched as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Brock had somehow managed to free himself and yanked me into the air by the collar of my shirt. He reeked of stale alcohol and of death.
“ You’re gunna pay for that!” He slammed me into a tree and I winced as my already wounded body fell to the ground. He smirked and walked over to Troy.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her to her feet.
“ Its not everyday I see such a pretty lass out here in the middle of the night.” I didn’t like the look he was giving her and bit my tongue as I grabbed the tree for support. Disgusted, I watched him kiss her roughly. I managed to stand up and murmured another simple spell but Troy had already gotten to the man. He was soon blue-faced and on his knees. Troy quickly dropped her hands to her sides and watched him collapse onto the ground.
“ So, you have draining powers…?” I asked her as I leaned against the tree heavily. She nodded slightly and walked over to me. Her long hair was now loose from her earlier ponytail and was fanned out over her shoulders. I wouldn’t deny that she was, in fact, a rare beauty.
“ Are you alright?” Her eyes were filled with unmistakable concern but I didn’t concentrate long on this. The last thing I needed was a distraction.
“ Yeah I’m fine. We should get going.” I needed to rest and then I would have to leave. That was the plan after all.
“ Thanks for your concern.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me one of her ‘looks.’
Sending her a dull look, I sighed heavily.
“ ‘You ok?” Amused, she walked over to me and moved and arm around me again.
“ Yeah. ^^” I allowed her to help me walk again but this time I was drained of even more strength. Leaning against her heavily, She managed to keep walking without complaining at all of my weight.
Soon, we approached the village and relief swept through me. Finally.
Three of the village guards hurried over from their posts. Their voices seemed to be coming from miles away even if they were only in front of me. My weakened state finally took its toll on me as I blacked out once again. 5

~*~ Troy’s Pov ~*~6

I sat beside Roiben as he slept on a small cot in one of the village buildings marked as an infirmary. The building was small but lived up to its purpose.
My thoughts had begun to drift away from the topic of watching over him to actually watching him in general. His armor had been stripped (not by me of course) and he had been changed into a clean set of clothes except for his chest, which has been bandaged due to the numerous wounds, and cuts found. The elves white hair was tousled and fell into his face, hiding his closed eyes somewhat. A scar ran down his neck and went down to his upper chest where a crude looking heart seemed to have been carved there.
Subconsciously, I had moved my hand from my lap and moved his hair from his face. Next thing I knew his hawk-like eyes had snapped open and he had my small wrist gripped in his hand. Roiben shifted sharply and without meaning to, pulled me on top of him.
“ Um…” I felt my cheeks burn as he looked up at me in surprise. Upon seeing that I wasn’t a threat he let go of my wrist and widened his eyes.
“ Sorry, I didn’t know it was you at first…” Were his cheeks turning a faint pink? Or maybe that was just my imagination. It was bad enough that I was lying on top of him, let alone how red I must be right now.
“ Its ok…” My moved my hands which had been resting on his checks to either side of him and prepared to lift myself up when I heard someone walk into the room at that exact moment. It was the nurse.
She clucked her tongue in disapproval as I quickly sat up. Roiben sat up and helped me off of him and off the bed. I caught his amused smirk and sent him a dull look.
“ Sorry…” I murmured; my cheeks burning a dark red at his point.
Oh god WHY?! How can my day start out this embarrassing?? T_T this officially sucks and why won’t the nurse stop staring at us??
The nurse simply walked over to check on Roiben then left after giving me a warning look.
“ Could keep your hands off of me, huh?” I looked over at him and sent him another dull look.
“ You grabbed me, remember?” I sat down on my chair and watched him. Roiben leaned back against the wall and ran a hand through his hair.
“ You’re the one who was leaning over me and playing w/ my hair while I was asleep, remember?”
“…” -_- grrr.
“ I wasn’t playing w/ your hair- I thought I saw something and-“ Roiben cut me off and snickered.
“Sure you weren’t…which explains why you’re blushing again?”
“ I’m not blushing!”
“ So why are you so red?”
“ I’m not red! It’s just the lighting in here…” Looking away from him I glanced out the small window.
“ Sure your not…” Roiben moved his legs over the side of the bed and winced slightly.
“ What are you doing...? You should be resting.” I watched him give her a weird look and tossed the blanket to the side. He grunted slightly seeing the simple pair of pants he was wearing and looked around the room for his armor.
“ I’ve already wasted enough time…” he spotted his armor on the bedside table and grabbed his things.
“? What do you mean? What do you have to do in such a hurry…?” She watched him slip the armor over his head- covering up his chest.
“Just some business I have to take care of-“ Wincing, he stood up and slipped over his borrowed pair of pants and tossed them at me. I caught them and was going to say something but went silent and wide-eyed.
“ What?” He looked down at me and I managed to tear my gaze away at him and all of his naked- glory. Jeeze! Talk about not being modest at all! I felt my cheeks burn again and knew I had to be blushing again.
I studied the bedside table to keep my eyes averted from the guy standing infront of me.
“ Nothing.”
Smirking in amusement he watched me turn a dark shade of red.
“ Really? Your blushing again…”
“ I’m not blushing-“ Making the mistake of turning around in my seat again I caught myself staring, “ …oh…my…god…“ I managed to mumble and looked up to see him refraining from laughing at my reaction.
“ You didn’t have to watch me change you know…” He smirked and pulled on his own pants and finished up dressing.
“ Well I didn’t know that you weren’t going to do that in front of me!” I felt my brain starting to work again and gave him a pathetic-excuse for a glare.
“ Give all the excuses you want- but you’re the one who was staring ^_~”
“ But-but that’s not fair! You could have told me and I would have left the room or something!”
Roiben shrugged and started for the door.
“ Why would I do that when I’m in a hurry anyway?” Feeling my legs again, I stood up and quickly followed after him.
“ Shouldn’t you wait ‘til your wounds heel a bit more or something…?” I followed him outside and almost walked into him as he stopped short and turned around.
“ Troy?” He looked down at me with his dark-gold eyes and I returned the look.
“What…?”
“ Shut up.” -_- same jerk as when I met him. Before getting the chance to retaliate with something, he had started walking towards the forest again. I quickly followed after him and entered the densely packed forest.
“ So where is the city?” He glanced back at me as he continued walking.
“ There’s a path that will take you there…”
“ Well where’s the path?” he stopped and turned to look at me.
“ I can go and show you- I don’t know how to explain its exact location…”
He seemed to think over this and finally sighed reluctantly.
“ Fine- but make it quick…”
“ You shouldn’t worry about my speed- you’re the one who’s walking like your half-dead…” I walked up in front of him and started my way through the forest.
“ -_-;; and annoying as always…” Reluctantly, he followed after me.
I noticed that it had begun to snow again, and that it was darker to see in the woods then it was in the village.
“ So…what kind of ‘business’ do you have to take care of?” I asked, curiously as I picked my way through the thicket.
“ Personal business.” His answer was short and closed the door on possible conversation on that topic. Hm... Well there’s no harm in being curious.
“ where did you get all those wounds earlier…?” I glanced back at him and was met with an annoyed look. What the hell is his problem? I am helping him, aren’t I?
Without realizing it, I had tripped on a rock hidden beneath the layer of snow blanketing the ground and found myself falling. Luckily, Roiben caught me just in time before I wound up in a fairly large thorn bush.
“ If you weren’t so busy interrogating me, maybe we’d get to the path faster.” He snapped and let go of me.
“ I wasn’t interrogating you- just asking simple questions out of curiosity. If you weren’t such a jerk then maybe we could get to the path faster…” I watched him glare at me before turning on my heel and starting to walk again. God this guy was annoying.
Silence soon found us and I paid more attention to the amount of snow which had begun to accumulate over time. I hoped that we wouldn’t get a blizzard.
Shivering slightly, I crossed my arms over my chest and continued walking. The simple long-sleeved shirt and sweater I wore was no match against the chilled wind, which refused to die down.
I glanced back at Roiben to see his expression but it was emotionless and unreadable. Unlike me, he seemed perfectly content w/ the snow and the harsh wind. Jerk.
Looking back in front of me I walked on in silence.
The snow had gotten worse and was beginning to take shape into a blizzard making the journey longer and harder.
“ Um…Roiben…?” I turned around and only saw a white whirlwind around me. Uh oh… Spinning around, I found that I was lost and now alone. Mentally cursing I started walking again and almost walked into a tree in the process.
My clothes had gotten wet and hugged my body in an ice-cold grip. The wind went right through me and shook my hair out of my loose braid. All I could see was white, white, and more white.
I was becoming tired with each step and was soon forced to sit down at the base of a tree. My breath was barely heard above the screaming whirlwind around me and I brought my knees up to my chest. I heard someone call out my name but soon I watched as my world went black.7

~*~ Roiben’s Pov ~*~
I found the girl lying in the snow and picked her up. The harsh blizzard had taken a toll on her and she lay motionless in my arms. Looking around, I spotted a nearby cave and quickly walked towards it.
I should just leave her behind and find my own way to the city but I knew I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t that horrible… at least that’s what I hope.
After making sure the cave wasn’t already occupied by some kind of creature/animal I walked deeper in the cave and laid her down on the cave floor. Her breath had gotten shallow and her skin took on a blue-like tint. Cursing silently under my breath, I gathered a few twigs, etc. and created a small fire. After that was settled, I made a small bed out of dried grass and leaves found along the floor of the cave and laid her down on top of it.
Now for the harder part, getting her out of those wet clothes.
As I moved her shirt over her head, I placed it near the fire. You know, I didn’t have to get myself into this mess If I had just left her there but o0ooh no! I just had to get soft at the last possible moment. This is all her fault!
A few minutes passed and I had placed my shirt, (which has stayed dry under my armor), over her head and situated her clothes near the fire so they could dry faster.
Sighing, I laid down beside her and closed my eyes. Sleep soon took over.

~ Troy’s Pov ~
I woke up and winced at my sudden headache. My vision was still blurry as I opened my eyes to look around at my surroundings. Finally, I was able to see clear enough and was startled to see Roiben’s face a mere centimeter from mine. Luckily, he was asleep.
Now… what happened? My thoughts went back to the blizzard but I couldn’t remember what had happened after that. Wincing again from my piercing headache I noticed that Roiben has his arms around my waist in a grip that pretty much told me that I wasn’t going to be able to move very much.
That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t wearing pants and the only clothes I was wearing was his shirt! Oh my god. What happened?? I struggled to sit up and managed to loosen his hold around my waist. My cheeks burned a dark red again as I looked around at the cave. I spotted my clothes lying near the dying fire.
Sneezing silently, I moved his arms from around me to his sides at least and stood up shakily. Swaying slightly, I stepped over him and grabbed my clothes. My head hurt with each small movement but I did my best to ignore it. Sneezing again, I slipped on my damp pants and changed into my own shirt.
God, I feel so sick…Slowly, I laid back down beside Roiben after rebuilding the fire. My hand accidentally brushed against his arm and I noted how cold he felt. Yet, he had felt just as cold that day I was helping him to my village and even in the infirmary the nurses commented about his low temperature. Is he sick? Or just naturally always cold?
Sighing, I looked back at the nasty scar on his chest and subconsciously traced it w/ my index finger. It was in shape of a crude-looking heart and had slashes running across it. I looked up into his sleeping face and wondered what could have caused it, but I knew better then to ask about it.
“ Hm…Troy…?” Roiben’s eyes remained closed and I dropped my hand to my side in slight embarrassment.
“ um…yeah…?” I could already tell I had gone a slight pink. -_-;; stupid blushing…
“ I know you can’t keep your hands off of me but keep in mind that I am a very light sleeper…” Teasing, he opened one of his eyes and glanced at her. Amused seeing her blushing, he yawned and closed his eyes again.
“ I can too keep my hand off of you!” and besides, how was I supposed to know he was a light sleeper??
“ Every time I wake up around you it’s because you have your hands all over me”
“ O.o;; I do not!” I gave him a weird look and noticed 5 minutes after words that he had fallen asleep. Grumbling about how much a jerk he was, I began drifting off to sleep beside him. 8

~ Roibens Pov~9

I opened my eyes after making sure she had fallen asleep and let my eyes wander over her sleeping form. I really hated this. I mean- me?! Pierce Roiben Caster! A dark elf who was trained in the northern elf kingdom is actually attracted my some girl who just pops up into my life and can’t seem to just leave. I barely know anything about her and I wasn’t about to start. As soon as I get the chance I’m going to leave the little blue-haired monster and be done with it.
Raising my hand, I moved a lock of hair behind her ear but was soon playing with her hair without realizing it.
-_- This is all I fucking need in my life right now! I have things I have to take care of and now I have to worry about her on top of everything else. Did I just say I am ‘worried’ about her?? Oh god you have got to be kidding me!?! T_T this sucks in the worst way. And what the hell am I doing?!
Quickly, I dropped my hand back down to my side to stop myself from playing with her hair. Luckily, she didn’t show signs of waking up.
Suddenly, she murmured something in her sleep and rolled over. Next thing I know it, she had moved up against me and rested her head against my chest. I felt her wrap her arms around my waist like I was some kind of huge teddy bear.
-_- Are you fucking kidding me?? This is so cruel T_T
Troy shifted even closer to me if that was even possible and I mentally cursed. I felt myself blush and cursed out loud by accident and heard her stir slightly.
T_T this cannot be happening to me!
Troy stirred again and was soon awake. She tilted her head up and looked up at me, she blushed herself but upon seeing my pink-faced smirked.
“ Well- I didn’t know the heartless could blush.” I sent her a dull look, which made her smile; obviously amused.
“-_- Get off of me.”

~ Narrators Pov ~10

Sensing his discomfort, Troy gave a mental evil-grin and snuggled up closer to him.
“ Nah, its ok ^^” Roiben sent her another dull look.
“ You know, I’m not really blushing- its just the fire shining off of my face- as for you, you’re the one who’s blushes at everything…” He remarked and watched her for her reaction.
Troy just shrugged and gave another evil-grin.
“ Well why does it bother you so much if I just happen to blush a lot…? At least I don’t go around undressing in front of random people.”
Shrugging slightly, Roiben remarked, “ I was rushing, and no, I don’t undress in front of random people…”
“…? So you don’t consider me a ‘random’ person?”
“ No I don’t consider you a random person…”
“ So, does that mean that you like me?”
“ Well yeah I like you-” Roiben caught himself and mentally cursed again. Troy on the other hand, couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. Sending her a dull look- he slipped his arms around her waist and rolled on top of her. This act made her silent again, and blush a dark-dark red. Snickering, Roiben got off of her just as fast and stood up.
“ The blizzard died down so now we can get going…” Roiben grabbed his shirt and quickly slipped it on over his head.
Troy sat up, slightly annoyed at how he managed to change subjects so quickly but didn’t pursue it.
“ Well? What are you staring at? Let’s go…” Roiben walked to the entrance of the cave. Sighing, Troy stood up and followed him after putting out the fire.
“ I never did get to ask you what happened earlier…” Troy remarked upon reaching him.
“ Hm? Oh…we got separated and I found you so I brought you here…”
“ Why didn’t you just leave me there?” Troy watched as Roiben started his way back to the forest and away from the cave. Quickly, she followed after him.
“ Because…I need someone to show me the path which leads to the city…”
That remarked hurt a bit but Troy didn’t let it show.
“ So…that’s the only reason…?” She watched him for a response but he just ignored the question completely.
“ Do you know where the path is from here?” He glanced at her and noted her annoyed look.
“ You’re such a jerk! You don’t have to ignore me-” Annoyed, Roiben sent her a mild glare.
“ I don’t care if you think I’m a jerk or not and the constant questions are getting on my nerves.” Roiben snapped and received a glare from the girl.
“ Have fun finding the path and the city alone.” Troy turned on her heel and walked off into the dark woods.
It being close to dark didn’t make the woods any easier to see in.
“ Troy!” He watched her as she quickly disappeared in the dense forest.
Roiben thought over his options for a good 5 minutes before sighing in pure annoyance and walking into the woods after her.

~ Troy’s Pov~
How much of a pure jerk can you be?? He’s such an arrogant bastard- not once did he even thank me at all for finding him in the first place. And to think I was beginning to like him…HA what a thought…
I walked through the woods soundlessly except for the few times I stumbled blindly in the pitch black surrounding forest. Just as I reached a clearing a pair of hands grabbed my shoulders from behind and shoved my onto the ground.
“ Roiben…?” I looked up and realized that it wasn’t the white-haired elf at all. This was a vampire who just happened to be alone and looking for something.
“ Ah…perfect…entertainment and food…” His amethyst eyes flashed dangerously as he murmured his own incantation. This prevented me from using my draining powers, or any other powers I may have for the time being. Holding my wrists in a painfully strong grip, I tried kicking his feet out from under him but he only kicked me sharply in the side. I hissed in pain and struggled against his grip.
“ Let go of me-” I kicked him between the legs but he only winced and pinned me to the forest ground.
“ Now why would I let go of something as pretty as you? ^_~” I continued to struggle against his grip but w/out much success. Fear began to ebb away at me but I refused to give in entirally. Jerking one of my hands free I punched him in the throat. He coughed and winced then brought his hand back. I bit my tongue to stop from crying out in pain as he hit me. Repinning me to the ground he frenched me roughly. A feeling of nausia swept through me but I fought to keep it down.
Oh god, where is the heartless jerk when you need him?
I jerked my head to the side and tried once again to shove the vampire off of me but w/out success.
“ Roiben!” I managed to scream out before I was silenced again. 11

~ Roiben’s Pov~
Now where did the blue-haired monster go…Hm…maybe I could try and be a bit nicer to her since she did after all tech. Save my life yesterday…but its not like I’ll be seeing her ever again…
This last thought seemed to bother Roiben in a tiny but annoying way and made him think back to how he announced that he liked her.
Did I really like her…? Oh god no I don’t how could I like her?!! She’s the distraction and as far as I know she could be an enemy…But an enemy isn’t that nice and would have left me a long time ago. Oh whatever…
“ Troy!” I called out her name again for the 5th time but didn’t hear her reply.
Worried, I quickened my steps and had tried following her footsteps but after a while I gave up seeing I couldn’t see them through the darkness.
I shouldn’t be this worried. She’s probably back at her village already. God this is so pathetic- why should I be worried?? Why the hell am I even chasing after her?
“ Troy!!” That’s when I heard it, it was muffled but it was a scream and made me half walk half jog to where I thought the scream had come from. Just as I reached the clearing I stopped short.
No…this couldn’t be happening… not Troy…Fuck-
“ get the hell off of her-” I walked forward quickly and grabbed him by his sand-colored hair and yanked roughly- throwing him to the ground. Kicking him hard in the ribs, I heard one of his ribs crack as the vampire hisses in pain. I picked him up from the collar of his shirt and slammed him against a tree. Moving my hands around his throat, I lifted him off the ground and ignored his desperate struggles. With one hand, I grabbed a dagger he had at his through and stabbed it through his throat.
The dying vampire ceased his struggles as I let him drop to the forest floor. Grapping his sword- I decapitated him and stood back as the vampire broke up into ashes.
“ Troy…?” I turned around swiftly and quickly walked over to her. Kneeling down beside her, I couldn’t help but feel sick. Her naked form was covered in bruises and she was badly shaken up. Troys hair covered her face as she cried into her hands.
Moving my arms around her, I felt her shudder against me as I pulled her onto my lap.
“ Shh…it’ll be alright…” Still holding her, I felt her burry her face into the front of my shirt.
A deep feeling of guilt swept through me as I held her. This was my fault.
“ I’m so sorry, Troy…” I murmured.
Unable to speak, she tilted her head up slightly and looked up at me. Just the look in her eyes pained me greatly and I hugged her a bit tighter.
It was indescribable what I felt right now. Mostly, it was guilt. If I weren’t such an asshole to her all the time then she wouldn’t have run off. It was my fault every way I tried and look at it. That guilt had lodged itself inside of me and didn’t show any signs of leaving.
This was it. I’ve finally fallen for someone and let her down in the worst way. But why did this have to happen to Troy? What did she ever do to deserve something like this?
I moved my hand to cup her cheek and wiped away her tears.
“ This is all my fault- if I hadn’t been such a jerk then you wouldn’t have run off. If I ran after you faster then this wouldn’t have happened. I really am sorry, Troy…”
“…He didn’t rape me…He was going to…but you did come in time…It-it wasn’t your fault…” Troy looked up at me with tear filled eyed and hugged me back.
I was slightly relieved that the vampire wasn’t able to finish what he had started but that feeling of guilt didn’t ease up at all. And I had a strong feeling that it never would.
“ still…” I wiped away more of tears as she bit at her lower lip.
“…Thank you…” She moved her arms around my neck and rested her head back on my chest. Her tears wet the front of my shirt and only added to my guilt.
“ lets go back to the cave..” I murmured and picked her up. She held onto me a bit tighter but at this point I didn’t care.
“ …but I thought you were in a hurry…” She looked up at me as I grabbed her clothes and stood up straight again.
“ You’re more important then that right now…” From reading the look in her eyes she didn’t need to say anything, because I already understood what she wanted to tell me.
I began walking back to the cave with Troy in my arms. 12

Days passed and after making sure Troy really was alright, we started out again. The sneaky blue-haired monster had found her hand in mine and for whatever reason I didn’t mind at all.
Of course there was that part of me which desperately wanted me to yell at her and leave her stranded somewhere but there was a larger part of me now that is desperate to find out what I’ve been missing out on for all those years. All of those years I spent alone and for a while I didn’t mind at all. It suited me and there wasn’t anyone in my way. Now things were a bit different and for once I didn’t exactly regret it at all.
She glanced at me and I noticed her ‘ time for interrogating Roiben’ look.
“ What happens once you reach the path…?”
“ hm? You know…I go to the city and find a way back to where I need to go and finish some business there…then that’ll be it.” Of course that is if I survived at all.
“ will I ever see you again…?” her voice sounded almost hopeful.
“ Hm? You actually want to see ‘ the heartless jerk’ again?” I teased and waited for her reaction.
“ Surprising enough…I do…” Just then we stepped onto the path and she let go of my hand.
Good now I can leave finally. But do I really want to leave anymore…? Fuck this is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. Exactly! Oh damnit all to hell- why does she have to look at me like that?? Why can’t she just call me a jerk and leave?? T_T I hate this. But I don’t want her to just leave. But I can’t just drag her w/ me either. FUCK!
“ So…you’ll be leaving now I guess?” Troy looked up at me as I came to an end in my mental rant.
Without thinking anymore on the logics of what I was getting myself into, I found myself wrapping my arms around her waist and tilting her head up towards me. Just then I kissed her and I was a complete goner. Damnit.
13

To be continued…

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