:Best Enemies- Ch 2:

Opening my eyes, I stared up at a black sky. I couldn't see the stars. No, that was wrong. There were no stars to see; there was nothing but pure darkness. My eyes shifted as I sat up and noticed a figure move in the distance. I squinted, trying to see who… or what… it was.

"Zane," A voice whispered. The echo the name made in the black void was so eerie I involuntarily shivered.

"Who are you?" I yelled through the thick darkness.

"Zane, why do you hate me?"

I took a step back, my eyes wide. I could just make out the face of a boy. A familiar face.

Ryu.

"Ryu, I—"

"What did I do?"

I was at a loss for words. I couldn't think of anything Ryu had done individually for me to hate him. To be honest, he did the complete opposite. He saved me.

"Your kind killed my sister," I said, my confidence dwindling and my voice turning ragged from the grief of the memory. "She'd still be alive if it weren't for—"

"But who started the war?"

I exhaled, angrily and covered my ears with my hands, even though the action did nothing to muffle the Faerie's footsteps as they drew closer.

"You're an idiot! You wouldn't understand!"

"You're only mad because I'm right."

Rage was building inside me. He was foolish for speaking to me that way.  I ran through the darkness toward the boy, my fists clenched. Reaching out, I closed the last few feet of space between us and grabbed the boy's shirt in my hands, lifting him off the ground and tugging him towards me.

Ryu stared straight at me, blue eyes boring into purple.

"Are you going to hurt me?" He asked, his eyebrows creasing with fear.

My facial expression softened at the trembling of his voice. Why was I taking my anger out on an innocent fairy? It wasn't like he shot my sister. He wasn't even a soldier, his clothes had no armor and he hadn't been carrying any weapons with him. It was me who was the idiot.

Releasing Ryu, i dropped to my knees, throwing my head into my hands.

"I'm sorry," i whispered, my body shaking with despair. "I shouldn't have--"

"Hey," Ryu whispered, bending down so his face was level with mine. "I forgive you..."

Suddenly I felt soft lips against mine. My eyes widened with shock.

Pull away! You idiot pull away! I screamed to myself.

Why wasn't i pulling away?

My arms slowly wrapped around the small faerie's waist as I reluctantly closed my eyes and kissed him back, everything i had been worrying about, everything that was spinning around in my head faded into nothingness. Nothing in the world mattered. I felt my mind fading. Why didn't I just pull away when I had the chance?

---

My eyes shot open and my hand automatically flew to my left eye as my cut stung with the sudden motion of my eyelids. The skin was once again slick with blood.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I hissed, sitting up slowly. It was still dark out, I noted, as I gazed at the stars off in the distance through an opening in the blanket of trees. I wrapped the gauze Ryu had made me around my injured eye and glanced over at the sleeping faerie about 10 feet away, the dim light of the fire glowing against his pale skin. My brows creased in irritation and i pushed myself off of the ground, wandering away from our campsite.

How could I have dreamt of Ryu kissing me? Why hadn't I pulled away? I couldn't have feelings for a faerie! It was ridiculous. I hated his kind. I hated him. I had no ounce of love for such a revolting imp.

I stopped myself from walking and leaned against a tree, running a hand through my messy hair. That didn't matter though. It was only a dream. It didn't matter. I didn't have the time to worry about something like this anyway. I needed to worry about getting out of this trench and getting back to Alensia. I shook the nonsensical thoughts from my head and proceeded forward, pulling out my bow. My eyes darted from side to side, trying to catch sight of a meal for two. All of a sudden, in the corner of my eye, something flashed by, too fast for me to catch but I knew it couldn't have been an animal. The form was human.

I ran to the area that I had seen the shadow move towards and came out by a small stream, my eyes perusing the area. The shadow's host was long gone. I kept the arrow ready as I squatted down, checking my surroundings.  Two animals came rushing past and I impulsively released my arrow. It bolted through the air at an intense speed before skewering itself through both creatures and getting itself lodging itself into a tree. Smiling with satisfaction, I calmly stood and walked over to the two mangled forms, grabbing them by the tails and tugging my arrow out of the tree. Their blood-soaked bodies were too deformed to identify their species. I just hoped they were edible.

I was able to keep the dream absent from my train of thought for a short time but as I walked back toward our fire, once Ryu came into view, I couldn't help but feel his velvety lips against mine again.

I added some twigs to the fire and began cooking the unidentified critters, trying to distract my mind. As the sun began to rise, the small boy stirred, mumbling softly. He sat up slowly and blinked up at me, his eyes heavy and his hair disheveled.

"Get up, lazy ass," I grumbled and tossed him one of the animals. It landed in his lap and he hungrily stuffed his face with the meat, his eyes rolling up, as if he was thanking heaven.

"Oh yummy," he breathed, his voice muffled with food. A small chuckle escaped my throat and surprised me. Ryu stopped chewing and bore his eyes into mine.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," I snickered, covering my mouth and looking away, a smile hiding behind my hand.

"It's just… I didn't expect someone like you to like meat that much, especially when the animal is unidentified."

"You surprise people when you're hungry," he huffed, swallowing the rest of the food in his mouth. Ryu smiled widely and a small blush crept over my cheeks.

I shook my head and grabbed my quiver and bow, placing them on my back.

"Are you ready to head out?" I asked the yawning faerie as he stretched, his shirt lifting up a bit to reveal more skin. My cheeks darkened and I turned around, toward the trees.

"Hurry your ass up," i hissed, walking into the woods.

After a few minutes, i heard his small feet running toward me. Ryu slowed beside me, breathing heavily and gave me a small nod.

---

We walked for a few hours, stopping occasionally to restock our water. The sun was just beginning to set as we came up to a small cave sitting along the bedrock of a cliff. I looked around, a weird feeling taking over me.

"You sure no one lives here?" I asked Ryu, crossing my arms with uncertainty.

"Who knows," He shrugged, straightening the beanie on his head. "But I'm beat. I'm sure no one lives here, it looks deserted."

"I guess you're ri—"

I was suddenly cut off when something rammed into the back of my head.

"Zane!"

I gasped out in pain, as I fell forward, gripping the back of my skull, my vision swimming.

"The hell?" I hissed, glancing up with blurry eyes. A shadow loomed over me, their face shrouded in the darkness of their hooded cape. They were pointing something at me in a threatening manner; a weapon of some sort.

"Leave him alone!" Ryu yelled, lunging for the stranger. His arm shot out, knocking Ryu onto the ground, easily subduing the small boy.

I jumped up, tackling the person to the ground, pinning their arms back.

"Reveal yourself!"

A dark laugh escaped their lips as the hood fell back onto the cave floor. My eyes widened.

A girl.

Upon seeing my guard down, the female jerked me sideways and pinned me down, copying my technique.

"Wow," She whispered, leaning forward and tightening her grip on my wrists. "I thought you'd be more of a challenge."

I stared in amazement at the girl; her dark hair fell forward, covering a brown eye and the other which was protected by a pitch black eye patch, a scar running through it across her nose and face. She smiled crookedly, placing something cold and sharp against my chin.

"I'm going to kill you now."