Chapter 16: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

 

       Skylar woke up a little early in the morning to find that Spike was still up from his turn to keep watch. The two only spent a couple minutes in that spot before resuming their journey. Neither of them said a word to each other. Skylar was still a bit disappointed in Spike's answer last night and was still feeling a little irritable from it too. Spike was able to notice this and knew it would probably be best not to bother the blond unless it was absolutely needed.

       During their walk through the vast plains though, Spike's mind kept dwelling over what Skylar had originally intended to tell him yesterday. Was it something bad? There was a real small possibility. It probably couldn't have been something that great though because surely the boy would have told him without hesitation. If it was something bad though, it probably couldn't have been something too terrible. Otherwise Skylar would have told him right away if that was the case.

       However, there was a part of Spike that wanted to believe Skylar was wanting to confess possible feelings for him that were greater than just friendship. Not only did Spike want to think that was the case, but he wished it was too. He wanted to know if the younger male shared the same feelings he had for him. Unfortunately, Spike couldn't really bring himself around to telling his own true feelings. After all, if Skylar didn't have the same feelings Spike had for him, then it would only make the expedition awkward. Sure they didn't have too many more days until they would reach Fairvald, but there was still the walk back to Wildtree that they would have to take.

       After several hours of walking, the two soon came to the fringe of a dense forest. They entered the wooded area slowly as they peered about their surroundings for anything that would maybe attack them. Nothing life-threatening seemed to be anywhere nearby though. The two pressed onwards at a normal pace, but still kept their eyes and ears peeled in case something would decide to attack them.

       It wasn't too much longer, however, until something did decide to attack. Large, hastened footsteps were heard minutes later and the two quickly looked in the direction they came from. A large, brown blur was charging straight for them. The two quickly dove to the side to avoid getting ran into and quickly got back onto their feet afterwards. Both of the boys turned to face their attacker to see that the blur was a brown-furred beast. It stood on its hind legs with its back arched, giving it a height of about ten feet or so. Large fangs hung out of its mouth while sharp, foot-long claws hung down at its sides.

       The beast stared at the two warriors with its red eyes for a moment before lunging towards them with great speed. Both of them jumped to the sides to avoid it while drawing their weapons. Once the beast landed on the ground, Skylar rushed forward and attempted to impale it from behind. However, the beast turned around before that, smacking the blond to the side like a rag doll. Skylar grunted as he smacked into a tree before falling to the ground.

       Spike quickly tried to shoot a blast of energy towards the beast. It was hit, but it didn't seem to affect it the slightest bit. The beast then lunged at Spike before attempting a slash of its mighty claws. The dark-haired warrior jumped to the side, barely evading it.

       “Angel Feathers!” Skylar shouted before the feathers floated down towards the ground around the beast. As soon as they made contact with something, the somewhat big bursts of golden energy were released. Roars of pain filled the air as the beast was hit. While this happened, Skylar charged towards it. However, the beast became enraged from the pain that was inflicted on it and it started to thrash about. Not expecting this, Skylar was slashed in the chest while also being knocked backwards.

       Spike rushed forward, keeping a close eye on the creature's movements. He moved accordingly to avoid getting hit by the large claws as he closed in on the beast. When he was within striking range, Spike made a quick thrust of his blade, which stabbed right into the beast's chest. The black-haired youth quickly removed his twin blade from the beast before moving out of the way. The beast fell to the forest floor with a crash, shaking the ground as it did so.

       After sheathing his twin blades, Spike turned his attention to Skylar, who was rising to his feet and sheathing his own weapon. Four slash marks were on Skylar's chest, which were all leaking blood. The older male stepped towards the blond while removing a small vial from his pocket that contained red liquid.

       “Here, drink this,” Spike told the shorter boy as he held out the potion.

       “I don't want it,” Skylar said a wee bit irritably.

       “Come on, stop being foolish and just drink it before you bleed to death,” the dark-haired youth replied a little sternly.

       The blond sighed before taking the vial from Spike's hand. He drank the contents of it and new skin covered the slash marks as though they were never there in the first place. Afterwards, Skylar tossed the vial behind him, which shattered when it hit a nearby tree. The blond then started to walk in the northern direction and Spike followed with a sigh.

       After a couple hours, the sun began setting and the two decided that they would set up camp for the night. Spike made a small campfire while the other male went off to try to find a place where they could refill their canteens. Skylar returned about ten minutes later. He tossed Spike his canteen before taking a seat underneath an oak a small distance away from the fire. Spike took a small sip of the water in his canteen before setting it on the ground beside him for now. He looked towards Skylar, who had a slightly bitter look on his face.

       “Are you sure there's nothing wrong?” Spike asked.

       “Yeah,” Skylar replied in an annoyed manner.

       “Come on, there obviously is,” stated Spike. “Why don't you just tell me already?”

       “It doesn't concern you, all right?” said the blond a little more angrily.

       “I'm sure it does. If it didn't, you probably wouldn't be acting like this towards me. Did I do something wrong? Because if I did, just tell me. I'd rather know then be left in the dark to find out on my own.”

       “Just drop it, okay?”

       “Not until you tell me what's wrong.”

       With an annoyed sigh, Skylar rose to his feet before turning around to walk off. Spike quickly got up and ran over towards him. He spun the younger male around before grabbing him by the upper arm. Skylar looked up angrily before noticing the slightly concerned look on the dark-haired youth's face. The blond's facial expressions eased up a little as he looked away in a slightly ashamed fashion.

       “Please, just tell me what's wrong,” pleaded the taller boy.

       “I-I can't,” replied Skylar.

       Spike brought a hand up to Skylar's face to turn it so the blond would be looking at him.

       “Please,” he begged.

       Skylar's cheeks turned an unnoticeable shade of pink before the younger male smacked Spike's hand away. He turned around afterwards, not wanting to face the other boy. A sigh escaped Spike's mouth as he looked towards the ground a little.

       “You know what, forget it. I thought that maybe we trusted each other enough to be open about things that are bothering us, but never mind; I guess I was wrong.”

       Spike turned around and went back towards the campfire. He sat down a short distance away from it, sighing once more as he did so. Skylar turned around to look towards the other boy. He stood where he was for a second or two, and then slowly moved forward. The blond sat down next to the older boy, sighing.

       “I'm sorry, I would tell you, but I can't,” apologized Skylar, looking down towards the ground a little.

       “Why not?” Spike questioned as he looked at the other male.

       “Because I . . . don't want you to hate me.”

       “You idiot, I can't hate you. . . I – well. . .”

       Skylar looked up towards Spike, hope filling those blue eyes of his. Spike looked at the blond, staring into his eyes. The two boys remained locked in each other's gazes for a few seconds before the dark-haired boy slowly moved in to press his lips against the other's. Both of their eyes fluttered closed as Spike slowly reached a hand up to caress Skylar's cheek. He pressed his tongue against the blond's soft lips, asking for entrance. Once they were parted, he slid it inside to meet with Skylar's tongue, savoring the taste of the younger boy.

       Their tongues danced rhythmically for what felt like hours on end. After what was really about ten seconds, Spike slowly pulled away and his hand fell from Skylar's face. The two sat there, grinning at each other for a moment, before Spike gently pushed Skylar on the ground to continue onto other activities for the night.

Reviews

[Amund Schofield]

Well... this was a good chapter... I can't think of anything I don't like, but then again I kind of did a quick skim... I'll read it more in depth later.