Chapter 3: Disagreement

 

       The two runaways continued to run for about another three minutes. They entered a fairly large forest just south of Fallcrest, and they quickly pressed deeper into it to make sure that the guards weren't still on their tails.

       “Let's—stop—for now,” Haven said in between pants as he began to slow down.

       “Alright,” said Lucifer as he came to a stop too.

       The brown-haired boy bent over with his hands placed just above his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Small beads of perspiration sat on his forehead, faintly gleaming in the beams of sunlight that penetrated the somewhat thick canopy above them. Lucifer just stood a small ways to the side of Haven, his breathing calm and not a single ounce of exhaustion showing from their run. Haven looked over at him as he slowly stood up straight, noticing the sword that hung down at his side.

       “Put the sword down,” commanded Haven a bit sternly.

       “Why?” asked Lucifer, a small smirk forming on his lips. “Think I'm gonna kill you with it?”

       “No, I just don't want you trying to use it.”

       “What if we're attacked though?”

       “Just drop it.”

       “Fine.”

       Lucifer dropped the sword to the ground with a thud as Haven began to look around their surroundings a little. A gleam of mischief appeared in Lucifer's eyes as the smirk on his face widened a tad. He stepped towards Haven before spinning him around and pushing him down to the ground so that the younger male was underneath him, pinning him to the ground by his wrists.

       “So, are you ready to have some fun now?” asked Lucifer as he put his face so that it was just inches away from Haven's.

       Haven's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he tried to squirm out of Lucifer's strong grip.

       “Get off of me!” said Haven. “What part of no don't you understand?”

       “You never said no. All you said was not right now, and it's not like the guards are after us right now or anything.”

       Lucifer moved Haven's hands so that they were together so that he could keep them pinned to the ground with only one large hand. With his other hand free, Lucifer brought it down to caress Haven's cheek a little as he moved closer, getting ready to kiss Haven. The younger male blushed a little more as he tried harder to free himself from Lucifer's grip.

       “Just get off of me, you big baboon!” he cried.

       “You know, you shouldn't be callin' people baboons,” Lucifer said as he sat up on Haven now, but to where all his weight wasn't on him, while also relinquishing the boy's wrists.

       “You're the one trying to rape me. Now get off!” demanded Haven as he sat up and shoved the muscular man off of him before standing. “I don't even know why you're still here anyway.”

       “Hey, I made a promise,” Lucifer said, the smirk turning into a smile. “I plan on keepin' it.”

       “Where do you plan on having us go anyway?” asked Haven as he looked down at the spiky-haired man. “I thought you said we weren't safe up here or in the south. If we can't go down there or stay up here, then where else do we go?”

       “That's an easy one. We just take a boat and cross the sea. We just need to go down to the south to try to get one.”

       “What's wrong with the ones up here?”

       “They'll have the docks guarded to make sure we don't leave. And besides, I'll be recognized too easily up here. I'm not as popular down in the south, so we shouldn't have as much trouble down there as long as we don't run into any mercenaries or bounty hunters from up here.”

       Haven nodded. He wasn't even really sure if he could completely trust Lucifer yet, but it seemed he really had no choice. Because of the crime he committed, it was indubitable that there would be mercenaries on his tail too. Haven didn't possess a lot of physical strength, but if he stuck with Lucifer until they crossed the sea, then he would at least have a better chance of not getting captured.

       “Well, we have a long way to go,” said Haven. “We should probably start walking.”

       Lucifer got to his feet before him and Haven began to walk through the somewhat dense forest. Neither of the two really said too much. Every now and then though, Lucifer tried to break the silence that settled between them, but Haven refused to participate in the badinage. He wasn't that excited about being with the criminal for who knows how long let alone talking to him unless it was necessary. Regardless of the complete silence though, Lucifer wore a small smile on his face the entire time.

       A few hours passed and the sun had reached its peak in the clear blue sky. Haven looked around their seemingly never-changing surroundings. Every tree and plant looked exactly the same to Haven, and he wasn't even really that positive if they were going the right way. He just hoped that Lucifer maybe knew if they were going in the right direction.

       After a little longer though, Haven started to feel as though their surroundings were starting to become familiar. It wasn't because the flora was the same as it was everywhere else or because he was growing used to the green life that surrounded them, but because he had been around this area before. He knew that there was a small town just east of where they were, and stopping there for a moment sounded like a good idea to him. There was something he wanted to do.

       “I want to go to the town that's near here,” said Haven as he stopped and turned in the eastern direction.

       “Alright, we'll stop there for a little bit then,” replied Lucifer as he did the same.

       “I should probably go by myself,” advised Haven. “Everyone will notice you too easily if you go too. Fallcrest isn't as familiar with you as the rest of the kingdom is, which is probably why you weren't noticed as easily when we were walking around.”

       “But—”

       “Don't worry, I'll be back in a little bit. . . Maybe,” Haven cut in, muttering the last part so that it was barely audible, as he began to walk off, not even noticing the small frown that was on the older male's face.

       It didn't take long for the brown-haired boy to arrive at the town. The streets weren't as crowded here as they were in the city, which looked rather odd to Haven. He was wondering if it was even a smart idea to be wandering around a town that wasn't too far from Fallcrest. If there were mercenaries looking for him and Lucifer, then there could always be a chance that they were looking in this town.

       Haven didn't really let it worry him though. He figured he probably wouldn't be in this town for too much longer anyway. As he walked around, he peered about until he finally found where he intended to go. Just a little ways down the street sat a small white church. It was obvious that the building was old by how rundown it looked, but it didn't matter to Haven anyway. A church was a church after all. He felt dirty for forgetting to make an offering and for escaping the jail, and he wanted to try to ask for forgiveness of his sins. When he finally reached the small church, he walked inside.

 

       Lucifer entered the town at a somewhat slow pace. His head was bowed, partly to prevent anyone from being able to see his face easily. Regardless of this though, there were often times a few people who would start to run down the street away from him, and when other people saw this, they would do the same thing upon recognizing the criminal. Lucifer didn't seem to notice though as his rather empty gaze remained on the dirt street beneath him.

       After about a minute of walking, the dark-haired man had finally came to the marketplace that sat in the heart of the town. He noticed a bread stand to his right and recalled that Haven would probably be hungry later. Figuring that Haven would maybe start to trust him a little if he got something they could eat, Lucifer reached down to pick up a small loaf of bread.

       “Hey, there he is!” came a voice. “Hurry, before he gets away!”

       Lucifer looked down the street a little to see a small group of the town's police running towards him. They weren't tricked out in knight armor like the holy knights from Fallcrest, but instead wore hard leather vests and chaps. All the guards drew their swords while rushing towards Lucifer, who quickly broke the loaf in half. After shoving the two halves into his pockets, he started to run down the street in the opposite direction with the group of police hot on his trail.

 

       Haven slowly stepped out of the church, a small smile on his face. He felt a lot better now that he had taken the time to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness wasn't the only thing Haven prayed for though, but also for a safe journey south, one that wouldn't tempt him of committing anymore sins. He was going to be traveling with one of the greatest criminals known to the north after all, and he wouldn't be surprised if many of those temptations arose during their travels. Haven wasn't going to let that fool steer him down the wrong path though.

       When Haven was about to turn in the direction of the exit of the town, he heard shouts from down the street. He turned his head in that direction to see Lucifer running through the street with about five cops pursuing him. Haven stared at the criminal when he came near as if asking, “what the hell are you doing here?”

       “I'll explain later,” said Lucifer as he neared the shorter male. “Let's just go.”

       Lucifer grabbed Haven by the arm and pulled him along with him. After stumbling a couple times, Haven started to run on his own beside the taller male. When they exited the town, they quickly made their way into the forest. Once they were pretty deep into it, the two stopped running since it no longer seemed like they were being followed. After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Haven looked at Lucifer angrily.

       “Why the hell did you enter the town?” he inquired. “I told you everyone would recognize you too easily!”

       “Sorry, I got bored of waitin' around,” Lucifer said while shrugging his shoulders as if it really wasn't that big of a deal.

       “You idiot,” Haven mumbled before sighing. “You know what, forget it. Let's just keep walking.”

       Haven began walking southward and Lucifer followed close behind him. Like earlier, the two didn't say anything to each other as they weaved their way through the somewhat large trees. Lucifer didn't bother trying to start a conversation though because he knew that the younger male probably wouldn't try talking anyway. He didn't really care for the silence, but he tried to deal with it. After all, matters could have been much worse than what they were at the moment.

       As the minutes slowly passed, Haven started to grow hungry. He just ignored it for now though while looking up in the trees every so often for any signs of fruit. However, as they continued to go deeper into the forest, not a single tree bore anything that was edible, or at least not something that didn't have to be killed first anyway. About two hours later, his stomach growled a little. Lucifer laughed a bit at this before he recalled something.

       “Oh yeah, that reminds me,” he said, “I got some bread back at the town.” He reached into his pockets and pulled out the two halves of bread. “Here, take some,” he told the shorter male as he held out one of the pieces of bread.

       “Thanks,” Haven said, smiling for the first time while being around Lucifer. He reached a hand out to take the bread, but he stopped halfway there as he eyed Lucifer suspiciously. “Where did you get it?”

       “I stole it,” replied Lucifer as he took a bite out of his half of bread.

       “Never mind, I don't want any.” Haven let his hand fall down to his side.

       “Why not?” asked Lucifer with a mouth full of food. “It's good.”

       “Because you stole it. I'm not going to eat something if it's been stolen. It's not right.”

       “Okay, your choice. If you want to starve, go ahead. There'll just be more bread for me.”

       Lucifer went on eating the bread, showing no signs of remorse for stealing it. It couldn't have surprised Haven much though since the older male was a criminal. As they continued to make their way through the forest, Haven continuously glanced towards the food, his urge to satiate his hunger growing as the minutes passed. Whenever he caught himself wanting to ask for some of the bread, he immediately cleared such a horrible thought from his mind, thinking that he would just have to try to find something in the forest that he could eat.

       Luckily for him, Haven did manage to find something edible. About a few minutes later, when Lucifer had already finished eating the loaf of bread, they came across a small apple tree. Relieved that he would finally be able to get something to eat that wasn't stolen, Haven went over to the tree and began to climb it. Once he reached the lowest hanging branch, Haven stood up on it before reaching up to get an apple. After plucking it though, Haven lost his balance and fell backwards out of the branch. Before he could fall to the ground though, Lucifer caught him in his arms.

       “You know, you should really be careful when you're up in trees,” advised the spiky-haired man with a small smirk on his face. “You could fall and break something.”

       “Just shut up and put me down,” muttered the brown-haired youth.

       “Alright,” replied Lucifer as he dropped the smaller male to the ground, who let out an “oof!” upon landing.

       “Did you really have to do that?” asked Haven dully as he stood up.

       “What? You told me to put you down.” Lucifer laughed a little.

       “You didn't have to be so rough about it though,” Haven mumbled as he resumed walking through the forest, eating the apple as he did so, with Lucifer following behind him.

       Several hours passed and it seemed like they weren't going to be exiting the forest anytime soon. It wouldn't have been much longer until the sun would begin setting. Haven had actually forgotten about the fact that they would probably be forced to sleep on the ground as they made their way down south. He had never slept on the ground before, but he was certain that he probably wouldn't like it.

       After a few minutes, the sounds of movement was heard just off to their left. Haven didn't pay any mind to it though, thinking that it was probably just some small critter scurrying around on the forest floor. Lucifer was a bit smarter to think otherwise. He was used to being in a forest surrounding since he had continuously been on the run for a good while now. The sounds were a lot different from any animal he had ever heard, and he became alert, ready for any attacks that would possibly be made.

       As Lucifer had expected, an attack came soon enough. An arrow was shot from where the sounds of movement came from moments ago and it was headed straight for the unprotected back of the brown-haired boy. Lucifer quickly pushed Haven out of the way, who fell to the ground and looked up at Lucifer angrily.

       “What the hell was that for?” he questioned.

       “We've got company,” Lucifer said seriously as he looked in the direction from which the arrow had came.

       Haven looked in the same direction too as he slowly rose to his feet. Lucifer stood where he was for another second before gingerly moving forward towards a large tree, which was more than perfect for anyone to hide behind. Upon reaching it, a man shot out from behind the wide trunk and quickly tried to impale the criminal in the chest. Lucifer was prepared for something like this to happen though and he easily sidestepped it before throwing a large fist into the attacker's face. The bounty hunter stumbled backwards before tripping on a tree root that protruded from the ground. As he hit the forest floor, he dropped the sword, and, before he was able to get it back, Lucifer quickly snatched it away. He held the blade up, about to strike the defenseless man, who embraced himself for the fatal blow.

       “No, don't kill him!” shouted Haven as he ran over to them.

       “But if I don't he'll just continue to come after us,” argued Lucifer as the sword remained in the same position.

       “I don't care! I would rather have that happen than to kill someone. It would be a lot better than taking someone's life.”

       Seeing that they were both distracted, the bounty hunter thought this would be the perfect opportunity to run. He quickly scrambled to his feet before sprinting off through the woods as fast as he could. Lucifer watched the man for a moment before sighing.

       “Well, he got away,” stated Lucifer.

       “Good,” replied Haven. “Now drop the sword so we can be on our way.”

       Lucifer didn't even bother arguing and just dropped the sword like he was told before the two resumed their tread through the large forest. It wasn't too much longer afterwards until the sun began setting in the horizon. Lucifer suggested that they should set up camp for the night, but Haven refused and said that they should continue onward for a little bit longer so then that way they will have covered more ground. The dark-haired man didn't bother protesting to this, knowing that the younger male probably wasn't going to listen anyway, and they continued on for a little bit longer.

       When it started to become too dark for them to see, Haven finally agreed to stopping for the night. The two gathered some wood before Lucifer made a small fire. Haven had found some apples nearby and picked them from a tree so that they could have something to eat.

       “Who's going to keep watch for the first half of the night?” asked Haven when they were both done eating.

       “I will,” replied Lucifer.

       “All right, but don't try anything to me while I'm asleep.”

       “I won't.”

       Haven laid on the ground, exhausted from everything that had happened that day. It was hard for him to get comfortable, but after a while he managed to fall asleep.

Author's Note

I'm not sure if I was right about calling the people cops/police because I'm not really sure what the term was that they used back then. If I'm wrong, please correct me if you know what the real term used was. I thought it was maybe guards, but that seems more for a city than a plain old town.

Reviews

[Eidolon Michael]

Lucifer's funny. He reminds me of me(not the whole killing and stealing part, just the goofy and care-free side). Haven reminds me of my really stressy and easily-annoyed side lol Great chapter, very fun to read ^_^

[Amund Schofield]

There are several ways you can come up with a name for the police. You can call them knights, squires, the force of Deus. You can always come up with a new term for them. Also I saw a weird sentence whilst reading the story.

"Lucifer was prepared for something like this to happen, however, and he easily sidestepped it before throwing a large fist into the attacker's face."

remove however, and replace it with a word like and. Also you use however a bit much through out the reading.