Chapter 4: Friendship

 

       Haven wasn't really able to get a good night's sleep. The ground was incredibly uncomfortable for him and when he was woken, he felt stiff and a bit sore. He sat near the fire while Lucifer slept, looking around every so often for any signs of others. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be a mercenary or bounty hunter around, and Haven wished that it would only stay that way until they set sail. However, it was indubitable that they would probably be attacked again.

       A few hours after sunrise, Lucifer awoke from his sleep. He had gotten a bit more rest than what Haven did since he was more used to sleeping on the ground than what the boy was. They went to go get a few more pieces of fruit to eat, and once they were done with their small breakfast, they began their tread through the seemingly never ending forest.

       “This is becoming a little annoying,” complained Haven a few minutes later. “I'm getting tired of looking at trees and it's annoying walking through all this stuff. Why can't we just walk around?”

       “It'll probably take longer that way,” replied Lucifer. “Besides, we'll be found a lot easier out in the open.”

       “I guess you're right,” muttered Haven.

       “You know, if you're really that tired of walkin', I could carry you,” suggested the muscular man with a smirk on his face and a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

       “I think I'd rather walk,” replied Haven before mumbling, “Who knows what you would try to do if I let you do something like that.”

       The muscular man shrugged. “Your choice.”

       The two continued on without any other complaints from Haven. About a half an hour later, Lucifer caught the faint sounds of footsteps just up ahead and slightly to the side. He looked in that direction before seeing a man stepping into the somewhat small clearing they were in. The man seemed to be about nineteen and was shorter than Lucifer, but taller than Haven. He had brown hair that fell to his shoulders and brown eyes. His attire consisted of brown pants with hard leather chaps over them and a vest made of the same material as the chaps with a tunic underneath it. A sheath sat on the left side of the man's waist.

Lucifer stared at the man for a few seconds before he finally recognized him. The small smile that had already been on his face widened as he picked up the pace towards the man a little.

       “Well if it ain't my old friend Marcus,” Lucifer said as he neared the man, who had a rather cold look on his face. “Didn't think I would find you around here.”

       The man didn't respond, but instead stared coldly at the spiky-haired man, who frowned a little at this.

       “Hey, don't you remember me?” asked Lucifer. “It's me, Lucifer.”

       “Oh I can clearly remember who you are,” Marcus replied grimly.

       Lucifer noticed the way Marcus replied, but he quickly smiled as if it would solve everything.

       “That's a relief,” said Lucifer. “For a moment I thought you forgot who I was. Hey, if you're not doin' anything, then why don't you tag along with me and Haven.”

       Haven stayed where he was, giving a small wave and smile towards Marcus when Lucifer mentioned his name. He was certain that Marcus wasn't here out of coincidence and that he was probably here for them, but he didn't bother mentioning that to Lucifer, thinking that he would probably find out on his own.

       “Actually, I am in the middle of doing something,” said Marcus. “And you two were just the people I was looking for too.”

       “Oh, did you need our help or somethin'?” asked Lucifer, trying to deny the inevitable truth.

       “I guess you could maybe say that,” replied Lucifer's old friend. “You see, there's a wonderful bounty for the return of both of you, dead or alive.”

       Lucifer's eyes slightly widened a little as if he had completely unexpected this news. In the next instant, Marcus quickly unsheathed his sword and tried to make a large gash across Lucifer's bare chest. The spiky-haired man quickly stepped backwards just enough to let the blade whiz past him before Marcus followed up with a few more swift slashes. Lucifer shifted from side to side while taking steps backwards to keep himself from getting cut.

       “Why are you doin' this?” inquired Lucifer. “I thought we were friends.”

       “We were friends!” snapped Marcus, not letting up on the slashes. “That was before you betrayed us!”

       “How?” asked Lucifer as he continued to evade the attacks.

       “You left us there in that damn jail and fled the town. I won't forgive you for not helping us out of that bloody place!”

       Haven stood where he was, a little confused about what was happening. He wasn't sure whose side was more just, but he wasn't going to stand around and let someone be killed. Besides, he was with Lucifer on this journey and it probably wouldn't help him any if Lucifer died by this man's blade. Haven held out his hands a little ways in front of him as an oaken staff appeared in his hand. Knowing how to fight was important in these times, especially if you were of the upper class where the poor was bound to try to mug someone. A weapon was always good, but the brown-haired boy never did really care for most weapons due to their killing capability. However, the staff seemed to be more fit for him since it had no sharp edges or points like most of the other weapons did.

       Lucifer soon bumped into a tree from behind and he quickly jumped to the side to avoid getting decapitated. Right after his sword sliced through the rough bark of the tree, Marcus quickly turned and closed in the distance between him and Lucifer to continue the barrage of slashes. Haven rushed in from behind before thrusting an end of his staff at Marcus's back. Lucifer's old friend was aware of this maneuver though and he quickly stepped to the side before spinning around while swinging his blade downwards at Haven. The younger male's staff remained in tact as he blocked the slash due to the magical enchantment that was put on it to keep it from breaking.

       While Marcus and Haven had entered a stalemate with their weapons, Lucifer quickly dropped to the ground and tried for a sweep kick. However, Marcus knew of the attack and he jumped over the outstretched leg and over to the left to get out of the stalemate. When his feet touched the ground, the mercenary quickly tried to slash at Lucifer while he was still down. Before he was able to swing completely though, Haven quickly smacked Marcus in the face with his wooden staff. Lucifer's old friend stumbled backwards from this before receiving the dull end of the staff in the gut. Marcus doubled over before Haven followed the last attack with a stronger whack to the head, which was just enough to knock the male out.

       When the now unconscious mercenary fell to the ground, Haven took a couple steps backwards as the staff disappeared from sight. Lucifer stared down at his old friend for a moment. He wasn't normally too bothered by taking one's life – mainly because he had been doing it for so long – but he wasn't willing to kill someone who was once friends with him. Lucifer turned around and began to walk off. Haven watched him for a short moment before following behind.

       Lucifer was silent the entire time they walked through the large forest instead of trying to start some kind of badinage like he usually did. It actually concerned Haven a bit, but when he looked towards the male about three minutes later, he was surprised to see the usual small smile on his face. The brown-haired boy wondered if the male was truly bothered with what Marcus had said back there, but he figured he wouldn't bother asking.

       By the time the sun's shift neared to an end, the two decided that they would stop for the night. The two gathered a small bit of wood for a fire before Lucifer started to pile it to prepare for a campfire later on. Haven stood near the older male as he looked around a little. Figuring that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go in search of food, he walked off without saying anything to Lucifer.

       When he was done piling the wood, Lucifer stood up and admired his work for a brief moment before looking around the clearing. His eyes widened a tad upon noticing that Haven wasn't anywhere in the area. Lucifer looked around a little more to make sure he didn't simply skip over him, but there was still no signs of the brown-haired male. Haven had never told him he was going off somewhere. Did he maybe try to run off without him? No, that couldn't possibly be it. There was no way Haven would ever leave Lucifer there all alone, was there?

 

       Haven wandered around the forest, slowly heading to the west of where him and Lucifer had decided to camp for the night. As he inched through the forest in that direction, he noticed an incline that lead up into the steep mountains. Since there was still a lot of forestry up ahead, Haven figured he would continue heading this way to make sure there wasn't any fruit that could maybe be picked and brought back.

       About five minutes later, Haven was just about to surpass the fringes of the forest and head up into the bare, rocky mountains. However, there was something that caught Haven's eyes up this way. A somewhat small natural hot spring was just a small ways away. Thinking that it probably wouldn't hurt to relax a little bit and to get cleaned off some, Haven figured he would probably take a dip. It wasn't like Lucifer wasn't capable of staying by himself anyway. The man was certainly pretty skilled in combat if he had been able to survive so long ever since he became known as a member of Malum, so if anyone did happen to attack him, he would probably be able to handle it all on his own.

       After shedding his clothes, Haven took a step into the warm waters of the hot spring. He took a seat just to the edge so that his neck and head were the only things that weren't submerged in water. A sigh of slight content escaped his mouth. It was definitely nice to be able to get away from Lucifer for a little bit. Even though he hadn't been that talkative since they encountered Marcus, the older male still had a tendency to be rather annoying.

       However, speak of the devil and the devil appears. Lucifer slowly walked up the upward slope and stopped when he caught sight of Haven sitting in the hot spring. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as the small smile returned to his features, replacing the concerned look that was just on his face. He walked over towards the other male.

       “Hey, you really did good findin' something like this,” said Lucifer as he began to take off his boots. “Wouldn't mind takin' a load off my feet either.”

       A dull look washed on Haven's face before soon covering his area to make sure the other male wouldn't get any wise ideas. After getting undressed, Lucifer stepped into the warm waters before taking a seat just a couple feet away from Haven, who looked straight ahead to keep himself from staring. The spiky-haired man looked over at the brown-haired boy for a moment before his lips curved into a smirk.

       “This is kinda nice huh?” Lucifer said a little casually as he scooted over towards Haven and put an arm around him.

       Haven's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he also became rather annoyed by this. He pulled away from Lucifer before standing.

       “I'm not in the mood for anymore of your shenanigans,” muttered Haven as he put one foot out of the hot spring, his hands still over his area to make sure Lucifer wouldn't try looking. “I'll just let you have fun by yourself.”

       Lucifer unnoticeably grimaced at what Haven last said. The brown-haired boy was about to walk away from the edge of the hot spring when Lucifer grabbed him by the ankle. Haven looked at the taller male a little angrily, but his facial expressions softened at the slightly saddened look on Lucifer's face.

       “Please stay,” Lucifer said. “I won't bother you, I promise.”

       Haven stared at Lucifer for a couple seconds as he briefly thought it over.

       “Fine,” replied the brown-haired boy as he stepped back into the water. “But if you try to do anything else, I'm heading back down the mountain.”

       Lucifer just nodded. He scooted away from Haven a little and the two sat in silence for a while as both of them just looked around at their surroundings a little. About a couple minutes later, Haven looked towards Lucifer, who now had the usual small smile on his face again. The younger male thought for a few seconds before asking,

       “So who exactly is that Marcus person that we ran into earlier?”

       “Just an old friend from my hometown,” replied Lucifer.

       “He seemed mad about something when he was fighting us. Was there something you did?”

       Lucifer shrugged. “I guess he's talkin' about when I ran away from the town. When we were little, we liked to cause trouble. Marcus and my other friends were eventually captured and thrown in jail. I heard that they got a harsh beatin' and I didn't want to face the same thing, so I ran away.”

       “You mean you didn't try to help them?”

       “Nope. There wasn't really anything I could do. I was only ten at the time, so there was no way I would be able to bust 'em out of jail.”

       Haven shrugged, letting go of whether Lucifer made the right choice by not helping them or not. “I'm kind of surprised you aren't that upset about him trying to kill you though. He was your friend after all.”

       Lucifer shrugged, the smile fading a little, before saying, “I kind of am I guess.” The smile then returned. “I have you though. You're my friend, right?”

       He looked over at Haven, who just stared up at the sky in thought. Nothing was said for a few seconds.

       “Well, I don't know if I can exactly consider you as a friend just yet,” the brown-haired boy finally replied.

       Lucifer didn't bother responding. It kind of hurt him a small bit, but the answer could have been much worse. They still had a long while before they would get to any southern docks after all, so there was plenty of time for things to change.

       The two stayed there at the springs for a little while longer until it started to grow dark. After getting out of the hot spring, both of them put on their clothes before making their way back to where they had planned on camping for the night. On their way there, they noticed some blueberries and decided they would take some back to eat. When they reached the place they were going to camp at, Lucifer made the fire before they began eating their small supper. Once they were done, they decided Lucifer would keep first watch for the night before Haven went to sleep.

       Lucifer woke up the following day by the time midmorning came, his eyes first setting sight upon the cloudy sky overhead. The two slowly ate a small breakfast consisting of the same fruit that made up their dinner the previous night. Once they were finished, they started to make their way south through the vast forest.

       Several hours passed and they still didn't seem close to exiting the forest. The cool winds that swept through the trees carried the feeling of rain on them. Lucifer looked towards the sky, which had become a lot darker than it was before when he first awoke. He figured it would probably rain sometime soon, but he just hoped that it would hold off for about another hour so that him and Haven could cover a little more ground before it became dark.

       Aside from the rustling of the leaves and the whispers from the wind, Lucifer soon heard a different sound. There was no doubt to the spiky-haired man that they were footsteps. He slowly peered about their surroundings for any sign of other people, but there were none. Lucifer was certain that a mercenary was probably stalking about, waiting for the right moment to strike. The thought of it being Marcus came to mind, but he only wished that it wasn't. He didn't want to fight his old friend again.

       Lucifer's answer came soon enough. A blond-headed boy the same age as Haven stepped out into the clearing before turning to face them. Lucifer didn't recognize this person, but Haven apparently did based on the look that was on his face.

       “Hello Lucas,” greeted the brown-haired boy. “I never expected to run across you in this forest. How's come you're not back at Fallcrest?”

       “I've come to take both of you back,” replied Lucas, a serious look on his face.

       The smile that was on Haven's face slowly faded as he slowed to a stop; Lucifer did the same.

       “I'm rather disappointed in you Haven,” continued the blond. “I thought you were a lot better than this. I thought you were one who would face the consequences for your sin honorably. But I can see I was wrong. You have sunken so low as to go around with this bloody hooligan.”

       “Hey, I ain't that bad,” said Lucifer, acting as though Lucas's words offended him.

       “But maybe you can prove me wrong,” Lucas resumed, completely ignoring what the older male had said. “If you come back with me voluntarily, I might not think as poorly of you.”

       “Sorry, but I'm not going to do that,” said Haven. “I'm not willing to throw away my life for such a minor crime.”

       Lucas's facial features grew sterner upon hearing these words. “Very well then. It seems that I'll just have to take both of you back by force.”

       The blond unsheathed his sword before charging forth towards the two. Haven had his staff appear in his hands before blocking a slash. The brown-haired boy quickly pushed his staff forward to knock Lucas off balance. Haven didn't try to strike him though, unable to do something like that to someone who was a friend.

       Lucifer didn't hesitate though. Right when Lucas was knocked off his balance, Lucifer took advantage of the blond's guard being down by throwing a swift kick towards his stomach. Lucas shifted backwards to avoid it before falling on his butt. Before either of the other two would have a chance to strike, Lucas quickly muttered a couple words before shooting an energy blast out of his free hand and at Lucifer. Not expecting something like this, Lucifer was hit right in the gut and was sent backwards from the force.

       Right after that, Lucas shot up from the ground and towards Haven before swinging his sword a few times at him. The shorter male managed to block the majority of the slashes with his staff, but the last one managed to slip past his defenses and create a real small cut on his chest that slowly began drawing blood. Haven winced from the pain, not used to dealing with something like this since he had never really fought before. With his guard being down for that moment, Lucas was about to make another slash of his sword. However, before he was able to, Lucifer quickly closed in the distance before throwing a harsh kick to Lucas's side. The blond was knocked to the side, losing his sword in the process, which dropped to the ground with a thud. While the enemy was on the ground, Lucifer quickly retrieved the blade before moving in to deliver the fatal blow.

       “No, don't do it!” cried Haven as he rushed forward and grabbed onto Lucifer's arm to try to hold him back.

       Lucifer stopped, standing just a few feet away from Lucas. He lowered the blade a tad as he looked back at Haven. His mouth opened as he was about to say something, and it was at this moment when Lucas figured he had a perfect chance to strike while the criminal's guard was down. After pulling out a hidden dagger from his boot, he lunged forward to try to stab Lucifer.

       “Look out!” shouted Haven.

       Lucifer quickly turned to look back at the blond to see the oncoming attack. He tried to step to the side to avoid it, but the dagger had still managed to cut the spiky-haired man's arm, which instantly started to ooze blood from the somewhat large gash. While Lucas was temporarily defenseless though, Lucifer swung the sword so that the hilt of it crashed into the blond's head. Lucifer fell down to the ground and Haven stared down at the unconscious boy for a moment.

       “Let's go,” Haven said a bit quietly a few seconds later as he turned around. “And leave the sword here.”

       Lucifer didn't say anything as dropped the sword and turned around before following the brown-haired boy through the dense forest. About a few seconds later, the clouds soon let lose all the rain, which fell heavily down on the forest below. Not wanting to get drenched, the two broke into a run to try to find decent enough shelter. It wasn't too long though until they reached a small cave that was carved into the base of a nearby mountain. They ran into it, but stayed close to the mouth of it since they couldn't be sure if anything lurked deeper inside.

       “Guess we'll just stay here for the night,” said Lucifer as he sat down. “Hopefully the rain will be gone by tomorrow.”

       Haven just nodded before looking towards Lucifer, who had a stream of blood running down his arm. He walked over and knelt down beside the muscular man before saying the chant for the healing spell in the form of prayer. The gash that was on the older male's bicep slowly healed until it was as if there was never a wound there at all. When it did completely heal, Haven stopped chanting and let his hands fall to his sides.

       “Hey, that's a pretty nifty trick you got there,” Lucifer said.

Haven just gave a shrug before moving a bit away from the other male to sit down. He sighed as he stared towards the rocky flooring of the cave, deep in thought. Lucifer looked towards him.

       “That Lucas guy, was he a friend of yours?” asked the dark-haired man.

       “Yes,” replied Haven a little quietly.

       There was a moment of silence as Lucifer stared at the shorter male before looking up at the stalactites that hung from the cave's ceiling.

       “Don't worry, I know how you feel,” he said. “One of my own friends tried to kill me yesterday after all.”

       Haven didn't respond.

       “You still have me though,” continued Lucifer, smiling a bit more as he looked back at Haven. “I can be your friend, and you don't have to worry about me back-stabbing you.”

       There still wasn't a response. Lucifer looked at the brown-haired boy for a couple seconds before letting out a sigh, figuring that he at least tried to cheer him up.

       “Maybe Lucas was right,” muttered Haven about ten seconds later.

       “Huh?” Lucifer asked as he looked back at Haven again.

       “Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. Maybe I should've faced the consequences for my sin.”

       “And get killed for somethin' like that? This is exactly why I don't follow any religions. I don't wanna worship a b*****d of a god.”

       Haven didn't say anything and it didn't seem to cheer him up any. Lucifer noticed this and shrugged as he looked towards the ceiling of the cave again.

       “But you shouldn't let somethin' like that get to you,” the spiky-haired man continued. “I kinda doubt a god would be that stuck up that he needed some stupid little gift given to him every month. Just kinda sounds like some stupid law the Priest made up if you ask me.”

       Haven still didn't reply, or at least not right away as he took a few seconds to think over what Lucifer just said.

       “Yeah, maybe you're right,” the brown-haired boy finally said, starting to feel better now. “Thanks.”

       “No problem,” Lucifer replied.

       The two stayed up for a little longer, saying a few things to each other. About half an hour later, Haven felt exhausted and he decided to go to sleep. It was a wee bit hard for him to get comfortable, but he was finally able to and he fell asleep about five minutes later. Lucifer stayed up to keep watch for the first half of the night, but he soon looked over to see that Haven was shivering. Smirking a bit, Lucifer stood up and walked over to the sleeping boy. He laid down next to him to where there bodies were nearly touching as he wrapped a muscular arm around him. About a couple minutes later, Haven's shivering had ceased. During this time, Lucifer felt exhaustion beginning to overcome him, and he soon ended up dozing off.

Author's Note

Is the dialogue okay in all of the places?

Reviews

[Eidolon Michael]

I think the dialogue is great. It's very realistic and it flows very well. I liked the fights in this chapter. I could really use help with my fighting scenes so got any advice? Good chapter ^_^

[Amund Schofield]

Lucas's dialouge seems canned. I would like more emotion behind it, even a big argument.

Also you have a few seeds for major plot points. I'll talk to you later about those though.