40Jessica: Sorry again, everyone! I obviously didn't mean for the chapter to take this long, but my computer died on me twice and I had to rewrite it both times...-.-; Evilness!
Rath: I can't believe you had me faint!-!-!
Jessica: (sheepish grin) Eh heh... the fans liked it! I gotta give em' what they want!
Rune: Can we get on with this, please?
Jessica: Oh! Right! (clears throat and glares at disclaimer)
Disclaimer: We do not own Dragon Knights!
XooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Chapter Five: Declarations
XooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Rune paced up and down, wringing his hands nervously. It'd been three days since Rath had collapsed, and he still hadn't woken up. It was really nerve-wracking, especially since Rune had no clue as to what was happening in the hospital wing. He'd been locked in his room with guards placed at each window and two outside the door.
He stopped pacing with a jump when someone knocked at his bedroom door. "Hey, lazy elf! He's awake!"
A blond and white streak zoomed past Thatz and towards the hospital wing. Thatz sweatdropped, and then shrugged and followed.
Rath opened his eyes and growled when he saw five or six nurses surrounding him. He screamed at them hoarsely to leave him alone, and rubbed his head.
When he heard the doors open again, he was about to shout at whoever it was to get lost, but right as he opened his mouth, he was hugged. Blond hair fell into his face, and he chuckled a little.
"Worried, were you?"
Rune glared at his koi and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well, of course! You collapsed from blood loss, you idiot! And what were you doing, trying to fight like that?-!"
Now it was Rath's turn to glare. "You had been kidnapped! Did you honestly expect me to wait until I was better to come looking for you!"
Thatz walked in at that moment, froze, and then - sensing the horrible fight that was about to happen - ran for his life in the other direction. The dragon officers placed outside the hospital wing doors winced whenever Rune's or Rath's voices rose, and twitched as random objects hit the door.
"You put yourself in danger, Rath! How could you be so reckless?"
"Oh-You-Grrr! GET OUT!" the fire knight shouted, glaring at the extremely stunned elf before him.
"F-Fine!" Rune turned on his heel and stormed out of the hospital wing, slamming the doors behind him. He was walking too fast for anyone to see his face, but the black-haired boy noted the small splashes of water on the floor...
Rath winced slightly as he settled back, and found himself with nothing to do but listen to the guards talking about how loud the argument had been, and trying to figure out what had caused it this time.
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Kharl massaged his temples, and took a deep breath. Simply put, he was not a happy alchemist.
Bierrez walked into his office and stood as far away from the seething Renkin wizard as possible. Kharl turned nonetheless, and flashed him a very fake smile. Bierrez swallowed, and bowed slightly.
"You called?"
Kharl nodded curtly and turned away from him again. "You let the elf go?" he asked coldly. Bierrez grimaced.
"Rath was dying. And I don't think you wanted me to bring him to you dead, did you?"
Kharl walked swiftly over to the other man, and sent him flying into the office wall.
"Don't... let it happen again," he muttered, and walked away, leaving
Bierrez in the pile of rubble that used to be the office's north wall.
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Once he'd recovered somewhat, Bierrez walked back to his room with the intention of spying on his favorite fire knight. It seemed to be becoming a habit lately...
The first thing he saw was Rath and Rune yelling at one another. Then Rune stormed out, tears streaming down his face. Bierrez frowned when he saw Rath wince. Were his wounds really that bad?...was this all...his fault? His frown deepened. Why did he feel like this? What was going on?
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Rath slipped out of bed and, forcing back a grimace, walked over to the window and looked out. He quickly found Rune, sitting by himself by one of the ponds. After watching for a moment or two, he frowned, and walked back over to his bed and lay down.
"Resting up, are we?"
Rath's eyes widened. But as he lunged for his sword, Bierrez pinned him to the wall - not roughly, but with enough force to hold him there.
"What have you done to me?" Bierrez asked angrily. Rath blinked. "Don't play dumb with me! You've done something - enchanted me! I can't get you out of my mind! I-I worry about you! I used to want to hurt you but now - ugh! I don't know what's going on!" Rath's face went blank. Oh, no...
Bierrez looked almost ready to punch him, and for a second Rath thought he was going to. But then, Bierrez leaned down and kissed him instead.
It wasn't gentle, or pleasant for that matter, but Rath noted that it wasn't as rough as the others had been. In fact... this kiss almost seemed more...real...
Then he saw something that made him frown.
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Rune sighed. He'd been way too hard on Rath... even if he had been a complete idiot and gotten himself put back in the hospital wing again. He dropped the piece of grass he'd been fiddling with, and headed back into the castle.
As he headed towards the hospital wing, he thought about how he'd apologize - he knew Rath would still be angry and probably wouldn't want to listen. He sighed and decided that the best way to do it was to just blurt it out before Rath had the chance to kick him out again. Just deciding that he was going to apologize made him feel better, Rune found.
But as he opened the door to Rath's room, the sight that met his eyes made him want to die.
Rath's eyes met Rune's around Bierrez's head and narrowed pointedly. As the blonde watched, he snaked his arms around the demon's neck, and kissed him back.
The elf whirled around and ran. He didn't notice until he was safely in his room and leaning against the door for support that, one, he was shaking... And two, he was crying again.
XoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX
Jessica: Awwwwww, poor Rune-kun! To all angry Rune/Rath fans... don't killme? Honest! It's not what it looks like!
Rune: (being held back by Rath and Thatz, trying to murder JK) (saying words that no one under the age of ninety-nine should here! So here's some nice music for ya to listen to!)
Jessica: Er... well, that's all for now! Until next time! (runs of into sunset to hide from angry readers)
Crickets: (chirp)
Shiro Ryuu: Hey! Psst! I've got a secret!
Readers: (crowd around)
Shiro: Do ya really wanna know? Really? (smirk) Well... None of this was her idea! Bulma Wannabe came up with it! So go tell her how much you liked it! Or... er, well... oh, um... don't kill the messenger? Oh yeah, and review please!