Mina's left hand grasped the brilliantly jeweled hilt and the right hand appeared to cradle the blade. She had already struck a few times at the serpent and the crease of the blade left a bloody streak against her delicate palm. In spite of her physical injury, she never faltered and moved with even more grace than before. She hesitated and waited for the serpent to retaliate as she gave a sigh, "This doesn't appear logical. I've come to the shore every night for the last three months and a Leviathan has never shown itself. Not until Zyne came here. What does that signify?"

She jerked at the touch of Zyne's hand against her shoulder and his grasp instantly grew tighter as he spoke, "Are you all right?"

She nodded as she shook off his hand and he brought up his crossbow, prepping the trigger to hit the serpent as Mina turned to him, "Don't use that. The serpent has not yet retaliated."

"I honestly think you worry a little too much, "said Zyne as he pulled the trigger upon the bow.

As soon as the arrow had punctured the scales of the Leviathan's skin, it took a quick turn and its tail slid out to the side.

"Zyne, get down!" Mina exclaimed.

She thrust her left hand to the front of the serpent before releasing her blade. It sliced into the scales just below the throat and as the serpent's body began to fall, it flailed out its tail in a fit of rage. Mina brought out her hands before her and shoved Zyne into the ground carefully. She had just barely dodged the poisoned spikes of the serpent's tail. Zyne placed his hands upon her shoulders and very gently stroked his fingertips against her hair.

"Mina, are you okay?" he asked.

She lifted her head and pushed herself off of him, wincing slightly as she scooted back, "Don't concern yourself over me. You're fine, right?"

Zyne sat up and brushed off his uniform before standing. After he regained his composure, he held out his right hand to her, "Give me your hand."

Mina shook her head as she attempted to push herself off the ground and her right ankle coursed with pain, "I... I'll sit down for a bit."

Zyne arched an eyebrow with amusement. He tried not to show his concern over noticing her wince. He grabbed her hand to pull her up and as soon as her weight was placed upon that ankle, her lips parted as she gave a gasp. Zyne caught her in his arms and for a brief moment he embraced her, "You're hurt..."

Mina froze and she shook her head as she gave a weak chuckle, "A little poison never hurt anyone. 'Tis only a flesh wound."

She lightened the weight upon her right ankle in order to ease some of the pain. Zyne knelt down and helped her to remain standing.

"Lean on me," he said.

Not waiting for a response, he placed his left hand against the swell of her ankle bone as he furrowed his eyebrows, "Mina, your ankle looks really bad. Let's go get it checked out."

"I just need a little rest. I'll be fine in a day or two," Mina protested.

Zyne examined the opening of her wound and leaned in closer. His fingertips traced against an awkward texture and pulled upon the small purple spike he'd found. Mina's sudden thrust almost caused her to fall over, but Zyne grabbed her by the hands firmly.

"I don't care if you like this or not, but we're going to the infirmary," said Zyne.

Mina shook her head, "No way! I don't care who you think you are, but you are not going to make me go through that!"

"Are you sure about that?" asked the smug male.

His hands slid down to her waist as he gave a smirk and then lifted her and slung her over his left shoulder with the greatest of ease.

At this Mina tried to pry his arm off from around her thighs, "What do you think you're doing to me?!"

Zyne ignored her failing attempts to get away as he gave a chuckle, "I'm going to take you to the infirmary."

Wonders never ceased. Zyne was truly enjoying all the time he spent with Mina, even when the Leviathan had struck. Then again, Mina was not aware of his womanizing reputation, so she couldn't hold that against him. But also at that moment, Mina's injury was the only thing on his mind. He knew that he needed to be extra careful with her and get her to the infirmary as soon as possible.

"Please don't carry me around like this," Mina groaned.

Zyne stopped after he had entered the outside corridor and playfully smacked her bottom, "Why not? Are you embarrassed?"

Mina nearly went ballistic after his bold action, "Yes! Now I am even more so!"

Zyne pulled her from his shoulder and held her in his arms the way a groom would his bride and he smiled down at her, "Is this better?"

The blonde could feel her cheeks redden as she tried to understand what he was getting at, "Not really, but I'd rather remain in the condition I'm in now instead of letting you make me light-headed."

Zyne watched her with a glance of respect. Mina wasn't like the other girls that he had been acquainted with. There was definitely something special about her. Boy, was he wrong in making the opposite assumption. Now, all he had to do was get to know her a bit more and he had that bonus pay in the bag.

As he made his way through the lobby of the infirmary, Ceiran passed him and gave a nudge, "Wow, Zyne, you work fast, don't you?"

For the first time, Zyne seemed mildly annoyed with that kind of teasing, "That's not it. Miss Tianawane was attacked by a Leviathan on the shore."

Ceiran started to give a nasty retort, but his eyes silently warned her and she knew he wasn't kidding, "Go right in, Zyne. Don't worry, Minako, Zyne will put you in good hands. Next time, don't go to the shore by yourself."

She went on her way quickly, not really in the mood to make Zyne angry and she closed the door on her way out.

Zyne looked back at Mina, who seemed to resemble a young girl with every passing moment, "You see? I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Mina nodded to him and then closed her eyes in a restful mode as Zyne carried her into the back room of the infirmary.

There were two back rooms. One wasn't considered a back room because it was for recuperating patients. The other, however, was used to station patients in critical condition. Mina definitely fit into that category at the moment. Zyne had often heard rumors of Leviathan poison. The poison itself was a very thin purple liquid that quickly intervened with the blood until it was able to take control of the entire body. Of course, this usually led to a pretty painful death for the recipient. The veins visible through the skin usually burst and the receiver would bleed to death.

Zyne laid Mina against the light green comforter and then turned to the doorway. The young woman who entered was the doctor. Her name was Isys Egrieke. Being a doctor was only a part-time job for her. The rest of the time, she was a fellow instructor.

When her eyes laid upon Zyne, she wasn't sure what to say at first, but then she spoke softly, "...What brings you here, Mr. Donovan?Come to trample on my heart again?"

He raised his lips in a smirk as he shook his head, "Nah.... I can only break up with a woman once."

He gestured at Mina who had opened her eyes and looked between the two at this moment.

Isys hesitated for a moment and then her eyes met the halfway-pulled poison spike upon Mina's ankle, "Ah... that must be what I'm to deal with."

Zyne watched her carefully. He once felt a great amount of love for her. When he found out that she was playing with him, he was devastated. He broke off their relationship immediately and the two were tense around each other repeatedly after.

Isys' voice broke into his disappointing memories, "You going to leave this one to me or are you that distrusting?"

Zyne glanced to Mina and as soon as their eyes met, she turned away. He couldn't leave her. That was not going to happen. If Isys didn't like it, she was going to need to get over it.

He very stiffly walked to Mina's side and grabbed her left hand firmly, "I won't make her go through this pain alone."

Mina looked up at him and he gave a wink as her cheeks flushed, "Mina, I like protecting my women."

Isys snorted as she grabbed a pair of tweezers from the counter and as she yanked the spike from Mina's ankle, Zyne allowed her to squeeze his hand. Mina seemed to be in so much more pain than what she should have been and Zyne thought that he had brought her in too late. When Isys was complete with the breakage of her anklebone and the spike, Mina let out a big sigh and Isys glanced to Zyne.

"I'll have to give the cure to her tomorrow. I'll return to my quarters to make it first. The young lady can stay here for the night," she said.

Not waiting for a response, she left the two in dim lighting and closed the door.

Zyne was hesitant to say anything to Mina. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He had let her get hurt just for the sake of him. Was he even worth it? He'd never had someone do that for him. He was used to saving the females instead. In fact, when he was a lad of sixteen, he had stumbled across a young girl that was desperately in need of a chance at life. He had put his life on the line to protect the young girl and he never saw her again. For her sake, he hoped that she was okay and happy with whatever it was she was doing.

"Zyne..." said Mina softly.

He glanced to her, wanting to be there for her every want and desire, "Yes?"

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden," she commented.

Zyne dropped to his knees and brought her left hand to his lips as he kissed her knuckles gingerly, "Nonsense. You're not a burden. By the way... thanks for protecting me. Why did you do it...?"

"I wanted to... I wanted to prove that you didn't need to baby-sit me. Maybe I was wrong. I'm sorry if I've disappointed you," Mina replied.

Zyne shook his head, "You haven't. I'm more impressed than anything. Mina, I'll be by your side as long as you want."

Mina smiled softly as she lightly patted him on the head, "I'm getting tired, Zyne. Go to bed. You can check on me tomorrow. I don't want to find out that you were looking after me like some child."

Zyne nodded slowly as he stood up and watched her from the doorway until she fell asleep. He turned out the dim lamp and closed the door behind him as he slid his hands behind his back headed to his dorm.

As he walked through the quiet corridors he couldn't hear anything else except the rapid heart beat in his ears. He was really scared, but it wasn't for himself. Minako Tianawane was the only thing on his mind. He wanted to be with her more than anything, but he respected her request and promised himself that he'd check on her first thing in the morning.

When he reached his dorm, he didn't bother to change. He threw himself onto his bed and through the darkness, he stared at the ceiling, waiting for the following day to make its appearance.