His head ached and his vision was swimming. At least, it seemed to be, it was far too dark to see if anything was blurred or not. The watery, itchy feeling at the sides of his eyes made him believe his vision must have been impaired. The question now was how. A good second question would be where the hell was he?Rowen flicked the long blue strands of his bangs away from his nose, irritated at his muddled brain. What had he been doing last? Walking, wasn't it? Wasn't he walking with Sage, out near the woods behind Mia's house? Squinting against the pain in his head, he lifted himself into a sitting position and tried to look around. His eyes hadn't been playing tricks, it really was darker than midnight around him.
"Hello?" He called. There seemed to be no answer except the wind. "Ugh, dang," He crawled onto his knees, trying to find the strength to stand.
'Poor little Ronin...all alone...' The wind blew past Rowen's ear in a taunt. Blue brows furrowed as a scowl creased Rowen's countenance. He forced himself to stand, his legs screaming at him and his skull beating him back down. His instincts were kicking in despite the pain in his head. This whole situation stank of the evil Dynasty. Who would use the night against him? Rowen sneered.
"Where are you, Cale?!" The Ronin of Strata shouted into the dark. The wind laughed at him.
Rowen took a step forward and nearly fell over. His head was pounding as hard as his heart and that poor little organ seemed fit to beat itself out of his chest. He cursed himself under his breath for not wearing his sub armor, or, at the very least, for not having his armor orb with him. Apparently even going out for a short walk was too dangerous in these troubled times.
"What'd you do with Sage, you creep?!" Rowen called out. He tried to force his eyes to focus, but with nothing but dark around him, it was impossible to focus on anything. His imagination was running away with him for he thought he saw pieces of shadows crawl closer to him. He stumbled backwards, grasping at air, silently begging for anything to hold onto. As if his wish had been granted, his hand connected with something solid and warm.
"I did nothing to Halo that he didn't want..." Cale breathed into Rowen's ear, his cold fingers crawling up Rowen's forearms to link around his wrists. Rowen pulled himself away from the shrouded warlord, but the older man's grip was tight.
"Where is he?!" Rowen snarled. Cale chuckled and reeled Rowen back to him, crushing him tightly to his chest.
"We had our fun, Ronin, and he's merrily back on his way home. You worry too much," Cale nuzzled the back of Rowen's neck. Rowen whipped his head to the side and smacked Cale in the nose with his cheek. It hadn't been enough force to break anything, but it caught the warlord off guard and he nearly let go of Rowen's wrists. "Stay still, you little brat!"
If the Ronin Warrior of Strata was anything, he was clever. If Cale thought his only way of holding him was to keep his wrists gripped tightly, he had another think coming. Stilling long enough to make Cale think he had won, Rowen dropped to his knees and pulled his captor down with him, kicking behind him and laying flat his opponent. As soon as his wrists were freed, he sprinted up and away from the Warlord of Darkness, running into the blackness in front of him. He heard Cale's laugh on the chill wind.
"Oh, do run, I love it when they run," Cale cackled.
Rowen was keeping up a good run but the wind around him was becoming colder and his lungs couldn't take the freezing air being pumped in and out. As the degrees fell faster he knew he had to stop. He was overtaken with coughs, his breathing had become difficult in the now freezing cold. The blue haired teen fell to his knees, choking on air. It felt as if his lungs were being frozen solid. He hugged himself, wrapping his arms tightly and wishing his light, green sweater had been heavier.
"Tsk, tsk, poor boy," Cale's cheery tone practically sighed in Rowen's ear. "You'll catch your death of cold out here. I think you need to warm up," Rowen could practically hear the face splitting grin on Cale's face.
Warm, strong arms wrapped around Rowen's shoulders, stealing the chill in his chest. Rowen knew he had to run, he had to get away from this Nether Realm monster, but there was little he could do without his armor. If he tried to run again, Cale could freeze him completely, not forgetting that without even a speck of light anywhere he had no chance of finding his way home.
"What do you want from me?" Rowen asked quietly. Cale nuzzled Rowen's ear.
"Oh, I think you could guess," The warlord answered. Rowen frowned. What did he want? He couldn't mean...no, that was ludicrous. As if reading the confused Ronin's mind, Cale pressed himself against Rowen's back. Rowen gasped loudly. The warlord wrapped around him was...aroused. Panicking, Rowen tried to free himself from Cale's grasp. Cale's chest jumped with his dark laughter.
"Let go!" Rowen barked. Cale laid a kiss on Rowen's neck, tightening his grip.
"Halo was just like this before our first time, too," Cale whispered hotly. Rowen suddenly felt sick. Sage, with Cale? Why would he ever do such a thing? No, this was a warlord of deceit, he had to be lying. "Yes, he fought long and hard. Didn't last though, he's a bright boy. Don't you want to be a bright boy?"
Rowen thrashed his head to the side, pulling with all his might to loose himself from Cale's embrace. Cale growled low in his throat and pushed Rowen forward onto his knees, slamming his elbow into the younger man's lower back. Rowen heard a sharp crack and his breath flew from his lungs.
"STOP fighting me," Cale bit out. He stood and glared down at the teenager sprawled on the floor at his feet. "You know, we could be wonderful together. Think about it, Strata. Your powers of the air and night coupled with mine of frost and darkness?" He lowered himself to his knees and gathered Rowen back in his arms, laying a kiss on the prone boy's shoulder. "You could be my starless sky, wouldn't you like that? Doesn't that sound romantic?" Cale chuckled. Rowen swallowed. He would have shaken his head if he could have but with having the wind knocked out of him, breathing alone was difficult enough. He could feel a thin stream of hot tears leaking from his eyes.
The thought of being with Cale was not romantic, it wasn't sweet, it was terrifying. Rowen forced his mind to focus on Sage. Not on the thoughts of Sage with Cale, but of Sage with him, holding him as Cale was holding him now. He knew he had to get his breathing back under control, he had to be able to run. At this point he could run off a cliff and he would still find that preferrable to being in Cale's arms.
Cale's fingers were moving down Rowen's body, rubbing small circles on one hip then dipping to rub just under his belly button. Rowen shut his eyes, though he knew he couldn't see anything anyway, and forced to think those fingers were Sage's, not Cale's. He was back at home in his and Sage's bed, the blonde warrior was beginning to seduce him. Rowen could feel a blush creep up his neck and he allowed it, damn whatever Cale might think, if the bastard could see, anyway. He breathed in deeply, letting a small moan escape his lips.
"That's it, yes," Cale murmured appreciatively. Rowen swallowed hard, thrilled to find his breathing normal again. He shifted his hips, relieved to note Cale hadn't broken his back or anything. Rowen lifted one arm, his fingers tickling up Cale's neck to wrap in the warlord's dark blue locks. Cale grinned and rubbed his cheek against Rowen's arm. "You're loving this, aren't you, Strata," Cale exhaled huskily. Suddenly, before Cale could think, Rowen ripped out some of the hair he had been playing with. At Cale's howl of pain, the Ronin jumped up, swallowed his pain and ran. He could feel the cold coming back full force but he didn't care. He panted hard and ran, forcing his legs to pump harder and faster. He didn't care how long he had to run or where he had to run to, as long as he was away from Cale, he would be fine. Just get to Sage, everything would be fine.
'I'll see you in your nightmares,' The wind growled in Rowen's ears. Rowen shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head and leapt forward. A sudden gust of warm air caused him to snap his eyes open. The house was just in front of him, he was halfway up the drive. Sinking to his knees, he let out a choked sob, more hot tears streamed down his face.
"Sage," Rowen called out breathlessly.
