Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 38: As Warm As Flames

Dark figures formed black streaks as they ran through the darkness. The way they moved was odd despite seeming to have a human figure, the mannerisms they had seemed animalistic.

They let out a variety of grunts, some seeming to be a form of communication, and others to indicate their gradual fatigue.

As the grunts grew louder, the voices behind them became clearer revealing that the sounds they were making were not grunts but actual words.

"How much longer...I don't think I can last much longer."

The voice articulated these words was light, much more feminine in nature and kind as well. You could hear the hints of pain within it probably from the fatigue.

"You have to keep running Ikumi you'll die if we stop here!"

As the voices only grew louder the appearances of the two finally became visible. One was a rather tall man and the other a shorter girl with a built frame.

Her face was a bit rounded almost like an apple, and her eyes also fit well into this. Her skin was so dark it resembled cinnamon and her hair melded well with her skin also being very dark in color. She had a pair of deep red eyes that looked like a sea of blood, which matched well with the tunics they wore.

At first glance despite the obvious age difference the girl held a nearly identical appearance to Natsumi, with her hair styled the same being parted directly in the middle. As well as the faint scowl that seemed very so present on the girl's face.

The only differences between them though were the darker pigmation around her eyes as well as the over all darker skin tone.

On the other hand beside her was a fairly tall man, in fact to call him tall would be an understatement. Next to the young girl the man looked like a giant, and near people he thought of as tall he'd easily tower over them.

Everything about him seemed larger than usual, he had an interesting physique not being overly muscular but extremely toned similar to the girl beside him. His muscles seemed as tough as Stone, and the expression he wore matched that.

His hair was long and dark reaching towards his mid section, it held a tie at the bottom giving him a very foreign aesthetic.

"Makoto...I can't"

The younger girl spoke once more allowing her heartfelt voice to transform into a light whine as she raised the bottom of her foot.

The sole of her foot was completely torn, leaving patches of reddened flesh to throb uncomfortably as blood leaked from the wounds. The wound itself didn't look good, it was fused with mud giving it a slightly brown tint as miniature organisms crawled in and out.

"It looks like it's going to get infected if we don't do something about it..."

The girl's eye widened as she shook her head repeatedly, her eyes shifted down to a long knife at the man's side gaining the idea of what he was planning to do.

"But Ikumi..."

"NO! I won't let you do that- besides if you do I won't able to run and you'll have to carry me all the way to safety..."

The man let out a soft sigh as he ruffled his own hair in frustration. He didn't seem mean in nature, but it was clear the stress of the situation was beginning to eat away at him.

"Why are they coming for us anyways?"

Makoto's scarlet eyes faded as he glanced up at the full moon that rested in the dark blue sky.

"It's because we have the blood of devils running through our veins. So as long as we live the men wearing their sheep skin will do whatever they can to hurt us."