"You're a genius!!" you exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and grinning from ear to ear.
He grew flustered at the sudden compliment and waved it away. "I didn't do much really, I just noticed i-" he stopped mid-sentence and you saw his eyes widen at something behind you. He gulped nervously before pointing a shaky finger over your shoulder. Following his gaze, you turned to see three pyramid shaped robot machines slowly hovering towards you.
"Of all the times to show up..." you internally swore at them before sighing and pulling out your dagger as a new found determination shone in your eyes. You were so close to escaping and nothing was going to stop you now.
"Stay back," you ordered Kaveh before running up to the machines and attacking their weak points. Three of them gradually began pushing you back towards the wall and you were about to be cornered. On top of that, your head chose the worst time to start pounding. You almost doubled over in pain, barely managing to dodge an incoming attack.
Your vision started to blur and a loud ringing in your ears blocked out Kaveh's worried shouts. You grimaced as one of the machine's bright lasers cut a gash into the side of your stomach. You stumbled back and saw Matriarch Babel's stern gaze in your mind, giving you a disapproving look.
"Is this what I trained you for?" you heard her voice resonate through your head, sounding the same way it did when you struggled to fend for yourself as a child. Your headache was getting worse and you were blinded by the sharp pain.
"Over here!"
You looked up to see Kaveh distracting the machines and saw his legs slightly shaking despite his unwavering expression as they started approaching him instead.
You forced yourself up and struck one of the machines from behind straight in its core, effectively causing it to break down. It wasn't long before you did the same to the other two. They shuddered before breaking apart and disappearing into light and you let out a sigh of relief, flinching as you felt pain strike you from the injury on your stomach.
Kaveh ran over to you just in time, catching you before you fell onto the floor.
"Are you alright??" he asked with a worried expression as he woefully examined your new wounds.
"I'm fine, don't worry," you reassured him, taking a few moments before slowly standing up again. You dusted yourself off, shutting your eyes as you felt another wave of pain in your head from the sudden movement. You gave Kaveh the most reassuring look you could muster before heading over to the wall.
"You said we needed force to break down this wall?" you said, tracing the surface trying to identify any weak points.
"That's right...maybe if we go back and find a large rock...." he trailed off, coming up with a plan in his head.
"No need," you said before locating an area in the wall, taking a step back, and ramming into it with all your might. The wall started to crumble and a few rocks started coming away.
"Wait don't do tha-"
Ignoring Kaveh's warnings, you ran towards it again and braced yourself for impact as you slammed into it one more time. The wall crumbled apart, collapsing in front of you and you smiled as sunlight poured into the room, illuminating your exhausted face.
"We did it...we made it out!!" Kaveh yelled, laughing in relief as he stepped outside into the desert. You stumbled after him and had never been more grateful for fresh air. The two of you rejoiced in each other's embrace, grinning from ear to ear at the realization of your successful escape.
Exhaustion took over your body and you slumped into his arms at once, unable to stay standing any longer. "Sorry, I just need to rest...for a while," you apologized.
"Of course, how about we leave at night instead?" he offered in return, slowly sitting down while still holding you. All you could do was nod and murmur a quiet "thank you" before passing out in his arms.
.
.
.
You awoke suddenly with wide eyes as you sat up and scanned your surroundings. Your memories came flooding back to you, and so did the throbbing sensation in your head. You flinched as you reached up to touch your makeshift bandage which was now soaked in blood.
Kaveh slowly stirred awake beside you amidst the movement and groggily rubbed his eyes. Rather than the hot sun beating down on you, it was nice and cool instead. You looked up to see the moon shining a soft silver against the dark blue sky with a plethora of stars speckled across it.
"Do you feel better now?"
You turned to see Kaveh looking at you anxiously as his eyes flickered from the bloody bandage on your head to the gash on your stomach.
"Definitely," you replied, getting up with a grimace. It was still painful but it had subsided greatly and you wanted to make it to a decent shelter before it came back in waves.
You dusted the sand off your hands and looked around, adjusting your eyes to the darkness. You felt relieved as you recognized the area. It was about 30 minutes away from Aaru village and you had often come here to train with your friends.
"Let's stop by Aaru village to get some help," you said, turning to Kaveh only to find him preoccupied with something.
You saw him kneeling down beside a small desert fox, gently petting it.
"We have to leave now," you said, walking up to Kaveh. "Before those eremites find us again,"
"Can we take this fox with us?" Kaveh took the animal in his arms and turned towards you. "He's lost and has nowhere to go," he said, pity evident in his voice. "What if something happens to him in the desert??"
"It's a desert fox Kaveh, they live here. If we took him with us, then he'd really get lost,"
"Can we at least keep him until we get to Aaru village? I can't go on knowing we left him to nature's cruel clutches!!" he pleaded, his eyes practically sparkling. "Please?"
You sighed in defeat. "Alright fine, but only until we reach Aaru village okay?" you relented, knowing that Matriarch Babel would undoubtedly be disappointed if she saw how soft you had become especially while on a mission.
"Yes! Haha," Kaveh chuckled, holding the fox in his arms, staring at it as if in a trance. You shook your head and had to admit it was cute. Your eyes snapped open as you realized what you had just felt. This was no time to become attached to Kaveh, he was your client for crying out loud. Any emotional attachment would cost you for sure.
You were yanked out of your thoughts as Kavehs hand waved in front of your face, the other holding the fox as he called out your name. "Are you alright?? It looked like you were...well..." he trailed off, unsure how to describe your existential crisis.
"I'm fine, don't worry, I think it's just my head injuries or something," you replied, trying to make up an excuse. "Anyways, we need to move fast. Once the sun rises, it'll be impossible to make it through the desert in the heat."
Without another word you started walking towards Aaru village, constantly reprimanding yourself for letting out a few chuckles at the sound of Kaveh playing with the fox behind you. He was definitely...one of a kind.
"Y/N!!" you heard him shout and turned around so quickly you almost broke your neck. You ran over, eyes scanning for any injuries.
"What happene-'' you stopped as you realized what was wrong. "What the hell...."
"I don't know what to do..." Kaveh said, pointing behind him. Your gaze followed his finger and you saw a trail of desert foxes eagerly jumping up and down behind him. "They just came out of nowhere!!"
You facepalmed. "What did you really do?" you asked, his lie so obvious that you could practically see it written all over his face.
"Nothing, I swear!" he exclaimed before looking away. "I just stopped to play with them for a while, but when I left they started following me and..." he trailed off.
'What in the disney princess hell....'
"Just ignore them for a while and they'll leave eventually," you said, offering a solution.
"How am I supposed to ignore them?? When they look at me like that??" he asked, as if you asked him to throw the foxes off a cliff instead.
Without another word you grabbed his arm and started walking towards Aaru village.
"Now don't look back and they'll be gone," you said.
Kaveh opened his mouth to protest but reluctantly closed it after seeing your stern look.
"Fine..."
"Oh look, Aaru village!! I can see it from here!," you said, feeling lightheaded as you took a moment to pause. "What's wrong with me..." you mumbled, swaying slightly as the waves of pain began to return suddenly...and they were much more intense. A sharp wave of pain almost blinded you as you doubled over, struggling to stay standing.
You heard Kaveh's voice call out to you, but it was so faded that you couldn't make sense of his cries. You felt something warm dripping down the side of your face and knew that the wound on the side of your head had opened up again.
"Crap...I'm not....this....weak-" your body couldn't take it anymore. Your knees gave you and you crumpled into the sand. Your vision was blurry and your head started to pound. You squeezed your eyes shut trying to ignore the pain of your head splitting open.
The last thing you felt was a string pair of arms wrapping themselves around you. You felt yourself being lifted off the ground and one last faded cry of your name before everything faded to black.
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.
.
You gasped and sat up suddenly, immediately regretting it as your head severely throbbed in pain. You clutched your head and your vision cleared after a few moments. You squeezed your eyes shut and regained your composure before slowly opening them and looking around.
Wait a minute...why was this place so familiar...
- x -
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