[Jaden Wolf]

Hope and Runic (Rune)

There was some movement by the falls, though the moonless night revealed nothing. Then, glowing markings began to shimmer against the rock face.

Off to the side of the markings, a yonyuu stumbled through the darkness. After tripping a few times, it finally ended up on the ground. "Ow. Why did I choose to come here this late...and on a moonless night too! Not even the stars want to come out for me!" its voice was female as it groaned and picked itself up. She walked over to the water, where her eyes automatically found the only source of light around. She gasped and began to stumble towards it mindlessly.

She fell for it! I thought no one would ever come along, and so spoil this perfect night! The yonyuu who's markings had caught the other's attention smiled to himself carefully. He'd been looking forward to this. Then the female came close enough that her face was lit up by his light. He froze. What was that feeling? Could it be what he had heard so much about from his other victims? Could this new feeling be...pity? No, it couldn't be. There was something else too. Ah, no matter, he'll reflect on it later. If he didn't move now, she'd discover him. Slowly, he began to move away, trying to keep his movements simple so as not to distort his markings.

[Jaden Wolf]

After a while of leading the female towards the falls, Rune stopped next to the rushing water. He focused on his lights, dimming them. He heard the female gasp and tremble in the darkness and winced as the feeling came again. Shaking it away, he slunk up beside her. Ah, she smells so good...wait, I shouldn't be thinking that! He almost growled at his thoughts, but stopped himself. "The falls sound really nice right now. Why are you scared? Come on, let's go for a swim!" he whispered in her ear, trying to sound like a voice in her head. Bingo! he thought as she made a face. "It's too dark! I can't see! What am I, crazy?" she whimpered. "Naw, you're not crazy! I'm sure it feels good! Come on!" Surely she'd be feeling the tug in her subconcious telling her to obey. He grinned triumphantly as he saw her hesitating. She took one step forward, then paused. "Come on Hope! This isn't right, what are you talking about? Voice in your head!? you're really losing it now!" she muttered to herself and stepped back. Rune's breath caught as he wondered if he'd underestimated her. Hope, such a nice name. Suits her too...wait, what!? Geez Rune, you're the one who's losing it here! He sighed, then ran his head gently along her back, knowing she'd pass it off as her nerves. "Hope, Hope. You know you want to do this. You'll be fine! All you're doing is taking a little swim! Surely the worst that could happen is that you'd end up a bit downstream. Though that's hardly bad, as it would get you out of this accursed place! He murmured, suppresing the urge to go and let her be as he inhaled her scent. This wonderful scent, no, I don't want to leave her be. I want to stand here just like this. Wait, what!? Stop this Rune! You idiot! He scolded himself mentally, then froze as he felt her move forward, a mix of triumph and something else lodged in his throat.

[Jaden Wolf]

Slowly, the triumphant feeling began to be overwhelmed by the other as Hope stepped closer to the edge that could cause her death. Little did she know that right below this ledge were a buch of rocks jutting out of the waterfall. The first few would only bruise her, and if she was lucky, knock her unconcious. The next few would probably kill her. They could kill anyone who couldn't see them like he could. In fact, he had practiced going down so he could check on the corpse after to make sure they were really dead.
Suddenly, the unknown feeling won over as she stepped over the edge. Rune charged forward and jumped off the ledge, just in time to see the look on her face as a rock knocked her out. He snarled to himself and used his wings to propel himself towards her. Just before she hit the second bunch of rocks, he grabbed her, swinging her up onto his back. Quickly, he began to manuver through the rocks and jumped onto the shoreline below. He dropped her onto the grass in disgust and began to pace. He wasn't disgusted with her, but with himself for having saved her. Some stars were coming out now and he let his markings light up naturally. They were brighter than they were when he first saw her, as they illuminated his entire frame now. Then he heard a gasp and wheeled around.

[Jaden Wolf]

Hope's eyes were open now and staring straight at Rune. Surely she had recognized the markings from earlier, and could see him now. He winced, though he managed to pass it off as a look of disgust. He could not hide his worry though, as she jumped up and yelped at the pain in her head, where blood was beginning to trickle out. "Sit down. You're only going to make it worse." he snapped, and winced as his voice broke when he said 'worse'. He saw her give him an odd look and laid down. "You...were you the voice up there?" her voice tenitavely spoke. He looked at her in surprise. He didn't think she'd talk to him. "Yeah, so it was me. What about it?" he snapped. Hope's face crumpled as she regarded him. "Why did you want to hurt me?" she asked, and he scoffed. "I wasn't trying to hurt you! I was trying to kill you, get it!?" he growled at her. She flinched and looked up at the rocks, now visible, that had almost killed her. With a strange look on her face, she looked back at him. "You didn't anwer my question." she said calmly. He scoffed in surprise. "I can't believe you, Hope! Talking to someone who tried to kill you! Asking WHY! I should have just let you die, I don't even know what I was thinking, saving you like that!" he yelled at her. Only when he saw the look on her face did he realize what he had said. "Don't answer why you wanted to kill me, then. At least tell me why you saved me. Why is my life so important to you?" she asked him, tilting her head. He shook his head in surprise and then snarled at her. "I don't why, so shut up!" he growled, and lunged at her. She yelped and backed up quickly, then yelped again as pain shot through her head. She crumpled and Rune froze. He gave an cry of anguish, stalked over to the other side of the small clearing, and curled up. "Do what you want." he muttered brokenly, and closed his eyes.

[Jaden Wolf]

When he woke, the sun was beginning to rise, and so he felt his markings dim. He shifted, and sighed. Last night was rough on him and he sighed. Then he froze in surprise as he heard footsteps behind him. Who is it? Someone trying to sneak up on me in my sleep? he thought, but relaxed when he smelled Hope's scent, only to tense up again. "Are you still cold?" she asked him, and he turned to look at her questioningly. She was sitting close behind him, too close, he thought. "You were cold last night. So I laid down beside you so you wouldn't be cold. He blinked in surprise, but sure enough, he was oddly warm. Then he saw her shiver and jumped up. "You're cold now." he said, as a cold breeze blew against them. He was warm thanks to her, but now she was cold. He bit his lip, but then his longing to help her broke through and he stepped foward. She looked up in surprise as he sat beside her, in between her and the wind. He looked up at her head, where blood was now caked on, but couldn't bring himself to ask her how it felt. He jumped a bit in surprise as she lent on him. He was about to growl at her, when he realized she was asleep. He looked down at her tired face and relaxed. He gently laid her down, and laid down with her, worried that he might wake her up if he tried to move away. "You must have been up all night." he murmured sadly. The guilt was eating away inside him. He couldn't seem to do anything but hurt her. He was sure now that what he had felt before was pity, but still didn't know what the other feeling was. He nestled his muzzle into her fur and gently inhaled her scent. Soon, he was asleep as well...again.

[Jaden Wolf]

Hope woke first, and was about to move away from Rune, thinking he'd be mad at her. To her surprise, he was asleep and his head was resting on her shoulder. She smiled and sighed contentedly. He was so warm.
"Hope..." Her eyes snapped open as he murmured her name. She realized that he was talking in his sleep and then wondered how he knew her name. "Oh right, I said it last night when I was, um, unknowingly talking to him." she said to herself. Then he chuckled and she couldn't help but smiling. Maybe, just maybe. she thought. "What's your name?" she asked him gently, not quite as good as he did before, but fairly good, she thought. She smiled as he answered. "It's Runic, but it's a weird name so I just say Rune." Now she could get answers he would give before. Or didn't know. She knew that he would know the answers deep down. "Why did you want to kill me?" she asked. He shifted slightly, but replied. "I do it to anyone. I kill people. I suppose I like to." Hope's eyes widened, but she managed to control herself. She needed to know one thing. "Why didn't you let me die?"
The answer came quickly and softly. "I fell in love." That did it. She jumped up quickly and walked away from him. "Hope? What's wrong?" his voice came from behind her, and she knew he had just woken up. A murderer fell in love with me, that's what! she felt like screaming as tears began to streak down her cheek.

[Jaden Wolf]

Hope gave an involuntary sob and heard Rune jump up in alarm. "Hope?" he asked, the worry clear in his voice. What right do you have to be worried about me? she screamed in her head. He began to step towards her, and she gasped. "Don't come near me!" she yelled. He stopped, and she knew that he thought her fear was finally comming through. But he wasn't completely right. She wasn't scared of him. She was scared of what had happened in his heart...towards her. "Rune..." she was about to speak, but he cut her off. "How do you know my name, Hope?" his voice was dark as he spoke to her, though she could hear the curiosity in it as well. "You told me in your sleep." she whispered. He froze. "What else did I tell you?" he asked, obviously fighting to keep the worry out of his voice. "You told me, that you like to kill people. That's what you were doing to me. You also told me...why you saved me." she croaked, the tears flowing freely now. He shifted, and she knew that he did not know why he had saved her. "You want to know what you said? You told me that you fell in love." her voice broke and she heard him stiffen up. He sighed in relief, then froze again. "Hope, I..." his voice was filled with anguish, and she knew that he realized why she was upset. The rejection was kicking in. Suddenly, he turned and began to leave. She turned in surprise and then felt a sudden ache in her heart. "Runic." she whispered, too low for him to hear. Then as he disapeared into the trees, she ran after him. Just as she came to another clearing, she saw him.

[Jaden Wolf]

Rune was crossing the clearing, but he was so lost in thought and grief, that he didn't notice the frail but large, hollow tree off to the side. Just then, a hard wind blew through the forest, and with a sickening snap, the tree lurched towards him. Behind him, Hope gasped and shot forwards. "Runic!" she screamed, and tackled him just before the tree hit. He tumbled onto the ground, then jumped up and wheeled around to see Hope pinned underneath the branches. The main trunk had missed her, but she wasn't moving. Rune gasped and ran for her. He tore the branched frantically, reaching her quickly. Not bothering to pull her out first, he dropped down beside her. "Hope? Hope!? Are you okay? Wake up!" he nudged her, and felt his heart breaking when she didn't respond. Slowly, a tear fell from his face, and onto Hope's. She could feel it trickling off her cheek and could hear his ragged breathing, but had no energy. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. Rune. Runic. All she could do was repeat his name in her head, over and over. He crumpled beside her, resting his head on her side. "Hope. I love you." he whispered as he inhaled her scent. She felt the emptiness in her heart fade as he said that. "R-un-ic. I..." she managed to croak out. His head snapped up and he pressed against her. "Don't speak, Hope." he said, and she felt another tear land on her cheek. "No. Rune. I need to tell you." she croaked out. He rested his head on her own and she felt more tears. "Rune. I love you." she whispered.

[Jaden Wolf]

Rune gasped as Hope told him that she loved him. Then he pressed against her harder. "Don't." it hurt him to say it, but he had to. "Don't what?" the reply came. "Don't love me. Don't you see how dangerous it is? All I can do is cause you pain. I tried to kill you, you got cold trying to keep me warm, you're laying here now because of me." he whispered. Hope shuddered, and a tear rolled from her eye. "Stop beating yourself up Rune. I still love you. You're still there for me. You saved me when you tried to kill me, I chose to make you warm, and you made me warm after, and the tree? You're here with me now." she murmured, and then Rune stepped away as Hope turned to her human form. His breath caught as he saw her beautiful goldish-brown hair and mangled white and pale-blue dress. Most of all, the lovely green eyes looking up at him. He smiled and changed himself. His black hair had glowing highlights in it, and he was wearing a black shirt and jeans. His eyes were a whitish gold. He rested a hand on her head and she smiled at him. Then he reached his head down and pressed his lips to hers.

[Jaden Wolf]

Gently, Rune picked Hope up and carried her out from the confinement of the branches. "You can't stay here, Hope. You've been here a long time, I'm sure your family is worried about you." he whispered to her. She frowned and touched his face. "No. I'm not leaving you." she whispered. He shook his head gently. She frowned. "Come home with me. Jaden's kind. She'll let you stay with me. I'd like you to meet my mother and sister. Of course, I have a brother too, but we're complete opposites." she murmured to him as he carried her through the forest. He shook his head again. "Hope, I'm a killer. I..."
"I don't care."
"Hope."
"My brother hasn't killed anyone...that we know of, but he's allowed there, so are some other dangerous people. Plus, I trust you not to hurt anyone I know. My brother is an exception."
"You really don't like your brother, do you? Fine Hope, I'll go meet them, but no guarentees about me staying there." he sighed, and kissed her again. She smiled and curled up against his chest as he carried her home.