Souls In Hiding

Stream of Lovers Quarrel

The four had been walking in a comfortable silence as they continued to follow Shuichi to God knows where in the terrifying woods. Suddenly a thought popped into his head as he abruptly turned and glared at Kaede. "Where do you live now? You have a home don't you?"

Kaede sighed and looked down at her feet stroking the grass. "No I don't have a home, I've been living off the land. I don't know where to go I'm sorry, I can leave if you want me to."

"No no don't leave, we like having you around!" Shuichi smiled as he took her hands in his comfortingly. "I didn't mean to sound like I don't want you around because I do, I just didn't know if you had a place to live..." Rantaro and Kokichi awkwardly watched the two, just waiting for the cliché kiss as if Kaede were Shuichi's princess.

"Alright lovebirds the date's over, we need to find shelter." Rantaro walked forward, gently pulling the two apart to prevent anything happening that he thought would hurt his childhood friend whose mood was now soured.

"That's where we're headed. When I was banished before I made a cabin in a clearing not too far from here, Uncle and I used it as a safe place for other supernatural's when they needed a place to stay for a bit." Shuichi continued to walk, followed close behind by the three others.

"Shuichi, I'm sure you know what you're doing but can you be sure it's not been claimed by someone else?" Rantaro questioned. Both he and Kokichi saw the grin widening on the vampire's face.

"Oh trust me, no one has." He said as if he were about to get revenge on someone who'd killed his entire family. The weird tone of voice secretly scared the rest of the group despite the fact they had witnessed Shuichi murder a bandit with nothing but a twig and no remorse. No one said anything as they continued trudging along, the odd crunch of dead leaves and branches being the only sound surrounding the on-edge teenagers.

After a few minutes of walking in nothing with nothing but the clothes on their backs and an itchy wool blanket, Kokichi yawned loudly and tripped over his own two feet. Rantaro immediately caught him and held a supportive arm around the smaller's shoulders. "Maybe we should make camp, get some warmth and sleep? Maybe food if we can find some?"

"No, we shouldn't hunt while we're tired. I'll get some wood and start a fire." Kaede sighed, walking off into the darkness as Kokichi and Shuichi went to a small stream of water nearby, Kokichi washing his face to keep himself awake. Rantaro's eyes glimmered with a green glitter as he used his magic to warp the trees, creating a cave just big enough for the four to fit comfortably as he willed the hedges to cover the tree cave to make it less noticeable in case of more bandits. Adding the small touch of growing small patches of grass to make soft beds for the four, he went to join the other two boys.

Kaede came back with a small amount of firewood, using her magic to light it on fire as the four sat around it, warming their cold skin until the fire quickly died down when it ran out of the little fuel at its disposal. They decided to pack it in for the night, everyone crawling into the small cave with Rantaro closing their escape with a thick hedge curtain as they settled down to sleep away the day's despair in natural comfort.

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Shuichi sat up and panicked as he woke up in an unknown grass bed inside a tree cave, but calmed down once he remembered the situation he was now in, his new life. The faint chirping of birds hinted at the boy that the sun had risen, subtly telling him to put the blanket over his head otherwise, well, he would slowly burn to death.

Slowly pushing the hedges aside to exit the cave, easing his way out of the peaceful hollow to reveal the woods now full of life and, unfortunately, sunlight. Tugging the blanket close to his skin for comfort he makes his way to the small stream nearby to soothe his barren throat. He knelt on the soft grass and smooth rock, trying to reach into the water with cupped hands whilst keeping himself covered and the blanket dry which soon proved impossible.

Groaning in frustration, he swung his hands in the air in frustration which caused the blanket to slip down his arm slightly. His hand sizzled as he swore so loud it could've woken people over the world, cradling his hand in pain as he quickly slipped the blanket back over his body.

"It'll probably be easier to move with a cloak, give me a second." Shuichi heard Kaede mumble a few Latin words, presumably a spell, and found himself faced with a deep purple cloak with a ring of music notes around the hemming. "Sorry if it's a bit feminine, I think it suits you though!" Kaede kneeled beside the vampire, her smile faltering as she saw his hand. "Shuichi you're hurt! I can heal you." She smiled, grabbing his hand and using her body to shield him from any sunlight that might attack him.

Mumbling another spell, she gently caressed burnt skin as it painlessly faded back to its original state. The only thing that remained behind was a small red scar as Shuichi felt perfectly normal as if nothing had happened in the first place. "It'll heal soon, the scar won't remain." Kaede smiled, gazing into the golden eyes that enamoured her as soon as she first gazed upon them. "I didn't think you could look even more beautiful, yet here we are." Kaede grinned, shamelessly flirting with the embarrassed boy kneeling before her whilst still caressing the scarred hand.

"U-uh thank you! You're r-really pretty..." Kaede couldn't help but giggle, his stutter was so cute.

"Shuichi why don't you use here to put the cloak on? That way you won't risk another burn." Rantaro's words asked a question, but his tone was a demand which Shuichi quickly followed.

Rantaro and Kokichi were standing behind the two the entire conversation as jealousy boiled through one's veins. Kokichi coughed to clear his throat and calm himself slightly before glaring daggers at the witch. "Can we trust you? We met you last night and Shuichi is now burnt and we were attacked."

"Are you saying I caused that?" Tears threatened to spill from the girl's eyes but Kokichi couldn't stop his jealousy from taking control of his mind.

"You might've! How are we supposed to know when we don't know you?!"

"Shut up. We are not fighting when we need to work together. We've all been banished Kokichi she's in the same boat as us and she does not need your hostility. Got it?" Shuichi hissed, emerging from the cave as Rantaro collapsed it to return Nature to its original state and to leave no trace of them behind.

Kokichi looked down, upset as he trudged off in the direction where they were headed. Rantaro glared at Shuichi before taking off after his best friend and calming him down as Kaede and Shuichi followed behind, the witch convincing the latter that he did nothing wrong. After an hour of awkward walking and talking, Kaede gasped so loud the entire group gave her confused glances.

It was beautiful, all but the vampire stopped in their tracks as they took in the scenery before their eyes. A lone cabin stood tall, shielded by the odd tree and moss-covered stone walls. Flowers bloomed the colour of rainbows around the cabin as nature seemed to beckon them inside. Next to the cabin, the stream that the group was following had come to an end, now attached to a large lake. The clear water glittered with diamonds as two deer drank from it, happily jumping away together after their treat.

"It's beautiful..." They all murmured, Shuichi grinned in accomplishment as they entered their new home.