Wilting Flowers

Chapter 8

Edric watched, his face growing more and more red by the second! Hunter smiled before pulling out something in his pocket, "As you probably have learned, this is black tourmaline, a rare substance that has become even more scarce as we speak. It is the only thing to cure my uncle's sickness, I need your help to find it." The blonde said, starring into Edric's golden orb's, the taller swallowed hard, he was really expecting a kiss, but maybe he'd get one later on their journey? "If you don't, I underst-" Edric cut him off quickly, "I'll go with you, but why me?" He asked curiously. "Because I know I can trust you," Hunter said, placing a hand on Edric's shoulder. The green haired boy blushed before grabbing the other's hand and kissing the back of it. "Of course, anything for you your highness," Edric said mockingly, smirking up at the shorter. Hunter turned away, his face changing color again, 'This has to stop. I am doing this for my uncle. I am doing this from my uncle. I am doing this for my-" He didn't notice that Edric was changing, so when he looked over, his face and ears burned a bright red and he squeaked covering his eyes. Edric chuckled, "Like what you see?" He said, bumping hunter with his hip. The shorter groaned face palming, "Don't do that in public! And you could have told me you were going to change you know!" Hunter said, his face still red, "Aw, don't be like that, there's barely a soul around and if I did, then you'd miss the show!" Edric teased, laughing at the other's reactions. Hunter pushed Ed's face away, before pulling out a map and scanning over it quickly; Hunter hoped that the longer route, which he had chosen simply for the safety of his companion would pay off. Don't get him wrong, Hunter was fearless warrior and hard worker, but taking the short route would endanger Edric and he couldn't risk hurting his crush- erm, friend. Hunter and Edric agreed that they'd start their journey right away! Truth is, Edric wanted to impress the other and make a good first impression when they became more than friends. Okay, maybe he was getting a bit ahead of himself by saying "when", but who could blame him? He had never felt so attracted to someone before and Hunter seemed very determined to start as soon as possible, so in Edric's opinion, he made a good call, it was a win win. Hunter sighed, content with how easily they were traveling through the forest at night, wait. He halted in his tracks, 'Too easy' he thought, something had to be up, he wasn't feeling like himself after 5 hours of walking and he didn't notice it before, but Edric had been strangely quiet after those 5 hours. Hunter stopped in his tracks, Edric bumping into his back. What was he doing again? He couldn't quite remember, what was he even doing here? He looked over at Edric, 'Is that my boyfriend? He's so hot, there's no way,' Hunter thought, his mind airy and jumbled, Edric glanced over at Hunter, 'Wow, mom wasn't kidding when she said she'd find me a boyfriend. But this? No. This can't be! He's, my husband?! I mean if you had a guy like that, surely, you'd put a ring on it' Edric thought loosely, starring over at the blonde, the young blight's memory was wavering severely. Eventually Hunter saw these flashes in his mind, 'His uncle?' he thought, 'His companion?' and 'Black Tourmaline?' The last one snapped him back into reality, "BLACK TOURMALINE!" he shouted, the blonde gasped trying to recover his mind, he knew where he was. They were in the Forest of Delusion, he had been there once with his uncle, but he couldn't recall what had happened that day. It was a large forest that stretched for miles upon miles, its trees released a toxin that caused witches to forget the simplest of events and confuse fiction with reality, almost as if it were a drug, an abused substance. As funny as the state of mind appeared to outsiders, many did not return the forest and died a gruesome death after leading themselves towards brutal fates. Hunter pulled out a knife, hissing at the pain in his arm as he carved out important details. "Map in pocket, Green hair is friend, Black Tourmaline, Uncle" were all hastily carved into his skin, it bled furiously and stung generously, but Hunter ignored the pain, his drive to make it out numbing the marks momentarily. Edric too had regained some of his conscious mind back, he remembered very little, but enough to know they needed to get out of the forest. They faced each other, making eye contact, Hunter grabbed Edric's hand squeezing lightly to assure the taller that he knew what he was doing. The two held on, since they were less likely to be separated if they did, they wandered for hours upon hours, aimlessly searching for their way out. Finally, they rested near a tree, the sun almost peeking out, they had been traveling all night. "What if," Edric said quietly, "What if we don't get out?" He asked, he was slipping into that mind set again, God he couldn't even remember Hunter's name anymore. Hunter stayed silent, his mind slowing down, "I don't kno-" he paused again completely losing focus of the topic. "Who are you?" he asked, his eyes large and sparkling, Edric opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it quickly. "I-I don't know, but you are so pretty, you're gorgeous," Edric said touching Hunter's face, the shorter blushed furiously, "You're really handsome and I think, I think I am having gay panic," the blonde blurted out, his cheeks going pink. Edric smirked, a blush spreading across his face as well. Edric felt a rush of confidence and pinned the other against the body of a tree, the blonde let out a yelp, his face going red at their positioning. Edric looked at Hunter's lips, the shorter doing the same. Their faces were inches apart and grew closer and closer with every breath. Two hearts beating rapidly, bodies closer than ever before. Edric closed his eyes, the golden orbs vanishing, as he leaned in slowly, Hunter doing the same, his magenta eyes fluttered shut. Now all they had to do was close that gap...

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! If you have any predictions go ahead and make them, it won't change anything since I already have the next chapter saved to my drafts <3 Also feel free to ask questions and comment as you please^^