Does It Matter

29

Wu Xie relaxed slightly when he saw the bright cherry red sedan, perhaps he could flag them down? No, if life had taught him anything it was that you can't trust anyone, no matter who they may be. He stood, staying alert and ready to run.

_____________________________________________

  Zhang Qiling was just about ready to abandon this blasted vehicle, the rain kept coming, he still could barely see if it weren't for the help of the headlights, and he was almost certain that he had fallen too far behind at this point to catch up. He gave up and rolled the window down, hoping it would help clear the fog that had settled over the windshield. It was a fruitless effort, that only resulted in him getting soaked, but he could at least see a bit of his surroundings this way, and he was glad for it as he saw a movement in the treeline.
His instincts were drawing him to it, and life had taught him to listen well to his inner voice, as it often proved most reliable among other resources.
It was useless to try to drive like this anyway, he decided as he pulled over, shutting off the horrid contraption and stepping out, huffing at the way the door stuck and groaned when opened.

He saw the movement again in his peripheral, and immediately decided to investigate properly. Carefully he approached the suspect area, wary of attack. He withdrew his sword from his back, holding it ready at his side.
  Zhang Qiling approached with careful steps, like a predator stalking his prey, and was only slightly caught off guard by the sudden attack, as his would be assailant pounced.

His prey was also a predator it would appear.

He blocked the attack, his sword clashing with a clang against a short blade from above. He countered with a twist of his blade, knocking the knife from his assailant's hand, but the other did not give in so easily and no sooner had the object left his hand than he full body slammed him while the sword was still turned away, the sudden force causing him to lose his balance and grip on his own blade, as he fell to the muddy ground below. He did not worry about whether he could win, as he was just as skilled in hand to hand combat as he was with a blade, but this was taking too much of his time.
Losing patience, he rolled and held his attacker to the ground, using his arm to pin the other by the neck, cutting off oxygen and giving himself a moment to view the person.
He gasped, seeing the exhausted and beaten person below him.

Chocolate brown eyes stared back at him, also seeming to recognize the opponent, and a small smile made it's way onto the others face.

"Wu Xie." He stated, shock evident in his voice but not quite an exclamation. He quickly removed his arm, allowing the other to breathe freely.
Wu Xie immediately choked on a desperate breath.

"Xiaoge, glad you're alive." Wu Xie stated once he had regulated his breathing a bit.

The older was confused by the statement at first, before he remembered the night before, and how their supposed-to-be resting place had ended up.

_______________________________________________

Wu Xie immediately choked on a desperate breath, as if I wasn't already out of breath with all the running and fighting.

"Xiaoge, glad you're alive." Wu Xie stated, forcing his breathing to be somewhat normal.

He saw a brief flash of confusion cross the others face, before realization set in.
"You as well." The older stated, guilt written behind the words. Xiaoge looked around them at the forest, then back at Wu Xie, a question in his eyes.
"I'll explain after we get out of here." He responded to the silent querie, before a thought entered his mind. "How did you get here anyway? I have the key to the bike."
Xiaoge nodded, then stood, pulling Wu Xie to his feet as well. "Drove." He stated simply, as he began to lead the way back to the road, both retrieved their weapons along the way.
Wu Xie followed, suddenly remembering the cherry red sedan he had seen.

They arrived at the vehicle, and Wu Xie nodded his head, looking at the vehicle. He could only guess how the his companion had acquired it.
"Where did you get this?" He turned to look at the other, who surprisingly looked rather sheepish at the question.
"You stole it didn't you." It wasn't a question.
Xiaoge rushed to defend himself, as though Wu Xie himself hadn't stolen a vehicle less than forty eight hours before.
"He sold us out. Deserved it."
Wu Xie blinked. Well that actually explained a lot, he hadn't had the time to wonder how they had been found, but it made sense that it had been someone at the motel that sold them out.
He smirked, and reached out his hand without looking back at his strange companion, which earned him another perplexed look. "Keys." He stated simply, and the other quickly handed them over.
Wu Xie  could easily guess that the drive had not been a pleasant experience from the action. He kept his grin in place as he climbed into the driver's seat, only letting it fall as he saw the soaked interior of the car.
"You left the window down." He sighed, "it's fine, I can't possible get anymore soaked than I already am anyway." He stated so as not to make the taller man feel any more guilty. Internally though he mourned the fact that he would not be able to use the seat heaters because of it.
He started the engine, and sighed as he felt a sense of control return to his being. Everything would be fine.