A Shadow's Light

" You promised. " " I lied. "

The sky was as dusky as it can get, complemented by the sweet melody of native birds. Sting clutched Lector to his chest tightly, his breath hitching in his throat as he looked down at him, tears streaking down his face.

" Sting-kun? What's the matter? " Lector whispered with concern evident on his face, keeping a close eye on Sting as his ears flicked at the sound of his cracked, broken voice. " I.. I'm sorry. Lector. I failed you. I let you die. You didn't deserve that, you didn't deserve any of that. I don't know why I didn't dive in to save you.. I just.. " 

Sting fell to his knees, sobbing loudly into the red fur of his companion, his rant continuing as Lector stayed quiet. " Lector, I'm so sorry, I should have done more. Tried harder to keep you safe. But I didn't. I was so caught up in my own situation that I paid no attention to you, So I am so sorry I decided from now on to keep an eye on you. "

" Stop Sti-- " Lector whispered, his voice too, now broken only to be cut off by Sting. " Stop? What do you mean? " 

Lector looked up at him with a soft smile, trying to hold back his shattered voice. " Stop venting. It wasn't your fault and I certainly didn't die. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here, right? " 

Sting thought for a moment before returning his own smile with a light nod, standing up with his companion in his arms. " I promise to be with you from now on. I'll never leave your side again. Ever. "

Laughing softly, Lector glanced up at him with a grin. " Sounds like a plan. " Sting smiled back down at him before huffing and looking around them. " Now we need to find a way out of here. " He whispered faintly.

" What line are we up to, Sting-kun? " Lector questioned, looking up at Sting with pleading eyes. Sting bit his lip, mentally arguing with himself whether he should speak or not before directing his gaze to his eyes and speaking in a hushed voice. " Take thy one just as planned. "

Without further adieu, Sting began to walk down the street, his steps tapping at the pathway and lingering in an echo throughout the dead city.

" What could it possibly mean? " He heard Lector mumble, more to himself rather than out loud. Sting stared at the ground that he walked on, his mind full of so many thoughts at once, rushing through his head like a busy highway.

' Take thy one just as planned ' What kind of line is that? It's impossible to predict what may happen.. but at least we know for sure. Rogue is apart of it. He always is.

Wait..

Is it possible that this line doesn't involve Rogue? Take thy one.. Is someone trying to take Lector from me? Or.. seperate us? It's possible. Maybe if we looked ahead..

The next line is ' Above them all is where thee stands ' so, maybe one of us comes out on top? Oh no.. that means th--

His train of thoughts were cut short abruptly by a tug, on what was left of his shirt, by Lector, frantically pointing in the distance. Sure enough, there stood a walking Rogue, trailing closely behind him was a Frosch.

This time was different. This time.. Sting stood his ground. His body tensed naturally in a defensive position, a faded dragon of light appearing of him as his aura burned furiously in his eyes.

He has guts to show up.. even after what he did to us?! What he did to me?!

Memories of what happened flashed back into Sting's mind, shocking him at the most.

Wait.. that's right.. he was.. crying.

" Rog-- " As he started, his line of vision focused to realize Rogue had disappeared. Vanished? Well.. he did control shadows, after all. Sting set Lector onto the ground, darting to where he last saw Rogue.

Vaguely, but still audible, he could hear Lector crying out after him. " Sting-kun! Where are you going?! You can't leave me here! " 

His heart was torn to pieces but he ran anyway, he had to solve this; if it meant getting out alive." I'm sorry, Lector! I will come back for you, I will! "

The next words that left Lector's mouth were faint, but even though he heard them, he felt like his heart was no more.

" You promised! "

Sting's tears overflowed from his eyes, dripping down his cheeks and splattering on the ground, his run coming to the stop and allowing him to sulk there for a few moments. After about a minute, he ran off again, his cracked, broken voice under his breath as it came out into a whisper.

" I lied. "

EDIT: Since I made you guys so heartbroken, I decided to give you the name of the next chapter. Tell me what you think might happen. What does the title have to the next part of the story?

The Marionette.