Of The Flesh

Chapter 4

Third Person Pov

Xavier gritted his teeth and a lump formed in his throat. He had been walking home to his cabin alone, angry at himself for acting like an idiot and jumping off a building. His poor sense of character had led him to this and he knew it. All those years of hiding and watching from the side had been wasted because of it and now he could do nothing about it. Tonight, failure was his big topic.

He walked silently with an almost pained frown, his body was slumped from running like if his life depended on it. His hamstring and calves throbbed as if they wanted to collapse. And for a second, he did want to collapse, but not only did he want to collapse, he also wanted to fall over and die in a hole were no one would ever find him.

Xavier sighed, and his stomach grumbled. He felt miserable. The wind was trying to slap his face, and a huge fat leaf hit his forehead. One irritation after another, his head began to ache and Xavier trudged awkwardly. With exasperation, he slowly reached his humble little home where the wind seemed to ignore it and not a single fat leaf laid on it. It made a little sensation of longing travel to his heart. It became another reminder of his little paradise.

He trudged to his porch, his rocking chair waited with an inaudibly greeting that he only seemed to catch and his wind chimes made no sound. It almost look like an invisible force field had protected it just for him. Another spark of joy made way to his heart, it was just the way he left it. With a faint bit of energy, he walked up the wooden stairs and reached a broken wooden door. His brow twitched and lip curled in a grimace.

'Nevermind.' He thought bitterly, his face was instantly crestfallen. Apparently, the wind got to his little home before he arrived. The day, to him of course, was still sour and indifferent.

He sighed in frustration, combing his hair back as sweat dropped off the side of his face. He pushed the door with little force and peeked his head inside, his hair flopping on his cheek. And the sight of his home alarmed him by the most. He flung the door open, his lip pursed, his brows creased. It looked like a tornado flipped his home upside down, cushions were on the floor, his cabinets were all open, his potted plants were turned over, and worst of all his fridge was wide open with food splattered on the floor.

His stomach dropped and panic curled in his chest. He immediately scrambled over to his fridge checking if any of his special meat was taken from his cooler. Xavier went around the wasted food and flung himself inside his fridge, checking every crevice, searching in every door of his fridge and found his food missing.

He cursed, pulling his hair and throwing his bag on the floor in frustration. Growling, he scowled at his home once more and slumped in a nearby chair, fuming. He hugged himself as his head ached. He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled heavily. "What a bad day..." He mused without humor. His heart felt heavy and a new, profound feeling settled in. Uncomfortable and squirmishable, boy, he did not like it.

As he wiped his runny nose, he listened to his own slow breathing, an almost peaceful and calm sound. He began to calm and his headache back just a bit. Focusing on the sounds surrounding him, he heard a sudden clang to his far right, bring his attention to the side of his bedroom. It sounded like his metal flask he had left behind in the morning.

Xavier groaned silently, he lifted his head. Unsure if it was his imagination, he sat still, focusing on the far right of the room. Again, he heard the rolling of his flask and a different sounding following, a loud cracking sound.

That sound didn't sound natural and quite frightening to add. Swallowing roughly, his hands began to shake, as if adrenaline had began to kick in.

Zeroing on his room, he acted as quickly as he could, his instincts kicked in. He got up as quietly as he could, taking of his shoes and setting them aside. He crouched down, waiting silently and his gold piercing eyes focused on his bedroom door. He crept to the door, pulling a kunai from his pocket, avoiding any debris on the floor.

Whatever was in his room couldn't know about his whereabouts without stalking through his woods injured. The woods he lived in were tragically known for taking the lives of clueless travelers and animals who stumble across it, lost from the path they would be taking. Anything that came across the woods and survived walking through it would very quick and potentially, very dangerous.

Pushing the door as quietly as he could, he peeked his head in his room spotting what was a huge black dog, laying on Xavier's very own bed, licking grime from his huge black paws. Such a strange and unthreatning sight, yet tension arose from Xavier's shoulders, his first intention was to run from it. Warning signals flashed spontaneously, and he didn't hesitate to back away. With his left foot going back, the floor creaked, making him want to slap himself fervently. He heard the oversized dog stop and the creak of his bed. And that was his queue to run away.

He took off again, picking up nothing but his bag on the way out. He no longer cared to keep silent as he burst through his door and ran into the forest once again.

Xavier's Pov

I took off flying as soon as I saw that huge ass dog. There was no way in hell, that I was going to risk my life so that I could see if it was friendly or not! He was fucking huge! He took up my whole bed! And my bed was King sized! Its paws were the size of my fucking face! That boy would have fucking demolished me! Are you kidding me!? Of course anyone would have ran if they saw a fucking horse of a dog!

I bolted out of the house breaking in the fastest sprint I could ever pull of. I was shaking and sweat never stopped to roll down my face and occasionally into my eyes. All I could see was blurry and my lungs felt so expanded that I couldn't breath air right anymore. My mouth was open, gasping, trying to make up for what my nose couldn't take in. The wind blowing didn't make it it easier to run either nor the huge trees in my path. My muscles tightened and burned as if they never ran before, I could hear loud thumping behind me. The dog-horse was probably chasing me. The wind was getting faster and more  leaves fell.

I could hear it getting closer. I had lived here for half of my life and had never experienced being chased out of my home. But because I have lived here for long this whole forest was like a index card to me. I had memorized its pathways and I was out in a jiffy and unto Konoha streets, cutting the chase short.

Panting hard, attempting to catch my breath, I walked on the empty streets of Konoha looking disheveled.

Third Person Pov

So now Xavier was walking amongst the streets, looking like road kill. His white socks, no longer white, with wet forest mud, twigs and dried leaves stuck to his socks. His bag and jacket were half off his body, sliding off his shoulders, drooping to his waist. His hair and face was dripping with sweat and his body was sticking to clothes. He was an absolute mess.

And he keep walking, not straight but walking. He was kind of tired and sleepy. Though today was... Eventful, he was still alive and a tad bit grateful for it. 'At least I'm still walking.' He thought as his legs suddenly collapsed underneath him, landing on his face. He sighed into the ground.

Xavier didn't want to get up, but he had to. So he got up and sat on a near by bench. Drowsily, he laid down slowly and bit by bit of time he fell asleep, exposed to everything and anything around him and to their will.

Unguarded and open, Xavier slept on a public bench.