Black Heart (mxm)

Walking Death

(The second part of the last chapter) 

The rain was merciless as it fell in torrents across the grassland Daiya found himself standing in hours later. His bare feet sunk into the saturated, mossy soil beneath them, making walking a tremendous effort, considering he had already been struggling to remain upright as it were. 

His eyes turned to the heavens, the droplets of rain burning his flesh, though he could feel nothing as it began to dissolve. 

A bit of movement drew his attention slowly to his left. A rabbit. It was still quite a distance away, but Daiya somehow knew that the creature was dead, even though he could not make out any specific physical characteristics yet. 

It's left ear twitched, then it hopped a few bounds closer before standing back up onto its hind legs, clearly interested in him. Daiya nodded to the rabbit, his mouth open slightly, perhaps with the want to speak, but no words formed as the rainstorm somehow grew in strength. Blood began to run down the right side of his face from the damage the precipitation was causing, disturbing half of his vision. 

His instincts told him to seek shelter, yet his mind was failing in moving his body back toward the trees he had left behind some distance away. Instead, he knelt down, the action incredibly slow in order for him to keep his balance. 

As if the motion called to the rabbit, it hopped over, stopping just a foot or so away before flicking another ear. Daiya paid it little mind as he carefully got himself situated on the ground. His attention seemed to become fixated on his burning hands as he flexed their fingers into the wet moss beneath them. 

He couldn't manage to look away until he felt a sudden weight settle upon his head, causing him to try and lift it in order to see what had occurred. The rabbit, being mysteriously absent from in front of him all of a sudden, silently told Daiya that it was likely the creature, especially because there was a little damp, clawed paw next to his left eye. 

It felt odd to have a rabbit draped over his head. He did not understand the reason for the creature's awkward interest in resting on his hair, and he wasn't sure he wanted it to remain there. 

Responding to the animal's odd decision, Daiya leaned his head back slowly, continuing the action until he felt the panicking rabbit slip from his sizzling scalp. 

With the critter removed, Daiya began to look over his shoulder, but by the time he managed to complete the action, he felt the bunny climbing into his lap. 

Pursing his bleeding lips, he slowly turned his head back around, then looked down, only to see a different creature there. It was an undead, too, but where the rabbit had damp fur, the medium black bird that settled on his leg had feathers that shone oddly in the downpour. 

He narrowed his eyes on the animal, having never been very interested in birds... at least, not since one had defecated on him when he was five years old. He was just working on getting his steaming arm to lift and remove the animal when he noticed a long, thin leg stop before him, followed by another. 

The rain that had been dissolving his tired body was partially blocked by whatever new creature had just appeared, drawing his attention away from the bird out of curiosity.

It was a deer. Clearly not a fawn, but definitely not an adult, either. It stood with its head bent over Daiya, it's right eye clearly missing, as well as several tufts of fur and a few scrapes of flesh. 

He wasn't sure why the deer had arrived, or the rabbit or bird, for that matter, but he did not mind the shelter the larger animal was providing. 

A loud boom overhead alerted him just in time to feel a shock of lightning vibrate through his body after having struck the saturated ground yards away, jolting his muscles uncomfortably. The strike made him consider moving again, but his limbs were already slightly sunk into the muddy and mossy ground, making moving them nearly impossible for his awkward, undead self. 

He tried, never the less, to get up, even going as far as to grab hold of one of the deer's legs and try to lift his soaked body from the ground. His efforts failed. 

Daiya decided to settle back down, hunching as close to the large animal in front of him to try and prevent any further damage, having finally realized that he was likely going to be unable to survive if he continued to remain beneath the fresh rainfall. 

He stayed still for an unknown amount of time, his thoughts having ceased, his vision faded into darkness. A soft touch against his less damaged cheek brought him slowly out of his unintended slumber. 

"I had told the animals to find you for me, yet none had returned..." Fin whispered as his fingers gently sifted through Daiya's wet hair, then moved beneath his chin to lift it. 

The look on the man's face wasn't readable as Daiya stared up at him with his good left eye, his injured right one finally closed to prevent more damage. 

Fin released him after another moment and straightened, allowing Daiya to notice the large amount of other animals around him that must have gathered while he'd slept. There had to be nearly an entire herd of deer in the area, as well as several kinds of birds and other mammals. 

"I had only raised a few to find you... I am not sure why there are this many with you." Fin mumbled as he leaned down again after glancing around the area.  

Daiya noticed that the rain had just about ended as he watched Fin drape a cloak over his head, blocking most of his vision, then felt his body being lifted into the man's arms. 

"Where is that damned bat I gave you? You should not have been walking around on your own." He growled as Daiya immediately snuggled in. 

For once, Fin didn't complain at all about the abrupt, tightening hug. In fact, he almost seemed to return it, holding Daiya just a little bit tighter. Perhaps he was actually worried for him once it had started raining so hard... but that was quite unlikely. 

"Le... lev." Daiya tried, butchering the single word he was trying to say. 

Fin paused near one of his large undead horses and shifted him a bit in his arms. "Did you just say something?" He asked, sounding shocked. 

It was still hard to speak, but Daiya was determined. He failed a few more times, only managing a couple tired moans, but finally he was able to get a simple sentence out. 

"Leave Kova 'lone." 

He couldn't see Fin's face, since his own was snug against his neck, enjoying the warmth there, but Daiya felt Fin's arms tighten around him a little more before he carefully got them onto his horse and, likely, heading back toward the keep. 

"He left you alone to nearly die. If I see him again, I will make good on my promise to end him." 

Fin sounded almost like he was angry about him possibly dying, again, but Daiya brushed the thought aside. He wanted him gone, surely he wouldn't be too upset if he met his end in such a way.

"You are clearly not a mute zombie since you are beginning to talk again. I'm not quite sure what you are, but my curiosity is piqued. I believe that I'll keep you until I see what kind of undead you actually are." He added, making Daiya's lips tilt up just a tiny bit. 

His memories told him that he should be happy with Fin's decision, but his heart was still unresponsive. The only time it had reacted at all was when he was forcing Kovash to fall asleep. It had hurt, but he knew that it had needed to be done. Daiya felt that Fin would no longer be lenient with his former creation, and while Daiya loved the creature, it likely would not have let him try to return... and in order to complete his deal, he'd had to find Fin again.