You Owe Me Two

Chapter 19 - Taking Care of You

××Zypher××

My eyes snapped open and my hand reached for my knife. I furrowed my brows when all I felt was soft strands of grass. I turned my head and examined the fire crackling beside me. My mind went into overdrive and forced all the memories from last night to the front of my mind: Callis, the villagers, the fire, Wild.

I sat up on my elbows and swung my head around, scanning for the fairy. She was nowhere in sight. Her backpack and my bag were sitting near a tree and there were berries and a cooked fish on a large leaf near the fire. Obvious signs that she had been here, and at the least, capable of moving.

With my head pounding, I pushed myself all the way into a sitting position and pulled the leaf closer. I couldn't stop myself from digging a knife from my jacket out of instinct. All around me were dense trees. The sounds of running water and gentle wind on the leaves filled the air.

The melody was interrupted by the rustling of leaves and I quickly turned my head to watch Wild and the rays emerge from the foliage. Her arms were full of sticks and twigs.

Our eyes met and she dropped the wood in favor of rushing towards me.

"Are you okay? How do you feel? Does your head hurt?" Wild rambled, dropping to her knees beside me. Her hands reached for my head but I interjected and grasped them with my own before pulling her closer. Our lips met in a chaste kiss. After a moment, I pulled away and waited for Wild to open her eyes again.

"How did you know my head would hurt?" I questioned, eyebrow raised.

"You were bleeding last night. On the back of your head," she explained, frowning. She pointed a finger to her head, so I lifted my own and felt the bandages I hadn't even noticed. They were wrapped securely around my head.

I popped a berry in my mouth and offered them to Wild before asking my next question.

"Why didn't you tell me you had powers? Well, powers that could do that," Wild paused.

"We aren't exactly supposed to use them outside of the Forest unless we absolutely have to. It's forbidden and it's better if we don't tell people, so they don't expect us to use them," she explained, absentmindedly rolling a berry between two fingers.

"Fairy rules are strange," I commented, taking a bite of my fish.

"We're just secretive. Keeps us safe," She shrugged. The rays gathered around us and we took turns feeding them berries and leaves.

"What happened at the village exactly?"

"I think Callis put sleeping powder in our food," Wild mumbled, feeding Link another berry.

"Why wouldn't Callis have tied you up? We must have woke up around the same time," I thought out-loud.

"I'm not really sure about that part to be honest. Maybe she woke you up purposefully for the ritual and I just happened to wake up around that time. Fairies are immune and resistant to certain substances and she wouldn't have known what I am," Wild proposed.

That made the most sense. I leaned down to finish off my fish but caught Wild giving me side-glances.

"What is it?" I question, "You clearly have something on your mind."

"Did she say why she needed you?" She asked, glancing down at the leaf in her hand, nervously bending the edges as she spoke. I was waiting for that question. She deserved to know anyways.

"I have vampire blood in my veins. She could sense it."

"Were you bitten?"

"No, I was born with it in my blood. A heirloom in a sense. It's just enough for extra strength, speed, and agility. It's something all Calamity family assassins have."

"That's insane. I can't even tell," she said, giving me a once over like she would find something she hadn't seen before.

"People aren't supposed to be able to tell so that's good," I chuckled.

"Thank you for telling me," She said, smiling.

"I wish I could tell you everything," I mumbled, I leaned back on the grass and gazed up at the clouds passing overhead. It wasn't long before Wild joined me.

"Why can't you?"

"It would take too long."

She paused, the gears in her mind turning as she formulated a question.

"Does the vampire blood do anything to your lifespan?" She asked, turning her head to the side to look at me.

"We are supposed to live for a long time," I said.

"Supposed to?"

"Most of us are killed some way or another. A mission gone bad, a revenge scheme that works; the life of an assassin isn't a safe one." It wasn't safe for anyone, including Wild.

"Fairies can live for a really long time too. In some cases, even forever," her hand moved and interlocked with mine, "So you need to stick around. I don't want to live without you."

Our faces inched closer and we shared a sweet kiss in the warm grass with our little rays cuddled around us. We were bruised and shaky but we had eachother.

"I didn't know fairies lived forever." I broke the kiss with my words.

"Moment ruined, Zypher," She huffed, "And how did you not know? We've had the same king for centuries."

"I wasn't interested in learning the few facts out there about fairies. I just wanted to know how to kill people and fight big monsters." I shrugged.

"I take offense to that," She grumbled.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"I could be a big monster. You never know," She stated.

"Well, if you're a monster, you're the cutest one I've ever seen. Fooled me well," I said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer. Wild blushed and covered her face in an attempt to hide it.

It only made her look cuter.

-----
Little, fluffy filler chapter
Struggled with word count