Free Falling: chapter 3

Metal clinging against another and horse whining in panic and a soft man's voice yelling out filled the golden prince's ears long before he could see the battle. He leaned against a tree branch as he panted for air. So he was not a runner, Henry prefer stalking and being stealthy. Not running full head on into a fight like certain people. Blue eyes looked up to see Roark, a irritable annoying little man that has been working his nerves since day one, in his element. He moved like a deadly dancer. White hair unraveled when slender fingers pulled out the darts and spikes that kept the long soft looking hair with beads braided in up and out of the way outside of the fight. He felt his heart thumping hard against his ribs as he continued watching the usually slow moving, lazy man throwing one knife into a man's throat while swinging the long blade of the sword to stop a bandit's own knife from doing the same thing.

“Henry, you dolt! GET OVER HERE!” Lucan's voice rang out, his words finally hitting the prince's ears and bringing him out of the odd haze he found himself in. Shaking his head to shake away the feelings and thoughts that he rather not have of another man, let alone of `that' man, he walked quickly to the healer's side who was trying to keep the horses calm or otherwise they would be stomping all over the small brunette that was hiding behind them.

“Oh lord, he's a simple one.” He muttered as he tried to grab the mane of a small beige pony. “Steady girl, steady.” He held onto her long snot petting it as he cooed her to calmness. “That's a good girl, my pretty good girl.” He snapped his head to the right when he heard Lucan cried out when the massive black horse bucked him off and rushed in to pull the boy out of the way; thanking Gods that Lucan crawled out the way of large hooves coming down hard on the earth.

The massive giant horse snorted and broke out into a run, plowing any still standing man down, the stranger and Roark were wise enough to just fall out of the way. Then Soar, just flew out of the foliage of the dark forest like a creature of legend and hit against the massive black horse in its side. The smaller horse kept smashing his head against the other's, harsh snorting as he kept the other horse from moving forward, biting at its neck and shoulder when it tried to.

Lucan panted as he rubbed his sore chest and head from the horse pushing him off. Shoulder rough-cut dark tawny hair covered over the dark eyes were fling back off by a the side of his hand just in time to see a bandit with a broken arm and sprained leg from the massive black horse plowing into him moved to pull a dagger out of his fallen comrade's back and intent on jumping onto the tall stranger that join in the fight along side Roark, who just brushing dirt off of his shirt and pants and pulling a leaf from his dark hair. With a snapped decision, the healer felt around the earthy ground for a weapon and found a thick tree limb and threw it with all his might, cracking the bandit's skull when it impacted agaisnt it.

The stranger turned around and looked at the fallen enemy who still held the dagger in his death grip then looked at the black eyed healer with a smile of thanks on his dark face. Lucan waved it off with a smile of his own and pulled himself up. Immediately he went on to check the frighten boy in his prince's arms. The boy was crying and trembling with a few bruises and scrapes from when the mounts kept pushing him against the tree in their own panic.

“There you are, its okay little darling.” Lucan took the boy from Henry's arms and used his dark blue tunic sleeves to wipe away the tears gently before the boy pushed away and ran into the waiting arms of the tall stranger who picked him up as he cradled the brunet boy agaisnt his chest. A large hand rubbed into the soft short hair as he muttered softly against the small cheek.

Roark walked over, bloodstained and dirty with leaves sticking in his hair and clothes and pushed his brother away from the big black horse, telling him to go comfort the small beige pony that was still upset from the smell of blood and death in the air. The horse bumped his snot agaisnt the man's cheek before trotting over to nuzzle lightly agaisnt the small pony. Roark reached up to gently rubbed under the large creature's jaw, cooing nonsense agaisnt his muzzle.

“You left anyone alive to question?” Henry walked up, no longer striking awe about the smaller man's skills as a fighter. He refused to think about how angelic the other was looking, agaisnt the beast of a horse with his long white hair spilling over his shoulders and down his back, beads and feathers tangled within.

The warrior nodded and led the large horse down to a spray bush to nibble on. “I think one of the men that this big guy tackled through is still breathing. Give me a few minutes and I'll have him singing.” He looked up with a happy cat grin but the blond prince shook his head and rubbing his short blunt nails under the short golden hairs at the top of the neck.

“Naw, Let me handle making that bastard sing, you just clean up before you scared that boy there.” He nodded his head off to the little human that cling to the dark stranger. “You look like a savage demon or something.” The warrior raised an thin eyebrow at the comment and looked down to rubbed a hand against the dark horse's forehead. There's a stream nearby, don't take too long, we don't know if there's more out there.”

Roark snorted a short laugh before stepping closer to the taller man, arms folded against his chest, a thumb rubbing against a pendent on one of his many necklaces. “You might need to come with me, Big Boy. Just to wash, I mean watch my back for me.” He pressed on to Henry's chest with his folded arms only keeping them from being chest to chest.

Then the cat-eyes widen as the sharp jaw was grabbed and his head was force up as pale chapped lips were pressed against his own. Henry chuckled as Roark was quiet and seemed to be in shock as he turned the warrior around and pushed him forward. “I think you can handle it.”

Henry left the still shocked Roark to talk with Lucan about finding out who was still alive and dead and question the ones that can still talk. He was mentally beating himself up for kissing the white haired loon. Out of the corner of his eye lid, he watched him walking away into the night to clean the blood out of his clothes and pale skin. He did not know why he kissed him. The blue-eyed man just had to do something to shut his mouth. Why it had to be a peck of the lips, he did not know.

++

After a few hours, with Noel sleeping on Sam's bed roll and now cleaned Roark brushing down Soar, the other three were found around a slowly-burning fire discussing their plans. A few days ago, Henry and his hunting group plus one extra warrior came across a village being raided by bandits. Feeling like they should stop the raid, Henry and his group jumped in and fought as best as they could but the bandits were winning and killed all but the three of them before suddenly leaving. Roark was tracking them down while Henry tried to keep up and Lucan handled the horses and the remains of the supplies, taking what was needed and leaving the poor villagers with they can live without.

But these bandits after days of hard tracking, these bandits were not like the ones they were fighting and losing to on that day. They were the same men in an appearance sense but in a physical one, they were weaker and were much easier to beat with just Roark and Sam fighting them. The three men factored in that they must have been tired and worn out after days of being hounded and Roark was a skilled sword for hire who was used to fighting under more hazardous conditions and Sam who was fresh and alert. But the way the man that they were integrating was speaking and looking was like someone was more afraid of being caught snitching on his boss then being killed by a tall man that just killed his comrades like nothing. And with one look at Noel, the bandit escaped his binds and stole the dagger on Sam's belt and slit his own throat.

So after throwing the corpse on to the large pile of the ones that was killed in the fight, they went on to questioning a few others but they all took one look at Noel and killed themselves. One man even went as far as to cut off his own tongue before gagging on his own blood and a few moments later he was added to the pile of the dead.

“There's something about Noel that got these boys scared.” Sam pointed out, digging a stick into the fire to keep it burning for a bit longer.

“Where did you meet up with the boy?” Henry spoke, rubbing his thumb under his lip in thought, looking at the dark man.

Sam shrugged. “In a cave. The boy couldn't even walk right, can barely talk. Hopped around on his hands and feet like a rabbit.” His ice-blue eyes stared at the prince, wondering almost the something he was. “ The boy isn't anyone special, he just cling to me and I don't have to heart to push him away.”

“But you don't know who he really is and where he truly came from.” Lucan started not questioned. “That mark on his forehead, I seen it before but I don't remember the meaning of it but I feel like it is important to this little mystery.”

The other two men nodded in agreement, both know that the healer was right but they can't do nothing about it right then. The three of them agreed to sleep on this thought and made plans to go to a nearby town to see if someone there knew a bit more then they did. If there were no answers there then they would figure out what to do then.

Henry watched from his spot on the far right of the fire pit as Roark got settled down on his own bedroll, back against the tree truck with the dark bay horse close by, setting in to sleep. Fingers rushed up to rub against his calloused lips as he thought once more of that soft brush of lips. He groaned, wishing he didn't give in to that feeling, not when it was going to haunt him.

The songs and sounds of the crickets and night creatures filled the midnight air, providing a gentle lullaby to the now five travelers. The pale sideways `S' on the sleeping boy's forehead glowed in a pulsating blue.