31 Strings

It's a cloudy and rainy night, perfect for a surprise attack, Niles thinks, an ironic grin adorning his face. His hurried steps echo through the woods, leaving behind chantings and battle cries and screams, the sounds of weapons clashing against weapons and flesh and metal armor. What a bastard, whoever chose to attack them at such time. The outlaw would make him pay, but all in its due time. For now, he had to focus on the idiot of Subaki that lured a bunch of the enemies away completely alone thinking he could deal with them all, when it was obvious he could not.

Noticing he had lost track, Niles comes to a halt and looks around him, listens to his surroundings. Where did he go, where did he go, he couldn't have gone that far–

And there it was, the frantic flutter of a pegasus and the crackle of a Bolt Naginata relatively close by, though rapidly moving away. The outlaw resumes his dash towards the origin of the turmoil, finding a pair of weakened foes that were very probably left behind along the way. An arrow to each is enough to dispatch them, though the fact that there aren't any more bodies littering the road concerns Niles. With who many of those nuisances did Subaki leave? Five? Six? Niles' sure he saw at least four chasing after the Sky Knight, and then another two disappeared, though he wasn't certain what happened to those. Thankfully, it appeared that he would be there to support Subaki soon.

Wait.

Niles barely has any time to realize that the pegasus had turned this way and was flying towards him when he sees the shadow of the beast fly above him without its rider. Subaki would never send his pegasus away unless it was absolutely necessary. He must have fallen and found it too difficult to get on without risking both his safety and the safety of his mount. This whole situation became worse every second.

The outlaw pulls every single bit of strength he has and runs as fast as his body allows until he finally catches sight of an enemy archer. He hides behind a tree to have a better look at the scene. An Archer, three Spear Masters, and one beaten and bruised Sky Knight with his uniform torn in several places, swinging and thrusting the Naginata in his hands in a way he only could, wildly and graceful all at the same time. Only Subaki could concern himself with looking good while fighting to save his ass. Niles smiles, wishing he could just sit and enjoy the beautiful scene before him for a little, too bad if he didn't act soon the Sky Knight would be overwhelmed during the next minute.

Not leaving his hiding spot, Niles fires an arrow, two, and there's the archer down. While two get distracted trying to locate the source of the shots, Subaki fells another and hurts one more, which Niles finishes as he abandons cover and heads over to help Subaki end the remaining one.

"Niles? What are you doing here?"

"What, not even a thank you kiss?"

"What are you talking about? I had everything under control."

"Hmmp, I should've let them torture you a while longer, at least long enough to get you on your knees. You looked so good struggling for your life out there." A devious grin breaks through Niles’ face.

Subaki rolls his eyes. "Oh sure, I bet you would have loved it they have killed me."

"Don't be ridiculous, I would have never let them kill you, you know that."

"You make me doubt, sometimes."

"Aww, really? What have I done to make you think that?"

"Do you want an honest answer?"

The outlaw laughs. "Alright, let's hear all about it while we head back to camp." He offers his shoulder for Subaki to lean on.

"Thank you, but I can still walk."

"Sure you can." This time is Niles who rolls his eye. "Come on, don't be so proud, I want to get back before morning. Don't force me to carry you like a bride all the way there."

"W-what?" Subaki blinks a hundred times which prompts a chuckle from the other.

"What you heard, come on, just let me help you."

"Fine, fine." Subaki finally concedes defeat, a faint shade of red painting his cheeks.

"There we go. It will be a bit of a long way back. You got pretty far, sure you were paying attention?" This man just loved to tease, didn't he?

"Of course, I did! Don't you dare imply otherwise."

"Hey, calm down, I'm just toying with you. Besides, haven't we talked about this before? You don't need to hide with me, everyone makes mistakes. Yes, even you, Mister Perfect, and you need to stop putting yourself on the line to meet your own impossible expectations." The moment Niles attempts to glare at Subaki, the Sky Knight turns to avoid his eye. Well, whatever. He just wanted to show he cared, maybe he wasn't good enough at it.

After walking for several meters under light rain and heavy silence, Subaki speaks again.

"Thank you."

"Uh?"

"Thank you, for helping me. And for everything else." Subaki still refused to meet the other's gaze.

Those words were enough for Niles. "Hmm, don't worry about it."