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The rays from the full moon peak through the curtains of Shiro’s room casting a blue hue over everything. It is the only source of light in his room for daylight has been long gone and Shiro had only just entered the room, leaving the torches unlit and barren. The only sign of living in his room are the scarce droplets of blood all over the marble floor an immediate sign that there had been an entry. Shiro takes a stick and lights it on fire before igniting the closest torch to him. Orange light flickers to life and illuminates the room.
“Who is there?” Shiro shouts, drawing his weapon, “Show yourself right now.”
There is no answer but years of training has given Shiro the ability to sense someone's presence. He can feel the tension with the person in close proximity. Shiro quickly accesses the situation: he’s a sunfire elf noble in the middle of moonshadow elf territory during wartime. It’s a full moon meaning that it was the perfect opportunity for any moonshadow assassin to come in and take his life for they were undefeatable at this time to the point they couldn’t even be seen.
Shiro repeats himself, “Show yourself.”
A drop of blood falls onto his face and Shiro looks up, to an empty ceiling. Before he can react he hears rustling and a pot rolling around the floor and Shiro turns toward the direction. Shiro smiles, drawing out his blade. While moonshadow elves are nearly invisible during a full moon, his dagger forged from the fires of the sun itself will melt any weapon that dared to come close to its proximity.
“I said show--mmph!”
Before Shiro could finish a hand went over his mouth and a blade was held against his throat as the person drags him over to the corner.
“If you care for your life,” a voice whispers into his ear, “You’ll shut the hell up.”
Shiro grits his teeth as he nods, complying to the intruder’s wishes. The blade presses harder against Shiro’s throat.
“Is there anybody else home?” the person asks, his voice dripping with venom.
Shiro shakes his head. His servants have been called off for the day and the guards are too far away to hear him without the special bell he has in case of an emergency. He’s alone and completely defenseless, left to the mercy of this elf who is probably out for him. The intruder drops the blade and releases Shiro.
“Pack,” the elf who is still invisible picks up a bag and tosses it towards Shiro, “You must leave the premises now before more come.”
Shiro catches the bag in confusion and nearly drops it, “I’m sorry what?”
“There is no time for explanations if you don’t want the Dark Ring to murder you should leave and preferably now while I can protect you.”
The Dark Ring is a terrorist organization of moonshadow elves who believe that all elf races should remain pure and untouched. They encourage segregation between all the kingdoms and any mixed elves should be annihilated. They were one of the many causes of the current war amongst the elf races. Shiro, being a symbol of peace from the sunfire elves was a perfect target to cause disruption. If the Dark Ring managed to get him, it could finally trigger the neutral sunfire elves to finally join the war.
Shiro grips the bag as he asks, “How do I know I can trust you?”
The answer comes quicker than he expected, “You don’t.”
He doesn’t know how long he has until the so-called threat finds him. Even if this person was lying, his best bet was still to go with him. Having made his decision, Shiro quickly packed his things, taking his most precious valuables with him before telling the elf, “I’m ready.”
“Okay,” the balcony door slides open, “Let’s go.”
“Through here? Why can’t we go the normal way? It’s not like they can see you.”
“And nobody should see you leaving either. It’ll give us some time before the others start looking for you.”
“Got it, by the way, if we’re going to work together, I need to know your name.”
“Keith, and let’s go, we don’t have much time. Give me your bag,” Keith snaps.
Shiro lifts his bag and something takes it from him and then jumps over the balcony before landing onto the ground. Shiro races to the edge of the balcony and glances down to the ground where the bag is placed on the ground.
“Jump!” Keith shouts.
Shiro swings his legs over the railing and holds tightly before he closes his eyes. It’s better to not look at how far up he is as he lets go of the balcony and lets gravity pull him into the earth. The sharp pain that rides up his leg as he hits the ground causes him to yelp but the noise is smoldered by a hand on his.
“Be careful, there might be spies.”
Shiro pries the hand off of him, “Then let’s go before anybody finds us.”
“Right, this way to the woods.”
They run for hours in the woods and as the night passes by, the glimmer that made the moonshadow elf completely invisible began to fade and Keith, the real Keith began to appear. Despite this, they do not stop or take breaks for they do not know how long they’ll have until assassins will come looking for Shiro. As for they know, the killers are already on their way to find him. They run through the night until finally, the sun rises and Keith glimmer fully disappears and Shiro is taken aback by his appearance stopping completely to look at him.
Shiro, having been spending the past few years in moonshadow territory has seen plenty of moonshadow elves, but Keith is a different story. He has black hair, the opposite of the characteristic white hair other elves have, and dark blue eyes that appear violet in the early morning light. On the right side of his cheek is a purple mark. And not to mention, he’s hot.
Keith is quick to realize that Shiro has stopped and stops running as well, turning to Shiro with concerned eyes.
“Everything alright?” Keith asks.
“You’re beautiful,” Shiro says without thinking.
Keith’s cheeks redden at the compliment and he turns away, lifting his knife, “Let’s go, they might already be after us.”
“R-right,” Shiro says as he picks up his pace, following Keith through the dark of the woods, “I’m sorry about that comment, it came out of nowhere--
“It’s fine,” Keith interrupts, “It’s already sunrise so we should find somewhere to rest and lay low before night.”
“Would a cave work?” Shiro asks, “I know there’s one by the creek.”
“Excellent, let’s go.”
The sun is already high in the sky by the time they reach the creek and find the cave they’ll be in. Keith makes Shiro take a nap as he gathers firewood and starts a fire. When Shiro wakes up, Keith is already back and is cooking something from the fire he’s started. Shiro sits up and watches the elf as he cooks. After a few minutes of silence, Keith finally speaks up.
“There’s a village between the borders of our two kingdoms that’s about another day of travel away. They have an organization that wants to maintain peace between sunfire and moonshadow elves stationed there. If we get there, they’ll be able to protect you.”
“Were you sent by them to get me?” Shiro asks. He’s genuinely curious about Keith. He has only known the guy for less than a day and yet his whole life and the fate of the war and all of elf kind falls onto Keith. He has the right to know why Keith is protecting him.
Keith is quiet for a few seconds, poking their soon to be meal before replying, “Yes.”
Shiro smiles, “Was this an assignment or did you volunteer?”
“I was assigned to find you,” Keith replies as he lifts his dagger that sparkles in the light of the fire, “Personally picked by the head of the organization.”
“Wow, you must be quite amazing then,” Shiro teases, “Even the leader has their eyes on you.”
Keith smiles, “Yeah I guess.” He takes the fish away from the fire and begins to cut it into pieces. Well, the fish is ready so let’s eat.”
Over their meal, Shiro asks Keith more questions. He asks about his life before the organization, his family and his favorite things. Keith asks Shiro the same things and before Shiro knows it, the two of them are laughing in the cave about a funny story about the leader and Keith’s best friend.
(The joke idk)
“Well, seems like you guys have a great time there, I can’t wait to meet all of them,” Shiro laughs as he places a hand on Keith’s.
Keith’s laughter is cut short after the contact and he stares down at their hands with wide eyes. Shiro pulls away.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--
“It’s okay,” Keith says grabbing Shiro’s hand and intertwining their fingers, “I was just surprised.”
Shiro smiles in return, “When we reach the village I want to take you out on a date.”
Keith laughs, “Okay.”
At dusk, the two elves packed up their things and continued to travel towards their destination. The two of them were hoping that the assassins weren’t already on their tail and quickly moved through the forest, using the bushes to hide whenever they can. They had just left the area of the creek when the bushes suddenly started to rustle. Shiro didn’t pay much mind to it but Keith immediately pauses, holding his arm out stop Shiro and taking out his dagger.
“What is it?” Shiro whispers.
“I don’t know,” Keith says as his eyes scan the area, “Take out your knife just in case, we might be being followed.”
Shiro complies, holding onto the helm of his weapon as they continued walking through the woods. Some time has passed after the initial bush rustling encounter and Shiro is about to put away his weapon when suddenly, an arrow whizzes past his head. Before he can react, Keith is pushing him away from the line of fire and his dagger transforms into a sword. Three elves, dressed in a similar fashion to Keith jump out from the trees and surround him. Keith springs into action, fighting each elf with all his might.
“Keith!” Shiro yells ready to jump into battle and help him.
“Go!” Keith screams as he parries one of the attackers and dodges another arrow, “The village isn’t too far from here! Just keep running until you find it!”
“But what about you?” Shiro says.
“Don’t mind me, I’ll be alright, as long as the Dark RIng doesn’t get you that’s all that matters!”
“But--
“I’ll meet you there in the morning!” Keith shouts, “I promise!”
A fourth elf jumps into the ambush and strikes Keith with their whip. He screams in agony. It takes all of Shiro’s strength to turn around and run for his life. He runs through the woods, tears streaming down his face until his feet can’t carry him any further and he collapses on the ground out of breath and tear-stained. He feels darkness starting to trickle into his senses and he willingly lets the darkness consume him.
When he wakes up, he’s in a soft bed and a woman is attending him. Shiro abruptly sits up causing the woman to jump back from the scare.
“Where’s Keith?” Shiro asks.
The woman’s eyebrows lift, “Keith…?”
“He’s a moonshadow elf, with black hair and was sent to protect me from the Dark Ring, there was an ambush last night and he promised me he’ll meet me in the morning outside of the village--
“I’m sorry sir, there is no Keith here, we found you alone in the woods this morning.”
Shiro is in shock when he hears this news, so in shock that his ears begin to ring and everything around him fades away again.
The next time he wakes up, he’s alone and Shiro sneaks out of the room and wanders into the village. So he did reach the village after all. It’s dark out, Shiro has to use his knife to create some light as he walks and it is assumed everybody has been asleep for a long time. He slips between two buildings and runs out to the open. Some security they have.
“Keith!” Shiro calls out, “Keith, where are you?”
No response. Shiro continues to run through the fields calling out to Keith. He’s almost to the forest’s edge when somebody clamps his mouth and drags him into a bush.
“Shh,” Keith whispers into Shiro’s ear, “They can hear you.”
“Keith, where have you been?” Shiro asks, “I have been asking for you since I’ve arrived and nobody even knows who you are. We need to get back to the village.”
“ You need to go back,” Keith says, “I won’t be going.”
“What do you mean? Isn’t this your family?” Shiro asks.
Keith takes a deep breath, his face solemn, “Listen, I haven’t been entirely honest with you…
“There he is!” Somebody shouts, interrupting the two elves. Without hesitation, Keith pushes Shiro away before darting back into the woods.
“Are you alright, sir?” the woman from before asks.
“Yes,” Shiro answers turning to the woods as if Keith will reappear.
“What were you doing out here?” a man one of the few moonshadow elves of the group continued, “The Dark Ring is rampant in these woods they could’ve killed you.”
“No, I was just talking to Keith, the friend I was--
“Hold!” the man shouts drawing his bow, “One more step forward and we’ll shoot on sight! Axca, take this man and head back to the village!”
Axca, the first woman complies drawing her weapon as she steps in front of Shiro, “Come with me sir.”
As Axca guides him away he spots Keith in the woods his weapon drawn out. Shiro immediately realizes they’re attacking him.
“Don’t!” Shiro calls out, “That’s my friend, Keith!”
“Then you have been deceived,” Axca says, “Your friend is a member of the Dark Ring.”
“No,” Shiro denies it, “He’s been nothing but a help, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him--
The arrow turns out to be a net and takes Keith, knocking him out of the trees and into the ground. The archer and other elves take Keith and drag him across the grass.
“Don’t worry, he’ll live. He’ll be taken in for questioning,” Krolia assures, “Now let’s go before more of them come.”
When they get back, Krolia and the archer that Shiro learns is named Kolivan assign guards outside of Shiro’s doors and is placed under surveillance. After allegedly learning from the captured Keith that he was an important figurehead, the guards had tripled. They made his stay comfortable, providing him the best they have, and serving his meals as if he was at home and he was not at a refuge. Every day he asked about Keith and they would tell him his status but refused to let Shiro see him. When he asked why, they answered the same thing. It was too dangerous, they couldn’t trust that a member of the Dark Ring wouldn’t hurt Shiro. But it just didn’t make sense to Shiro. If Keith wanted to kill him, why didn’t he just do it? He had several opportunities to do so. To receive the answers he wanted, Shiro found a way to sneak out once again and speak to Keith.
Shiro finds Keith in the jail cellar they have in the windmill, chained to the wall with nothing but a bowl of water. Upon sight, Keith stands up.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he states, his face pale.
"Tell me it isn't true," Shiro demands, "Tell me you aren't part of the Dark Ring."
“I told them that I--
“No, I don’t want to know what you told them, I want to know the truth,” Shiro approaches the cell causing Keith to step back, “Tell me you weren’t sent to kill me.”
Keith’s eyes glow in the dark cell as his expression changes to guilt. He looks away as he quietly says, “I was.”
The words stung. He trusted Keith with his life. And all along, he was the person who was trying to kill him. Shiro gripped the bar and sneered.
“Why haven’t you killed me yet? Why did you go through this effort of trying to save me when all along you were trying to kill me?”
“Because I changed my mind,” Keith responded quietly. Shiro’s eyes widened as Keith took a step forward. “I was ready to kill you, but then, you stepped into the room. And--”
“And?” Shiro asked.
Keith shakes his head, “Nevermind it’s stupid.”
“Please,” Shiro takes Keith’s hand, “Tell me.”
“When you entered your room, I was just about to kill you when I suddenly saw your face, and I just...couldn’t do it. I wanted to protect you,” Keith admits, “So I lied to you to get you here, where you’ll be safe.”
Shiro smiles, “You had every opportunity in the world to kill me and yet you brought me to safety. Thank you.” Shiro takes out his blade and begins to cut through the lock.
“What are you doing?” Keith asks.
“Freeing you. Let’s get out of here. Somewhere we’ll both be safe,” Shiro replies as the lock clatters to the floor and he opens the cell. He holds out his hand to Keith.
“Where will we go?” Keith asks.
“Anywhere, everywhere. Somewhere the Dark Ring or these people can’t get you or me, as long as we’re together.”
Keith takes the hand, “Okay.”
The two run out of the village and head out into the night running as far away as possible. Not once do they look back.