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Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The rhythmic sound of dripping water echoed throughout the cavern. It was dark and musky, smelling of wet rock and earth, fungus, and something more bitter and pungent. A trickling stream of black water ran through the center of the tunnel, the water splashing with each step the four pairs of feet took.
Four people were slowly making their way through the mountain passage. The small, flickering fire of a torch was held up by the tallest figure, illuminating the surroundings with dim golden light, and casting odd shadows. Everyone was on edge.
The group was somewhat disheveled and worn, and all of them had damp clothing. They had been running from yet another bunch of unknown pursuers. This had been happening quite often recently. Heavily outnumbered and forced to flee, they were being pushed further and further away from the kingdoms of Yizira and Heres and closer and closer to the nation of Behira's barren lands. Something felt very off about it. But even with the power of an immortal healer and three battle-hardened fighters, being faced with a small army's worth of bandits was a fight not worth facing.
In this land, there were four major nations. The kingdom of Heres in the north, the kingdom of Yizira in the south, the former nation of Behira to the northeast, and the plains of Yedah to the southeast. In recent years, the kingdom of Heres, a nation known for a strong army and strength-obsessed culture, invaded and destroyed the royal capital of Yizira, a nation of beauty and art. Uriah, the former crown prince of Yizira and the only survivor of the royal family, had been forced to run from his home along with his personal guards and servants, Zamar and Kora.
While on the run from the army of Heres that was searching for the crown prince, Uriah had found a gravely injured man from Heres, and despite what that kingdom had done to his own people, he saved the stranger. This stranger called himself Grimshaw. While Uri still knew close to nothing about him, he showed no malicious intent, so Uri let Grim travel with his little group, despite Zamar and Kora's dissent.
Currently, the four of them had been driven to the edge of the northern mountains, a mountain range that bordered the east of Heres with the northern plains, a span of abandoned land to the east of the two kingdoms. These lands were occupied by the fragmented Behirian Nation, but it was also home to rogues and bandits, and even colonies of Darklings, sentient constructs of evil and dark energy and the current greatest threat to humankind. The northern mountains were what kept Heres protected from them.
Just a few hours prior, the group had been trekking along the edge of the mountains with the goal of finding a town to take refuge in. Before they'd gotten far, they were ambushed by a rather large group of bandits in the forest and driven up the mountain. Instead of taking refuge in a town, they took refuge in a cave. Unexpectedly, a storm had hit during that time, and once they had made it into the safety of the cave, a landslide caused a mass of rocks and earth to block their exit. While it could very well have been natural, the four of them were, for the most part, convinced that it was not.
Water dripped from the roof of the cave and onto the fire of the torch. The droplet evaporated with a sizzle, sending a few sparks out which landed on the hand of the one who held the torch.
"Fuck! God damn it, someone else hold the damn torch!" Zamar cursed when he was burned for the umpteenth time in a row. He held the torch out towards Kora, who walked beside him. "Oi, it's your turn."
Her face contorted as she scowled at him. "Fuck off, you baby, you're the one who lit the torch. I'm not dealing with your shit."
"You both swear too much…" In front of them, Uriah walked beside Grimshaw. He turned to look at his bodyguards, frowning a little. "If neither of you want to hold the torch, I'll hold it-"
"Absolutely not," Kora and Zamar said in unison.
Grimshaw let out a soft chuckle. "Good thing servants know their place. Ignore them, Uri."
"THE FUCK YOU MEAN?!" Zamar gripped the torch so tightly that the wood creaked under the force.
"Shut your entitled mouth before I PUNCH THAT UGLY SMILE OFF YOUR FACE-" Kora roared, raising a menacing fist towards Grimshaw, who only stood with folded arms and smiled in response. Before anything happened, Uriah moved to block Kora himself.
"Don't! We can't start fighting. We have more important things to be worried about, like-"
As Uriah spoke, as if timed precisely with his words, the ground began to shake. It was soft and almost unnoticeable to a normal person, but the four of them had keen senses.
"What's going on?" Kora lowered her fist to look around, squinting in the darkness and lowering her voice, immediately on guard.
Grim put a hand on the wall, his dark brows pinching together as he focused. His expression grew darker the longer his hand touched the stone. "We've been followed. At least fifty people, charging." He looked at Uriah specifically. "They either found another way in, or opened the mouth of the cave. Given the circumstances, it's likely the former."
"We need to move." Zamar pushed forward to the front of the group. Water splashed under their feet as the four of them broke into a run.
The rushing air made the flame of the torch flicker dangerously, as if threatening to go out. Uriah could barely see anything other than Grim's dark garments in front of him. Their shadows danced wildly, their ears filled with the echoing of splashing footsteps. They were no longer trying to be quiet.
Uriah heard another sound. It sounded like rumbling, but also like many voices yelling at the same time. With a quick glance behind him, Uri's pupils shrank. The tunnel they'd been walking through was, for the most part, a straight path. Far in the distance, but quickly growing brighter, was golden light. The golden light of many torches, heralding the presence of many more people, all charging through the cavern with unrestrained vigor.
And they were quickly catching up.
Kora also saw their pursuers and let out a string of curses. "Run faster!" She shouted to Zamar, who didn't argue in the slightest.
Uriah was suddenly behind the other three as they sped up, their speed greater than his was. He wasn't used to running so fast. He was much more suited for dancing, if he had to pick an activity. Uri’s breathing became labored as he fought to keep up and stay ahead of the light that was growing brighter behind them. He closed his eyes and put all of his strength into his legs, charging forward blindly and willing his body to run faster. Faster, faster! I can't fall behind-!
"STOP!"
Uriah's eyes flew open when he heard Zamar's sudden shout, just in time to see an endless expanse of black before him. He was moving too quickly, and he stumbled in his attempt at stopping himself. He lurched forward, and that darkness looked ready to swallow him whole. Uri's throat ran dry, a scream for help forming on his tongue.
His cry was turned into a gasp when a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist from behind, yanking him back onto solid ground. He found himself embraced by those arms, the dark garb of Heres in front of his eyes. Uri blinked in shock as he stared at Grimshaw's chest, swallowing back cries of fear when a large hand cupped the back of his head comfortingly. Looking up at Grim's face, his dark eyes were focused on the abyss in front of them. Grim almost seemed to be glaring at it, his brows furrowing with a thoughtful frown.
Uriah could feel his face growing hot. "Ah- Th-thank-" His words were cut short by a sudden grab again. This time, Kora had yanked him away from Grimshaw rather aggressively. She tucked him behind herself defensively, looking at Grimshaw with something akin to rage and disgust. Uriah internally wondered why she was glaring like that. Was Grim saving him really that bad?
Grimshaw returned the gaze, although his expression seemed more annoyed.
"You okay?" Zamar asked from behind Uriah.
Uri turned around and smiled wearily at him, nodding. Words had gotten stuck in his still-dry throat.
With the confirmation, Zamar relaxed a bit, before frowning at the chasm before them. "There probably used to be a bridge here. There's another cave on the other side." He pointed across the darkness to the opposite wall of rock, and there was indeed a second cliff with another gaping hole in the side, barely visible in the dim light of Zamar's torch.
"It sounds like there's a river down below. Mountain rivers usually lead outside," Grimshaw said, his eyes still evenly locked with Kora's unrelenting glare.
"Oh? So you want us to fall to our deaths?" Kora sharply asked.
Grimshaw smirked. "If you'd rather be skewered by those bastards behind us, be my guest."
"YOU-!"
"QUIT IT!" Zamar interrupted, the veins in his forehead bulging. "We need to focus on getting across. Uriah, can you-"
A shout echoed through the tunnel behind them. "THERE THEY ARE!"
The four all turned to look at once. The light down the tunnel was growing brighter, and the thundering steps were growing louder. They were trapped between a small army of sword-wielding bandits, and a bottomless chasm with a river that may lead to freedom. Uriah really couldn't tell which was the better option.
Zamar cursed loudly through gritted teeth. "Fuck, fuck! We're out of time! Your- Uriah, can you create a bridge or some shit to get across?!"
Uriah's brain flew into a frenzy as he rapidly thought of what was possible. "I- I don't know, I don't think I can. Even if it was possible, it would take me too long to make all of the materials-"
Both Zamar and Kora cursed loudly at his answer. Out of the corner of his eye, Uriah thought he saw Grimshaw bite his lip, as if he wanted to say or do something, but was hesitant. Uriah looked at him to ask if he had an idea, but a loud cracking sound made his question sputter out.
Zamar and Kora shut up immediately. The stone cliff they stood on had shifted, causing the four people to lurch dangerously.
Now that Uriah was paying attention to it, the rock wall in its entirety has begun to shake. The violent marching of over four dozen people was taking its toll on the stability of the cave. Showers of pebbles fell down with the thundering steps of the approaching bandits.
Grimshaw clicked his tongue. Usually, he looked as though nothing was wrong, bored and relaxed even in extreme scenarios. This was the first time Uriah saw him with an unsettled expression. At a first glance, he was still relaxed and unconcerned as usual, but his broad shoulders were tense, and his dark eyes were narrowed, deep in thought about something Uriah wished he could hear.
Then, Grim let out a soft, almost unnoticeable sigh. He turned to look at Uriah.
"Uri, I-"
Uriah didn't get to hear the rest of it. With two more cracks, just as they were illuminated by the light of the bandits' torches, the four of them were thrown into darkness as the rock below them crumbled, sending them plummeting down into the river that indeed flowed at the bottom of the chasm.
Maybe it was his imagination, but Uriah thought he'd seen Grimshaw reach towards him just before the cliff gave out.
Either way, the only thing Uriah could hear then were his own screams and screams echoing nearby, until the roar of rushing water drowned all other sounds.
Then, everything went dark.
It was surprisingly quiet underwater. It sounded like a soft wind rushing by his ear, but heavy. The weight enveloped him in a blanket of freezing cold, too thick and too fast to move freely in. Uriah couldn't tell which way he was facing. Where was up? Where was down? Where was he?
As the initial shock wore off, it was replaced with confusion. Then, the confusion turned into panic.
Air.
Uriah needed air.
He had never learned how to swim in deep, naturally flowing water. He'd never swam against a current. In fact, he'd never been in anything but slow-moving creeks, baths, and ponds prior to this, both in Yizira and on the run. The only thing he knew was that he couldn't breathe, and his lungs were starting to burn.
Uriah gritted his teeth, forcing his lips to stay closed. The only thing he wanted to enter his mouth was air. He didn't want to drown, he didn't want to die. But he didn't know where to go to break the surface.
How deep was he, anyway? It was so cold and dark. The guiding light of Zamar's crude torch was long extinguished. Now, he couldn't see anything. Uriah was half tempted to bite his finger and create light, or maybe even create an air bubble to breathe from. It wouldn't work. If he dared open his mouth, with the force of the water, he wouldn't be able to close it again, and water would rush to fill his lungs. Even if he did manage to bite his finger, his blood would be taken away by the current too quickly, spread out too thin to create anything.
It burns, it burns!
Uriah squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't keep going. He couldn't keep holding his breath. It hurt too much.
Suddenly, Uriah felt his lungs fill with air.
His eyes were still closed, but even if he opened them, he wouldn't be able to see anything. Was he dead, and imagining he could breathe again?
Uriah's body was so cold, he almost didn't notice the arm wrapped around his waist, the hand cupping his cheek. Something was pressed against his numb lips, parting them gently and giving him air to stay alive. The pain in Uri's chest lifted.
He was still alive.
He had air in his lungs.
He needed more. Uriah was so desperate that he moved a hand to hold whatever was against his face closer, to press his lips against it, greedily accepting the air it was sharing. The lack of oxygen was getting to his head, it almost felt like the thing against his lips was smiling.
The deafening sound of the current erupted into the sound of crashing water. Uriah shuddered as the open air chilled his soaked body. The absence of the water pressure left his body feeling light, the sudden end to his tumbling movement leaving him dizzy. The darkness behind his eyelids brightened. The hand on his cheek had moved to his back, and the arm around his waist now held up his legs. Someone was carrying him.
Uriah suddenly realized that he wasn't just being carried bridal style.
Someone was kissing him.
His eyelashes splashed droplets of water when his eyes flew open in shock, and he was met with equally wet, dark lashes. Those long, graceful lashes opened gently, and Uriah was immediately absorbed by how dark Grimshaw's irises were. Like calm pools of dark matter, thick and powerful. Uriah wasn't able to escape their depths. He could only remain captivated by that deep, black gaze, frozen in place.
A soft but shocking breeze sent another chill across Uriah's body, breaking his trance. He blinked a few times, before heat suddenly rushed to his cheeks. "Mmph, mmph!" He struggled in Grimshaw's arms, their lips still pressed together, but Grimshaw's slender arms were surprisingly strong, and he wasn't letting Uriah go. No matter how much Uriah tried, he couldn't get Grim's lips to leave his, and he was about to explode from embarrassment. So he did the only thing he could think of in that situation.
He bit down.
With a gasp of surprise, Grimshaw finally pulled his head away, and Uriah panted heavily to catch his breath. The fresh oxygen was more than a relief, but his lips felt numb from the cold and swollen from the kiss. He probably looked like a mess, based on Grim's reaction to seeing his face.
Uriah put his hands on his face to hide his flushed expression. "D-don't look at me! Put me down!"
Grimshaw let out a laugh through his nose. The water around his legs sloshed around as Grim walked to the rocky shore. Once they were on dry land, he obeyed Uriah's request without a word.
Uriah unsteadily scrambled away, still reeling from the shock, covering his mouth while pushing his dripping red hair out of his face, spraying water in its wake. His mother's ribbon was still in his hair, somehow, but he was soaked to the bone. He made sure to stay a few steps away from Grimshaw.
Grim's smile faltered a little, and Uriah could swear he saw hurt in his dark eyes. Before he could confirm it, Grimshaw quickly returned to his normal relaxed composure, arms folded across his chest as he turned to look at the water.
"We're on the other side of the mountain," he said passively. "Those thugs are long behind us, but so is Heres."
"O-oh…" Uriah nodded, still trying to regain his balance. Then he realized something.
"Wait, where are Zamar and Kora?!"
Grim shrugged, seeming indifferent. Uriah knew Grim didn't pay much mind to his bodyguards, but he didn't act like this, typically.
Is he… pouting?
Uriah shook his head. No, Grim didn't act childishly like that. Uri instead set his mind on finding Zamar and Kora around… Around…
"…"
Where exactly were they?
The river was still rushing through the cavern, but the ceiling had significantly lowered, creating a much smaller tunnel than the chasm they'd fallen down before. On this side of the river, there was a rocky beach. Pebbles and stones of all sizes were littered everywhere. Light was streaming from an opening on one end, and the cavern was filled with the smell of a post-rain forest. They really had reached the other side of the mountain.
Wait.
Where did the river go past the opening?
Uriah scrambled towards the light in a panic, stopping at the edge and holding the wall for support to keep from slipping. His skid sent a few stones showering down the side of a steep waterfall. It was at least a three-story drop.
Uriah's pupils shrank.
"KORA! Zamar!" He screamed, desperately calling their names. He called them over and over, but he never got a response.
"They… They can't be…!"
"IM NOT DEAD YOU LITTLE SH- IDIOT!"
Uriah whirled around in surprise to see Zamar standing on the beach, sopping from head to toe. He stabbed his spear into the ground to stand it up, focusing on wiping his face. Behind him, the water parted with a loud splash, and Kora's head burst from below the surface with a loud "DAMN IT!" as she gasped for air.
Uriah grinned so widely his cheeks might've fallen off. Tears swam in his eyes as he ran up to Zamar and Kora, hugging them both tightly. "You're not dead!" He echoed.
Kora, having just emerged and not having heard Uriah before, was extremely baffled. Zamar was shocked and… Well, he didn't look like he appreciated the affection.
"O-OI, WHAT'RE YOU-"
Slap! Kora smacked his arm, shutting him up right away. She awkwardly patted Uriah's wet hair. "Yes, yes, we're alive and fine."
Uriah let go, still grinning like a madman. "We're all alive! We actually survived!"
Kora and Zamar simultaneously looked at Grimshaw, who was eyeing them from the side, clearly amused. Kora scowled, and Zamar rolled his eyes.
"Great," he said a bit dryly, "we're all alive."
"Where exactly are we?" Kora changed the subject, looking around as she wringed out her hair.
Grim finally walked over to them leisurely, pretending to ignore how Uriah shuffled away from him a little. "We're on the other side of the mountain. Behirian land. Be on your guard, Darklings roam these lands freely."
Zamar and Kora were indeed on their guard. But the one they were looking at was clearly Grimshaw. They noticed Uriah's behavior, and were instantly suspicious. They didn't dare comment on it, though.
"We should find some way to make it back over," Kora began, but Grimshaw ended the notion with a shake of his head.
"Unless you can navigate these mountains, it's no use. Heres keeps a close watch on all significant entrances into the kingdom. Insignificant entrances are ones like this cavern, where the river flows the wrong way and all the bridges are destroyed." He looked in the direction they'd come from. "Unless you can somehow blow a new hole through the mountain unnoticed, we're stuck here. Of course," he added with a taunting smirk, lifting a hand to play with his braids, "you're free to try passing through the border guard."
"Fuck off, we get it," Zamar grumbled. He picked up his spear from where it had been standing, then turned towards the light. "Let's get moving, then. We need to dry off, too."
With Zamar in the lead, and Grim in the back, the group started heading out of the cave and down a slippery pathway beside the waterfall. Uriah ended up between Kora and Grim.
Uriah was feeling flustered until he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Grimshaw," he turned his head to look at his companion, who, for a moment so short it may have been an illusion, seemed anxious.
"Hm?" Grim responded, immediately looking as unconcerned as ever again. Uriah was half sure the hesitation was his imagination.
Uriah carefully stepped down another slippery rock. "Back before we fell, you seemed like you were gonna tell me something."
"Oh."
Uriah looked back at Grimshaw. The way he'd said that sounded weird. "... What were you gonna say?"
"..." Grimshaw didn't reply immediately. Uriah looked at him expectantly, stopping his trek down the cliff side.
"Oi, what the fuck are you two doing?!" Kora called up impatiently.
Grim avoided Uriah's gaze the whole time. "... It doesn't matter now, forget it."
Uriah looked at him for a moment longer, frowning. Grimshaw still wasn't looking at him.
"OI, GRIMFUCK, THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIN' WITH HIS H- URIAH?!" Zamar's shouting was much louder than Kora's. It surprised Uriah, and he turned around too quickly.
"Com-!" His voice became shrill as he slipped, turning from words to a squeak. Before he could fall, a strong hand caught him by the arm in somewhat of an embrace, steadying him just in time.
Uriah looked up with wide eyes at Grimshaw's calm face.
He had a nice jawline.
"AH?! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!" Zamar raged below them, ignoring Kora's attempts at making him shut up to avoid a landslide.
Uriah blinked, coming back to reality. "Ah- Ah!" His face turned pink when he realized what happened. He squirmed a little, but this time, Grimshaw let him go quickly. "Be careful," he said in a low voice. That tone made Uriah's skin tingle weirdly, heat gathering in his cheeks.
"U-Uh huh- B-Be careful. I'm super careful! Careful is… Is…"
Uriah covered his face in shame. What in the world was wrong with him?!
Grimshaw didn't respond to his rambling, patiently waiting for Uriah to keep moving.
Uriah started climbing down again, ignoring Zamar's enraged yelling. He rubbed his cheeks to try and clear the flush.
An awkward silence had settled between them as Uri and Grim hurried down. It was making Uriah's heart hurt… he wasn't sure why. He felt bad, though.
He needed to say something.
"... Thank you," Uriah said quietly. Grimshaw's eyes widened in surprise, looking doubtful that he'd heard correctly.
Uriah cleared his throat, looking back at Grimshaw once more. "Thank you," he repeated, more assuredly. "For saving me. Three times, actually." Uriah offered a kind smile. It was genuine. He really was grateful.
Grimshaw blinked in surprise, before smiling back. His smile admittedly looked more like a smirk. "Of course," he answered, in a way that made Uriah's heart flutter again. He couldn't help but smile happily.
Catching up with Zamar and Kora, Uriah assured them nothing happened. It was better that… That wasn't discussed anymore. The four of them continued on their merry way, soaked through and in unfamiliar territory.
Uriah had never expected, when living in the Palace of Yizira, that one day he would be surviving river rapids, running from bandit attacks, and exploring the abandoned lands of Behira. Even moreso, he didn't expect to have his first kiss while underwater with a man from Heres he still barely knew. In the Palace, he'd never taken an interest in any of the women offered to him for marriage. He'd never particularly been attracted to anyone, no matter their gender. His parents had been worried he would never fall in love, and to be honest, Uriah had felt no need to. He would be just fine living without a spouse, he had his best friends and bodyguards.
But that had all changed. He was no longer the naive Crown Prince who knew nothing but flowers, jewels, and comfort. He had changed.
Uriah subconsciously touched his lips, which were no longer swollen or numb from the cold.
He didn't notice that he was smiling softly.