The next morning, Saige woke up to find that her head was resting on something soft and warm. She looked up to see Chris’s face within inches of her own. His shoulder made a pretty nice pillow, she decided, cuddling up to him again. She felt his arm around her. She smiled and hugged whatever she had in her arms. She squeezed it against herself and closed her eyes again. Chris was just starting to wake up just then. He took a deep breath as he felt something soft under his fingers. He stroked it up and down as he opened his eyes. He looked at the strange creature, which looked like a three-tailed pink and gray raccoon, who had decided to cuddle up to him in the middle of the night. It got up, licked his face, then pounced away. Saige opened her eyes again and looked up at Chris.

"Good morning," Chris said softly.

"Good morning. How’d you sleep?"

"Very comfortably, and you?"

"Same here. You’re pretty warm!" she commented.

"So are you," he replied quietly.

"You’re so sweet." He smiled reticently, then stood up to stretch. She kept cuddling whatever it was in her arms. She looked up to see Chris a good foot or two away from her and wondered what she was cuddling. She looked down as another one of the three-tailed raccoon animal-type things- much larger than the first- jumped up onto her head and ran away. She shuddered and slumped down, suddenly feeling sick.

* * * * *

The two friends traveled for a while until they found another waterfall. It was a gorgeous sight. The crystal waters cascading down like millions of liquid diamonds were simply mesmerizing. Flowered moss glittered as scattered sprinkles of the water lightly accessorize it. The beautiful wildflowers and emerald grass all around added to its magnificence.

"Isn’t it beautiful?" Saige said with her hands clasped together.

"Yes." He looked over at Saige. "Just beautiful." She took off her socks and boots and went over to the waterfall. "What are you doing?" he asked. She looked back at him. Saige’s only reply was a giggle. She jumped through the crystal-clear waterfall. She ran her fingers through her hair as the cool water refreshed her. Chris watched for a moment, just staring at the beautiful, graceful creature in front of him. The butterfly then flew away, leaving him to look up at Saige. He blinked to make sure it wasn’t a dream, then stared. Why does she look so sexy when she’s wet? he thought. So beautiful... so graceful... just like a butterfly.

"Come on, Chris! It feels so good after that long hike up that hill!" He closed his eyes tightly to try to get the image out of his head. I have to stop thinking these kinds of thoughts! We’re nothing but friends... very good friends. Nothing more...

Finally, he opened his eyes again and took off his shoes and socks. With his flannel still on, (for he never took it off through this whole thing yet) he walked toward the waterfall, his jeans sloshing through the water. "Saige... where’d you go?" She didn’t answer. He looked through the waterfall and saw the colors of Saige’s purple button-up shirt, (the top two buttons unbuttoned because it looked kinda geeky if at least one wasn’t, and the last few bottom ones were also unbuttoned to tie it so that the shirt would be shorter, and showed her figure a little,) black vest, and blue jean shorts that were originally her long-legged jeans. She suddenly grabbed him and pulled him through the waterfall.

"Hey! That’s freezing!" he shouted. Saige started to laugh. He grabbed her arm and started to tickle her easily-bared stomach. She started to laugh even harder.

"Mercy! Mercy!" she said between giggles. He couldn’t help but laugh at her squirming. He finally stopped as they both nearly fell over laughing. She suddenly slipped and splashed into the waist-high water. He helped her up. She stumbled on a rock and fell into his chest. He- out of pure reflex- flung his arms around her. They both blushed and laughed. She backed away a little as their laughing died down a little. Drops of water ran down both their faces. He looked at her eyes.

"Have I ever told you how much I have always liked your eyes?" Chris said in a soft tone, a small grin still on his face.

"Yes. Have I ever told you your eyes reminded me of brownies?" Saige said with a giggle. Chris chuckled.

"You still remember that one time, don’t you?" he asked her.

Saige nodded, then looked up, becoming a little more serious, her smile still curving her lips. "How could I forget."

He thought about that for a second. "Did you… I mean, were you… " Chris couldn’t say what he was thinking, but Saige understood. They both giggled at his shyness. "Sorry…"

"It’s okay. You wanna try to say that again?"

"Well…" he took a deep breath. "Did you actually… um… like…" He stopped. There was a slight pause, but then they suddenly started laughing again. "Sorry aga-"

"Yes." He looked her in the eyes again. He didn’t move... he couldn’t move. He just thought about it for a few more seconds.

He licked his lips. "You did?" he finally asked. Her lips parted, as if she was going to respond, but nodded instead. He brought his face a little closer. "Do you… well, you want… " He hesitated as he started to blush even more. Is this true? Is he actually attempting to ask for my permission to kiss me again? She waited for him to finish.

He suddenly turned away. "I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to come on like that… " Jeez, get it through your tiny head, stupid! You’re just friends. His mind echoed his last thought. Just… friends…

She looked down, a little disappointed. Aww… I was kinda looking forward to it, too… "I understand."

Saige followed him as he stepped out of the waterfall. He ran his fingers through his hair. That was a mistake… one side his brain hissed. Very dumb idea. The other half whispered, she probably has a hint on how you feel now. She can now think about it and maybe tell you how she feels later…

* * * * *

They continued on their journey for a while. The sky started to dim a little as they walked along. Chris’s hand accidentally brushed against Saige’s hand lightly. He looked up at her, making sure she didn’t think he was trying to make a move. She looked up with a slightly surprised face, but saw his face and smiled. She then found his hand again and wrapped her fingers around it. They traveled for a couple more hours, when they decided to rest for the night.

The next day, Saige woke up alone. She looked around for Chris, but didn’t see him anywhere. Suddenly, she heard some muffled yells. She walked toward these noises. She pulled back a few branches and looked into a secret opening. What she saw made her cry out.

Chris was wrapped up against a tree with huge wild vines. When Saige went over to him and tore the vine around his mouth, she realized it was sticky, like a giant spider-web. Eww! It took her a couple of tries until she got it off her fingers. She went back to Chris. As soon as his mouth was loose and Saige had asked a million questions, he told her in a weak, quiet voice to run away. She told him she would not... could not leave him. She started to untie the rest of his body. Chris told her to reach into his left pocket and get his pocketknife. She did so and used it to cut the last of the vines from his body. As soon as he was loose, he took a step away from the tree and collapsed to his knees. Saige sat in front of him, putting his back against the tree.

"You alright, Chris ol’ buddy?" She pushed the hair from his face. He looked up at her, his eyes weak and only half-open.

"I’ll be alright. Just give me a second to recuperate..." he said with a weak smile. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide. Saige looked up, her eyes also getting wide… with fear and surprise. Two bloody white fangs slipped out of his left shoulder. Saige jumped up as a giant spider crawled out from behind the tree. She picked up the pocketknife again, a somewhat nervous snarl on her face. A few drops of sweat ran down her forehead as it advanced. She let out a moan. Normal-sized spiders were bad enough... but this...?! This was ridiculous!

She held the knife tightly in a fist. Her knuckles were white from her strong grip. She tried to strike the spider, but the knife just swooped past. This spider was almost as big as the trees, which reached up almost to the clouds, and Saige couldn’t hit it! Jeez! How pathetic is that?!

The huge arachnid drooled hungrily. This made the ground smoke. This insect’s saliva was… acid! Saige started to quiver when the spider’s huge leg scratched her arm and caused her to drop the knife. The blood dripped to the ground as she backed up slowly. Her back met up with a huge tree, and she knew she was not going to escape it. Suddenly, after bracing herself and realizing nothing was striking her, she opened one eye. "Huh?" Sanshuu had started to provoke the arachnid so it would be distracted away from Saige. She clapped her hands when he slashed the spider across its face. It seemed to hiss at him.

"Alright! Go Sanshuu! Woo-hoo!" Saige somehow or other got two pom-poms and a cheerleader outfit and was now cheering Sanshuu on. (Don’t ask where she got them.) Unfortunately, she had forgotten about the spider for a second... that was the only time it needed to realize she was still there. It turned to her again, knocking Sanshuu in the head with a huge wad of sticky web. While he struggled and complained, Saige looked to the monster again. (Don’t worry. Sanshuu’s hair won’t get too messed up, and no, Saige is not wearing her cheerleader outfit anymore.) It proceeded, dripping acid with every step. All of a sudden, she stopped trembling. She lifted her eye patch and opened her left eye for the first time in a long while. Her left eye turned into a miniature computer! It told her the status of the monster, and told her what to do to defeat it. Thanks to the weirdo water from Arachnikayga! Her eyes were now fixed on the monster. She put her eye patch back on. In the corner of her right eye, she could see Chris was finally waking up.

"Saige!!! What are you doing?! Get out of there!" Sanshuu shouted at her. He had evidently gotten the web off his face. Instead of backing up, Saige stepped forward unexpectedly. Sanshuu still called out to Saige, but she did not listen. She just kept eye contact with the huge arachnid. The spider stopped proceeding. Saige closed her eyes and concentrated. She put her hands together, as if praying, while she started to mumble. It was inaudible at first, but it soon became increasingly louder. It was her own little chant in another language. It became louder and louder. A light purple aura appeared around her. A purple jewel, shaped as a circle with a hole cut out of the middle, appeared from out of her forehead. Chris stood up and walked over to stand next to Sanshuu, though he did not see him, for they both kept their eyes locked on Saige. They stood next to each other, wondering what Saige was up to. The spider just sat there and drooled like…um… a stupid idiot... or something...

Suddenly, Saige stopped her chant, but it seemed to echo in the wind. Her eyes opened with a flash. She moved up to the spider and squatted in front of it. She drew a circle with a dot in the middle and four dots around it in the dirt. She then stood up, her eyes locked on the creature every second, not blinking. (Yes, she even drew a perfect circle in the dirt without looking-technically: with her eyes only locked on the yucky spider.) She stood about two feet from the tree and four from the spider. Then she drew a diamond in the air and put her hand in the middle. The diamond shape started to glow a green, then shrank into a small green diamond-shaped crystal hologram. It soon faded into a blue, then a purple. It became real, as in a solid instead of just a hologram.

She lowered her hand and held it flat under the diamond. It dropped, perfectly in the center of her palm. She put it in the center of her drawing in the dirt. When the diamond touched the ground on the dot in the middle of the circle, the circle began to glow with a purple light, which soon faded into a blue, then green. She stepped back. A huge purple and black diamond arrow flew out of the circle of light, stabbed the monster, and blew up into a blinding green light. When it dimmed back to the normal sunlight, the spider was gone. The purple aura around Saige faded, as well as the stone in her forehead.

Sanshuu and Chris started to applaud. Saige closed her eyes for a second, then opened them, like she was coming from out of a trance back to her reality. She looked over at Chris and Sanshuu. They both smiled at her, but then noticed something. Sanshuu looked over to his left at Chris. Chris raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Sanshuu. Sanshuu’s eyes narrowed in unimaginable repugnance. His eyebrows lowered. Chris could swear he saw a flame burning in Sanshuu’s eyes.

"Who might this... this... boy be, Saige?" Sanshuu didn’t turn his eyes away from Chris. She hesitated a little, now standing in front of them.

"Sanshuu... meet Chris. Chris... meet Sanshuu," she said slowly. The two looked at each other, Chris a little curious and Sanshuu displeased. They both stood motionless, speechless.

"Hello... " Chris wasn’t being mean, but he wasn’t exactly smiling. "So, you know Saige?"

"Yes... we’re very... very close." Sanshuu put his arm around Saige. She looked at him, a little annoyed. He just grinned for a second, then put his nose in the air. "How close are you to Saige... I am assuming you know her."

"Actually, we’ve been friends for a while, now. In fact, I’ve known her ever since we were little. We are also very close." One eyebrow was still lifted. His lips and head were raised with a slight sign of confidence.

"Now, come on, you guys. Don’t start fighting over little ol’ me," Saige said, her hands on both cheeks, apparently quite flattered.

Sanshuu ignored her. "Just how long?"

"Longer than most others," Chris answered, glaring at Sanshuu.

Sanshuu returned his look. Saige’s eyes moved from Chris to Sanshuu and back. "Um… I wasn’t kidding, you know…" she said in a low tone. Again, she was ignored.

"Like who?!" Of course, Sanshuu wasn’t gonna let Chris have his last words.

"Way longer than you!" Chris finally snapped back, both eyebrows down, his brown eyes looking redder with every second. The two were now in each others’ faces. Both glared into the others’ eyes, their bodies tense.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Saige tore between them, her arms outstretched to keep the two away from each other. Sanshuu glared at Chris. Then, he suddenly smiled in an evil, cold fashion. He took Saige’s hand in both of his and started to kiss the fingers tenderly. Chris’s eyebrows went up in a very surprised, very angry look. (So I have an obsession with his eyebrows... get used to it!) Her face slowly turned to Sanshuu. Chris was very suspicious, and wondered what Sanshuu was up to.

"I’m... so very... sorry... Saige. How could... I be... so cold," Sanshuu said between kisses. Saige did not smile, but her expression softened.

She pulled her hand away from Sanshuu. "Sanshuu… just don’t, okay?" she said quietly.

He turned to Chris. "Chris... I apologize deeply and sincerely. You seem like an... okay guy." (Sanshuu seemed to choke over those words.) "Let’s start over." He walked over to Chris and offered his hand. Chris hesitated, still suspicious, then cautiously held out his hand to shake Sanshuu’s, as if it was a cobra with it’s mouth wide open. He shook it. Sanshuu gripped his hand tightly, mumbling some strange chant. Chris started to feel his hand getting warm and start to tingle. Then it got hotter, and it felt like electric waves were shooting through his arm. He tried to pull it away, but Sanshuu’s grip was too strong.

Then Sanshuu leaned forward. "... Yea, sorry that we ever met..." His voice was cold and full of pure anger. His breath was even freezing. Then, he suddenly loosened his grip and dropped Chris’s hand. Chris quickly pulled it away and rubbed it as if it were in deep pain, like he had his hand pressed against a hot stove. Sanshuu’s face made a quick angry sneer, then became almost angelic and honest as he turned to Saige again. Chris looked up at her as well, with slight puppy eyes. Saige actually believed his false honesty and ‘kind deed’ ?! Chris sure got that idea when she smiled.

"You’re a pretty decent guy, Sanshuu. Thank you," Saige said in a sweet, soft tone.

"No problem..." He walked past Chris as he mumbled, "No problem yet."

They were on their way again, Saige and Sanshuu walking up ahead, Sanshuu putting his arm around her. (Yes, she actually seemed to tolerate it!) Chris, now walking in back of them, grew enraged, but upset at the same time. He didn’t want to lose his relationship with Saige... no... it had come too far. And to lose it to this creep... Chris shook the thought from his mind. No... I can’t let her go.

* * * * *

_______________________________________________________________________________________

When Sanshuu finally went ahead to look around while Saige and Chris stopped to rest, Chris finally got a chance to talk to Saige.

"Saige... how are you doing?"

"Fine... Chris, why do you despise Sanshuu the way you do?" Boy, she got right to the point! "I mean… he is kinda annoying when you first meet him and all… but he’s actually not such a bad guy, you know?"

"Woah, wa, wait... what d’ya mean despise Sanshuu?! I never said I hated him, let alone despised him!"

"Well, you’re not exactly the best of friends!" Saige pointed out.

"We don’t have to be friends! Anyway, he has evil powers!"

"Evil powers?! They’re helpful, not evil!" She looked up at Chris with a confused frown. Her voice grew quiet. "How did you know about his powers?"

"He electrocuted my hand!" He held it up. It was normal. "Wha-?!"

"Electrocuted your hand…?"

"You don’t believe me?!" Chris asked desperately, almost in a whining voice.

"It’s hard to believe someone who starts fights with someone they barely even know!"

"He started it!!!" Chris finally shouted back. "Anyway, It’s not like we’re enemies…"

"Well, you’re not exactly best friends either!!!" Saige shouted back at the top of her lungs, and now to the end of Chris’s tolerance. His mouth shut. His facial expression changed from enraged to cold. Saige saw this almost immediately and felt guilty. "Chris... look, I’m sorry... it’s just that-"

"No, I’m sorry... sorry that you just lost your best friend," he interrupted coldly as he started to walk away. Saige caught up to him.

"Chris, buddy! You just can’t mean that... I mean, you can’t really be-"

He turned. "Look, Saige. Forget it. Go with your dearest Sanshuu... but once you find that angelic face is nothing but a rubber mask and a few coats of clown make-up, don’t come back to me. Find another shoulder to lean on."

"But, Chris-"

He looked her straight in the eye. "Don’t you understand? I’ve had it. I can’t take it anymore. If you can chose a jerk over me… then I don’t even want to know you, Saige Amethyst!" These words were purely cold, cruel and harsh. They stuck to Saige’s heart like an iron arrow through an apple. They echoed throughout her head so many times. He started to walk away again.

She desperately ran up to him as he kept walking. "Chris… I’m sorry!" A pure vision of hurt swallowed her normal joyful smile and glistening white teeth. He didn’t stop. She took hold of his arm. He stopped. "Chris… this isn’t fair-"

"You’re right, it isn’t. I’ve known you much longer than that buffoon and you still take his side! I can’t believe-"

She interrupted desperately, "Hold me… "

His expression changed into a confused look. "Excuse me?" It was working! She had to get him to stay. She didn’t really like Sanshuu all that much and she certainly didn’t want to be alone with the guy!

She wrapped her arms around Chris and started to make herself cry. "Please don’t leave me, Chris," she begged as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She should’ve gotten an Academy Award for the act she was putting on! She suddenly felt his fingers gently pull her face up to his. She moved closer to him. He could never leave after a thing like this. She felt her face getting warmer as her heart started to beat faster. As their lips nearly touched, Chris suddenly looked down and turned away insensitively. It was very, very hard for him to resist a moment like that, but he decided he had to. He turned to Saige one more time.

"Saige..." His eyes looked almost hurt and pensive... maybe even downhearted, regretful. She looked up hopefully, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes?" She seemed so hopeful through the stream of tears on each cheek.

He hesitated a little. "I…"

"I’m back," Sanshuu interrupted. Saige felt almost like killing Sanshuu at that moment. She wanted to go up and slug the guy, maybe even freeze his head and then slug it, so it would shatter all over the place!

"Sanshuu," she growled, a crazy-with-anger grin across her face. She stepped toward him, her hands gripping a whip- where she had gotten it, I don’t know. Sanshuu backed up. She chuckled insanely, then looked back at Chris. "Er… sorry. Where were we?" She put the whip behind her back. It disappeared.

"It’s alright, I’ll leave you two alone..." Chris said. He started to turn to walk away.

"Wait! No!" She ran over to Chris. "Please don’t leave! Please!" She was now sobbing hard.

Chris looked over his shoulder. "Saige... this is getting-" Saige didn’t realize just how fast she was running until she smashed into Chris. They both toppled over, Saige being safely cushioned by Chris. Unfortunately, only the grass alleviated his fall. "... crazy," he finally said in a low tone. His eyebrows were now lowered in an annoyed look. For a moment, they did not move and only the wind through the trees was heard.

"Um... Saige?" Sanshuu was not very pleased with this scene. "Chris," he growled with his teeth locked. "Do you want to continue anytime soon?" They still did not answer.

"Chris… " Saige whispered quietly, as if to herself. It sounded like she was still crying a little. She rested her head on his shoulder and slid her hands across his chest. No guy could resist this, she thought evilly.

"I can’t go anywhere until you get off me, you know," he slightly joked.

"Come on Saige… let’s go…" Sanshuu urged through his gritted teeth.

"... Come on, Saige. You’re a big girl now, so I can’t get up until you do." He smiled to himself. "You can go on without me," he added casually, knowing how she would react and hungry to hear it.

"Let’s go-o. Anytime so-on! " Sanshuu was getting annoying. Suddenly, some strange thing flew out of the bushes.

"Sanshuu... buddy... <hic> you just kodda chsrry shome ov tat watur... <hic> " Yes, Pyrite had come back from it’s drunk little journey. Saige and Chris looked over at Pyrite. It swayed back and forth in its drunk little way of flying. Finally, it fell. Sanshuu caught it in his arms. "Ooh, Shhsanshuu! You’re myyy heeerooo!" Pyrite unexpectedly jumped up, put its creepy little arms around Sanshuu, and kissed him over and over. Sanshuu’s eyes grew wide as he stumbled against a tree.

"Sto-mmmph, mmm, mmph- stop that you- mmmh, mmmph, mph, ph, ph, mmph, mmm- thing!!!" Sanshuu could barely speak with the stupid animal on his lips! Chris and Saige laughed very hard, they could barely breathe! Then their laughter faded into a quiet chuckle as Chris turned his focus back onto Saige, who was still on top of him. He stopped laughing while Saige still giggled alone. He focused on her bright sapphire eyes, sparkling like two gorgeous diamonds. He always loved her eyes and her laugh... but he had to get up. He couldn’t stand being stuck with a girl on top of him. To make it worse, he couldn’t even avert his eyes to anywhere but her beautiful diamond eyes. A girl’s eyes always seemed to hypnotize him. When she finally realized that no one else was laughing, she turned her head slightly to look at Chris again. His eyes looked solemnly into hers. So deeply. He didn’t really mean to look so deeply and serious and sincere… he couldn’t help it. She blushed as she tried to look away, but her sight was insufficient, for she could still see the light bronze twinkle in the corner of her eye.

"Mmmph!!! Mm, mph, mmph, mmm, mmmph! Saige!!!" Yes, the drunken animal was still ‘thanking’ Sanshuu. And, of course, Sanshuu hated it. (Heh, heh, heh…) He was a little more afraid than angry because who knows how many diseases that thing carried! While he struggled to get Pyrite off of him, Saige finally gave in and looked back to Chris. There seemed to be no way around the lock of their eyes.

"Why are you staring at me like this?" Saige heard tumble out of her mouth.

"I don’t know… I just… I can’t help it…" Chris sounded as if he were in a trance of some sort, which he kinda was.

"Okay… should I… get up…?" Their eyes were still glued.

"I don’t know..." His voice got softer. "I think you should…"

"But you’re soft and I don’t want you to go…" she whined. She leaned closer to his face. His eyes moved up and down as they moved from her eyes to her lips, then back. She could tell what he was thinking. He could tell what she was thinking. Sanshuu still struggled on the left, (but you probably don’t wanna know about that right now, do you? Too bad!!!)

"Mmmmm. You’re such a great kisser, Sanshuu! I could just... mmph, mmm, mm, mph, mph kiss you forever." Sanshuu took advantage of this moment as he finally tore Pyrite from his head.

"Sorry, but you had way too much to drink, bud!" He held it by the scruff of its neck. It hissed and growled.

"Hssssssss... Hssssssssss... let me go!" It swung back and forth, swinging whatever limbs (and tail) it had. It kept up the struggle until it came close to Sanshuu’s leg. It held on for all it was worth, digging its long, cat-like claws into it.

"Aack!! No! No! No! Bad Pyrite! Bad Pyrite!!!" He hopped on one foot and held the other, along with Pyrite, up in the air. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold his balance as he toppled to the ground. Pyrite ran up to his head and jumped to the back of his neck, where it hugged him happily. Now Sanshuu was annoyed. He then looked over at Saige and Chris.

"SAIGE!!! Chris! Get away from her! Now!" Suddenly, Pyrite hopped in front of his face. He glared angrily. "...No. No, Pyrite. No." The fuzzy thing purred softly as it hugged his face.

Meanwhile, Saige and Chris were in their own little world. They seemed to be hypnotized. I’m not gonna talk about it. And you can’t make me! Not even with poo-gas! You know, that yucky smell in the sewer. (Too much "Freakazoid," I know. Well, I’d better get this out of my system as well...Huggbees!!! Don’t ask... Okay, back to the story.)

"You’re looking into my eyes, Chris." Saige tried to break the silence.

"I just can’t help it. Your eyes just… sort of… hypnotize me… and I start to think…" Chris said, still looking from her eyes to her lips. Suddenly, she slapped him. That got him out of his trance! "Ow! What was that for?"

"I can’t believe you! First, you despise poor Sanshuu for no reason, and now you dare to think perverted-ed-ly- and at this point in time! How dare you!" She slapped him again even harder.

"Ow! Saige!" Chris tried to roll on top of her to pin her down so she would stop, but she rolled over again.

Now, to Sanshuu, this looked pretty disgusting, and if you have a perverted imagination (aw, c’mon! We all have a little whether we like it or not!) you could probably picture what Sanshuu saw. "Saige… must… save… Saige… from… lunatic… pervert… Chris…" Sanshuu was so angry and was trying so hard to get away from Pyrite that he finally snapped. He could barely even speak! He quickly chanted a spell and touched Pyrite. This put the animal in a temporary sleep. Sanshuu walked over to Saige and Chris. His shadow burned their flesh as they still rolled around and… (yuck!) and just didn’t seem to notice him.

"Chris! Ack! You perverted little monkey!" Saige yelled.

"Hold still! Stop it! Ow!" Chris yelled. They were not having fun…

Sanshuu was now towering above them. He cleared his voice to acknowledge his very existence, (and like that worked… Not! ) but they still didn’t look up or even stop. He did it again, this time even louder. Chris finally got on Saige, holding her shoulders down, as she suddenly stopped, noticing Sanshuu. Chris looked in back of him, and saw the flames in Sanshuu’s eyes. Saige suddenly slugged Chris into a conveniently-located rock.

Sanshuu frowned at her. "Saige! What… what were you… and Chris… that pervert…" Sanshuu tried to say as he glared at Saige. Chris came back and stood between Saige and Sanshuu. Sanshuu looked outraged as he just couldn’t believe what he saw. Saige’s shirt was becoming unbuttoned at the top. Chris’s hair was in his face. They were both somewhat sweaty. Yes, this led to some very nasty assumptions.

Saige suddenly lost it and jumped up into Sanshuu’s face. "I’ve had it up to here with you! Sanshuu- you’re just plain evil and way too overprotective!" Sanshuu took it like a man, his expression unreadable. She turned to Chris. Her voice was a little softer, but still mad. "Chris… I really hate it when you’re angry." She got in his face. "That’s why you deserved it when I hit you! You’re both total perverts! Now, can you two can just leave me alone and STOP IT!!!" Yes, Saige was now very pissed off. It turned out that her and Chris were not actually doing something lovers would do (Yeah, right! You wish!) but they were actually wrestling. (Actually, Saige was hitting Chris while he tried to pin her down and make her stop. Of course, I made that all too evident by now, right?) Sanshuu looked over at Chris- surprised, confused, angry, a little upset… so many feelings made his body tingle. A red scrape was across Chris’s cheek, now starting to ooze with blood. Saige had scratched him! She must’ve been really angry. Really angry. He was also very dirty from rolling in the dirt and rocks, and, as I noted before, sweaty, though he did not take his flannel off. (Darn it!) His hair was totally messed up, and was sticking to his face, a little wet with sweat. Sanshuu almost felt sorry for the poor guy... but before he had any pure feelings, he had to check Saige.

Saige was also pretty dirty, but she was not bloody at all. That’s when Sanshuu finally realized one of two things: that Chris could not hit a girl at all and/or that he was a total wuss or that he cared too much for Saige that even if she was killing him, he would care for her so much that he could not fight back. No, it had to be he couldn’t hit girls and that he was just pathetic. Sanshuu didn’t even want to believe he had even thought about the other possibility!

So now Sanshuu really felt sorry for Chris. Chris stood like a proud yet guilty man, though he seemed to be only about 16 or 17. His face was still bleeding a little, but it was scabbing up, and his posture like a strong soldier, but his head was not raised high. His eyes stared blankly at everything in front of them… everything except for Saige. He just couldn’t look at her. Sanshuu felt Chris’s pain. Saige then started to walk off.

"I’m going on a walk… don’t follow me. I’ll be back before sunset." With that, she walked off. Once she was out of sight, Chris fell to his knees and touched his face. Sanshuu watched as Chris pulled his hand away, looking at the blood on his fingertips. His eyes were shocked. He curled his hands into fists as his hidden-with-shadow face moved down. His hair came down on either side.

"Pathetic." Sanshuu started to circle Chris like a hungry vulture. "Simply pathetic. You just couldn’t do a thing when she hurt you?!"

"No. I couldn’t hurt her. But it’s no concern of yours."

"Even if she had a sword pointed to your neck?"

Chris’s teeth clenched, his eyebrows burrowed. "Keep your nose out of this, vulture-boy," Chris responded. Sanshuu stopped in back of him.

"Why did she hurt you? She told me about you, Chris. You are supposedly her best friend, correct me if I’m wrong. So why would she ever hurt you if you’ve never even thought about hurting her?" he asked in a low tone. That made Chris think for a while.

"Well… I…" Chris thought, then looked up at Sanshuu, his head slightly tilted. "Because… I… I…" He stood up, and turned to face Sanshuu again. He wiped the blood from his cheek and looked at it. "I’m not sure anymore. I care for her… but…" He looked up again. "… Why did she hurt me?" His expression was a mixture of being annoyed and curiosity.

"Good question... I didn’t like you at first... now I see we have a few things in common. You’re pretty alright… for a sixteen year old."

"Seventeen, actually," Chris corrected, looking up again. "Yea, you’re almost decent, I guess… by the way… how old are you?"

"You wouldn’t believe me."

"Try me." Sanshuu hesitated before he spoke.

His voice barely drifted on the wind. "Nineteen-thousand, four-hundred thirteen. Pretty old, but I usually get by… by saying I’m nineteen," he finally said. His eyes were locked on the ground.

"Really? Yea, you only look about nineteen." Chris replied.

Sanshuu made a half-smile. "You are aware that I’m still going to compete with you for the ‘main prize’, right?" Chris’s expression changed.

"Huh?" His eyebrows burrowed down. "What do you mean?"

"You know quite well what I mean… we are not friends. We are but mere enemies. The pure word we can use which will represent our relationship is competitors. Nothing less… nothing more." Chris still didn’t understand what Sanshuu meant by ‘the main prize’. Sanshuu cracked an evil smile, showing his sharp vampire-like canines. He stood up and started to walk in the direction which Saige was walking.

"Where are you going?" Chris inquired as he stood up.

"The competition has not yet begun! We do not have much time... for we must also train her for the battle." Sanshuu’s smile gleamed as he looked over his shoulder at Chris. "Come now! We mustn’t waste time!"

"What do you mean? Battle? Competition? What are you talking about?!" Chris jogged to catch up to Sanshuu. They were now off to find Saige… but Chris just remembered something. "Wait a second… Pyrite!" he whispered to himself. He ran back. Once he found Pyrite, he picked it up and carried it back to find Sanshuu waiting.

"Now why’d you have to bring that thing along?!"

Chris smiled evilly, lifting an eyebrow. "Because I know that you hate it. Therefore, I am keeping it around." Sanshuu rolled his eyes. Pyrite finally woke up and flew over to Sanshuu, hugging him around his neck. He grumbled while Chris laughed. Then Sanshuu narrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated on the road again. It would be sunset soon, and he wanted to find Saige before the sun went down. The time was going by fast, and there was so much that had to be done before they reached the battle.

* * * * *