Instinct to save him

At the summit of the mountain, there was a very old tree with twisted branches spreading as if to touch the sky. Next to the tree, there was a small hut with a single table, a single chair, and a single person in it. Dressed in white mourning clothes, a man sat there in the midst of scattered jars, drinking wine by his lonesome.

He sipped the wine and stared at the endless sea of red clouds. His gaze was quiet, his eyes were like deep wells of water, so deep that there seemed to be no end.

It was daytime in the Netherworld and yet Ravi felt as if he was perpetually in the dark. He had eyes but he could not see, shadow danced at his irises as he lowered his head, his long hair falling across the table.

"Ravi, See what I found in the library. A way to make a kind of wine, Jino wine, is made from the dried roots of kola. Bitter but it is so good, you will love it." A young man in green clothes and pointed ears sat at his table, a huge smile on his face.

Tired, exhausted hazel eyes looked at the image, Alya said that there is nothing wrong with seeing hallucinations of those he lost, but he should never reply. She was right again.

"What kind of kola tree, Leto?"

He should not be doing this, talking to an illusion but Ravi craved any kind of connection, to hear the voice of his friends, no matter how brief, how imaginary, he would take it.

Ravi held the pot of wine and emptied it in one swing. Loneliness was more than emotional, it was a kind of physical torture, as if the silence and quiet around you were slowly smothering you to death.

He raised his hand and a leaf from the old tree floated towards him, turning into yet another pot of wine. And it was his fault, his world only had his friends and he had lost them, he had damaged his own core, almost dying just to save people he had no connection to. He would never do it again, never sacrifice his life for another. This was a promise.

****

"You are always blunt, you always know what to say, if you do not say anything now, your overtime wage will be canceled." Arlen said and Ravi narrowed his gaze. His overtime pay, he had already budgeted it, this walking righteous Dao should not joke with him and his money, or else he would…

He felt a prickling at the back of his neck and looked up, the woman, Duplicator was holding a gun.

Bang!

Ravi's body reacted before he could process the information. He moved, holding Arlen, turning him around, and protecting him behind him. The pain of the bullet piercing through sharply wrecked his body.

Why? Why would he do something like that?

"Fuck! Officer West."

Ravi's lips twitched, he had never heard this Captain swear.

But the next second, he pressed Arlen to the ground, burying his face, head, and body beneath him, it was a little difficult as the other was taller and larger than him.

Bang! Bang! Two bullets rotated from two different directions, piercing through Ravi's back and the other grazed his cheeks.

It was painful, Ravi gritted his teeth, the intense pain made him a little dizzy but he could still see three copies of the woman jump down, one of them carrying Ignitor, and the other two opened fire on Ravi.

The AE bullet tore out of the muzzle of the gun, crumbling into dust a few meters from Ravi. The Duplicators narrowed their eyes before vanishing.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Blood dripped from Ravi's cheeks turning into a burning liquid as it fell on Arlen's face.

Ravi looked into confused ocean blue eyes so beautiful that it made drowning feel like a beautiful thing. He had done it again, He had put his body at risk for someone else and the scariest and most annoying thing was that he did not regret it. This annoying, righteous Captain, Ravi did not regret it. Why?

Arlen looked at the man on top of him. Those eyes were like deep wells of water, so deep that there seemed to be no end.

Drip. Another blood dropped on his face, so hot it felt as if it was burning through his skin and bones.

"Officer West." He paused, his mind returning to him, and then angrily exclaimed, "Officer West."

"Arlen. That damn Duplicator. We had to chase them down, they went down north. Hurry!" Emily shouted from above as she sped off.

Ravi blinked, and then stood up. Arlen hurriedly stood up, his face was pale and his voice was hoarse."Oh my god, You were shot! We need to get you into the hospital right now."

Ravi let out a sharp breath, "I am fine, you should chase down the criminals."

Arlen did not respond, he just lifted him up, his right hand supporting his neck as the other rested at the back of his knees and began to run into the hospital.

Ravi was so shocked that he was speechless.

"Put me down!" He pounded at Arlen's chest.

"This is not the time to be stubborn, Officer West."

"Captain, put me down."

"If you speak again, I would cut your month's pay." Ravi's hand fell to the side as sharp embarrassment crawled up his spine. If anyone saw him like this, he was not sure what he was going to do. Arlen was warm and Ravi took a deep breath of that scent, that vanilla, and detergent, it smelt so good. It made him feel sleepy.

Sarah and Lisa soon came running when they saw Arlen carrying Ravi, his face panicked and everything.

"Captain, what happened? Ravi, Ravi. Is he alright?"

"Doctors. Call the doctors! He was shot. Look at me, Officer West, it would be alright." Arlen's hands shook and he looked at both Sarah and Lisa who were standing looking at him without moving, "What are the two of you doing?"

"Captain. Officer West's ability is self-healing."

Ravi's cheeks turned red in a rare fashion, "I said you should put me down. I am alright."