Chapter 22

Walking along the street of the safety zone all day until nightfall came once again Gunner could see people of all sorts along the street. They had not allowed the fact that they city was in ruins to disrupt them from enjoying their lives among the safety of the walls and guards that protected them. It was not until after the war that the walls had been built to ensure the safety of survivors among the ruins of what was once a glorious city. Being inside the zone and seeing how well everyone was getting along almost made it feel as though Gunner was back in the city before the fall of Abaron.

Coming to a sudden stop his eyes shifted to the side where he could see a water way flowing through the zone. The water was flowing safely through iron bars under the walls from outside of the zone. Blocking the dangerous beasts like the hell hounds outside the wall the iron bars were just wide enough so that the water and live fish could swim through inside the walled off area. It helped to ensure that the survivors could catch the fresh fish and avoid running out of a water source.

Psshhh!

A large white fish shot up out of the water as it's body reflected under the light of the moon seeming as though it was glowing a beautiful blue. It's long whiskers waved throughout the air in the breeze. Drops of water fell from the fish as it flew through the air til it landed back into the waterway.

"Mister!" A young girl tugged tugged at Gunner's pants in order to get his attention. Her expression was one of determination for him to listen to her.

"Pardon?" Gunner looked down at the little girl as she glared up at him.

"Standing too close you could fall!" The girl said as if she was trying to scold him for standing too close to the water.

"Pffft.. Thank you." Gunner had to bite back his laughter as he placed his palm on top of the girl's head and rubbed it. His action caused the girl to puff out her little cheeks annoyed at the fact that her once brushed hair was now all messy. Looking down at the girl he was certain she was still a young teenager at the most.

"What are you doing?!" The young girl began to get flustered as she watched Gunner walk towards the water way. She felt as if she was watching a man walk to his own death if he was to fall in and drown with the fish.

"I'm going for a swim." Gunner smiled back at the young girl for a second before diving head first into the waterway. Once he was in the water he could feel the cold temperature of it making him shudder as he quickly swam back up for the top. Gasping for air as his upper body burst forth from the water, sending water everywhere and splashing against the young girl.

It had been a long time since had relaxed so openly and he was not willing to let the chance to take a calm swim pass him by. Holding his breath as he dove back under he could see the fish swimming all around him. Their colors and types varied from simple to strange ones that he could not even understand himself. As he swam up once more a sudden recognizable face caught his attention next to the girl who was folding her arms in front of her chest as if to say "I told you so."

"What are you doing in there? Get out before you catch a chill." Prince Clyde scolded down at Gunner as he stood there. His sharp gaze turning to the girl causing her to smile and run off as if she had just been yelled at. After she was gone his eyes quickly landed back on Gunner as a massive wave of water was sent splashing against his clean clothing dampening everything.

"How long has it been since we've had time to relax. How about you get your royal ass in here." Gunner smirked as he watched the flustered expression on Prince Clyde as he did not know how to react to becoming all wet from the water splashing.

"Childish." Prince Clyde cleared his throat as he closed his eyes. It was not clear to Gunner what he was doing as he stood there in silence.

"Childish, eh? I'll show you childish." Gunner grit his teeth as he swam close enough to the edge to grab hold of Prince Clyde's pants.

Pulling roughly at the Prince's pants the man was sent tumbling down into the waterway. A loud splash could be heard as the cold embrace of the water swallowed him head to toe. The cold, however, did not cause him to shudder. Raising his head above the water to glare at Gunner the prince almost wanted to scold him for acting in such a manner but at the same time his mouth was silenced. Warmth filled his lips as Gunner's were pressed up against his while they both drifted together in the water.

"If you get sick I ain't taking care of you for this." Prince Clyde said with a stern tone once they parted from the kiss. Even though the words left his mouth they both knew on the inside that Clyde would be the first one rushing to take care of Gunner if he had fallen ill from a cold. It almost made Gunner hope to fall ill just so he could laugh at Clyde's attempt to refuse him care.

"Sure you wont.." Gunner laughed as he took both his hands and firmly grabbed hold of the prince by his head pushing him under the water. Prince Clyde's hands grabbed hold of Gunner and dragged him under with him til he released him so that they both could come back up for air once again.

"I have to get back to work. Let's get out now before you seriously fall ill." Prince Clyde sighed as he dragged Gunner to dry land.