Crushing

Thane's heart nearly comes to a stop when she looked up in excitement and smiled at him. He's pretty sure she said something about liking it and thank you but he couldn't really hear anything over his own heartbeat.

Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful... and the same exact one in the picture. He swallows hard and forces himself to look down and eat his soup. He couldn't even taste the thing! All he could see, hear, and focus on was her.

Seeing how she and Cruz interacted, he became suspicious of him knowing the truth about her but after seeing their reaction, it was clear to him that Cruz knew about her secret. It sent him into an unholy rage knowing the bastard was hanging that over her at times to make her submit.

Thinking back to the few other times when he was throwing his arm over her and hanging all over her... Thane's hand tightens on his spoon before looking back up to Valerie. She looks up at the same time and smiles, completely unaware of the storm brewing inside of him as she asks "Are you okay?"

Thane forces a small smile and says "Yeah, just tired. I'm going to see if we can somehow go back to the city." She frowns at him in confusion, looking adorable without even trying as she says "I don't think that'll be possible. I think the only chance we have at making it back is to find out what's happening out here."

He doesn't want to agree with her but she's probably right. Even if he pulled the most drastic card and told them she was female, it wouldn't change a thing. If anything, it might make things worse. Thane nods his head and says "Finish your soup and go to bed early tonight. You need the rest." She gives him a small smile before finishing her soup and leaving. Thane watches her every move with dark eyes before leaning back in his chair, deep in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~

RAGERS

The boss with the green scales backhands one of the smaller men as he yells "I don't care what you have to do! I want that little punk by the end of the week! Anyone who fails to bring me the little turd will die by my hands, am I clear!?"

The men cower before him and bow down as they say "We will get him, no matter what!" The boss sneers at them before walking away in a fit. That little turd has so much power, he'll definitely be able to climb to second in command with him!

He wants to report the kid to the big boss but he doesn't want the others to come and try to snatch the kid out from under him! As he walks back to his room, he sees his door was left open. Anger rolls through him in waves as he busts through the door and yells "Who the hell thinks they can just come in my room whenever you wish!?"

When he sees the figure in all white standing in the middle of his room, he instantly falls to his knees and lowers his head to the ground as he studders "I I I... Please forgive me! I didn't know you were here." His green scales crawl across his face and arms as his panic gets the best of him.

The man with long, pure white hair slowly turns around to face the other before saying "You've done quite well for yourself Boris. What's this I hear about a powerful child?" Boris shivers and knows he's screwed.

He lifts his shaking head and says "Kalen, I... I'm still in the process of getting the child. I won't know for sure until I check for myself." When the Man named Kalen turns, white, almost transparent eyes with vertical black, slite pupils stare down at him with mild amusement.

He shudders in fear as Kalen slowly moves closer and says "That can't possibly be right... If you were trying to keep this to yourself and possibly lost the chance to grab this child, what do you think Kano would do?"

Boris nearly pees himself as he tries to flatten himself as much as possible on the ground before saying "I'm sorry, I... I just wanted to bring it to him as a gift. A surprise!" Kalen reaches out with a fair hand and gently brushes his cold fingers across Boris's back.

Boris grits his teeth in pain as ice travels from the man's touch. Kalen's smile turns cruel as he says "I think I'll take it from here. It seems like this child is too powerful for you to handle." Boris quickly raises his head and pleads with panic in his eyes "No! I can do it, I promise!"

Kalen leans over and lightly reaches out to Boris's face. The whole room grows cold, making it possible to see Boris's breath but he doesn't see anything coming from the terrifying man in front of him. Either he was just as cold or the bastard didn't need to breathe! Kalen gently touches Boris's chin before saying "No need." and walking away.

Before the man Kalen even leaves the room, Boris is frozen solid. Locked in pain and torment as he slowly dies.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When I get back to the room, I see the little monkey still sleeping soundly so I do my best not to wake him as I move him to the side. As I pull the covers back, a cold sensation travels down the back of my neck, instantly making me shiver.

I turn and look to see that the door was still open but no one was there. I reach up and rub the back of my neck with a frown and crawl into bed. I wonder if they turned the temperature down... or maybe I was trying to get sick?

I have been stuck outside for a while and was even stuck in wet clothes all night. I nod my head and pulls the covers up to my chin with a small smile. I just need to get some proper sleep and I should be feeling like new tomorrow. I'm pretty tough, all I need is sleep. Well, sleep and good food. I wonder if I can get Thane to cook me something again tomorrow?