Chapter 32 : Buddies

In the middle of a peaceful forest, surrounded by tall and thick trees, a small open space cradled a sleeping figure. The sun was on its way down, casting a warm, gentle light all around the forest that slowly but surely became darker .

* kaa kaa kaa *

A crow passing through the sky while 'chirping ' for all to hear it's disturbing voice .

As the sun dipped closer to the horizon, garou slowly woke up. His eyes blinked open, adjusting to the fading daylight. The forest seemed to hold its breath, giving him a moment to take in the calm breeze, the forest's sounds, and the beautiful evening sky.

Garou's POV /

As i open my eyes slowly and see the sky that was not as bright as i remember it to be .

* Ziiiik *

" AGHHH ! " suddenly i feel pain spreading across my whole body, and remember what happened ,probably like some time ago if the sun set means anything .

I didn't move an inch, less the pain hits my nervous system. I just lay there while looking at the sky, waiting for my regeneration to kick in and remove that rigor in my muscles .

* Grumble * 

I calmly stare at the orange sky with an empty stomach that was grumbling.

" sighhh i guess my regeneration won't work now ! " i mutter to myself tiredly .

* bam Tak tak Rshh *

I turn to look at where the sound came from to see Dai slowly coming out underneath the broken branches, wood pieces and mud .

He looked haggard with blood and dust covering every inch of his body, his upper part green jumpsuit shredded to reveal a lean physique but not bulky, three finger sized holes on his shoulder arm and leg that stopped bleeding for some reason, his face bruised, lips swelled .

He turned to look at me for a second, then slowly and shakily made his way towards me .

* step...step...step * 

He came close enough until a half metre was between us, he looked at me with shadows hiding his eyes, then ...

* Thud *

He collapsed on his back and layed beside me .

We lay there for a few moments, none of us saying anything. 

" BUAHAHAH cough cough BUAHAHAHA cough cough ! " i laugh with coughs in between because of the burning feeling in my lungs .

Dai turned to look at me for a second " why are you laughing ? " he asked and i could feel he was a little irritated .

" pfft, because you look like shit right now ! " i said with with some tears in my eyes . 

Dai looked at me bewildered for a second "well, the same could be said to you too" he replied with a tick mark on his face much to my amusment .

I again focus back to the orange sky and look at it for some more moments .

" it was a draw " i said .

" What do you mean by that ? " i asked with his eyebrow raised .

" the fight ended up as a draw, no one won " i added .

" but you clearly beat me in that spar ! " he said while looking at me confused and i shake my head in denial .

" hmm, Dai, let me ask you a question " i said .

" Go on " he replied .

" the moment i saw you, you were training by punching the trunk of that tree, right ? " i ask rhetorically .

" hmmm, yes " he replied .

" the question is, when did you start training today ? " i ask as i turn look at him again .

"Hmm, if i remember correctly, then it was probably before the sun rise, but what does that have to do with this tho ? " he answered and asked .

" it has alot to do with this Dai, the moment we started to fight it was already afternoon " i said but he still didn't get my point .

" that means ? " he said confused .

" sighh, that means you were already exhausted when you fought with me, it doesn't count as a win " i answered tiredly .

" but you beat me in skills and strength fair and square, so what do you want more than that ? " he asked curiously .

" sighhh, i won because of me using an ultimate art that i didn't want to use, but the situation asked for it and i caught you off guard. If i had let you get away from me even for one more second then you would have won surely " i said calmly .

" hmm, now that i think about it, what was that technique you used at the end, did you create it yourself ? " he asked curiously .

"I learned it from My master, his name is Bang, he named that technique the water stream rock smashing fist, as if to flow like water calmly but crush stones easily " i said with a small smile on my face .

" Bang ? I have never heard of him but he must be a strong guy ! " he said with ting of enthusiasm .

I smile at him " if only you knew ! " i said while thinking about that old monster who beat the crap out OG garou many times even though he was old .

I slowly stand up with pain coursing through my whole body until i was back on my feet, i struggled a little to stand straight, i slowly put my hand on my dislocated shoulder and move the bone back into it is place .

" aghhh " i winced a little and start to make my way out of this damned forest .

* step step step *

" ahh can you help me please master garou, i don't think that i can move my body " Dai suddenly said as looked at me pitifully .

" sighhhh " i sighed and walked back towards him, i put his left arm around my shoulder and slowly helped him to stand up albeit struggling .

My own body wasn't in much better shape but my regeneration helped a little to move when i was unconscious .

* step step step *

we started to make our way outside this forest slowly until we were in front of a cliff that wasn't surrounded by the trees  .

We stood there for a few moments, taking in the beautiful scenery and the sun that was about to set .

" beautiful isn't it " i ask absentmindedly with Dai still by my side .

" Yeah it is " he replied .

We stare at the sun until the twilight formed .

" he Dai " i call him .

" yes ? " he asked curiously .

we look at each other until i raise my hand for him to grab  " Youth ? " i asked rhetorically with a small smile .

The moment he heard me, it was as if something clicked on his mind, he started to shed tears like a stream and...

with difficulty he removed his arm around my shoulder until we were face to face .

'Grab' he immediately grabbed my hand firmly and grinned at each other .

he took a large breath in " YOOOOUUUUTHHHHH !!!!! " he shouted with all his might and gave me a nice pose guy, with his teeth reflecting the nonexistent sun light that defied logic .

And this is how a strong friendship formed between two best friends .

.

.

.

" ahhhh,by the way, how do we get down of this cliff ? " i suddenly realized and asked while scratching the back of my head .

.

.

As the realization hit Dai his cheek sunked " We have to... go back to where we were and move to the far north " he replied tiredly with me immediately biting on my own tongue in anger, raising my fist, a little away from beating the hell out of him .

" THEN... why didn't you TELL ME when we came all the way to here ?! " i ask while gritting my teeth .

" I forgot " he said as he scratched his beard with an embarrassed smile .

I inhale to calm myself down and slowly step forward the cliff to look down and i could see that it was good enough for ' it '

I grab Dai and put him on my back immediately before he protested and back away a few steps, bending my knees, ready to dash .

" Hey ! What are you doing master garou ?! " he asked surprised by my action while trying to get away .

" tell me Dai, have you ever tried to fly by throwing yourself from a cliff ? " i ask rhetorically .

" wha- "

* swoosh *

I didn't let him finish and dashed towards the cliff with dai on my back .

" NO NO NO  DON'T, WE WILL DIE !! " he shouted frantically, trying to get away but i was grabbing him real tight with a wide foolish grin on my face .

" IT'S TIME TO FLY LITTLE BIRD !! " I shouted and the moment i was a few steps away to fall down i jumped high to the sky .

i could feel the wind hitting our body, ruffling our clothes and hair because how fast we were falling .

" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HEEELLPPPPPP HEEEEEEELLLPPPPP  !! "

" BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH WE FLYINNNNNNNN BWAHAHAHA "

i laughed like a maniac with dai on my back who was looking as white as a sheet, shouting, afraid of his own life .

We were falling down like this until i look at Dai's face behind me but to my horror, he was...

" NOOOOOOO DONNNNNN'T YOU DAREEEE !!! " I shout hysterically at dai but...

* VOMITING SOUNDS *

" AHHHHHHHH !!!!! "

* Thud * * Shhhffffhh *

And we hit a tree .

The End