► Treasure Hunt ◄

After three days, it was time for Vox and Shoto to go on their adventure. They decided to depart early in the morning, when the sun has not yet risen. This way, they hoped that no one would see them, in case they got watched. Even the residents in the baileys didn't get told anything. They were now standing at the castle wall entrance with Ike and were about to depart. The others already said their goodbyes the evening before.

'Please be careful on your way there and make sure to stay warm' Ike persisted. 'Don't worry. It's still not that cold at night and I'm a light sleeper. So I will notice immediately if something is wrong and we will be on guard the whole time.' Shoto assured. 'Alright. I trust you' Ike confided. 'If it gets cold, we can always make use of our body heat, you know?' Vox offered. 'I don't think that will be necessary. It's not that cold at night, yet' Ike replied. Then he saw how red Shoto's face has gotten all of a sudden. 'Shoto? Are you alright? Your face is red. You don't have a fever, do you?' 'N-No. I'm fine. I-It's nothing. Let's go Vox. Bye Ike' Shoto stuttered. He wanted to hide his face as fast as possible, so he went on ahead. Vox then turned to follow him while chuckling, 'Bye Ike. We will try to not take too long' He promised. 'Goodbye, you two' Ike waved.

After about ten minutes of walking and a few yawns later, they arrived at the forest where they first met. 'It's been a week, since we first met here and it already feels like an eternity. So many things happened since meeting you. And I mean good things' Vox stated. 'Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm glad I got to know you guys' Shoto replied. 'Aw, me too' Vox said emotionally. Shoto blushed slightly. They continued talking while entering the forest. Their destination led them through the part of the forest where it was still untouched. It was so overgrown that Vox had to cut the plants with his sword.

After a few hours of walking, they arrived at a clearing and decided to take a break and eat something. They didn't have time for breakfast, since they had to leave very early. The sun was now filling the forest with its warmth and the birds were singing their praises. It was a very peaceful moment which the two men appreciated. 'It feels so nice to take a breather like this after all this work. It feels like all my efforts were for this very moment' Vox smiled. 'You are right. It feels so relaxing and comforting. But Vox, it's not just this moment. There will come many more on this journey. I can feel it' Shoto claimed. 'Oh? That sounds like you planned something. Is there something I should look forward to except going on this adventure with you?' Vox smirked. 'Eh? N-No, that's not what I meant. I-I-' Shoto stuttered. 'Haha, you are too easy to tease, my boy' Vox laughed. 'Vox...' Shoto whined. 'But, I'm really looking forward to our journey together' Vox stated. 'Me too' Shoto mumbled. 'What was that?' Vox pretended that he didn't hear him and tilted his head near the purplettes face.

'N-Nothing. Let's keep going.' Shoto stood up and swirled towards their destination. Vox could see a red flush on his cheeks and got up while chuckling. Then he followed after him.

Two hours passed by as they walked further, while talking about their next plans for the castle and guild. They came to a stop in front of a river that blocked their way. 'What now?' Shoto asked. 'Well, we can't possibly swim over. We will just get sick, considering how chilly it's gotten. And we don't know the strength of the current. Maybe there is another way' Vox pondered. 'Wait, I think I can see some boulders over there' Shoto noticed. A few hundred meters (Authors Note: I decided to use the metric system, since I grew up with that. I hope you are alright with that.) to the west lay boulders in the river. They seemed very steady and were forming a path towards the other side. The gaps between each boulder wasn't too big, but they still had to jump a good amount.

'Ok. Let's use that path, but be careful. We don't know how slippery the surface is' Vox stated. Shoto nodded and walked towards the boulders. He then jumped on the first boulder. Vox followed right after him. The next few boulders were easy to overcome. But they were now standing in front of a gap that was around 6 meters wide. So Shoto started to take a run up. When he was about to jump, he suddenly lost his footing and was about to fall. But fortunately, Vox caught him just in time. He held him by the waist in a tight hug with Shoto's back pressed against him. 'Phew, that really scared me for a second. Are you alright, Shoto?' Vox worried. Shoto was still a little shocked as he had to gather his thoughts, 'I-I. Yeah. Thanks Vox. You can let go now' 'Ok. But be careful on that next jump' Vox let go and took a step back so that Shoto had enough space for the jump. As the warmth left Shoto's back, he felt a little sting in his heart, but decided to ignore it. Then he jumped again. This time with no complications. Vox also jumped over with ease. After two more boulders, they finally made it to the other side.

They continued walking for about half an hour, when they suddenly heard thunder not far from them. Looking towards the noise, they saw dark clouds forming not far in front of them. 'Now, that doesn't look very welcoming. Maybe we should search for some kind of shelter. Seems like it will rain soon' Vox suggested. 'Yeah. The wind is also getting stronger' Shoto agreed. As there was only forest in sight, it was pretty difficult to find shelter. But they realized that the trees' trunks were getting bigger and could already see a few excavations in them. So they kept an eye out for a trunk that had a gap, big enough to fit them.

It took them about another half an hour to finally find shelter. Since it was pouring for about ten minutes already, they were both soked. 'So much for keeping warm' Shoto joked. 'Yeah. I'm glad our blankets stayed dry, since it's impossible to get any firewood in this downpour' Vox said relieved. He wrung out his hair and started undressing. Shoto didn't understand his actions and got flustered, 'Woah. What are you doing?' Vox tilted his head, 'Well, I don't want to get sick, so I need to get out of those wet clothes. You should do the same, my boy' He said with a poker face. I'm telling the truth, but I'm still a little expectant. He thought to himself while undressing to his underwear. Shoto looked at him wide eyed, but averted his gaze with a red face. No indecent thoughts. No in-de-cent thoughts. You don't want to get sick. He thought to himself while he started undressing, too. Both men had a well defined build with well defined muscles. Shoto just had delicate muscles, since his fighting style focused more on speed, while Vox's muscles were a little more prominent. His fighting style depended more on one on ones, so he made sure to always keep to his training schedule. Both men were now only in their boxers and started rummaging in their bags to get their blankets out. As Vox took out his blanket, he sneaked a peek towards Shoto whose back was facing him. Wow, what a fine cake. He thought while grinning. Then he sat down and wrapped himself in his blanket. Shoto, who felt the other's gaze on him did the same as he was still blushing. The demon was still grinning from ear to ear, so Shoto got curious, 'W-What is it?' Vox happily answered, 'Nothing much. I just thought that you are very beautiful.' The other's face was now a deep red, 'W-Wha-? I- Thank you... You are also very handsome' The last part came out in more of a whisper, but the demon still heard him, 'Aw, thank you.'

Shoto was a little taken aback, 'How come, you never get flustered?' He asked. Vox was a little surprised by the question, 'Well. Maybe because I'm embracing my inner demon?' He laughed.

'What does that even mean?' Shoto laughed. 'Who knows. Just know that you're a hundred years to early to get me flustered' He winked. The purplette now pouted and they got silent for a few minutes while watching the rain fall.

The steady patter of rain against the tree trunk was the only sound that was breaking the silence.

A shiver fell down Vox's spine as he felt the cold creep up on him. He was normally not really affected by the temperatures, but being soked to the skin obviously had a big impact on him. So, what about his companion? He took a glance of his friend who was not sitting far from him. Shoto was a shivering mess. It wasn't that well lit in the tree trunk, but Shoto was shivering so much that he looked like the tail of a rattlesnake. That made Vox very worried, 'Come here, Shoto. You will get sick if you don't get warm soon.' The other shook his head, 'I'm fine. I never got sick because of some rain.' Vox now glared at him, 'Come here. This isn't just some rain. And you are shivering way too much.' As he said that, he lay his blanket neatly folded on the ground to use it as a cushion for them and sat down on it. Then he helt out his hand towards his friend as he motioned him to sit beside him. 'Ok...' Shoto said trembling. He stood up and walked over. As Vox patted the blanket beside, Shoto gave him his blanket and sat down next to him. 'Come closer. I don't bite' Vox demanded. The boy did as he was told, but averted Vox's gaze. Too close. He thought. When he was close enough, Vox put the blanket over them, put his arm around Shoto's shoulder and pulled him close. Shoto could hear his own heartbeat. Please heart, calm down. We are just trying to get warm. He squeezed his eyes shut. 'Calm down. I'm not going to do anything, my boy. That is, if you don't want me to' he whispered in his ear. His destructive voice sent shivers down his spine. 'V-Vox... P-Please... don't' he whimpered. 'Ok. Then, I won't' The demon replied. Is this just a joke to him? What does he even think about me? Is he just playing with me? Shoto thought with an aching heart. He was completely unaware of Vox's feelings as his own heartbeat overshadowed that of the demon's and he didn't see the blush on his face. Why is he so damn cute? It already takes all I have to not touch him other than to make him warm. Vox thought to himself.

After about five minutes he heard Shoto softly breathing in and out. 'Shoto? Are you asleep?' No answer. He was just flustered not too long ago and he is already sleeping tight, haha. I'm glad, he doesn't feel cold anymore. He stopped shivering as well. Guess, I'll get some sleep, too. Before resting his head on the wall of the tree trunk, he gave Shoto a little kiss on the top of his head. 'Sleep tight, my little demon slayer' He chuckled.

After a few hours of sleep, Shoto slowly regained consciousness as he heard a few rain drops fall into a little puddle that had formed due to the heavy rain. He felt warm and comfortable, so he nestled himself further into the warmth. 'Did you sleep well?' He heard a hoarse voice next to him say. As realization hit him, he jumped a little and nearly fell over while turning towards the voice. The demon frowned slightly as the warmth of Shoto's body left him. Still avoiding his gaze, Shoto replied, 'S-Sorry. You must have been uncomfortable... I didn't realize, I fell asleep', which gained him a chuckle from the demon. 'It's fine. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. You fell asleep pretty quickly. Maybe we should cuddle more often.' Damn. His morning voice is something else. Shoto thought. 'Maybe... Ah, no. Vox, stop...' he nearly got swept away by him, but managed to snap back to reality. 'Aw, so close' The demon pouted, which earned him a chuckle from Shoto this time.

They decided to get up and put their clothes back on. The fabric was still a little wet, but dry enough to wear. 'We should look out for something to make fire so that we can dry our clothes properly' Vox suggested. 'Yeah. I'm glad, that the sun is shining so bright or else we would freeze' Shoto agreed. 'We can hug any time, you know?' Vox joked. 'I'll tell you when it gets to that' Shoto said shyly. Oh, he's not rejecting me anymore? Vox wondered. I'm happy, I went on this trip.

A while later, they arrived at their destination. 'If what the map says is right, then we have to enter this cave' Shoto stated. 'Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go' Vox said eagerly. So, they entered the cave.