Chapter 60 - Touch

Iris

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The grove was silent.
The air was thick, heavy, and dry. The day’s light was beginning to fade, bleaching the world monotone and gray. The straggling leaves hung still from the twisted tree branches, as if frozen.
Valkyre surveyed the small clearing. In the dying light, it took him a minute to realize that what had appeared to be thick mounds of undergrowth were actually crumbled piles of stone, some still holding to shape, forming disfigured corners and walls. Rotted lengths of wood lay in heaps where they had fallen, untouched. Over the soft, pale stone vines and creepers had taken back the land, slowly closing in. To the crossbreed’s side, a pale shadow resolved itself into a channeled pillar, tilted threateningly at a sharp angle.
The ruins weren’t recent, nor was the architecture. The buildings here had been walled with stone, yet roofed by wood. The design was crude, simplistic.
It had been a long time.
“Here.”
The other had stepped forward, small cloven feet nimble and sure. The boy glanced back over his shoulder, large eyes blinking, emotionless.
Valkyre followed him wordlessly, but found the boy’s slow, rhythmic movement unnecessary. He could feel Iris, could sense the other’s presence. He was guided by premonition alone, footsteps steady and sure.
Iris was tucked into one of the crumbling corners of a ruined building, sitting calmly on the ground, leaning back against the chalky stone. His hair was slightly rougher and unkempt, shoulders slumped, small hands half-curled. His eyes were closed, legs folded.
Valkyre took a shaky, slow half-step forward, suddenly losing his sure-footedness. The other boy yielded, stepping to the side silently, and with a quick glance to the crossbreed, vanished into the undergrowth, leaving the two alone.
Iris’s breathing was so shallow, he might have been sleeping. Valkyre stared at the boy, eyes running over the soft, familiar features, the pale skin, the fraying seams of the battered, shapeless white shirt.
The crossbreed took another step closer, and Iris opened his eyes.
His gaze was the same as ever; the eyes were wide, empty, and distant, mirroring nothing, reflecting nothing. They stared at him, past him, into nothingness.
“…Iris?”
Valkyre went up to the boy, stood there stiffly staring down, lips drawn. At his feet, the boy did not move.
What was he supposed to do? Why was Iris not even… acknowledging his existence?
The gray eyes moved, slowly, head tilting up. The tangled hair fell back from the boy’s face, a strand catching at the edge of his mouth, stuck to his lips. Before he could realize what he was doing, Valkyre was leaning down, rough fingers brushing away the stray hair, fingernails grazing lightly over the cool, smooth skin.
Iris’s mouth opened, the boy catching a sharp, sudden exhalation and intake of breath.
And then, he was crumpling, curling up, thin arms reaching upwards, scrabbling to grasp Valkyre’s arm, shaking violently.
The crossbreed dropped down onto his knees, catching the boy as he fell forward. Iris’s body was trembling, shoulders drawn, small mouth rasping out one unsteady breath after another.
“Iris? What is it??”
Valkyre folded the boy into his arms, feeling the frailness of the body, the thin torso, the gaunt ribcage. Iris was shaking, badly. In his arms, Valkyre could feel the boy’s body jerking with dry, heaving sobs.
“…Iris?”
And yet, when the boy looked up…
He was smiling.
The small mouth was upturned, colorless lips chapped, dirt smudged under his eye and along his cheeks, hair a tangled, unruly mess. And yet he seemed so happy.
“Valkyre…”
Iris let out a small sigh, then curled himself up in the other’s arms, knees tucked, small hands clutching the stiff, battered clothing. The boy’s body relaxed, breathing slowing down. The thin form ceased to shake, but still trembled faintly, on occasion.
Valkyre opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again. What had he been expecting, after all? Formalities were meaningless. In the end, all he needed to know that everything would be all right was this touch, this solidarity and heaviness in his arms.
And yet, lying there in his embrace, it felt like Iris weighed no more than a feather.

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AN: My god, it's been forever. I'm so sorry!! ::bows::
And also, I'm sorry it's such of a crappy chapter. X< Absolutely nothing happened!! Augh!
Well, I'm hoping things will start to get back together soon. I'm still floundering about looking for my plotline (has anyone seen it??) and I want to get in some action, but we're really drawing up to a conclusion here, so I need to finish things off, and I need to know what to do in order to finish it off right!! XC
(Somewhat on this subject, I'm afraid the ending to Iris could, majorly, suck. I realize I've had my ending since about the same time I had my start to Iris, and I don't want to change it. However, with the way the story has evolved, it'll probably just seem like a cheap, crappo ending. So, just in advance, I'm sorry. ;o; )
Anyway, thanks to all of my faithful readers!! I can't believe you guys would stick through for such an un-updater like me. ;A;
I promise! I promise! I promise to finish Iris!! XC
THANK YOU~

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