Some few may recognize this, and if you do, then I guess I have to explain. This is an old fic (very old) that Nina (the former author) allowed me to resurrect using my own writing style…. I liked it, so I want to see if I could finish it.

Although this chapter is pretty much the original first chapter, the chapters following this will be vastly different.

Chapter 1

Mia raised her staff, slaying the last goblin... in sight, anyway... "Those things just come out of nowhere." Garet commented, swinging his axe a final time to get the slime off it. Isaac, however, showed no signs of tire from the battle. "There must have been about five or six of them critters!" Garet continued, sitting against a wall. "Hey, where's the blonde shrimp? He ran off somewhere... Oh, uh, I didn’t mean you, Isaac!” He grinned stupidly, before a fist planted a bump on his head. "Ow!" He scowled at Ivan in frustration.

"You know my name, damn it!" Ivan walked off, pretending not to hear Garet's mumbling about something like, "little shrimp," or whatever.

Mia sighed, "I think we should rest now. We've been wondering this cave for hours, it'd be best if we rest and maintain stamina." She sat next to Garet against the cold, moist wall of the cave. Sweat began to form in beads on her forehead, and her breathing showed that she was not well enough to continue. Garet would have argued had it not be for that fact. "We should probably sleep for now, and we'd each take turns doing watch." She suggested.

Garet shrugged, "Fine by me, but I’m not going first!" Ivan was still panting, but did not sit, nodding his head and looking over to Isaac, who had seemingly decided to sit on the opposite wall of the cave. He nodded and gave a brief, "yes."

Sighing, Mia raised her hand, knowing no one else was going to volunteer first, "I'll go first. Three hours." Everyone nodded, and it did not take long before the three boys found sleep upon them. Somehow, for some reason, she felt a bit protective over them all now, like a mother over her young. She shook her head, what a strange thing for her to be thinking. She scooted over to where Ivan had fallen asleep, somewhat far from Garet, but not too close to Isaac, either. It seemed as though the three were making a triangle.

She touched Ivan's forehead, wondering if he had come down with anything. For an hour or so now, he had been looking a little flushed, even though he had not fought all that much... Maybe he had not been helping so much lately because he felt slightly ill. She got up and went to check on Garet, who seemed to be the one in the deepest sleep. He was such a carefree person he was, she knew nothing was to worry about as long as it was him. Even he though had been cut in the arm deeply a while back by a troll's blade, her healing spell was working nicely, and he seemed as if it was not even there.

Finally, she went over to the final teammate and knelt in front of him. For some reason he had been especially quiet, even for him. Her long fingers reached to touch his forehead, when it froze, suddenly. It was faint, but for a moment, she thought she had seen his eyes, looking at her through slits... His face was rather dark, since he had his chin on his chest, but there still was that thin glimmer. "I'm just imagining things..." She whispered quietly. Getting up once again, she leaned against the wall, looking at each of them, then all around the room. Monsters were everywhere... But mostly weaklings, since none was making any appearance. No matter how small, she sensed them...

Three hours had passed by quickly, and she yawned silently, relieved that her turn was up. Creeping back to Isaac, she reached a small hand to shake him awake. She had decided not to wake Garet, because he would most definitely fall asleep on duty. Just as her hand touched his shoulder, she gasped as his hand grabbed her wrist in the blink of an eye. It was so fast. She stared as Isaac raised his head, eyes portraying a deep blue, showing that he was fully awake. Isaac nodded his head and let go of her, promptly getting up and dusting his tunic...

Deciding she did not want to think about what had happened Mia just fell on the spot Isaac had been and laid her staff on the ground. Yes, he was indeed behaving strangely. Maybe he had eaten some strange herbs. ...No, he had not eaten a thing since they took off from Bilibin... This had been at least 5 days ago. Still he showed no signs of fatigue, not even during battle. She tried hard to stay awake, even to pretend she was sleeping, so he would not know she was watching him. However, something inside her told her that he already knew... Before she knew it, however, her head rested on her left shoulder, and her eyes fell heavily as her breathing steadied.

'She's finally asleep,' Isaac wondered, watching her from the corner of his eyes. He looked towards his childhood friend; Garet was still in deep sleep. Not even sparing a smile, he looked over to Ivan, where his deep blue eyes seemed to darken. '...Maybe not all of them are asleep...'

Kneeling before the youngest member of the group, Isaac did nothing but stare at the boy. Many emotions, maybe even anger washed over him. Once again, his eyes darkened, as his expression remained stoic.

Ivan, who had not been able to sleep but had tried anyway, sensed how close another being was to himself. However, he did not open his eyes. 'Is it my turn or something?' He thought, as the figure just stayed in front of him. "You don't have to pretend you're asleep, you know." He jumped in surprise, his eyes flying open at the sound of the somewhat deep, but familiar voice. Isaac covered Ivan's mouth as the smaller boy began to calm. "Damn it, Isaac, why'd you do that?" Ivan scowled silently after removing Isaacs’s hand.

In the darkness of the cave, Isaac merely stared into the other's eyes, as he remained knelt before him. "W--what?" Ivan murmured quietly, looking confusedly at Isaac. His face began to feel hot, as his cheeks brightened and the darkness did nothing to hide it. "You look sick, Ivan..." Isaac replied in a strangely low voice, his hand moving to the other boy's cheek and brushing it softly, "How do you feel?"

For Isaac to say so many words and complete a sentence "and" a question, it left Ivan dumbfounded. "You make me feel sick inside, sometimes..." Isaac continued. Ivan somehow found his voice and was ready to reply to Isaac, though still not sure of what to say, "Oh... I do... huh?"

"W...What is it?"

Isaac's hand slipped from Ivan's cheek to the hair behind his cheek, feeling it glide gently between his fingers. His face was now mere millimeters away from the smaller boy's, but still kept his stoic expression. "...I don't mean to feel like this... I almost... hate you for it..." Ivan, still frozen in place, afraid of what Isaac might do in his unpredictable state. What exactly did he mean? What did it have to do with him? "What did I do?" He asked, fully aware of how close their faces were he would have backed up a bit, had it not been for the fact that he was sitting with his back and head against the wall.

Slowly but surely, Isaac's lips formed a slight frown, as his eyes reflected a little anger but a little of something else as well. Isaac could not hold it in much longer. For so long, he had been trying to act normal, but he could not help his feelings. He knew he had been forming feelings for his young teammate from he did not know when. He did not know how it had started, or why it had... Nevertheless, the thought, the fact that he knew it was wrong, he felt upset with Ivan for making him like this. He knew it was not the smaller one's fault, but he could not help it. Ivan placed a small hand on the one touching his hair, he did not know what had gotten into Isaac, but he was beginning to feel fluttering in his stomach. He was afraid of this feeling and did not know how to classify it.

"Isaac... I'm sorry about whatever I did, but-" He was cut off by a sudden pressing against his lips. His eyes widened as seconds became minutes, Isaac finally parted away from the shocked boy, but still right before him. "You don't have to be sorry... It's my entire fault..." He whispered shakily, bangs shading his eyes...

Right then, Ivan realized why Isaac had been acting so strangely, had been so secretive, well, at least more than usual. "Isaac... Do you... Do you actually... love me?" Isaac made no sound, but flinched visibly at the sudden question. "..Isaac?"

"Yes... Yes, I do... I'm sorry..."

Ivan found he could not speak, as a knot seemed to form in his throat. His chest felt suppressed, and he found it hard to breathe... Isaac looked ready to get up, and he knew he better say something, and fast.

'I knew he would… This is too much for him,' Isaac thought bitterly, 'He must hate me now... but I cannot seem to... I had better stay away from him now... Before I...' His chest grew tight, his mouth became dry and finally he stood. He failed to notice the small hand that traced down his slowly as he turned away... 'I knew I shouldn't have... I should stay away... Before I do something, I will surely regret... Before I...'

Sitting helplessly in the same position, Ivan watched as Isaac moved to lean on the opposite wall of the cave... 'Ivan, you're such a moron...' He cursed himself, knowing he probably would not sleep at all after this...

Ivan heaved a silent sigh, a million and one thoughts running through his mind as he stared up at the roof of the cave. He closed his eyes and attempted to clear his thoughts, however, it seemed the more he thought about what had just happened, the more he’d become petrified, his insides feeling as if they were turning to stone. What had just happened? Moreover, why had that happened? In all of his confusion, he could not pinpoint any solution, any explanation, anything at all that may have foreshadowed something of this… this magnitude. Feeling a migraine coming on, Ivan opened his eyes to a new darkness. It was his darkness.

From all of his dwelling, he could only come up with a single, morose thought, ‘There is no way in hell this can end well…’