The fist flew.
Darkened his sight.
Cast a shadow.
Large and dark.
Across his face.
Ruigh's gaze.
Drifted over it.
Then he reacted.
He shot forward.
Slipped beneath the fist.
Grabbed Uhra's upper arm.
Stopped the strike.
His hand moved.
Lightning-fast.
Onto Uhra's back head.
Forced his head downward.
While his knee shot upward.
Aiming for Uhra's face.
He reacted.
Pushed his hand.
Spread like a claw, forward.
Between head and knee.
And the knee drove itself.
With full force.
Into the hand.
And did not move a single inch further.
So they persisted.
Shaking and gasping.
Sweat ran down Ruigh.
Tormentingly slow.
Across forehead and face.
Dripped from his chin.
And landed on Uhra.
Mixed with his own.
And fell to the ground.
Both trembled.
Both fought.
With pure strength they struggled.
For dominance.
Uhra groaned.
Pressed the knee downward.
While he chuckled.
With a strained voice.
"I thought you were a child."
His grip tightened.
He fought on.
Against Ruigh.
Ruigh gasped.
Stared down.
At Uhra.
His muscles roaring.
"I am, you're just weak."
Uhra raised it.
His head.
Stared with a triumphant gaze.
And wide grin upward. To Ruigh.
"And yet," he whispered.
Gathering his strength.
"Stronger."
He released it.
The knee.
Let it shoot upward.
And seized.
Held the shin.
And tore.
With all his strength.
At it.
Ruigh screamed.
Stumbled backward.
And fell.
Flailed through the air.
Twisting.
Slammed down.
With a dull thud.
Onto the ground.
Uhra.
Towering above him.
With a crooked grin.
Placed a foot.
Large and heavy.
On Ruigh's chest.
"So what is it? What's in your head?" asked Uhra.
Arms loosely crossed.
A half-smile on his lips.
Ruigh rolled his eyes.
Moaned softly.
Tried to push Uhra's foot off his chest.
"I'm not entirely sure,"
he growled.
Uhra raised an eyelid.
"Not sure? Are you serious?"
Ruigh snorted.
"Yeah, not sure."
He tugged at Uhra's leg resting on him.
Uhra tilted his head.
"Oh, come on, you can't be that clueless."
He increased the pressure.
His foot pressed harder against Ruigh's chest.
"As I said, no idea," he muttered.
He lifted his arm.
Clenched his fist.
Tested a strike.
Against the leg. No effect.
Uhra crouched down.
Stared at Ruigh.
Eye to eye.
"You know what," said Uhra,
a knowing grin spreading across his lips.
Ruigh rolled his eyes.
"It's complicated,"
he said.
His hand shot forward.
Wrapped around Uhra's neck.
Pulled him forward.
His foot slipped off Ruigh's chest.
He fell forward.
Tumbled.
Glided through the air.
And hit the grass.
A pained groan escaped him.
Ruigh sprang to his feet.
Stretching casually.
Uhra stretched out his arm.
A grin on his face.
"Help your poor mentor up before he never gets up again."
Ruigh rolled his eyes.
"Help yourself."
Uhra laughed.
And pushed himself to his feet.
"You really have no manners."
Ruigh groaned, annoyed.
"Says the right one."
Uhra shook his head, laughing.
Looked at Ruigh.
Through amused eyes.
"And still a headache, or whatever that was?"
Ruigh froze.
His gaze drifted around.
Over trees and bushes.
Restless and clouded.
"It's gone, I think," he murmured.
Uhra raised his brows.
"You think."
Ruigh groaned.
Let himself fall into the grass.
Wrapped his arms around his legs.
"It's complicated, but—"
Uhra chuckled.
With a few steps he was at Ruigh's side.
Let himself sink down beside him.
"But what?"
Ruigh shrugged.
Helplessly.
"Seems like I've got some refined memory gaps."
Uhra nodded.
Studied Ruigh.
"And what did you forget?"
There was a faint trace of care in his voice.
"Well, it must have something to do with the explosion in Karuka City,"
Ruigh answered.
He swallowed.
His gaze slid into emptiness.
His body stiffened.
He pressed his forehead.
Painfully hard.
Against his knees.
And his breath.
Loud and rasping.
The only sound.
"And," he whispered,
"with Aren."
Uhra nodded.
His gaze slid over Ruigh.
He studied him, scrutinizing.
On his face, a thoughtful calm.
"So you say you've forgotten something that has to do with an explosion and Aren," he said.
His expression held.
A cunning grin crept, quick and silent, onto his lips.
His eyes sparkled.
"I'm right back."
With that, he rose.
Cracked his fingers.
And walked off.
Vanished.
With loud snapping and rustling in the underbrush.
Leaving the bewildered Ruigh behind.
Without another word.
Ruigh just shook his head.
A faint smile on his lips.
"Idiot," he murmured.
Slowly, he tilted his head back.
With a weary sigh.
His eyes met it.
The sun.
Large and warm, it shone.
Full of splendor, down upon him.
Its light.
Infused with warmth.
Tickled him.
Heated him.
Yes—warmth.
He chuckled, lost in thought.
Warmth it was.
Almost—heat.
His eyes.
Half-closed.
Snapped wide open.
Soaked in horror.
Fixed on the sky.
Heat.
Flames.
So hot. So furious.
As they writhe.
Devouring everything.
Roaring out their wrath.
His breathing accelerated.
Reduced to squeaks.
Shrill.
Losing air.
In silence.
His body collapsed.
Unfathomable heat overcame him.
Imaginary heat.
Imaginary flames licking over him.
Coating him.
Eating away at him.
And the pain.
Pouring into his head.
Like a thousand needles piercing.
And then the darkness.
Large and heavy.
Exploding.
And the images.
Deep in the darkness.
Someone.
A figure.
Aren.
In flames.
And the scorching death tearing the world apart.
Tormented by images.
By loss.
And by pain.
He lay there, screaming his suffering.
To the trees,
Growing silently.
To the ground.
Holding him.
To the sun above.
Shining there.
Cheerful and content.
Kissing the world.
With its golden bliss.
And beneath it.
Ruigh.
Screaming.
Tortured by the past.
And the last thing he heard.
Uhra's voice.
Resounding in the darkness.
The darkness that now blanketed the world.
In black.