The Traveling Performer (Firebird and Clover)

[クローバー (Clover)]

Markus slowly awoke to coldness all over his body. Ammon was no longer by his side. He thought that he had gotten up to wash himself before his next performance and decided to freshen up too. He put on some lighter clothes from his pack, a white shirt with the highest three buttons left open and brown breeches with black boots. He tied his messy purple hair into a careless ponytail before heading off to look for Ammon... before seeing him eating with his comrades. Just as he was going to join his lover, the announcement that they were going to arrive at Markus's homeland in three days made him stop in his tracks. He approached the crowd in utter disbelief.

 

"Three days, you say..." he said, intending to follow up with something else, but the words kept evading him no matter how hard he tried to find them. The gravity of the situation hit him. He would have to face everyone he knew after having fallen in love with a dancer from a nomadic tribe. Regardless of the risks, he was ready to defend his Ammon if any other nobles tried to lay their hands on him with the intent to kill or rape him.

[firebird]

Glancing his love standing a few feet away with a resolved look on his face, he could almost guess what was running through his mind. And it brought great pride, as well as joy, to him. Placing his bowl down, he was crossing the small distance between them in mostly steady strides.

"Hey you," he said, planting a sweet kiss on his significant other's lips,"you hungry?"

He pulled him over to where he was sitting and requested him some food. Plopping down in his lap -read 'gently'- he decided to break, or rather, reintroduce the news.

"Sooo...we'll arrive in Terriam in a few days..." he purposely left the statement open hoping to hear his lover's thoughts on the matter.

 

"And on that note, I think it's time I told you something very important"

[クローバー (Clover)]

Markus let Ammon bring him to the table and he sat down in Ammon's seat, letting the smaller boy situate himself on his lap. More food was brought to them as he found a spare set of utensils to eat with. It seemed like they made some kind of soup for breakfast. Some fruits also sat in a basket near the center of the arrangement. He carefully took a spoonful of the soup from the bowl and tasted it. Lentils. He grinned, lentil soup being his favorite kind of soup, and ate more.

 

"I heard. I think I might need to talk to you about that later." Markus said. "What do you have to tell me?"

[firebird]

He fidgeted in his seat -Marcus' lap- for it proved to be more difficult than he thought, telling Marcus something that the entire troop knew already.

"Maybe we should go inside," he removed himself from the purplette's lap and lead him inside their tent by his wrist.

He sat down on their 'bed' and gently ran his hands all over it, remembering the wild, passionate love they made on that very same surface.

 

While his lover had done everything in his power to erase the feeling of insecurity he had festering inside, it wasn't all gone. He was beyond worried of what his love would think of his character. Would he be understanding or would he prove to be only human and question his love for him? But more importantly , would he love him anymore? They say love is blind but it wasn't that blind. All those questions swirling around in his head made him queasy and nauseous. He even irrationally thought of avoiding the intended topic but whatever logic remained in his head wouldn't allow it.

 

Sighing, he'd made his decision. "Markus...," he began, unsure of how to continue,"..I..promise not to be mad at me and please, please never stop loving me because of this also, know this...I really am and forever will be in love with you" He closed his eyes in meditation or perhaps to lessen the stinging behind them. Then he continued, "When I first met you I thought God he's enchanting..", here he smiled gingerly "But somewhere in an unforgiving part of my mind I thought of you as the perfect opportunity.

You see, 11 years ago Terriam was even harsher on same sex lovers than they are today. My father,after my mother died, found love in the form of a man, a politician and he loved him back in return but...," he paused gritting his teeth in anger. "...but when their love was found out the minister denied my father's heart in the face of the government and all the people of Terriam.

 

But in the end, it didn't work. They beheaded my father before my very eyes and the minister hid me and ran away himself. He went back years later, or so I heard, and with the right amount of money and newly found status, when he married the widowed duchess of a faraway land, he was reinstated.

This where you came in: you have connections to the inside, I had planned to use that to get in and tear him limb from limb in honour of my father, and destroy Terriam politically and economically but now..."

he looked up with tears in his eyes and an obvious vulnerability that wasn't there before. "...now...I don't want to use you like that, I still want him to suffer but not at the cost of losing you"

He fell to his knees head bowed deeply. His body shook with the strength it took not to cry. "Please...forgive me" he whispered trying not to break but his voice quivered in the end anyway.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Markus looked at Ammon, shocked that his past was so deeply rooted in his homeland. He held Ammon in his arms, gently drawing circles on his back.

"It's okay... I wouldn't blame you for hating Minister Valentino that strongly, especially with what he did to you." Markus said. "Having been born and raised in Terriam, I've hated that man ever since he was appointed. Ammon, if you're planning to kill him, I want to go with you and help."

[firebird]

Shocked, he leaned away from his lover's embrace. "Yo-you don't...hat..e me? Slight sparkles of the beginning of tears in his eyes was how he faced -what he was sure was- the man of his dreams. Just the notion of his love helping him made his heart swell and the tears coming at full speed.

 

He held him as tightly as he possibly could bordering on painful. "Oh God I love you so much", he sobbed. He placed his hand on his other half's cheek. " And it's because I love you so much why I want you to have nothing to do with this..." A sad look crossed his face. " I'll admit that I'll need your help penetrating their security but that's IT. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt because of me"

[クローバー (Clover)]

"I've wanted to kill that man and take his position ever since he was appointed. He is the worst possible idea for a ruler ever conceived. Any pain I have to deal with in attempting to assassinate him would be worth it if we succeed." Markus said, holding onto his lover as he cried. He understood Ammon's pain and utter dismay at having to use him like that, but if Markus didn't mind, it wasn't a crime. He wiped the younger boy's eyes and looked into them intensely for a moment before kissing him. He wished it would be easy for him to simply heal his lover's sorrows with a kiss, but he hoped that it would at least make him feel better.

[firebird]

They stayed like that for hours and if it was up to Ammon they would remain like that for the rest of their days. But sadly all good things must come to an end. He would have to stop basking in his lover's presence and attention soon. And soon just happened to be in the following moments.

 

The brown-haired beauty stuck her head inside and quickly alerted Ammon of the fact that they would be moving out soon. He smiled at her and grudgingly pulled out of his lover's embrace. He spared said lover another look of adoration. "C'mon, love" we need to start heading out," he added under his breath, "...no matter how much I don't want to"

 

They were on the road again and approximately one city and three days away from Terriam. Yippee...

Ammon walked as closely to his lover as possible, needing the man's strength and support at every turn. They chatted amicably about themselves. Ammon told him of his life as a child in Terriam and about the fun he'd had on journey to other places and in turn expected to hear more about the love of his life.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Markus sighed, but nodded. He followed Ammon as his female companion dragged him out. He was entertained by the stories Ammon told of his childhood and how adventurous he used to be. As Ammon had expected, Markus told him more about his childhood, though his stories were not as rosy.

"When I was little, my mom and my dad were both pansexual. They had an open relationship despite being married, regularly bringing in other sexual partners to join them in their nightly activities. If you remember back then, open relationships during marriage were what the minister despised the most because of rumors about his past. My parents were able to keep their relationship intact for about 14 years. Then, on the night before their 15th anniversary, one of my mother's partners ratted them out, and my parents were burned at two separate crosses with me being forced to watch. Since then, I've been trying to plot the minister's downfall, but because I inherited both of my parents' wealth, I was instantly launched into the noble class, so I had to maintain a certain persona so that the minister wouldn't become suspicious. I even had to pretend to like women to keep myself from coming under fire. That persona was the man you saw at the beginning of the trip." Markus had no trouble recalling his past, though parts of it were exceedingly painful. He felt that since Ammon was giving him a glimpse into his life that it was only fair for Markus to do the same.

[firebird]

He smiled grimly at his mate prior to bringing their faces together and brushing their noses together. He continually did so until he thought that his strong knight had all the comforting he needed.

 

In the middle of their love bird moment, a loud collision could be heard from up front. Ammon steered his attention away from his lover only to find that something had created a huge dent in the path of their group. Perhaps 'dent' didn't quite cover the width of that thing. It was more like a crater. And to say it was created to swiftly..unseeingly, it was rather large.

 

He moved to the front of the group, checking to see if all was well with everyone. Shaken up the were but safe and sound all the same. "What the-"

As sudden as the crater-making had been, they found themselves surrounded by men.Tough, burly looking men the size of tanks. They were more bear than man but the humanity in their looks wasn't lost on him.

 

"Well looky-here boyz, we jus' foun' o'selves a mighty lil' pack of freakos'. don' luk too rich bu' they got some mighty fine lookerz" He gave a nasty yellow-toothed smile to Ammon's group. "We'll make'a fo'tune!"

 

As he made eye contact with the astonished blonde an overwhelming sense of doom swirled in his stomach.

'Well..shit'

[クローバー (Clover)]

"Ammon, stay behind me, but hold onto me, and don't let go." Markus brandished a knife from his belt. "What are you hooligans doing harrassing? Leave these people alone."

Just then, a smaller man on the back of one of his larger companions looked at Markus and gasped.

"Oi guys! Ain't he one of dem fancy pants guys from the city?!" he said.

"Dat 'e is! Dis is great! We'll rob 'im, kill 'im, and sell dat blond cutie off as a sex slave!" another man said.

Markus gave the man who suggested selling Ammon into sexual slavery a deadly glare that read "You die first". He lunged at him, his knife in hand, and stabbed the man right through his heart. The other hooligans watched in horror as one of their number fell, blood pooling around his body. They quickly refocused, however, and sent another buff man out to try to take on Markus. This man was presumed to be their leader based on the way the others reacted to him.

"If the others attack you all, do whatever you need to do. Keep Ammon safe as well." he told his traveling companions.

[firebird]

He was feeling a little bit more than emasculated. His lover inadvertently gave him the role of a small child or even worse...a woman. A frown tried to set itself upon his features but at the hard look of determination and the will to protect him in Markus' eyes, he couldn't help but find the gesture more sweet than derogatory. But that wasn't to say that he wouldn't prove his worth to this man.

 

Standing his guard beside his lover, he was prepared to fight. Even more so upon hearing the plans of those fiends. There was no way he was selling his ass. He was a one man kind of chap, thank you very much. Not to mention the threat to his lover, oh his foot was definitely meeting someone's ass today.

 

A soft gasp left his lips as he found himself short one purplette in only a split second. His lover was already attacking those men with all he had in him. Ammon might have found it charming if not for the fact that: 1)it was a not so bright move and 2) there he went emasculating the blond man again.

 

Growling, he pressed his back to the newly settled Markus' facing the other culprits and his traumatized group. They weren't seasoned fighters or anything but most of them could hold their own in a fight. Problem was... these guys were big.

 

"Back off asshole!," he yelled at the approaching danger. A measly little underling looking to take him on. He held a jagged edged knife in his hand. 'Damn, that looks painful' The man gave him a hyena-like grin before grabbing at him like a wild animal. He lashed out instinctively. Striking him in the chest with his foot. Unfortunately, as strong as he was these men were beasts and his strike didn't seem to throw him off balance even a little. The barrel-chested man gave him an even bigger grin, Haphazardly reaching for him again.

 

It was pretty obvious that he was trying not to hurt him and he would use that to his advantage. 'Blemish-free merchandise sold better', he thought with a grimace. Narrowing his eyes in a silent challenge to his opponent, he tried not to focus on his love's health status behind him. Judging by those thuds he heard, he was either kicking ass or getting the beating of his life. Oh God he hoped it was at least a little bit of both.

[クローバー (Clover)]

As Markus and the gang leader traded blows, no clear winner was in sight. At least not until he saw the other man attacking Ammon. Fueled by his rage, Markus dodged the gang leader's attacks as he moved towards Ammon and grabbed the underling who dared attack his love by the neck with a brutally tight grip, holding him out in front of him to use as a human shield. Thankfully, the gang leader, as powerful as he was, was extremely dense, unable to pick up on Markus's strategy, and his knife met the chest of his henchman instead of the nobleman. Once he was certain that the other man was dead, he shifted his grip to his ankles, swinging him around like a mace before releasing him into the leader's face. While it didn't cause the leader to fall over like he had hoped, it allowed Markus a few extra blows and scared some of the more cowardly gang members off. Once the gang leader finally had his henchman removed from his face, he took a wild swing at Markus, cutting open his clothes and leaving a large cut across his chest. Markus didn't care much, but it did make things more difficult since his chest started to sting. He knew he had to end this fight soon, otherwise the wound might become infected. As both he and his foe regrouped, Markus tried to find another strategy that would keep him, his love, and his traveling companions safe.

[firebird]

The sharp rip and the blood was what brought him out of his stupor. He had barely seen his lover move but somehow his opponent disappeared. Blinking away his astonishment, he went about fussing over the injury. The cut didn't look too deep but it was big and with all the dust and sweat it was bound to sting like a bitch, not to mention getting infected. Tearing a piece of cloth from the end of his shirt, he dabbed away a bit of the blood so he could see the injury more clearly. It was worse than he thought.

 

However, before he got a chance to seriously tend to it, another one of the lackeys was coming at him with the rage of a mad man. Ammon saw red. They hurt his lover, traumatized his friends and threatened to make him a slave. Oh someone was going down today. And god forbid..it won't be him.

 

The spinning kick came as a surprise. The burly man staggered back holding his jaw. From the soft clicking sounds he was hearing, it sounded broken. But he didn't stop there. In the simplest move there was he sent his foot flying into the other man's crotch. That seemed to have some effect. He doubled over cupping his privates. Which Ammon took great advantage of. He slammed his foot into the bent over man's face. He received a wail of pain for his efforts.

 

That seemed to have been the wake up call. The remaining six all attacked at once but the call seemed to have woken up his group as well. The most silent of them all, Daiyma was countering with the prowess of a well-trained fighter. Which he may have been since he didn't talk much. Blows were traded between both groups as the blonde turned his attention back to his openly fuming opponent. With a battle cry the man came at him furiously. His large fist collided with his stomach. The blow came as such a shock and with unimaginable pain that he didn't see when the man's foot slammed into the back of his head as his body was doubled over.

 

Coughing, he spat more blood than what was healthy on the seemingly closer ground. He felt like passing out. His vision was swimming and his head felt like someone slammed a hammer into his skull. He could barely register anything as he was being hauled by his hair off the ground and soon enough being brought closer to the sky but his throat.. Legs flailing, he kicked at the man helplessly.

"You fucking bitch!," the beast roared as Ammon struggled for oxygen, " I'm gonna beat yo' pansy ass half way ta' death an' then i'mma gonna fuck ya' the rest a tha' journey," he said in a deadly whisper.

Hazel eyes widened in terror. 'Fuck no' Swinging his legs around and under the man's arm, he wrapped them around his neck and squeezed as hard as he could. There was barely a reaction. So with what little oxygen there was flowing to his brain, he used his fingers to squeeze in the beast's eyes until he heard a sickening 'pop'.

 

He was immediately dropped like a sack of potatoes as his opponent screamed and swung wildly. Ammon however, was too busy trying to draw air into his lungs but one glance at the wailing man almost made him stop breathing. There was blood everywhere,running from the man's eyes. He crawled backwards as the bear collapsed to his knees before him. Gasping out of shock as he saw his work up close, he covered his mouth in horror.

'God that was awful'

[クローバー (Clover)]

The horrible sight of having someone's eyes gouged out in the middle of a fight basically caused the entire gang to stop. To think that that cute boy they were going to sell into sexual slavery was able to do that on his own was terrifying. All of the survivors stepped back. Markus pulled out his knife, slowly advancing on them. He looked more like a savage than a man, his purple hair slightly obscuring his view, blood running down his chest and eyes burning with hatred and contempt. With a quick move, he flipped the gang leader onto his back and repeatedly stomped into him with his boot, making sure to break the leader's spine first before moving on to other bones. With every broken bone and pained scream, each survivor felt his previously eaten lunch coming back up ever so slightly until they couldn't handle it anymore, bringing forth a veritable flood of vomit from how horribly their leader was being mutilated. Markus didn't stop, even when the man was clearly dead from having his neck broken. He threw the carcass at them back side first, toppling them all over and prompting more of them to vomit. Some of them even choked on their vomit due to their supine positions and died right there. The ones who were trapped prone tried desperately to escape from this beast of a man. Those who were caught had their throats and wrists slit and their faces brutally beaten in. What lay before him didn't even look like a group of dying men. They looked more like horrifically slaughtered animals. As Markus's anger finally began to subside, he realized the implications of his actions. He fell to his knees, tears flowing from his eyes after seeing what his rage had caused. He knew that Ammon must have thought of him as a monster, not a man worthy of his affections. After a while, he passed out from exhaustion, as the pain from the cut on his chest reasserted itself.

[firebird]

Humming soothingly, he wrung out the wash cloth and gently dabbed the sweat at his lover's temples. Those beautiful eyes were still hidden beneath slightly paling eyelids. He sighed for what must have been the nth time. Markus didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. He'd been out for almost four hours: time which he took to clean them up, comfort his friends, help set up camp and take a short nap.

 

Touching the cheek of his valiant lover, he couldn't help but smile softly at his peacefully sleeping (unconscious) state. He'd fought for them both and had the scars to prove it and for that he was beyond grateful. Not to mention proud. He leaned down to give the purplette's nose and sweet little kiss.

 

"You reckless, persevering fool....", here he chuckled quietly,"...but I love you anyway"

 

Cuddling up beside the very much unaware Markus, he cautiously -mindful of his wounds- rested his head on his shoulder and fell into a fitful, deserving sleep himself; Not one negative thought towards his lover's actions entered his Markus-filled mind nor his love consumed heart.

[クローバー (Clover)]

Markus slowly awoke to find Ammon sleeping on him. From the bandages wrapping around his chest, he could tell that his wounds had been dressed and tended to. The sting of a disinfecting salve still lingered over him, making him not want to get up from his bed. He laid back down, gently rubbing his lover's back. He felt himself relax as he felt the smooth surface of Ammon's back through his clothes. They were pretty thin in the first place to account for the heat that plagued the part of the continent they were in and slightly damp with sweat.

"Hey, Ammon?" Markus said, gently nudging him and waiting to see if he'd respond.