Between the Shadows

Chapter 11

"He did quite well this time"

"Oh please...  He could have done better"

"What do you mean now?"

"That shot he took to his leg"

"Oh yes, but it was his leg or his head"

"He should have taken the shot"

"That would have killed his opponent"

"And that would have been his punishment"

"You've enjoyed it way too much"

"That is not a very good place to sleep you know...  It is still my bench"

Shadow's eyes snapped open, winching as he quickly sat up.  He must have fallen asleep for a while.  His body was still in pain and now he was also stiff from the cold.  It took a lot of effort just to keep his eyes focused on the girl that stood in front of him.

Amari watched him, her hand on his hip, smiling brightly down at Shadow.  It looked like she didn't have a care in the world.  Shadow lifted his hand, shielding his eyes from the light.

"Oh...  Yeah sorry"

With a groan Shadow looked down at the ground and pulled a hand through his hair, grimacing when he touched the wound above his eyes.  His hair was wet and his clothes soaked.  He was still trying to wake up.

Amari laughed softly and sat down next to Shadow as he made place for her to sit.  "You know, there are better ways to get my attention than to sleep on a bench in the rain" the young woman said still smiling.  Shadow snorted and nodded, pain shooting through his head and for a moment everything around him got blurry.

"So it might be true...  But why would I do something like that?" he asked with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Amari burst out laughing and shook her head with disbelieve.  She was really starting to enjoy talking to him.  He was a very strange guy, unlike anybody she'd ever met before.  "Then tell me...  Why are you all wet and sleeping on then bench?  Were you kicked out of your house?" she asked.

Shadow shook his head.  "It's nothing like that" he said.  Amari watched him with interest and for the first time she got a good look at him.

"What on earth happened to you..?" she asked shocked when she saw the bruises on Shadow's face and neck.  It was the first time that she'd ever seen something like that.  When she looked at his hands even they were badly injured.  For the first time she saw just how bad he really looked.

Shadow just shrugged slightly and hesitantly touched the side of his head where the black streak banged his head into the wall.  At least the cut stopped bleeding, but the pounding in his head was still going strong.  The pain in his leg was almost just an afterthought, at least not as bad as it was before, but still bad enough that he didn't think he'd be able to stand.

The young woman frowned as she took Shadow's face in her hands, turning his head so that he was forced to look at her.  She took a good look at Shadow.  his golden-brown eyes were guarded when he looked her in the eye, almost like he didn't trust her.

When Shadow tried to pull away from Amari's hands, he was stopped immediately by an angry glare from the girl.  The glared froze him in his tracks.  Shadow sat without moving as Amari studied his face and the bruises on it.  Gently she touched on of the cuts right above his eyes and Shadow slightly flinched away.

"What on earth happened to you?  Were you in some kind of fight of something?"

There was a troubled look in her eyes when she looked at him again.  Shadow just shrugged and gently pulled her hands away.  He was careful not to hurt the young woman, to him it looked almost like she would break if he wasn't careful with her.