The West Woods

I Need a Hero(Continued)

The mime pulled the severed sleeve of his shirt harshly, directing his steed to dodge the trees and boulders in their way. He dug the heel of his shoes into the animals side prompting it to go faster. Finally he heard the heavy steps of a giant and he grit his teeth, the furrowed look of anger taking his expression once more.

Yanking hard he directed the bull till the monster was in view. Within its branches he could see Woodie being tossed about by the titan. He grit his teeth hard and kicked his mount forcefully in the side, steering it directly into the fiend.

The monster stumbled, sending Woodie and Lucy crashing into a set of pines. Woodie grabbed onto a tree trunk, pulling himself from the branches of the beast. He huffed hard, perching on a branch and sucking in heavy breaths. His eyes shifted to the battle raging below and his heart gave a desperate pang.

Wes was down there, and Woodie was for once entirely useless to him! In desperation he began to climb down from the tree as quickly as his arms and legs would let him. His feet touched the ground and he moved quickly to to round the titan and get to Wes.

His heart sank.

The beast pulled it's arm back and swung hard at the smaller male. His body went flying from his mount and the bull bolted into the depths of the forest leaving Wes cold in the snow. Woodie felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

Wes pulled himself shakily from the mound of powdery snow. Something was broken, or at least sprained. The moment he put pressure on his foot he toppled down into the snowbank once again. He heaved in great breaths of pain, looking up once more to see the beast coming at him.

He gripped the fire staff and winced. He could do this. He could save Woodie. He just had to do it.

He flourished the staff at the titan and it bellowed in pain as a blazing orb of light shot at it. It stumbled back and Wes quickly stood, choking through the pain and stumbling in the snow.

Another flourish and the beast retreated further.

Blaze after blaze he blasted at the beast until the tree guard burst into flames. Even still they were not free of this burden, for the beast tottered back into the treeline and soon the forest around them was ablaze.

Woodie stared in horror at all of the orange that was engulfing the trees around him. He swallowed hard and his eyes shifted to Wes. His feet moved quicker than his brain. Sprinting he joined the other and scooped him firmly into his arms.

He ran from the forest as fast as he could till they were in the open field before the camp. He fell to his knees and took Wes face in his hands. That soft, beautiful, almond shaped face.

Wes only stared in shock straight ahead.

The events weren't registering. Everything that had just happened he couldn't process. What had he done? How did he do it? When did it start? When did it end? Was all of that real? Did he really take on a tree guard in blind fury?

"That was not a very nice tree, eh?" Woodie chuckled, the hysteria of the situation far too much for him. What could he say?

Wes seemed to come to, his face twisting and scrunching tightly, and for a moment Woodie thought he might cry. He was about to ask if the other was okay, but Wes' expression turned sour, and mean, and angry. And honestly it scared Woodie quite terribly to see the man looking at him with such an expression.

And Wes reached up, gripping Woodie's face hard and pulling him down till he was right in his face. His ungloved hands brushed thumbs roughly against Woodie's freckles and brushed through his beard. And the angry tears began to run down his face.

"Woodie, listen to me Monsieur, because it is zee last time you will hear me speak. I love you, do you understand. Don't you ever scare me like zat again. I love you. Mon Amour! Mon chéri! Je t'aime! I love you so, so much! "

Woodie was dumbfounded, unsure what to say then. He swallowed and blinked.

"I...love you too."

And then the sobs came, wracking his body and making his shoulder shake. He pressed those black, plump lips against Woodie's and pressed hard into the kiss. And Woodie wrapped his arms around the mime, holding him close and kissing back with just as much Vigor as the fear set into both of them.

The could have lost each other. They could have been separated. They could have been revived miles apart with nothing but the clothes on their back and their defining items in their pockets. Wes would have had nothing but his balloons, Woodie would have had only Lucy. And there's a chance they might not have even remembered each other. And the thought was sickening.

But here they were. They were alive. They were close. They could feel each other. They could smell each other. They could taste each other. They were very much alive, and here, and together and they sat in silence after the kissing had finally stopped and just lay against each other till their thermal stones began to cool.

And then they picked themselves up, Woodie supporting Wes -whose ankle was most certainly sprained- and they went back to the camp.

They were greeted with hugs and kisses. They were held by Wolfgang (who cried). And they were home.

"Is he okay now?" Wickerbottom asked Woodie.

Woodie looked up from the twig he was chewing on just as Zoro leaped into his lap. The kittykit was welcome because the weather was cold, and the small animal was very warm. He stroked the feline's back.

"He's doin' a lot better since he's been takin' the medicine. He doesn't wake up in the middle of the night from the pain now. He must of strained the tendons pretty badly, eh?"

"Possibly even broken it. There's really no way to tell," The woman said, straightening her skirt and sitting down with Woodie.

She pulled her thermal stone from her pocket and held it in her hands to warm them.

"I'm just happy you boys didn't get yourselves killed out there." She adjusted her glasses. "It would have been a shame if you both wound up dead when we have a wedding to plan."

Woodie lifted his head and his brow crinkled curiously.

"How did you..."

"Max told me."

"Ah."

They sat in silence a moment.

"Would you make the clothes for it?"

Wanita smiled and placed her hand on his knee, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"I would be delighted."

Woodie entered the cabin and set Zoro on the bed with Wes. The kittykit moved up and lay on the mime's chest, and Wes smiled softly and stroked the animals back.

"I fed the birds, collected the eggs," Woodie began, pulling a chair close to the bed and straddling it to rest his arms over the back of it. "You feelin' any better."

Wes thought a moment and nodded his head.

"Wickerbottom says she'll make our outfits for the ceremony."

Wes smiled with a warm contentment.

"You do still want to marry me right? Even though I got myself put in danger, and got your ankle all messed up?"

Wes pretended to think a moment, puckering his lips out but smiling and nodding his head shortly after. Woodie chuckled a bit and sighed, resting his chin on the back of the chair.

He thought about everything they had been through. He thought about their first home. He thought about the comfort Wes had brought to him. He thought about the luxuries Wes had gone out of his way to provide just for him. He thought about every hardship Wes had overcome in their time together and Wes uncontested will to push onward despite it all. He thought about how Wes could and would fight for him in any way he needed to if the time called for it. And he wondered how someone like him could be this blessed.

"How did I get so lucky, huh?" Woodie smiled lovingly at his fiance. "I love you, Wes."

And Wes smiled knowingly, that perfect plump smile. And Woodie found it very kissable. And this time he let the temptation win him over.