RED (In a World Without Color)

Chapter Two: Past

"Zale, I think I'm turning gray."

"You are gray."

Axl lifted his hand to examine the sleeve of his jacket. It was silver, like the rest of his clothes, and matched the color of his eyes and his hair. And as far as Zale was concerned, it was the same exact color as yesterday, the day before, and the day before that.

"What I meant is that I'm turning grayer," Axl said, adjusting the rifle on his shoulder. He peered at his reflection in a nearby puddle and tilted his head to get a better view of his face. 

"Gray doesn't look good on me."

Zale sighed. "I'm sure the ladies won't notice the difference."

The two boys trekked through the dense forest, their boots crunching softly over gray leaves. The trees were a rough steel color; the undergrowth was a darker charcoal. The entire forest was a mix of silver, gray, and black. Devoid of color.

Zale touched  the bark of a tree and stared up at the canopy. 

Once, a long, long time ago, it had been a lush green, with dark moss crawling up the trunk. Animals had been a lot smaller, some only the size of his hand. He'd heard stories of a time when the sky was blue and the sun was gold and the fruits he ate had been all sorts of colors. 

Now, the only things with color were the ones that wanted to eat him. 

Axl jumped over a log and landed with a loud crunch in a pile of leaves. Zale glared at his partner.

"What?" Axl said indignantly. "It's fall season. Might as well have some fun."

"Fun," Zale said, "is scaring off all the prey. So unless you want to answer to Annabelle when we get back, we'd better catch ourselves some ti-buns."

"Fine," Axl pouted and gave a last kick at his leaves. "So serious all the time."

Zale ignored him. 

He and Axl both came from LowerCom families- people who lived on the outskirts of Amaranth. Zale's father worked as a delivery man in MidCom, driving wagonloads pulled by giant mice, but the pay wasn't enough. In order to make ends meet, Zale went to Annabelle's Hunt, LowerCom's hunting party, to apply as a hunter. It was there that he met Axl, who was in a similar situation. 

Axl was careless, hotheaded, flirty, and a rebel, but he'd managed to save Zale's skin more than once. 

"Really though," Axl went on. "I'm just not seeing what the ladies like about you. You're always grumpy and mean and all bristles and-"

A low hiss cut through the air like a bullet.

The boys froze. Zale had his rifle in hand within seconds and surveyed the nearby trees. He was ready to shoot anything that wasn't gray.

Axl moved closer to him. "It was probably nothing," he whispered. "Let's just go and-"

"The log," Zale said and his eyes widened with realization. 

He turned and looked past Axl's shoulder. The log that his partner had jumped over only moments before was gone. 

"What log?" Axl said, turning around.

Eyes the color of green grass blinked open between the trees and a gaping, fanged mouth surged forward.