A Change of Perception
Original



Yamis’ heart was pounding in his ears as he stumbled through the deep snow. His feet were wet and numb with cold, and yet his lungs burned like fire with each shuddering breath he took… He stumbled down the snow strewn path nearly losing his balance, but a nearby wooden sign post provided him with the closest thing to a reassuring hand. The ex-Prince shoved himself away from the sign after a few moments of trying to catch his breath—he could hear the men behind him… Their angry, panicked yells spurring the strange and terrifyingly strong will to live within the half demon. It caused the crimson-eyed man to ignore all his fatigue and continue to sprint down the pathway.

Yami would have never thought he had such a strong will to live… but, half-heartedly he concluded that he would rather escape then be recaptured by these enraged, one-track minded humans.

The ex-Prince heard the unmistakable yapping of several dogs and he nearly froze in the spot, already imagining the worst possible scenario. His foot slipped during his momentary loss of reasoning and he slipped on the snow covered path and tripped. He landed in the snow, but it did little to take in the impact. He swore profusely, feeling the painful throb in his numb fingers and hands. The half demon forced himself up to his feet and continued to stumble on, risking a glance over his shoulder.

He could seem them… a handful of hounds and at least three dozen screaming humans. Yami gnashed his teeth and stumbled the rest of the way down the path, only to find that between him and his freedom was a thinly frozen over river. Yami stopped at the ice’s edge, his mouth opened, his eyes wide. His helplessness nearly overtook him and the half demon nearly turned around and unleashed every single spell he could muster on the humans… But, even then, he had not the heart to kill them—even if they were so ignorant.

Yami tried to reason with himself… He was small, lightweight, nimble… He could make it across the river… He could… But before he could give himself a much needed prep-talk, the snapping of one of the hounds directly behind him sent the half demon sprinting across the ice without another thought—he refused to be maimed and torn apart by these ignorant people. He would rather drown.

Yami could hear the humans calling for the dogs back, but he didn’t even look. He had started to slow down, hearing the snapping and cracking of the ice under his feet. With his breath trembling in his body the half demon continued on.

Then it happened, and even so he was still surprised by the inevitable outcome. There was a loud splitting noise from the ice and then he was suddenly plunged into the most unbelievable pain he had ever been in. He suddenly felt rigid and it was hard to move. He flailed about his arms and legs awkwardly in the freezing water, but his body proved to already be too numb to control. What was worse was the overwhelming urge to scream, but he had no air in his lungs to possibly comply with his terrified mind.

/I’m going to die./ The exiled Prince of Aurora thought, somewhat surprised and slightly alarmed… Before Yami could allow himself to regret his loss of living, everything went black.


~*~

“Is it going to live?”

“Oh, give him a break. I’m surprised he managed to survive in that water as long as he did.”

“…It’s because it’s a demon. That’s why it was able to survive…”

“Hush, he is waking up.”

Yami moaned softly, opening his crimson eyes and squinting up at the blur hovering over him. When his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he was aware of the pretty red-haired elf leaning over him with an incredibly wide grin on his face. “Good morning, sunshine.” The man said, tilting his head.

Yami certainly didn’t feel like sunshine. His head throbbed, his body ached, and he felt like he was going to be overcome with the urge to cough. He slowly became aware, however that he was wrapped in several fluffy pleasantly warm blankets and he was placed conveniently in an armchair by the fire. He was also embarrassed to realize he was naked underneath all the layers of blankets, but he reasoned with himself that his clothes being frozen and wet would be logically removed to prevent further heat loss.

“What’s your name, pretty?” The red-head said, kneeling to one side of the half demon with his chin resting on the arm of the chair.

“…I-“ Yami started, but then suddenly began to cough violently. He hadn’t realized how raw his throat felt. Yami reasoned it had to be from when they resuscitated him.

“Ah, sorry.” The elf said, rubbing the ex-princes’ arm affectionately, his brow creased with worry. “I wasn’t thinking how you were feeling. We’ll get your name later, okay pretty?” He smiled, “My name is Mathias Stone, and the shy little pretty-boy over there is Ryshar Mellow.”

Yami was suddenly remembered he had heard a pair of voices and he turned his head to blink at the man standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. His hair was a magnificent snowy white (and Yami vaguely noticed it was damp), and the back of it reached to his mid-back while the bangs slanted upwards. From the angle, Yami could barely make out much more detail besides the fact that the man had a rather muscular build, but his face seemed soft and feminine enough.

“Stop staring, dolt.” Ryshar said flatly.

Yami flushed and attempted to speak, but started coughing violently. He moaned miserably and buried his face into the blankets, feeling useless and stupid again.

He had gone from being chased by angry, unforgiving humans, to being taken in by a bubbly elf and his snappy (though pretty) white-haired ‘landlord’. Yami sighed to himself, not at all liking the predicaments he managed to get himself into.

“Is it stupid or something?” Ryshar asked, scowling at the little ex-Prince. Yami glared back at him, offended to be referred to as ‘it’. “Let’s just throw it out and let nature take its course.”

Mathais laughed and shrugged apologetically to Yami, “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t like strangers. Though, he really is a sweetheart when it comes down to it… wait…” Mathais paused, blinking his blue eyes slowly. “He’s not nice. Not even a little. Sorry. In fact, I still have no idea why it is that I stay with him. I mean, he doesn’t cook, he doesn’t clean, and all he does is complain… Come to think of it… I do everything without so much of a ‘thank you’!” He turned suddenly to scowl at the snowy-haired man. “You’re a terrible person!” He yelled, and then averted his attention back to Yami. “Let us ignore him?” He whispered excitedly. Yami shook his head slowly, the word ‘what?’ forming on his lips with confusion. Mathais chuckled, “I can see you being a sweetheart though, aren’t you? You’ll be thankful if I made you some tea, wouldn’t you?” He smiled charmingly, patted the ex-Prince on the head and then left him to, presumably, make up some tea for the recovering half demon.

Yami laid there awkwardly, fully aware that Ryshar was glaring daggers at him. Yami glared at him, raised one hand and gestured angrily. “It’s impolite to stare.”

“Oh, you think so?” Ryshar asked flatly.

Yami paused, a little surprised. “You can understand me?” He gestured.

“Obviously. Dolt.”

“My apologizes, I was just momentarily surprised that a behemoth like yourself could so much as have the attention span to learn such a complicated language.” The ex-Prince replied, scowling.

“I’m going to knock those pretty teeth of yours through your skull.” The man said, glowering and stepping forward.

Yami paused, pursing his lips and glancing in the direction of the red-head had gone. “I believe your lover would very much disagree with such actions.”

Ryshar cracked his knuckles, grinning widely and continuing to advance on the half demon, “You honestly think I care what Mathais thinks?”

Yami suddenly regretted pissing off the other man after he realized he had no means of defending himself. Instead he sat silently, doing his best to give off a ‘touch me and die’ vibe. Ryshar stopped at Yami’s side, cracking his knuckles again and glaring coldly down at him. Yami was suddenly very aware of the smirk the other man had—it wasn’t really even…sadistic.

“You’re amusing, but annoying.” Ryshar said, chuckling and sitting on the end table beside the ex-prince. “Now, you owe me an explanation. How’d you get yourself in that mess anyways?” He gestured to the half demons deplorable condition.

“Are you going to hit me?” Yami gestured, looking a little uneasy.

Ryshar shrugged, “Not unless you give me reason to.” He leaned forward and continued to smirk with amusement. Yami blinked up at him, noticing his golden eyes. They were beautiful…and so unique. He couldn’t recall ever seeing such eyes before.

Yami, however, chose not to comment on them and instead decided to answer the mans question, even if it was a lie, “I made the mistake of trying to help them. There is an epidemic in that village; I was trying to give them aid. When a child died, they claimed I had eaten her soul… and, well, one thing led to the next and before I knew it they were trying to kill me.”

“Humans are so despicable. They isolate themselves from the world. They’re so far behind that it’s pathetic.” Ryshar realized he was scowling at Yami, and he shrugged uncomfortably. “You’re lucky you are a demon, otherwise that cold would have killed you.”

“How did you find me?”

“You found us, actually. You were stumbling through the snow… I swear, I’ve never seen anything so pathetic… You were quite nearly frozen… It was pretty pitiful. You’re lucky we found you or you would have died.” He sounded serious, but at the same time extremely sardonic. 

Yami frowned uneasily, “What really happened?”

“Ryshar jumped in after you.” Mathais said from the other room, laughing softly He emerged, carrying a tray of tea. Ryshar glared at him. “We saw the lights of the humans’ torches,” the red-head continued, “and we saw you fall through the ice. Ryshar jumped in after you.”

Yami stared quietly at the gold-eyed man. Why would he lie? What was the point of being deceitful about such a… heroic act?

Ryshar shrugged listlessly, looking away. “In all honesty, you looked like some pretty damsel in distress. I was just looking for something to fuck me with their appreciation for rescuing them.”

Yami’s eyes went wide. “Lovely.” He signed, a little taken back.

“Then you turned out to be a massively girly guy. I’m not into that.” Ryshar continued, before standing and moving out of the way for Mathais who set the tray of tea down on the table. “So hurry up and get better. I don’t want you here anymore. Your very presence sickens me.”

Mathais poured Yami a cup of tea, trying not to laugh at the little mans’ scornful glare. “Here I’ll translate for you.” Mathais’ said, smiling and handing the tea to Yami. The ex-prince sat up and awkwardly maneuvered the blankets around to take the cup. He tried to ignore that most of his chest was now exposed. “Ryshar said ‘I think you’re really cute, and that’s nice for change. So you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need, so just worry about getting better.’”

Yami blinked questioningly.

“Was that right, Ryshar?” Mathais asked, batting his eyelashes at the snowy-haired man.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me, idiot.” Ryshar replied, frowning sourly. “I’m going to bed; I’ve had enough stupidity for one day.” He stated, and slipped out of the room.

Mathais took a deep breath, grinding his teeth and closing his eyes. “He’s a good man, he’s a good man, he’s a good man.” He muttered softly under his breath several times. He blew out one more long breath and then opened his eyes again, smiling at Yami as if nothing had happened.

Yami began to wonder if the elf was insane, and the other…strange man was suffering from an inferiority complex. He hesitated for a moment then gestured with his free hand, “Is he always that rude?”

Mathais tilted his head, “I only know a little of that language, sorry. Just the alphabet and a few words like ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘food’… You know, essential things?” He chuckled. “But you can spell out your name for me, so I can call you something other than ‘Pretty’.”

Yami nodded and quickly complied, considering he was growing increasingly more embarrassed at being referred to by that pet name. “Y…a…m…i.”

“Yeah-mi?” Mathais said slowly, badly mispronouncing the ex-princes’ name.

Yami made a face at him and shook his head, spelling out the name again.

“Yam…e?” the red-head tried again, tilting his head and than bit his lip, looking a little bashful at his charges’ continuous disappoint.

Yami sighed, shaking his head again. “I’ll tell you later.” He gestured. Mathais stared.

“You’ll something me.” He said, blinking cutely and tilting his head the other way.

Yami sighed again and sipped his tea, trying hard to ignore the red-head. It was like talking to…. Ankei. Yami smiled sadly, feeling suddenly incredibly nostalgic for his brother. Ankei too had an incredible difficulty with foreign languages… Yami sighed and attempted to speak, though his voice was very hoarse, “I’m very grateful for your help, Mr. Stone.”

“Aww, sweetheart, it’s no problem.” He replied, “And just Mathais, please. And as for you, Mr. Pretty. You need to get some sleep else you’ll get pneumonia. But, unfortunately, right now anyways, I don’t have an extra room ready, so I hope you don’t mind sleeping out here. I’ll also bring you some clothes in case you want to change later, all right? It’s actually pretty early in the morning still, so you should be able to get a few good hours of sleep.” The man sprung to his feet suddenly, startling Yami who nearly spilt the hot tea on himself. “So,” Mathais continued, unconcerned, “let me grab you some clothes… How tall are you?”

Yami flushed, feigning inability to speak again due to his hoarse voice. Mathais cupped his chin eyeing an invisible standing replication of how tall he thought Yami was. “About…” He raised his hand up, badly underestimating Yami’s height. “This tall?”

“I’m not a two year old.” Yami grumbled, annoyed.

“Haha! Okay, this tall?” The man raised his hand a few inches taller.

“I’m five foot even. Thank you.” Yami snapped miserably, sinking into the chair and pulling the blankets tightly around himself.

“Haha… I knew it!” Mathais giggled, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning forward as he shuffled backwards, “I’ll be right back, Pretty.”

Yami sighed softly, staring off into the fireplace really not sure how to feel about the new environment. The elf was nice enough…but the other man…? He was nothing short of… irritatingly rude. Though, by all means, it was a hell of a lot better than his former situation. Yami shivered, despite the warmth he felt from the blankets and fire. He would never allow himself back into that lifestyle again.

~*~

“Good morning, Pretty.” Mathais said, yawning and stretching as he walked into the living room. He froze, upon seeing the folded blanket on the chair, and the little half demon absent. “Oooh…” He moaned softly, covering his mouth as he gaped in horror. It was far too cold for the fragile half demon to be out in this weather. Especially after the ordeal he went through. Mathais did what he did best.

He panicked.

“Ryshar! Ryshar!” He screamed, flailing and sprinting down the hall, “Ryshar!?” He threw open the door, but the silvery-haired man was absent. Mathais groaned loudly, and fell against the door frame dramatically, “Ryshar! Now you’re missing too? Where are you, love?” He wailed.

“In the kitchen, dolt.” Ryshar called, his voice carrying from said kitchen.

Mathais scrambled to his feet and sprinted back down the hall, “Ryshar, Ryshar—the pretty boy, he’s—“

Mathais lost his voice as he came into the kitchen. Ryshar was sitting at the table, a hot cup of tea steaming in front of him, a book cradled in his lap and he was doing his best to ignore the panicking red-head. Yami was fully dressed now and looking, with all honesty, quite adorable in the overly-large clothing (courtesy of Mathais). Yet, furthermore, the ex-prince was cooking their breakfast.

Mathais nearly fainted. “Y-You…you’re?” he stuttered, unable to hide his amazement. No one had ever cooked for him.

Yami blinked, turning around and tilting his head, “Pardon?”

“You…cook?”

“I do, yes. I couldn’t sleep… and Asshole over there was complaining he was hungry, so I figured I owed it to him anyways. Are you hungry?”

Mathais felt faint. “You cook?” he repeated, inwardly demanding reassurance.

“We’ve established that, idiot.” Ryshar grumbled off to the side, sipping his tea and flipping a page of his book.

“You…I…” Mathais seemed to float to the ex-Princes’ side, his hands clasped together in front of himself. Yami stared up at him, unsure of what to do. “I love you!” Mathais squealed flinging his arms around the man and hugging the little man close. Yami’s eyes went wide, but he made no effort to break free, mostly due to his initial shock of being embraced so passionately and suddenly. “Oh, you’re so wonderful and thoughtful.” The elf gushed. Then still clinging to the half demon he skipped (and dragged Yami) over to Ryshar. “Can we keep him? Please, oh, please Ryshar?”

“No.”

“But—“

“No, it’s a runaway slave. People are put to death for harboring someone else’s property.” Ryshar said flatly.

“E-Excuse me?” Yami hissed, prying at the red-heads death grip. It was stupid of him to think that they hadn’t figured that out, but still, Yami was enraged to be referred to as an object of trade. “I am no ones property.” He stated flatly.

“That’s not what the brandings on your back say.” Ryshar said tonelessly, flipping another page.

“…” Yami scowled and opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but stopped and sighed harshly instead. “I understand. Thank you for saving me earlier. Though, it was probably best had you just let me drown.”

“No!” Mathais gasped, “You can’t leave. You’re my new best friend!” He said, pawing at the front of Yami’s shirt. “Besides, I don’t even know your name…”

Yami hesitated. It didn’t matter anyways, he would just leave them with his name and be on his way. “…Yami.” The crimson-eyed man said softly after a moment.

“Yami?” Ryshar asked, looking up for the first time. “As in… Yami Sephira Starboon, the half demon ex-Prince of Aurora?”

“…” Yami gave him a guarded glare. Was there already a bounty on his return?

“Don’t give me that look, dolt. Any half-brain has heard of you.” Ryshar kicked his feet up onto the table and crossed his ankles, rocking back in the chair and looking his ‘guest’ up and down. “You look nothing like how you’re described. Except for the short and dumb looking part.”

“E-Excuse me?” Yami asked, wide-eyed. “Where…? Where would you…?” Yami stammered, flustered. “What?” He finally demanded.

Ryshar held up the book he was holding. “History has a habit of being interrupted differently then it truly is.”

“Give me that!” Yami hissed, snatching the book away. He scowled coldly at the stoic snowy-haired man, before flipping the pages angrily. “This is a book about gardening.” The ex-Prince stated flatly, flipping another page.

“I know.” Ryshar replied, doing well not to grin.

“You….you’re an infuriating…” Yami threw the book back at Ryshar, but to his dissatisfaction the golden-eyed man caught it easily and grinned at him. “I shall take my leave. Thank you very kindly for your hospitality,” He looked from Mathais then back to Ryshar and finished coldly, “and rudeness.”

“You can’t leave!” Mathais gasped, grabbing both of Yami’s hands and holding them together with both of his. “You’re like my baby brother now. I’ve taken care of you when you were sick, we’ve shared laughs and dreams and—and…” (Yami was beginning to suspect he was merely saying anything he could to keep him there). “We’re like brothers now!” Mathais’ lip quivered, “You can’t just leave… Ryshar doesn’t care about you being ‘owned’ by anyone. It doesn’t matter… We’ll take care of you and protect you, right Ryshar?”

“Not until it comes clean.” Was Ryshars’ flat response.

Yami’s eyebrow twitched noticeably. “I wouldn’t stay here even if you were the last refuge in the world.”

“Good. Then freeze to death.” Ryshar said emotionlessly, opening up the book again and pretending to read.

“You’re a heartless bastard.” Yami hissed.

“And you’re an ambiguous whore.” Ryshar retorted, yawning.

“I-I—” Yami stopped, and for once looked increasingly distressed and upset.

“Ryshar…” Mathais scolded, glaring at him. “Look, Yami, we’ll take good care of you. Okay?”

“…” Yami didn’t reply. He only scowled at the floor. That arrogant, ignorant… stupid bastard and his nonchalant malevolent assumptions! There was no way he would—could—stay here with them.

“Who owned you?” Ryshar pressed.

“What?” Yami snapped, looking up.

“Who owned you?”

“…That is none of your business.”

“Is it not?”

“No.”

“Hm…Well, throw it out, Mathais. We don’t know what kind of diseases it could be carrying.”

“Ryshar! Would you stop saying such horrible things?” Mathais said, scowling.

“Well… You know how those humans are. They spread things like a plague.”

“I’m leaving.” Yami spat, scowling.

“Goodbye, thing.” Ryshar sang.

Yami wanted nothing more than to tear that arrogant grin off the other mans face.

“No!” Mathais said angrily, smacking Ryshar upside the head. Ryshar rubbed his head and glared. “Look, Yami, wait—please?” The elf said, chasing after the half demon who was storming out of the kitchen and towards the front door. “You don’t even have proper clothing on for this weather—and Ryshar, really he just doesn’t know how to react around people. He’s just so use to using some cheesy pick up line and having everyone—well… He has no right to call you those things he did, considering he is really truly quite honestly a wh—“

“Excuse me.” Yami said, turning around and cutting off Mathais as he ranted. “But, he is right. I am a runaway ‘slave’, as you will.” He frowned distastefully, “I wouldn’t want you to get arrested for my sake.”

“Well…” Mathais trailed off, biting at his lower lip. “He… is… well…” He focused his chewing at his thumb nail and glanced nervously over his shoulder. “Ryshar wants to help you. So do I. He’s just trying to see if you’re worth…saving.”

“Worth saving?” Yami asked, his eyebrow twitching. “Worth saving? You think that some people just deserve to be part of that sickening trade? Is that what you think?”

“No! Not at all, you misunderstand!” Mathais said, his voice filled with panic. “I-I j-just…sorry, I just don’t know…what to say… Pret…ty... Yami?”

“I’m under the impression you just want me around to cook.” Yami said, half jokingly.

“No… That’s not it. We really… want to help. With all honesty. Ryshar and I have been working hard to establish safe havens for people like you… and like Ryshar. People who are different… We’re known for raiding the slave trade routes and freeing people. Though we don’t like to target caravans where we know we’ll just end up freeing people with no will left to live. It’s hard work; and it takes a lot out of us… It’s really difficult to explain. Ryshar really does have a good heart. He’s just… really bitter.”

“About what?” Yami asked, slightly curious.

Mathais found no other way to stall the half demon so he continued on, glancing over his shoulder nervously. “Well… Ryshar is kind of considered an ‘exotic’ race. Lots of people paid a lot of money to get their hands on him… Well… What I’m trying to say is… Ryshars’ been there. He’s gone through what you have done. But, he was there most of his life. From the time he was born until about thirty years ago. That’s… a really long time.”

“What is he?” Yami asked, his tone low and his eyes narrowed.

“…I’m not exactly sure… People say that he resembles the legendary Children of the Heavens… or ‘angels’. They’re described as having pure white hair and eyes like gold… He’s like… a walking piece of history.” Mathais once more glanced over his shoulder, as if waiting for Ryshar to appear and beat him senseless for yapping away about his private life. “Please… just give Ryshar some time… He’ll come around…”

“…If I am to stay with you, I would like to help you with your exploitations of the slave trade.” Yami said softly, narrowing his crimson eyes.

“Of course! We’d love your help.” Mathais said, nodding fervently. “So, you’re not going to go?”

“No.” Yami said quietly after a moment, crossing his arms and sighing. “With all honesty; I don’t have anywhere to go. I’m exiled from my homeland; I don’t have a title, nothing to build upon and on top of that I’m a runaway slave… I’m… a nobody.”

“No ones a nobody.” Mathais said, smiling brightly. “Everyone must belong somewhere.”

Yami stared up at Mathais’ wide, innocent blue eyes and wondered for a moment if he had ever been touched by the dark evil of the world. For a fleeting moment, the ex-Prince was envious of the elfs’ innocence, but then quietly he reminded himself that it would hurt the man even more when he was exposed to the true ugliness of the world.

Yami felt himself becoming overwhelmed with the urge to cry for the elf’s naïveté, so he let out a soft tired laugh. Unconsciously he reached out and took a fistful of the red-heads shirt and stepped forward, dropping his head against the mans chest and sighing. Mathais blinked, a little surprised.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“We’ll see.” Yami replied softly, sighing again. Mathais continued to blink in confusion for a moment before he smiled and hugged the half demon. Yami just let himself be embraced, and wished that the optimistic elf would never become tainted with the impurities of the world.

[Ramirez]



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