h/c list #25, Red and Shadow? 👀
"Stop! Thief!"
"It's the arsonist!"
"Get him!"
Shadow smirked. And my work here is complete.
He was about to step back, let his disguise fade, and disappear into darkness, when Red gave a yelp of alarm and grabbed him by the wrist. Too startled to react, Shadow was hauled with him, stumbling along behind the hero as he fled.
They crashed through underbrush, jumped a small stream, and scrambled over fallen logs. Behind them, the sounds of shouting and glow of torches grew fainter. Finally, Red slid down the side of a dry stream bed and sat down hard, pulling Shadow to the ground beside him.
"I think—" Red gasped, breathing heavily. "I think we lost them."
Shadow stared at him. "Why did you bring me."
Red gave him a weird look. "They were after you, too."
"Yeah but I stole— I mean, you thought I stole your sword."
"And you said you didn't. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions." The wide-eyed earnestness of the Light Worlder made Shadow's skin crawl. "And besides, even if you were a thief, I don't think that mob looked interested in a fair trial. I'm a knight; rescuing people is my job!"
He beamed so brightly Shadow had to grimace and turn away.
The hero must have misinterpreted his expression, because he leaned in closer, frowning in concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine," Shadow grumbled. He realized his wrist was still loosely wrapped in Red's grip, and he tugged it away.
"Everything's gonna be okay," Red said, still in that sappy-saccharine earnest tone. "We just need to stay positive. Can you smile for me?"
Ugh. He had meant to make his disguise look a little younger, to be less suspicious, but surely he hadn't taken it that far. The hero was speaking to him like he was a small child.
He curled his upper lip at Red in something that was more sneer than smile. It only occurred to him as he was doing it that he wasn't sure he'd remembered to round out the shape of his teeth.
He must have, though, because Red only said, cheerfully, "that's a start!"
Somewhere in the bushes, a twig snapped. Red whipped around to look, and Shadow took that momentary distraction to make his escape, fading back into the darkness.
One hero disarmed, three more to go.
He caught himself holding onto his own wrist and yanked his hand away, scowling.
