Next morning

It was dawn when the blond swordsman woke up. He glanced around and sighed, finding the landscape around him as just as gray and miserable as it had been before. He left a bit cold and noticed the fire had almost gone out. Jack wrapped the blanket around him and sat up, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Rudy?" He asked aloud, realizing he was alone. "Rudy...? No, was that just a dream?" He sighed then smiled a little sadly. At least it had been a good dream.

"Good morning, Jack."

The older Dream Chaser turned around, only to see the boy standing behind him. "Rudy?" He asked, a little surprised but at the same moment very relieved that it hadn't been a dream. "What are you doing up already? I found you last night, and you were in pretty bad shape."

The boy smiled. "I was, but I think it was just fatigue. I woke up some time ago and was feeling felt a lot better. I also hadn't eaten anything for a few days, and... Um, I hope you don't mind. I ate some of the food you have. I was really hungry."

Jack returned the smile. "No, not at all. Rudy, anything that's mine is yours. I thought you learned that during our travels. We were a team, remember?" He laughed a little, then just stared at the younger man. "Thank Guardians you're alive. I was damn worried. Where have you been? What happened to you after the fight with Zeikfried?"

Rudy sat down next to the older man and added a few pieces of wood into the fire. He then poked it a little to get it going again. "I don't know. I'm not sure; I woke up from somewhere I didn't recognize. An old Elw couple had found me lying on some cliff somewhere up there." He pointed at the mountains. "They took care of me until I got better, but... Then..."

"Then what?" Jack looked at the boy, worried. "What happened to them?"

"That demon attacked," Rudy replied, sighing. "I'm not sure who it was; he said something about the Quarter Knights, thought. He... He killed the people I was with... I... I think I managed to shoot him, but, then I don't know. I don't know exactly how much time has passed. A couple of days, maybe? The only thing I do remember is that I saw some light, went to see if anyone was there, and then I found you. Or maybe it was the other way around," Rudy admitted. He leaned against the older man's shoulder. "I was scared. I felt so lost and alone, and you'd think I'm used to being alone..."

"It's all right now," Jack said, patting the younger Dream Chaser's hair. "You're not alone anymore, and I'm not going anywhere. Although... You don't happen to know what happened to Hanpan or Cecilia? I don't know where they are."

The boy shook his head. "I don't know, either. I don't know much about what's been going on. The Elw couple told me something bad has happened, but I haven't heard much anything else. We didn't meet anyone on the mountains where we were staying."

Jack shook his head. "It's fine. Kind of a long story, really, so I'll tell you all I know later when we get on the way." He patted Rudy's shoulder gently. "Well, I guess it's best if we try to get to Adlehyde. Maybe someone there knows more about these demon attacks, or about Cecilia. But right now, I think you need a bath. You have blood on you, you know. The river is there, so!"

He stood up slowly with some trouble as his leg hurt and then pulled Rudy up as well. He dragged the younger man with him to the small river near the camp and smirked evilly as they got there. He proceeded to remove the clothes Rudy was wearing, then before the boy got a change to object, Jack threw him into the stream.

"Aah! Hey! It's cold!" Rudy exclaimed, but he then laughed and started swimming around a little.

Jack shook his head. "Just wash yourself, okay? I'd see about cleaning your clothes but can't do much about them right now. Will just have to brush the dust off and see about washing them after we find some civilization."

"Sure," the younger man called as he swam around some more. He then grinned evilly and moved closer to splash some water on Jack, who was standing on the river back, earning some yelling from him. Rudy laughed and swam away. Jack took a step back and shook the water off of his shirt, then shrugged and started undressing. He grinned and walked to the water then started washing himself. Rudy watched him for a moment then started to swim around him in circles.

"Stop playing around, will you?" Jack told his companion, laughing. "You're acting like a little kid."

The boy grinned back at him, but after a while, he stopped swimming around and stopped next to the older man, starting to wash himself as well.

Jack continue for a while, then stopped to look at the younger man. "Rudy? What is it? You look like you're lost in thought."

"Uh, no, it's nothing," the younger Dream Chaser replied, shaking his head. "I was just thinking. About what happened..." He trailed off, then bit his lip. "Jack, I wasn't able to save them. I should've been, I..."

The ex-knight moved closer and wrapped his arms around the boy. "Rudy. Don't think about that now. Maybe we lost a battle, but that doesn't mean we've lost the whole war. The demons are out there again, but we still have a chance, don't we? There's still hope, so be strong, Rudy. We can still fight back."

Rudy sighed, but he then looked up at the older man and smiled at him, appearing a little better - and somewhat amused. "You know," he started. "You know what Hanpan would say now?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, chuckling. "He would say that he never expected me to get all deep and say wise things like that."

"Nah," Rudy said, moving a little closer to the older man. Jack felt warm, after all. "Hanpan would say that he never expected you to say anything that actually makes sense."

"Haha. Really funny," the swordsman said, smiling a little. "It's true though," he added. "It's not over yet." He pulled Rudy closer, holding him tightly.

"Yeah..." Rudy mumbled, leaning his head against Jack's chest. "It's not..."

"Oh well," Jack commented. "We can think about fighting back when we're not standing in the middle of a damn river. I'm cold, so we should get out of the water... Uh, Rudy?" He asked then, when Rudy slipped his hands behind Jack's neck, drew him closer and kissed him.

"Rudy," Jack muttered after the kiss. "I don't think this is a wise idea right now..."

The boy smiled at him, appearing a little embarrassed, but he was also determined. He drew the older Dream Chaser out of the water to the riverbank, gently starting to caress the ex-knight's body. Jack shook his head, but he had to admit he had missed the younger man, and he couldn't resist anymore.

They fell down on the ground, holding each other close, too concentrated in making love to notice the chilly air around them.

The blond demon warrior walked through the corridors of the Pandemonium, heading to the Demon Leader's personal quarters. He didn't bother to knock but instead walked straight into the bedroom, ignoring the wolf-guardian who was sitting next to the bed. Luceid ignored him in return, as the wolf had better things to pay attention to than another Quarter Knight walking in. There happened to be two in the room already, after all.

"Lord Zeikfried," the demon called to his superior the moment he stepped in. "Excuse me for walking in on you like this, but-"

"Ever heard about knocking, Zylan?" Zeikfried, who was lying on top of the demon bounty hunter, snapped at the younger demon. He muttered a few curses and lifted his head a little, gritting his teeth. "If you can't see I'm very busy at the moment!"

Zylan raised an eyebrow and smiled a little. Lord Zeikfried was busy indeed, lying in top of Boomerang, who moaned something, sounding frustrated as he squirmed under the older demon, who had stopped moving thanks to the interruption. "Well," he said then, "I can see that quite well, my lord, but..."

"Out!" The Demon Leader yelled, then cursed more. "Or whatever hell I don't care, stand there and wait a few minutes, and I'll..." Zeikfried mumbled something else but Zylan couldn't tell the words. Boomerang raised his hands and grabbed Zeikfried by the shoulders, pulling him closer.

"Aagh..." The bounty hunter muttered. "Damn it, Zeik, don't you dare to stop... Not... Right now..."

The Demon Leader mumbled something that sounded like cursing again then resumed what he had been doing - which was, moving his lower body against Boomerang's, leaving Zylan no questions of what exactly was happening in the bed.

Zylan sighed. "I'm sorry, Lord Zeikfried. This is important, but I think it can wait."

The dark-haired demon sighed and ceased moving, then slowly withdrew himself away from Boomerang, appearing annoyed. "Whatever," he mumbled. "I'm not in the mood anymore anyway," he continued while he sat up and wrapped the sheets around his waist.

Boomerang swore something and rolled over. It was quite apparent he was pretty angry, as Zylan heard him mumble something about making Zeikfried pay dearly for not finishing what he had started.

"Alright," Zeikfried asked, feeling composed enough to care about business. "So what is it, Zylan?" He added, his voice sounding a little less calm that he wished. "What is so damn important that you have to barge in when I'm having a private moment?"

Zylan managed to look quite calm, considering the sight in front of him. "Forgive me, my lord. Won't happen again. However, this is important. My right-hand man just got back from his mission, which was to kill the Elw couple whom our spies reported to be staying in the mountains near the Adlehyde area."

The Demon Leader stared at the blond for a few seconds, then stood up, stepped closer and slapped the younger demon. "That is your idea of important? By Hiades, was I really that wrong about your abilities when I made you a Quarter Knight! So what in the world went so wrong on that mission that you have to report to me right now or else?"

The younger demon lowered his face a little but then looked at the Demon Leader again, his eyes calm. "Indeed, my lord, I'm not finished yet. I was saying, he just got back here - and died in my arms."

"What? Died? What the hell is this now?" Zeikfried shook his head. He sat down on the bed again, frowning now. Zylan's right hand man had been a skilled warrior, a trusted soldier from his personal troops, and how a few old Elws had managed to beat him just didn't make any sense.

"The medics checked him. ARM bullet wound," Zylan explained. "It went straight through his right lung. I'm surprised he made it back alive."

"ARM?" Zeikfried's frown deepened and his expression turned dark as he considered things. Were there ARMs users left among the humans that they didn't know about? "What, you mean that the Elw couple had an ARM and shot him?"

"No, my lord," the younger Quarter Knight replied. "It appears the one who was shot him was a young boy. He was staying with the Elw couple, and the description I got before my right-hand man died was... This young man had short, dark hair and a red bandana."

"Rudy Roughnight," Zeikfried stated. "Should've known."

Zylan nodded. "I believe that is his name. I've never seen him myself, but I've read the reports and heard the stories of the three Dream Chasers who ruined the plans the first time. My right-hand man had seen him before and recognized him, I gathered. A boy with inhuman strength, and a weapon only a rare human can use. It was him, and it appears he got away."

"So he's still alive," Zeikfried muttered. He sighed and lay down on the bed, then looked at Zylan. "You should know that this kid and his friends gave us enough trouble the last time. I don't want to see that happening again. Understood?"

The blond demon bowed slightly. "Yes, my lord. I will send my troops to track him down immediately." He raised his right hand to some kind of a knight's greeting then left the room.

The black-haired Demon Leader shook his head. "Rudy Roughnight. He's still around. I certainly hope the others aren't as well."

Someone wrapped his arms around him, and Zeikfried turned to look at his side. "So what if they are," Boomerang said, smirking. "It's just the kid. He's a worthy opponent, but as long as he's alone... Besides, I can go check the situation with Luceid. A little later perhaps. Mind finishing this now?"

The dark expression on Zeikfried's face softened a little. "Oh well. Why not," he replied, then drew the bounty hunter closer for a passionate kiss.

"Look, Jack," Rudy exclaimed suddenly as they were walking through the plains. "It's there!" He pointed through the wastelands, towards southeast. There, a distant figure of a town could be seen. Adlehyde.

Jack nodded and grinned to the boy. "Looks like we made it. Oh well, I think we still have to walk a few hours to get there, but that's Adlehyde all right. Finally!"

They had traveled four days from the mountain area. During the travel and while resting, Jack had told Rudy all he knew about the current situation. The boy had seemed a little depressed at first, but the spark of Hope he always carried with him had seemed to be returning as he was traveling with Jack again. Rudy also insisted on carrying their things, and the ex-knight had given up on that matter rather easily. He still had to use the crutch, so being free from carrying the stuff made his life a little easier.

They walked on for a while in silence, and Jack couldn't help but to notice that Rudy seemed to be deep in thought again.

"Do you think we'll find Cecilia?" The younger man asked after a while. "She would try to get back to Adlehyde, if she..." He trailed off and sighed.

Jack turned to look at him. "I'm not sure," he replied. "She would, yeah, and I sure hope so. Although," he shook his head. "I don't dare to be too hopeful nowadays. I still pray the Guardians she's still alive, somewhere, and that all our other friends are too."

They continued onward, not talking much. An hours passed, then another hour and a half before they got near to the city gates. Jack felt a odd watching the town; it seemed so quiet...

"Jack..." Rudy whispered as he stared at the town. "I think," he continued, his voice barely audible. "Something is wrong. It's just not right."

Jack nodded in agreement, although they both didn't want to think about it as the walked to the gates - only to see ruins, a clear reminder of something that had happened before. Most of the houses were destroyed and burned, some of them more, some of them a little less. The once beautiful town that had been ruined once already then completely restored after the demon's attack was now completely ruined. The two Dream Chasers stared at the scene in disbelief.

They looked through the destroyed town, their eyes focusing on the same thing. The castle, Adlehyde Castle, the fortress that had never been conquered. Where the castle had once stood was just a pile of stones now.

"...No..."