Crimson

Brigadier in the mud.

VITA

As his face struck the water yet again , Vita's heart sank lower .

How was he to protect someone that he could not even land a punch on ?

The sound of heavy laughter and clapping broke whatever little serenity this place had held unto with the breaking dawn .

He lifted his body as soon as he could , if he waited longer , his body would only become heavier and harder to control .

He had lost all sensation in the arm that Juno had pulled earlier .

The bank had everyone on it , yelling all sorts of bizarre obscenities .

Juno was bowing for them and gesturing for Vita to bow too .

Vita turned his eyes away from Juno and focused on Ali's retreating figure , Star went with him , it seemed like Ali had watched their brief tumble , another wave of embarrassment hit him .

He felt an actual hit on his back and turned around .

Juno had moved towards him and was pushing at Vita's back to get him to bow too , he did as Juno wanted .

When he was finally able to lift his head again , he realized that Ali had turned around .

He was making some hand signals that Juno was nodding at .

When they were done communicating , Ali turned again to leave .

Juno and I began to swim towards the bank , Juno ahead .

When we reached the bank , he hesitated , his hands up on the bank .

He turned to Vita and smiled shyly , the smile making the corner of his eyes wrinkle .

Vita frowned and pulled himself up , goddess only knew what he was up to now .

Nero and Keanu were discussing rather loudly the event that had just taken place .

" Can you also throw Vita the way Juno did ?"

Keanu asked , his voice lilting when he reached the nouns .

Nero laughed at this .

" I don't know , it has been a while since we fought , I probably could , if I put my back to it ".

They both began to laugh loudly again .

Vita's head was hot and hazy .

He turned back to the water , Juno was still in there , he was pretending to lounge in the water .

Vita looked from Juno's naked underwater form to the laughing duo and then to Fabia who was watching the sun rise .

He wore his clothes over his wet undershirts and then , his boots .

" Would you teach me to throw a man like that ?"

Keanu asked , his voice rising and falling intimately .

Nero laughed , " Teaching you to throw a man would be a crime to humanity ".

His voice tried to sound husky , he only succeeded in sounding extremely horny .

They kept laughing and laughing , Vita was sure that he was losing it .

Finally , he could take it no more .

" Don't you have any thing better to do with your time ?"

Nero looked around as if he was surprised that there were other people around .

Vita sighed ," Take your little lover and leave , find something productive to do on your way out ".

The redheads face blew up with colour , he jumped forward , his fists raised and balled .

Vita nodded at Nero , he was really not in a very good mood.

Nero grabbed his redheaded lover and began to drag him away .

The redhead continued to scream profanities , his fists raised .

Fabia stopped watching the sky and followed them through the forest .

He watched them leave and walked over to where Juno's pile of clothes lay , he picked them up and headed to a tree stump he had spotted earlier , he dropped them there .

He went towards Juno , and held out his arms , Juno raised his arms too and He was able to lift Juno out .

Juno's wet body clung unto Vita's frame as he lifted him out of the water and to the tree stump where he put him down .

He passed Juno's undergarments to him first and when he realized that Juno could not handle that on his own , he helped him wear it .

He picked up his feet and examined the underside , it was healed , things like this did not surprise him when it concerned Juno .

" Do I still need the gauze ?" , Juno asked tentatively .

He nodded , in case the wound split open again .

Vita took out the gauze and wrapped both feet with it before carefully putting Juno's trousers and then , boots on him .

Juno stood , testing the balance of his feet .

Vita stood too , Juno's shirt in hand .

He gave the shirt over and began to walk back towards their little encampment .

Vita remembered when he had been a trainee , he had become so used to receiving compliments as a trainee that he had assumed he was the most skilled brigadier ever .

Something tugged at his sleeves , he turned slowly .

Juno stood behind him , his hair and shirt untied , his mouth was slightly open , his eyes wide .

" I'm sorry for beating you ".

Vita's head went into overdrive , his emotion and feelings churning insanely .

Was this what it had all amounted to ?

" Why would you apologize for something so stupid ?" , he snapped .

Juno's eyes narrowed , he must have been shocked by Vita's snapping .

" Isn't that why you are quiet ? Because I beat you and hurt your pride ? "

Vita's already splitting head , finally completely split open .

" No , I'm quiet because I want to be quiet . Do you really think everything revolves around you ? "

Vita was yelling now .

Juno's eyes had turned murderous.

" You know what ? There's no need to hide it , You're so weak for a f*****g brigadier ".

He left Vita staring at his backside .

Vita took a deep breath and turned , Ali stood to the side , Star by his legs .

He walked towards Vita and put his hand out .

Vita looked around , Wondering what it was that he wanted .

He turned back to Ali , there was nothing he could think of that Ali would want .

Ali's eyes were focused on something to the side , he turned his head to his arm .

Ali grabbed it before he could protest and pulled it , he groaned loudly as a pop sounded from his arm .

He held his arm , massaging it , the pain seemed to intensify with time .

He finally turned to thank Ali for his timely doctoring .

Ali was staring off into the trees , his eyes unfocused .

Vita followed his eyes , there was nothing there .

Wait , a small flash passed him and then another .

Star had also stalked off behind the trees .

His sword was still at the encampment , he briefly wondered how much damage screaming would do to his street credibility .

A man stepped out of the trees , his face was covered with some kind of cloth, he was holding a machete .

Ali stepped forward , his body sliding into a naturally defensive position .

Vita almost laughed out from the insanity of it all .

He pushed Ali and stepped forward , maintaining an even more obvious defensive position .

He was still Vita , Captain and Commander of the Royal Seventh Brigade .