Fae began to slow his pace as he glanced back at Chi following him. He could tell the boy was getting worn out from all the running. Due to his eyes he could see in the dark well enough to move around but he knew that things were different for Chi who was not of his race. They both were breathing heavily as they tried to calm their racing hearts from all the running they had done nonstop since they arrived in Numen's Garden just hours ago.
"Are you alright?" Fae asked him as he slowly walked over to check on him. He could hear the blood in Chi's veins rushing throughout his body causing him to swallow back his hunger. Covering his mouth with his hand he slowly turned his head away.
"Just a bit tired.. I'll be alright after a short break." Chi responded as he let himself collapse to the floor on his butt. The lower half of his face became instantly hid behind the large pink wrap around his neck. His blue eyes looking up exhausted at the man in front of him.
Sighing out loud at the actions of the boy he stared down at him. After a slight pause in his actions Fae slowly walked over and sat down beside Chi on the brick tunnel's floor. The cold ground sent shivers down Chi's spine as the night breeze was beginning to flood throughout the tunnel. They had spent so much time running during the day that they had not realized how late it was getting. If it was just Fae alone he would probably manage well on his own but he had spent the day catering to protect the boy.
After a while through the silence Fae found himself muttering out the words that he held at the tip of his tongue. He was curious about Chi's world but at the same time he wondered if Chi was simply just unique in his world as well. It was the type of unique heart that one would want to protect and cherish naturally as if it was a national treasure.
"Your world must be pretty pure for you to be so.." Fae could not find the word to describe how pure and innocent that Chi seemed. One look at him and it was like looking at a bright shining light. It was that brightness that had drawn Fae to him at first glance like a moth drawn to a flame.
"So what?" Fae muttered out the question in a sarcastic tone. He was use to being called things because of how he was. If it was not for his innocence it was because of the way he looked
"Shh.." Fae shushed him as he sensed someone nearby.
"Did you just-" Fae wanted to retort back at the fact that he had been shushed but Fae had quickly covered his mouth with the palm of his hand.
A soft thud could be heard as something fell to the ground not far behind them the way they had come into the tunnel. Quickly getting to his feet Fae's figure vanished on spot and reappeared where the small object that fallen. He could not sense anyone nearby as if they had vanished. If they had someone following them it was clearly someone who was experienced in hiding their presence from him by slowing their own heart rate to seem as if they were already dead. Someone who had such practice was surely someone he did not feel comfortable dealing with while Chi was so exhausted.
"What was it?" Chi asked as he slowly approached Fae from behind where he stood still trying to decipher who and where the person was hiding.
Not having any luck with locating the culprit Fae slowly stepped closer to the object and knelt down towards it. His hand reaching out to inspect it his face turned green before going pale. The scent was enough to cause his fangs to protrude from his upper gums. The brows on his face twitched as he wondered if someone was trying to toy with him but as much as he wanted to comment he knew it would be helpful.
"Here." Fae said as he carefully tossed the small bundle of already cooked rat meat to Chi.
"What?! Am I suppose to eat this?!" Chi started to panic at the very thought of eating rat meat. Even if it was cooked he had still never tried something like it before. The very thought of biting into a cooked rat made his stomach want to turn over and empty every bit of what he had ate for the past month. His stomach at the scent of the cooked meat, however, began to growl like crazy.
As much as he wanted to laugh at Chi's reaction to the cooked meat that he had tossed him he could understand the pain as well. Still in Fae's hand he firmly held a freshly killed rat that had been tossed with the already cooked meat. It felt as if someone was in the shadows warning him to keep his fangs off of the boy. Turning his head to check around again for any sign of life he could still not determine where the person who threw the bundle of rats had gone.
"It's safe, just eat it before you starve to death." Fae muttered out calmly at the still disgusted Chi. To survive in the Garden until they could get out he knew they would have to accept the conditions to live if they wanted to have hope of ever returning to their worlds again. They could not hide in the tunnel forever and it would only buy them a bit of time before the other players caught on to them if they remained there so they would both need as much strength as they could gather together. Once they were well rested he would have to take Chi out of the Tunnel and back into the mountain range.
For the time being they both had gained a small gift for their stomachs from an unknown comrade and that was enough for now to help regain their strength.