Wandering aimlessly, the older male kicked a pebble or two. He scratched at his chin a little, and studied the masonry in front of him.
After so long, he'd grown used to the darkness, but was never let down when it came to the pure amazing strength of the crumbling stone. The durability of the bricks never ceased to amaze him.
Shuffling, and a growl rose from behind him. Aceti stared, not at all happy, at the male, who apparently stood in the way.
While the male didn't move, the growl rose, and a voice replaced it. The voice was gruff, and the male had only heard it on one other occasion.
"м◎ṽ℮."
The male respectfully nodded, and stepped aside. Aceti loped on, completely ignoring him.
The male continued on, navigating carefully to keep track of his "home", which lay a few meters behind in a dead end.
He'd left his bow, but had no fear that anyone would take it. Everyone in the Maze knew it was his, and wouldn't dare take from him.
In a few hours, he'd backtrack, but until then- he'd wander around looking for newcomers and those who just wanted advice.
Of course, with Aceti roaming, it was quite possible the newcomers had all died. He had caught word the one survived, but he knew the male was injured. No one new had ever escaped Aceti unscathed.
The older male had to get to the new arrival before Aceti killed him. As much as it pained him, he also wanted the injured newcomer to die- so he didn't have to suffer the Maze's horror longer.
He was about to backtrack, and just as he went to turn, a pebble rolled past him- like it was kicked. Slightly laboured breathing and footsteps followed- then froze.
"Hello?"
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~
Preston had just missed a kill that would've left him with watermelon. That was enough to make anyone upset, but he also had a migraine. Now, this was normal for him, but still- it was awful.
He trekked down the corridor, allowing his blaze rod to drag on the floor, shooting sparks behind him, and he kicked a pebble.
Tensing, he looked around.
"Hello?"
"..."
Preston stepped back, readying his blaze rod. Who knew? It could've been the beast.
Something stirred in his mind. The usual dream-vice. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Don't hurt me please."
He smiled ruefully.
" I'm wounded."
This was true. Preston had a cut stretching from shoulder to opposite hip.
A rustle sounded, and a tall stubbled teen- no. This was no teenager.
He was a man.
Preston's eyes widened. He must have been terrifyingly strong, to survive this long. Kids were thrown into the Maze from age six, and he looked at least twenty.
The man looked him over. "You told the truth. Most would kill you."
"Yes."
" You trust a complete stranger to let you go? Blaze rods are very, very rare. Lots of people want one."
"Yes, I know."
The man stared hard at him, then at the blood. He sighed.
"You, kid, are lucky you ran into a trusting idiot like me."
He swept Preston up, gently carrying him as to not bother the wound.
"Close your eyes, kid."
As soon as Preston did, he passed out.
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~
*sniff sniff*
It pawed at the ground, groaning a bit. He had obviously not wanted 'it' to leave.
"ɦօա ɖǟʀɛ ɦɛ..."
It sniffed the air. Blood was nearby, but not the blood he wanted. It loped off until another scent tickled its nose.
FEAR.
Thick, heavy... The smell drove it insane. And the blood smelled familiar too...
It turned the corner, nose twitching, adrenaline pumping through its veins.
It was the boy.
He cradled his shoulder, washing it off in some creek water. The bite marks were as clear as day.
The beast snarled, pleased. The boy was his- to toy with and kill.
He was covering up the mark, repairing the tear in his hoodie.
The best narrowed its eyes.
That wasn't right.
"ɖօռ'Ꮖ ɖɛռʏ ʍɛ..."

•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~
-A/N-
Izzy stopped uploading it, deciding two was too much. It will all be on my account, but that still doesn't mean she won't leave comments and Author's Notes. Love you guys!
                   ~Percabeth1Jackson