• He was running. His breath came in short gasps and he was running through the wood. Hoping they would not come after him again. There were two of them. Both had been wounded by the short silver knife he carried.

    He kept running.

    His foot slipped in a fallen tree branch and in the silence of the forest he heard the familiar sound of boots crunching on underbrush, coming closer. Faster.

    He scrambled to his feet and ran again, not caring which way he was going, just running.

    He knew it was following him and as he glanced back, he saw it was a new one. One he had not seen before. A redhead.

    He ran faster, his side aching. Black spots danced at the edge of his vision. He was so tired and out of breath.

    Then his foot slipped on a rock beneath his feet. Pain exploded in his head when he hit the boulder beside him and he fell into blackness.
    ____________________________________

    Zero woke with a start, his heart racing. He looked over at the bed next to him. Will slumbered on, unaware of the trouble plaguing his friend. He didn't want to wake him but didn't feel he could stay in bed. As he eased himself out quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping redhead, he thought back to when he had first met him.

    Zero had been staying with the Underwood's for a few weeks before he met the youngest son. Will had been staying with a friend of his: helping to hunt down the last of The Dogs; an organization that had been terrorizing the country-side for some years now, wreaking havoc wherever they went.

    Will had come home to find Zero in the kitchen washing dishes by hand. Zero liked the physicality of washing dishes. He would stand at the sink, suds up to his elbows, look at the garden just outside the window in front of the sink and lose himself in the repetitive motion of washing dishes.

    Will had barreled into the kitchen and was brought up short by finding him there.

    That Will knew Zero was staying with his family was evident for he showed no surprise. Zero remembered he had made some disparaging remark about what he was doing, though. Something about Zero acting like a maid.

    Standoffish at first, Will soon warmed to this quiet, pale youth. And after bearing witness to the nightmares that plagued Zero's non-waking hours, the last reserve Will held onto melted. Soon the two were nigh inseparable.

    Zero did not know about the conversation between Will and his parents that took place some days before his sudden appearance in the kitchen. It went something like this:

    "Do you not remember what he has done? How can you forget that?"

    His father, Arthur, interjected, "It's not that we've forgotten. It's that we believe everyone deserves a second chance. It looks as though something has made sure he would get that chance."

    "And if it's a trick? A last desperate attempt to fulfill his creed?"

    "We've thought about that. I personally don't believe it is a trick. He doesn't remember anything about the world unless he is shown. He didn't know any magic until Nic started training him again."

    A few moments passed in silence. It was finally broken by his mother, "This is a picture of him now. You may not recognize him otherwise."

    Will studied it, noting the dark hair and the three angry scars running from his right eye to his chin. "You're right, I don't recognize him. Are you sure hit's him?" At his father's nod, he continued, "What is wrong with his hair? And where did the scars come from?"

    His mother again, "The scars were from whatever attacked him. And the hair means that he had more of his mother's bloodline than previously thought. It's his natural color."

    Will did not say anything else but his parents observed him closely after his first encounter with Zero. He noticed Zero seemed more relaxed and open than he had when they trained together.

    Zero did not know any of this as he quietly pulled on his trainers and let himself out of the room. He only knew that he did not want to disturb his friend, especially as Will hadn't come home until the early hours of the morning and needed his sleep.