Silver Lies Within the Hell We Created

Turning back the clock by an hour, back to the small little house Ash had called home. Ash sat motionless the entire morning while keeping Cherry locked in his embrace. The echoing chime of the noon bell rang throughout the town, and the chattering from the townsfolk outside grew louder. Ash had wanted to help them set up for the upcoming festivities, but his body refused to move from his position as his arm embraced the mysterious girl.

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked in a comforting tone as he noticed her grip around him loosen. For the first time since hugging her, he felt her heartbeat racing. Cherry then gave him a hard shove, creating some distance.

"Will you stop treating me like a kid?" Cherry puffed her checks and stood up. She brushed the dust off her clothing and saved Ash an antagonizing look. "I have one little moment, and you start treating me like a runt from the city."

Ash let out a slight laugh as he looked at his arms. He moved them around with a puzzled look. He thought it was strange that he was now able to move when, mere moments ago, he was not able to. But he shook his head, clearing the thoughts, and looked at Cherry.

Her face stared at him with annoyance, reminding him of the old days he had spent with his sister. "Runt sounds harsh. But you do remind me of a small, adorable animal, like a baby fox."

"…"

There was a forced silence as Cherry's expression turned to neutral. She took a step back and hid her face with her hair. Her crimson eyes poked through the gaps and focused on only Ash.

"Umm…" Ash felt the harsh silence weighing heavily in the air. Considering their talks from the morning and now, each time the two grew quiet after an interaction, he felt as if he were suffocating in the awkwardness. "Wanna spend some time outside? Might be better for cheering up. Staying in here, in this gloomy house, will only make matters worse…ha…ha…" He asked while looking away.

His request was more for him than for her. He was starting to feel that the longer they stayed, the more awkward he would make the air between them.

He turned back towards Cherry, waiting for a response. She said nothing but stared at him with cautious eyes. He found the way she behaved slightly cute, but there was something off-putting about how she stared at him. She was waiting for something, but Ash could not figure out what that something was.

"Y'all are busy preparing for a road towards the city, right?" Cherry finally spoke, though her tone was unfriendly. Thinking that he had messed up by calling her a fox, he sighed.

"Yeah…"

Ash had been part of the planning committee for the deal as a replacement for his late father. The city of Pandora has been strict about its border control ever since they had been recognized as an autonomous city-state. Ever since the rebuilding of the Great Storm, the city has become a hot spot for technological advancements, such as creating modifications to human DNA that are smarter and tougher than anyone else in the world. While Ash refused to accept that such a thing was remotely possible, the city officials who stopped by spoke of it with enough passion that Ash believed that they were insane.

Ash and Cypress were the only two who strongly disagreed with Alder's plan to accept the deal, but the other committee members outnumbered them. The other townsfolk fell to the city's sweet talk and signed the deal, though it was not terrible. In exchange for the town selling excess food stock, they would allow the people of Aldor limited access to the city, allowing them to trade openly.

"It should take about a year to get a road paved, but that's enough time for us to start preparing our stocks and sell them to the city," Ash said as he tossed on a worn leather jacket with fox fur inside. "And there's a festival happening later tonight. So let's go!"

Ash reached out to grab Cherry's hand. She slapped Ash's hand away and took a step back. Her cute face now brimming with anger as she glared intensely at the jacket Ash wore.

"Hey…" Once again, another awkward encounter filled the small room with a bitter silence. It's been a while since Ash had met a new face in his life besides the people from the city selling this deal, so Ash feared he was being too friendly with Cherry.

"No, you're fine," Cherry spoke as if she had read Ash's mind. With a cute smile, she ran up beside him and grabbed his arm. Ash was confused about how to deal with Cherry because her back-and-forth emotions were hard to read. However, he simply struggled his shoulders and opened the door, flooding the once poorly lit room with the revitalizing rays of the sun.

Once suppressed by the walls of Ash's home, the sounds of hammering, chatter, and cheers filled the air as people worked to set up for the night's event. The pair walked down the old gravel road, their steps drowned out by old rust buckets, slowly driving down the narrow roads. Ash looked around at the people hard at work, each of them drenched in sweat with a brimming smile that highlighted the warm atmosphere of the town. Cherry, with watchful eyes, clutched tightly to Ash's arm.

"Oi, lad!!" A large, built man, his shoulders straining under a neat stack of wooden planks, approached the two, followed by a thinner man struggling to keep up. Cherry shifted around Ash as they approached, trying to block herself from being seen. She peeked out from behind Ash's neck as the man laughed roaringly. "If I hadn't known better, I'd thought the lil miss had dyed her hair a beautiful crimson red." They tried to get a better view of Cherry, but the man in the back urged him to stop. "Not fair, you not only have a beautiful twin sister, but now you got her, too. Save some of the luck for us, too, man."

"Please, can we get going?!!!! My arms are about to break." The tinner man in the back arms was shaking wildly as he tried to get the larger man to start moving again.

"Blood, sweat, and tears, my boy. But anyway, Ash, bring the young woman by the tavern. I'd love to have a few drinks." With that, the man walked away, practically dragging the poor guy in the back. The larger man cheerfully greeted every passerby, his voice echoing through the town while the younger man silently struggled under the weight he carried.

"How straightforward, but he seemed like he'll be more gentle than the others, despite those muscles." Cherry muttered from behind Ash.

"What did you mean by saying that?" Ash turned around and gave her a questioning look. "I doubt he even knows the definition of the word 'gentle.'"

"Hmm, it's nothing to worry your head about." Cherry danced around Ash and flashed him a suggestive grin, thrusting her finger onto his chest. "Treat me well, and I'll show you what I meant." Cherry's attempt at teasing Ash fell on deaf ears as he simply looked at her with a lost expression. Cherry backed away as a sigh left her lips. "Guess being cooped up in a small town makes you slow on the uptake."

Cherry hung her shoulders low as she turned away. The rumbling of a small group of trucks shook the ground, grabbing their attention. They were hauling off freshly hunted deer to the town's freezer to await processing into foods and goods that Aldor would supply the City of Pandora with. While Ash felt a sense of pride watching the old men working for the town's future, Cherry felt differently. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust, and her crimson eyes were filled with hate towards the old men doing their jobs.

Cherry then took a deep breath. She placed her hands over her small chest and turned to face Ash. Her eyes were fixed on him, and she took small steps towards him. Cherry reached out to grab Ash's hand. Ash was overwhelmed by her surprising strength, which reminded him of his sister, and was forcefully pulled closer to Cherry. Her soft breath tickled his ears as she began to speak.

"Why do you hunt?"

"Simple." Feeling his heart skip a beat, the words left his mouth. "Ever since the great storm that reduced the old city to nothing, our forests have had a bit of an overpopulation problem when it came to the wildlife. Deer, wolves, and foxes seem to breed like rabbits in the forest. No matter how many we kill, they just seem to return to the original number by the time the month ends. That's also why he agreed to work with the city. If we can buy better hunting supplies, it would be less work for us, and we can ensure a larger profit."

"Ahem." Cherry cleared her throat and looked away while twiddling her thumbs.

Ash looked at her with a blank stare. He remembered his mouth moving on its own, the same way that his body had embraced Cherry. The information he had just told her was something that very few within the town knew, and as a person with a small amount of authority within the town, he felt guilty for just revealing that to an outsider with little resistance.

Ash gave Cherry a curious yet cautious stare. Cherry glanced back at him with her face slightly reddened. He knew she had done something, but he was unsure what. Wanting answers, he approached her and placed a firm grip on her shoulders.

"Hey… you're a little close." She spoke in a weak voice, forcing Ash to release his grip. "I don't like guys who move too fast, you know." Ash backed away, embarrassed. Cherry then fidgeted bashfully as she looked down at the ground, seemingly waiting for Ash to say something.

Her cuteness was too much for Ash to handle. He felt ashamed that he could not do something as simple as question her, but seeing her act like this made his heart race. A feeling that he had not yet grown used to took his heart captive. It felt as if invisible restraints prevented him from moving, forcing him to keep himself fixed on only the girl. His shame from spilling town secrets so easily no longer bothered him, as his mind felt hazy.

"Maybe you are just that smitten with me." Cherry moved with calculated steps that synced with Ash's heartbeats. "Love at first sight caused you to passionately grab onto my shoulders. The warmth I felt was so sudden that it shocked me a little. I've never met a man who touched me so gently despite wanting something from me. I knew you wanted to whisper your profound love for me. Ehehe, how embarrassing to do such a thing out in public." Cherry pranced around Ash; her melodious voice danced around his ears, captivating his attention and drawing him deeper into her enchanting spell.

Was that what he wanted? Did he want to tell her that he loved her? Love…love..? Ash's mind became hazier as the world around him felt meaningless. Cherry, with her crimson hair flowing with the wind as she moved around him, filled his heart with desire. Her crimson eyes, staring so intimately, filled him with a passion he had never felt before. She was the answer he sought, a change in his mundane life. She seemed to show interest in him, so maybe he could use this as a stepping stool to discover more about the world.

"Hey Cherry, I lo-"

"AHHH!!!!"

"C-CHERRY!"

Before Ash could finish his misplaced confession, Cherry suddenly stopped prancing around him and collapsed to the ground. Ash snapped out of his strange haze and rushed to her side. Her arms and legs trembled as her pupils had dilated. Ash placed his hand on her chest by mistake, but he noticed that her heart pounded slowly but heavily. Ash felt a strange heat coming from her hair. The tips of her hair glowed a faint crimson that scorched the surrounding air.

Cherry stretched out her hand towards Ash, who took it immediately. Her sweaty palms gripped Ash's as she fought off the pain she felt.

"What terrible timing…" She muttered; a faint hatred left her lips as she glared at the forest near the tavern. "What was that? It wasn't mine…"

"Hey… let's go to the tavern. Cypress, my adoptive father, may be able to help us."

"Can it, virgin." Cherry glared at Ash with a vicious look. "Er, I mean, can he? I heard he preys on young virgin girls." After seeing the confused look in Ash's eyes, she shifted back to her cute self. She stood up and winced in pain. She limped toward the tavern.

Ash stood motionless for a few moments. What he saw was real. A murderous look in her eyes reminded him of a wolf hunting. Her icy tone was a wake-up call; she was not to be trusted blindly. But even as those thoughts swirled in his mind, seeing her walk like a whipped dog struck pity within him. While he could not understand, he felt that his body was moving on its own whenever she spoke to him charmingly. This time, he knew he was in full control.

"Ngh-H-hey!!" Without warning, Ash caught up to Cherry and picked her up. He shifted her onto his back. "What are you doing!?"

The warmth he felt from her was real. He felt her heartbeat hasten as she pressed against him. Ash, while new to the feeling, could tell that she felt something, too. But he wondered why she was trying so hard to grab his attention. Cherry grew quiet on his back and let out a gentle sigh that brushed against the back of his neck.

"I messed up, big time." She muttered faintly, unaware that Ash was able to hear her clearly.

Along the way to the tavern, Ash notices Alder leaving the forest with his bloodhound leading the way. Cherry's grip around his neck tightened as her arms tensed. The look on Alder's face was tense as if someone or thing had angered him. He approached the tavern and tied up his bloodhound outside on a wooden pillar that had a stack of fresh bones before it. He then disappeared into the tavern.

Ash hesitated for a second about following, but he felt Cherry shift in a way that told him to move forward. He approached the door and took a deep breath. Seeing the town's head acting in such a way was concerning, but right now, he wanted Cherry to get some rest. He still wanted information from her.

He opened the door to the tavern slowly, allowing the tense atmosphere between Alder and Cypress to leak out. Cypress turned towards the door with a hopeful expression. "Aye, Lad, what's up?" His voice was strange as if he had just strained it from crying. Alder's expression softened as his eyes drifted towards the girl on his back.

"Hey, she looks a little pale, she alright?" Alder said.

"I don't really know."

"There is an empty room upstairs," Cypress said. "I'll help once I finish this talk with Alder."

Ash nodded as he made his way toward the stairs. Once he reached the top, he felt the soft breaths tickle his neck, followed by faint snoring. He smiled a little. Turning a corner, he stopped as another unfamiliar face looked at him. Evidently, she was eavesdropping on the conversation down below by the way she nonchalantly leaned against the wall as if she was used to this type of thing.

Her hair was black, and parts of the inside were dyed silver. She wore a skintight, silver suit that gently reflected the colors of the dim lighting around her. In her right hand was a long silver staff adorned with several engravings that he could not make out in the faint lighting. But he noticed that a quarter down the staff had a visible slit that showed that the staff could be taken apart. The woman seemed to be about his age in terms of looks and obsessed with the color silver. She gave off an ice queen feeling as her beautiful looks were accompanied by an unfriendly icy stare that shot past him and towards the girl on his back. Ash quickly walked past her to avoid any more contact with her.

Once he reached an unoccupied room, he felt her gaze worsen. He turned back to face the unknown woman, who stared at him this time. Ash felt the air leave his lungs for a few seconds before the woman turned away, uninterested. Ash then retreated into the room.

Once Ash had disappeared into the room, the woman looked at her staff. Her icy appearance thawed with concern. "That idiot cannot be serious."