Two opposites

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Was his life truly important? It didn't seem like it. People were chasing him for no other reason that him merely existing. People were scared of him because he were different. People hated him. What did he really live for? His parents weren't there any longer, they wouldn't care if he died or lived. Leilani.. Well, she wouldn't really notice if he disappeared and never return. It wouldn't matter if he died or where on the run for the rest of his life. The only one he could live for was himself. But was that enough?

The water was fast gone once Jonathan had gotten a taste of it. He hadn't realized how dehydrated he felt before water filled his mouth. "I'm fine now." He replied even though it wasn't completely true. He was getting better fast, but definitely not fine yet. A few tears started to roll down on his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but there wasn't much he could do about it. It was just to hope that she would believe it had to do with the fever.

"I just need to rest for a bit." He mumbled while trying to sweep the tears away. "You should probably worry about yourself sometimes too. I'm a wanted criminal. You could get locked up for life or even get the death penalty if they realizes that you know too much about me and about their hunting reasons. You could get killed because of me. If that happened, would you still say that I should think about myself and disregard others safety?" Jonathan didn't look at her when he spoke. He still hoped he could pretend his tears had to do with the fever. But he was genuinely worried for her. What if she got killed? How would he be able to live with himself then, knowing that it was his fault?
 
Once he had emptied the glass in record time Leilani refilled it, not bothering to ask this time around, he needed to rehydrate, it was just as important as rest was for him to get better, but now it also depended on how strrong he was or rather how dedicated he was to getting better, will power was just as important as medicine, after all if your mind didn't want to then why would the body fight to get better? Although if he was strong enough to pretend to be better than he was then she supposed he was definitely on the right track.

"Well, in that scenario I would be dead and therefore not being able to put blame on you or regret anything." She replied, an askew grin tugging at her lips. "But to be serious, even if somehow I was reported and charged with helping you it would not be your fault. Sure if I hadn't met you it would not have become a problem, but it was me who made the decision to keep helping you and therefore the blame is on me in that case." She meant her words, if something happened to her she would not be able to blame Jonathan for it, after all she was an adult who made her own choices, if she always put the fault with others then she wouldn't be much of an adult. Of course it was easy to sound certain and have full faith in her words when no immediate danger threatened.

By now Leilani had needed to be blind to not notice the tears, and honestly she was at a loss, she had never been very skilled with handling emotions nor with showing them, when it came to strong emotions Leilani felt like a fish out of water and often stood in awkward silence wishing someone would come along and tell her what to do. It was not that she had no feelings or didn't care about others, she just was the type who were more reserved and lacking the skill to read people easily, not like her mother who was amazing at sensing a person's emotional state and instinctively knowing what to say or do. But just a glance at him would certainly melt the hardest of hearts, he may be around her age but he looked so vulnerable and heartbroken right now, although she was pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate hearing that unless he thought radically different from any other male she had met so far. Screw being polite, Leilani thought rather strongly and put an arm around Jonathan's shoulder, that was about as far as she came before her brain halted, not sure of what else to do. If he didn't like it then he could pull away, Leilani wouldn't take it personally she had after all grown up with an older brother, not to mention her three cousins who all loved to show her the strange workings of the male brain.
 
If it hadn't been for the part, 'sure, if i hadn't met you', then Jonathan would have felt much better. Whoever he met was his choice. He could make sure not to bump into people if he wanted to. He could have stayed far away from Leilani and never have involved her in any of this. He should never involve anyone in this. He could just escape to the mountain, no one would find him there. But if he had considered that an option, then he would have done it a long time ago. Either way, he should probably have just skipped the explanation and made a run for it after the guard had left the store. Or made something up, he doubted the girl would have been able to tell truth from lies as long as he looked pitiful enough.

But as she said, she was an adult. An adult could make their own choices, and she could have made the choice to turn him in once she got to know the truth. She knew the dangers. Still, he shouldn't involve anyone.

Then he felt an arm being wrapped around him. Jonathan weren't sure what to do. More often than not when people tried to touch him, they were guards whom wanted to catch him. Sometimes when people let him in to their house because they thought he were a small and lost boy they might put a hand on his back while leading him inside, but otherwise touching rarely happened. He didn't move away though. Actually he ended up leaning in closer to her.

"Don't get the wrong ideas... I'm not crying. It's just the fever." He defended himself, leaving their previous topic. Even if he wanted to defend his position he knew that she would keep defending hers. They were on the complete opposite spectrum of that topic. "I'll just need couple of hours to rest. You should probably get back to work." Jonathan suggested, mainly because he felt incredibly embarrassed over crying like that in front of another human, a girl on top of that. It wasn't very manly of him, and definitely didn't help him looking older. "I should probably hide before you get any costumers."
 
She was well aware that it had nothing to do with the fever, of course it wasn't unlikely that the symptoms of the poison was what broke down his emotional defense but it surely wasn't the reason for the tears. Still she didn't comment on it, instead sitting in silence, glad he didn't seem to find her closeness unwanted or a bother, she could only imagine how many years he had to shut everything inside since he was always alone with no one to share his burdens with, she just hoped she could help ease him just a little although she was still certain he would insist on leaving as soon as he could walk steadily and not return.

"Oh, of course," she said, suddenly remembering that while they were out of sight from the windows this was a shop that could see customers at any moment, she had been too absorbed by his near death to even remember her surroundings. "But this time you are going to lie on something soft." She said sternly, he may be past the life threatening part but he was not well yet, and weakened as he was by the poison he could easily get sick until his body and immunesystem stabilized. Rising to her feet Leilani made sure the sidewalk outside the shop was as empty as it could be before she allowed Jonathan to stand, while she didn't insist on helping him unless he needed it she took his arm as soon as he was up and guided him to the back room. She definitely did not like the though of putting him here again, but with no window it was the safest room unfortunately. Leilani could not do much to make it comfortable but she spread out a few sheets folded double and made sure he sat down on them. "You need to keep warm," she said, while searching through a box, blowing out an annoying sigh when she couldn't find anything suitable as a blanket. "You are much more vulnerable to falling sick now so until you have recovered you have to be careful." Her tone left little room for argument and instead of the blanket she would have prefered to give him she pulled out another sheet for him to use.

"I will make sure no one comes in here so try to sleep if you can." He looked pretty worn though, exhausted and weak from the ordeal so it would probably be harder for him to stay awake than to fall asleep. Returning to the shop Leilani hurriedly cleaned up the mess she had made when trying to find and mix the antidote, feeling like at least a several hours had passed Leilani shifted the sign to open by the front door and got to work on her normal tasks until a customer showed up. The familiar tasks not requiring enough concentration to keep Leilani's worried thoughts from straying to Jonathan, hoping he was recovering and not getting worse suddenly but she refrained from going to see how he was doing, she didn't want to disturb him or leave the front room out of sight, if a guard came in now there was no way she could hide Jonathan like last time so instead she kept watch for any sign of trouble.
 
"Yes sir." Jonathan mumbled weakly. It was supposed to be a joke, just to show how great he was feeling already. But his voice betrayed him of course. Instead of sounding like a brave soldier following orders, he sounded just as sick as he was. Damn it. He waited until Leilani had checked the windows before trying to stand up. His legs were a bit wobbly, but at least he could walk. It of course helped that Leilani kept him stable by holding his arm.

A corner away from the shop, a woman appeared from the alleyway. She had taken a shortcut since she needed to be at work earlier than usual that day. Not thinking that she would see anyone this particular morning she reacted immediately when something moved in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a woman helping a boy into another room. That boy seemed awfully familiar... But she didn't have time to think about that now. She continued to her job and it wasn't before lunch when she finally realized where she had seen him. He had been running from the guards the previous day. She remembered how he passed her and a short bit later the guards were all over the place asking for him. She had to report it.

Jonathan had followed every suggestion Leilani came with, though they did feel more like orders. If he asked she would probably tell him that they were orders too. While he didn't think he would be able to fall asleep that easily, considering he felt like he needed to cry a river before doing anything else, he were still able to disappear into the land of dreams within minutes.

Jonathan woke up some hours later. He had no idea what time it was, but at the very least he was feeling much better. Not perfect, but okay. But something felt wrong. It felt as if something bad would happen. But nothing did. At least not at first.

The teen sat on the floor with the sheet covering him for about an hour, listening to Leilani as she spoke to costumers or walked around, probably caring for the flowers. Nothing bad seemed to happen. Was he too paranoid? Then the store bell rang.

Two guards stepped inside the store, one were already looking towards the door which Jonathan was hiding behind, the other one walked up to Leilani. "Miss. We have gotten an anonymous tip that you are hiding a criminal. As you probably know, that is an extremely serious offence, and if someone is here with you then I suggest you tell us about it now." The guard was straight forward and definitely didn't seem like the type whom would accept back talk.

Jonathan was cursing to himself. They would find him, and Leilani would be in trouble. Hopefully she would tell them that he was there, that way she can simply say that she didn't know he was a criminal. Though there was that guard from the previous day. If he stepped forward, then she would still be in trouble. Damn it. Either way, once the door opened, he would tackle the guy and make a run for it. Hopefully it would work.
 
The bell rang harshly as two guards stepped inside, Leilani who had stood with her back turned, comparing an order list with the shelf of medicines whirled around in surprise as one guard spoke, her heart started beating like a frightened bird, she swore they must be able to hear it or see it move beneath her ribs. How did they know? She had tried her best to be cautious, but had someone seen Jonathan anyway? Not that it mattered, he was as good as trapped in that room, the only other door in there, half hidden behind some boxes didn't fit properly into the frame so it was always tricky to push open, besides it was always locked anyway. No, the safest way out was through the main room but the guards were in the way.

She may get off the hook easier if she told the truth, and Jonathan would probably tell her to give him up, but betrayig him to save herself was something she couldn't handle. For the first time in her life she was facing a truly hard decision, one that tested her conscience and she realised she was more willing to do what was right than to follow the law even under the threat of severe punishment.

"I'm sorry but you must be mistaken," she said trying to collect herself, trying to take a few breaths without it being too obvious. "I am not hiding a criminal," her emphasis was vague but it was there on the word criminal. To her knowlede they hunted Jonathan and people like him for no reason except that they were different and not because they had done anything illegal. Leilani could not entirely believe what she was doing, in the span of 24 hours she had lied to the city guards twice and this time without a chance of pulling off her lie, this wasn't exatly what she would have thought herself capable of only a week earlier. But no matter how afraid she was of the reprecussions of her actions her will to stand up for Jonathan was stronger, having spent time with him and heard his stroy she just couldn't stomach the thought of aiding the law in this matter.

Judging by the looks the men gave her they believed her, no surprise there really. "I hope you understand that we can't take your word for it miss," one guard said, keeping his hard eyes on her. The other man left the counter and headed towards the doors in the back, he tried the closest one and turned to her. "Would you unlock this door miss." It may have been worded like a question but it was no less an order and Leilani reluctantly grabbed the keys and did as she was asked. She had contemplated refusing and insist that her boss had the only key but that would only mean that the starage room would be searched first, this way she hoped that if Jonathan wasn't already awake and aware of the problem then he may hear something the more she dragged out the time.

Leilani had stepped back closer to the counter again and looked on with a heavy heart, the larger of the two guards remain in his place, probably making sure someone was left to guard the store in case someone tried to run. As expected the guard didn't find anything in the office, the search was fast although no doubt thourough and soon he came back out, shaking his head slightly to his partner before crossing the hall and grabbing hold of the door handle sending Leilani's pulse sky rocketing again.
 
Idiot. Stupid idiot! Jonathan thought when he heard Leilani speak. Sure, she had twisted the words so that she could defend herself later by telling them she had no idea that he was a criminal. But considering she hadn't told them that someone whom shouldn't be in the back of the store was there, they would definitely not let her get off the hook. Maybe if he were able to take one of their weapons and make it seem as if he was holding her hostage, then they would most likely believe that he had been using her all the time and let her get off easy.

But that was a far too risky plan. By now, Jonathan had noticed that there were two men out there. While he grabbed the weapon of one of them, the other one would pull out theirs. He had to make a decision before the door would open. Should he run for it, or should he try to take Leilani hostage? The latter could end well for her, but could get him captured. The former would most definitely turn out badly for both of them. Luckily for Jonathan, he got some time to think about it while they were searching the other room.

If only he could see how the men were standing, and where Leilani was. That way he could see how risky it would be. But he couldn't see through walls. Sometimes he really wished he had magic powers, but if he had then he wouldn't be in that situation either way. Soon he heard steps coming towards his door. He was out of time. Decision!

The door was pushed open and immediately afterwards the guard stumbled back, out of breath, while Jonathan started to run past him. He could feel a slight pain in his shoulder after having pushed it into the man's chest, but he just had to make sure it wasn't dislocated later. The other guard was shocked for a second, not sure what had just happened. But as the boy jumped over the counter, the guard came to his senses. "Stop right there." Luckily it was the normal guards, because he didn't think twice before he used magic on Jonathan. Of course it didn't work. Jonathan could only guess that because he had been poisoned, they didn't see him as a problem any more and left it to the normal guards to pick him up once he turned himself in. They didn't expect a perfectly, or at lest moderately fine teen whom could run around without much problems.

Out through the door he ran, not daring to look back. Soon after he heard the door open again. Probably the guard coming after him. Better not look. As long as he was out of reach, then he couldn't take him. He headed towards the alleyway, the same road he had taken to Leilani's home the previous evening. At least he knew where to go there to not get stuck between a wall and a guard. It was important to not run into a dead end in the beginning of the chase.

Now all Jonathan could hope for Leilani was that she would play stupid and just tell them she hadn't realized he were a criminal. Maybe even say that he had told her that he had ran away from home and didn't want the guards to take him back to his abusive parents. That might save her from prison. Too bad he didn't tell her that earlier.
 
Both Leilani and the guard were taken by surprise as Jonathan tackled the man who opened the door, before she had time to process it he was past her and out the door, the magic thrown at him vanishing harmlessely into thin air, the bigger guard who had stood close Leilani took up the hunt and soon it was only her and the other guard left. He looked sharply at her, rubbing his chest where Jonathan had tackled him and was far from happy, like he wanted to give chase as well and pay the teen back for his action but instead he had to stay and keep an eye on Leilani. "Let me guess," he said, his voice hard. "You had no idea he was there, right?" His tone sparked Leilani's own anger, he had no right to behave like he did when he hunted down innocent people under the protection of the law. "As a matter of fact I did," she snapped, glaring up at him, her small stature even more apparent next to the muscled guard. "But I was not aware that he had commited a crime." Unless it was a crime to be born without magic, which apparently it was.

"So you say, but you are coming back to the headquarters to answer some questions. Lock this place up so we can get going." If she kept quiet from here on out or elaborated with the first story Jonathan had given her about bullies or perhaps some other threat that had caused her to hide him Leilani was fairly sure that they couldn't for certain say she was involved and she might even be let go. However there was that small problem with the guard from yesterday, she had lied to him and he might remember that and in that case she was busted, the flower and medicinal shop was not as easily forgotten as a generic store or office so Leilani wouldn't be too surprised if he did remember her. So far Leilani did as she was told, locked the doors and did what she usually did when closing all the while her mind was spinning, wondering what to do, what the right thing to do even was and if Jonathan had gotten away. "Why exactly are you even after him? Just because magic doesn't affect him doesn't mean he is a threat of national security, it's not his fault he was born like that." The question had come out without her thinking, normally that wasn't a problem but today speaking freely was not a good thing.

Too late did she realize that the normal public knew nothing of the immune except for a few vague rumors but no one who wasn't in the loop should know anything about it. Leilani snapped her mouth shut but it was a futile act, her words were already spoken and the guard turned to look at her. "What?" He said, eyes narrowig in suspicion. "Where did you hear about that?" She bit her lip and tried to think of a way to explain, but her only choice now was to follow him freely and be in a lot of trouble explaining her knowledge at their headquarters or to escape and become a fugitive herself, it was quite clear that the council did not want information about the immune to leak out and it also felt like a good guess to say they did not want anyone who was immune to run around free. Her knowing about the whole affair was probably not going to earn her bonus points towards being released without any trouble, with such efforts to capture the immune and to keep it quiet Leilani also held it likely that they wouldn't like a civilian sympathizer being free to keep spreading the entire thing to the rest of the public and perhaps cause more people to speak up against the injustice.

The guard had started to advance towards her but he did not treat her with the same urgency as he had Jonathan, sometimes it payed to be a petite woman, people always underestimated you because of your size or your gender or both, acting more on instinct than on logic Leilani made her choice and decided she did not want to find out what she may be punished with. Before the man could react Leilani pushed her magic into the plants and with a guiding movement from her hand vines and roots stretched out towards the guard and snaked around his limbs, curling around him and halting him in his tracks. Although she knew it was dangerous to drag out the time since the guard could break free of the plant prison with magic of his own Leilani still took a few extra seconds to dump several ofthe bags and bottles from the shelf into her bag, a few seconds later she was on her way, around the counter and out the door, slamming it shut behind her she twisted the lock with a wave of her hand, it could buy her a few extra seconds at least.

Now her brain was starting to catch up and Leilani was clueless as how to go on, there was no way she would get away with this if the guard caught her now but where would she go? What would she do for that matter, she had not thought this through at all, the best would be to find Jonathan but she had no idea which way he had taken. Afraid to linger any longer Leilani took off towards her home, she was not sure where to go from there but she did not think the guards knew her address yet so it would be safe for awhile, but soon the guards would find out where she lived. But it gave her a direction for now and it was easier to not think about what to do later, taking off in a run Leilani weaved through the people filling the street, taking shortcuts through alleyways and the closer she got the more she racked her brain about where to go from there, would it be safe to go inside and grab somethings or should she take off. What would she do though? Where could she hide now? Being a fugitive was clearly not on the top of Leilani's skill set.
 
Jonathan's body protested like crazy while he was running through the maze of alleyways. Of course it did, he wasn't fully recovered yet. But he were a survivor. His body didn't get to decide on comfort before he was somewhere safe.

Eventually he stopped as he noticed that no footsteps had been following him for a while. The guard must have turned the wrong way somewhere when he hadn't seen which turn Jonathan had taken. Good. Now the question was, where should he go? Carefully he stepped out and started to sneak around. He tried to get back to the path to Leilani's home. From there he would know where to go to get out on the main street, find the sewer lid he had come up from when entering the city, and safely sneak out of the city right beneath their noses.

But suddenly as he walked forward he heard something. Footsteps. A guard? He hid in the shadows and looked slightly around the corner. They came closer. But the footsteps were too small to be from a man. While he weren't unfamiliar with female guards, he was sure he hadn't seen any in this city. He wasn't sure what the reason was to why females didn't take that specific job too often, maybe it simply wasn't appropriate for females to do such things. Jonathan didn't know much about what roles people should have in society though. That wasn't really a topic that came up when someone thought they were helping a young boy escape bullies.

Now it was extremely close. Jonathan got a glimpse of the figure before hiding himself. First after he had hidden he realized he recognized it. Leilani? Was she being chased? Once she came close enough to his hideout, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in. Lucky she was a magician. If her reflexes would make her defend herself, then at the very least they would do it with magic. Not like Jonathan's reflexes that would punch first and ask later.

"What are you doing here? You should have stayed with the guard. Do you realize how much trouble you might be in right now?" Jonathan hissed in a low voice, in case someone would come. But so far he didn't hear any footsteps. He let go of her arm and stepped a few steps away from her to give her some space. He took a few breaths to calm himself before trying again in a more calm fashion. "What happened?"
 
Out of breath from her quick pace, sorely realising she was not exactly in shape, Leilani had to slow down and press down a few deep breaths, a look around convinced her that shewas alone and that her trick had worked in making the guard lose track of which way she ran. Now though she would not be so popular with them in the future, having used magic on a guard was considered a crime, albeit not a serious one depending on the level of magic but for her that would only add to her problems. Having recovered enough to not see spots Leilani kept going in a fast walk, pulling on the shoulder strap for her bag to twist it back behind her.

She bit back a scream when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley, instinctively she tried to smash said person into the wall but her magic vanished without doing any harm and sure enough when she looked up to see who grabbed her it was Jonathan. "I did stay with the guard," Leilani defended herself. "I even said that I was not aware that you had commited any crime." Which he hadn't either but the law was sure fond of calling him a criminal anyway. "He was going to take me to their headquarters for questioning but it seemed to be routine more than anything."

Leilani fell silent, if he so far had been pleased that she had not ignored the danger and tried to protect him he would be disappointed now. "I just happened to ask him why they were hunting the immune, especially you, and why it was a crime to have certain genes. I swear I was not planning on talking to him, but it just popped out." She had just mulled over the questions in her head and without realising it she had spoken out loud.

"He seemed more intent on bringing me in so I made a run for it...after I restrained him with the plants in the shop." She added reuctantly, she had not known Jonathan long but she was quite certain he would not like this, after all he had been hell bent on keeping her away from danger.
 
Well, her explanation started out well. But he knew there would come a twist since she clearly hadn't gone with him to the headquarters. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe something had happened that had made the guard decide to release her for now and come take her in for questioning later. Sadly he had to face the disappointing continuation of the story.

Almost stunned he weren't sure what to say. Not only had she escaped a guard after having been requested to come in for questioning, which in itself could give Leilani a lot of problems explaining herself, but she had also used magic on him. "You did what?" Jonathan had almost told her what a complete idiot she was, but he collected himself just in time. It might not be as bad as they thought. They could still do something about this. On the other hand, she had mentioned knowing that he was immune to the guard... That realization made him loose most of his hope on getting her back into her normal life.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Damn it all to hell." Jonathan cursed. Needles to say he did not know many curses. This was the second worst scenario that could ever happen. A stranger got involved and he had no plan for how to fix it yet. The first worst. He and an involved party would get arrested. That reality didn't seem to far off right now.

"You spoke about a brother before. Where does he live? Maybe you can stay with him for a little... No bad idea. They'll probably use magic to find you once they've gotten their hands of some of your belongings. Shit!" He tried to find the best solution for her, but the only one he could come to think of was for her to keep moving and not stopping. A finding spell could only work to pin-point someones location while the searcher was still, thus once they arrived at the place the person they were searching for might already have moved on. That's why local criminals often got captured while those who moved around stayed somewhat safe. But Leilani was clearly not the type that could move around everywhere on her own. Sure, she could use magic. But most criminals could too. A cute girl like her with very little battle training might not have the best of chances out there.

"For now you'll have to get out of town. If the guards come, I'll just take a different direction from you, then they'll most likely follow me. If we separate, just make sure to get as far away as possible. Try to find something safe. You're not their biggest worry, they'll probably give up on you if you keep away for some months." Jonathan suggested. Not the best plan in the world, but he hoped she could figure out a way to keep away from the guards and stay alive by herself for some months at least. She was clearly good with plant magic, so at the very least she could probably keep herself healthy and use magic to get food.
 
Leilani stood silent through his outbreak, she had not expected anything different and she let it pass without interrupting, he was right to be angry of course, she had not exactly been very smart so far. She had surely overreacted as well, or well after she let it slip that she knew everything about the immune she was pretty much done for but using magic on the guard was not one of her brightest ideas, nor was speaking wihtout thinking, but she had reacted on instinct to get away. She had forgotten one thing however, she, unlike Jonathan, could be tracked by magic and hile there existed shielding spells that could at least help a bit she did not know of any herself. When the guards reached her apartment they could take anything and use it to track her, if she had lived in a house instead of an apartment building then she could have torched the place, it was a morbid and dark idea and she'd never even think of actually doing it but it did cross her mind.

"But," she began and then fell silent. What would she do for a few months, she was not like him who had been doing this for ten years, even when he first ended up on the run he had had his father with him. Leilani knew it was childish of her to want someone to help her along, she was an adult she should be able to figure this out alone. Food wouldn't be so bad, she would never be able to hunt to get food, she wasn't even sure she could try fishing either, when she was around ten she had fished with her brother but Leilani had ended up quitting since she felt bad for the fish she pulled up, not exactly the best mindset for her current situation. But in lack of meat she could get a hold on vegetables and fruit, if she didn't find any she could always grow what she needed quite quickly.

No, the problem was more how to get by, where to find safe places to sleep, how to avoid or defend against guards or other more unsavory people and being alone. Leilani wasn't exactly a super social type but she had never been alone like she would be now before, and even the thought of spending a night outside in the dark scared her more than she wanted to admit. She really wanted to follow Jonathan, she knew him and he also knew how to survive but she also didn't want to bother him. Just because they got along didn't mean he wanted her to tag along from now on, but on the other hand it couldn't be fun for him either to be alone all the time. "Can't I go with you," she asked. "Or well, perhaps it's a bad idea since they can track me but not you." She hadn't thought of that before and her eyes dropped to the ground, shoulders sagging just a bit at the realization, the thought that if she followed him the guards could find Jonathan by tracking her just now hitting her.
 
Jonathan was quite surprised by her suggestion. It would be far more dangerous for her to be with him than for him to be with her. If the guards caught them and she had willingly helped a criminal escape and knowingly traveled with him, she would be in as much trouble as he. Actually it would be slightly bad for him too. If they caught her but not him, they might use her as a hostage. Not very knight like, sure, but guards didn't follow the rule book completely when it came to the immune. Even if they wouldn't, there were other groups who wanted to kill him. They didn't care if Leilani was innocent, they would use anything they could to get what they wanted.

"Even if they can track you it wouldn't change anything for me. I'm always on the move so we would both be gone before they got to us." He reminded her. "It would be a bad idea because if they realizes you're traveling with me you won't be seen as a small fry any longer. There won't be any chances of them forgetting about you, and you will most likely keep being hunted because they'll think that you can lead them to me. If they catch you and you fail to give them the information they want, then they won't go easy on you. They'll make sure that you are convicted guilty on every charge they put on you. Prison will be a certainty." Jonathan wasn't the least worried that she would give his position away if she were to get taken in for questioning. And even if she did, he would be long gone once that happened. But he truly didn't want any more trouble for the girl. The best would be if she never saw him again.

"I'm saying this for your own good. Stay away from me. They might ruin your whole life otherwise." The teen had already seen two people die for his sake, he did not want Leilani to become the third. Traveling with someone was a dream Jonathan did not dare to think about. In truth he knew that the world would be better off without him, he was simply too cowardly to end it all. So he followed his fathers words and kept living.
 
So far his protest were focused on this getting worst for her, worse than it already was that is, his argument was good but he was not entirely correct on one point. Sure she was not in as much trouble as Jonathan so far but he thought she would be out of danger just by keeping a low profile for a few months but Leilani was not so sure that using magic to assult a guard and hinder the law would be something that just disappeared if left alone. "You do remember I said I used magic to stop the guard, basically wrap him in vines actually. Oh, and destroying the lock on the door to delay him even more." She said, hands on her hips as she looked up into his eyes, the protests bringing out her stubborn side. "How forgiving do you think the guards are to someone who assulted one of them?" She had also pretty much made her view on the whole matter of hunting immunes quite clear as well, she couldn't lull herself into a false sense of security by believing they would just let pass without dealing with it.

"Have you also thought about the fact that the guards would find me a whole of a lot easier if I was on my own?" Normally Leilani would never highlight her weaknessess, not even to herself, nor play it up larger than it was. But while she was certain that she could probably keep out of sight for awhile she still could not succeed forever, she lacked the skills that were needed, like always being alert, to always keep an eye out for trouble and to know how to get away if found.

He should think a bit more on himself as well, not only her well being, the more blinded he became over his own safety the more likely he was to get hurt, like yesterday. "What if you get hurt again? You would no have anyone to help you." She neglected to tell him that she cold just give him some of the medicine she had grabbed before running, no need to give him more ammunition. "And don't you dare you say that it doesn't matter if you get hurt or not, my magic may not affect you but I can still hit you." She added fiercely. Although any threat from Leilani probably didn't look that scary however, short and slender as she was and her voice rarely gained any real venom, only her dark grey eyes seemed to show emotions not visible on her face and now they were like steel.
 
"I'm pretty sure it's illegal to hit children in this country ma'am." Jonathan pointed out, just to play on the female weakness and make her feel a bit old. He didn't like the fact that she was right in everything she was saying. Leilani probably wouldn't make it on her own. She had probably lived in safety all her life, what did she know about running from anything? What did she know about hiding and finding food and a place to sleep at night? Probably nothing. It was only for a short while, but Jonathan had his father to teach him how things worked before passing away. Sure, he still had to learn a lot on his own, but he had been taught the most important things. If he abandoned her now, then she would have about as big chance as Jonathan would have had if he had been all alone from the very start. None.

"I'm not planning to get hurt again though. Now I know what the special force is capable of, and what their techniques are. I should be fine even if they catch up to me again." Maybe not completely true, they probably still had some plans hidden away. But people often re-used plans that worked because they trusted them, so next time he would be ready, even with their damn invincibility spells. "Come along if you want, but if you're slowing me down, then I'll leave you without hesitation. Make sure to keep up. When running from the law you can't afford to lazy around." Jonathan then told her. He wish he could believe what he was saying, but he knew himself way too well to know that he wouldn't be able to leave her behind. That didn't matter though. The important thing was that Leilani believed him. If she did she wouldn't dare to let herself fall behind. If she didn't, then they both might get caught because they weren't fast enough.

"We should get moving. They'll definitely catch us if we stand still. Let's go through the sewers. They usually don't check down there, and even when they do, we will be able to hear them before they reach us." Jonathan grabbed her hand and started to walk. He had already scrapped his previous plan of going down in a specific place, he'd find his way sooner or later no matter where they went down underground. Hopefully the special task force wouldn't get called in now when they had noticed that he wasn't as sick as they thought.
 
"Ma'am? How old do I look to you?" Leilani asked incrediously, eyebrow raised, but a small smile twitched the corners of her mouth as she spoke. Just because he knew of one of their tricks did not mean it wouldn't work again, she knew better than to argue about it though, since it would lead nowhere but at least she would be available to help heal him if he got hurt. But it did seem like she had won a small victory however as he relented and allowed her to follow him, under the condition that she would not slow them down. She was not convinced he actually would leave her behind considering what he had done and said so far but she had only known him for a day so maybe it was a bad idea to test him, besides she really needed to make better decisions and this could be a good start.

The sewers. Leilani shuddered slightly at the thought, sure she couldn't complain since it was a safe route, well safer, but that didn't meant she had to like it, and she did not like it. "I wonder why," she frowned, voice full of sarcasm. The sewers weren't exactly the nicest place on earth, not that Leilani had any personal experience in the matter but it was not hard to imagine, people who sneaked through them to hide from the guards were probably not that common. Following Jonathan as he led the way she almost gave n to the urge to ask if she could stop by her home before they left, of course she couldn't pack anything big but there were small things that could be valuable. Not to mention her precious plants, they would die without care and some could actually be helpful, but she couldn't exactly bring them along and grow them in her bag. But it was hard to be so close to home and not stop by a last time although she also recognized the danger, there was no telling how soon the guards would find out who she was and seek out her apartment to find something to track her with. No, it was safer to just leave but still it was hard to give up everything she owned, however childish it may seem to be so attached to material things.

"If we head down this street I think there is a way down into the sewers,"she said after staying silent for awhile. "We don't have to head out on the main street in that case." Leilani had never been on the lookout for such places but as a kid she had played her own little game of only stepping on the lids hiding water lines and not those with the symbol for sewer and still she could get the urge to keep up her old habit, at least to the point of recognizing the various lids.
 
Jonathan followed Leilani's advice and headed for the sewer entrance she proposed. Carefully he stopped every time they passed a crossroad, just in case a guard would come from the left or right. But once they reached the sewer opening, no one had crossed their path. Luck seemed to be on their side. At least for the time being.

"Be careful when climbing down, you don't want to slip and fall into the water. That smell won't get off for weeks." Jonathan warned his companion as he removed the lid. He might look weak, but after years of sneaking up and down the sewers, the weight didn't bother him at all. He waited for Leilani to go down first so that he could put on the lid again while following her. That way it wouldn't be too obvious where they had gone down.

"Be careful of the rats. They'll bite if you walk too close to them." He said as he jumped down from the middle of the ladder. Those rats had gotten him countless of times, and the infections that followed were rarely pretty. "Are you able to create a light for us?" He then asked Leilani. "Not too strong, just so we can see what's close in front of us." He then added. If guards were walking down into the tunnels, then they would notice them incredibly fast if the light could be seen from far away. While it was best to avoid lights completely, Leilani might not be as used to the dark as Jonathan was. The young teen had hid in shadows and darkness for ten years, and only been out in the light during a day or two when arriving in a new town so that he could earn some fast money. Mostly he just slept during the day and walked around at night. Just as the dark didn't bother him anymore, the smell of the sewer wasn't a problem either. Sure, he knew it didn't smell good, but he was too used to it to notice any longer.

"It will help keep the rats away too." Jonathan then added. It was probably best to at the very least make sure that she could keep herself safe, and try to not make her get bitten by rats during her first day as a fugitive.
 
Leilani's grip on the ladder tightened as Jonathan warned her not to fall into the water, she was already less than happy of going underground and an unvolontary bath in the stinking water would not make it any better. A glance around when she had reached the bottom told her that her initial expectation of the sewer weren't that far off and the stench was overpowering, it filled her nose and mouth making her want to gag but she swallowed and breathed through her mouth, making the smell tolerable at least.

A pathway to the edge of the tunnel at least made it so they didn't have to wade through knee deep water but still she was glad for her boots that lace up past her ankles and that she was not wearing some sort of flimsy feminine shoes today. "Sure," she nodded, glad to have something to conceentrate on other than the dark all around and the mass of concrete above that pulled her stomach into a knot. A small flickering light appeared in her hand, floating just above her skin, it was faint and its dim light stretched only a few feet in front of them, enough so that any obstacle or rat could be seen as long as it was close enough.

With the light flickering Leilani could see the occasional glint of a small pair of eyes in the dark, scuttling off into a drain or branching path and she shuddered at the sight, she wasn't afraid of rats or rodents of any kind but the sewer rats were not only large but probably more likely to cause an infection, besides their sharp teeth most likely hurt a lot thanks to their size. "Do you know the way out of here?" Leilani asked while giving the small light a little boost to avoid it going out. "It's like a maze in here." She did not want to get lost down here and wander around for days trying to get out, her nerves would be a mess by then.

"By the way," she kept her voice low so it wouldn't get carried far off and alert a possible guard that had been stupid enough to enter the sewers. "Yesterday you said that the safest way to Quillos was through the woods right? Are we still going to take that path?" Mostly she just didn't want any silence around her, the cramped darkness was easier to ignore with sound to concentrate on, but she also wanted to know where they were going.
 
"I don't." Jonathan replied with a shrug. It wasn't lite he had maps over every sewer system in the country. They just had to improvise and hope they could get up in a good place. "It's just to walk forward. I usually take a look upstairs once I've passed five ladders or so. As long as we don't walk in a circle it should get us far enough away." He told her. If no ladders appeared for a long time, then it was just to walk back to where they last saw one. There were exits everywhere, so finding one wouldn't be a problem.

"We'll start through the woods as planned, but I think the safest would be to go through the mountains. It might take an extra week, but considering that the special task force might be following us, it's best to take the least expected way. Even if they can track you down it will still be hard for them to pinpoint where on the mountain we are because of the terrain and tunnels." In one way it would be more dangerous, since Leilani probably didn't have any experience with walking in the mountains. Of course they wouldn't take a mountain climbing route. There were hundreds of safe routs both inside and outside the mountain. But at times they might have to pass through bad terrain. On the other hand, in the forest there were more dangerous animals that could attack them. So no matter which way they took, it wouldn't be easy.

"I hope you like exotic food. Snakes are pretty much the only thing we'll be able to eat while in the mountains. Nothing grows there." Jonathan smirked. He might have hoped for her to say that she would be better off alone. Maybe he was trying to scare her away with childish tactics. But another part of him didn't want to be abandoned, and it also feared that she might not be able to make it on her own. If it hadn't been for that side, he would probably have left her already.
 
Great. Leilani blew away some bangs from her face and gave an inward sigh, but then again he was right in that they could always use a ladder to get up and see where they were, but still. A rat scurried by her, close enough for her to see it clearly including the hairless tail, but it continued into a small drain as she stomped her foot close to it, hissing a curse after it, although she could have sworn it gave her a devilish glance before it vanished, if rats even could give someone an evil eye. "Why don't we train some of these rats to attack the guards?" She suggested dryly. "It would probably send them running like scared little girls." The rodents were certainly nt scared of humans and even grown men could be intimidate by a rat, especially since they could carry diseases.

His travel plan for them was a bit of a surprise, although it made sense, but also a bit exciting despite the situation, she had never been on a mountain, she had gone camping a few times, where she tried fishing, but that was by a lake by a forest and still quite close to a city. The only thing she didn't like in that plan was tunnels, she had enough of that already, although a mountain tunnel probably smelled better than the sewers at least. She didn't voice her apprehension however, no need to give him more fuel to his opinon that she was safer without him.

"Aw, too bad," she said, her tilted eyes narrowed in a teasing grin. "I like snakes, it will be a shame to have to kill them." Well, that was almost true, she wasn't afraid of snakes nor did sh dislike them but they were nowhere close to a cute puppy or a hamster, but as kids one of her cousins, Kai, had a snake but he had to get rid of it since one of his brothers was scared of it and started having nightmares. "But don't you worry, I can try and find some edibile stuff in the forest and bring with us, then I can make a vegetarian dinner with that if the snakes are hiding."
 
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