Fic: The Beat of Bats Wings (4/10)

[starsandsea]

Title: The Beat of Bats Wings (4/10)
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairing: Eventual Bruce/Clark, Jor-El and Lara, Martha Kent
Word Count: 1240
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Author's Note: Previous parts can be found here. Betaed by the wonderful jen_in_japan.



Bruce ran back to the cave, Ace beside him. When he finally reached its darkness he fell to the floor, panting harshly, blood roaring in his ears. Ace trembled, pressing up against him. Bruce reached out shaking hands and ran them down the dog's sides, hoping to calm them both somehow.

"Hello?"

Bruce froze, sucking in his breath, trying not to make a sound, any sound at all. Ace whined quietly, and Bruce tightened his hold on him, feeling his muscles tense beneath his hands.

"Hello? I won't hurt you, I promise."

Bruce closed his eyes and did his best to imagine the man passing by his cave, leaving him alone...

"Ah. There you are."

Bruce's eyes flew open to see the rider on foot now, standing in the cave entrance, blocking the light. Ace lunged for him, growling, but weakened as he was, and exhausted by his run, he couldn't keep it up.

"There now. I won't hurt you, or your master, I promise."

Bruce watched as the man slowly crouched down, still talking softly to Ace. Ace went forward slowly, and sniffed the man, then allowed him to pet him. Bruce sat up, still breathing harshly, hand on his knife.

The man looked at him. "I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated. Bruce didn't move. Nor did the man. "I just want to help you." Bruce raised an eyebrow. The man's lips quirked very slightly. "When was the last time you ate? Either of you?" The man was frowning.

Bruce remained where he was, wary still. Ace sat down next to the stranger and looked at Bruce with those soulful eyes. The man frowned and repeated his question in another language. And then in another when Bruce didn't respond to that. The man's frown grew.

"Can you understand me?" He went back to the common tongue.

Bruce glanced at Ace, sitting quietly at the stranger's side, then nodded very slowly. The man smiled like the sun coming out from a cloud. Bruce blinked, startled at the intensity of it.

"My name is Kal."

The man... Kal... stood up and slowly moved towards him, sitting down a little ways from him. Ace came over and laid down at Bruce's side again. Bruce very slowly removed his hand from his dagger.

"What are you doing out here alone?" Bruce didn't react. Kal frowned. "What happened to your hands?"

Bruce glanced down at them, red and swollen. The man took off his leather gloves and placed them on the floor between them. Ace snuffled them. "Take them. Please. I've got more."

Bruce looked from the gloves to Kal. This man was obviously wealthy, probably powerful. Had he been sent by his step-mother? But Ace trusted him... Bruce started when he realized that Kal had spotted his stockpile of Starwart and Nettles.

"What's this?" He reached out to touch them, and Bruce snatched them away.

Kal held his hands up and backed away. Bruce slowly put the Starwart and Nettles down, not really registering the pain from them any more. Kal just looked at him for a long while before sighing. Then he looked at the damp surroundings of the cave before looking back at Bruce again.

"If you come with me, I can give you a room with a fire and food for you and your dog."

Bruce stared at him in frank surprise. Why? Why would this man offer this?

Kal smiled slightly; he must have seen the questions in Bruce's eyes. "I don't like to see people suffer needlessly. Will you come with me?"

Almost before he could realize what he was dong, Bruce was nodding.

Kal smiled again, like the sun. "You'll need a name, then. How about Blaidd?"

Bruce nodded again, recognising the word from the old language: wolf.

*****

Bruce had his arms about Kal's waist. Kal had wrapped him in his dark red cloak, then helped him onto his horse, after Bruce had packed his meager belongings. The horse was walking, so Ace could keep up.

"The first thing I'll do when we get back home is get you and your dog a meal."

Bruce nodded though Kal couldn't see it, sitting before him. He wanted to say 'thank you', but he couldn't. He regretted it for an instant, then thought of his brothers and sisters, and found his resolve again.

"I wonder how you ended up in that cave, Blaidd? And where you got your dog."

Bruce looked out at the trees they were passing.

"You can't say anything, can you? Or maybe you won't..."

Bruce worried his lower lip. Kal went on. "That's all right. I know that there are enough terrible things in this world to make a person never want to speak again, or be seen again. I hope... I hope none of them have happened to you, though it may be in vain."

Bruce felt fingers brushing his hand, gently, hesitantly, through the leather gloves Kal had insisted he wear. "And I wonder at what would make you so fond of Starwart and Nettles..."

Bruce glanced at the two small bags filled with his supply of the plants, that he had made clear he was taking with him. Kal had looked at him a moment, Bruce fighting the urge to look away from almost frighteningly blue eyes, and nodded, packing the plants without question. Bruce wondered who this man was, how someone could be so generous to a stranger...

Bruce glanced up, hearing noise ahead, his eyes widening at the sight of the city, the stone castle at its centre visible from even here, where the farmsteads where.

It seemed he was going to find out very soon who Kal was.

*****

Bruce sat in front of huge fireplace, Ace at his feet. Ace was happily eating the meat that had been given him; Bruce's own meal was promised to arrive very soon. He stared into the fire, hearing angry voices behind him.

He had discovered who Kal was. He was the crown prince of these lands. Prince Kal-El. The man who Bruce was almost betrothed to.

The irony didn't escape him. Rescued by the man who had been part of his troubles, and then to discover that he was kind and generous and extremely handsome...At least Kal's parents didn't seem to recognize him. Bruce's thoughts were interrupted by a kindly-looking woman with grey hair setting a plate laden with food on the small table next to him. Bruce felt his mouth start to water.

"There you go dear. We'll see about getting you some new clothes once you're done, but don't rush now! Thank goodness the Prince found you, you've almost wasted away!"

The woman said more, but all of Bruce's thoughts were on the plate in front of him. How long had it been since he had had anything resembling a decent meal? He ate, barely registering the taste until it was gone. He came back to awareness with a blink, to find Ace gnawing at the bones from his own meal, and the angry voices silent.

Bruce looked up to find Kal smiling at him, his parents, King Jor-El and Queen Lara, gone. "Come. I'll show you to your room. Then you need to have a good night's sleep. We can talk in the morning, Blaidd."

Bruce blinked again, but got up when Kal did and followed him out of the room, Ace at his heels.

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