"You!" he heard a loud shout. Eclipse grabbed the girl Darkling, jumping away from the wagon. "Let her go!!" shouted the bulky Darkling he encountered earlier. He seemed to have an average height, but his shoulders were broad and his body had an overall masculine feel. His quills were short and curled like ram horns.

"Move and she gets it!" barked Eclipse without thinking.

With a hand, the other Darkling stopped soldiers from coming closer. Eclipse backed down, moving around the corner leading to the garden. Once he was there, he took the girl into his arms, running forward. 'Dang! Dang!'

The other one didn't pursue them at first. He stuffed his face with one fruit after another, eating a dozen of them in a matter of few seconds. He grabbed many of them before running after them, constantly eating them. "Just... munch... wait... munch, munch... You are gonna... gulp... pay... munch... for this!"

Eclipse ran into the garden. He was amazed as this was his first time here. The space was enormous and full of huge trees and their branches were forming a net. They had no leaves, just big red sacks full of the smaller fruit. "Are you afraid of heights?" She confusedly shook her head. He looked at them. "Good!" He held her one hand while climbing up, letting her sit on one branch. "I'm sorry, but can you stay here? I gotta run."

"Why are you running away? Isn't this place your home?"

"No, this isn't my home! I found my home outside."

"I see..."

Eclipse gently touched her cheek. "Do you perhaps want to leave this place?" She jerked her head. "It's alright. You can come with me. My husband will surely be happy, I have three wonderful kids. You can be part of a real family."

"A family...?" she whispered when a loud noise interrupted them.

"Show yourself... you bastard!!" the voice sounded a bit weird as it was muffled by the fruit in the mouth.

"Think about it," said Eclipse before climbing down, ready to face his enemy. Since he was alone, he took the chance and attacked him. The big soldier stood in his way, taking the blow instead. It wasn't enough to kill him. But ripping out the guts in the next attack did the job.

The other Darkling hissed, seeing his soldier to die. He pushed the rest of the fruits down his throat, chewing it like crazy. He did it in the time to save his last soldier as Eclipse proved to be a rather tough fighter.

"Give up!" shouted Darkling and his skin turned to completely blue. Eclipse hit him in the face and yelped with a pain. His knuckles were bleeding, he quickly leaped away, but the blue one was after him, slashing with his claws. "You can't touch me now!" With a fist, he cracked the ground and the thief felt a vibration being sent thru his legs. One blow and he is finished.

'Dang it!' He decided to retreat, thinking of a way how to knock him out.

"Stop running!" He persuaded him, and to Eclipse's delight, he was rather slow. The tough armor must have been heavy. While Eclipse was figuring out what to do, she was struggling to get down. She may not be afraid of heights, but it didn't mean she wants to fall down.

In her head were swirling thoughts, that made her dizzy and her leg slipped. Girly Darkling gasped as she was falling on the big fruit. It was ripe so the peel was elastic and she was bounced back, catching the branch in front of her while the big fruit was falling down. "W-Watch out!" she shouted as the fruit was landing on the fighters.

The blue one leaped back, but Eclipse had no luck. As he was turning back, he stumbled over his own leg, falling down. The shadow around him got dangerously big. In the last sec, he curled up, protecting his stomach and Mephiles cut the surface of it, letting the smaller fruit fall down and sticky liquid covered them.

The blue one was panting. "Quickly, hold him!" ordered to the soldier, who silently obeyed. The Darkling climbed up. "Hey, sis, are you alright?" He quickly hugged her.

"I am."

"That was amazing!" he let her go. "You have totally got him!" He took her into arms, climbing down faster. Meanwhile, the soldier was holding Eclipse's limbs and stretching his body a bit to prevent him from moving too much. The rouge Darkling was panting and dirty from the liquid. But that was nothing compared to what Mephiles felt, as Eclipse was able to partly feel it too.

'He may give birth any minute!' he thought in a panic.

"Let's go!" ordered the blue Darkling who turned back. "Lord will be pleased with us!" He took his sister's hand, ensuring her they will surely get a reward for this. She followed him, without looking at Eclipse.