~Guardians~

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After finishing placing the plate full of food Rath i looked over at his door upon hearing the three knocks and immediately walked over to the door. As he walked he grabbed the nearby sheathed sword he kept and placed it on his back. Rath always tried to be cautious even with the most unexpected things. Reaching the door Rath unlocked it and opened it

 

Behind the now-open door, was a man, older than Rath by approximately 10 years, and fairly well-toned. He glanced at the sword on the boy's back for a moment, before speaking.
"Have you seen the mind-clan girl, your partner?" he asked, without introducing himself just yet. He seemed worried, but his tone of voice remained fairly relaxed.

 

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Rath closed his eyes as he pointed behind himself with his thumb "she is in there sleeping. She came running towards me last night and I decided to take her with me other than to leave her alone" Rath said calmly as he opened his eyes and looked at the older man "and you are?" Rath asked

 

The man sighed with relief.
"She's okay then, good." he said, before introducing himself. "Name's Joseph, of the Fighting clan, and I'm the Choosen's mentor for a while. Woulda been bad if we lost someone before the first day. That really wouldn'ta sat right."
"You're Rath, aren't you." he said, more of a statement than a question. "So you're the guy that got paired up with the young gal. Interesting."

 

Kurisu was up pretty early, which had surprised Gwen.
He had sorted some food out for himself and Gwen, and then... well... did nothing.
He waited around for a bit. "Is this what you do all day?" Gwen asked him.
"Yup."
"Don't you like... practice of something?"
"Yeah, but what is the point of doing it now if we're going to be training later anyway." he asked rhetorically.
"Fair point."
"I may as well go meet my Partner."
"Do you even know where she lives?"
"Nope."
"Won't that kinda... well, hinder your plans?"
"Probably." he answered as nonchalantly, but casual as ever.
"...So?"
"No harm in looking."
And so they left for her appropriate clan section.
He got some odd looks on the way, obviously since he was one of the Choosen... and also due to the fact that it wasn't common for him as a member of the fire clan to come through this way.
"I feel fire..."
"What do you mean?" but as they got closer, Gwen's sensitive nose picked up the smell of something burning... like breakfast.
"You could sense that from that far away? Before I even smelt it?"
"Is it that much of a big deal?"
"No..." she muttered, although she thought to herself, withholding these thoughts so Kurisu wouldn't be able to overhear them. This guy... he really does have some skill. Does he just act that way not to show it, or what?..

 

Mya yawned and sat up in her bed as it was morning. She jumped out and started to cook some food for her and Xane. As Xane woke up, she placed a plate of cooked meat in front of him which he happily ate.

Well this is great. I have a cook that can make food that doesn't taste like crap.

Mya ignored him and ate her food. Shut up. If you want to be helpful, go grab some chickens for me.

Xane yelped. But it's so...bright out there.

Mya sighed. Well my clan isn't called the "light" clan for nothing. Guess I'll do it. Stay here. Mya grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around herself as she walked towards the chicken coop. She grabbed a few and headed back as she constantly thought about her reason why Xane was here in the first place and the responsibilities pressed on her.

 

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Rath nodded and closed his eyes "I see then if that is all I will see you later for training" Rath said turning away as he proceeded to head back inside "...but before you go I should tell you this. Last night I felt was spying on me. I didn't see the person and could only tell by the sound I heard. Take it as what you want to but I believe somebody who was not suppose to be here was here" Rath said calmly

 

Joseph looked at him, calm, but taking what he had said seriously.
"Huh. And you're sure about that? Interesting, I'll make sure to tell the Elder."
He turned away, about to head back to his own clan's area.
"Later. Take care of the girl."

 

"Nyaaaah..." Yawned Josette; now rubbing her sleepy eyes and walking into the room, "Who was it?" She tugged on the frills of her nightgown and blinked a few times, "I hope it wasn't the angry men again. I can't save anyone this early. And if it's Kappa, tell them that the river isn't too far from here. Only about..."
She just seemed to be off on a babble-fest at this point. Once the girl was done talking about...things- she tugged on Rath's pants and asked, "Where's breakfast?"

 

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Closing the door behind him, Rath looked over at Josette and raised an eyebrow at her babbling. 'Quite the imagination' Rath thought to himself "it's over there" Rath said pointing at the table filled with delicious food "Just finished making it so if you don't want cold food I suggest you hurry up and eat" Rath said walking towards the table

 

The child wasted no time scurrying over to the table and shoveling food in her mouth at full-speed. Warm meals weren't anything easy to come by anymore and she was glad she could get her hands on more than just that delicious platter from yesterday. Upon swallowing a large bite, the girl blinked several times, "Aren't you gonna eat too?"
He seemed a bit...odd- shaken, maybe.
Did he have nightmares last night?
She could sympathize with this sort of scenario, waking up to more than enough nightmares in the past. Strangely enough, Josette felt the need to comfort him.
He was her responsability after all.

 

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"its nothing" Rath said taking a seat across her "I'm...not hungry. This is all for you so eat it and don't worry about me" Rath said crossing his arms and closed his eyes. The memory of the horrid scream he heard moments before awaking still rung through his mind and he tried his best to set aside the memory of the scream

 

With a slight bit of dissapointment, the girl continued to eat. She didn't know what was worse; not knowing what was wrong or being unable to fix it. Either way, her gut-feeling told her to eat all but enough for one plate- just in case he changed his mind.

Once she was done, Josette started to clean up; working with such techniques, you'd think she was a professional maid.

~~~

Small feet scurried up to the window, following his master's scent. "Well I'll be damned." He told himself upon seeing the homely sight, "She wasn't late this time."

 

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Once he realized that she was finished her meal Rath stood up to begin cleaning but was surprised that she was cleaning up after herself so well "You don't have to clean up. I will do it" Rath said taking the plates from her "Lets get you back to your parents or guardian. They must be wondering where you are" Rath said closing his eyes as he walked towards the sink

 

Josette stood silently for a moment before nodding her head, "O-okay!" Her body seemed rigid and yet calm, "They'll be so happy to see me again." She didn't want to worry the man after all he had done for her. Although this ruse probably wouldn't last long, she wanted to hld onto it as long as possible.
The child then walked over to the window where Barnabas sat and began tapping on the glass, "What about your Momma and Pappa?"

 

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Immediately upon the moment Josette asked her question the sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the house. Looking down at his hands Rath noticed his hands were shaking. Noticing the broken plate he dropped, Rath immediately went down to his knee and began to silently pick up the pieces of the plate

 

A tad frightened, the girl studdered, "I-I'm sorry..."
She knew what was going to happen next; he was going to punish her. Josette started her way out the door slowly but stopped.
She then ran up to Rath and wrapped her arms around his waist. There was something about him that made her stay. Some kind of connection that she couldn't run away from. "I-it's okay." The small girl slowly stroked his back to comfort him.

 

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Rath's hands were still shaking as he tried to pick up the plates but his eyes widened as he felt Josette's embrace and closed his eyes. "Its not your fault you don't need to apologies" Rath said calming down. Placing one hand behind himself, Rath placed his hand on her head "I'm ok" Rath said ruffling her hair

 

The girl smiled as he messed with her hair, "I'm happy."
This moment seemed to set in for a slow, graceful moment before she looked down at her own nightgown, "Oh, um, I need, uh, something to wear to the thing." This was her way of getting his mind off of whatever was bothering him.

~~~
"Humans are quite the wonder, aren't they?" Asked Barnabas to the dragon as he sat, watching the scene on the windowsill. "Too strange for my tastes."

 

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"Right then let us get you back home. I would offer something but most of my clothes are too big for you...and they are guy clothes" Rath said as he cleaned up the area. After finishing cleaning he walked into his bedroom. Coming back out of the bedroom, he wore the cape he took off before he went to sleep the last night. "let get going" Rath said

"Heh I guess we both have different opinions about them. I find them quite interesting. The innocence of a child and the cold hearted man, I never knew these two would be able to work together like this" The dragon Fafnir said and smirked "unpredictable these humans are" Fafnir said