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'Well done making him understand you're lying... and now what?' Tiwala was thinking hard but she managed to force herself to laugh at his remark on Californians and imagined a Kidlat surfing on a sea of trees... almost poetic... almost. "Don't tell me your favourite color is forest green... please..." she said still laughing "Is that your real eye color?" added stopping; then he talked about hiking and camping; during her school days she went hiking and camping at least twice a year let alone the club summer and winter camps... she was almost an expert (as probably 3/4 of Japanese students) in camping and she liked it a lot. Unfortunately it slipped out of her mouth too, unwillingly: "Eeeeh? You too?" her eyes lit up "I used to go hiking all the time in school: we would set camps and gather woods and cook curry-rice together and eat it together, sit around the campfire telling scary stories and doing courage tests and, and..." she stopped, realizing the river of useless info she just jabbered and finished with a quite quiet and embarassed "... and so on" she looked down blushing lightly and covered a bit behind her wet hair. 'Stupid Ren what was that about?'

She bit her lower lip and listened to his question just... it wasn't a question at all... "Oh, you want me to ask you another question?" she shrugged and replied "It's not that I want you to... It's just to keep an embarassing silence from falling... that's all" she smiled simply, as if it was the most normal answer in history but, then he spoke "Then I've got one: you are from Aruta, aren't you?" she didn't wait a second to reply, even if she had cold sweat running down her spine, she had it planned from the beginning "That's not a question, Kidlat... It's a statement... how can I answer a rethoric question? But if I had to answer... well here it is" she looked into his eyes to make sure he couldn't think she was lying "I'm from Japan" she said 'Strictly speaking' she added in her head "Or if you prefer I'm from my house" she added 'Which at the moment happens to be in Aruta' concluded in her mind. She hadn't lied and maybe he would have thought she still lived there however, just to be sure she gifted him with one more info "But it's true that my father" 'And I' "Moved to Aruta for work issues" she winked at him. That would have worked on explaining why she knew Aruta.

"Well well... My turn... too bad I've already asked one... are the eyes I see now, the same in real life? I'll stick with that for this turn." she said smiling while closing her eyes. She always liked people's eyes, maybe due to Ren's being two different colors or maybe because they mirrored the owners soul... and if so... what were Tiwala's gray eyes reflecting now?
 
Kidlat had to admit it was a pleasant surprise to hear that Tiwala also liked the outdoors. That said, if it was true that she liked archery in real life, perhaps he shouldn't have been quite so surprised; he could see how the interests could overlap. The hunting knife should have been a tip-off too. Oh well. Either way, the two of them seemed to have a common interest, surprisingly enough, and relishing that particular interest here in ESE could prove invaluable, not just between them but for the other guild members as well. Survival was crucial.

He pouted when she got on his case about the so-called question. "Oh, come on. Rearrange the sentence and you get, 'Are you not from Aruta?'. That's totally a question." But she did answer the at least implied question about where she lived. "I'm from Japan." "Knew that." "Or if you prefer I'm from my house." "I would assume you're not homeless, yes." "But it's true that my father moved to Aruta for work issues."

Oh, that was interesting. He chewed on his lower lip in thought. It seemed perfectly possible for that to be why she knew of a town called Aruta...but he had difficulty accepting that. For one, why on earth would she wink at him as she said it? It seemed to him, at least, that winking along with a statement was supposed to imply there was something secret behind it. She either meant to confirm she was from Aruta or was terrible at understanding body language. And he still thought it a valid point that having the both of them be from Aruta, presumably along with the rest of the team, was more likely than the impossibly slim chance that he lived in the same town as the father of some youth plucked from the world at random. Besides, I'm pretty sure you were speaking English right out of the gate. Don't try to convince me you don't reside in an English-speaking country.

Her next question, though, came out of left field. His eye color, huh? "Ah, I can't actually answer that because I haven't seen a reflection of myself yet. But if I'm to take from your earlier comment about 'forest green' that my eyes match my shirt, then yes. Green eyes here. Don't know if it's the exact same shade, though." He couldn't see it, but Kidlat's eyes were indeed slightly darker and more uniform in color than the ones Chris owned back home, which were a brighter emerald green and flecked with golden brown imperfections in a couple of places. "What about you? Your eyes look gray to me right now. What do they look like on Ren?"
 
It seemed to her that he already decided she was from Aruta but she was too lazy to either confirm or deny it so she didn't bother to. He was now answering about his eye color 'So they almost stayed the same' she thought laughing lightly; she didn't knew how did Aria choose their new bodies, but she almost certainly knew what her eye color meant. Tiwala's eyes were gray, the coldest shade. That wasn't a color which transmitted trust, or even warmth. That color just reflected her soul, her surviving day after day, craving for the end of each one. Or at least that was her explanation.

Tiwala closed her eyes and spoke: "Ren's eyes? And why bother with her eyes? Do you want to search for her? She doesn't have facebook, you know?" that was meant to hurt him 'Good defence little one... let's just kill people because you're stupid...' she was still pacefully facing the sun, brushing her wet hair with her fingers, while her voice was as cold and sharp as a shard of ice as well as calm and quiet. She knew it was a bit overreacting but, after all... what was she supposed to do? What if he started thinking they were almost friends? She didn't want such a misunderstanding to run through them. She stayed silent for some more seconds 'Well... he did help you... does he deserve it? He did promise to keep your secret... does he deserve so little respect?'. Tiwala sighed. She knew he didn't deserve her lack of respect... he had respected her 'till now and she was being rude to him... it wasn't right, it wasn't like Ren. Not one bit.

The girl stretched her back and looked again at him, with a defeated smile on her lips "The deepest and clearest shade of green you can imagine"
 
Kidlat hadn't thought the question all that profound. A little odd, maybe. People didn't normally ask "What's your eye color?" because most people never had a reason to ask. But regardless, he hadn't thought much of it. So when Tiwala shut the question down, he felt as if someone had taken a cold lead hammer to his insides. He recoiled. Somehow he'd offended her, but how? "What, you think I want to stalk you or something?" he countered. "Why the heck would I do that? You think I care?" His brows had knit as he spoke, and the words came out harsher than he meant them. He was bothered by the very real possibility that Ren's eyes were a touchy subject for her in some way, and by bringing up the subject, he'd just made her uncomfortable...and thus, been rude. The gears in his head turned desperately to try to imagine why this might be. Is one of her eyes damaged or deformed? Is she blind?

But after a moment she gave an answer, and as he was starting to think he should expect by this point, she said it in a very strange way. Who praised their own eye color? His gut told him she wasn't being honest. Of course, it did still seem like eye color was a peculiar thing to lie about, but... "I don't think most people would describe their eyes that way, but whatever," he muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. He tried to smile at her after a second, but he could tell it was weak. "If you're telling the truth, I guess that's one more thing we have in common, heh. Eye buddies and forest buddies on top of knife buddies." He slipped his dagger back out of its sheath and looked at it. Shiny and sharp. He took a moment to test its weight in his hand before he tossed it carefully in the air, letting it flip around once, and caught it again by the hilt. The nervous look on his face betrayed that he'd just put himself on edge by trying that trick before thinking, but he had succeeded. He might very well have just cut a finger off, but he hadn't, nor had he chickened out and let the weapon fall to the ground. Presumably his Dagger skill had something to do with his new comfort and dexterity with the weapon. He tossed it again and caught it again. He realized he was doing this because he was bored. And hey, speaking of weapons... He slipped the knife back into its sheath. "So, while we're prodding each other about our lives out of a lack of anything better to do, do you really do archery in real life? If so that's a cool hobby."
 
His indignant remarks were legitimate, but her suspiciousness was too, in a sense; so she just shrugged a bit with a casual behaviour "You never know right? I mean, no offence intended but, we only just met like 4 hours ago..." his face looked pensive as he struggled with his thoughts but Tiwala answered depicting her eye color... well at least one of them. It was indeed true that her left eye was that particular shade of green: clear but deep, not an emerald or a forest like color more like a bud with... experience? She couldn't explain it well, more like no one ever was able to. As for her right eye... well, DNA really had fun, it was mauve colored, but very few knew about it: she wore a customized green contact on that one.

"I don't think most people would describe their eyes that way, but whatever," she smiled again a sad smile "It wasn't really me who described it like that... it just occured to me that person's opinion" her eyes clouded as she spoke 'Keep it friendly, keep it bright' she repeated in her mind. Then he said something on lying about her eye color "Why should I lie on that topic? Who would lie on something trivial as their eye color? Come on Kidlat! I said we're free to lie but this is literally overthinking it" she laughed, she really didn't think he could suspect on that... and she didn't lie... she just omitted a particular. Then she added "And I wonder about the knife buddies thing, after all I chose it just in case you vanguard let some enemies near the rear... you know... I'm supposed to get them from a distance and all but dying is a big no" she explained vaguely half-jokingly half-serious.

She looked at him as he started playing with his blade and involuntarily took a step back, ready to cast some magic (as her weapons were still in the journal) 'Don't you try anything, little one I'll defend myself.'. She had to admit, though, that he seemed already used to it even if his nervous look said otherwise. When he finally put it back she found herself take a deep breath... it looked like she hadn't notice she was holding it, and relaxed a bit hearing his question about archery. She took her journal and slowly took her bow out, at the same time the quiver materialized on her right shoulder "I used to" she said clearly sad. She loved few things and lost them all... and archery was one of them. "It wasn't a hobby, Kidlat, it was... I don't know what it was... maybe saying something like it was my life would be going too far but... I really loved Kyuudou, Japanese archery, and I was pretty good at it you know? I even went on the nationals with my school club... but managed to grab just 3rd place." she looked at her current bow and drew it without an arrow, toward the sky "But I had to quit, for a reason or another" she smiled looking at him "This bow is a good one... but my previous one was... different... I miss it a lot... that feeling I mean. The calm and peace before shooting, the 3 fingered glove sliding on the arrow, the breast-plate touching the string... well more like the other way around." she laughed gently as she released the string slowly, without pretending to shoot, and put the weapon into her journal again. "I almost felt like a modern Kikyo, you know? the one from Inuyasha... my bow was almost taller than me"
 
As soon as Bantay dropped her hand, Kimi tucked it into a skirt pocket. Oh! Her skirt actually had pockets! Kyla never wore a dress unless it had pockets so it made sense for Kimi's dress to have them. Skirt pockets were so very handy after all. Everyone should wear skirts with pockets. Except guys, of course. They didn't wear skirts unless they were Scottish and kilts were far too awesome for pockets...

"Aruta, California," came his reply.

Kimi froze mid-step as her jaw dropped in shock, then slowly brought her foot down and turned to face Bantay.

"What about you? Don't suppose there's any chance you're near by, is there? Maybe meeting up could happen, I can drive..."

A million responses flooded her head. She wanted to spin in circles until she could no longer see straight. She wanted to run until her legs gave out. She wanted to laugh until she her stomach ached. She wanted to sing until her throat grew hoarse. While most of those responses could be done simultaneously, it was not feasible to run and spin or belt out "It's a Small World" and laugh manically while still appearing somewhat sane. Kimi chose one from the former pair and one from the latter. The result? With her leathery, feathery wings trailing behind her, the minstrel tugged her hands out of her wonderful pockets and picked up her skirts. With easy, long strides she bounded up ahead all the while singing in a gleeful tone:

"There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means friendship for everyone
Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world!"
 
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"You never know right? I mean, no offence intended but, we only just met like 4 hours ago..."

That was right. They hardly knew each other. It was silly for Kidlat to get so emotionally invested in these tense discussions of theirs. It was obvious that Tiwala wanted to distance herself from people.

"Why should I lie on that topic? Who would lie on something trivial as their eye color? Come on Kidlat! I said we're free to lie but this is literally overthinking it."

...I know. I'm way overthinking it. Overthinking everything.

Regardless, she had pulled her bow and quiver out of her inventory and begun to answer his question. From the sound of it, archery really was her hobby, or rather her passion. He held back his surprise as she kept talking about it, because she kept going for quite a while. And maybe it was only his imagination, but she seemed comfortable. Melancholic, yes, but comfortable enough to let that be seen. Archery was something that meant a lot to her, something she missed dearly, and she was willing to reveal that to Kidlat. She had opened up, if only for a precious minute. Something stirred in his chest. He couldn't help but feel like this was a milestone of some kind, and he was flattered to have been trusted with this confession.

...What did you just say about overthinking things?

He shook his head briefly to break the trance. Tiwala had just finished speaking, and he recognized the word "Inuyasha" but little else. "That's a show, right? Sorry, I don't really watch anime." He brushed it off with a light but slightly nervous laugh. "Are you into that? I mean, I'm sure my understanding of anime is a lot shallower than yours, so if I say anything that's a bad generalization, feel free to call me out on it. I only know of a few big names like Naruto and Bleach, and I've gotten...mixed reviews."
 
She was singing It's a Small World. Bantay was shocked, and stood in place. Maybe Kimi would come back after she finished singing that one verse? But, no- the girl was running. And Bantay was still standing there. 'What, does Aruta mean something to her? She know someone who live there or something?' Maybe. Most people didn't just run off singing one of the most notoriously annoying songs when hearing about a place... Well, ever. But particularly not about a place they've never heard of before. 'That's an awfully extreme reaction, though.' Unless...

The swordsman's eyes widened. Could she...? Really? There was one way to find out, but it involved being within speaking distance of the minstrel, and Bantay started running after Kimi. His lope wasn't nearly as graceful as her stride, but he at least had the advantage of not singing about the size of the planet. "Kimi!" he called, closing the distance between them a little. "Kimi, what's up? Why are you- uh- singing?" That was probably a stupid thing to ask a minstrel, but it was also beside the point.

With a more focused goal in mind, Bantay was able to close the distance between the two of them, but Kimi was still running. And possibly singing. Bantay had blocked it out, and between the wind and his own words, he couldn't really hear her. "Kimi, slow down, girl! Talk to me!"
 
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"That's a show, right? Sorry, I don't really watch anime. Are you into that? I mean, I'm sure my understanding of anime is a lot shallower than yours, so if I say anything that's a bad generalization, feel free to call me out on it. I only know of a few big names likeNaruto and Bleach, and I've gotten...mixed reviews." was he... laughing nervously? Did he thought that she was some sort of otaku perhaps? "Sir Kidlat, sir" she said in a calm voice "I don't watch anime either. I read. And I know the classics." she added freezing him with a glare. She looked again at the sky 'Easy, Ren. He didn't kill you nor did he insult you in any way' she reminded her self. Tiwala softened her gaze and turned again at him "I just said it to help you figure how I was dressed and how I shot... more or less, but it was useless, I'm sorry. Forget it."

Tiwala forced a smile at him and started circling around him, again, stepping innocently and saying a heartfelt "Sorry... It isn't easy... every time I say I'm Japanese everyone just go *Then you know Naruto and Bleach! Let's talk about it!* NO! I mean... Even if you're American I won't say something like *Oh then you eat hot dogs every day!* do I?" she really hated those kind of approaches, usually they were something like a bad pick up line. And she hated it even more.

She stopped behind him facing his back with her own. He was always so understanding with everyone... well sort of... he tried at least; and she was wondering why. After all, her behaviour wasn't the best, still he was willing to go to the extent to help her during her panic attack. She wanted to know why. She had to. Was he just another one of those which molded their personality to match the one they had before them? Was he the friendly type which took lightly that bond? Was he one of those fools which still believed in goodwill and feelings? 'Ren... don't force your opinion on others points of view' she had to remind herself. Was it so wrong not wanting to be hurt anymore? "Say Kidlat..." she started with a merry tone "Why are you so understanding? Is it just a cover? Are you scared that the group won't accept you if you're not liked? Because, you know... I don't aknowledge people from behaviour but from actions..." she spent a couple of seconds pondering her next words and spoke "I would like to know it... really. Of course you're free not to answer."

She stood there, looking at the ever changing clouds. She really didn't mind a nasty teammate as long as it got its job done.
 
If there was one thing in the world that made Chris feel horrid, it was committing a social misstep, particularly around an attractive girl. That was how Kidlat felt now. Tiwala had just shot him a death glare, causing him to put his hands up in defense and apology, and even though she visibly wrestled the mood away and smiled at him again, he felt nausea growing inside him as she began to circle him. His nerves weren't helped at all by the fact that her circling him like this always put him on edge. I offended her! I offended her really bad, I sounded racist...! He swallowed as she finished her rant. "Of course, of course, that makes sense," he blurted in response. "I only meant to try and sound inclusive and respectful, but if it came out all wrong, that's my fault, and I truly apologize for any offense! Really. I'm sorry." He was only partly aware that his eyes were pleading at her, begging for her to excuse his mistake, whatever it had been.

She came to a stop behind him and began to speak again. "Why are you so understanding?" His gut twisted at her words. Understanding? She thought him an understanding fellow? He lowered his hands to his hips again and straightened out of his half-turned-around position so that his back was to her, just as she seemed to want to put her back to him. "Understanding, you say..." he began, his voice low and pensive. "I've never thought of myself as being understanding. I'm not that noble. But I imagine it's polite to be a good listener, yes?" He paused to sigh. "And I don't know, maybe I really would be afraid of not being liked, but I've never thought of it that way either. It just feels right to put people at ease, y'know? It feels good, kind of fun actually, to be the charming one, the one making others comfortable. Negotiations go best when everyone's comfortable. I'd feel...lacking, I guess you could say, if I didn't care about manners. What else do I have?" He could feel his chest tightening. Some little part of his brain tried to warn him not to open up like this, but it was too late. "That's what you do in life, right? You try to be the best you can be. You study hard. You smile at people. You tip your hat to the ladies like a good gentleman. You make connections, prepare yourself for the adult world. You try to give yourself worth where you don't start out with any and have no flipping idea what it's supposed to be!" His voice was rising. "What else am I good for if not those kinds of things? I'd consider myself a failure of a human being if I didn't try, try to be the best I can be, because what else can I do? Not much! That's life! And you act like it's weird for me to be polite."

He paused for breath. Something inside him was reeling in panic. What have you done?! You're spilling over! In front of Tiwala! He'd never vented like this that he could remember, at least not to another person. His own insecurities were no one's business. He did not wish to be a burden. And yet he felt his eyes burning by now, and still his chest felt ready to burst. He wasn't done. This was a cathartic experience he couldn't hold in anymore. "Wanna hear a secret? I don't tell anyone about your breakdown, and you don't tell anyone about this?" His voice was starting to crack by this point. He didn't wait for her answer to that question. "I have no family. I don't know if I was orphaned or abandoned, but it was one of the two. And I hated it. Hated being parentless. Hated the other kids who got it in their heads that I was an amusing target. Oh look, let's chase Shrimp into a closet again! Ha ha, what a sissy!" His eyes were leaking by now. His face was tight, trying and failing to hold it in. Men don't cry... Men don't cry... He was crying. He felt himself crumbling in place, feeling like he was a helpless six-year-old again. Nowhere near a man. He put one hand to his forehead and folded the other across his middle, but it didn't help. His face pulled into a grimace, the face of someone completely distraught. The sobs began, and his weakened frame shook along with them.

Maybe he wouldn't have been picked on if he'd had someone who cared about him. Maybe he wouldn't have grown into such a vengeful little rat. Maybe he would have known what he was doing with his life. But none of that could he helped now.
 
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The one problem with copious amounts of Georgian Era skirts and petticoats [whether they have pockets or not] is that they are not conducive for long-distance running. Walking down garden paths? Yes. Collecting spider webs well before one has a chance to stumble into them? Yes. Producing a shield of fabric and steel that is the envy of every umbrella? Yes. But running? No. After all, in those days it was unseemly for a lady to run in public. Kimi, the determined little thing, managed to clear an impressive distance before her legs inevitably tangled in her skirts. "It's a small--- Eee!" Down she tumbled, her wings instinctively wrapping around her body to soften her fall.

If the pair had been wandering in a straight line to the southwest, the fall would not have been that big of a deal. The winged one would have simply rolled over, contracted her wings, and gotten to her feet again. However, the dynamic duo had been forced into a more westerly path as they wound about the densely forested mountainside and it had been getting steeper all the time. Of course, when it was most inconvenient to realize they were walking downhill, Kimi had to trip. She rolled a good few feet before she could latch onto a tree root to catch herself and pulled herself into a sitting position. Immediately, she checked herself for scrapes and bruises and ordered her wings to retract.

Confounded skirts! I will never, ever dream about wanting to wear one of these dresses ever again!

She sustained surprisingly very little damage, though her cumbersome skirts had caught on a few branches and produced a very nice tear in a petticoat. The tear gave her an idea. Kimi turned around and shaded her eyes with a hand to see where Bantay was. His long legs were quickly gaining ground, but he was still far enough away that if she ripped away the petticoats he wouldn't see anything... Quickly, she turned her back to him and pulled up her outer skirt. Her nimble fingers made quick work of the buttons on her petticoats even though they were shaking with excitement. She was out of breath from the exhilarating run with a nice dose of embarrassed pink mixed in with her ruddy complexion from the exercise. Her whole body trembled, but she still managed to clamber to her feet with the help of the tree whose roots she had borrowed and kick away the petticoats until her outer skirt hung limply from her waist and ended in a pile of fabric on the ground.

"I'm all right!" she called out breathlessly as he approached. Though she was still panting, she managed a little grin. "That's one way to make it down a mountain, isn't it... neighbour?"
 
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A wide smile was all the answer Nimfa gave to Koero; it was more than enough. They were both from Aruta. Koero was probably still in school, just like Rebecca...

Alarms went off in Rebecca's head. Koero wasn't just a nice stranger; she was an acquaintance from different circumstances. Were they in the same class? Did Koero sit beside her during one period or another? Did this girl with bright pink hair have a reputation? A delinquent, a dropout or hanger-on, a party-hardy--was Koero one of those kinds of people? Nimfa had to fight to keep her breathing normal. She rolled over and dipped her head in the cold water, trying to hide from Koero the suspicions racing through her mind.

A light vibration from the chain around her neck pulled Nimfa back to reali... back to her surroundings. She stood upright and raised her hand to the journal as its movement ceased. The only thing she could compare that to was a cell phone vibrating when it received a text; opening it, Nimfa found she had indeed been sent a text. From Tiwala. Another one appeared just as Nimfa finished reading the first, this time from Kidlat. 'They're both still alive, then,' came the cynical thought.

Looking at the sun, Nimfa could see that noon was fast approaching. A meal was a good idea. "Koero, I'm going to try catching fish. We're probably too high up for fruits, but you might be able to find some nuts." She tried to keep her voice as light as it had been, but Rebecca's seriousness had slain Nimfa's mirth. It came out much closer to an order than a request.
 
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Koero could tell by the smile Nimfa shot to her, that she had been right. Nimfa and Koero lived in the small town, Aruta. She couldn't believe that this girl in front of her with light blue hair and a magic ability to control water, was a normal girl, probably in high school with her. Ivy suddenly thought about that, rita was a fairly small town, with one high school. Perhaps Nimfa was a girl in Ivy's class, maybe she was a popular girl, or a misfit, or even a girl down the street from her. Had Ivy seen this stranger before? Had they passed on the streets? Ran into each other in the hall? Even made eye contact once or twice? The thought was a bit unusual and left Koero floating in the crystal clear lake as she let the thoughts run wild in her head.

When Nimfa told her she was going to try and catch some fish Ivy's brain shot back to ESE. She nodded and swam towards the shore when Nimfa's commanding voice told her to go look for nuts. Koero tried to speak, to say something in response, but now she felt so unsure of herself again. Did Nimfa know Ivy? Did she know the shy, wallflower girl who barely spoke a peep?

Upon reaching the shore she got out of the water and pulled on the small shoes that she had left on the sandy beach. She wrung out her soaking wet dress as best she could before heading into the surrounding tree line to try and find nuts, maybe even some berries if she was lucky enough.
 
She listened politely to his first ouburst, getting every single word. He wasn't any of the types she thought of, he was just the complexed one searching for his place in the world, striving to do it in the best way possible 'He's deeper than I gave him credit for...' she thought smiling. Maybe this adventure could come out pretty interesting. "I don't act as if it's weird to be polite... do you think it's polite not to be yourself before others? If you don't care about a topic, do you think it's polite to listen to it? Negotiations go best when you have the upper hand and/or you know the other party. Manners are good, but don't hide hypocrisy behind it." she breathed before adding "Be the best you can be? How can you achieve it when you just follow common stereotypes, lie to others and to yourself? Be careful, though, believing a lie makes it real in the end" she admonished him 'And you know something about lying to yourself uh, Ren?'

But it seemed he wasn't done yet, someway or another she managed to make him vent out years of repressed feelings. She nodded when he told her not to repeat anything to anyone, even if he didn't really wait for her answer, and listened to his vent. She nodded again and turned to face him: he was fighting against the tears. He was loosing pretty bad to them. "Men DO cry, Chris. Remember: there's no shame in tears." she took the liberty to move one of his hands and dry some tears with her thumb, calling him by his real name. She didn't think it right to call him Kidlat, not in that moment... didn't it somehow feel quite like a deja-vu? "Why should you care about someone who, obviously, didn't want anything to do with you? What makes a person a parent? Biology? Bringing up? Teachings? Should you hate the unknown just because of manners again? Were you bullied because of that? Lucky you! I had almost everyday flowers on my dirtied desk at school, remembering me that for my classmates I was better off dead, some teacher started not calling my name in class, so what? They're them... I'm me" she looked into his eyes for a time which felt infnite: the red around them made their green stand out more. "I like the real Kidlat" she said in a merry voice smiling again and patting gently his head stroking his hair "He's deeper than he wants to seem but... he has to lighten his burden, it got so heavy it made him really fragile" she smiled again, keeping on strocking him gently "Yep, I think it's way cooler then the false Chris, don't you agree?"

Again she missed putting him in a category. He was what she fought against at the end of the first year. He became what she managed not to. 'So what? Sympathy? It's too dangerous, you'll be hurt again' Tiwala answered to her inner voice with a melancholic thought 'I can't be hurt if I don't expect anything from anyyone.'
 
Kidlat—or more accurately, Chris—had only partly taken in the words she'd said at that halfway point. Something about considering paying polite attention to a dull conversation to be impolite, of all things(?!), and accusing his gentleman's demeanor of being a hypocritical lie. He might have dwelled longer on thoughts of character versus true personality, because he sure felt good and comfortable and right being a gentleman, thank you very much, but with his thoughts already lost, all he absorbed from what she said was negativity, criticism to fuel his awful mood.

He could feel himself drowning in hot tears. He wasn't entirely sure exactly what he was upset about at any given moment, but he was very upset, and different hopeless thoughts drifted and resurfaced as he dwelled on his misery. He had no parents, and that meant many things. No guidance. No protection. No love. No refuge. But something stirred in him in shock when he heard Tiwala echo his very thought and address him by his name, his actual given name, along with the assurance that it was all right for him to cry, and it fluttered much more strongly as it was followed up by a soft brush to his cheek. His eyes opened wide. He was stunned. A real live girl was touching him on the cheek...! It felt so warm, so gentle and soothing. The unexpected moment of intimacy and care began to chase away his mood. Slowly, but surely...

But that was before Tiwala ostensibly attempted to help him feel better. About every other sentence, something inside Chris curled a little tighter in dislike. "Why should you care about someone who, obviously, didn't want anything to do with you?" Oh, yeah, he thought, hearing they wanted nothing to do with me makes me feel loads better. Then some talk about what makes a parent a parent, which he dismissed. He didn't care about who they'd been and in what ways they were his parents, just that he hadn't had even a parental figure in his life! And then "Should you hate the unknown just because of manners again?" What the heck does that even mean, and when did I give you that impression? I have no problem being mannered. And about her own bullying...okay, maybe she had a point there, but now that he was frowning angrily at her again by this point, all he heard in those words was her trying to defend her bullying as having been worse than his own. The hand on his cheek no longer soothed him, but rather made him feel sickened by how close she thought she was allowed to get to him while she spoke these words...

The hand slipped to his hair instead of his cheek. He cringed slightly, not wanting her to touch him like that, but what really made his blood boil was that smile of hers. That disgusting, false, condescending smile she donned as she talked down to him as a 'really fragile' creature who did not know to 'lighten his burden.' And to make matters even more humiliating, she liked him best like this. Weak. Below her. A poor thing she could take under her wing. His eyes burned and leaked water down the sides of his face again, but this time he was not distraught.

He was irate.

His hand snapped up to grab her wrist, thus removing her own hand from his head. "You will wipe that patronizing smile of yours right the hell off your face," he snarled. "How old do you think you are? What gives you the right to look down on poor fragile little me, as if you've achieved fricking enlightenment?! What gives you the right to think your stupid plan this morning was doing everyone in the guild a flipping favor, and we were the sad lesser beings who couldn't see your noble intentions?!" His grip on her wrist tightened. "So you think you're so much more experienced than us, you're some wizened lady who thinks she's some kind of martyr and pities us because we haven't learned how to shut the world out and stop caring what people think of us? News flash, we're human, we care! And you think you can talk down to us because you're some right little cynic." He swung his arm down as he let go of her wrist, releasing her forcefully to make a point. "I would say I pity you. Your inability to interact with people properly. Your past...whatever it did to you. Made you shut down. I thought maybe for once I could...finally have a companion." He'd muttered that last bit quietly, embarrassed to realize he'd actually voiced that thought aloud. For a precious second, his expression softened, his brows angling upwards in a look of need. But a moment later he drew them back down and looked at her with anger again. "But no, not with that superior attitude of yours. You've lost my pity. You've lost my offer of friendship. Of course, you probably don't even care, miss I-don't-want-friends." He stepped past her, shoving her shoulder with his own, and made for the bathhouse. He could tell by this point that he really needed to cool down and clear his head. A bath seemed like a reasonable means to do that.
 
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She listened to him, ready for every kind of reaction. She knew what her words would bring out of him: regret, hate, contempt... everything it would have been brought out of her if some stranger had said the same things to her. They weren't so different deep down... how did she dare make herself more important then him? Why did she pity him? Those were just few of the questions he was asking her to answer. He took her wrist and tightened the grip. He was starting to hurt her... well he was already. But Tiwala didn't say a word. Not a single sound. She stood there, her face challenging, waiting for him to stop hurting her and preparing to slap him if he didn't, when her wrist was released. He bumped into her, jabbering about how she lost his pity and friendship offer altogether, just because she said the truth. Having finished, he entered the bathhouse, obviously to cool down.

'You knew this would happen, it was like in a textbook, almost following a script' she thought with a sarcastic chuckle. "Well then... what now?" she mumbled as she decided what to do next. He would take his time in there but she wouldn't have waited for him. He made it clear he didn't want to have her near him 'You called for it. If you were more... compliant' "I wouldn't be me... I guess" she finished in another mumble.

She couldn't trust anyone... and she tried, oh yes she did... but it was useless. Everytime she was about to succeed, something flipped in her and she could feel just how much she was lying to the other, or to herself. 'Burned once... burned forever' she used to tell herself. Did her parents know? Of course not... they just barely knew she was there. He just couldn't understand his luck. He had all reasons for hating his parents but a foster family would have loved him... or at least would have tried to if he let them. She was alone half the time at home and the other half his father and/or mother were always on the phone. She learned to act as if they weren't even there and tried not to bring them problems... until the incident occurred and she was forced to move to Aruta. She learned to lie pretty well to herself on the mean time so she was pretty content with her life. Or so she wanted to believe.

She looked around her and entered the forest not very deeply, just a couple of trees inside, and choose an imposing, easy to climb tree, getting on a big branch with some difficulties, sitting on it, resting her back on the trunk, hidden by it's fronds. "I don't need someone to tell me I'm not needed as a person... I already know. You moron" she said starting with an unintrested tone and finishing with a sad, low one. 'See? Nothing good comes from expecting something from the others. You're hurt again...' Tiwala smiled sadly looking at the sun filtering through the leaves. "Why did I told him about the bullying?" she started thinking to some possible reasons but everytime she returned on the one she didn't want to voice out. She covered her face with her hands and started to laugh, her eyes moistened "Ahahahah! Of course... I just wanted him to hate me too... I just told him what I would be angered to hear...". She put her head against the trunk, hugging her left knee, while the right leg was freely swinging from the branch and let the wind dry her silent tears. She hated to cry and that day... well she hated it too.
 
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Kidlat slammed and bolted the bathhouse door securely behind him. He realized after he did so that Tiwala was still in possession of the key, but he doubted she was the type to spy on him, and he'd cared mostly about making a point with the gesture of shutting her out anyway. He undressed for the bath a little more forcefully than he needed to, and eventually he was in the water.

There. Now that he was still and comfortable, he he could finally feel his thoughts begin to settle. He didn't want to dwell on his missing parents, nor on the feeling of emptiness he just could never quite chase away completely, no matter how intelligent and proper he tried to be in life. No, those thoughts would have bogged him down again. He didn't want to think. He wanted to sit here in peace and let his mind float away for a while. So far, so good. But after a few minutes of peace as he washed himself, a troublesome thought did return to lodge itself in his mind, and that thought wasn't of his own life, but of Tiwala. His formerly neutral expression darkened a little. He'd known since her show earlier that morning that she really didn't care what people thought of her. She distanced herself from caring about her image, and that was why her words and actions felt so bizarre. She didn't follow the subtle, implicit rules in society that dictated normal behavior. Her disinterest in others' opinions of her was even more clear after what she'd said about Chris' idea of manners being a lie, about her personal opinion that a blunt truth was more "polite" than...actually being polite. He scowled and slumped deeper in the tub. Valuing honesty is one thing, but there's a reason they call being honest at inappropriate times being "blunt." I'm sorry, but your definition of polite is just straight-up wrong.

But he could realize now how negative he was being. Yes, Tiwala was weird. Yes, he had a problem with her. But they were stuck here together, and it wouldn't do anyone any good for them to be at each other's throat. They would have to tolerate each other. He rose from the bath, now determined. He was distracted for a moment by the irritating realization that there were no towels here, leaving him to slough off the water with his hands as best he could, but after he deemed himself as dry as he could reasonably get right now, he dressed quickly and left the bathhouse. His silky shirt clung to him in a few places, not to mention the chill left on his shoulders and back by his drenched hair as it dripped and soaked into the fabric, but there was nothing to be done about any of that right now. He scanned the area as he stepped outside, wondering where Tiwala might have gone. He doubted she would have gone very far, but he could not have said why he thought that. He supposed it was mostly him trusting in her that she'd respect the other guild members' wishes for him to keep an eye on her. But that was a foolish thing to trust. Tiwala herself kept talking about trust being useless. Eventually, though, he found her with his eyes. She was sitting in a tree not too far away, looking away from him. He approached quietly, and only when he got closer to her did he notice the pink tint to her eyes and a light, shimmering track on her cheek.

His heart clenched and stilled him in his tracks. Tiwala had been crying. Much more gently than he had been, from the look of it, and it seemed to have ended a short while ago, but still. Crying was crying. It meant a person was hurt. The sight of her shivering in the doorway of the bedroom, muttering gibberish to herself, resurfaced in his mind. That image haunted him. She had been suffering, and it had shaken him to the core like nothing before it.

"You've lost my pity."

...Maybe that had been a premature thing for him to say. He didn't know why, and maybe he never would, but despite Tiwala's annoying self-righteousness, he still felt a tug at his heart when he imagined what she must have gone through to turn her so cold. And this was the first person he'd ever felt that for.

He approached her tree, but he realized as he did so that he wasn't quite sure what to say. "Hey, uh..." he began. He glanced shyly at his feet for a moment, but then he returned to meet her gaze. "I feel like I should apologize. It was rude of me to snap at you like that. I don't want us to be enemies." What he didn't say out loud was that he mentally took back what he'd said about her losing his pity. Friendship...eh, there was still a bitter tinge to his thoughts that caused him to doubt she'd make a good friend, at least until she fixed her annoying self-righteousness. But she did have his pity. Maybe more.
 
Tiwala heard his steps on the ground, they were heavy and sort of... wet. Very different from the light ones that the young thief had gotten her used to. Of course he didn't find a towel and he wasn't a wind user either 'Did you want to act the cool and angry one? Bear with the cold then'. She didn't bother drying her eyes. Would he think he was the one who made her cry again? Did she really care? She knew she was ok, now. She knew she was able to answer as he would have wanted her to, now. No more Ren. Just Tiwala. No more gloom eyes. Just bright smiles and easy-going sentences. 'You won't be able to' warned her inner voice just before he called to her.

"Hey, uh..." 'So he would talk to me again? And with a puppy face like that? Too bad it won't affect me' she thought "Yes, Kidlat? Have you cooled down now?" she asked lowering her gaze without moving a muscle. "I feel like I should apologize." 'Of course you do... it's not polite enough to snap at someone like that isn't it? It doesn't matter who the other is.' "It was rude of me to snap at you like that." 'No... really? I totally didn't expect that... please stop surprising me' she added in her mind in a heavy sarcastic tone "I don't want us to be enemies." 'Natural... who would want a sniper as enemy?' she thought as she said "Oh, don't worry Kidlat." 'Come on, smile'. It was harder than usual though, and this time it was as clear as light that she didn't mean it: her smile was so false it didn't even reach her cheeks. "Don't apologize for saying what you truly feel. Ever." her tone was distant, as if she was thinking of something very far away. As if she was repeating it to herself as well.

She shook her head imperceptibly and blinked a couple of times. She had to stay focused. "I'm the one who's sorry, I outstepped my boundaries... how could I dare say something like that to someone I just met 4 hours ago?" she chuckled taking out the key "Oh, and this too... I guess I just took it with me... well you did shut the door before I could give it to you though..." she chuckled again. Both were empty chuckles. It was so obvious she was forcing herself. 'I told you. You wouldn't be able to lie to him anymore.' she fought that voice for a couple seconds before dropping the key on the boy. 'But I have to lie to him, and me and if I can't...' "What will become of me?" she whispered defeated as a gust of wind took her words away.
 
Not long after the start of their running, Kimi very expectedly fell. Bantay muttered a quick curse, but it was swept away in the wind as he ran towards her. The falling had somehow increased the distance between them, which baffled the swordsman until he realized that he had slowed significantly to avoid Kimi's fate himself. But at least she wasn't in that fit of hers any more- as far away as he was. Bantay could discern that she had stopped singing, and Kimi didn't seem to be in any hurry to pick herself back up and start running again. Instead, she sat down on a tree root and started mussing with her skirts, so Bantay instead focused on making his way down the side of the mountain.

"I'm all right! That's one way to make it down a mountain, isn't it... neighbour?" she asked him, and passed him a breathless grin. Bantay shook his head, but grinned at his new friend, sliding down the last few feet between them, and grabbing onto a small, almost horizontal tree to stop his fall.

"Running until you've fallen is certainly one way down," he conceded, and chuckled. "Though I'm fairly confident that most people prefer to forego the singing. And the running. And falling," he added, grinning at her. "By the way, nice new outfit- I take it that you figured the skirts were a bit much? Though we may want to hunt for some scissors when we get back to the guild, all of that might be just as hazardous as the billowy dress was," he observed. "Anyways- what was with the singing, exactly?" Then, more cautiously, Bantay added, "If I saw the name of the town I live in again, are we going to repeat that episode? Because if we are, I'll be sure not to do that again."

But their conversation was gently interrupted. The chain on Bantay's neck hummed against his collarbones in a quick vibration. He gave a quick apology as he pulled at the book- "Wait, hold that thought, I think my book just buzzed at me, sorry,"- and upon opening it found that, indeed, a message had just arrived from Tiwala. Though much calmer than previously, a twinge of disapproval still panged in the back of Bantay's mind. He read it regardless, and then another arrived, this time from Kidlat. Bantay read that one as well, grudgingly taking the shared message to heart before snapping the book shut. "Sorry, I'm afraid that I'll have to ask that we walk and talk again, and multitask your explanation of It's a Small World After All with our quest for food, if you don't mind, m'lady."
 
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"By the way, nice new outfit- I take it that you figured the skirts were a bit much? Though we may want to hunt for some scissors when we get back to the guild, all of that might be just as hazardous as the billowy dress was."

Kimi opened her mouth to reply that his sword might do just as well, but Bantay continued talking. She promptly snapped her mouth shut.

"Anyways- what was with the singing, exactly? If I say the name of the town I live in again, are we going to repeat that episode? Because if we are, I'll be sure not to do that again."

Kimi opened her mouth to reply that she would indeed begin singing, but was again forestalled. This time the culprit happened to be their journals. The vibrations reminded her of her cell phone, which she always switched to vibrate when outside of the house, and the familiar buzzing pattern lit her face in a brief smile while Bantay's apology sent her into another giggle fit. Not as violent a fit as her previous ones had been, but more of a giggle, bite lip to try to stop giggling, softly chuckle some more, bite lips harder, giggle harder kind of deal. Why was everything so much more hilarious to her in this dream state? Maybe her brain was slap-happy. Or the painkillers she'd taken before bed expired and were messing with her. Both were very plausible explanations.

Following Bantay's lead, she removed her own journal from her necklace and flipped to the inbox. Two messages! It might as well be Christmas. Kimi pulled them up one at a time, contemplated them, and wrote quick responses.

To Kidlat:
Aye, aye, Captain! Will start heading back soon.

To Tiwala:
At least we don't have to go digging in the woods. I've discovered the difference between upright trees and sideways trees-- only one is a good substitute for brakes. Will report again when I have more news.

She sent them off with a satisfied sigh and shuffled back a few pages to load the map. A decently sized trail wound to the left of the rectangular box and ended in a perfectly straight line towards the edge of the page as a result of her tumble. They actually made decent progress considering how often they'd slowed their pace to stare at each other. Kimi traced the line of vision with her finger and looked up at the woods around them.

"I think... I think we might be nearing the end of the forest," she announced while shutting the book. She peered up at Bantay and smiled, completely oblivious to his last statement. "What say you to walking a bit more to see if I'm right and looping back toward the guild hall? But before we head out..." she held out her skirts "would you mind cutting me free with your sword? Mid-calf length would be great."
 
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