Ever Wonder

Raxven-

I slipped out of the room and towards the door, flicking a warning glance at Casius. He got the message and shed his human skin, taking his Dark form. He came to stand behind me as I drew a dagger from its place on my belt.

I jerked the door open and grabbed the person outside, dragging them in and holding them against me, my hand with the dagger to their neck. A familiar scent enveloped me right before a voice cried out.

"Raxven! It's me!"

I let go, my body relaxing slightly. Blair turned and looked up.

"I'm sorry...I thought you were someone else. I was afraid we had been discovered..." I murmured quietly.

"I'm going out to keep watch," Casius whispered in my ear before disappearing outside, shutting the door on his way.

"I'm sorry Blair," I said again.


Casius-

I scampered out of the house, switching forms again so that I was human once more. I set out at a leisurely pace, hands thrust into the pockets of my long coat. Not that it was cold. We fire-demons could heat an area in a five-foot diameter around ourselves if we really wished. No, the coat was in case of rain.

A quick glance to the sky told me that the coat wouldn't be needed tonight. A full moon shone brightly, tiny stars twinkling in and out of existence all throughout the vast blackness. Not a cloud could be seen.

Suddenly I heard a noise to my right, in the bushes no more than twenty feet away.

Too late to change forms now, I thought, gritting my teeth together. I crouched low to the ground, legs tense.

"Who's there?" I called loudly.


*There you go, Luna.**

*Thanks Maybe*

Naomi~

Naomi rolled out of the bushes, coming face to face with the demon from earlier. "Sorry I was looking for a few things. Casius correct?" She asked. He nodded and stared at her.

"Sorry for startling you. My brothers demanded a few wild herbs and this was the only place I knew where you find them." She held her hands out, revealing a few glowing, blue roots.

Casius-

I stood slowly, eying the girl curiously. She seemed honest enough and didn't look to be a threat at all.

"Just be lucky my orders tonight weren't to kill anything that moved," I said, chuckling slightly.

She stared at me blankly. I smiled.

"I don't think I ever caught your name," I commented, inspecting my fingernails nonchalantly. "You seem to know mine. Only fair that I know yours."

Naomi~

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Naomi Jade," She smiled lightly. "We met some days ago." Keira padded beside her, holding a satchel of glowing herbs in his mouth.

'Him again?' He groaned. Naomi nodded.

Blair-

"It's okay." She said as he put the dagger away. She pulled her cloak off and set it over a chair. She tried to get her hands to stop shaking but it was pointless. She looked up at Raxven and gave him a weak smile.
"How are you?" He asked.
"Fine." She lied.

Raxven-

I smiled sadly, knowing by the look in her eyes, the way her hands shook, and the way her voice faltered, that she was lying. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her protectively.

"Tell me what happened," I whispered softly in her ear.


Casius-

A large tiger padded out of the forest, coming to stand by Naomi, holding a few of the strange glowing herbs in its mouth. It dropped them into her palm and sat next to her, its eyes never leaving me.

"What are those?" I asked, referring to the herbs. "And what are they used for?"

Naomi~

"The blue ones are for a special alcoholic drink. They're called Saki Roots. The red ones," she held out the ones that Keira had dropped in her hand, "are called Tiger Roots. They help a riding tiger like mine get healthy quicker than any other herb." She smiled and took a deep breath.

"My brothers are huge aloholics and I've got a small riding tiger that is sick. Again I'm sorry for coming on your property. I had no idea someone lived here."

Casius-

I smiled and waved vaguely. "Don't worry about it. We don't own every plant that grows around here, and really, we only own a small area. This, technically, isn't our land."

I turned and started to walk off. Then I half-turned again, looking back over my shoulder. "Though I wouldn't linger. Strange things tend to happen around here, especially at night. Why not come back with me, just till morning?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.


>.< Short

Naomi~

Naomi looked at Keira, waiting for his opinion. 'Fine,' he growled. Naomi smiled and looked back at Casius.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be a bother to you or any other residents that might live with you?" She smiled at him.

>.< same here...grr

Casius-

I laughed. "Our house is more of a bed and breakfast anyway. I doubt my master will mind, so long as you stay out of the way."

She reluctantly agreed.

"But I'm not going back at the moment. Care to accompany me? I need to make sure there are no others -- ones who would mean us harm -- roaming around."


>.< Short streak.

Blair-

"It's nothing." she lied again, she didn't want to talk about her day, she wanted to forget it ever happened. She walked away from Raxven to another corner of the room. He was persistent though and followed her.

"Come on, your not getting off that easy." He said playfully resting his hands on her waist pulling her back to him.

"I don't want to talk about it Raxven." She said almost too seriously.

"Okay." He said, a little hurt, dropping his hands from her waist and turning from her. Immediatly she felt bad.

"How was your day?" she asked daring to reach out and touch the back of his neck. He turned back to her and she ran her fingers through his hair. He felt so safe to her, so wonderful. She laid her head against his chest just to listen to his heartbeat. She swore for just a moment their two hearts beat as one, but she couldn't be sure.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she kept listening to his heart, hoping to hear the syncronized beat again.

"Shh," she answered smiling.

Naomi~

"Sure, I'll come," Naomi smiled, looking around.

So short

Raxven-

I smiled and held still, understanding what she was doing. Finally she looked up, her eyes meeting mine.

"I heard it," she whispered softly, smiling.

"So did I," I murmured back, letting the echo of the single heartbeat, beating twice as hard as a normal one, fade from my mind. I wrapped my arms around her lightly, holding her close.

"Don't worry about it, Blair. Just a few more days, then we can run away from here, away from this war...," I kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry, love, you're not the only one who is suffering."


Casius-

I nodded. "Good. Follow me. It shouldn't be long now, I'd almost finished my rounds when I found you."

She fell into step beside me, the large tiger trailing behind. I led the way through the woods, using a small flame balanced in my palm as a light.

"I'm surprised you agreed to come," I admitted slowly, not turning to look at her, my eyes still scanning the surrounding forest intently. I waited for her response, if she would give any.

Blair-

She needed to distract herself from the seriousness, she was too silly for all of this. She still felt so much like a child, even though she was so much in love. She had a knack for deflecting from a situation when things got to serious and now seemed like a perfect time. She let go of Raxven and walked towards the bedroom door, I think I left one of my earings in here yesterday she said. When she opened the door she didn't find an empty room, she found a boy laying on the bed, wounded.
raxven's protests of, "Blair, wait!" came one minute too late.

Raxven-

I maneuvered my way past tables and chairs piled high with books and small trinkets and to the bedroom door.

"Blair, wait," I said quietly, catching her arm and spinning her back around to face me.

"Who is he?" she asked, a curious and puzzled expression on her face.

"Casius and I rescued him from the market today. I brought him here to heal."

"Do you know his name?"

"Fye, I'm pretty sure he said it was. And if you're thinking of introducing yourself, use a fake name, please. He doesn't seem to be from around here, but you never can tell. If you're caught here, it'd be the death of me."