Taki Hattori's Story

A breeze whistled by Taki's row boat. It was the kind of breeze which would ferry the leaves from the trees to the water. After running across the row boat, small ripples could be seen in the water of the lake. Rising up off his back, Taki looked over the side of the boat into the water. With a wide grin upon his face he gleamed next to the gleaming reflection of the sun. It was a lovely it in this area of the Earth Kingdom.

Jumping to his feet Taki quickly balanced himself as the boat rocked. Raising his chin up to the sky he smiled into the patch of perfect blue over his land. Raising a hand to the sky he spotted a huddle of dark clouds on the horizon. Pointing at the blackened clouds he yelled with a cocky grin.
“There’s no way in hell I’m allowing you ruin such a nice day! Ya Hear me?!”

Sitting back down on his boat, Taki looked back into the water again. The morning sun was always so wonderful at this lake for it would make the water seem transparent. From his boat he was able to see a few fish swim past the boat. Hopefully later in the day those same fish would end up as his dinner.

At the thought of fish, Taki remember such a wonderful taste. With a few spices and an open fire fish was never a bad choice. However, this early in the morning he couldn't do justice eating fish so soon. With that he felt his mind drifting towards the market. With his mind there his stomach gurgled as Taki's thoughts brought back all of the smells and tasty bits of nostalgia.

Taki again jumped up as he looked for the paddle of his row boat. Feeling like a fool, Taki found the paddle under where he had just laid down. Taki then plunged the paddle into the water as he began pulling the boat towards shore. His mind was set, he was going to pay some of his favorite venders a visit.

He stood up on the mountain top, the cliff edge peering out over the tops of the trees just barely. The sun was rising over the lands, some portions somewhat darker than the others as rain clouds began to wash in from the seas to the east. He watched the warm sun as it doused everything in its golden rays. Reaching up, he let the hood of his long cloak fall away from his face.

One eye was a pale blue color while the other was green. Lifting his other hand, he opened it to reveal a large sized orb in his fist. Holding the ball between two fingers, he watched the blue colors of the sphere swirl around as the power inside of it was writhing without a vessel. He had been in these lands for long enough to know what it took to contain the orbs with all their power. At first he'd been confused at how the lands hadn't gone into a chaotic mess. However, his assumptions were confirmed when he met the man who held the orb of power. The 'Water King' so he was called.

These lands were run on elemental magics. Most everyone cast their power via sacrificing metals to gain the energy needed to do so. A handful of these people could do it without sacrifices. That was his starting point. It lead him to the Water King soon after and sure enough, the man had the orb.

Twisting the ball between his fingers slightly, he lifted it upwards higher to catch the light. With this, I can locate the other orbs. The other orbs that are rightfully mine. Once I find them, I'll have to be quick... before he gets to them, the man thought, his mismatched gaze growing darker as he narrowed his eyes.

He waited a while longer until the sun was fully over the mountains, but still early enough in the morning. Pressing the orb against his chest, he allowed it to enter his body. Almost immediately after it sunk down into his chest, he felt a reaction. The power exploded and he dropped to his knees, doubled over. Cursing softly to himself, the cloaked man clenched a fist over his chest and fought back, struggling to contain the power.

Eventually he got a hold of it. It's been so long... too long. I'll need to be careful, he thought as he stood up and directed his focus out to the lands. The next thing was to locate the other orbs as they were all connected in one way or another. Closing his energy around the orbs, he allowed it to stretch forth from his frame and sweep the land before him. With both eyes shut, he concentrated only on finding the others.

Finally, he touched the fire orb locating it to the south west of his location. Moving on, he stretched further and touched the air orb, brushing it briefly, but enough to feel it. It was located north of the fire orb. Lastly, he located the earth orb which was to his west and slightly north. Once he touched them all, he could feel them reacting to his touch. Drawing back, he released his pent up air that he'd been unknowingly holding. Panting slightly, he dropped down to one knee.

All that's left now is to get them before that man does. Or everything is lost.



The audience chamber was filled like it always was and after the Duke had left there was a sour taste in Siya's mouth. He wished that he had one of his protectors with him. They made things all the easier to deal with, well... at least Reynard did anyway. Mark was a bit different, harder to handle but even so. The man did have his merits, if he weren't in a drunken stupor most times. Even so, Siya over looked it. He was sure the man would change. Everyone changed. That much he was positive of.

So when the double doors opened allowing the exit of the duke, whom Siya had dismissed and was currently listening to another, his protector Mark approached. The room was silent as he entered, definitely far later than the King himself. Siya smiled, allowing himself a brief respite as one of his two entered the room. I wonder where Reynard is... he thought. There were very few things that would keep the man from Siya's side. Perhaps it was something urgent.

He mentally shrugged and pushed the thought aside. As much as he missed the dark haired, cold shouldered protector, he would continue doing what he was supposed to do. Which was hold this audience. If he didn't do it right, Reynard was sure to be on his back about it later.

“Sorry. I was busy studying the architects of yender and how their works on the old groves could improve our magical applications of crops.”

Siya nodded slightly as his protector told him of his 'reasons' for being late. Should Reynard have been there, the dark haired protector surely would have said something in return. Even so, Siya knew better. He could tell the man was still in a stupor, the way he moved was sluggish, done so by alcohol.

Finally he made it to the side of the throne where his usual place was, "Continue, don't let my tardiness interrupt you."

Siya waved his hand at the woman who had stopped in her speech during Mark's arrival. She looked briefly to him a few times before stuttering and beginning again. The young king listened intently, as he did with the other seven who came before him. It was going to be a long morning, his audience chamber was completely full. As he worked through the many occupants, he began to feel... strange. Something passed through his body. A heavy power that touched his very core. He froze for a mere moment, suffocated by the power before everything returned. Then it faded away as if it had never been there. However, it left behind, a storming wake.

Leaning back in his chair, he gently pulled at his clothes. Hot... he thought to himself. Which was odd being the fire King. Why was it he was hot in the first place? What I just felt... what was that... he thought to himself as he panted slightly. He never felt hot before. In fact the only thing he'd ever felt was cold, never hot. Siya tried his best to ignore it. He worked through two more of the occupants. Slowly he was beginning to feel pain in his chest and he winced slightly. The man before him stopped as Siya raised his hand. I can't continue...

"I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling very well. Please forgive me, we'll continue tomorrow."

He ordered and ground his teeth as even his own voice sounded strained. The pain was growing steadily and it was all he could do to keep still and not writhe in his seat. Every limb was shaking ever so slightly, his breath was short as he fought back the burning. Eventually the entire audience chamber was empty and he doubled over, unable to hold it anymore. For the first time since gaining the orb he could feel it. And it was painful.

Panting heavily, he clenched his hands over his chest. Giving a slight moan, he toppled forward onto the floor at the foot of his throne. Trembling violently, his voice was cracked as he writhed slightly on the floor. Soft cries of pain escaped his lips as he tried to get his orb back under control, though he wasn't even sure what he was trying to control really. It felt as if he was burning alive, the heavy pressure in his chest was crushing.

"Stop..." he moaned softly, "Stop... please make it... stop..." delirious in pain, he wasn't even sure if he'd spoken the words.



As per usual, Kanan was hard pressed to find his charge. He strode through the halls of the castle knowing that he wasn't going to find the man inside anyway. Still, the young protector had a routine. He moved through the entire building, his senses stretched as he read the air around him. It was raining outside, a pleasant feeling if he said so himself.

As he moved through the building, he caught the familiar feel of his King and the other protector, Minnow. They were both in the throne room. The throne room? Kanan thought to himself. It was rather odd to have the King there of all places. So he worked his way towards the room and entered. Padding across the stone floor, he dropped down to one knee right before the King's throne before getting to his feet again and taking his usual place at the man's side.

"Sire," was all he offered before standing next to his King.

He noted that there was a towel in his hands and that Minnow had one as well. Both smelled of the rain. Kanan turned his one good eye to the window where the smaller protector had put a potted plant. It was another one of different color this time. An odd ritual in Kanan's eyes, but something he'd grown used to seeing. Outside, the rain was pelting hard against the glass and he almost wished that he could be out in it like the other two had been.

However, he had duties to attend to, unlike his other two companions. He wished at times that the King would be more 'kingly' but he was not. He knew that Minnow as a hard worker as well, but sometimes he would find the boy sleeping in the green house outside on the castle grounds. He would be covered in flower petals and leaves every time. It was... cute... to say the least. Still though, the taller protector wished the other would be a bit more realistic in his sleeping schedule.

Taki had walked nearly a half a mile up the path from the lake as he headed to the market area. In the far distance he could see smoke arising from the market place as food was being prepared. A grin was apparent upon his face as he took each step closer towards the town.

Yawning with a hand over his mouth, Taki stretched out his arms over his head. Hearing the cracks of his joints he closed his eyes with satisfaction. These kinds of morning were the most exhilarating and really brought out the best in him. Lacing his fingers together he extended out his arms and felt several more pops from his fingers. Yup, it definitely was going to be a great morning.

Taki then opened his eyes as he zoned out for a period of time. He had begun to debate getting a puppy for Camryn again. On his face one could literally see him going back and forth with facial expressions. That women seriously needed a dog. But at the same time would she get the wrong idea? But the thought of delicate Camryn with a little puppy at hand made him beam inside. It would even do her the good of getting her mind off of training for once.

Crossing his arms he then thought about how he would present it to her. How would accomplish that exactly? Hebi would tease the hell out of him too. But if he gave it to her without Hebi around it would look like something a little too forward. Taki ran his hands through his hair roughly with frustration at his lack of a decision. This was seriously a conundrum to him of which baffled him, it was never usually this hard for him to make a call.

"Where the hell are you anyways Hebi?" Taki asked himself as he stared up into the sky.

Hebi had been gone for quite some time now and Taki had no idea where he was. How was he to do his kingly duty to keep his people safe if one of his very own protectors was by himself without back up. As funny as it was he wanted to protect his protector. For all he knew Hebi could of gotten injured at the hands of bandits. Hebi wouldn't lose of course since he had his nations pride within him, but injuries out in the wilderness were no joke.

Taki train of thought suddenly crashed as he then heard a sudden sound in from of him.

Ruff!

Seeing the small black dog in front of him Taki glanced down with excitement. "Well, isn't that funny" he thought to himself as he saw the wave of the dog's tail. Today really was a fortunate day! Dropping down so that he sat on his heels he reached a hand out for the small dog to come near. Speaking softly to the dog he hoped it would come near him. Moving towards him excitedly the dog jumped up and begun to lick Taki in the face. Laughing Taki placed his hands gently at the sides of the dog.

"You're perfect! Care to stay around boy?"

The dog seemed to take notice of the sudden change with Taki as it tilted its head. Taki's eyes had gone wide as a pain creeped through him. Taki groaned as the pain quickly shot throughout his body. Letting go of the small dog Taki keeled over to his left side and feel to the ground in agony. Actually feeling the physical orb inside his body for the first time in his life he now knew his father to be speaking the truth about it. The burn was worse than any injury than he had ever had in his life. Every strike he had ever received from a training sword was nothing compared to this pain. Even the few times in his life where he had mistakenly cut himself were nothing compared to this. The breaking of his arm in his young wasn't even this bad.

Growling in pain Taki tried to use his sheath to rise him off the ground before falling again. As he writhed on the ground the only thing he felt besides the pain was the sympathetic licks of the dog to the right side of face and head.


"W-what is this?" Taki gasped to himself.

The burning pain was unbearable. It was seemingly escalating, making him feel as if he was burning alive. The young king's breath panted heavily from his chest as he shuddered, soft cries of pain still falling from his lips. This pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Stop... he cried silently. Someone was holding him, but he couldn't tell who it was. Their voice had resounded in the hall when they shouted for him. He knew that voice very well, but he couldn't place it right then.

He felt his body being moved up onto something soft, hands cradled his face, cold and wet. His fingers tightened over his chest, clenching the fabric of his clothes tighter by the second.

"Siya, listen to me, Siya- You'll be fine, it will be fine. Bear with me, please, bear with me. You'll be fine." the voice called to him. The soothing tone was something he tried to focus on.

Ah... Reynard... you're here. his thoughts were slightly delirious as he peeled open one eye to glance up at his protector. His vision swam so he couldn't quite make out the other's facial features. Soon after he closed his eye again to try to fight off the growing pain.

Each breath was growing shorter, quicker. Reaching up, he snatched the arm of the one who was holding him, his fingers digging into their arm tightly. He let out a sharp scream as his back arched and a slight ring of fire erupted out from his trembling frame. The fire didn't last long though, fading away almost instantly. Falling still against Reynard, he panted, though not out of pain. He was weary. The sudden attack was over almost as quickly as it had come, leaving nothing behind to say that anything had happened, aside from a very tired Fire Lord.

His fingers unclenched the cloth of his robes and his hand fell down against the cool stone of the dais as he rested there in the grip of his protector, "Reynard," he breathed softly. After a while, his breathing became regular and he relaxed somewhat. Turning his head into his protector's abdomen, he didn't want to move. Rather, he couldn't move. Taking a deep breath, he let it out in one long sigh. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the face of Reynard who was leaning over him.

"Reynard... the orb. Something happened to it. I... We have to contact the others. I don't like what just happened. I've never read anything like this in the books and journals that have been kept," he sighed heavily, "Ugh... so tired. My head..." he reached up and brushed his fingers against his forehead which was now starting to pound slightly, "Hurts a little..."

What just happened... that was so strange and so terrifying. Did it happen to the others? Are they okay? his thoughts were slightly jumbled as he tried to piece it all together. As much as he wanted to sleep though, he had to start getting things prepared. Lifting his other hand, he pushed against the floor to try to get up, but between Reynard and his own weakness he failed miserably. Collapsing against the other, he groaned slightly. So weak... that took so much energy out of me. Why?

"I have to get preparations ready to see the other Kings. Write and send letters, prepare for the journey, food and water, clothing and lodging along the way..." his voice trailed off as he tried to keep awake. This... is ridiculous. None of the other Kings would allow this to happen to them... he thought to himself as he fought to keep focused.



”Good Morning. Did you sleep well, Kanan?”

The smaller protector greeted him warmly, his contagious smile almost making it's way to his own lips. When was the last time he'd smiled? Kanan couldn't remember. However, the bubbly protector was always filled with a kind of energy that seemingly attracted Kanan to him. The warrior wasn't sure how to deal with that though. It wasn't like he was open to anyone, or allowed anyone close to him. The air protector shut out those thoughts rather quickly and was thankful for the distraction.

"I know, I'm actually in the throne room! I'm starting to think I should do this more often just to see the looks on everyone's' faces. Figured I get some king stuff out of the way while I take a break, dry off a bit as well maybe. I figure another thirty minutes or so then grab something to eat, then back to work!"

Kanan lifted an eyebrow as he gazed down at his King who was situated on his throne. If he hadn't been paying attention, he would have missed the shiver that passed through the man's large frame. Something was wrong, but Kanan wasn't entirely sure what it was. Then, he felt something. It passed through the air like a force of energy he'd never felt before. It rocked his senses, throwing him off entirely. Stunned, Kanan was unsure as to what to do or what was going on for a mere moment. To his horror, it touched his King. The man stood up then, or tried to rather.

"Ok...I uh.....need something to eat..."

”Sire!”

Kanan gave a shout as well as he rushed to the two of them as Minnow took the full weight of their King. The young protector wasn't built to handle such a heavy load and so Kanan quickly moved to help him at the beckon call of the cute boy.

”K-kanan!”

"Sire!" Kanan dropped down next to him, having been slightly delayed from his earlier stun to do much to help Minnow. Taking his arm, he pulled the man upwards. It wasn't until he touched the King that Kanan realized how cold his body was. What is going on? he thought frantically. Immediately his next reaction was that of the defensive. Several items sacrificed, turning blue and swirling like little flakes around his frame to sink down into his skin. With the added energy, he dropped his hand down to his sword in preparation to draw it and unleash all hell upon any who approached them.

Minnow, on the other hand was tending to their King and once his fingers touched Amon as well, he gasped, drawing Kanan's attention. Glancing over to the young, blonde haired protector, the warrior's blue eye watched him carefully. The only thing that kept Kanan from drawing his weapon and attacking on sight was the boys following order.

”Move him to his chambers and grab extra firewood and as much hot water as you can find.”

Turning his attention to the King in his grip, he shifted around and hauled the man upwards to his feet with one arm dragged over his shoulder. He snaked his own arm around the man's waist and secured his hold on him. He gave a short nod to Minnow before making his way to the King's chambers. Hurry, Minnow... whatever it is you're going to do, do it quickly he thought. Once in the room, he laid the King upon his bed and started the fire.

The water, however, he couldn't do much for. There was one pail of water and so he put that over the fire, but he refused to leave the man's side. Sacrificing another set of metal, he drew his sword and stood guard over the bed, his good eye wandering the room, his senses stretched to their maximum as he waited for Minnow's return.




It had been ages since he'd last set foot in the earthen kingdom. At least, that's what it felt like to Hebi. Though, the moment he stepped into the castle, he immediately felt confined. He didn't like the stuffy walls or the people that surrounded him. He hated every aspect of it. Even so, he remained because he had to and he valued his life far too much to do anything about it.

Still, he found entertainment even if it bordered dangerous. Which was what he did right then. He'd worked his way through the castle and couldn't find either his King or the other protector around. Hebi knew Taki well enough though to go looking elsewhere. The man was not one to stay indoors, that was for sure. He knew immediately where the King was once he stepped foot out into the open land that was behind the palace. The sprawling pasture, the lake not to far off, the many trees and the many, many dogs. All of which were barking hysterically.

Hebi's features turned from bored to amused within seconds. Working his way towards the obnoxious noises, he stumbled upon a peculiar sight. Looking down, he noted that Taki, his King, was on the ground seemingly in pain. His lips twitched into an evil smile as he slowly knelt down, shooing away the dogs with a certain kind of disdain as they got too close to him. With one eyebrow raised he watched his King writhe on the ground for a moment.

"My my... what a difficult position you find yourself in, my Lord," Hebi offered after a while of watching the man suffer.

Hebi didn't move or make any other attempts to help the man, simply only watched him, "Hmm... maybe I should fetch our other dearest protector whose doing such a wonderful job of watching over you. Though, I doubt anything can be done. I don't see any wounds, there is no blood. Poison perhaps? What a pity, and I'm no healer. Say, my Lord, what would you have me do right now?" Hebi grinned as he continued his horrid speech.

Words buzzed in and out of Taki's head as he heard a hollower tone of what he believed to be Hebi's voice. Lifting his forehead from the dirt it felt like someone had just jabbed needles into the back of his neck. Gritting his teeth he saw an image of three in front of him and through the disoriented colors of things he believed the image was close enough to Hebi.

With his right hand, Taki forced his sheath into the ground to push him up a little. In an attempt to force a smile between the pulses of agony Taki said to his protector.

"Oh hello there Hebi...back...erggh...from torturing small foreign animals?Ugh...Missed you buddy!"

Face planting back into the dirt, Taki felt his left arm locking out. Opening his mouth he let out a sharp cry as the sound of his arm popping grew loud enough for someone like Hebi to hear. With his right hand, Taki tired desperately to bend the arm out of hyper-extension with little results.

In faintly hearing Hebi's wicked speech, Taki cried out in pain.

"Just go and try to get someone Hebi!"

Taki coughed a little as he inhaled some dirt. With his right hand Taki pull on his left wrist as he did his best to fix his arm, but in all his efforts nothing seemed to ease the strain there. Forcing himself to roll over to his back he raised his chin up and felt the back of his head press into the ground. It may of hurt like hell but he could sure breath better from here.

However, that did not last long as he lowered his chin back down as he felt a sharp pulse of pain in his left hand. Taki's eyes widened and his iris's shrunk as he saw in horror his left hand. Under the skin it looked as if his hand had changed to the color of a mixed brown, green, and black. Clinching his right hand even harder around his left wrist, Taki could actually see the horror spreading up his arm slowly.

Another pulse. Taki felt his legs kick along with it. Then with another jolt Taki's head dropped back and he felt the back of his head roughly hit the ground again. He fought the urge to vomit as he tried to roll to his side. In doing so if he were to throw up he at least wouldn't die in this moment.

The colors of the tree trunks and the dirt seemed to fuse into one color. The water had become a brackish blur of which looked to mix with the browns of the path and tree trunks. Eventually everything seemed to blend together. As the water's color fused with the dirt and the tree trunks everything seemed to be like water colors to Taki. With each slow breath the colors became more and more distorted.

Fading out Taki's eyes remained open as the unconscious man's only life sign seemed to be the shallowest of breathing. The grey blue iris's of the Earth King had become large in the moment of his departure from consciousness. As he laid in silence his right hand had become loose, but it was still upon his left arm of which had been engulfed nearly up to the shoulder.

In the silence the wind a gusted again blowing many of the falling leaves on and around Taki. They had become a sort of blanket for the king as he waited. Then with another howl from the wind they scattered away into the water of the lake.

---

Carefully now, careful. One… two. One… two. Hand here and balance shift…. Firm strength betrayed the delicate look to Lutchka’s hands as she held herself upon a metal beam, working on her balance. Despite years of doing this sort of thing, Lutchka was always finding ways to improve her physique, and the more impressive it looked, the better. While looks were just an added benefit, Lutchka enjoyed the tightness of her muscles as she held herself and the strain it put on her body. Moving her hands carefully along the pole, she kept her legs stiff though slightly bent at the knees.

Straightening herself further, her form wobbled fractionally as she allowed her left foot to descend slowly towards her head and one of her hands to release their grip on the metal to turn right-side up in one fluid motion. She wore simple foot wraps to aid in the challenge, tight pants that ended snugly above her shins, and a tucked in old decorative top that came up in the front to attach to a metal ring around her neck and left her back bare. The warmth of the sun felt wonderful on her body, and she inhaled the fresh air deeply.

The Earth Kingdom always looked and smelled nice, from a huge variety of flowers to the greenness of the grass and the strange colors of bark on the trees. It certainly soothed her to an extent, which is why she had chosen to remain in this place in the first place. Her life was easy and always interesting to say the least.

Despite the three minutes remaining in her training schedule, Lutchka decided to move on to other things, and quickly hopped down from the pole to land on the ground quietly. Lifting her arms and bending them behind her head, Lutchka first stretched out her worked muscles with a pleased grin before actually departing from the training grounds.

Deciding to sort of wander aimlessly for a few minutes, Lutchka found her feet leading her past the marketplace and down the familiar path to the lake. Despite the ruckus that sounded all around her, Lutchka had learned how to tune out most unwanted noise with a simple switch of thought. However, as she strolled the trail, something strange came into view.

Blinking a few times and squinting, Lutchka had to strain her eyes a bit to actually confirm what she was seeing. Hebi was finally back. She let out an exaggerated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. It seemed Taki was with him as well, and he was on the ground, which was strange. Lutchka merely shrugged and wrote it off as Hebi tripping him or some like. She rolled her eyes as she approached them, coming in from behind the male protector. ”And here I thought you were finally gone for good. Or had at least gone to learn some manners~” She clicked her tongue in mock disapproval of the rare Hebi, looking down at the King, she put a hand on her hip and looked him over.

She immediately noticed something was wrong, and her previous disposition was dropped as smoothly as a veil as she suddenly crouched to the ground and grabbed her king’s shoulder to prop him up a bit in order to get a better look at him. However, the focus seemed to fade out of the man’s eyes, and Lutchka quickly went into action. She kneeled forward and angled the king a bit so she could get at him, and then attempted to lift him up and prop him against her shoulder.

As soon as the weight of the king pressed heavily against her, her eyes narrowed at Hebi, ”He might not look like much, but he’s bloody heavy. And if you don’t help me, you’ll be wishing you were still gone.”

”It’s to keep his tongue from being burnt by the scalding tea.” Minnow explained as Kanan had given him a strange look while the younger protector had been putting the strange concoction on the King's tongue. Taking the cup, the one eyed boy moved to his King's side and lifted him upwards gently.

Amon was a awake, barely, but it seemed his focus was in and out. Tipping the man's head back just a bit, he held the edge of the cup to Amon's lips and let the liquid slide down into his throat. Kanan was careful not to pour too much otherwise he would choke the man. Once he finished giving the drink to the King, he put the cup down and resettled the man against the bed and covers.

"Ok....that was miserable. And augh what did you put on my tongue, Minnow?" With a slight groan the King began to sit up. Kanan was at his side immediately, assisting him but not crowding him.

The King moved, shifting so that he could sit on the end of the bed. After testing his body for injuries, the man stood up only to sway slightly before catching himself. This caused Kanan some measure of alarm but he settled as soon as the King was steady on his feet again. After looking down at himself to reassess his condition, he finally turned his attention over to Minnow and Kanan.

"Thank you, both of you. I'm not sure what caused the orb to act up like that, but thanks more keeping me safe."

"Sire," Kanan offered with a slight bow.

He shot a look over to Minnow, though, thinking that if it hadn't been for the young boy's quick thinking, Kanan would have been utterly lost. He was no healer and his first thoughts was someone was attacking their King. Something that obviously wasn't true. Though the young protector was confident enough in the fact that he probably could have done something for the King like warming his body, he didn't think he would have thought of it quite as quickly as Minnow did. His pale blue eye rested on the blonde boy for a while longer before he watched the King take another cup of tea and seat himself next to the fire.


"Alright. I'm not sure what made the orb act like that, but it cannot be good." Amon said as he stood and got more of the drink.

"Alright, Minnow, Kanan, as I said I have no idea what caused the orb to act up like that. And frankly, it has me worried about the other kings. Which means....ow....which means that we are going to make sure they are not in trouble. I can't imagine that it had only been my orb to act like that, as that had never happened before. So, we are going on a trip to the others to make sure they are ok. We need to get things ready as soon as possible, and we get some couriers out to let them know we are coming and why. That understood?"

Kanan bowed yet again, "Sire. I will send the couriers and prepare for the trip. Minnow should stay by your side for the time being. Please, do not leave him," the white haired protector said, the last bit of his words directed at Minnow. He left the room after giving a meaningful look towards Minnow. Once the door closed, the one eyed protector was down the hall at a very fast, but quiet pace. His first stop was the couriers to write letters to the other Kingdoms and to send them immediately. He frowned to himself as he went though. Why the orbs had acted as they did was beyond him. He'd never seen that happen before.

It was unsettling.



"Oh hello there Hebi...back...erggh...from torturing small foreign animals?Ugh...Missed you buddy!"

Hebi smirked as the King attempted to speak to him, but failed in doing so. He was in so much pain that words could not come to him. The protector sat there on his hunches without moving a muscle to help the man as he screamed in pain. He was gripping his arm tightly and the sounds of popping were filling the air. It sounded very painful, sickeningly so. However, Hebi wasn't in the least moved by any of it.

"Just go and try to get someone Hebi!" Taki yelled, but then coughed immediately after as he quite literally sucked in a mouthful of dirt.

Hebi grinned again as he watched, fascinated by the changing of his King's arm, "Yes, yes. I'm sure someone will come by to help out sooner or later," he mused lightly, "Besides, I couldn't possibly leave you when you can't even get to your feet. What if something bad were to happen, like someone coming by to kill you? We couldn't have that now could we?"

Hebi was talking, but he knew the King wasn't really listening, nor was he going to answer as he was in too much agony to think coherently. Taki rolled to his back, fighting off the rising pain as his arm continued to change in color. Hebi lifted an eyebrow as he watched. In a matter of minutes, the young man was unconscious, staring up into the sky without any movement to his face or eyes. For a moment Hebi thought the man to be dead but found this was not the case as he was still breathing. Pity, Hebi thought with a slight frown.

"And here I thought you were finally gone for good. Or had at least gone to learn some manners~" a feminine voice sounded behind him. Turning just enough, Hebi caught the familiar form of the woman whom was the captain of the palace guard. He grinned up at her, ignoring the fact that their King was on the ground, unconscious, in front of him.

"My dear Lutchka, nothing could keep me from coming back here. You alone won't be enough to drive me from these walls. I do so enjoy our lovely chats when I am here," he cooed back to her.

She moved from behind him and dropped down next to Taki, probably not even hearing his words to her as she was alarmed by the King's disposition. He watched her with an amused look on his face as she pulled him up and attempted to stand with him. Lutchka was visibly struggling, giving Hebi quite the show as he simply watched.

"He might not look like much, but he’s bloody heavy. And if you don’t help me, you’ll be wishing you were still gone."

"And here I thought you boasted about your own strength, perhaps I've gotten the wrong impression. I was rather enjoying watching your beautiful frame lifting up our dear King," He stood up and brushed himself off of any imaginary dirt that may have clung to him as he'd knelt there, "You know, my dear, I'm just not as strong as I used to be, I don't know how much help I could possibly be to you. Here," his grin grew wider as several pieces of metal on his person disappeared into blue sparkles of light.

Lifting his hand, the ground beneath them rumbled a bit as he worked the earth to be reformed to his liking. Lifting up a solid piece of rock, he motioned for her to put the King on it, "There, does this satisfy your need?"

---

"And here I thought you boasted about your own strength, perhaps I've gotten the wrong impression. I was rather enjoying watching your beautiful frame lifting up our dear King," As she did her best to support him, she practically glared daggers into Hebi. She didn’t give a snitch of a care about what he said about her, this was serious enough to warrant a ban on all jokings for the time being.

"You know, my dear, I'm just not as strong as I used to be, I don't know how much help I could possibly be to you. Here," Despite her previous thoughts, she scoffed lightly. ”And here I thought that you had the means to back up that mouth of yours. Guess we’re both learning new things~” Lutchka’s tone was rather dry and her face held no hint of its usual challenge or humor.

She watched as small blue sparks of light appeared randomly about his form, but she was certainly not impressed by his work. At least he had bothered to do something other than run his mouth. She shouldered the king up onto the slab of rock, making sure he was in a suitable position before resting her hand at the top of the slab. Using her opposite hand to slide the actual dust from her toned thighs, another belittling laugh parted her lips at the Protector’s words. "There, does this satisfy your need?"

Lutchka looked at him with the slightest hints of cheekiness, ”I’d think not. I would much rather watch you bear the weight of our king through the whole town and see when you’d buckle. But if you insist~” As she spoke, she moved both hands at a position to push the stone up the path towards the castle. While she joked with Hebi, there remained a nervous worry for her liege’s health. His hand did not look good, and she doubted that the scant healers they had would know how to treat it. But then again, she knew nothing of herbs.

To make the situation a bit lighter on herself, she prodded at Hebi further with a dramatic sigh. ”I always seem to be cleaning up your messes and picking up your slack. If you make this any more annoying, I think I might have to take drastic action against you. And we wouldn’t want to see little ugly burns mar that pretty pale skin of yours, now would we?” Her lips turned up softly in a smirk, and she flashed him an overly exaggerated look of exasperation.

---

---

---

At the sound of life that filled the room from his King’s lungs, Minnow’s gaze shot over to him and his full attention was fixated on the man. As Amon moved to sit up, Minnow scrambled to assist him in his efforts. The young Protector was about to open his mouth and inquire of the king’s condition, but he beat him to it. "Ok....that was miserable. And augh what did you put on my tongue, Minnow?" For a few seconds, he was confused, but then realized what the man was referring to. ”Ah….” he breathed quietly, not bothering to answer the king as he knew it was more of a rhetorical question.

However, as Amon moved and shifted along the bed to the edge, Minnow’s gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s. While he encouraged movement, getting up was probably not a good idea after what he had just gone through, and so, when the king pushed himself off the mattress, Minnow quickly leaned forward after him with an outstretched hand, attempting to grab at the hem of his shirt and pull him back. He came short, and as the king stumbled, his eyes widened with worry. ”M’lord-“ His mouth shut as quickly as it had opened as the king regained his balance and addressed them in gratitude.

The young boy simply dipped his head in recognition, his eyes lingering on the mattress as he king moved over to the fire with another cup of tea. Righting himself and sitting cross-legged on the bed, he watched as Amon sipped more of the liquid. "Alright, Minnow, Kanan, as I said I have no idea what caused the orb to act up like that. And frankly, it has me worried about the other kings." Minnow blinked, he hadn’t even considered the other rulers. But it made sense, and a subtle shiver ran up his spine despite the heat of the room.

As the king stuck his tongue out and began to run his fingers over his tongue, Minnow’s eyebrows rose. He would have advised against it, but he knew that it would be of no use. Amon did what he pleased, and nothing that the boy could say would convince the man otherwise. The inevitable happened, and a delicate, good-natured smirk met his lips as he leaned back on his arms.

”…So, we are going on a trip to the others to make sure they are ok. We need to get things ready as soon as possible, and we get some couriers out to let them know we are coming and why. That understood?" Minnow immediately straightened and peered down at the king with a slight hint of unease. ”Of course Sire, but with all due respect, you need to rest and put your health above that of the others. Going out in this weather is probably unwise, given what you just went through, and the sudden shifts in temperature are not good for your body.”

Kanan then spoke, though Minnow only partially listened to it as he came to crouch by the king’s side and look him over once more. However, when his fellow Protector’s tone changed, Minnow caught the bit directed at him, and he nodded. He watched as Kanan’s form then moved to the door before disappearing, and his gaze lingered for a few moments where the man had just been. His attention then shifted back to the king, and he stood. ”You should lay back down.”

Thanks User for the collab ^.^

"Would you like to be taken back to your rooms, or…?"

Siya smiled gently as he lay there. Reynard's arm had adjusted him and his other hand was running through Siya's hair. The touch was warm and comforting. He gave a soft sigh. For the moment he didn't want to move, only to stay there and allow the other to brush out his hair via the protectors fingers.

"No... I don't want to, not yet," he muttered gently. He supposed he could allow Reynard to do the work for once and to go sleep. However, he wasn't going to say it right then.

Opening an eye again his smile turned to a bit of grin, "How many times must I tell you to call me 'Siya' when we're alone? It sounds so much better. And didn't you say it just a bit ago without the title?" the young Fire King teased, though he was serious about the title part. He didn't like it when Reynard called him 'Lord Siya' it seemed to... distance them, which he didn't like.

"Should I collapse more often? I will you know, if it'll get you to say just my name and no title."

"I'll try to remember L-… Siya," The name rolled awkwardly off of his tongue because, yes, he'd said it earlier all by itself, but that had been in a fit of panic. Here and now the single word stuck to his tongue, almost refusing to budge without a title attached in some way, shape, or form. Using the King's name just felt too familiar, too much like they were equals, which Reynard was constantly reminded was entirely inaccurate. Titles were safe, distancing things and names war too close to actual sentiment without any of the professionalism he prided himself on. He licked his lips before trying again, never stopping his soothing ministrations.

"Siya, if I ever catch you collapsing on purpose, you'll be stuck doing all of your own paperwork for a month." Now this, he thought with a slight smile that was now only slightly tinged with worry, was familiar territory. It was only slightly teasing in that, if he tried a stunt like that, solo paperwork wasn't even close to what Reynard would do to him because he didn't need any more stress in his life, thank you.

Siya felt his face flush slightly as Reynard threatened him with paper work. He hated paperwork. Especially if he had to do it alone. Maybe he would rethink his tactic to getting the uptight protector to call him 'Siya' only. Though it seemed to be working at the moment. The young Fire King had to wonder what it was. Maybe it was the situation overall, that made Reynard a bit more agreeing to the order of being talked to without the title.

Siya shook his head, giving a quick response, "No... not paperwork..." he groaned, "Alright fine. But seriously, no more 'Lord' or anything. Just Siya," he would have continued but yawned as he lay there with Reynard's fingers brushing through his hair.

"Mm, you're going to put me to sleep," he muttered slowly. Although, it was the only thing he really wanted to do anyway, "I think I'd like to sleep now. I'll leave the preparations to you, just don't overwork yourself alright?"

Reynard hesitated for only a moment, hands freezing for just a split second before their continued the familiar motion. He really shouldn't be agreeing to this- it was improper and hardly becoming of either of their stations. Siya was, well, a King and Reynard was the Protector assigned to him, elevated only slightly over the other palace workers in terms of status. But, after everything that had just happened and, of course, everything that had happened prior to today as he worked side-by-side with the so-called "boy king" must have been wearing down his thoughts on the social norm.

"Fine; You'll be just Siya in private then," He agreed with a barely perceptible but firm nod. He could at least do that for him and it didn't feel too familiar if he really thought about it. It was normal, wasn't it, calling someone that he saw every day and knew perhaps too well by their first name? Especially when he had Siya like this, splayed across his lap, large eyes drooping sleepily, an intimate, trusting moment after what had just transpired.

Without much warning, he adjusted his position, standing up and lifting Siya to his feet with him with relative ease, arms still tightly wrapped around him in case he needed extra assistance standing or, indeed, walking after the brief but powerful moment of pain his body had gone through.

"Overwork myself? When have I ever done that?" He deadpanned sarcastically as he helped Lord- helped Siya towards his rooms not far from the throne room. Huh. Another joke. That was two jokes in one day; he was apparently on a roll.

Reynard pulled Siya up to his feet gently, holding him just in case the young King couldn't stand on his own. He wasn't sure if he could really, but once he was on his feet, it seemed he was just fine aside from the dull headache and the insane urge to sleep. He frowned a bit though, but hid it from Reynard. I was really enjoying that... he thought to himself, but knew better. Reynard wasn't going for it really. That much he was sure of. The man was too devoted to his work.

There were times though, rare as they were, that made Siya wonder if his protector did think of him as something other than a King. With a soft sigh he pushed that aside, not really wanting to think on it. Looking up at his taller protector, he gave him a small smile, "Thank you. See? Doesn't that feel more comfortable?" Feels closer, he thought to himself.

As they started out of the room, he glanced over his shoulder at the protector who shot back at him, saying essentially that he wasn't the one who was overworking. To this Siya laughed just a bit. Of course he overworked. In fact, the whole reason Reynard overworked was because of Siya. The Fire King felt a bit guilty for that one. With a slight blush he reached up and ran his hands through his hair.

Hovering just on the edge of his door, he looked over to Reynard, "Yeah, you're right. You'll probably have it easy now that I'm in one place for sure right? I'll sleep, I promise," he said. As he made the promise, he gently touched the other's hand. Slipping his fingers into the palm of Reynard's, he squeezed a bit before opening the door and going into his room. Closing it, he leaned against the door.

Reynard... what's it going to take? he thought sadly.

"Please do. You need the rest," Reynard replied, trying to slip back into his stern Protector persona and instead sounding like the concerned almost-friend that he actually was. He worried about Siya, of course he did, and he always would; the younger man put up with so much as the Fire King, constantly belittling from his more noble subjects, the pressures of ruling an entire kingdom, and his young age warping together into stress that was almost palpable in the palace's air. That was why Reynard was here, to help him through the obstacles and challenges, but if something happened like this again, if he wasn't able to do something- he cut off his own thoughts just as Siya threaded their hands together and squeezed for only a moment.

Reynard couldn't help but squeeze back, a small gesture that brought across more affection than he ever could or would verbally give the younger man. This, however, this he could do- a simple hand squeeze, perhaps, but it was a physical assurance that he was there and that, no, he wasn't going to go anywhere. All too soon, however, the presence vanished away and the door was shut, another barrier put up between them.

Reynard lingered for a moment before turning on his heels and making his way down the hall. He didn't have time to reminisce or to wallow in self pity; there were things to be done, letters to be written, explanations to be found, and, above all else, plans to be made. If Siya was right and this was not an isolated incident, he was sure correspondence would be coming soon from the other kingdoms. The various countries might not be close, but a malfunctioning orb or possibly orbs was everyone's concern. As cliche as it felt to think it, the fate of the world rested in the four kings and anything that endangered them endangered everything.



”And here I thought that you had the means to back up that mouth of yours. Guess we’re both learning new things~”

Hebi's grin was wide as he listened to her in the midst of creating his rock slab for their King.

”I’d think not. I would much rather watch you bear the weight of our king through the whole town and see when you’d buckle. But if you insist~”

"My lovely dear, I couldn't possibly think of what I would do should you force me into such heinous labor. But see, watching you... that's far more entertaining," he said as he followed behind her, his fingers waving in small circles to allow the stone slab to move with her... if only but slightly. He was enjoying her pushing it with her own strength. He had half a mind to put more weight into the rock to see what she would do, but decided against it. Hebi would have fun with her in other ways.

”I always seem to be cleaning up your messes and picking up your slack. If you make this any more annoying, I think I might have to take drastic action against you. And we wouldn’t want to see little ugly burns mar that pretty pale skin of yours, now would we?”

Hebi laughed softly, a cruel edge to it, "Oh, darling. You're making me shiver," he quickened his pace just a bit so that he could lean over to her ear and whisper, "I wonder, though. Which of us is faster... My vines wrapping around your pretty little throat, or your tiny tickle of power?"

Pulling away he laughed softly at her as they reached the castle. Hebi, of course, did nothing to help her with their King, only watching with mild amusement.

Three Days Later

As Hebi paced through the halls of the castle that he hadn't been in for many months, his thoughts were still on the strange events that had played out a few days ago. The orb had attacked its vessel, but for what reason he wasn't sure. Not that Hebi cared all that much. He was more curious if the incident would happen again or not. If it did happen again, would it kill the King? The protector had half a mind to wish that it would.

Deciding that his 'rounds' were done -if one could call wandering half of the palace halls rounds- he was starting to make his way to the throne room where the doors led to the castle grounds. The double doors swung open and three men walked in. Two of them were palace guards, one was someone Hebi did not know. Still, the protector gave a small grin that was not very settling or inviting. His gaze dropped to the man's chest where the symbol of the Air King was emblazoned on his clothes.

"Well well... I don't suppose you have some interesting news, do you?"




Three days had passed since the incident with the orb. Kanan had done as he'd been ordered and sent out the letters to the other Kingdoms. Now all that was left to do, was wait. The young protector busied himself with tightening the security around the palace and for the past few nights he'd stationed himself right outside of the King's room just in case anything else happened. He wasn't about to be caught off guard like he was last time, something that he deeply regretted and was internally punishing himself for.

As he was running his own routine that morning, his senses picked up the arrival of a messenger. Turning on his heel, he headed for the doors to where the guards were leading the man. The one eyed protector intercepted them as they were passing through the hall to find the King. Kanan stopped them with his hand rising lightly. The messenger was smaller than himself and slightly reminded him of Minnow. The young page boy looked slightly intimidated by Kanan's presence though. After all, Kanan wasn't one to smile easily, or offer any words of greeting that were nice. Not to mention his eye patch, chains, rings and earrings as well as his clothes that did little to hide his fit body.

"You're from the Fire Kingdom," Kanan stated simply, his deep voice soft and rich as he addressed the messenger.

The boy nodded and lifted a letter, "Y-yes," he squeaked slightly then continued after clearing his throat, "This is for the King."

Kanan reached out and took it from the boy, "I will take it to him," the protector said shortly and without pause turned and left the guards with the stunned page boy. He moved quickly down the hall, already certain that the letter he held in his hands was going to say the same thing he'd written and sent to the other Kings.

As he thought about it, he frowned a bit. Three days was more than enough time to get a response from all of them, but they had not gotten anything from the Water Kingdom or anything yet from the Earthen Kingdom. Of course from the Earth Kingdom, it was rather usual to not hear anything for a while as the one protector had a terrible habit of interfering with things. Kanan wished he could put his blade through the man's chest and be over with it. He was sure he'd be doing the Earth King a service if he did.

Shaking his head a bit, he knocked on the door to where the King was supposed to be.

It was rare indeed for Taki to be sitting at his throne. He hardly ever did so as he found himself to be the more "active" king. Raising his arms to rub at his temples, Taki had been in quite a grumpy mood since he awoke. It had been three days since he had been attacked from whatever force that was. His left arm had been rendered useless as it was put into a sling with a cast. It frustrated him to no end that he could not use a part of his body.

When the doors to the throne room swung upon, Taki raised a brow at the two guards and the unknown woman. Then upon glancing at Hebi he rolled his eyes and placed his hand upon his forehead. For the past three days Hebi had asked him rather insulting questions and cruelly jabbed at him about his arm. Taki's usual tolerance of Hebi was quite low.

With his palm still at his forehead, Taki spoke loudly. He was struggling enough already and he just had the sinking feeling that the news would be news of terrible levels.

"What is it?!"

Taki shook his head as he knew he was showing a little too much anger and frustration to the wrong people. Breathing out a low sigh he tried again. He really just wanted to go for a run right now, but the healers wouldn't allow it.

"Hmn, sorry. Greetings, how might I be of service?"

Taki brought the hand away from his forehead as his eyes calmly met the eyes of the newcomer.

Who was she...?

Kanan stood at the entrance of the palace, both hands held before him with one wrapped around the wrist of the other. He was standing on guard waiting for the arrival of the other Kings who were to be there rather soon. Once they arrived his only job was to escort them safely to meet with Amon in the council room inside the palace. So, the young protector stood at the very edge of the cobblestone road and the marble of the steps leading up to the large double doors behind him.

The sandals of Taki could be heard with each step as he and his two protectors drew closer to the entrance of the palace. Upon Taki's left side walked Lutchka and his right Hebi. During their travels Taki had felt alive wandering outside of the Earth Kingdom. It was something he always wanted to do. Even with Hebi at every moment trying to ruin the experience at every turn, Taki was pleased to get to know his newest protector. Upon their journey each of them still engaged in their usual teasing, but Taki didn't mind this too much as it generally ended up with him and Lutchka teaming up on Hebi.

Arriving at the entrance of the palace, Taki glanced between Hebi and Lutchka as he asked. "This is the place right?" He seemed obvious to the fact the protector Kanan was standing near by. Taki himself had been taken aback by the design of the gates entrance. To him it was so interesting to see different culture and design.

Hebi lifted an eyebrow as his King, "My lord, certainly you are not so incompetent as to miss the glaring fact that we are indeed in the Air Kingdom and no less upon the steps of the Air King's palace. You see, the youth right there with the eyepatch, that is Kanan Thiyer. Though, a protector with one good eye is probably not the brightest idea to have around," Hebi grinned.

Kanan's gaze flicked to the taller man briefly before he ignored the man completely and turned to Taki. With a deep bow -and every ounce of restraint he had not to drop to one knee- he addressed Taki, "My Lord. His Majesty, Lord Amon is waiting for you. Please, allow me to escort you there."

"I didn't think there were any left who knew how to be so idiotically formal," the green eyed protector hissed to himself, obviously disliking the way Kanan spoke.

Lutchka snorted derisively at Hebi’s comments. “Even a man with one eye is better than you. You’re obviously just jealous that he has such a badass look to him~” Her tone, although teasing, was a bit flat, and she flashed her partner a bored smirk. She was fairly done with having to deal with him for the entirety of the trip, yet she continued to engage him nonetheless.

Raising his right hand to the back of his head Taki spoke gently to Kanan as he said. "Please ignore him, he's just upset about how he was treated by the children in the schoolyard. Anyways, please, just call me Taki. Like my father before me we understand that we are indeed just people even if those around us want to call us kings."

Chuckling brightly at her King's own jape at Hebi's expense, her gaze soon fell upon the protector in question. Her eyes seemed to rake down his form critically, analyzing everything about him. However, this lasted only a moment, and her usual friendly smile appeared once more on her face in honest greeting.

Kanan watched the King warily, his pale blue eye narrowing ever so slightly. Even if prompted to call Taki by his name, Kanan would not. Turning slightly he seemingly ignored both protectors and motioned for the door, "This way," he said, his voice rumbling slightly as he spoke. Taking the steps, he moved up towards the doors and with a flick of his hand, opened them with a small push of his wind.

"Are you constantly relying on your magic, protector?" Hebi asked suddenly, questioning the small use of magic that Kanan had just displayed. The pale featured boy with white hair ignored him still and strode down the hall.

Hebi, however, was growing more determined to get some sort of reaction out of the near silent air protector. He wondered what sort of expression the youth would make, what would make him angry and how he would react. It wasn't for any pleasure, or anything like that. It simply was that Hebi wanted to see what others were like, how they thought, how they worked, and more importantly the pure fun in pushing others to their limits. With his new target in sight, the Snake was thinking of ways he could possibly get this young man to snap. He was beginning to think he knew exactly how.

Kanan led them through the palace swiftly, near the center of it, or so it seemed. Opening the double doors, he presented the three of them to the council room. This time he did drop to one knee in his formal greeting to his own King, "Sire, Lord Taki," he said only before standing again and taking his place next to the King.

Amon had been sitting in the council room for a couple hours now. He knew the Kings were to be arriving today, but without a definite time as to when. Most of his morning had been spent doing his usual workouts, some striking drills, and just lounging in the shade of a tree. However, eventually he had been dragged to the council room, having been convinced by Kanan. It was, without a doubt, one of the most boring things he’d done in a while. There was nothing in this room to do, and a few spontaneous exercises were not enough to stave off the boredom, so now here he was, leaning back in his chair, feet up on the table with his arms hanging limply over the arms of his chair, staff draped across his lap, asleep. His head was hanging to the side, and a rather noitceable snore was eminating from his mouth. Occastionally there'd be a mumble/grumble of nonsense from him, and despite being leaned back in the chair he was somehow maintaining his balance.

Kanan frowned as he stood next to his King. Reaching out he gently tapped the man's shoulder. It wasn't light enough to not be felt, but not hard enough to topple him from his precarious perch either, "Sire."

"What's this, your King sleeping when he should be expecting us? Embarrasing, to say the least. Perhaps he was not concerned about our welfare or anyone elses in that matter," Hebi commented lightly as they entered the room.

Kanan, despite his earlier abilitiy to ignore the man, turned his good eye to the man and narrowed it. Hebi grinned, there it is... some reaction. Now to build on it, he thought to himself.

"Mm......and you smell bad...." was about the only understandable mumble that Amon made.

Amon had been sitting in the council room for a couple hours now. He knew the Kings were to be arriving today, but without a definite time as to when. Most of his morning had been spent doing his usual workouts, some striking drills, and just lounging in the shade of a tree. However, eventually he had been dragged to the council room, having been convinced by Kanan. It was, without a doubt, one of the most boring things he’d done in a while. There was nothing in this room to do, and a few spontaneous exercises were not enough to stave off the boredom, so now here he was, leaning back in his chair, feet up on the table with his arms hanging limply over the arms of his chair, staff draped across his lap, asleep. His head was hanging to the side, and a rather noitceable snore was eminating from his mouth. Occastionally there'd be a mumble/grumble of nonsense from him, and despite being leaned back in the chair he was somehow maintaining his balance.

Kanan frowned as he stood next to his King. Reaching out he gently tapped the man's shoulder. It wasn't light enough to not be felt, but not hard enough to topple him from his precarious perch either, "Sire."

"What's this, your King sleeping when he should be expecting us? Embarrasing, to say the least. Perhaps he was not concerned about our welfare or anyone elses in that matter," Hebi commented lightly as they entered the room.

Kanan, despite his earlier abilitiy to ignore the man, turned his good eye to the man and narrowed it. Hebi grinned, there it is... some reaction. Now to build on it, he thought to himself.

"Mm......and you smell bad...." was about the only understandable mumble that Amon made.

Glancing to Lutchka, Taki whispered to her "I may mandate that he's sedated before we have royal appointments."

A soft chuckle left her lips at Taki’s comment, and she nodded in resolute agreement. “I don’t know

Glancing to Lutchka, Taki whispered to her "I may mandate that he's sedated before we have royal appointments."

A soft chuckle left her lips at Taki’s comment, and she nodded in resolute agreement. “I don’t know why you haven’t already done that. I think he should be drugged 24/7, I’m sure he’d be much more pleasant to be around.” She honestly didn't mind much at all that the king had been sleeping prior to their arrival. Hell, if she were a King, she'd probably be doing the same thing. Not to mention that Taki himself didn't act the part all that well either.

Amon shifted a little in his chair some, his staff slowly slidding from his lap until it was now on the floor, leaning against him. He then yawned and stretched his arms outwards, cracking open his eyes a little. Then something felt off before his eyes opened more. Flailing his arms, Amon felt his chair begin to tip backwards. "Crap, crap, crap!" was all he said before chair tipped backwards and dumped the king onto the floor with a thud. He laid there on his back, blinking and staring up at the ceiling, still "seated" in his chair. "Huh..."

"You alright there friend?" Taki called to him from where he stood. He had looked away from Lutchka as he asked. He kinda liked how this king was a little more down to earth. It was a nice change of tone than what he was told to expect from the other kinds during his advisor lectures.

Amon blinked again when he heard voices, immediattly sitting up enough so that his head could poke up over the table. He stared at the three individuals standing at the end of the room, sitting there like a deer in the headlights. Finally he adopted his standard grin, quickly recovering his chair and setting it back up as he stood there. "I am indeed! Nothing but a little fall! Besides it's only a stone floor, that's all!" Clearing his throat some, he then proceeded to head from his spot and around the table towards his guests, having grabbed his staff before heading over and letting it clink of the floor as he walked.

"Seems you folks caught me while I was resting! Been a long day for me, left me a little tired is all. I do apologise for not greeting you properly." He said, stopping just in front of them. "I am King Amon Ad-Raza and it is a pleasure to meet all of you." He bowed at the waist some before standing back up to his full height, smile still plastered to his face.

"Well, it's best I was here while we caught you resting. Hebi might of tried to swap your big toes in your sleep to see if you had a reaction! Anyways, I am King Hattori! You can just call me Taki however. These are my protectors! The lovely Lutchka, and my snake in the grass Hebi. He has quite the warmest personality." Taki then glanced over at Hebi giving him a little wink before looking back to Amon. He briefly winced as his arm flared up for a moment.

As her King introduced her, Lutchka gave a swift bow before flashing Amon a pleasant, cheerful smile and wiggling her fingers at him in greeting.

Hebi did not bow, nor say anything except for give his same grin that never reached his eyes. Folding his arms over his chest he glanced over to Kanan who looked as tense as ever, something told him that the one eyed protector was trying his hardest not to pull his King away from the three of them, or more importantly away from the Snake. It was this that prompted the Snake to ask his question, "There is only one protector here. Surely a one eyed man is not enough to serve you, your Highness? I hardly see his worth."

Amon's smile grew wider as Taki introduced himself. "Fair enough, you may simply refer to me as Amon." he then turned to Lutchka, noticing her little form of greeting and chuckling some, waving back in a similar manner. He then turned his attention to Hebi, keeping his smile steady. "Snakes aren't all that bad, sometimes chase after them when I'm outside. Trying to spot the little buggers in the grass is actually a decent way to train your perception." Amon said. "And speaking of perception, you don't need to worry about Kanan's lack of an eye. He's plenty capable of making up for that handicap. My other protector is out in the city running some errands, getting the necessary stuff to fix me up when I hurt myself goofing around." He never once looked away from Hebi, maintaining eye contact the entire time. "My protectors are definetly worth their weight in gold, I can tell you. Maybe even in diamonds." He finished with a little chuckle.

Hebi lifted an eyebrow as he watched Amon as well. The man certainly talked big about his protectors. He must cherish them to some extent. This made the Snake laugh inwardly. He didn't speak anymore, he would wait for his next chance. Of course he had things to tell them... information that would come later. If he did it right... His gaze shifted over to Kanan briefly.

The one eyed protector didn't move from his spot, waiting patiently for his King to return to his seat and continue the meeting. The Fire King was sure to be the last one to arrive and there was still some time yet before the Water King would make his appearance.

" I bet they are" Said Taki kindly as he tried to divert attention from his protector. "So, how are your healers if I may ask?" Taki tried to wiggle his left arm to his own punishment. "Heh, ow.."

Amon looked at Taki, cocking his head to the side. "You sprain your arm or something on the way here?" He brought his head back to its normal position, "Once Minnow returns, my other protector, he could take a look at it for you."

Taki made a face at the word "Sprain". Looking to Amon he said to the man. "This was a result of whatever attacked me while I was still in the Earth Kingdom. If your healers could even fathom whatever kind of injury this was I'd make love to them. Seriously, whatever this is hell." Taki coughed slightly before sighing and speaking again. "If it's a new form of sickness can we call it Hebism?"

Kanan flinched slightly, a bit of a cough escaping him as he stood there listening to the Earth King speak. Make love... to them... but that's... Minnow... he thought frantically. It was hard to hide, but he was sure a few heard the cough. Quickly composing himself he didn't move, standing still as a statue.

Taki glanced over to Hebi. The Snake was going to kill him in his sleep he knew it. He had jabbed at him so much during this meeting it was insane. Glancing around the palace he took in the lovelyness of it. "I really like this palace." Taki finished with. "It's fresh....if that makes any sense."

Amon’s smile faltered when Taki mentioned his arm was because of the incident with the orb. “I’m sorry Taki, I guess I should have chosen my words a bit more carefully, my sincerest apologies.” He said to the Earth King. “My healers will do the best they can to help relieve you of this ailment, I promise. As for the name of it, I’ll let you decide on that one.” Amon’s smile returned as Taki began talking about the palace. “Also, the fresh does not make sense to me honestly, but that's why I never do the decorating aorund here; which frankly, is something you folks should be very happy about."

"Also don't die on us, Kanan! Minnow is going to have his hands full with Taki he doesn't need to be distracted by you as well!" He said while turning to look at his protector.

Taki glanced over to Kanan for a moment before looking back to Amon. He had decided to drop the conversation about the look of the palace to save Amon some trouble. Reaching his right hand to his nose he gently scatched at his as he asked his next question. "So, who else do you think will make it by today?"

"Well," Amon began, finally turning to head over to his place at the end of the table. As he did so he waved a hand out to a couple of the chairs that were next to the table. "You folks are welcome to sit by the way, anyways I am hoping that Lord Siya Ukomo will arrive tonight. Unfortunately I haven't actually heard anything from the Water King as of yet, so I cannot say when he and his entourage will be arriving." He spoke as he sat down in his chair, letting his staff rest on the floor in front of him and having it lean back onto his shoulder.

Taki sighed as he glanced over to his protectors. "Well, Lutchka. Stay close. Hebi, you are free to go and do what you do best. I am going to take a seat here with Amon and get to know a fellow king." Taki stretched a little with his right arm to the air as he moved to one of the several chairs in the room.

After taking his seat, Taki rolled his neck a little as a few pops of joints could be heard from it. After a moment of silence Taki asked his fellow king in a serious tone. "Do you think the Water King didn't make it? I'm assuming we were all attacked." With a puff of breath, Taki placed his chin into his right palm as he begun to dwell on the idea.

Kanan shifted slightly next to his King. Adopting a rather relaxed stance, though his senses were still stretched as he was waiting for the presence of the other Kings. He was perhaps, using a bit more than usual and should Amon find out would probably be scolded for it, but he figured for that night it was needed.

Hebi, on the other, smirked. His lips pulled up into a wicked grin as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall just behind his King. The man, after a moment, laughed openly, "The Water King? I am afraid... I may have some bad news then," he started.

Kanan shifted, his gaze moving to the man and narrowing slightly. He didn't like what he was feeling, or what he was about to hear.

Hebi leaned forward slightly off the wall, his eyes locked on Kanan, "He's dead."

The protector shifted slightly, his hand slowly dropping to the hilt of his weapon, "How do you know for sure?" the boy asked softly, though his deep voice carried far enough.

Hebi shrugged lightly, "I... found out accidentally I suppose. I am a man of many talents, dear Kanan Thiyer," the Snake hissed slightly.

Kanan moved, probably not the best initial reaction, but he was feeling as if Hebi was threatening the other Kings in the room and the thought that Hebi had known of the Water King's death far before anyone else could only spell one thing for him. In a near split second, the young protector had crossed the room in a burst of air to aid him, drew his weapon and halted right before Hebi with the blade still singing as it hovered right under the man's chin.

"How?" he growled out.

Hebi slowly raised his hands, eyes glittering as he watched Kanan carefully, "You're reaction... Are you perhaps hiding something from us?"

Kanan ground his teeth and leaned forward closer. Hebi's grin widened.

Amon blinked at Hebi's comment, having been interrupted from answering Taki. Dead? When were they killed then? Was it when the orbs had been acting up? He looked up, about to ask Hebi a question that Kanan beat him too. Amon watched the Snake, listening to what he said intently, a rare scowl forming on his face. Again, he was interrupted by Kanan, but this time it was from the protector moving quickly across the room with his sword drawn and pointing at Hebi. Amon was on his feet in an instant, eyes widening. "Kanan!!" he shouted before heading around the table and towards the two protectors, leaving his staff behind.

He reached them when they had finished their little exchange of words, Kanan looking like he was about to run Taki's protector through. Amon was still scowling as he stepped up next to Kanan, grabbing hold of the protector's shoulder. "Kanan, stand down. Right. Now." Amon spoke with heavy authority, keeping a glare leveled at Kanan as he kept hold of his shoulder.

The young protector didn't move at first. It was probably the first time he had ever thought of disobeying his King's order to do something. He almost even fought back, but he reigned in his anger. Hebi had done this on purpose, he was sure of it now. The hand on his shoulder was heavy, keeping him from running his blade through the grinning protectors throat. Slowly, he pulled back.

"Not worth their weight in diamonds, I would say," Hebi commented lightly, earning a deep throated growl from Kanan who almost almost lunged forward again.

"Still," the Snake continued, "That reaction. I would be questioning his motives my dear King. All I was saying was that I had found out about the Water Kings death as I just so happened to be there on business. My apologies that I did not say so sooner. Busy as I am," he said. Leaning forward a bit, he directed his gaze and sneer at Kanan, "Though, the next time you level a blade at me, boy, you had best be ready to use it. Perhaps you should be taught your manners again."

"Mommy, daddy, could you please stop fight now?" Taki said with a hint of sarcasm. "We really need to get back to business here." Taki paused as he cleared his throat briefly. "Well, Hebi thank you for sharing that information with us. Next time could you drop the information upon us properly? I know you enjoy our sufferings, but that would have been good to know ealier.

Sitting up in his chair, Taki shot Hebi a look. It was the kind of look a mother would give her son in a marketplace when the child was throwing a tantrum. After breaking his look from Hebi, he looked back to Amon and Kanan as he said "Well, this is rather devistating news. I am sorry. I wish I could show more empathy myself, but I never got to meet the guy."

Amon slowly started to step away from Hebi, keeping a grrip on Kanan's sohulder to guide him back towards their seats. He didn't look away from Kanan as he moved, nor did he look at Taki as he spoke. "It's ok, I did not know of him very well at all either." Once they had backed up some, Amon finally let go of Kanan and made his way back to his seat, though it was clear that his usually cheery demeanor was being replaced with a far more serious one. He sat down, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on top of his hands.

He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of frustration before opening them again. "Oh I hope Lord Siya arrives soon. Because it seems the situation has escalated quite a bit."

Speaking a little under his breath Taki saidly lowly so only Amon and Lutchka could hear. "You sure? I'm not sure what Hebi will do next."

Amon looked at Taki, before sighing again and running his hands through his hair before holding his head. He was anything but sure about anything now. It was bad enough when he thought it was just the orbs acting up. Now though one of the kings was dead and...his eyes widened before he lifted his head up, looking at Hebi. "What about the orb?!"

[Taki]
With a playful smirk on his face Taki had the hilt of his blade balanced upon his right palm as he walked around the roof of the palace. With a fling of his palm his blade would skip from his hand to the air where he'd catch it and start again.

Opening his mouth he begun to sing to himself within the night. "Sun will rise, close your eyes, just howling in the shadows..." Stopping to chuckling at how off he was he tried again and again between rounds of balancing his hilt within his palm.

Rolling his left shoulder he felt a little pain from his blackened arm. It had been quite some time since he had seen it unwrapped and out of the sling of which the doctors had placed it in.

The air made a sudden whipping sound as Taki had out of nowhere caught his blade within his right hand and started preforming a kata art. At the final step of the kata, Taki took his blade as he slid it into it's scabbard.

"What a pretty night." He said loudly to the sky as he glanced up into the light of the moon.

Lowering himself to the sitting position he dangled his legs from the side of the roof as he gazed over the area around the palace. It sure wasn't home, but it had its beauty.

"It is," where the voice came from one couldn't tell, but following it, a rush of air pulsed across the top of the building. It was strong, carrying the feel of magic and definitely not anything natural. Once it faded, someone was standing right in front of Taki, blue light swirling around their hand as they lunged for him, intent to drive that hand into the King's frame.

Taki's grin grew toothy as he dropped back to avoid the lung. Bringing his legs back from the ledge he used them to push himself a little back away from the edge. Rolling to his left Taki shot up and drew his blade one handed. "Oh man, I was waiting for this....How many years, come on tell me!"

For someone trying to be assassinated Taki seemed just a tad bit too happy as he begun hopping back and forth on each leg. "Attacking a man with one hand? You could at least let me warm up jackass!" Taki's grin grew with his taunt.

The attacker followed quickly, using the wind to make him slightly faster. His hand was still encased in the glowing blue light, and though he wasn't full out attacking Taki, he was definitely trying something. Rushing the King, he shot both hands forward. One to grab the man, the other to hit his chest.

Side stepping to the right this time, Taki tried to bonk his assailant upon the top of his head with the hilt of his blade. Upon his dodge however, Taki ended up moving his left arm a little under the cast. Wincing slightly with pain Taki seemed to refuse to drop his grin as he taunted the attacker a second time. "These straight forward attacks really aren't doing it for you! You may quick, but you're going to have to preform the unorthodox man!"

The man ducked just enough, the hilt of the weapon grazing his skull and most likely stinging. Twisting around to follow Taki, he lunged forward again, this time the air surrounding him burst outwards in a powerful shove as he got close to Taki. The hand not encased in the blue magic swiped the empty air before him, sending another wave of wind, but these were much like invisible blades.

Taki found himself getting knocked out of step as the air shoved into him. Almost tripping from bad footing, Taki found himself unable to block the air as he dodged only of few of the invisible blades. One sliced him upon the forehead and the other upon the bridge of his nose. The cuts weren't too deep, but they stung bad as the Earth King's grin was wiped from his face. With the use of his blade he was only barely able to hold the man's blue encased hand with his blade. As the force of the blue light clashed with Taki's blade, Taki narrowed his eyes as he moved on the defensive.

Pushing against the blade with his hand encircled in blue magic, the black clad fighter reached out and once again attempted to grab hold of Taki. The air swirled around them, erupting in a circle that trapped them both tightly together. The hand in blue shook, the arm straining to get past the weapon.

Gritting his teeth in pain Taki roared "Enough!" Crying out in pain crackles could be heard from Taki's blackened left arm as forced it to move. Breaking the sling, Taki's left arm dropped limply at his side. Focused, Taki's stone could be visibly seen as he activated his power.

Chucks of earth and rock had been retrieved from the ground. With what seemed great force it pushed through the air and attached itself upon Taki's left arm. With an element to now control the moment of the arm, Taki used his stone encased arm to attempt an uppercut into the attackers ribs.

The arm wrapped up in thick rock came barreling into the man's side. It knocked him backwards off of Taki and he went stumbling precariously across the top of the building. He looked as if he were going to launch another attack against Taki, but as he lurched forward, his entire frame slowly broke down into nothing but black dust that blew away in the light, natural winds.

Strangely enough Taki didn't seem to question the moment. With the placement of his sword back to its sheath, he took his right hand to his face as he tried to stop the blood from going into his eyes. Within his mind the only problem he faced now was the losing of the encasing of his arm. It was going to really hurt this time.


With earth and stone crumbling from his arm, Taki dropped to his knees as the pain soared up his arm once again. This had not been the first time in the past month this had happened. He had grown use to it, well sort of. Holding back pained tears from his eyes, Taki leaned his head forward so the blood would drip away from his eyes as his right hand wrapped around his left arm.

"Fuck this..." Taki grumbled at the pain. "Lutch, where are you when I need you?"

Scooting closer and closer to the edge of the palace roof, Taki leaned forward a little as at tried to call to the window of his room. However, as it was five windows down his normal call wasn't exactly doing him any good. "Lutch...." He tried again "Luutch!" No response "HEY LUTCH!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Sitting there he knew he had most likely awoke half the palace with the yell. Grinning to himself he chuckled a bit at the reaction he'd get from the others the next day. As the last of his laugh he felt a slither of pain from his left arm.

"Ow..." He mumbled to himself.

With a sweet bun in one hand and her free fingers running through her hair, Lutchka blinked sleepily as she strolled the hallways from the kitchens, attempting to find her way back to her room. It wasn’t surprising, her troubled sleeping, despite the exhausting trip coming to the air kingdom. What with the horrible news they had all received, the high tension that lingered from earlier that day, and the unfamiliar noises that made themselves known in the Air Kingdom. Lutchka had allowed her body to rest, but eventually the boredom got the best of her, and she decided to wander to the kitchens to find something to snack on.

In any other case she probably would have reverted to training to pass the time, but with the aches that plagued her muscles and the mental exhaustion that weighed on her mind, she knew it was a bad idea. So in the large, unfamiliar hallways she strode, looking half-asleep and unfocused. She took a bite out of her roll and chewed it thoughtfully as she advanced with no real purpose.

However, as soon as she heard the cry of her King, all fatigue was immediately shed from her figure and she split into a run, bun in hand, heading in the direction of Taki’s voice. Fortunately she soon found herself in somewhat familiar surroundings, and instantly knew where she was. Their rooms were nearby, and Taki continued to yell her name.

Bursting through the door of her King’s room, she already knew it was empty, and was only further proved right when she spotted the open window. Holding the sweet bun between her teeth, she stuck her head out and peered upwards. Yup, his voice’s definitely coming from the roof. A split-second respite to her serious features was had as she pursed her lips with a slight grin. Of course her king was on the roof of all places. She immediately pulled herself up onto the windowsill and used one hand to grasp the pane in order to support herself.

She looked around for a few moments before mapping out the best route to get up to him through the brickwork of the castle. Slipping her fingers between the cracks and leveraging herself upwards, she made easy work of the wall and was about to place her hand on the edge of the roof when Taki screamed as loudly as he could. She winced, nearly losing her grip and letting out a sharp breath of air. Unfortunately, her midnight snack plummeted to the earth, but she had no time to miss it. She quickly pulled herself up before she lost her grip and rubbed at her ear with her free hand. “I’m here my lord, no need to shout so loudly.”

Kneeling down, she gently pushed the bangs back from his face and frowned a bit when she saw blood dripping there. His blackened arm also seemed to be reopened, and her eyes hardened defensively. She had a few questions to ask, but knew that now was not the time to do so, especially when they were both so out in the open and vulnerable, despite their height. Her lips pressed tightly together in thought; it was going to be rather difficult to get him down on her own from so precarious a height with no platforms nearby. She shouldered him up and slung his arm around her shoulder to help bear his weight. Despite her previous thoughts on keeping quiet until they got some cover, she still asked. "Is there still a threat? Do you need immediate medical attention?"

"Oh hello there!" Taki said with a grin to Lutchka. With a slight tilt of his head he avoided a little blood from escaping his forehead onto his right eye. "I don't believe there's a threat here and if he still was you'd know I'd take his or her sorry ass down." As he cringed slightly at the pain crying from his arm, Taki breathed for a moment before he said. "Yeah, I think medical attention would be quite lovely right now."

Taki tried to offer Lutchka a small smile, but in doing so screwed upon the position of the dripping blood as he got some in his eyes. "Ahhhh fuck, ow!" Taki groaned as he dropped his head down in hope that his watering eye would part the blood from it.

At his comment, she let a small chuckle leave her lips, though at his wince she did her best to reposition them so he’d be more comfortable. However, as he suddenly started complaining about blood in his eyes, she rolled her eyes good-naturedly before grasping his chin between her fingers and stilling his motion. She glanced at it before flashing him a teasing, unconvinced smile. “What, would you like me to kiss it better? Not much else I can do at this moment.” She grinned.

Flashing his own teasing grin in return Taki said with a small laugh. "That's not the worst idea to propose at the moment." With another tilt of his head he avoided yet another drop from reaching into one of his eyes as he looked at his protector with his usual toothy grin which oozed Taki's personality all over it. "If you're going to, try to avoid the blood as best you can!"

She smirked playfully and rolled her eyes lightly, pushing his bangs back once more. She leaned forward and planted a dainty kiss on his eyebrow, rubbing her thumb along his cut to smear the blood a bit and attempt to change its trickle pattern so it would no longer be a nuisance. “That thing ever gonna seal up?” With an exaggerated breath of air, Lutchka tapped her foot a bit. “Any plans on how we get down then?”

"None at all! Without my left arm and proper sight at the moment I'm useless!" Though the joking and laughter obvious frustraion could be heard from the Earth King as he hated how he was so dependent on everyone else these days. With a puff of breath from his lips he then seemed to drop the "Taki Stance" for a moment as he said kindly to Lutchka.

"Thank you."

Lutchka smiled at him pleasantly as he expressed gratitude. “My pleasure.” Blinking, she glanced around, “It had to be the roof, didn’t it? How did you even get up here in the first place with only one good arm?”

"Of course it did, look how amazing this night sky is Lutch." Taki grinned toothily between words. And to answer that...a lot of one handed pull ups. Being crippled isn't going to slow down the great King TakI!" Drawing his grin wider, Taki kept his spirits high as he continued. "You should have seen it! Took on that bastard with one arm...and a rock..."

The white-skinned beauty simply shook her head with a smile, glancing up at the dark sky at her King’s suggestion. “Gorgeous, but I think I’d prefer to see it in the comfort of a bed~” She chuckled softly, and figuring that they would be up there for a little while until one of them figured something out or until some actual help showed up, she eased them both to the ground rather than just stand around supporting him for no reason.

“Fire seems to be quite useless in this situation, huh?” She laughed aloud as light flames flickered upon her fingertips in the cool night. “You’re probably in no condition to make steps down though. I guess I'll just have to entertain you for awhile~”

"Hey, if we're going to be up here I'm open to it. What do you got in mind my protector?" Taki said as he brought his good hand to the back of his head where he laid. As his eyes met the stars there was a glimmer in his eyes. Within the Earth Kingdom he had seen stars on many occasions, however, this new location brought a freshness with it of which brought Taki a type of joy he wanted to experience again.

"I want to travel this world." Taki said with powerful grin.

A devious little grin played on her lips as she watched him lay back. She leaned on her elbows, eyeing his form lazily before shifting herself forward a bit. She leaned over him slightly, her hand shifting down. With a small flick of her fingers, she sacrificed the metal of Taki’s belt. “Don’t get too excited~” She teased, rolling onto her back as well. Flames licked at her palms and fingers as she summoned them.

Lutchka shifted her fingers around as she gazed up at the sky as well, letting the flames string out in the air to fill the small outlines of the stars. She had a very pleased smile on her face and a child-like youth to her eyes as she played with her element. “It’s a big world, full of so many mysteries.” Twirling her index finger, the little flames clumped together to form a ship sailing the seas. “The lands out there are stunning.”

"H-hey!" Taki said in surpise to Lutchka as he lost the metal of which held his belt together. With a sigh he sat up a little to try to tie the belt together with one hand as he stuck his tongue out at Lutchka jokingly. "If my pants fall from me when when we're going back down that's your fault!"

After trying and failing to fix his belt with one hand, Taki laid back down as he watched Lutchka's fingers preform a show in front of his eyes. With a smile he looked as if he were a mere boy again as he watched the fire before him. With the formation of the ship Taki said quietly "Woah..."

Nodding at her last statement he said in response. "Let's all travel together...well only if Hebi is sedated like we planned before!"

She scoffed lightly at his comment of travelling with Hebi. “I’m afraid even on the trippiest of substances he’d still find a way to complain, I can see it now, ‘Oh, the ship's swaying too much’ or ‘It smells like fish out here’ maybe even ‘This salt is ruining my skin!’” She deepened her voice a bit in a typical female-trying-to-copy-a-male tone. She grinned at her King, the light twinkling playfully in her eyes.

Kanan moved through the hall to where he had put the Lord Taki and his protectors. The door was opened and his heart skipped a beat as he looked in and saw no one. Moving around the room to see any signs of a fight or worse, blood, he finally heard voices outside the window. Going to the opened window he leaned out and looked upwards. The flash of fire was flickering every now and then from the roof top. Slipping out of the window, some of the metal on his body disappeared, sacrificing into more energy. With a wave of his fingers, a torrent of air spread beneath him and lifted him up to the top of the castle where the pair was seated.

An eyebrow lifted as he regarded them, touching down silently on the edge. Releasing his power, he looked between them both all the while wondering why in Gods name would Taki be on the rooftop of the castle. Kanan didn't ask though, preferring to keep that to himself as he moved and knelt down next to them gingerly. Highly aware of his own wound, he reached out and examined Taki silently. When he was satisfied with the facial injuries, his gaze fell on the exposed arm. The pale blue eye widened and he looked back to Taki.

"Sire..." he breathed, then offered his arm to the man, "Come, I will take you to your rooms. Who attacked you?" he asked almost as an after thought. He needed to know though. If the Kings were all attacked for the same thing -the orbs- then someone knew about them when they shouldn't. It made Kanan highly tense and very suspicious.

Lutchka blinked at the arrival of someone, and her usual smirk returned to her lips, the moment she had shared with Taki over. She waved lazily at the one-eyed protector, the flames racing back to her palm before extinguishing themselves. She sat up, quickly leaning over Taki and making swift work of securing his belt back together with a cheeky grin.

Kanan seemed to overlook her presence, and she pouted a bit at the fact, but otherwise pushed the thought aside as her King did need attention. Lutchka helped her king up to his feet, looking at Kanan gratefully. “Good, I was worried we’d be out here for a couple days before someone noticed.” She chuckled softly, handing Taki over to Kanan. The protector had also asked one of the questions she had been saving for later, and she looked at her lord expectantly.

Taki tried playing off Lutchka fixing his belt in front of Kanan with a smile, but even he turned red at the rather awkward moment. It was a classic Lutchka move, but he usually didn't mind it too much as it brought a little surprise to his life.

After being helped up and passed to Kanan, Taki said with a smirk to Lutchka "You sound like being stuck out here with me is a bad thing!" Then with the expected look in his direction he remembered the question asked of him from before. "Right, uh...I can't exactly explain the look of my attacker. Although, he did use some sort of wind style power...and was rather fast..I mean I believe he was wearing a black outfit which covered him up. Anywho, that's all I got bud."

Kanan frowned as he held the man securely. Looking over to Lutchka, he offered his other hand to her, "The healers will tend to you when they return," Kanan said softly. Once Lutchka was in his grip as well, he would take them down to the room below and escort them to the healers. It seemed that the following day was going to be a rather busy one.

Amon sighed, watching the ground from his spot a few feet off the ground. He was sitting on his staff which he had wedged between the branches of two trees so that it was spanning the gap on its side, to give him something to use a pull-up bar. He really wished it was raining right now, but there was no such luck. Instead he was sitting there on the staff in a bit of a sour mood. He had hoped that going through his workouts would have brought his mood up some, however with the mess of things that had happened last night it was going to take more than just some chin-ups.

Amon looked down at himself, looking at his stomach that was wrapped up in bandages to cover his spear wound. His shirt was draped across the staff next to him, having been removed when he had started his exercises. “Augh, I could really go for something nice and sweet to eat right now. Like a cake, maybe that’s what I need to cheer me up.” He said, bringing his head back in a dramatic fashion. As he did so, his body weight shifted past the balance point he had, causing his body to begin tipping backwards. He was ready for it, as it was done intentionally this time, and kept a grip with his hands and used his knees as well to grip the bar, so that he was now hanging there upside-down, wincing a little when he had to use his core muscles to help catch himself.

A tired look draped around Minnow’s facials as he walked the road back up to the castle. It had been an entirely too long day yesterday. Initially, he had only planned on going into the city to receive a shipment of new herbs and return late the same afternoon when quite a few things popped up and distracted him. The most prominent of them being an older woman dragging him willingly off to help with her sickly husband who had been bedridden for the past couple of days. However, the illness was much more serious than he initially suspected, and ended up spending the whole rest of the day and night keeping watch over him.

Running a hand through his hair, Minnow let out a small sigh of fatigue. He felt bad not having been there to greet the other kings, but Amon had assured him that it would be fine for him to take the day to go run his errands, despite Minnow’s little objections. He had gotten only small spurts of sleep during the night, each session lasting only five or six minutes, and were few and far between. The good news was that the man had recovered fully and could now return to work to provide for his family, but the young protector was pretty exhausted and seemed to be dragging his feet as he hauled himself back to his home. A light hemp bag was slung over one shoulder with the arm’s hand resting on the lip of it, but the boy’s other hand lay limp at his side.

However, upon entering the threshold of the gates, immediately he sensed something was amiss and his body came lurching to a halt. He blinked a few times before suddenly bringing a foot up and quickly unlacing his boots. It was a strange sight for sure, what with Minnow being tired but also hopping about to keep his balance. He didn’t even think of simply bending over to do what he intended, and soon he discarded his socks as well.

Digging his toes into the earth and letting out a content sigh despite the spark of unease that rippled through his body, he set his soles against the ground and felt the grass tickle his skin there. Closing his eyes in a concentrated manner, he shrugged his shoulders back and took a deep breath. A warm dull blue glowed from his ankles before branching out in slow, pulsating tendrils disappearing into the earth.

Connecting with the ground, his eyes moved from behind his eyelids. What was previously seen as just black from closed eyes soon started to shift and morph, smoky white wisps of color seeped into the blank canvas, soon shifting into the shapes and patterning out the area that surrounded him for about a mile or so. His eyes strained this way and that, scanning quickly through the area. Immediately he located quite a few disturbances in the area that were not supposed to be there. Broken branches, trampled plants, fragments of cloth and a general aura that spoke of evil.

Minnow’s eyes immediately flickered open and he shot off at a run, a new energy filling his form as adrenaline coursed through his blood. He had figured out Amon’s position with his sight, and was quickly racing over there to make sure he was alright and also to explain what was going on.

Reaching the two trees Amon was currently hanging from on his staff, Minnow called out frantically, ”My lord, what happened?? Is everything alright?”

Amon blinked, craning his neck around to see Minnow standing there. The boy looked haggard and that he needed a good nap or so. Guess he too must have been busy all of last night, though considering he didn’t ask about any attacks Amon could assume it wasn’t because he had been attacked. Amon smiled some at that thought before he let his leg slip from their spot on the staff, sliding between his hands which were still gripping the staff. Once they fell to their place beneath Amon, he then let the staff go and dropped onto the ground, turning to better look at Minnow.

“Well, Minnow. Guess I’ll just…I won’t beat around the bush here. A lot happened last night, none of it good frankly.” He said while reaching up and grabbing the staff, maneuvering it some so that he could pull it from its place in the tree. He caught his shirt as it fell from its place, setting it on his shoulder as he did so. "We received some very bad news about the Water King, who it turns out is dead, and his orb is missing."

A solemn look filled the youth’s face as he heard of the Water King’s status. But he had no time to feel empathy or sorrow for such a situation, because obviously something else had occurred, and it actually mattered as his own king had been injured, and someone had obviously intruded on the castle grounds. He looked at Amon’s wound, biting his lip worriedly. “That wasn’t it, though. How many were there? Are the other kings injured as well?”

Amon followed Minnow's eyes to the wound on his stomach before looking back up at him. "As far as I'm aware, three of them. Kanan and I got a little beat up, Lord Siya I think was hurt but nothing to serious. Lord Taki only took minor injuries as well." Amon paused, thinking aobut how to word the next part. Straight forward seemed to be about the only way he could think of, and it was doing alright so far so he jsut continued. "They were after the orbs. Lord Taki and I, with some help from Kanan for me, were able to fend off our attackers before they could try to nab them however. Lord Siya was rescued though by one of his protectors, so we got lucky there."

The orbs…? The color drained from Minnow’s face a bit, and he wobbled slightly on his feet. Sucking in a breath of air, the protector’s face scrunched up in pain and he quickly settled his body on the grass. He crossed his legs as he sat, leaning his head forward with another wince and propping it up with his hand, elbow resting on his knee. He ran his other hand through his hair in a nervous sort of tick. Not only was the news heavy and surprising, but his fatigue catching up with him once more did not help the situation.

He glanced up at Amon through his bangs with a soft frown. ”I shouldn’t have left yesterday.” That was pretty much the only thing he could say with his overburdened mind. In all honesty, handling the situation was a bit difficult, so he reverted to what he knew best. He glanced at the stomach wound again, his frown deepening. ”M’lord, you shouldn’t be training so soon after such an injury, you’re going to reopen it.”

Amon watched Minnow sit there, clearly overwhelmed by the news he had just dropped on him. Amon felt bad having to throw so much at him so suddenly, but he felt that with what had been happened it would have been a worse idea to keep Minnow out of the loop until the meeting. As the boy finished, Amon slowly sat down in front of him, sitting cross legged as well as he looked at Minnow. "I hate it when you frown, you know that?" He began, shifting a little in his spot. "You left with a reason Minnow, and that was to make sure you and the other healers would have enough supplies to fix up the goofballs like Kanan and I when we did something stupid. It's ok that you were gone, you were doing your job whether you think so or not. With you back, and freshly supplied, you can do what it is that you do best." Amon said with a smile.

He shifted from his spot so he was sitting next to him, putting an arm around Minnow and rubbing his shoulder. "And with you being back, you can also do the job of stopping me from doing more stupid things due to my sheer stubborness! I probably shouldn't be exercising with a fresh wound, but you know me. Old habits die hard, it's why I need you to tell me when I'm being dumb and get me to sit back down. So my little fishie needs to stop frowning and get back to telling me what to do!" Amon grinned his usual cheery grin as he finished.

Kanan breathed out slowly, his eye closed as he stretched his magic once again that morning. He hadn't slept all that much and was fairly sure that none of the others had either. Standing statue like in the middle of the hall in the palace he was probably a strange sight to see. One may have thought that he was asleep, but he was not. He was searching.

He found Taki, along with Lutchka. Hebi he found as well whom was not with his King. This made the young protector twitch ever so slightly, a slight pulse of anger coursed through him before it faded away. Soon after he found Siya with both of his protectors, Reynard and Damiano. Finally, he found his own King whom was outside as he usually was. With him though was the one person that Kanan was most happy to feel the presence of.

Opening his gaze again, he started down the hall in pursuit of his King and Minnow. He paused ever so slightly to glance over to his side. He couldn't see the wound, but it had definitely taken it's toll giving him a very slight limp that he was currently in the practice of hiding. Should Minnow find out, he was sure to never hear the end of it and though he enjoyed the attention given to him from the smaller blonde, he wasn't sure he was ready for the earful he would certainly get. Of course, their King was sure to hear it as well. Minnow was just like that.

It took him a total of ten minutes to get down the hall and outside the palace doors. Spotting the pair in the courtyard with all the trees and other additions to the palace's grounds, he made his way over to them. Lord Amon was sure to want to be advised that the other Kings were up and ready to be pulled into the council room. Not to mention that once they were there, Minnow could have a look at Taki's arm which was certainly something to worry over, far more than Kanan's wounds -so the Protector thought-.

With a bow that wasn't quite as low as his normal ones, and defnitely not going to attempt dropping to one knee as usual either, he addressed his King, "Sire. Lord Taki and Lord Siya are awake. Perhaps it is time..." he said, leaving the last part to hang for Amon to decide on his own, after all Kanan wasn't in the habit of ordering his own King around.

The words of his king did not help Minnow’s mood in the slightest. ”My duty as protector far outranks that of a simple supply trip, regardless of the need.” His tone was somewhat flat, obviously devoid of his usual cheer and content. He shifted only slightly to look at his king as Amon settled down in the grass next to him and draped an arm over his shoulder. He tried for a smile, as per his lord’s request, but it wasn’t very convincing.

However, upon turning and seeing Kanan arrive, his eyes lit up a bit. As his fellow protector spoke to King Amon, Minnow’s eyes were watching him expectantly- looking for a bit of greeting or recognition, but he did not receive it. Something twisted inside of him at that fact… was it disappointment he felt? Blinking once, he dispelled the strange thoughts with a light, internal scold. Kanan was far more in tune with his duty than he, and to think of being a distraction to the man in any way possible was foolish in such a critical time.

Yet, when watching him, Minnow did notice one thing. His usual bow was not as it always was, and his eyes squinted slightly in thought. Obviously it was because of a wound. But a wound of that extent…. The young blonde protector suddenly turned to Amon with a mixed look of disappointment, worry, and something almost bordering irritation. To his king’s previous comment, he responded, ”You can start by not lying about the extent of your injuries.” The frown returned, though it did not entirely meet his exhausted eyes. However, Minnow did get up from his seat, albeit stiffly.

He wandered over to Kanan with a hand on his forehead, rubbing an eye. His gaze was focused around his abdomen and hips, and as soon as he reached him, the small protector’s fingers slipped under the hem of his shirt, ghosting against the skin as he pulled the cloth up to inspect the wound. Minnow’s eyes widened as he saw the angry gash in the man’s skin. His voice was quiet as he slowly spoke, ”Who tended to you…? They didn’t do it right….” Minnow could not keep the worry and care from his tone as the words left his lips, despite his fatigue and previous distress.

Amon didn’t let his smile drop, despite the fact he wanted to sigh in frustration at Minnow’s words. Instead he just turned on the spot he was sitting while turning to face Minnow who walked off. ”I never lied about the extent of the injuries, just that Kanan and I…well injuries are rated on a different scale of severity.” Amon said while rubbing the back of his neck

An eyebrow lifted at Minnow's declaration of 'lying' about wounds. He watched the small blonde for a moment before looking to Amon, wondering what it was that Minnow meant. So used to Minnow's presence, he didn't notice that the other protector had moved and was now behind him, not until he felt warm fingers against his skin. It takes a lot to surprise the white haired protector, but this was certainly another one that did it. He went rigid, straightening rather quickly as his one pale blue eye widened in shock. His face turned a slight pink color in hue as he turned his head and looked over his shoulder to the other who was currently inspecting his wound.

He almost didn't answer Minnow's question. Of course it wasn't done right because Kanan had done it himself. Did he dare tell that to the blonde, though? This was certainly something to struggle with, and Kanan did struggle to come up with an answer. Lying would only put the poor person he comes up with in trouble with Minnow. That wouldn't do. However, the alternative wasn't all the better either. Finally, he resigned, "I did..." he answered softly then quickly added, "Lord Taki needs you, Minnow, as does our King."

Amon raised an eyebrow as he watched Kanan’s expressions. Was it really that strange to have Minnow looking you over? Not like it was the first time or anything, him being the resident healer and what not. Amon kept his eyes on Kanan, head cocking to the side as he watched the young man."Relax Kanan, he's just checking the wound is all."

Minnow could have kicked himself. How could he be so rash and inconsiderate? Rubbing his hand over the bridge of his nose in slight embarrassment, he coughed ever so lightly. “I didn’t- I-… apologies.” There was a slight stutter in his voice as he awkwardly tried to word his feelings, eventually just reverting to a simple one word answer. His fingers lingered by the wound a bit longer than they needed to, Minnow’s mind elsewhere before realizing he had yet again spaced out. He dropped the shirt and took a slight step to the side, looking at Kanan as he spoke of one of the kings.

”Lord Taki…?” He blinked, not really understanding until he realized he was talking about a medical need. Minnow wanted to groan in embarrassment for being so slow in understanding things; he really needed to take a break and a nap. His gaze once more rested on Kanan. ”Come see me later, I’ll fix the giant hole in your side. I’ll go find Lord Taki at once.” With a last look at the two, he departed, hand on his forehead yet again as he rubbed at the slight headache that was beginning to form there from lack of sleep.

Kanan continued to watch Minnow from over his shoulder, settling slightly and remembering that he was in the presence of his King. Reigning in his shock which had been caused by Minnow suddenly touching him, he gave a slight questioning look to Minnow as the boy apologized. What he was apologizing for, he wasn't sure. When the blonde boy stepped away from him, he held Minnow's gaze. When the boy told him to come see him later, he nodded a bit, though he frowned slightly.

"It's not giant..." he muttered to himself. Minnow certainly had a way with describing things. Maybe it seemed giant to him, but to Kanan, whose frame was covered in scars, it was insignificant. Watching the other protector as he left, he felt a twinge of guilt. The boy was tired, he could tell. Perhaps he should have told him to sleep first and told him about Taki later. Resisting a heavy sigh he turned back to Amon.

"They're waiting," he said trying to put himself back in his usual, non-expressive mode.

Amon chuckled slightly, watching Kanan go back to his sudden stoic look. Sorry boy, ya slipped. he thought before patting his thighs and standing up. He grabbed the shirt from his shoulder and slipped it back on before heading over to where he had left his staff. "They are indeed, so let's get this meeting underway. Might as well get all the 'fun' stuff out of the way then." Amon looked at Kanan, nodding his head towards the palace before turning and walking towards it. "Away we go my dear Kanan!" the king shouted as he went.

Taki wanted to scratch at one of the bandages on his face as he laid on his back in his bed. He knew it was going to hurt like hell, but it was so tempting to do so. Just before he reached his hand to his face he thought he heard footsteps near his door.

Raising up his head a little to look at the door he couldn't tell if it was Lutchka or someone else just outside of the door. Heck, after the energy left him that night he had passed out in his room. Fights had their way of doing that, even more so with the amount of magic he had to use to get the earth from the ground to the room. Not to mention having it incase his arm and whatnot.

"Lutch?" Taki quietly asked in the darkness of the room. He honestly had no idea where she was at the moment and couldn't see too well in the dark.

Minnow knocked lightly at the door of King Taki, waiting a few moments before entering the room. It was dark inside, the drapes pulled heavily over the window preventing any sunlight from reaching into the room.

At the questioning call of the king, Minnow blinked before answering. ”Ah, apologies if I’ve woken you. I’m Lord Amon’s other protector. I was told to come see to your injuries.” He bowed despite the lack of vision in the room and quickly strode over to the window to pull the drapes aside and allow as much sunlight in as possible so he could survey the damage to the king's body.

Taki shot up to the sitting position as he heard the words "other protector" and "see your injuries". With an overly excited smile on his face Taki said quickly to Minnow "So you're the one who's going to be able to fix my arm?! My fucking hero!"

Sliding off the bed and zipping over to Minnow, Taki almost tackled the poor guy with a lifting hug and shake. "Sooo when you going to start huh? Huh?" Within Taki's eyes there was a gleam. As he thought about being able to use his left arm again. He had the behavior of a puppy getting its first bone to chew on.

Minnow took a half step back at the greeting he received, a bit of wariness to his body language. He did not expect such behavior from another king- he didn’t think anyone else could be even remotely like Amon. A light ‘oof’ left his lips as the man practically barreled into him and lifted him off the ground excitedly. A timid smile filled his lips and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Taki put him back down. ”Ah, yes, I’ll try to do my best.” He grinned at the man; to be honest he was a bit relieved that formalities didn’t seem entirely necessary with him.

”So let’s see the dam-" Minnow soon cut himself off as he saw the state of the man's left arm. His eyes widened slightly in horror, and he quickly grabbed the limb carefully to look at it with a slight frown of concentration to his face.

[color=#a8d150"I'm... going to need a little time to gather the necessary materials, M'lord. If it's acceptable, I'll go gather them and treat you during the council meeting."[/color]

Taki's expression changed as dissapointment crashed into him. His behavior could now be seen as a bit shut down as he realized he would have to wait longer. "Y-yeah that's fine. I guess I'll see you then big guy?"

Awaiting for Minnow to let go of his arm he wanted to go back to his bed. Maybe if he slept time would move faster, or at least he could forget about it for a while. A small sigh passed through Taki's lips as a bit of sunlight could be seen in the dissapointed eyes of the man.

Minnow blinked, examining the wound for a bit longer before releasing his hold on the king’s limb. He could immediately hear and see the disappointment that bled from the man’s body, and he closed his eyes in a sheepish smile. Who could blame him? Losing the use of an arm for so long a time would depress anyone. ”No worries, it should not take too long to find what I need.” He bowed once more before departing the room.

[color=a8d150]However, the time I need to take a nap so I can actually know what I’m doing might make it a little bit longer, plus I'll need to do a bit of research.[/color] He thought quietly to himself as he made his way to the greenhouse. [color=a8d150]A couple minutes' rest should cover it....[/color]

Siya took hold of the seat and pulled it out so that he could take his place at the table that served for the council room in Amon's palace. Leaning forward, he curled his fingers together as he placed both arms up on the table and glanced around the table at the others who were seating themselves as well. Once everyone was settled, he cleared his voice slightly to get their attention.

"The water orb is missing. This means that without a vessel soon it will unleash all of its power. Places that have no water will be flooded; places that have water will be dried up. Everything is going to go chaotic within the next few weeks. Our first priority should be finding a new King to hold the orb," he started, his voice slightly breathless as he was a bit unsure about this idea. After all, they had all just been attacked by a mysterious person who was evidently after their orbs. Taking a breath he glanced down to the table before looking up again.

"We will also have to be very careful from now on. Finding out who is after us is also very important. We cannot let this individual run rampant through our lands doing as they please. How they found out about the orbs, I think, matters not to me. What matters now is that we deal with them accordingly."

Amon took his seat, setting his staff down next to him, letting it lean against the chair he was in. He leaned back in his chair, getting himself into a comfy position as he listened to Siya speak. Once he was finished, Amon leaned forwards enough that he could place his arms up on the table. "Couldn't have said it better myself to be honest, now if only we just had some idea where to begin looking for either." he said.

Strolling in, Taki slowly moved to his seat. Along with him he brought both of his protectors who walked along his side. Gently waving to the others Taki gave a pleasant smile to everyone as he said. "Greetings, what's up, how are you'll?"

Taking his seat he slouched a little as he glanced between the Kings. All of them had such good manners sitting up and all. Compared to him they looked like actual Kings, but Taki didn't care as the Taki grin grew upon his face. None of them could say they held off an assassin with one arm. "Hell yeah." Taki boasted under his breath.

Amon glanced at Taki as he walked in before looking back ahead, this time at nowhere in particular. Least he's cheerful he thought to himself. "Don't suppose any of you might have any contacts or leads of any kind to finding either the peopel attempting to kill us, or finding a water user such as the one we need?"

Siya leaned back in his chair, "None that I know of," the Fire King answered with a heavy sigh, "The Kings have always found their own successors. It would really be near impossible for us to just go and find one, but we have to think of something," he raised his fingers and tapped them against his lips, "The only thing we will have to look for is if anyone can use magic without sacrificing any metals."

"Of course, because that is so very simple, my Lord Siya," Hebi chimed in finally. He was once again leaning against the back wall behind his Kings chair, arms crossed over his chest as he regarded them, "You realize that you're looking at an entire country to try to find one single person, yes?"

"I realize this, Hebi," Siya answered with a heavy sigh.

Hebi lifted an eyebrow, "Do you? Then why are you asking for the impossible, young Fire Lord. I see why the many rumors of you're being the 'Child King' may be true. Perhaps you should think more like an adult King. The orb is far more valuable than a person. Find that first and you will easily find your vessel for it," the Snake hissed from his place against the wall.

Damiano had entered the room long ago alongside Lord Siya, though rather than sitting he had decided to rest back near a wall out of the way. He figured he’d let the kings do the talking, as he’d rather not say the wrong thing to them. Not to mention that in all honesty, he had no real idea what to say or how to help as he had little idea as to what they were really talking about. Sure Lord Siya had told him of the orbs, their purpose, and the purpose of the kings as vessels but that was really about it.

However, it was one of the Earth Protectors speaking up that drew his attention, and possibly his ire. Damiano didn’t appreciate the tone he was taking, nor the insult he was throwing towards his king. He finally decided to speak up, hopefully for the better. "Age has nothing to do with wisdom. I was younger than him when I was thrown into a pit of lions and told to fend for myself, and not just fend for myself but also complete the tasks given to me by the same people who threw me into that pit. I would hardly call finding one person impossible, especially because we are looking for someone with a talent that's rather rare amongst anybody."

He stepped from his place in the wall, starting to walk slowly towards the table and up next to Siya. "You look where someone with the ability to manipulate water at a whim would be very, very useful or prominent, such as maybe a renowned healer, maybe an area of hefty violence where somebody with that kinda ability could really make a difference. It's not like people are not going to talk about individuals with such gifts." Damiano finally stopped next to Siya, having never looked away from Hebi the whole time, smiling some. "Not that hard."

Hebi tilted his head as he regarded the other protector, "So, you say you and your Child King are one of a kind. How touching," the man's lips quirked into a smile, "So you both get to share in that little detail. Well, perhaps then you could teach the little runt of a King how to act like one, yes? Finding the orb should be more important than finding some person, as I say, once again. You're talking of searching this entire area."

"Hebi. Please for once shut up. The actual adults are talking here." Taki shook his head in frustration as he made a motion with his good arm to the Fire King and his protectors. "Please forgive my protector, he gets off to getting under peoples skins. It's like his thing." Taki briefly paused as he gave another motherly look of annoyance to Hebi. "Now, please continue."

"He has a point." The words rang out in the Council room, hanging heavy over the table and drawing attention to the other one of the Fire King's Protectors seated beside his young charge. Reynard looked exhausted, the sleepless night wearing on the Protector combined the yet unexplained grief from the night before to wear down his stern features. He hadn't intended to speak at the meeting, had been quite pleased to sit back and let the three Kings make arrangements and plans as was their right to do. But now... He might not like it- well, he definitely didn't like it, but the Earth Protector had a point. Oh, he could rant and rave at the other man for ages, extolling Siya's virtues or simply handing out a threat woven in a promise of swift retribution, but now wasn't the time for bickering. People had been killed, the Kings attacked the night before... Things had to be done.

"While I obviously disagree with his opinion on Lord Siya," Reynard began dryly, "And I do agree with Lord Siya that the new vessel must be found, the Orb must also be considered. More likely than not the same people who attacked last night are the ones who have the Orb of the Water King. If we find the Orb, not only do we have a powerful object returned to safe hands, but we also find the ones who stole it." And when they found those who stole it, they found the assassins of the Water King and his Protectors, and, God, Reynard wanted to be a part of that.

Lutchka sat comfortably in the seat beside her King, one leg crossed over the other and both palms lying flat beside her thighs. She had a very involved look to her face, one of piqued interest and slight excitement to see what the kings would end up doing. A light smirk was placed upon her lips the entire time.

Having gotten some rest the previous night, she was renewed and could deal with a lot more of Hebi’s remarks without being too irritated. He was always like this, he simply had no manners.

Minnow carried the many supplies he required to work on Lord Taki’s arm. He looked much better than he did before, having gotten about an hour or so of rest, and a light smile was on his face. He quietly entered the council room as several people were firing pointless comments at one another. Glancing around, he located every individual- his glance lingering just a split second longer on Kanan than the others- and made his way over to the free seat to the left of the Earth King. Flashing the man a positive grin, he took the chair before running a hand through his bangs once, quietly laying everything out before him.

He dipped his head slightly to the King in greeting, ”My lord.” He motioned for Taki to set his arm on the table so he could begin work.

Lutchka looked up from where she sat and let out a sigh. ”Loathe as I am to say it, I agree. Hebi is not entirely incorrect. However, it doesn’t really matter which one is more important. Both are needed for balance to be restored. If we have the orb, but no vessel, nothing will stop the chaos from occurring. However, it is also pointless to have a vessel with no orb, convenient as it is to have that checked off the list. In the wrong hands, I only foresee destruction and all sorts of evil, so it is key that we find it as quickly as possible.” While it was slightly repeating what the Fire Protector had said, Lutchka shrugged lightly in attempts to settle both sides.

Siya flinched slightly at Reynards agreement with the other. He did not, however, miss the fact that Reynard had disagreed with how Hebi had spoken. He sighed inwardly. Child King certainly is the right title though, he frowned heavily and stared into the table for quite some time before something struck him. Nearly jumping out of his seat, he looked over to Reynard, his fiery gaze wide, "The Water Orb!" he said very loudly, to which Hebi snickered partially in amusement, and was probably going to open his mouth yet again.

"Reynard... that man that attacked me last night. He was using water when he tried to drown me."

"Too bad he didn't succeed," Hebi commented offhandedly.

Siya ignored that but Kanan didn't. The air protector's gaze which had been resting on the blonde head of Minnow for quite some time snapped up to the other. The one eyed protector moved slowly, but purposefully. His steps were soft, hardly heard across the stone floor as he repositioned himself to be closer to Hebi as well as closer to Minnow. At least from this proximity, drawing his sword in one motion should the other attempt anything further, it would be much easier. Hebi glanced over to Kanan briefly, his smirk growing wider.

Amon leveled a glare at Hebi when he made that remark, all cheerfulness gone from the Air King's tone. [color=#002355]"Make one more crack like that hebi, and I'll make sure you are not talking for awhile. I will not stand by and let you disrespect one of my guests nor allies in such a manner. So I suggest that the next words out of your mouth be helpful, for your sake."

"I'm terribly sorry Amon." Taki said in a sincere voice as he flinched slightly in pain as Minnow worked on his arm. He wasn't sure what was going on with that as he tried to ignore it. He always got wigged out seeing people work on his flesh. However, for some reason he could sworn he felt his left hand's index finger twitch. An excitement grew deep within at the thought and he failed to hide it as a smile grew upon his face.

Minnow worked with making salves and pastes, ripping stems in half and squeezing the juice from a few strange looking bulbous plants. The wound mainly looked like it had been charred and cauterized too much, but that obviously wasn’t the only problem. He could tell just by looking at the wound and feeling around it that his element had lashed back out him. There was a bit of temporary nerve damage, and the outermost part of his skin needed to be removed so that the normal flesh could have room to regrow. Instead of taking the painful option to remove the skin with tools, which was unpleasant for both the healer and the patient, he simply used a few mixtures between herbs and flowering plants to make a sort of opaque ointment, which he quickly rubbed over the Earth King’s arm.

Despite his lack of desire to use any tools, Minnow did know he needed to open the skin as soon as possible to make sure it had not become infected, as well as to implant the necessary materials to counter the damage to the man’s nerves. While the ointment slowly worked at softening his seemingly charred skin, Minnow worked on the needed pulp for his nerve endings, placing a bit of it on the wound every so often and rubbing it in with his finger.

Despite any gore or uncomfortable sights, Minnow enjoyed his job, and wasn’t easily disturbed by fleshly wounds. As he worked, he completely ignored almost all of the chatter around him.

Damiano sighed as he leaned against one of the chairs before standing up off of it. "Ok, so most of you seem so set on orb first, new king/queen next. But how do you suggest we find the orb, hm? From what I hear it's find the assassins, find the orb, which makes sense and I can certainly agree on the whole assassins lead to orb deal." Damiano then began pacing near Siya and Reynard, something he usually did when he was thinking or ranting. "But I ask, and I think the garden snake over here might enjoy this one honestly, why hunt the assassins? We don't need to hunt them down. They came to us! They attacked us in a place as fortified as a castle, so clearly they have no issues going after us anywhere else we might go." He stopped next to Siya once more, looking around at the others. "I say that we look for the new individual to possess the orb, and then we just wait for the assassins to show themselves once more. Capture 'em, interrogations maybe, point is they are saving us the trouble of looking for them by coming to us anyways. That way we get to do both tasks at once, a lot easier if you ask me than doing them seperately." He then leaned forwards on the chair, looking out at them, shrugging his shoulders as he did. "Your choice though, I'm just here to act as bodygaurd not make the decisions."

Reynard was not interested in arguing. To be fair, he rarely was being more of a "walk away from the situation" type or, if it became more violent a "make sure the other guy can't walk away" type. Still, the fact remained that the Protector had a job to do and it wasn't making eloquent arguments and/or trying to shut up those who depended on snark to stir up trouble. His job, in essence, was Siya who from his comment on the Water Orb onwards had drawn his attention.

"Correct, Lord Siya. The assailant was a water user, and..." He paused for a moment, recalling the events from the night before, lips pursed into a little o of surprise. "He used the Earth element as well."

"That's funny." Taki interjected. "Mine used air." Wincing slight at a bit of momentary pain from Minnow's work. Taki stared at them in confusion.

Siya bit his lip, taking a deep breath in that was almost akin to a gasp, but not quite. He watched Reynard carefully, his gaze shifting between both of his protectors eyes as he sat there, leaned against the arm of his chair. With Taki's input as well, he was now utterly confused and didn't know what to think or how to piece it all together. Both eyebrows knit together as he sat there, "I... How is that even possible..." he muttered, "To weild two elements. It's impossible."

With a sigh of frustration he leaned back against his chair, his fingers reaching up to run through his hair which he had braided up again that morning. The braid hung over one shoulder, just barely brushing across his chest as he pulled the ends of it, "In any case, I see everyone's point. It is true that these assailants came after us. Should they already have the water orb-"

"Wishful thinking..." Hebi said

Siya continued without missing a beat, "- then they come to us and we will have it. We should be looking for the vessel to carry it after that," he glanced up over his shoulder to Damiano as if to say thanks to the man without actually voicing it. Of course he would tell the man that later on when they were not in the company of others. How many times had Reynard scolded him for showing too much affection? It was nearly engrained in him now. Still, he couldn't help the small grin that he flashed up at the other.

Kanan crossed his arms, shifting slightly as he stood right behind Minnow now almost as if to keep the young protector out of Hebi's line of sight and insulting words. He glanced over to Amon though, wondering what it was that they were all going to decide. To him though, hunting down the assassins would have been his first choice. But then, Kanan had been bred to kill, it wasn't something that he could just easily get rid of.

Amon was just quiet, thinking to himself. Wielding two elements, something I’ve had never heard of before. What if it’s there use of the orb that enabled them to do so? Sitting back in his seat, leaning the chair back enough so that he could comfortably rest his legs up on the table. "I guess we have ourselves a plan of action then. Good, less time we spend here the better." He let his eyes wander up to the ceiling as he placed his hands behind his head. "But where to begin looking?" he muttered quietly to himself.

"Perhaps we should start in the Water Kingdom," Siya offered with a shrug of his shoulders, "Send small groups into the Kingdom under the order of looking for any one with... special talents. Have them bring that person to the nearest Kingdom."

"My dear, 'Child King'.... Think hard on that," Hebi said, his voice just above a low whisper. Though it sounded as if he was angry, the cruel twist of his lips into a smile was definitely far from it, "Are you willing to chance just any poor creature brought to you in the hopes you find what you are looking for? How will you explain to them the ordeal without telling them about the orb, because you know..." he leaned forward off the wall, making Kanan overly tense in the action, "Once they find out, you will have to kill them."

"I will not kill anyone!" Siya shot back, finally acknowledging the man as he stood up abruptly and slammed his hands on the table.

"Ooh my, then think it over again before you suggest such stupidity, Child King."

It was really more of a movement of pure instinct that had Reynard's hand shooting out, gripping solidly onto Siya's arm. It was as much a move to control, more subtle than grasping him bodily, as a way to comfort. He didn't like Hebi's attitude any more than any of the others in the room, but he had enough on his mind and his proverbial plate without adding his obvious attempts to bait everyone, thank you very much.

Amon slowly looked at Hebi. "Choose your next words very carefully protector."

it was Damiano's turn to mutter something. " Or at least be creative if you are going to egg people on, sheesh."

During the conflict at the table Taki held his face in his right hand. He was litterally face-palming and wishing to the gods he could have Hebi knocked out before and after every meeting. Or just knocked out all the time. He needed a break, and he needed a drink.

Looking up at Taki for a moment, he blinked. “Open, don’t scream too loudly.” He hardly gave the Earth King time to react before shoving a clean rag into his mouth and digging his fingers into the softened flesh of his wounded arm. Most of it had already begun to shed off, but if either of them wanted to get something properly accomplished, the process had to be sped up a bit. He tried to work as quickly and gently as he could as he assisted the herbs in removing the topmost layer of blackened skin, which was probably sensitive now from the softening and the other herbs he used for the nerves.

Minnow went only so far as a few layers, until the blackened skin turned a lighter and slightly redder shade. He then slathered a few different pulps and salves on the wound to assist in the stinging and also cleaning out the wound.

The young protector smiled brightly at the man, wiping his fingers clean on another cloth. ”That should help immensely. The skin’s going to keep coming off, and be sure to reapply the ointment every hour and a half or so until the skin becomes a slightly red, fleshy shade of color. Then come see me again and we can work further the damaged parts in your fingers. It may take a few days, though. I’m not entirely sure.” With a sheepish, close-eyed grin of accomplishment, the youth nodded slightly.

Growling in pain into the rag, Taki did his best to not accidently strike at the young protector as he felt the fingers dig into his arm. Unable to ignore the pain a little tear went down his face as it was in fact the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life. Cringing he allowed Minnow to work further as bits of blackned skin would leave his arm.

After the cloth was removed from his mouth and Minnow stepped back, Taki shot to his feet. A childish grin played upon his face as he tried to bend his arm at the elbow. As he did so a few pops could be heard as the static joints came back to life. Sadly however for this day he was only able to bend his elbow. He had not regained full control over his left arm, but alas it was still a victory in his book.

Turning to Minnow beaming, Taki suddenly lifted up the protector with both arms. It ended up being more his right arm than his left arm as he couldn't exactly get a grip on the young Minnow. Pulling the healer in he hugged him tightly as he spun around. After a short moment he pulled Minnow just away from him enough so he could lean in and kiss him quickly before putting him down.

"Thank you!" Taki said as he litterally wanted to dance around the room.

The hand on Siya's arm seemed to take his full attention. The fingers wrapped around his arm were warm, strong and very familiar. Glancing down he looked over to Reynard and felt his face heat considerably. Feeling slightly ashamed of himself, he slowly sat down again. Once again he was unable to meet Reynards gaze though he could feel it on him. Siya knew that he had gotten far too worked up and that he had allowed Hebi to get to him. Sometimes he wished that he were more like Reynard with his ability to control his emotions. The young Fire King gave a soft sigh.

"I think we are settled then," he said as he looked over to Amon. He tried not to look at what Minnow was doing to the poor Earth King's arm though because it looked far too unpleasant to even stomach, so he avoided that as much as possible, "We will prepare to return to the Fire Kingdom. In the mean time, I will send people to search for a new vessel-"

Taki's jumping up out of his seat startled the young Fire Lord and he glanced over briefly. As he watched though, he had to bit his lip to keep from laughing at the sudden display. Taki looked so relieved about his arm that the energy was spreading through the room. However, a certain other protector was looking utterly shocked.

Kanan startled. His eye widened as he watched Taki pick up the small Minnow and hug him. Though he wasn't too fond of that, he could tolerate it. However, what got him more than a little worked up was the kiss that the Earth Lord suddenly planted on Minnow. Without thinking, he reached out, snatched Minnow's arm and dragged the smaller protector back towards him away from the other King. It took him a moment to realize what he had done and when he did he quickly released Minnow and stepped back, trying to recompose himself.

And utterly failing.

Sometimes he really hated his pale skin for any sort of color that presented itself was brighter than normal. He could feel the blush creeping along his cheeks and he gripped both hands behind his back and tried not to look at anyone directly, especially Minnow. Damn it... he thought to himself. He really wanted the other Kings to return to their homes now. He wasn't at all himself the past few days. Too much tension.. yes... way too much tension he thought, trying to reason with himself.

Amon had intended to respond to Siya's remark, but Taki sudden outburst and antics did draw a smile from him as he watched. The kiss had him chuckling, but when he watched Kanan suddenly grab and drag Minnow away from Taki in a strange fit of...over-protectivness, but then when he saw Kanan stand there, almost like a deer blinded by a light with how surprised he was at his own actions, Amon's chuckle grew louder. Then he saw the blush, blinked, then started laughing more. Amon didn't want to be mean, but seeing Kanan's stoic appearance flop so badly like this was just too much for him. "Oh gosh...! That, that is jsut adorable!!" he exclaimed as he continued.

In his mirth, Amon had not paid attention to how far back he was leaning, and for the second time in less than twenty-four hours he found himself tipping over backwards and flopping out of the seat. It did nothing to stop his laughter though, so he jsut remained there on the floor, hoping to calm himself down soon.

Lutchka’s eyes widened as Taki kissed Minnow. She slapped her thigh and sat forward with a short laugh. “Taki, you sly dog! I didn’t think that was your thing~” She teased brightly, a playful smirk to her lips and her eyes dancing with mischief. She was overjoyed that her king could finally start using his left arm again, but such an overzealous reaction couldn't be missed.

Taki for a moment seemed too in love with the fact he could bend his arm. Taking a moment to dance around with his arm he merely responded to Lutchka with, "Don't feel bad Lutchka I'm flexable!" Again he begun to move around with his arm as he smiling and dancing about the room. He even tried throwing Hebi a hug of which he missed and walked into the wall.

The hug was unexpected, but it was sort of nice, other than the grip behind it. Minnow didn’t entirely know how to react to such an explosion of gratitude. And if he was embarrassed just by the show Taki had made out of him, he was utterly shocked when he was kissed. He seemed to just freeze up for a split-second, utter confusion reeling in his mind as well as something that felt like it was trying to come up and slap Taki across the cheek. He didn’t want to be touched by him like that. He wanted-

His reeling thoughts suddenly came screeching to a halt as he felt the surprisingly warm touch of someone behind him, and somehow he immediately knew it was Kanan. Probably by the proximity the man had been keeping beforehand. His back bumped into the one-eyed protector’s chest, and probably one of the worst blushes he’d ever experienced raced across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He tried to stammer something legible out, but was failing miserably. Kanan had grabbed him, out of all people out of all situations. Did that mean that he- But it couldn’t possibly- But the only explanation- Why did he- Did-

Thoughts raced around in his mind too quickly to grab a single one and try to flatten it out to make some sense. However, the warmth of Kanan’s proximity quickly disappeared as the man took a step back, and another strange feeling twisted inside of him, much like the one that had bothered him earlier in the courtyard.

Amon’s laughing only made the situation that much worse and chaotic, and Minnow found it utterly impossible to figure anything out. Finally he parted his lips to allow a few words to tumble out. ”I’m… should probably clean… out….” His entire sentence structure made no sense, and he shot out the door with a slight stiffness in his awkward scramble to grab his supplies and depart as quickly as possible.

It may not have been very gracious at all, but that was the thing furthest from his mind at that point. He also had the afterthought that he wasn’t actually needed in the meeting, and regardless if he were missed or not, he needed to leave immediately and get some fresh air.

The hood fluttered slightly around his face as he moved rapidly, silently through the halls. Following after the one King with a wounded arm was easy enough. Keeping his presence hidden and at a good distance was something he was very good at. Once they had returned to their own palace several days later, he took another day before he attempted anything. Now he was pacing through the halls, hiding himself when necessary and in search of the orb that he could just barely feel. He had to move quickly, otherwise he wasn't going to get what he needed before that man did.

Grinding his teeth, he silently cursed himself for his own lack of competence. Of course the other would have followed him. That person wanted him dead after all. He was a high threat, someone that would ruin all the plans that the other had carefully been putting together. Then... the orbs went missing. Things went chaotic, and things that neither of them had planned to happen, did. His fingers curled into fists as he recalled the memories briefly.

I will get those back... I have to get them back, he thought angrily and quickened his pace.

He turned down a hall and narrowed his gaze. It was probably his anger and the feeling of having to rush things that announced his presence so quickly. Any other time and he would have snuck up behind the King to attack him. But this time, he lifted up his arm in a harsh motion and the hallway floor rumbled, cracked and tore opened to allow dirt and thick roots to come sprouting forth to attack the man that was just ahead of him.

At first, Taki's eyes went wide as he had heard the steps but did not foresee the attack up him. However as he heard the shattering of the floor between his feet he jumped into the air as he exclaimed. "OH so you brought me a present!"

Withdrawing his blade as Taki hacked at the roots on the path to his legs as he landed on the right side of the room. Holding his blade with just one arm he leaned his head back as his eyes looked to his newest foe. A smile sprouted on Taki's face and grew rapidly as well as toothy. Pulling in deep and over the top breaths, Taki's body trembled with excitement. Smiling ear to ear he didn't even seem to bother to look at a lone root before reaping it.

"Tasty. May I have another?!"

Mismatched eyes grew hard, anger crossing them as the cloak's hood fell back from his harsh movements. His body lunged forward as he moved his hands roughly, the earth lurching around Taki's body with the sudden violence with which the man was wielding his magic. Gritting his teeth tightly, he advanced on Taki with only the intention of tying him down if he could.

Taki suddenly brought his arms to his side as a bright green light glowed from his left shoulder. With a loud rumble, Taki was launched into the air by a circular pad of earth at his feet. Narrowly dodging the collapsing earth around his original location, Taki fell forward as he preformed a combat forward roll into a lung with his blade extended to the incoming man.

With a sharp intake of breath, both eyes widened and he quickly backpedaled to avoid being run through by the King's blade. Hissing in anger, he lifted his hands again and raised up a thin rock wall between himself and the sword. It wasn't going to stop the man, no, but it did keep him from being impaled long enough to draw his own weapon. Once his sword was free of its scabbard, he prepared himself for the oncoming King. His weapon was held downwards and once Taki was in range, he would bring his sword up and across his body in a deadly slash that would hopefully make the man think twice about charging at him again.

Ripping his own blade from the thin earthen wall, Taki grinned as the man went for his counter strike. With his left leg behind his right in stand, Taki stepped his back leg off to the side bring his body with him as he turned sideways to dodge the attack. With a brutally committed swing of his own blade he counter attacked with an upwards slash targeted to start just below the rib cage and to end at the soft spot below the throat.

The smile upon Taki's face was that of pure insanity as he drew himself closer into the battle.

He shifted, trying to compensate for the sudden miss and counter. Bringing his blade back as quickly as he could, he turned his body to try avoid the near deadly blow. The blade of his opponent cut deep, edging across his chest to a more vital area. Throwing himself back, he gained distance and saved his throat. However, the wound was taxing enough and he stumbled as one hand lifted to press against the ruined cloth of his dark clothes. Wincing, his fingers curled into a fist, gripping the torn clothing tightly.

"Damnit..." he cursed under his breath, "Just give the damn orb to me!" he yelled and came forward again, slashing out at the King's arm that wielded the blade.

"Ahahaaaha...no." Taki replied as he too came forward to lash out at his apparent assassin. With the loud clash of metal the two of them seemed to have entered a sword lock. However, to the assassin's advantage before the blades locked the tip of the sword sliced deeply into Taki's cheek. Closing his left eye in pain Taki called out to the assassin.

"Quick question: Do you have a nice pair of canine teeth? For some reason when I was fourteen the first assassin to ever come after me died and Hebi took his canine teeth and I've always been curious as to why."

His arm shuddered as their blades crossed. Pushing with all the strength he could muster, it seemed the King was a match for him. He narrowed his gaze, jaw set tight in a thin lipped grimace as he tried to overpower the other. The question, though, sent him for a loop and he momentarily lost his concentration and grip. "Wh-?!"

Frantically, he shifted, moving so that the oncoming sword wouldn't cleave into his neck. The weapon did miss his neck, but it came down hard into his shoulder and he let out a sharp gasp. Dropping his own weapon he went down to one knee his free hand now gripping the blade tightly to keep it from doing any more damage. Wincing, with one of the colored eyes closed, he looked up at the King slowly, anger still flickering there in his eyes.

"You gotta be careful with those clashes man, shit doesn't always go as expected." Taki said as he yanked his blade from the man's shoulder. With the look of excitement fading from Taki's face he realized the battle was going to be over soon. With a sigh Taki asked yet another question to the man. "Which side of your face do you like better?"

With the sword non-too gently removed, he gave a sharp cry as his hand came up and clutched now his shoulder and he doubled over nearly falling right onto the hallway floor that was destroyed by his magic. Panting slightly, he gave a soft growl as he pulled himself back up to regard the King who stood over him. Again, he was confused by the question and instead of answering, only glowered at him.

Lutchka was just wandering past a connecting hallway when she heard the commotion. Blinking, she stood there for a moment before trotting over to investigate. What she encountered, however, was not what she expected. The entire hallway was in a complete wreck, vines and thick plants curled around windows and doorways, ran through the floors, and not to mention the wreckage that was the floor. It seemed like a freak tornado had run through the castle, though condensed to only this little area.

It was then that her gaze fell upon Taki and a stranger, one who had attempted to attack him, but was obviously failing miserably. The assailant looked young, though, from what she could tell. Her eyes narrowed lightly and she put a hand on her hip as she stalked closer. Taki was obviously handling himself perfectly fine, but she could see from where she was that he had been wounded a bit, and that was unacceptable.

Snapping her fingers together flames licked at her nails before she ran her index along the thick plant right by the doorway, setting it aflame. The blaze caught almost upon immediate contact and ran with its new found freedom. However, the free-flowing element was restricted only to the plants that had dared invade the Earth Kingdom’s palace. She crossed her arms with a small pout, her heels almost silently clicking against the rubble of the floor as she approached.

Only a few feet away, she finally announced herself, ”Aww, Taki, you can’t hog all of them to yourself~ ...You look pretty finished though….” She put a finger to her chin as she regarded them both, completely nonplussed by the entire event, a simple pout on her lips.

Taki jumped a little in surprise as he had been caught off-guard by his protectors appearance. Before her usually he handled all of the attackers and assassins himself as Hebi just did what Hebi did best. Not his job.

With a raise of his brow and a smile just for countering Lutchka's teasing Taki said in return "You're right Lutch, I shouldn't hog all of the assassins now and days. I forget I actually have a protector now." Pausing for a moment Taki chuckled for a moment before finishing with. "Well things are pretty messy here. And you'd of all people would know how I like messy finishes."

Flipping up his blade, Taki caught it before sliding it gracefully back into his sheath. With a little preformed bow in Lutchka's direction Taki stepped back allowing his protector to get closer to the wounded assassin.

Lutchka’s eyebrow rose, and she simply flipped her hair a bit with a light ‘pfft’ before she advanced to the poor boy who had just gotten his ass handed to him. ”Don’t leave another huge mess for the poor servants to have to clean up, even I don’t like the thought of that. You’re too careless, clean cuts are much better.” She grinned brightly, suddenly crouching down right behind the man.

She did not leave him much time to look back up at her, for her index and middle fingers shot right into his neck in a jab, activating the paralyzing pressure points that lay there. She then looked up at her king. ”If he came after the orb, it’s best to question him before we do anything reckless with him.” A sudden grin split across her lips in a mischievous manner, and she regarded her lord lightly as possibilities ran through her mind.

He glowered at both of them, still clutching both wounds. When the woman knelt down next to him, he shifted just a bit to try to get some distance. However, she didn't seem to waste any time and her hand shot at his neck. Startled, he moved, but not quickly enough. His mouth opened, but no sound came. Instead it seemed like everything went numb and for a moment his vision dimmed. A slight buzzing filled his ears and he hit the floor, completely dazed and unable to move.

"Sorry Lutch, you know me. Sometimes I just can't help myself." Taki replied as he looked to the downed assassin. Making a look of uncertainty he stretched his arms out as he said to Lutchka "You may wanna get this guy something to stop the bleeding. I went deep this time!"

As Taki begun to roll his neck he gave off one of the most oddest nods a human could preform as he finished with. "Got it, questions first, awesomeness always."

With a loud sigh, she looked down at the poor guy. Once again, it seemed she was left to the task of carrying someone. Could no one understand that she couldn't maintain that weight for long? She blinked as Taki mentioned his wounds, and she simply shrugged, leaning forward in her crouched position to rest her hand on top of the wound. Once more heat settled under her fingertips at a high degree, cauterizing the wound for now. She was no healer, and she didn’t feel like finding one was her job.

She looked up at Taki and grinned slightly. ”Go find someone to patch you up, I’ll take care of him. Sometimes I wish I could learn some kind of magic puppeteering so I don’t have to lug everyone around. Speaking of which, where is that useless Snake?” Running a hand through her bangs to push them back a bit, she simply walked around him and grabbed a leg.

Dragging the boy through the rubble he had caused, and being none too gentle about it, she removed the youth from the hallway. Despite her earlier quips about having to do so much heavy lifting, it wasn't that big of an issue. It wasn't like she couldn’t handle herself. She figured one of the many open, empty rooms that dotted the palace would do fine for questioning.

Once reaching said destination, Lutchka merely let go of the poor boy’s leg, leaving him in the exact same position as he had been when she had begun in the hallway. She grabbed a wooden chair and slid it over, taking a seat and crossing one leg over the other. The paralysis would eventually rub off. She had time though, which she occupied with looking him over. ”Don’t run, you won’t get far. Plus that won’t be any fun~”

Grinning at his protector Taki was just about to offer to carry the guy. However he was a little too late as Lutchka begun to handle him herself. "He's doing what he does best." He answered as he placed a hand to his face to find that he was bleeding. "Oh shit, he actually got me pretty good."

Though paralyzed, he still flinched as the woman touched him. He couldn't feel what she did, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. To further add to his humilation, she grabbed his leg and proceeded to drag him down the hall. Anger coursed through him and had he not been in the state that he was in, he would have lashed out at her violently. However, all he could do was grit his teeth and bear it. When she finally released him and dragged a chair over, he huffed heavily at her when she told him not to go anywhere. As if I could... he thought sourly. Slowly, he was starting to get feeling back and the first thing he felt was burning in his chest.

Wincing, he gave a slight groan and tightened his hold over the wound that she had stopped the bleeding on. That was going to scar, adding to his collection. With a slight grind of his teeth he looked over to her, "Why not kill me?" he asked heavily, wary of the response he was going to get.

She blinked at his question, a school-girl look of surprise suddenly filling her face. ”Kill you? You’re too cute for that~” Lutchka flashed him a momentary close-eyed smile. Looking at his gaze, she was surprised to see mismatched eyes. She leaned forward a bit to get a better look, noting the colors there. She tilted her head to the side a bit, "Blue and green, huh?"

”You were after Lord Taki’s orb, we’ve got some concerns regarding such.” She leaned forward, a sudden smirk playing at her features, though her eyes were light, as if she were simply smiling. He certainly was young, she realized as she glanced at his features. ”How many have you weathered? Have you ever actually been with a woman?” She was referring to his age in the first part of her question, the second part merely something, albeit odd, for conversation.

His gaze flicked between her own, confusion written clearly on his face. What the hell is she talking about? he thought. It took him a moment, but then he realized she was referring to his mismatched eyes. He frowned at her. And the 'cute' part only made him a bit more angry. As she continued though, his anger flared and his face grew hot with a frustrated blush, "I'm old enough and why does that matter!? Yes, I'm after his orb, it isn't his to begin with it belongs to me, all of them do," he shot back in a heated frenzy.

At his retorts, she merely returned them with a bored look, propping her elbow up onto her knee and resting her chin in the palm of her hand. ”I’m calculating your experience, Chromi, that’s all.” She smiled subtly as she dubbed him with a name, straightening up once more. At his comment of the orbs, she only shot him an unconvinced look, ”But see, that’s a little hard to believe, considering they’ve been running through generations for quite some time now, and you’re what? Eighteen, maybe nineteen?”

His look darkened as he regarded her, between clenched teeth he hissed at her, "You're speaking to the Crown Royal Prince. You should be more careful of what you're saying," he snapped, "My age has nothing to do with this. I'm well old enough to be on the throne of Reimrand."

As she regarded him, her own features shifted into an annoyed frown at his assumptions. She rose from her chair with an unreadable expression. ”You’re wrong on many levels,” She began, coming to a halt right in front of him. In a very swift motion, the sole of her heeled boot suddenly made contact with the young man’s chest, pushing him down threateningly, the point of her shoe right around his sternum. ”You’ll have to forgive me then, M’lord, but you need to realize the position you’re in right now.” To further her point, she placed a bit of pressure on her heel.

”Age has everything to do in this world, you’re young and weak, inexperienced and foolhardy. And if you haven’t noticed by now, you’re in Iveir now, and here we run things by completely different rules. You don’t have very much authority here, and besides, how do I know you’re not just lying through your teeth?”[/b] A cold, calculating look filled her normally sun-shining face, and it was a bit unnerving to say the least.

With the heavy boot in his chest, he gave a shout of pain as well as a loss of air from his lungs. Coughing, he tried to get his breath back while still wincing. Both hands reached up and gripped her foot as she leaned on him, adding to the burning of his wound and the pain caused by kicking him. Panting for air, he winced and huffed in pain.

"Nine...teen.... I'll be twenty... next turn," he managed, his voice growling as he answered her, "I know where I am... Dhaemar. Whole different world, idiot woman!" he snapped. Removing one hand from her boot, he drew back the cloth of his clothes to show her his chest. Marked upon it was a deep, scarlet red insignia, almost like a tribal tattoo, but slightly resembling the head of a dragons maw. Once she got a good look at it, he released his clothes which were disheveled by now and took hold of her foot again to try to release some of the pressure, "Only royalty have that... Go look in your books."

At his words towards her, a scowl filled her features, and a bit of rage could be seen subtly portrayed upon her features. With a hand on her hip, she leaned down, placing just the slightest bit more weight on her foot. She looked at him, her face completely devoid of any compassion or consideration. ”Around here, women of my station are treated with respect,” For a split-second she shifted her weight to the foot on top of him, standing there for a short moment before settling back down onto her other foot.

Her eyes scanned the symbol with little to no interest, and as he released the cloth, she moved her heel from his wound, suddenly kneeling on either side of him. Lutchka’s face held no mischief, no smirks, and no passion whatsoever. ”Does it look like a give a damn about your blood, kid, other than spilling it on the floor again? Do you know what happens to royals who are complete douches? They get assassinated, by the common people. People who’d do a hell of a lot better than what you just barely managed an attempt at today. I don’t bother with books, I burn them….” She ran a finger across the gash in his chest, soon completely ripping the cloth away from his torso.

Continuing with her circling of the deep wound, she met his eyes blankly, ”Insult me again, Chromi,” Her finger suddenly slipped into the raw flesh, her nail running harshly against it before she withdrew, ”And I’ll stop playing nice.”

When her weight transferred to stand fully on him, he gasped in desparately for air. After showing her his mark, she dropped down over him and he ground his teeth at her, but was happy for the release in pressure. He took in a deep breath, his gaze never leaving hers as she spoke to him in clipped tones. He had angered her, but he didn't care. He had done worse before, had gone through worse. Her fingers trailed along the wound in his chest and his ruined clothes were torn apart a second later.

The young Prince only glowered at her. He winced as she ran her fingers along the wound. He only gave a sharp cry of pain when she dug at it, her fingernails reopening it and making it burn as well as scratching at the ruined flesh. His fingers wrapped around her wrist, holding her tightly as his breathing was heavy and rapid through his mouth and nose, "Don't think... this is the first time I've endured things like this," he growled at her, "I don't care whether you believe me or not," the Prince groaned slightly and took a deep breath before continuing, "I will take back what is mine, or you all will risk being killed by him. Believe it or not, woman, I'm trying to save you all."

As the assassin spoke of worse, she merely blinked and tilted her head a bit. ”I’m not even doing anything.” She pouted at him, her usual self returning rather swiftly after the harsh treatment. She only moved so much as to sit on his abdomen, regarding him with only light interest. She frowned lightly at his lack of concern for her caring whether or not he was telling the truth. ”Chromi, the way I see it is that if I don’t believe you, you’re not going to last long, so it surprises me a bit that you don’t care at all.” She poked him faintly on the sternum, a look of concentration on her face as she rested one cheek against the fist of her palm.

As Chromi mentioned the last bit about someone else trying to kill them as well as him trying to save them, she scoffed lightly, a completely unconvinced look on her face. ”You’re trying to save our lives by taking them. Yeah, that makes great sense.” She tapped his chest in random places, making sure to avoid the wound this time, merely doing it to keep her hands occupied. ”You’re all the same, it’s always shoot first ask questions later. No one ever thinks to actually come to the kings and tell them things, nooo you have to take things into your own hands and try to murder the king.” To punctuate her point, she flicked his nose gently with a little sigh.

”I’m just doing my job, Chromi.”

"I don't care about my own life. I do care for my people," he answered her swiftly when she spoke about his not caring. This wasn't going anywhere. He groaned inwardly and shifted his frame around as she was sitting on top of him rather uncomfortably. Hitting his head lightly against the floor in aggrivation he listened to her further as she began tapping his chest.

"I... I wasn't trying to kill them," he fought back, though his gaze looked away and he glowered at the desk in the room through the legs of the chair next to them. He was recalling the other King that he had taken the water orb from. That one.... that one had been an accident. Or maybe he just was ignorant and stupid. Too young, too reckless. It wasn't his intention in the least, but... but...

"It wasn't my intention to murder him! How the hell am I to know that you would believe me in the first place! I wasn't prepared to take the chance that you wouldn't trust me and turned me away, or worse locked me up. So... so I just... I did the only other thing that I could do. Yes, I stole the other orb, and it wasn't my intention to kill him... I," he stopped and gave a frustrated growl as he tilted his head back and shut his eyes tightly, grinding his teeth.

"Damn it... I don't have time for this! I'm sorry, alright?! Now release me, let me take the orb and keep you from being killed by that maniac who has followed me here!"

The words he spoke, concerning the lives of his people, rang something inside of her. Lutchka blinked, her entire mindset shifting. The way he said it, if considered side by side with the reasoning of a madman, he would be telling the truth. Then again, there was also that little fact that he was acting like a child, his words might have only been rehearsed. But considering the situation as well, it made enough sense.

He then spoke of not wanting to kill them, not wanting to take so much blood, only trying to protect himself, and in doing so protecting others. She understood that at least a little, considering her own past, though she was a victim of such intent she could figure it reasonably.

She glowered at him a bit with a ‘tch’ as he spoke of acting without actually trying the option she had mentioned. ”You don’t know until you try, but then again, I’m only a guardian.” However, as he made mention of the Water King and his Orb, she froze, and she also grabbed his chin a bit roughly, angling his gaze to meet hers directly.

”You have the Water Orb? Shite….” She nibbled on her lower lip nervously, trying to decide what she’d do about that information. If he had killed the Water King…. The Fire King’s one protector… he was obviously upset about losing someone there… if he heard that Chromi had been the one behind that…. She glanced down at him as she continued her thoughts, a slight edge of concern to her eyes.

The others would not accept such a fact simply sitting down, they’d demand his blood, probably even rip the Orb from his body, demand justice. This little would-be-mistaken-assassin was extremely vulnerable right now, and obviously all on his own. With his next words… it made sense. He could not be the same man that had attacked those days ago.

He was pathetic. Couldn’t possibly be the same guy.

Suddenly eyeing him warily, she asked one other simple question. ”How did you kill the Water King so easily, and yet you’re absolutely pathetic against the Earth King?” The only real answer that could be even in the realm of possibility was that those in the Court of Water were weak, or he had actually done his job right. She squinted, weighing the possibilities.

Lutchka suddenly placed both palms on his cheeks and turned his head once more to look at her. She did not withdraw her touch, though. ”If you’re telling the truth…. You must understand, you cannot take Orbs by force. It is simply unacceptable, you’re doing too much damage in our world that way, and you do not understand us. The Orbs were given to people who could protect them, and in turn, two were given to protect him. This may have been proven to be a bit much in some cases, especially if we’re faced with two elements used together- a feat which has always been impossible and never considered. Get it into your thick, teenaged brain, boy. Your actions effect an entire nation, the land, and the people. This isn’t some fairy tale you can simply meddle in. You’ve brought too many problems, and you should be killed for such an act.” She took a deep breath after that, looking at him with a mix of disappointment and anger.

”But I’m not cleaning up after you, you’re going to fix your own mess, and you’re going to do it the right way, and that’s within the Royal Circle. There is not another option available to you.”

With yet another sigh, Lutchka’s face was suddenly only inches from his, a very serious look to her eyes. ”Despite my stands on the issue, I’ve decided. You’re my problem now, Chromi, and I’m lending you some pretty far-fetched trust here, but you won’t be able to work inside without someone who can provide a link between. Besides, now that you have the Orb, you’re going to have to step up and take ownership for your actions. I will provide a vote in your favor, but understand this. If you make a single move that I don’t like in the developing stages, I will end you. If you betray my trust, both our heads are on the blocks. You’re not going anywhere without me, and you’re not getting anywhere without me.”

She stood up from his chest, looking down at him. She offered him a hand up, but her stance was wary and tense, ready to take him out in a second’s moment. But then she smirked at him, an incredibly threatening look draped across her face. ”Or you can try to do it yourself from a dark cell, while I tell of your misadventures. And many will come calling for your blood- for justice.”[/b]

Yet, after saying that, she smiled ever so cheerfully, tilting her head to the side with her eyes closed for a moment. ”I’ll keep you safe, Chromi! At least for awhile. You’re going to need all the help you can get against the other Protectors. You're too weak to do this on your own, you've proven that already.”


He regarded her carefully. Unsure of how to respond or if her words were even true, he slowly reached out to take her hand and allow her to help him stand. It hurt to stand, but he did so anyway. Taking a wary step back from her, he eyed her carefully still as he stood there, one hand resting against his chest where the deep wound marred his skin. His entire frame was marked with many scars, some old and some new.

Taking a deep breath he glowered down at the floor, "I realize that my actions have brought hardship. I know that I should probably be killed for them and I will welcome it. However, I cannot allow that right now. If I die, you all die. The water King as you call him... I had no intentions of killing him. It was an accident, something that I wish I could go back and fix. His protectors... attacked me, as they should I suppose. I had withdrawn the orb from him already and was about to leave when they caught me. I was wounded, heavily and the water orb reacted. I had no control over it. They all died. Everyone in that palace," he was shaking now, his fingers digging into the burned wound, drawing more blood to streak down across his upper frame.

"I... was naive in thinking that I could control something that I had never touched before. I don't want to kill any of you, but as I've already said. You would not believe me if I told you why I'm here. You don't even believe me yourself. I am from a different world, a realm called Reimrand and I am it's crowned Prince. I'm here to retrieve what is rightfully mine and what will save not only my world, but yours as well. Your books have history, history that tells about a door that leads to Reimrand. We are two sides of the same coin. Without one, the other cannot exist. Reimrand is dying without these orbs and it has taken us many, many years to get to this point. My entire family has died because of this. I am the only one left who can finish what we started.

"However, it is not so easy. There is a group, a large group, that has been the bane of my existance. They destroyed my family, and those that supported us. He is here now and he is ruthless. He will kill without thinking. He wants these orbs so that he can close that door and destroy Reimrand. Except he doesn't realize that if he does this, your world, Dhamear dies too."

The Crown Royal Prince shook his head in frustration and started to pace in short bursts. Grinding his teeth, he gazed intently at the floor as he moved back and forth, "I cannot convince him that this place is not his for the taking. I cannot convince him that he is on the wrong path. He wants my head on a stake and it is all I can do to keep him from doing so. It has been so long since Reimrand and Dhamear have had any contact with each other... It is no wonder you do not understand," he was muttering to himself by now, "The books... histories... they're probably lost. Changed by now. This... this is foolhearty... I should have known. So... so many things go wrong," reaching up he gripped a fist full of his dark hair and squeezed his eyes shut as he finally stopped pacing.

"There is no end to his plans... its... too much," his words were barely a whisper. It took him a moment, but he finally seemed to pull himself together as he took a deep breath and released his fingers from his thick hair. Tilting his head back, he stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

Then a sharp breath pulled into his lungs and he stumbled back a few spaces. Groaning slightly, he clutched at the spot over his heart. Dropping to one knee he trembled as he doubled over, panting heavily in pain, "No.... He.... found one," he dropped to one hand, curling on his knees as he was assaulted by something. With a heavy cough, water sprayed across the floor. Looking around the room, he stretched out his free hand and several things that were made of metal suddenly disappeared and enveloped his hand. Once this was done, he plunged the fingers into his chest with a sharp cry and withdrew the water orb.

It pulsed in his hand, but he seemed to be free of any pain now, "He's found another orb... he will find this one, and your Kings and whomever else has another orb, if he hasn't already," the Prince panted.

Lutchka sort of just stood by as Chromi expressed all of his feelings. At least she knew one thing for sure, he was definitely telling the truth. Either that or he’d have to have an unreasonably brilliant imagination, and having been around such people as that almost all her life, she had the authority to say that he was not one of them.

She felt awkward, however, which was a very rare thing indeed. Just standing there watching him speak his mind, without really having enough time to properly react to it. When his words took on a depressed tone, however, that she could not stand. Feeling sorry for yourself, or feeling like you’re trapped in a void of despair… that was something she terminated a long time ago. It didn’t get anything done, and it tended to make her question things about herself that she did not wish to.

Luckily, he did not remain in such a state for long. However, a look of alarm filled her features as he suddenly doubled over. It was just like Taki had told her with his own orb. They were reacting to something again. She wanted to rush to his side, to help in any way that she could, but this was not her King, and she had the inkling that he would detest her should she do such a thing. Besides, he simply pulled the orb from his form- it was smaller than she thought- and seemed to be fine.

Slowly Lutchka walked over to him, the heels of her boots clicking and splattering the puddle of water slightly as she kneeled down, one hand on her knee while the other ran through the tangles of his bangs to push them out of his face. "All is not lost, Chromi. You're no longer alone, and we'll be able to convince the others. If you truly want to get this done, then there is no time to waste, and you're going to need to pull the orb from Taki, lest his other arm suffer the same fate."

With the slightest of blushes at her own actions, she closed her eyes shut rather rebelliously towards the uncommon feeling, suddenly pushing herself up from the ground and reverting to a somewhat irritated form. She crossed her arms and swiftly turned so he would not see the conflicting emotions on her face. "There's no time to lose, let's go. We can talk more later."