Gaia

Hearing Fuyu's request she nodded, "Very well, if you like Fuyu could you please check on the deer and see how it's coming along?" She continued to make the salad and heard Hayato's response. Jade wondered if he would relax by the time dinner was done. At least I got an answer out of him. It's progress! Looking over to Beline, Jade couldn't help but smile. She thought it was funny how the two acted, "Hey Beline, why don't we get to know each other better? Hm?" Jade really wanted them to trust her and possibly become friends, If her brother allows it...

Elbowing Hayato, Beline smiled warmly at Jade. "Sure thing!"
"Ouch! I wasn't going to stop you or anything, idiot ... " Hayato grumbled, but continued with making the soup as Beline went over to Jade, having finished washing the vegetables and handed them over to Hayato for his soup. He was pretty sure he could trust the girl by now, and besides, he was concentrating more on the Omoiyari kid, He was of more concern than the seemingly direct girl to his mind.

" So ... umm ..." Beline smiled a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her neck. " I .. we don't really have much contact with people so ... I ... er I really have no idea what to talk about."

"Ah I see, well I guess we're in the same boat." Jade chuckled lightly, "How about we start off by telling each other about ourselves. Just a brief history kind of thing." Grabbing a glaze that was in a pouch she began to pour it into the bowl of fruit, "I ran away from my home because of my hair and eyes. Everyone would always look and whisper I just couldn't take it anymore. Eyna, she found me and took me in. So I began to live here and she taught me how to use fire and I also can use telekinesis." Looking at the pouch she let go of it but the pouch stayed floating in the air with glaze falling out. "She passed away two months ago when I turned nineteen. This is my home now so I stayed."

Beline awkwardly patted Jade, smiling ruefully.

"I'm sorry I made you talk about that ... that's wonderful!" she gasped as Jade displayed her telekinetic powers. "Well, as for me, Hayato found me wandering about when he was around twelve. He was an orphan too, but he took me in and fed me. When I was ten, our village got burnt to the ground, so we ended up wandering around taking odd jobs. Hayato doesn't like to stay in one place anymore because he's afraid the soldiers will catch up and our 'home' will get destroyed all over again." she threw a quick glance over her shoulder at Hayato to make sure he couldn't hear them, satisfied when she found him cursing under his breath at the soup. Not that he needed to, he was a pretty good cook, but he just ... it was sort of his way to do things, and she didn't question it, having grown used to it. "I think he's just afraid to get a world for himself and have it destroyed all over again ... at least I had him to shield me - and he did quite a good job at it."
She hesitated for a moment, before biting her lips nervously. "You know, since you have a strange power too, I don't feel weird when talking to you about this .. I can .. kind of understand birds and animals and tame them rather quickly." The last part was spoken in a hushed voice. "Its like a non-verbal communication ... I haven't really told anyone about it... not even b brother because I don't want to worry him."

Jade smiled at Beline when she told about herself, "I'm sorry to hear that, you both can stay as long as you like. I enjoy your company." Hearing about her power too Jade's curiosity peaked, "Maybe we could go for a walk once I'm done with this and you could show me?" She kept her voice down as well. Getting to know Beline was really fun and Jade hoped that they would consider her offer. Grabbing the pouch she threw it away and stirred the glaze, setting it aside she cleaned off her hands and turned to Beline, "Would you like to go on a walk?"

Beline found herself smiling back. Jade was really nice.
"I enjoy your company too, and I think Hayato does too ... he hasn't blown you up or tried to kill you yet so ..." she let out a trilling laugh.
"Oh, of course! A walk sounds good!" her eyes lit up. She loved forests.

Grabbing her hand Jade headed for the door, "We'll be back soon! No following!" She opened the door and closed it once they were outside. Taking in a deep breath Jade began walking towards the forest, "I love being outside, it's so refreshing!" Stretching out Jade looked over her shoulder to Beline, "He'll listen right? And not follow?" Jade wanted him to fully trust her it would do no good to get on his bad side. He's already too stubborn Chuckling at her thought Jade waited for Beline at the edge of the tree line.

Fuyu stood akwardly as he didn't know what to do. Carefully keeping a blank face, Fuyu walked to the other male in the group and said "...hello, how may I help you? I see that you're preparing dinner and I was wondering if I could offer some help..." He said emotionlessly.

Beline and Hayato Irae

Beline smirked. "He will if he knows whats good for him. Besides, I think he trusts you somewhat, and at any rate, he certainly doesn't trust that Fuyu kid enough to leave our meal unattended with him ... you know, in case he poisons it or something." The last part was spoken with heavy sarcasm and an accompanied by a roll of her eyes.

Hayato blinked, trying not to glare - not too obviously, at least. "Nope, its fine. Just keep checking on the deer like she told you."

That way, you will remain occupied otherwise, I can check on you without it being obvious enough to give Beline a reason to kill me, and you'll be too preoccupied to attack.

Another thought occurred to him and he voiced it with all the tact he had - which was none.
"Why did you say you are a 'traitor' to your family?"

Fuyu didn't answer Hayato for a long moment, searching for any signs of deception. Finding none, he began to answer, after all, if they betrayed him, he could always kill them all. His voice was still emotionless as he answered "...I am as I told you, a traitor...they wanted my to serve the Prince...I refused and ran away...they gave me 'this'..." He took off his right-hand glove and showed Hayato a black tattoo on his palm, the word 'traitor' cut deep into his skin. He shrugged his shoulder and continued "...they told me that everyone of their family would hunt me down and kill me for I have tainted their family's reputation..." He checked the deer and said after a while "...even though I admit that it's kinda hurt to be hunted by my family like that...I won't serve the prince...It's just...wrong..." Sighing deeply, Fuyu sat down and was deep in thoughts once again.

Hayato Irae

Hayato flinched a little bit when he saw the tattoo ... he felt bad for the boy, after all he could only imagine how bad it would be, having everyone close to you betray you, but he was no good at comforting, and, to be brutally honest , the boy didn't look like he would appreciate any sympathy anyway. He might take it as pity and be even more incensed.

As bad as it was, he also felt a grim sort of satisfaction, because at least now he knew the boy wasn't going to kill them all in their sleep or something.

Deciding to show him his understanding in the least insensitive possible method, Hayato brusquely nodded. "I am Hayato Irae, and the girl who just went outside with Jade is my little sister, Beline. We .. well, I'm glad you feel that way about the Prince, because if not, I might have had to gut you. I don't trust the Prince's men not to try something funny, you see."

Fuyu was pulled out of his thought by the boy's voice "I am Hayato Irae, and the girl who just went outside with Jade is my little sister, Beline. We .. well, I'm glad you feel that way about the Prince, because if not, I might have had to gut you. I don't trust the Prince's men not to try something funny, you see." He stared blankly at him before replied quietly "...understood..." He continued dryly "...glad to know that you will not gut me in my sleep..."

He nodded his head briefly at the boy's introduction. Looking at the deer, he poked it several times before continued to speak "Nice to meet you, Mister Irae..."

Anaina

A dark shadow ran through the woods, blending in with the night.
At last he reached his destination - a forest clearing with a small pond and a robed figure sitting on a rock, lyre in hand.

"My Mistress!" the figure screeched, throwing itself upon the feet of the robed female, who turned to regard him with some disdain.

"What is it that you have to report? And if everyone keeps calling me that, I will forget my name." Anaina murmured, in a sweet but monotonous voice, before a gleam made its way into her yellow eyes. "Have you ... "

"Yes, we have managed to locate three of them." the man panted, "And I couldn't possibly call you anything else, since you saved - OW!"
The last part was added as the woman slowly retreated her foot, looking as if she hadn't just kicked the man straight on his head. Well, it had been a gentle kick - at least by her standards. "Don't make me regret it." she warned. "Call me Anaina. We are all equal. And where did you say they were? Which Guardians have you found?"

" The Winter, Autumn and Summer. They all seem to be at the same place, Your ..." shooting a look at Anaina, who was looking mildly threatening, he quickly corrected himself. "Anaina."

"At the same place, you say ... I hope they haven't figured out their powers ... if they foolishly decide to use them, the spike in magical energy might attract ... unwanted attention." Anaina mused, before turning to the figure. "Shadow them continuously. We can't spare any more men, we are already strained as it is, so do anything but make sure they don't split. I don't care what. And try to stop any unnecessary displays of power on their part. I will inform Saitou about this ... "

Jade chuckled, "He's an alright guy." Walking further into the forest Jade followed the moon lit path, "So about your power that Hayato doesn't know about. Care to demonstrate? Sorry for being a curious person." She shrugged and smiled, "It can't be helped." Starting to hum Jade began walking backwards so she could watch Beline. She knew this area of the forest well enough so why not? There was a chance that they all might leave tomorrow so Jade wanted to make the most of it.

Beline Irae
Beline let out a deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to sense some kind of animal or bird. Soon enough, she found a suitable one in a squirrel, and guided it slowly to where she was standing.

The squirrel looked a bit scared at first, but as soon as Beline held out a hand to it, it ran up to her, nuzzling into her hand. Beline laughed softly, before freezing as the squirrel chirped.

"There's someone else here ... " she muttered, confused. " A kid... she didn't get a good look at him though, so that's about all she knows." She ended, searching for the presence of some other animal that could provide them with some more information, but finding none. "Damn, why aren't there any more animals?" But she already knew the answer. It was hard enough to find a proper forest nowadays, with the world itself dying. Animals and birds were almost a thing of fantasy.

Hayato Irae

"...understood..." He continued dryly "...glad to know that you will not gut me in my sleep..."

Hmm, anyone else would have been cowering - or various other degrees of intimidated - by now. This boy just went up a notch in Hayato's book. Anyone who could withstand blatant rudeness like that deserved respect - and wary watching.

"Nice to meet you too." he returned, wondering if he should add the 'not really', but deciding against it. The boy was against the Prince, so there was no need to be intentionally rude anymore.

A sudden shiver of foreboding ran up his spine. Something was wrong ...

Probably Beline tripped over a root or something, the klutz that she is. He though distractedly, shaking it off. He was quite sure Jade wouldn't hurt Beline, and he was pretty sure Jade could take care of any stray wild animal - which were getting harder to find these days anyway. And if push came to shove, Beline herself knew basic skills of self-defense, so he concentrated on his cooking, returning to practically cursing his soup into tasting good again.

Fuyu noticed the shiver that had run down Hayato's spine but said nothing about it. He turned his head and looked at the deer again "...hmm...you put too much salt, Mister Irae..." Fuyu commented nonchalantly as he watched Hayato struggled with his soup. Poking the deer several times, the swordman nodded his head "...the deer is done..." He said to no-one. Standing up, Fuyu walked over the table and picked up the glass of wine. Sipping it slowly, the young man mused "...it's hard to find wine this good nowadays..."

Jade looked around and her hand began to glow just enough to let them see more clearly. The tiny flame flickered as Jade let her eyes adjust, "Do you know which general direction?" Turning her head she saw light reflect off an object but then it was gone, "Hey! Did you see that? " Jade pointed in the direction she saw the light.

A bad vibe coiled around her but Jade tried to shake it off, nothing that could cause serious harm ever came in this area. Grabbing one of her daggers Jade's expression turned serious and cold, "We should head back...but let's not seem to be in a rush." She didn't want whatever or who ever it is to seem like this was a game of cat and mouse.

Beline and Hayato Irae

"...hmm...you put too much salt, Mister Irae..."

"I did?" Hayato said, adding some more water to dilute the salt. "Thanks for pointing that out."

"...it's hard to find wine this good nowadays..."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise at Omoiyari's remark.
"I suppose not ... not that I would know."
He didn't drink, for the simple fact that drinks cost money he could save for Beline's future.

Beline's eyes widened as Jade lighted a little flame on her hand, before her eyes caught a glint of reflection.
"Yes, I did." she murmured. "And I agree with you, lets just walk steadily back. "

Jade stayed by Beline's side, she didn't know what was out there and Jade really didn't want Hayato to kill her. Keeping the flame in her hand and dagger in the other her eyes were still scanning the area. Jade had a feeling that whatever it is isn't gone and this irked her. Should I let us head home? Or go somewhere else to throw it off. Her eyes narrowed in thought of what she should do.

How she saw it was that she invited them to stay so she's responsible for their well being. Coming out of her thoughts and looking into the darkness that her light could not reach, Jade zoned everything out except for Beline and whatever was following.