Allen, TX

Fletcher's reassurances sure made Lydia feel better. She now knew the name of where they were going, so that helped a little. She looked at him as he spoke and once again blushed when he winked at her. He was right, he did need her. She inwardly started to build up her confidence. She could do this. "I think the name could use some work, yeah," she agreed with him and laughed slightly. She smiled, "Well if we stay in the car, how are you going to teach me to use a bow and arrow?" she asked and opened the door.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air helped her calm her nerves, and being in the sun was nice as well. She liked it, but could never stay out for too long. "Plus," she continued, "I think we have a lot to talk about," she nodded, almost as if she was agreeing with herself. She stood there awkwardly, deciding whether to keep speaking. "And," she continued, her voice lowering slightly, "We have to start training ASAP. I heard there was a Fallen here. Her name is Ivy. I've only heard of her," Lydia said. She had no idea of Fletcher's run in previously that day. "I can't let you get mixed up with her," She concluded with a set look on her face.

As they walked to the door, she lifted her shirt up a bit and undid her "belt". "Since you told me about your bow and arrows, not that it's much of a secret," Lydia said, gesturing to the sign that said "archery", "It's only fair I show you my choice of weapon," She held out the long whip and smiled. She wasn't going to tell Fletcher. about how she came to use it unless he asked. Lydia was embarrassed for being in Ribbon Dancing, even if it helped her become good with her whip. "And, I know Hankido and Hapkido. But, those are the most terrifying martial arts... Just helps with agility and if I'm in an up close situation.." she let her voice trail off. She hated rambling. Well, really, since there was meaning, it wasn't rambling, but she didn't want to overwhelm him and not give him a chance to speak.

It was good that Fletcher saw he was able to reassure Lydia. She wasn’t shaking anymore, and her smile had returned. Even though she blushed when he had winked, he wasn’t embarrassed or anything. It was the way he was- bold. Except when it came to up close fighting. He needed work on that. "I think the name could use some work, yeah," she agreed with him and laughed slightly. She smiled, "Well if we stay in the car, how are you going to teach me to use a bow and arrow?"

Shrugging, he pulled into the garage and tuned the car off, speaking as he did. “Makes sense to me, I guess. Didn’t want to give you too in one day, ya know.” He climbed out when she did, listening to her continue. Plus, I think we have a lot to talk about.” After nodding she stood there for a moment, and Fletcher finally added, “Yeah, probly. We’re gonna have to get a lot of knowledge pretty fast, better get right to it.”

Lowering her voice, Lydia became a little more secretive when she added, “And we have to start training ASAP. I heard there was a Fallen here. Her name is Ivy. I’ve only heard of her… I can’t let you get mixed up with her.” Fletcher blinked. Man, she was just a little too late, he thought. Although Fletcher had already met Ivy and really didn’t want to make a second appointment, he didn’t want Lydia to know about that just yet. He didn’t want her to feel like she had taken too long or anything, and anyway, he hadn’t been hurt and what she didn’t know wouldn’t kill her, right?
“Ivy?” He asked with an indifferent tone in his voice. “Yeah, I’ve heard of her. No, we really don’t. Fallens are usually not the type of people to be good friends, if you know what I mean.” He grinned and shrugged, trying to exude confidence, while he actually dreaded the thought of having a confrontation with Ivy. As they walked up to the building, Fletcher was relieved when Lydia changed the subject. Since you told me about your bows and arrows, not that it’s much of a secret, it’s only fair I show you my choice of weapon.” Reaching down, she took her belt off, which actually turned out to be a whip.

As she presented it, Fletcher’s eyebrows shot up, and he grinned. “Aw, man, that’s cool! Are you related to Indiana Jones or something? Is that where that scar-birthmark thing came from, the whip?” His mind was still on the whip as she continued, "And, I know Hankido and Hapkido. But, those are the most terrifying martial arts... Just helps with agility and if I'm in an up close situation.." He nodded slowly, ‘Yeah, never heard of those… they sound really helpful though.”
Grabbing his keys, Fletcher unlocked the back door to his place and stepped in, holding the door for her. The back hallway was nothing special, white walls leading to a few doors, which led to various doors in the building. A couple of yellowish bulbs hung in glass cases periodically, which gave at least the hallway a homey feel. “So, here we are,” he started. ‘This is the back of the place, and it’s part of my home. If we go over to the right, we can go to the business part.” He pointed to each door in turn. “If we go through that door, that leads to my bedroom, that one’s the bathroom, and that leads to my living area. This is just the hall of doors, the portal to everything on this floor.” Grinning he gestured towards the doors. “Pick your poison, which do you want to see?”

Takashi Inevera

"So are we starting immediately or do you want to..Clean up," Kai said to her. Takashi turned to him and gave a very small smile, though it was quick and disappeared almost immediately.

"I'd like to clean up first. It'll only take me a few minutes. The healers here are quite good," she said and began walking towards the elevators. Once inside, she hit the button that held no marking on it at all. The elevator lurched and started downwards. Ryu had gone the same direction, taking his ward with him down into the actual HQ of the Guardians.

She pulled one arm around her chest and rested the other on top, fingers pressing against her forehead. Takashi was tired, a headache pounded at the front of her skull and she couldn't really think properly. Getting her wounds taken care of and a bit of warm tea and a hot shower was what she desperately needed. It wouldn't take all that long and then she would see just what her ward was made of. For some reason she was a bit... excited to see him fight against her.

Takashi had fought with Ryu many times, sparring with him, but his style was different than hers and made it difficult to train herself properly. She was even more desperate to get back to her usual training since Ivy had made her appearance all of a sudden. With thoughts of Ivy now on her mind, she felt her mood souring. How was she going to protect Kai from that woman? Ivy was much more powerful than she'd been a year ago. Could she really protect the young man standing beside her? Was she really ready for all of this once again?

The shorter Guardian turned her head just enough so that she could get a side glance at her ward. He stood much taller than herself and was well built. She then realized that he was shirtless and her face heated once again. Turning away quickly she faced forward and hardened her face into a stone like expression. She would not allow herself to fall into that kind of position once again. Takashi stepped briskly from the elevator as it came to a stop and the doors opened.

Now they were in the 'underground'. Here the place was filled with Guardians and wards alike. A long and wide hall stretched before them and led down into the heart of the organization. Lining the hall were doors that led to various places, some were doors to rooms held by the Guardians, some led to meeting halls, training halls and other parts of the HQ like weapon storage and smithies. Takashi walked down the hall, nodding to some of the Guardians who called to her. She led the way to the nurses ward, a large wing to the right of the hall.

Opening the door she peered inside. It was semi-quiet with only a few patients there. Some where sleeping, others were being treated for minor injuries either during training or actually having been attacked. The lead doctor turned her head towards the sound of the door opening and smiled warmly at Takashi.

"Nice to see you," her smile faded, "What happened?" The woman set down her clip board and walked quickly over to the red haired Guardian who took a seat on one of the empty beds.

"Had a run in with an old friend," Takashi muttered under her breath.

The woman frowned as she slowly lifted the tattered shirt and looked at the wounds underneath, "You could learn to talk about things a bit easier, Takashi."

"You could learn to leave things alone, Ms. Lee."

Ms. Lee turned her blue eyes upwards and sighed, "Take it off, love. We'll get you fixed up in no time."

Takashi did as she was ordered, not thinking twice about it as it was a usual ritual in the nurses ward. She threw aside the bloodied, ruined shirt knowing that Ms. Lee would provide her with a clean one once she was finished. Then she undid the buckle around her lithe waist that held the twin knives against her back. The nurse came back and smiled at her as she began applying anesthetics and other antibiotics that would help the wounds heal faster. She finished with bandaging the wounds and giving Takashi a new shirt.

"Thank you," Takashi said softly as she lifted her sharp green eyes to look at Ms. Lee as she replaced her weapons and began putting on the shirt. The head nurse smiled in return and patted Takashi's head.

"Take it easy for a little while. You always push too hard."

"If I don't push than I don't gain anything."

Ms. Lee rolled her eyes as she put her hands on her hips, "Should have expected that," then she shook her head and walked away to help another patient. Takashi finished buttoning the shirt and then looked to Kai to get his attention. A shower would have to wait, she wanted to know what kind of fighter he was as soon as possible. Besides, it would be pointless to go get clean right before getting dirty again.

"Come on Kai, lets see what kind of fighter you are," she said a bit of a challenging tone in her voice. Takashi pushed open the door to the nursing ward and led the way to the training area. It was a ways down from the nurses ward, and as she pushed open the door to that room, it was almost twice as large. Some Guardians were there already, training with their partners, but for the most part it was empty, as expected for that time of day.

As she walked into the room she reached up under her shirt and drew the two long knives sheathed there. With a flick of her wrists she twisted them in a full circle and then turned to face Kai. She settled herself in a loose stance, one dagger held up slightly, the other closer to her hip.

"Get ready," she ordered and then waited for him to make his first move.

Lydia

The girl was relieved, but somehow even more worried all at once when Fletcher admitted to knowing about Ivy. She was glad he already knew so much. Some people believed knowledge was power, and others believed it would be the death of a person. Lydia wasn't exactly sure where she stood on that, but she didn't want Fletcher to be subjected to the horrors that is a Fallen. He seemed impressed when she showed him her whip. "Yeah, it's a scar," she agreed and wrapped the whip around her arm. It covered the winding snake-like scar around her arm perfectly. "I used to keep it on here non stop and it would always rub my skin. Since the whip was always there, it never had time to heal, so it just scarred," She shrugged as he opened the door for her.

“So, here we are,” he started. ‘This is the back of the place, and it’s part of my home. If we go over to the right, we can go to the business part.” He pointed to each door in turn. “If we go through that door, that leads to my bedroom, that one’s the bathroom, and that leads to my living area. This is just the hall of doors, the portal to everything on this floor.” Grinning he gestured towards the doors. “Pick your poison, which do you want to see?” She looked at each of the doors. She was so tempted to ask to see his bedroom. She was dying to know if he was a neat person or not, but she figured that could send the wrong message. Maybe she'd just ask him.

"How about the living room?" she asked. She couldn't exactly remember which door was which, since she was still wondering about what condition his room was in, but that would have to wait. And anyway, she might be able to tell that form his living room. "Lead the way." As they walked down the plain hallway, Lydia organized her thoughts and which questions were a priority. "So, what happened to your last guardian?" she asked. Immediately, she covered her mouth. That was so rude! "I-I'm sorry. What I meant to ask was.. Are you a neat person? Like.. clean. Well, I know you're clean, I mean you smell nice," she could feel the blood rising to her cheeks. "Do you like things organized?" she finally asked, her eyes wide. She looked shocked and embarrassed. Normally, Lydia didn't stumble over her words, but she was so focused on learning about him she forgot her manners. She was always outspoken, but only when she got to know a person. So far, she had called him cute, strange and told him he smelled nice. She had also let on that she thought he was a bad driver, made her nervous, and that she was nosy. And possibly that he seems like a messy person.

Kai

"I'd like to clean up first. It'll only take me a few minutes. The healers here are quite good," Takashi said and walked towards an elevator. Kai smiled and followed after her. She seemed to be in pain, or deep thought. Kai hadn't learned how to read her.. Yet. He watched her for a bit, but her eyes stayed closed. Soon he grew bored and looked around the elevator. It was extremely boring. Nothing to even imagine about. He looked over to Takashi to ask her if she wanted to play I Spy. Right as he looked at her, she was looking away with flushed cheeks. He bit the inside of his lip and scrunched his eyebrows together. Why was she blushing? Once again, Kai was going to ask, but the doors of the elevator opened, interrupting him. The girl stepped out and started walking down the hallway. She seemed quite focused now.

"No need to sprint, Red," Kai said. He knew she had told him not to call her that, but he just couldn't help himself. As they walked through the hall, he tried to remember as much as he could, but it didn't work so well. Instead, he got distracted smiling and waving at the people greeting Takashi. He was receiving a few weird looks and he assumed it was because he was shirtless and covered in blood. Also, most likely none of them knew who he was, unless they were all forced to memorize the files of Pagelings, and so it was strange that Takashi was bringing a half-naked, blood covered boy down there. But then again, maybe that was normal. Okay, the blood part. He smiled a couple of girls as his guardian walked into the Nurses station. One smiled back and the other smirked and rolled her eyes. "Ladies," he said, half bowing as he backed through the doorway.

Kai followed, not really listening to the doctor or Takashi. He was getting bored again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the doctor lift Takashi's shirt slightly. He looked over at her and saw the fierce red color of her cut flesh. It was pretty awesome. He obviously knew it was real, but couldn't help comparing it to the wounds you see in the movies. This was so much better. And they were on a hot, bad ass girl. He grinned.

"Take it off, love. We'll get you fixed up in no time." The doctor said. He though he had heard Takashi call her Miss Le. Once again Kai looked at each of them. When his eyes went back to Takashi she was taking her shirt off. His brown eyes widened as she removed her weapons.

"Uhh," he said, turning red. He wanted to look so bad but that wasn't the way he was raised. Sure this was for medical purposes, but damn she had a nice body. "I'm just going to..." he physically covered his eyes. "Yeah. Okay," he said, turning his covered eyes away from her. He kept peeking anyway, but hey, at least he tried. Finally she was done and buttoning up her shirt. She looked at him and he dropped his hand.

"Come on Kai, lets see what kind of fighter you are," She said.

"Ooh, sounds like a challenge," Kai smiled. All of his previous embarrassment had gone away and he was quite comfortable again. He followed her out and into the training arena. It was pretty empty and he was appreciative of that.

"Get ready," She said. She had her daggers out, ready for him to make his first move. He wasn't sure where to begin. Normally, he wrestled. Takashi was a lot smaller than him and he could easily take her down if she didn't have her weapons. He thought about it a little more and second guessed himself. She was really tough, so he wasn't worried about hurting her, but he still didn't know what to do first. He dropped back slightly, lacing his fingers together. He pulled them apart, just as he had done in the woods. He broke it in two and two knives appeared in his hands. When he looked back up at her, all he could picture was her in the nurses station. The knifes disappeared from his hands just as soon as they'd come and he sighed.

"Uhh, you know what? I normally just wrestle.. Like hand to hand combat. No weapons. And anyway," he said, running his fingers through his hair and taking a more casual stance, "I can make the knifes and swords real easy, but they don't last that long and aren't very strong." He gave her a weak smile and shrugged. Hopefully they could still fight. He tried to convince himself it wasn't just so that he could get close to her.

Takashi Inevera

She watched Kai carefully as he intertwined his fingers and pulled them apart. The pageling created his two knives beautifully, however as he lifted his gaze to her both knives faded away instantly. She'd seen the way he'd blushed in the nurses office when she was getting taken care of, so it was safe to assume that that was still present in his mind. Her lips frowned slightly as she twisted her weapons in her hands as he spoke to her.

"Uhh, you know what? I normally just wrestle.. Like hand to hand combat. No weapons. And anyway, I can make the knifes and swords real easy, but they don't last that long and aren't very strong."

Lifting an eyebrow she opened her mouth into an 'o' and nodded her head slowly. He was distracted, obviously, but for the moment it would be enough to see where he stood in combat skills. With a sharp flick of her hands, both knives hit the thick mats below her and stuck in the vinyl.

"Hand to hand hu? Well, Kai," she called softly, almost teasing him, she couldn't help it at the moment, "Let's see how well you do. Don't hold back, I'm not some delicate little object. We'll practice more on your papercraft later," she commented and pulled herself into a relaxed stance.

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath to calm her body and mind. Releasing the air, she opened her eyes and locked onto her target. The tall boy was going to be hard to take down, but she could do it and usually in one sweep. Takashi'd taken down others his size before, sometimes a bit larger. However, those men hadn't trained in any kind of martial arts, at least none that she'd known of. There was also the fluttering in her stomach that was an annoyance as she prepared herself. She was literally about to throw herself onto this young man and try to take him down to the ground underneath her.

Thinking about it too much was... distracting, and kind of hot... Damnit! Concentrate, Takashi! She chided herself and then moved. Her lithe body came forward at Kai quickly, closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds. She wasn't going to hold back, not in the least. Especially not because he was hot, or her ward or anything else. If he was going to fight with her, he needed to be prepared and going easy on him was not going to work.

Takashi came up at him fast, launching herself up in a quick jump, she wrapped one leg around his waist and the other around the back of his leg. With a hard pull she locked her leg just behind his knee and pulled as she leaned her body off to the side using all of her weight to throw him off balance and drag him to the ground. If he could get out of her hold either before or after she had him on the mat, then that was good and step two would be enacted.

Ryu Hitara

"And here we are! Welcome to the base of Guardians Adelaide," he gave her a bright grin as he turned around to face her from the elevator. Reaching out he took her hand gently in his and led her from the enormous silver box that had brought them down into the depths of the earth. He started walking with her in tow, but careful not to have her bump into anyone and very careful not to pull her too quickly or hard.

"Yup, this is it. Just an enormous hallway with tons of doors and wings that go all over the place. Kinda like a catacomb really, except much nicer. Way nicer. And with tons of people who you can talk to and get along with. I came here just a few years ago, on accident really. I was recruited after I beat up this Fallen guy without realizing who he was and I actually protected a pageling like you. Well, I didn't get away without a few scratches and such, but hey! I'd never been better!"

He was doing it again, rambling. Ryu looked over his shoulder at her and grinned once more. He took a deep breath and tried his best to keep quiet. Takashi was always telling him to shut up because he talked to much. He just couldn't help it though, there was so much to talk about and it all just crowded up in his head. Ryu felt that if he didn't talk and let it all out that his head would blow up like a balloon and explode from all of his thoughts. So, naturally, Ryu couldn't stay quiet for long.

"This is the nurses area, they're really nice people so if you ever need anything looked at you can come here and they'll patch you up real nicely. Oh! Over there is the kitchens, the food is amazing! Though, some Guardian's prefer other food that's cooked by the restaurants and such, but I think it's really good. Here's some rooms for the Guardians and also the pagelings that they protect. I'll get you a room too, hopefully it'll be close to mine! I mean, usually a Guardian's ward is placed close to them or like right across the hall or right next to their room, so it shouldn't be a problem. Oh, and here are the training grounds. The guardian's use them all the time to work on their weapon skills and fighting skills. Some of us have special abilities that are really cool and so they train to keep those in control and strong. Pagelings can train here too, either alone or with their Guardians. It's mostly to train their mind and body so that they can better control their papercraft and make it stronger. Maybe we could work on yours too!"

Ryu stopped talking and turned to her with a quick realization that perhaps he was probably going a bit too fast for her. He cleared his throat and continued walking down the hall, heading for his room, "Here, for now you can use my room," Ryu opened the door to his room and walked in. There was a single bed, a sofa, a desk and computer and other things neatly placed in his room. Off to the side was his restroom where the shower and bath was, a small closet with his clothes and a TV on the wall.

"Why don't you get some rest," his eyes flicked to her nervously, "Or whatever you'd like to do. Just let me know okay? I'm going to go get cleaned up and change my clothes. I'll be right in here if you need anything," he smiled again and opened the door to the restroom. Once he'd closed the door he sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. He really hoped he hadn't scared her to death, that would be bad, and with his first ward too. Shaking his head, Ryu reached into the shower and turned the water on. First, hot shower, second... work things out after.

"How about the living room?" Lydia decided after a moment. Fletcher nodded, starting to lead her down the hallway. Thankfully he had cleaned up the day before so everything was neat and in order in each room. Before they reached the door, the girl next to him started talking again. So, what happened to your last guardian?”

Startled by the bluntness and plainly spoken question, Fletcher started a bit. “I. Uhh…” He hardly had time to gather his wits before she covered her mouth and continued spewing out words. I-I’m sorry. What I meant to ask was.. Are you a neat person? Like.. clean. Well, I know you’re clean, I mean you smell nice.. her cheeks turned bright red as she finished with, [b]Do you like things organized?[b] Fletcher didn’t pay too much attention to what she was saying. What he was really focused on was her face. She looked so shocked and embarrassed, he felt some sympathy for her.

“Hold on, there, Lydia,” He started. Putting his hands on each of her shoulders, he spoke gently to her, “Before I answer your questions, there’s something that needs to be addressed.” Fletcher slid his hands down behind her and gave her a hug. After a couple seconds he pulled away, and spoke some more with the same tone.

“There’s no need to feel like anything is rushed, or that you have to be perfect, or that I’ll hate you for making mistakes. Just… calm down a bit, okay?” Gently guiding her with one hand at her shoulder, he led her into the living room. It wasn’t overly done, or very simple. The walls were painted an earthy-gray-brown, and had drawings and paintings of bows and arrows as well as famous archers scattered along it. The carpet was the common light tan that most people see in the average household. Across from the entertainment set, which didn’t have much on it other than a TV, he sat down on an old but well-maintained couch and gently urged her to sit next to him. Once she was seated, he started talking anew.

“So, let’s start from the beginning… what were you asking me again? Keep it slow, okay?”