Defend, Protect

☢ - Personality Flaw(s)¡ - Pet Peeves

“People absolutely loaded with jewelry that jingles and clicks whenever they fucking move. They’re the worst, I swear to Elimine- Like, yeah, sure, you’re loaded, but please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t fucking do that. It makes it hard to focus, and fuck if that isn’t hard enough without those clowns around.”

“… Okay, okay. I get that I’m impulsive and I really have to work on my language, gods know Father reprimanded me on that more than enough. I- Just- Working on instinct just works out for me better than anything, and- Even though things just tumble out without me meaning them, I-”

◌ Mother/Father

⌘ Guardian

▶ Sibling(s)

▣ Relatives

🔲 Best Friend

❥ Crush

◉ Dream(s)

◖ Ideal Partner

¡ Pet Peeves

☰ Occupation

✯ Perfect day

☂ Preferred weather

☢ Personality Flaw(s)

Chad’s reaction did not disappoint. The look on his face was priceless and Cath finally lost it, breaking into laughter right on the spot. Well, it was totally his fault anyway; if Chad weren’t so easy to mess with, she wouldn’t have so many opportunities to tease him.

Since he trotted away though to presumably continue his search (she called out a final “good luck!” between chuckles to accompany his departure), Cath ought to do the same, at least after finally calming down. And then she noticed something… entirely by accident as the thief busied herself with brushing a strand of her unruly hair aside, her gaze wandering up a nearby tree.

“Son of a birch…”

Seriously… ? Cath could hardly believe what she saw, but she swiftly scaled the tree anyway, and carefully reached out towards a bird’s nest sitting between the branches. Finally she caught hold of the item she had spotted from below; and a quick inspection revealed soon enough that yes, it was a pouch, and yes, it contained pencils. A bird did actually grab it and carry it away. Incredible. “Hey, Chad, I found it!”

His first thought was to snap at her when she talks to him again, especially because she laughed at him and he totally wasn't taking this way too seriously, no siree, but a second after he opened his mouth to do exactly that, the realization of what Cath just exclaimed hit him in the face like two buckets of iced water, including the buckets. Yowch.

Shit. Now he owed her one. And he wasn’t sure what “one” was going to be.

“What!?” he exclaimed, stopping in his tracks and jerking his head around, eyes wide, quickly enough to throw himself off-balance and make him stumble. He backtracked quickly, gaze flickering from Cath to the pouch in her hands and back again. If it was possible, he looked even more startled- Relieved, yeah, but mostly in a state of utter flabbergastion.

         hoping the “usual drill” wasn’t anything too specific that she’d have to attempt to mimic, she nodded briefly, following behind him as he made his way quickly, yet quietly, to the armory, she glanced both ways as they ran–the coast still seemed to be clear, and they were mere steps from the opening of the armory. the footsteps were getting closer, and the sound of armor clattering with each step was now audible, and kiara flinched as when, in the last few steps, she could see the figure turn into the corridor out of the corner of her eye.  

        …there was no doubt. with the noise of their own footsteps and that blur of her disguise’s bright, vibrant clothing…they must have been spotted.

          ❝ …hey!! is anybody over there?!  ❞

        the man’s voice clearly unsettled the young child besides her, as when she looked over, his face was pale and his hands looked ever so slightly as if they were shaking. kiara wondered if he, too, noticed the clattering of the armor, signifying that this was possibly the worst enemy for a thief–an armored knight. and he was strong, at that, according to his level of quintessence, stronger than the other ones she had encountered in the castle. however…he was certainly not too strong for her, who had been collecting quintessence and increasing her magical ability tremendously over her travels. yes, kiara could decimate the threat within instants…

         …at the cost of her disguise, of course.

         however, it was clear now that the knight was approaching the armory, where he must’ve seen the last traces of the yellow-orange blur, and her disguise had little to no importance if she valued this child’s life. but…why did she value this child’s life? she certainly didn’t know him, and yet it felt so…nostalgic, to speak and be around such an independently strong child–one who most likely didn’t know what they were truly getting themselves into. gripping her fenrir tome beneath her cloak, she narrowed her eyes as she made her final decision. readying her hand, she began to focus her magical power, muttering a small, ❝ stay here. don’t move. ❞

         tensing and preparing to launch out of her hiding place and strike, she knew that it shouldn’t be too difficult. just one or two strikes would surely bring the knight down, and with her speed and ability, it would be over in mere seconds. exhaling slowly, a small smile crept onto her lips, and she murmured only one more thing before she leaped into the corridor and struck, the faint essence of her dark magic crackling from the tips of her fingers.

         ❝ …i’m sorry for deceiving you, kid. ❞

“Fuck.”

When the knight came around the corner and called out, he could’ve sworn that his heart had either leapt into his throat, stopped, or dropped out of his chest altogether- It was a relief that none of the three were the case, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he guessed that it would happen eventually when the guy got his hands on them, even if Lugh was with him- He has to live, Lugh has to survive- And with this on his mind, fear clouding his logic, the thief turned around, the words ‘run’ and ‘i’ll cover you’ on the tip of his tongue, but dying before they could fall.

Because the mage leapt out first, magic at his fingertips, clearly intending to meet the knight head-on, and Chad was about to scream, protest, but he couldn’t stop him, and the spell that formed- It wasn’t anima magic, it was too menacing to be anima, it wasn’t Fire or Thunder or Elfire, it was dark, dark magic- But it wasn’t Ray, Lugh doesn’t know how to use dark magic-

It didnt make any sense to him, still didn’t make sense as he watched the other strike the enemy down with almost disturbing ease, and the thief suddenly felt very, very sick. Maybe this was some sort of hyperrealistic dream? Nightmare? Drightmare? For some reason, he doubted that was the case. There’s no way his brain could construct anything like this.

But all that aside, it was obvious that the person he’d been running through the corridors with wasn’t Lugh. But if not, then who-?

And why were his hands shaking so much, anyways? Forcing himself to calm down, his grip on his knife tightened as he took a shaky breath.

Twenty-five potatoes, give or take, and there should have been plenty of butter…he ran through the list of things he’d gotten at the market earlier in the week. “All right, thank you Chad!”

Oh there was the blasted stockpot, way on the top shelf. Didn’t Raymond know he couldn’t reach it there? He sighed as he pulled a chair over to the counter. He often told his children not to climb on the furniture, and they often replied with a suggestion that he practice what he preached.

Stockpot finally retrieved, he climbed down from the chair and set it on the stove. He brushed his hair out of his face.

“Could you please bring up…oh, maybe fifteen of those potatoes, Chad?” he called. “I’m going to go get some water.”

Fifteen? Fifteen sounded manageable if he had a sack or a bag of some sort- There probably was an extra one downstairs for that purpose, since carrying potatoes upstairs without one usually ends up in someone dropping about half of them. Chad huffed a little at the thought.

He then started down the stairs, just remembering to call a “Yessir!” as he descended- He jumped off the last four steps or so before getting fifteen of the potatoes, stuffing them in the aforementioned bag and lugging them upstairs again, putting them down in front of the kitchen before quickly slipping into the bedroom to retrieve the inkwell, since Father would probably take about another few minutes-

“It won’t be a hindrance, Master Roy.” he immediately replied, dodging the question entirely, wiping his nose on his sleeve after the statement, turning his head away as he suppressed a dry cough.

Chad’s nose wrinkled as his lips pulled into a grimace, before he turned his head away slightly, clearly attempting to reject the offer, lips now pressed into a thin line to ward off any further attempts- That stuff had a really high potential of tasting really gross, anyways, and it’s not like he’ll need it against the dumb cold he’s come down with.

❝ huh… ❞ musing a few moments to herself, her options were becoming increasingly limited. she could take his offer and simply walk off to continue, but…wouldn’t he notice if she headed further into the interior, rather than the other way? or, maybe if she could sneak out and find another route that was out of his sight…but that might cause trouble if she were to run into yet another member of the lycian alliance. perhaps…

       …footsteps?

       she’d only realized that somebody was steadily approaching when she heard the faint noise–and the moment she turned her attention to it, the quintessence that bubbled up from within the being almost immediately made it determinable that whoever this was, they were much stronger than the simple pawns she’d been plowing down beforehand. if kiara played her cards right, she’d probably be able to handle them, but…it’d cost her disguise. and if she were to flee now, the child would inevitably be detected and disposed of. how ironic, that this dilemma seemed so…nostalgic. so much so that the option of simply fleeing now seemed out of the question.

         ❝ …hey, ❞

       her tone low and brows furrowed, she disregarded whatever he was first speaking about to attempt another change of plans. from where they stood, the door to the armory was just hardly in sight–if he was carrying a lockpick, which seemed obvious–it would make a perfect space to avoid the oncoming threat. it was better to let it pass than to risk too much, even if it was a good source of quintessence to harvest. with a bit of urgency in her tone upon sensing the figure turn yet another corner closer, she turned to him and continued her original remark.

         ❝ let’s–uh, let’s just go to the armory together, since i’m here and all–you know, just in case. ❞ kiara simply hoped he’d comply without argument, knowing that if they waited too long, it’d get a lot messier than she would be able to explain…

A moment’s hesitation as he strained his ears towards the still-resounding footsteps, before the thief nodded, finally letting most of his suspiscions go for a while- He could ask later, when they’re somewhat safe- If they split up now, it could get even worse than the current predicament, especially if Lugh got caught by whoever the hell was lumbering around the place at the moment. Not that he didn’t trust him and his abilities, but in his current state, Chad couldn’t help but feel at least the tiniest bit worried. Just a little.

His voice was barely over a whisper whe he replied, giving a curt nod of his head as he peered around the corner one more time, golden eyes checking the vicinity for any enemy soldiers who could suddenly spring into their path.

“... Yeah, good point. We’re gonna make a beeline for the armory. The usual drill, ‘kay?” He turned back towards Lugh, looking for an affirmative, already tensing, ready to spring forth as he glanced behind the other, hoping that whatever had been approaching wasn’t upon them yet. His tone lowered, wavered, almost nervous.

Sheesh, someone was getting a little impatient. Didn’t Cath just say that she’d tell him if she found something? He’d better not get any stupid ideas now, like thinking he was the one in charge here and could order her around to do his bidding. Clearly it should be the other way around. Thus… she decided to mess with the younger thief just a little more.

Making a half-turn towards his side to face Chad, the smirk she had already been wearing only widened upon seeing his rather interesting expression. Was he actually pouting? She figured those pencils had to be really important to him, and yet, this was all too amusing.

“Hmmmmm…. what if I did?” She placed a hand on her chin as if in thought; keeping the other purposely out of his views as if she might already have what he’d been looking for. “Hey, what would you do if I really found it? You’d owe me, you know. I could really make you my servant then. All that for a bunch of pencils.” She shrugged. Not like Cath would actually do that, but just teasing him with the possibility was already fun enough. “Are you sure they’re worth all that trouble? Can’t you just get new ones?”

His eyes widened, before narrowing, frustration evident, the frown growing from six point five to ten on the grump scale. Oh Elimine, she wouldn’t do that, would she? Then again, he wouldn’t put it beneath her... But he’d already had enough of all that ‘#1′ business in the first place, and becoming her servant sounded like a living nightmare. But it wasn’t as if she could, y’know, actually force him to become her servant/slave/whatever, right?

... Right?

“You wouldn’t.” he mumbled, the grip on the broken pencil fragments tightening, putting him at serious risk of getting some really painful splinters. “Cut it out, Cath! I just- Gods, y’know what, it doesn’t matter. I can look for them myself!”