Orange hair that just brushed the broad shoulders of a man glittered feircly in the sunlight, and almost-as-orange eyes shone. A headband above the eyes, with the pattern of a tiger's stripes, rustled in the occasional wind that blew through the alleys, and the man continued to walk forewards. He wore a wrap-around shirt, red and black, with a stomach band of a creamy color, like the whiskers of a tiger. As it merely reach just below the rear end of the man, he wore black shorts that reached just above his knees, with sneaker-like shoes with black 'X's on them.
A girl walked behind him, looking around at her suroundings. "Hey," a voice cut into her thoughts, and she looked up at the man, who had turned his face to look at her. "Where exactly is the Rooks headquaters now?"
"Oh, um... In Ceril... That's about three towns away..." she added, thinking. Then she stepped up to walk beside the man and eyed him questionally. "Hey, Tiger..."
"Hm?"
"You know, I told you my name, but all I know about your name is your nickname. And The Raging Tiger, I seriously doubt is anywhere close to you real name..."
The man smiled at her, and she wondered how he could be a theif, or even have the nickname 'the Raging Tiger'. "My name's Keru." he said, then he glanced back at the girl, and asked, "So, Niina... Why do you want to go after the Rooks? Is it personal?"
Niina nodded, looking down at the ground. "They killed my brother... I'm sure they would have killed my parents, if they hadn't already died..." She continued looking down, as though she was hiding something on her face.
Keru stayed silent for a few seconds, then said, "I'm sorry..." Niina stayed silent, then Keru kept talking, "You know, it's personal for me too... My father had died fighting them and their machines, though my mom always said that a peice of stone she kept with her was her father's left ring finger. So I guess he was turned to stone, or something.... Then, when I was ten or so, I went up against the Rooks headquaters, which were in this city at that time, and I barely escaped. I got scars, which pain me everynight, so I remember my stupidity, and how it killed my mother...
"The Rooks came, shortly after that, and killed my mother. They said it was my punsihment, and left me alive. All I remember from them now is a tall figure, long hair blowing against the sun, a dress, or something like on, rustling in the wind, and a shining child standing beside that figure, wearing armor and a cape...."
Niina stayed silent for a few minutes after that, her face striken with something, though Keru couldn't tell what. "I'm sorry..." she said, but Keru shook his head. "Well, it's not your fault." She stayed silent, then said quickly, raising her face, "Let's go. We have a lot of walking to do."
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They reached the next town, Kerly, by sundown, which was about a day's walk, as they had left at sunup. There, they rented a room in the inn, seeing as how there was only one room left. Keru insisted that Niina get the bed, so he slept on an extra blanket, on the floor near the window. He later thought it was a good thing that he wasn't sleeping on the somfy bed, otherwise he wouldn't have sensed the intruder.
It was around midnight when Keru suddenly woke up, hearing soemone stepping on creaky floorboards. He first thought it was Niina, but he could hear her breathing near him, so peacefully that she couldn't be awake. Slowly, he eased a dagger from under the blanket he slept on, just in case. When he heard the footsteps come closer, he left up and jumped to face the intruder.
He was wearing a cloak, with the hood covering his face in the darkness. "What are you doing here?" Keru said, dagger in his right hand, ready to plunge it into the intruder's heart if need be.
"You may relax. I do not wish to see you," the man said, his voice soft, almost feminine, though it had tones of strength in it. "I merely wished to speak with Niina."
Keru's eyes narrowed. "Why? She's sleeping right now."
"Hmm... Well, you have yet to figure out who I am, and who she is too, so I don't think I'll tell you. I'll be back another time." he said, and with an uttered word, he vanished, teleported soemwhere else.
Keru stood staring at the spot where the man had been, frowning. "Who Niina really is?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WILL YOU STOP STARING AT ME?!" a woman's voice yelled out, so loud, they could faintly hear it in Kerly, which was about three kilometres behind the woman.
"Sorry, sorry..." Keru said, abcking away from Niina. "You have yet to figure out who I am, and who she is..." The man from last night's words still echoed in Keru's head. 'He was so familier, but I can't remember who he is.... And who is Niina anyways? Was what he said true? Do I really not know Niina? Well, I've only been with her for a couple of days, so I know I don't know a lot about her, but still...' He looked up towards the sky, until Niina's voice cut into his thoughts.
"If we're to make it to Ceril as fast as we can, WE NEED TO GO AS FAST AS WE CAN! HURRY UP!"
Keru jogged up to Niina, still glancing at the sky. 'What lies ahead of me? What's going to happen?'
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Currently featuring the sci-fi story 'A.L.P.H.A', a drama swirled in with a bit of comedy, romantic entanglements, and webs upon webs of secrets.
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