Of the Corruption: A Demon's Power

Actually training
Kie could only guess where he was now. But clearly, he knew it was some time before he awoke. His skin felt wet, as if he had been just cleaned up. A voice inside of his head complained of a pain shooting through it, and instinctively, he raised one hand to clutch his forehead, his eyes still closed.

"Son of a..." He cursed.

Ean was instantly relieved by the sudden movement in the boy, even despite the fact he had tried to kill him three hours earlier.

He moved over next to the boy laying on the bed and placed his hand on his forehead to see if he was sick or not. He didn't seem sick, although he had been burning up ever since they brought him back from the hospital, but they kept him cool just to be safe.

He asked the newly awoken Kie "You feel dizzy or something?"

"A little..." Kie admitted, lowering his hand. "But I'm alright...." He winced a little, grabbing his shoulder with his other hand. "Ugh...my shoulder itches like he--"

Then, his eyes widened slightly.

"Wait...."

He took his hand from his shoulder, staring at the newfound scars incredulously. "It...WASN'T a dream, after all..."

Ean saw his incredulous face, and, turning to Sachi, he gave her a look asking "Should I tell him?"

Memories flooded Kie's mind, as if he was seeing the killings himself. The slicing and searing of flesh.... the screams of those undeserving of death....hell, even the scent of fresh blood still lingered on that hand, as he flexed the fingers as if trying to feel the warmth of the crimson fluid once again.

He had single-handedly slaughtered a large portion of the staff of the hospital. Their blood would be forever on his hands, and their screams would forever linger in his mind. And he liked it.

Sachi merely shook her head, her face serious. She sent a look back to Ean that clearly said it all. Kie had been aware of what he was doing.

Ean focused on the boy again, "Kie... That wasn't you. You know that you didn't want that to happen..." he said, his voice desperate in hoping that Kie didn't act up again.

"Why do you sound so grim, Ean?" Was his asking reply, as he turned towards Ean with an almost child-like expression of curiosity on his face.

Ean grabbed Kie's wrist, shoving his hand in his face like the thing he was trying to show the boy was so obvious if it had been a snake it would've bitten him. "Kie... You killed dozens of people back there... Look at your damn hand..."

"I'm aware of that." Kie's tone didn't waver under the man's negative tone. "What of it?"

Ean stood up, "Because you killed innocent people, dammit! What the hell has gotten into you?!" he yelled, clenching his fists, "Why do you not care?" The blond remained silent, and surprisingly, her eyes didn't flicker with shock. Had she seen this coming?

Kie merely stared at Ean with an exasperated look, as he lowered his hand. "You sound as if that were a bad thing." He replied coolly.

Ean's expression of seriousness and annoyance did not change, "You just committed a mass murder! If you weren't acting like this, I wouldn't have half a mind to throw you out on the street to be arrested!"

He grabbed his swords and mask, walking to the door, saying "Sachi, you handle him. I'm going to go do something quickly."

Sachi's eyes widened, but she did nothing to stop him, even stepping aside. "Sure thing, Ean." She said quietly.

Ean turned to Kie for one last thing, "Only my demon is a part of me Kie, yours isn't you."

He opened the door and walked out, slamming it in frustration as he left.

Kie growled angrily, throwing his hands up in the air, a sign of frustration. "DAMN it!" He snapped, clearly not understanding. "What's his problem?!"

Sachi sighed, pulling a chair over to Kie and sitting beside him. Her face was one of sympathy. "He wasn't born like you...." She said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "He....doesn't understand."

Kie's eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean, Ms. Urami?"

"Here, let me explain...."

Outside Help
Ean was outside the inn, and it began to get cloudy, not enough for rain but still enough to dampen his hot mood.

He pressed a small button on the inside of his mask and his megabike wheeled up next to him. He got on, moving towards the west, trying to see if he could get a message from the eighth force.

He had been driving for two hours straight. He decided to stop, and check if he had the signal to recieve anything out there.

Luckily he could, and he was surprised it was this good. He called up the base, and was pleased to hear the familiar voice on the line, "Hello, this is the Guardians eighth force member line, how may I help you?"

Ean chuckled at the unknowingness of his friend, "Hello, Suzana, how have you been?"

The voice on the other side gasped slightly, "Ean! Where the hell have you been these last two weeks?! Every single captain and their mother have been worried sick about you, and Sam has vowed to kick your ass if you don't get over here right now!"

"Sorry, sorry, I've... Run into a few roadblocks to getting home..."

Yeah, getting into the position of training a punk and raping and possibly impregnating a girl might keep me busy...

"But I promise I'll be there in three weeks, tops. By the way, I need a favor..." he said, changing the subject.

"Sigh... You're not out of the bag yet, mister. Full explanation or you'll get in trouble with James later. And what's this favor you need?"

"I need to get in touch with Sam, at least temporarily."

The voice on the other side was replaced with a few rummaging sides, finding the code key for the new line. She came up again, saying "Alright. Here he is..."

The line changed, and new, masculine voice came on, "Hello?"

Ean groaned, he knew this was going to be more difficult than appropriate. "Hello Sam..."

The voice on the other line paused momentarily, as if devising a plan to harass his captain. "Hello Ean. How have you been lately? been sleeping around?"

Ean pinched the bridge of his nose at this, forgetting that the tattoo monitored his body functions from a far longer range than his mask could communicate. "Dammit, Sam I need information. Now."

There was a other pause. "You're lying to me Ean..."

Ean's mood sured, "Sam, stop reading the charts, and give me the info I need."

"And what might that be?"

"I need to know how to exorcise a category seven demon from a fifteen-year old without causing any mental or physical damage."

More rummaging from the other side. ''"Hmm... It seems the power suction from the demon's exorcism would be too great. There's no way you could pull it out without taking a chunk of the boy with it. Why do you need it?"

"Because I need to get rid of that demon soon, or it'll imprint before it leaves the body."

Ean didn't like his odds at this, but waited for the other man's reply before hanging up the communication.

"Hmm... I'll send you the current list of exorcism spells so you can try to at least suppress the presence for now until it leaves. But in order to do that I'd have to hang up, so... Over and out."

Ean frowned at the sudden insistence to cut off, but decide to conform anyways. "Over and Out."

The Principle of Morality
"From what I can tell about Ean...." Sachi explained. "He's had to spend quite of his own childhood in solitude and isolation. His own demon was most likely the result, highly uncontrollable and free to break loose whenever he wanted. I guess Ean himself feared harming innocent people, due to the hands of that beast."

Kie's angered expression changed into one of sympathy. But he chose to say nothing, as he stared at the blonde intently.

"However, due to that very same fear and isolation..." Sachi looked away from Kie's eyes for a split second. "He clearly understands the concept of morality, of what is wrong and what is right. You, however, are a different story."

Kie frowned. "What do ya mean?" He asked impatiently. "So we both had sucky childhoods. Doesn't mean he ca--"

But Sachi raised a hand, as a signal for silence, cutting him off. "You were born in a brutal village, where beatings and slaughter were daily. As you grew up, you eventually came to the belief that seeing innocent blood spilled was a normal part of life. Am I correct?"

Kie's expression wavered slightly, before he nodded. "Yes..."

"Don't you think that maybe that he saw the killing of those doctors in a different way than you did?"

A sigh of frustration came from the boy. "Does that give him the right to judge me?!" He snapped.

But Sachi merely put on a smile, taking a hand away from his shoulder. "He merely misunderstood." She said in an assuring voice. "Don't worry, once he comes back, we'll settle things out." Then, she raised an eyebrow.

"After all, the sooner this is done, the sooner we can start training, right?"

Kie rolled his eyes, flopping onto his bed. It had been quite a long time. "I guess...." He muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

"Sachi is right. We've wasted too much time."

The masked swordsman was once again in the room, without even opening the door. He was leaning against the doorframe, and his expression was hidden by the clean and silvered metal on his face.

"I got a warning from James."

Both boy and lady raised an eyebrow. "That would be...?" Sachi asked.

"Three weeks or my license is suspended," he answered, his voice only contributing the feeling of urgency to the conversation.

Kie rolled his eyes. "What? Are you in danger of being kicked out by the wizard guild?" He asked sarcastically.

Ean groaned, but it sounded like an annoyed growl, deep and threatening. "Suspension means I cannot claim anything under the sanctity of the Guardians, I can't hunt demons, and I don't get paid. It is the worst punishment in the organization besides excommunication, and it being performed on a captain is an extremely rare thing, especially since the only one it's ever happened to is The thirteenth..."

"Well...that doesn't really change anything, does it?" Sachi asked, getting up from her seat. "That should be plenty of time for him to learn how to master chakra manipulation."

Ean bent his head in thought, then raised it again, "Sachi, there's a reason it takes multiple years for Academy students in your home village to graduate... But what I'm worried about is if Kie's training goes over the time limit, then not only do I lose the money I get, but I can't help him with the demon anymore after that..."

There was nothing could Sachi could say in order to argue against that.

But apparently, it didn't stop Kie.

"What's wrong with you, Ean?" He asked, pulling himself off of the bed and on his feet. "You shouldn't be worrying about the 'what ifs'. If it's in risk of taking too much time, then we'll just have to get started right away!"

Ean considered this, as he stepped in front of Kie. He looked into the Boy's eyes and then took a step back, saying "Alright... But first I need to do one thing," he said, bringing back his hand in a palm-heel strike position, a small light engulfing the area of his fingers, readying a technique.

Kie's stared into a curious one, and he blinked a few times, almost comical in a sense.

Ean concentrated seemingly, muttering under his breath, "Seventh point of Sealing, Holy Ring!"

He slammed his palm into Kie's stomach, an intense light emitted from the strike point, and a large gust of wind was felt as well. The sudden force knocked Kie onto the bed, and Ean was left catching his breath.

Sachi immediately turned to the now-unconscious boy with widened eyes. "What..."

Ean quicky picked the boy up and carried him in a piggy-back, "C'mon, if we hurry we might just get past Jack," he said, opening the door quite clumsily and walking out.

Sachi sighed helplessly, as she took to her feet, following Ean and shutting the door behind her. "Right..."

Introduction
Kie let out a groan, as vision once again came back to him. He rolled over on his stomach, with one eye open and one eye closed, as he glared seemingly at nothing. "This is what I get for trying to be encouraging..." He muttered to himself, pulling himself up on his hands and knees.

It was then that he got a good look at his surroundings. He was near the wall of a lighted cave. As his eyes darted around, he saw flora developing and thriving in the cracks and walls of the cave. The crystals were the clear source of the light, shining as bright as the sun.

He chuckled. "All right, what stop have we come to on our field trip now?" He said sarcastically.

A boot rested on Kie's back, a sign that Ean was with him.

"We're in a cave about five miles to the north of town. This is where you'll be trained."

Kie ignored the boot on his back, as his eyes searched the cave. "You know....once you get used to this place....it might not be so bad." He commented, sarcasm gone.

Ean removed his shoe from the teenager on the ground and proceeded to walk inward, to the center of the room. "C'mon, Sachi's waiting for us closer to the middle."

Kie got up from his spot on the ground, turned, and walked slowly behind Ean. Sure enough, Sachi was sitting in a cross-legged position, her back turned. She turned her head, looking at the two out of the corner of her eye.

"'Bout time." She mused. "I thought I was about to fall asleep."

Ean smirked, "The I'd have to wake you up. And you might not like my methods..."

She smirked back. "I might, and I might not." She replied, pulling herself up onto her feet.

Ean's smirk faded, "Darn, myattempts to frighten you have failed. Whatever shall I do?"

He refocused on Kie, "Well, take a good look around, because this is where we'll be sleeping, eating, bathing and training for the next three weeks. Hope you like it."

Kie sighed, his shoulders drooping comically. "Living here for three weeks? Well, I hope this cave has cable...."

Ean sighed, "Don't complain. Do you want to learn how to fight, or do you want to laze around?"

Kie folded his arms across his chest. "Of course I want to learn how to fight? Just trying to make a joke...." He replied, scratching the back of his head with one hand.

Ean rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Oh, and, I recently found a waterfall and creek a bit farther in, if you want a drink or need to bathe, then go there.I'm going to go set up camp first, you can just look around," he said, walking into the foliage after he finished.

Kie rolled his own eyes. "What a stiff..." He turned to Sachi. "Miss Ura--"

Then he widened his own eyes, as he saw her back was turned once again, this time sitting in a knees-up position, her arms wrapped around her legs. She didn't seem to acknowledge him, as if she was thinking about something else.

"Miss Urami..." He said quietly, walking slowly towards her. "Are you coming? I'm heading over to the waterfall."

But Sachi merely raised an arm and waved him off. "Go on ahead, kid...." She said in an unusually sullen voice. "I'm thinkin' right now."

It was a half-lie, of course. But Kie merely shrugged lightly and walked off, heading further into the cave.

Suddenly Ean came around behind Sachi, sitting down next to the blond.

He looked at her, and upon realizing her mood, he asked "What're you thinking about? We actually began, why so glum?"

Sachi sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "I-I'm sorry, Ean....it's just that....now when I'm looking at this place....it isn't very pretty to look at now."

Ean sighed knowingly, "...If you want me to leave you alone for now, I can..." he said, starting to get up.

"No!" She found herself saying it before she even realized it, and her arm reached out and grabbed Ean's arm. She looked up at him, her eyes wavering with sadness, and her expression had a tint of slight embarrassment.

"....Please stay...."

Ean stared into those eyes, and he felt guilty. He had an urge to leave as he desired, but then he remembered that promise he made to her a while ago.

He said he would stay.

After a moment, he sat back down, closer to Sachi than before. "I still find this place beautiful... Even though it brings back memories that I don't like... Y'know, there's a city, where I come from, that has a bad track record..."

"What would that be?" Was her quiet reply.

"It had the worst crime rate in the world at one time... There were homocides, rapes, drug cartels... everything... But, there was one single attraction to it that started a whole base there, and that was the sunset," replied Ean, musing while looking into the distance.

Sachi looked at him curiously. "What was so special about it?" She asked.

Ean was smiling, yet it was sad. "It was amazing. The city had no pollution, nothing clogging up the air, and when you got to the top a of building just as it hit the horizon, the colors were like God had just dumped his paints all over the sky, falling into a once in a lifetime view. I loved it, as did everybody else there. So I didn't stop visiting there just because it was a bad place to be. Like here, I liked the better values it had... Like these," he said as he pulled Sachi in for a kiss, meant to reassure her just as much as convey his feelings.

A surge of happiness passed through Sachi, as she accepted the bait once again and returned the kiss. A small part of her was grumbling about how she had accepted bait once more, but it was ignorable.

Ean pulled away, his smile now as equally satisfied as Sachi's own, "Y'know, I think we can survive these next few weeks..."

"Like we haven't before?" Sachi raised an eyebrow.

Ean continued to smile while getting up. "Oh, and, I lied to Kie about that waterfall. It's actually that way..." he said, pointing perpendicular to Kie's direction. "Wanna check it out? Saved it just for us..."

Sachi sighed, slapping a hand to her forehead. The smile on her face was clearly visble. "You know he's gonna be pissed at you for tricking him like that, don't ya?" She too began to pull herself up to her feet.

"Yeah, I know, But that's half the reason I do it."

She merely placed an arm around his shoulders, while her other hand was on her hip. "All right, then.... shall we?" She said in a mildly polite manner, just to get a chuckle out of Ean.

Ean placed a hand on her waist, "Let's shall," he said, chuckling lightly as they walked towards the waterfall.

Evidence
It wasn't until a few minutes later, that a sulking Kie came back, hands in his pockets, to the cave center. His head was down as he walked, his footsteps kicking up dust.

"Damn Ean tricked me." He muttered. "Waterfall, my ass! It'll be the last time he's ever expecting me to go somewhere else!" He walked over to the farthest cave wall and flopped down on his sitter, and he sighed.

It was not unnoticed by the fact that his two teachers had once again disappeared with him gone. He rolled his eyes, as the fact that they could once again be making out passed through his head. Jeez, there was a matter of three weeks, and they still couldn't control themselves?

His head slowly moved around to inspect his surroundings. He didn't expect nothing much to have changed since he had gone. All of the lights were still in their respective spots....the cracks of flora hadn't gotten any greener....those wierd stains near where he was sitting--

"Wait a minute."

Kie stopped in thought, his eyes locked on the last item he had thought of: dried stains of some foreign liquid in the rocky floor. His curiousity got the better of him, and he got up, walking to and crouching over what he saw was out of place and conspicuous.

"This couldn't have been done long ago..." He reached out with his hand, feeling the affected and rough material with his fingertips. "More like recently. Did a fight break ou--"

Then his eyes landed on the trail of blood stains, leading directly to a slightly-above-man-sized tree near the wall. What was at the end of the trail was a small pool of blood, set as if it had been dripping from a certain spot.

There were two things, set under that same tree, that almost made his mind stop working.

Pieces of blue fabric....

...and strands of blonde hair.

Ean had felt only the slightest bit guilty when he ditched the boy like that.

''Well, he's fifteen for christ's sake. He can handle a little tick like that...''

Another oice inside his head contradicted this statement. ''If you're tyring to train him, then it'd be best to do so with care, and be nice about it. why did you keep him from knowing where the waterfall was?''

...Because I wanted some good alone time with her...

''Well, you've had quite a lot of that... why don't you go get him and bring him with you two? It'd almost be like a family trip.''

...Okay, I'll go get him if you never say that again.

Alright, go do so.

He stopped walking and grabbed Sachi's arm to get her attention. "C'mon, we should go get Kie."

Sachi cocked an eyebrow slightly. "Changed your mind?"

Ean paused, "He'd learn about it sooner or later, knowing his brain," he lied. "C'mon," he said as he walked back towards the center of the cave.

Sachi seemed to have been satisfied by this answer, as her calm expression didn't change. But she followed nonetheless, hands in her pockets.

They neared the center of the room once again after a minute or two of foliage up to their heads. Ean saw through the grasses a bit ahead, and he mused out loud, "Hmm... Wonder if he's back at the center..."

"Or, he could've stumbled upon something else in the cave." Sachi supplied. "That is, if you haven't scouted it completely..."

Ean could see the center of the room, and he said "That first idea worries me a bit... he forgot to clean up after himself..."

He pushed through the rest of the green and found Kie inspecting the ground, but Ean couldn't tell why. "Hey, you wanna come to the waterfall with us?"

He only got silence in reply. Kie slowly got up from his crouching position, staring at the tree, but didn't turn to face them. His long hair covered the showing side of his face, hiding his expression.

Sachi stared at him in slight confusion. "Kie...you alive over there?" She slowly began to walk over towards him.

Ean moved next to the boy also, wondering what he had found. "What're you being so quiet about? Not really like you..."

Kie turned to face Ean. But instead of a voice, another sound rang out.

WHAM!

A solid uppercut collided with Ean's jaw, and enough force was put into it to send him sprawling onto his back.

Sachi's calm look changed to disbelief at Ean. But she decided not to speak. What she stepped in could become a volatile situation, and she really wasn't that great a negotiator. She doubted Kie would do something drastic.... he was sensible enough for that, wasn't he?

As he felt the attack make contact, Ean himself didn't believe it.

What the hell?!

As he hit the ground, he was going through why on earth Kie would attack him out of nowhere. He regained his posture after correcting his chin's position and asked incredulously "What the fuck?! What the hell did you do that for?!"

The boy, however, did not stop there.

With a quick pace, he walked over to the fallen Ean, raised his left foot up, and brought it down upon Ean's chest with merciless force. Then, he lowered himself, a stare of intensity going through his eyes.

"Ean....I don't have to inform you that this is one of those times where you need to be clear on what you say." He said in a low voice.

The extra foot on his chest didn't help with falling over, "And what would that be?" asked Ean through clenched teeth.

Kie didn't speak for a moment, as if considering Ean's own indignancy. Then, when he did, it was in the same low tone, with even the slightest bit of anger.

"You're hiding something from me."

Ean didn't move his gaze from looking into Kie's eyes. For some reason, he wasn't possessed...

He turned his head to look around, and upon seeing where they were, he realized why the boy had attacked him. Oh shit. His mind scrambled for any sort of explanation he could to get out of it, but he drew nothing but a blank. He had to escape from this kid's grasp. ''Now can't possibly be the optimal time to tell him... We're in the middle of trying to train for god's sake! We've been sidetracked an infinite number of times!'' He refocused on teh blond, saying in a solemn voice "Sachi, get this kid off me."

"Kie..." Sachi slowly walked over towards Kie. "We can explain. Just let Ean go and we can talk about th--"

But instead of listening, Kie ground down harder on Ean's chest, his expression not changing. "You had plenty of time to talk. But you did it out of my ear's reach. Now, you're gonna sit there and tell me what the fuck you had to hide from me so long."

"Alright, you had your chance, anad I had mine. Now get off" Ean growled as he grabbed Kie's ankle and rolled to his left, causing Kie to fall and putting Ean on his feet again. He in turn stepped on the boy's torso. "There are some things that don't need to be known, and others that would cause damage if known. Apparently you haven't figured that out yet," he said, putting much of his weight on his boot.

Kie gasped, but his eyes still shined with anger. "Is that so?"

His knee rose up, his foot kicking Ean straight in the back. It was enough to force him off and back on his feet, his expression murderous. "Who's it gonna cause damage to? Me? Because apparently, it hasn't caused damage to either of you!" His hands clenched into fists.

Ean didn't expect the attack to his back, and was subsequently knocked off of his captive. He rolled over his shoulder, standing a fair distance from both Kie and Sachi, the three of them forming a triangle almost. He stared at Kie, and then at Sachi, the expression eh wore was unlike his others, giving every single emotion and thought he was having away. He looked at the two of them, but it was an unfocused look, as if he was mulling something over. "Sachi... Do you think... We should tell him?"

Sachi's own expression was a distraught one, as she covered half of her face with her palm, in a half arms-crossed position. She nodded. "Ean....please remember that I'm right here..." She thought, hoping her presence would make it easier on him.

After getting the affirmation from her, he looked back at the boy.

"Kie..." he couldn't look at him in the ey anymore. He turned his eyes to his feet, his fist tightened slightly.

"I... raped Sachi here."

At that point, Kie lowered his head. His hair covered his face once again. His fists relaxed, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

What is he going to do? Sachi thought, dread in her chest. ''Attack Ean? Attempt to kill him?'' It even seemed as if one hand was reaching for his sword, itching to cut Ean in half.

But, his next move shocked her indefinitely.

He spoke again, and his voice sounded hurt and betrayed. But it was clear.

"Why didn't you tell me...."

Ean responded by raising his head, only to ironically find Kie's own lowered. "Isn't it obvious? I was afraid of the consequences... I could've alienated you, I could've made her pregnant... If that was your situation, wouldn't you be too?"

"You were afraid because you thought I hated you, too....wasn't it?"

"... Contrary to what you might believe... I don't like to be hated, Kie."

A scoff came from Kie. "And yet you say to have committed an act so unforgivable....how ironic."

Ean did not change his face. "Irony is the worst thing to think about right now. I... regret what I did. Greatly. And I'm very afraid of what it could do to affect my life, as well as hers. And maybe even the baby's..."

"A baby?" Kie turned his head to stare at Sachi with a raised eyebrow, as he folded his arms across his chest. The blonde was now looking up, the pension gone, but only slightly.

"Hell, I bet you don't even know if she's pregnant yet, do you?"

Ean also looked to Sachi. "...Not.. Really... I guess I was too caught up in the possibility I've never asked to check with those doctors we were ironically surrounded by for days..." he said, seeing the idiocy of his own ways as he formed these tense words.

Sachi sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "Worrying sucks...." She muttered, having worried herself to death about it.

"See?" Kie shrugged. "Unless you have a pregnancy positive test thingy, you can't actually be sure, now can you?"

Ean moved towards Sachi, putting a hand on her shoulder for consolidation. "Not really, but there are other ways... I was so desperate at one point I had half of a mind to ask Jack to test for pregnancy... It would've been relatively painless either way..."

"Ah..." Kie nodded slowly, in understanding. Then, his eyes widened, and he gasped, snapping his fingers. "But wait!"

Both the male and female turned their heads, "Hm?"

"If you do have a baby..." Kie pointed his fingers at the both of them in a wide grin. "That means I'll be having a little "bro" to watch me kick some ass!"

Then, he started to do an attempt of dance and moonwalking at the same time.

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah!" He cheered, as he turned around. "Oh--"

BAM!

His word was cut short, however, as he slammed into a tree branch head first, falling hard on his back.

"--SHIT!"

Ean looked at Sachi, his face just barely holding in outright laughter, "Remind me again why I'm going to train him?"

Sachi had her hand over her mouth, barely stifling her own fits of laughter. She shook her head, a signal that she couldn't respond.

"D-Damn it, Ean!" Kie shouted, a vein popping in his head as he clutched his face. "This h-hurts like hell! It ain't funny!"

After calming down a bit, Ean pulled out his mask and looked at the time. "Holy shit, it's almost eleven o' clock... We should set up and get some sleep..."

Sachi's eyes widened. "Time passed by that quickly?" She asked, brushing strands of her hair out of her face.

"You can never tell... We can't see the sun, so we lose our ability to tell time... And I think I know how to keep those crystals from shining..." replied Ean, looking around at the large crystal deposits everywhere around them, like smaller, weaker suns, creating a perpetual daylight for them.

"And that would be...?"

"Since they only create light when they're heated up, if I formed thick enough layers of ice around them to last the night then we can sleep just fine. But remember, it gets kind of hot down here..." explained Ean, walking over to a crystal deposit near them and putting his hand on the almost clear surface of the light producing rock.

"That's good enough for me...." Sachi said with content, folding her arms across her chest. She looked over at Kie, who was still on the ground. "Are you OK ov--"

But what she heard was light snoring coming from the now-sleeping boy. Clearly, he was one step ahead when it came to sleep. She rolled her eyes.

Ean smirked, "Just like a teenager," he said as he walked back to Kie and picked him up, leaning him against a tree near him. He moved back to the center of the room, holding the palm of his hand upwards to the ceiling.

"Hopefully, he won't have a large backache in the morning...." The blonde muttered, walking to stand beside Ean and putting her hands in her pockets.

After a few moments of waiting, a small, marble-like sphere formed, floating a small distance off of Ean's open hand. Without taking his eyes off of it, he asked Sachi "You think you can stand fairly low temperatures for the night?

Sachi turned her head to stare at Ean, narrowing her comically. "If I had a coat, maybe..."

Ean considered the boy and Sachi, then refocused on the small sphere of ice that was in his hand, "Hmm... It seems you and Kie will have to use my jacket for tonight.. I can sleep fine with cold temperatures. Anyway, I would suggest you be ready to take it in a second..."

Sachi's look turned into a confused one. "Why?"

The sphere began to intensify, if it was possible, and it seemed to try to grow while its expansion was stifled. "Because it's going to get really cold really fast..." said Ean, who drew back him arm and threw the sphere as far as he could up to the ceiling, watching it soar while he hurriedly shed his jacket.

Sachi raised one of her own hands out. "All right, I'll do the rest, then!" She replied.

Ean hastily shoved the jacket into her arms, and watched the small ice crystal fly to the ceiling, the small dot becoming infinitely smaller as it went.

Sachi wasted no time. Rushing over to Kie's arms, she enveloped him with the large jacket, then ran behind a rock, crouching behind a rock in order to shield the both of them.

Surprisingly, the boy was not awakened.

As she dove for cover, Ean backed up to the rock also, holding an arm up.

There was a blast of cold wind, and many plants became enveloped in frost, the rock growing a skin of ice and snopw. There was a momentary white-out, and snow began to fall from the ceiling, glinting in the now fading light. The crystals frosted over, and it began to dim, as the warmth waned and the coldness took over the air. Ean found a small crystal and warmed it up with his hands, using it to find his way behind the boulder. "So, like the trick?"

"Oh s-s-sure, I r-really like s-something that f-f-freezes my ass off..." Was the sarcastic and feminine reply.

Ean sat down, next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't worry... I'm here, so we'll be at least a bit warm. That's why I gave you the jacket, too. If you need to get warm, then that one piece of clothing is enough. Trust me."

"I'd rather have you as a heat source than your jacket." Sachi replied, although accepting the warmth he provided. "No offense, but I don't wanna wake up and smell like you." She would've wrapped her own arms around him, if they weren't already embracing Kie against her.

Ean smirked, "Heh, but I wouldn't object to waking up and smelling like you..."

Sachi's eyes widened briefly, before she cocked an eyebrow and frowned, eyeing the man. "Really? And what do I smell like?"

Ean had to consider this for a moment, "Hmm... I'd say you smell like... The ocean breeze, and a summer's cool air from the night. It smells like something magic during those nights..." he said as he trailed off, remembering something.

Sachi smiled at the compliment, looking downwards. "Oh shut up, I'm not one to blush..." She mused. When she looked back up however, she saw the thoughtful look in his eyes.

"...Ean?"

Her voice brought him back down to earth, "Oh, sorry... I was just remembering my home village, is all."

Sachi's face softened. "It's no problem..."

Despite himself, Ean felt homesick. Even though he left because of disputes with his father and the death of his mother, he felt a need to return. "I realize now... I haven't spoken to my father in seven years..."

Sachi sighed. "...What made you stay away from him for so long?" She asked quietly.

Ean also sighed, "He and I disagreed on a very important issue in my life... And when it seemed he wouldn't let up, I left..."

Sachi was silent for a moment. "...what was the issue about? Unless it's none of my business."

"He wanted me to stay. He wanted me to become the leader of the clan, have me stay home. And I wanted to go out into the world, especially help James and Parren with the Guardians. I was about... Sixteen back then, a legal adult intin my family, and I wanted to get out of the village. Obviously, he objected..." explained Ean, his eyes becoming misty.

Sachi's own blue eyes held sympathy. "Do you miss your father?"