The gateway would have been entirely dark if not for the starkly white snow on the ground, just a day or so old but twice as frozen from the rain which followed, covering the pathway in sheets of deceptively placed ice crystal which crunched under the heavy footfall of the guard's boots as he stepped onward. His weapon was stashed safely in it's sheath as he walked, looking absolutely unperturbed by the squirming bundle of energy on his shoulder.
"You're just a big bully!" The young red head of a mere thirteen years of age at most shrieked into the night, hoping to wake up every villager within a five mile radius. "I hate you! I hate you!" He punched at the man's broad back over and over, having no effect. After a grand total of five minutes, his rage subsided into a groan of a sob and a few weak hits with his bruised fists as he slumped over man's broad shoulder.
When they finally reached the outer gate, the child braced himself for impact. Surely this bulky, overpowered guard was like all the rest. He would toss him flat on his face just like the braided, black haired one always did, with a wicked smirk at their scuffed elbows and bruised knees. To his surprise, the reddish-brown haired, guard eased him down and set him down gently in the snow, brushing the dust garnered sneaking around the castle from his vest as a father might have. For as stern and severe as he looked, he was actually quite careful not to brush too hard and knock the lanky boy over.
"I would take you directly home, but they need me here at the castle." He murmured, and for a man so large, so very intimidating in stature, his voice was low and soft. Yet, there was a note of disapproval, as though he though beyond a shadow of a doubt that the child needed to be taken home. He shook his head with a tinge of frustration. Lea looked up at him, unbelieving for a moment. He wasn't about to be kicked?
The guard seemed to wait for just a shadow of a moment, letting the moonlight stream down from the night sky on to the chilly evening, flooding them in a colorless shade of slate blue. It did not hide the concern within the guard's eyes as he stood to turn and leave. An anger seized Lea, watching him turn to reenter the castle grounds. How dare he think himself so much higher above the rest of the citizens, hiding himself away with all of the secrets of Master Ansem the Wise, keeping the rest out entirely. What gave him the right? It was absolute torture, to know that there was something special behind those gates, to be refused the right to even glimpse it.
"You're so pointless!" He spat, not even knowing what he was saying anymore, and before he knew it, he was shrieking out his anger without thinking and it felt far too good to stop. "It doesn't even matter! Nobody wants to attack your stupid castle! Why does it even need guards? Why don't you just let me see your stupid science projects? You're not guarding anything, you're just a big idiot!" Before he even felt the chill of the snow within his hand, he had already done it. He flung a chunk of snow and ice at the retreating man, hitting him squarely on the back of the head with a solid thunk. Perfect aim, and frankly he could have put the gun-toting, hyperactive guard to shame with that kind of success. Crap.
The guard turned slowly to, brushing the snow from his hair as he looked down at Lea. It just occurred to the child exactly how massive that man's biceps were in that moment. They were probably as large as the boy's entire torso. He could probably snap a tree trunk in half if he wanted, or punch a building and break the wall or something. Lea gulped heavily and tried to look tough and solid and anything but a scrawny thirteen year old as the other man approached, the crunch of the snow under his boots sounding like a challenge as he reached the child and crossed those massive arms, looking down at the redhead. Rather than looking anything close to intimidating, Lea looked as though he were more than slightly nauseous.
But to his surprise (yet again), Aeleus stooped down on one knee to be eye level with the child, and there was something of an intensity, a warning in his eyes which the boy could not quite put into words as he laid a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm not guarding what's within that castle from you, Lea. I'm guarding you from what's within." He murmured in a low voice, as though any of his words could be heard and stolen away by the wrong person, that they were meant just for him to know, to consider.
A warning.
Lea gaped at him. He had never thought of things in such a way. The lights shining enticingly from the basement area of the castle had always been a tease, a taunt to him, inviting and challenging him to try to reach them, to know what was happening in their mysterious depths. He could see them even now, flickering in the distance, but now that he looked at the whole of the situation, he had never stopped to consider exactly how imposing the castle really was, how very towering those spires were in the looming moonlight.
The lights in the basement which seemed so warm and welcoming not a second before, seemed to shine with a new sort of malice. Fear clenched at his stomach, turning his insides as icy as the cold around him, as icy as the glare of the tall, blond scientist which sometimes scolded them if they were found on the grounds. He shuddered visibly, his mouth snapping shut, his labored breath now coming out on large puffs of condensation and disappearing into the air like a bad dream.
"Go home, Lea." The guard did not order him. No, it was not even a question. It was the most pleading request he could have expected in such a situation. Lea turned slowly. The crunch of the snow under his unsteady feet seemed far away as he turned to walk, then jog, well, perhaps fully sprint all the way home. He lost count of how many times he tripped on the ice, but that may have been because, in that moment of clarity and understanding, he lacked the ability to care. It seemed most important to get out of there and away from those windows as soon as possible.
That was until a horror filled scream pierced the night, cold and clear as the moonlight. The guard drew forth his weapon, an intensity running through his entire figure as he leapt this his feet. A crippling panic gripped at Lea's heart. Yes, he had gotten caught during their daring little scheme, but perhaps Isa had not been.
Perhaps Isa had finally made it inside.