So, it's been a long time since I've written any fanfiction.Or fiction for that matter. So here we go, keep in mind that this story is mostly a way for me to get back into the swing of writing. Any reviews would be awesome(!), whether they're positive or negative. So here's to the one of the first Orphen fanfics of '08! Woot '08! Anyway this story has implied Orphen/Majic. Implied as in it doesn't go anywhere. Tell me especially if Cleao is out of character. I tried to write her without making her too bitchy. Well. enjoy the story!

Why I Smile
by the Slothy

The sun filtered through the leaves of the vast forest. At ground level it made the three travelers feel like they might be under a roof. Except for the lonely patches of light where the sun filtered through. Cleao led the group, excited at this new and different place with its own flora and fauna. She giggled as she watched a squirrel climb from branch to branch in search for food. Orphen tersely followed behind her, annoyed that she was so excited over nothing.

"Hey Cleao! Don't wander too far off the path!" Orphen shouted. He had good reason to worry: the last couple of towns they had visited had had major problems. In Glodukas, people had been dying from this thing called red water and there were monsters everywhere. The town before that had some sorcerer killing little girls to make some eternity flower. And the town before that had such unspeakable horrors that it was no longer on the map. Orphen had seen to that.

Cleao turned around on the spot and replied, "I'll do whatever I want," She went back to following the squirrel from earlier. She thought it was really cute, mostly because it had pink fur.

Not even keeping pace with the other two, mostly because of the backpack he had on that easily weighed more than he did, was Majic. The younger boy was, as usual, carrying the entire group's luggage on his back. With a desperate smile on his face, Majic started, "Um, master, can we rest soon? The sun is sett-"

"Shut up, Majic! And walk faster! I want to get to Fefnir in two days." Orphen said with a note of disgust in his voice. How did I get such a wimpy student? A few minutes passed where the forest was silent except for the giggles that Cleao made watching the exotic plants and animals. When he noticed the orange hue that the light between the leaves made, Orphen couldn't help but sigh. He knew what would be coming next…

"Hey it's evening! Orphen!! Let's set up camp here!" Cleao said in her overly cheerful voice pointing at a patch of earth. He stopped in front of her and gazed at the spot she had indicated. It was a small clearing just big enough for the tent. Perfect.

"I'll get the fire wood," he announced, picking his way through the trees. He didn't even wait for his apprentice to arrive at the 'camp site'. Cleao stretched out her arms and legs, while leaning against a tree. When Majic arrived he swung the backpack off and sat on it. He gave a sigh of relief.

"Nah-ah-ah," Cleao teased, wagging her finger at the boy. "Orphen told me to tell you to set up the tent."

"No he didn't, you're just saying that to make me do more work," Majic protested. His muscles were almost at their limit. It's not easy to carry three people's worth of luggage and supplies for almost a week.

Are you going to be lazy?" She sniffed just as how an aristocrat should towards commoners. "You know just how much Orphen hates laziness," Magic groaned and got up, she had him. His muscles whined heavy with fatigue. They wanted rest; he had been up since dawn carrying that thing. Using sheer willpower will power he set up the tent and collapsed.

Orphen arrived with the fire wood. He placed the fire wood down and saw his student lying on the ground. "What happened?" he asked, Cleao just shrugged. He sighed, "Something's going to eat him if he stays like that,"

Hours later, with dinner in his belly, Orphen had laid down on the bare ground. Cleao had taken the tent for herself "because she was a lady," Lady my ass, Orphen thought to himself. Finding the ground too uncomfortable, he rested his head against the side of the tent furthest away from where Cleao was sleeping. Every single night it was like this, she would go into the tent that he had bought for the group. Orphen did his best to not to be pissed off at her. But she made him so angry!

Orphen leaned his head to the right. Ahead of him, propped against a tree where the sorcerer had placed him, was Majic. Resting with the deep sleep that came with a day's hard work, the blond was dead to the world. But his lips had formed into a faint smile. Even with all the hardships that they had gone through, all the tortures and taunts he got from his companions, and leaving a proper magical education at the Tower of Fang. The boy still smiled in his sleep. Orphen felt a pang in his chest. When was the last he himself had grinned so innocently? As he fell into unconsciousness, Orphen wondered, why do you smile?

The sun began to rise, and with it Orphen rose as well. He shook out the various cramps that came with sleeping on the cold hard ground. He was little cold and damp from the morning dew. But he really didn't care as he was quite hungry. So he decided to get some corn bread from their stores of food. On his way he passed Majic, who hadn't moved at all in his sleep. The younger boy looked so peaceful, almost as if he was in harmony with nature.

He grabbed a piece of bread from the pack pocket and put it to his mouth. Orphen gulped reluctantly: it was so cold and hard. Well, if the bread was hard it might as well be warm hard bread. Orphen put the corn bread on to a stick. His other hand he held outstretched towards the fire wood pile.

"Erupt from my hands, warming flame," Orphen kept his voice at the certain frequencies and intensities that he had been taught to use. His voice created form, a small whip of fire erupted from the end of his index finger. Controlling the whip Orphen let it dive from his fingertip to the logs on the ground. In time the fire grew to a decent size. He raised his bread like one would do with a marshmallow on a stick. He ate his corn bread after it had cooked for a while. It was a pleasant surprise that the fire had softened the bread a little as well as warming it up. Satisfied, he walked over to Majic.

In a slightly better mood he was going to wake the Majic more gently than usual. But, Orphen noticed that the blond still had that stupid grin on his face. Anger and envy rose into the sorcerer's chest. How could he possibly have had such a peaceful sleep against a tree? With something rising within his chest, Orphen decided againstof waking him up nicely. Instead, he kicked his student in the ribs. The younger boy woke up coughing and gasping for air.

"Was…that…really…necessary…master?" He muttered between gasps. Majic struggled to get up, his muscles still exhausted from the days of strain they had suffered. The blond did his best to smile. If he smiled he wouldn't be able to give his master the satisfaction of giving out a harsher punishment for making a nasty face.

"Don't question my teaching methods," Orphen answered. The fact that Majic was still smiling put his in much worse mood. "I made a fire. Go get something to warm up before it goes out." He turned his back on his student. "I'm going to see if there's anywhere we can get some fresh water."

"Master is always grumpy in the morning," Majic muttered under his breath. He found some meat from the other day a decided to heat up. He sat down, using the same stick that Orphen had used before. "I don't see why he always has to take it out on me…"

Naturally, it didn't take long before Orphen found a small river. He sat down at the bank, thinking to himself. It's been so long since I left the Tower of Fang. There was only one thing that made me smile back then… Orphen got up and went back to the camp site. When he arrived he saw that Majic was already packing up, even though Cleao was still sleeping. "All clothing on sale," said the sorcerer.

"What?! Sale!? Where!" Cleao awoke immediately and then noticed her surroundings. "Oh, ha ha, very funny," She got onto her feet, and stretched out. "Ah, nothing like a nice beauty sleep,"

"C'mon we're going," Orphen ordered.

"I figured you'd want to leave right away," Majic chimed in, "Did you find any water? Our canteens are almost empty,"

Orphen pointed at himself with his thumb, "Of course I did, I'll show you where it is," the blond took the canteens and started to follow his teacher.

"Oh no you don't! You're not leaving me alone," Cleao said, a little fed up that the men she was with would leave her first thing in the morning. "What about breakfast, huh?"

"We've both already eaten, we didn't sleep in like you," Orphen replied. With that, he walked to the river, his student right behind. "Why don't you cook yourself some breakfast?"

When they arrived, Majic filled the canteens full of the fresh water. Then, Orphen, leaning over his student noticed,"Majic, your muscles are getting bigger," Majic smiled, blushing a little. "Well, it's about time my training is getting some results,"

That day they traveled to the edge of the forest. The sun began to hang low over the orange sky. They set up camp as usual, with only one spare blanket between the two boys. "Here, master, you take it," Majic offered.

"Fine, whatever," Orphen took the blanket for himself. Majic laid himself down against a tree. Orphen decided to sleep on the ground, the blanket covering him completely. He heard his student's breaths grow slow with sleep. Orphen looked toward the blond. Then, he noticed the younger boy was shivering from the cold. He walked over to the tree, and laid himself next to Majic, putting his arm across the smaller boy's chest in an attempt to share his body heat and put the blanket on him to guard him from the wind.

That next morning Majic awoke from a surprisingly pleasant sleep. Then he noticed that something warm was next to and something else was top of him, Majic turned to see what it was. "Master?" He asked hesitantly. Orphen opened his eyes slowly.

"I like traveling with you too, Majic. Last night, you looked so cold. And a teacher needs to watch out for his student…" They remained like that the whole morning, their heartbeats beating at matching rhythms. And for the first time, in a long time, Orphen gave a genuine smile.

The End