Hello, nagato911! Yyyup. :l

Hello, Snowy Meadow of Starlight! Yes, it's very sad. I agree. Poor Kaden... :( Yeah, it really is incredibly sad.

Hello, PyroShockZ! Haha, yup. That's a fairly appropriate response. XD I'm so glad you did! Yeah, it really is! I won't spoil anything, but yes, they're alive. As stated in the last chapter, they went to space with all the others. :P Yes. It. Is!

~自分で~

Everything hangs in the balance...

~自分で~

Kaden, his arms up behind his head, sighed as he looked off to the side where his old friend, the only one he had left, was walking. They were traveling idly through their home city, walking on the sidewalk beside a wide, busy street. Tall gray buildings and equally gray pavement surrounded them, only broken by the occasional splash of color here or there. The noise of this place grated on his ears, but not so much his nerves. This place was familiar, after all, it was home, so he simply dealt with the unfortunate noise levels that went along with it. "Give it a rest, Marthal. I don't want to go to the movies."

"Oh, come on," Marthal grinned, his deep blue eyes as bright and happy as ever. His slim tail swished slightly with a bit of energy. "It'll be fun. You need to have some fun once in a while." When Kaden gave him a look, Marthal quickly amended, "Well, some fun that doesn't involve reckless endangerment and potentially deadly thrills."

Kaden huffed and looked away again, returning his attention to the path ahead of him. The last thing he wanted was to end up walking into the street or something. "Yeah, whatever."

Marthal suddenly frowned at him. His normally happy demeanor had faded, and he was left looking and sounding far more serious than was normal for him. This would have been troubling if there was any hint of danger around, but there wasn't. As such, this shift in his friend's mood simply didn't bother him. "I'm serious, you know. You do that way too often, endangering your well-being and even your life for the sake of what you consider to be 'fun'. That's not a good lifestyle. You could damn well end up dead doing that crap."

"I could die on any given day, anyway," Kaden replied nonchalantly, completely unconcerned. What did it matter to anyone else how he lived his own life? It wasn't like they had any say in it. It wasn't like he asked people to care. It was far easier for him to not let them.

His response seemed to bother Marthal a great deal, if the cat's deepening frown was any indication at all. Which it probably was. "And you're okay with that?"

"What's it matter, anyway?" Kaden asked, finally voicing some of his earlier thoughts. "It's my life. I can choose how to live it."

"That's not the point," Marthal retorted. "And risking it day in and day out is hardly living it."

"I don't have much of a choice about that, you know," Kaden responded dryly.

"You have more than you like to pretend you do," Marthal responded with a small snort. "If you'd actually let me help you fight all these battles you get into all the time-"

Kaden finally looked at Marthal again. "Look," he said simply, "I don't need the help. I don't want it. If you want to fight these guys too, then fine, go ahead, but I don't require any assistance. I can handle these things fine on my own."

After a long moment, Marthal stopped walking and released a heavy sigh. "You used to appreciate the help."

Kaden stopped walking a few feet ahead of him, his arms coming to rest at his sides. He didn't turn around to face the cat. "That was ages ago, Marthal. Things change. People change. I felt like I needed the help back then. I know I don't need it now. Just let it go."

Another sigh. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Obviously."

"It's not like you to be so serious anymore."

"Stop bringing up such serious topics and I wouldn't need to be."

"Yeah, okay. You win, I guess. For now."

At this, Kaden finally smirked. "Don't I always?"

This provoked a laugh from Marthal. "Ass."

Kaden turned around and tossed him a grin. "The one and only."

Marthal laughed again. "Come on, let's go catch that movie."

"Alright, fine. But the moment it starts to get boring, I'm leaving." Kaden paused, then added, "And I'm taking the popcorn with me."

"You wouldn't dare!" Marthal exclaimed, pretending to be appalled by the possibility of Kaden stealing the delicious, buttery snack.

Kaden's grin grew. "Wouldn't I, though?"

"Ass," Marthal huffed in amusement.

"Yup," Kaden replied easily, unfazed. "That's me. But you love me, anyway."

Marthal rolled his eyes, though his humor was still obvious in his face. "Yeah, lucky for you."

Kaden's grin grew. "And I win again."

Marthal laughed again. "You really are an ass."

"Deal with it."

~自分で~

815 words this time. Not a whole lot happened in this short, lighthearted chapter, but that's okay. I was basically just establishing the relationship between the two main characters, showing off the change in Kaden's personality, and so on. I accomplished what I wanted. Posted 01-28-16.