It was quiet. A deadly silence that always occured when a predator was near. Apparently it was attracted by the still warm corpse of a recently slaughtered beast that lay between the trees. Four legs carried an armoured body onto the path and near the decomposing body. With a pick-like arm it hacked into the flesh, to see if it would miraculously spring to life again. When it stayed dead, the antares moved its head closer, smelling to examine its edibilty. But the thing didn't only smell of rott, but of hume and fear, too. The insect reared its head to survey its surroundings, but found nothing out of the ordinary. So it attended to the corpse again, starting to cut it to palatable pieces.
Only one or two miles away a group of three sneaked their way through the undergrowth. Even though they tried to make as less noise as possible, the occational snap of a twig or shuffle of feet through the dead leaves that littered the ground could be heard. The first in line, a teenager who himself didn't make any sound at all, inwardly flinched with every noise that came from the boy behind him. Though you couldn't see his wearyness, the moogle seated on his shoulder knew him well enough. The tense muscles on his yaw and the occational heave of his ribcage followed by a long exhale, told her enough. She knew her companion wasn't used to such careless trudge. She herself mostly travelled on his shoulder or took use of her wings on short distances.
Parfait turned her attention back to the boy. By now they should have left the danger zone.
"Rasler?" she asked hesitantly, still checking on the mood of her carrier.
"Yeah?" the boy acknowledged her.
"You aren't really used to trekking through the woods, are you?" the moogle inquired, letting her head sway to one side.
"What gives you that impression? I'm here in the forest pretty often." Rasler replied, stepping on another twig which broke easily under his weight.
"Well~... You pretty much snapped every stick that lay on our path. It's a miracle that no monster noticed us yet." she stated matter-of-factly.
Hearing that Rasler stopped, embarrassed. "... Oh. Sorry." The prince moved on, this time checking his path and stepping over the hindrances that littered the ground.
"It's no problem. No harm done." Parfait answered smiling. "Maybe you just need a little bit more experience."
Rasler thought about that. Though he usually never made quite the ruckus with all his stone kicking like today, he hadn't really taken notice on how he moved through the forest until now.
"What about you? You seem to be used to travelling." the boy asked his company.
"Oh, we've been on the road for a while now, seeing places. Edward never came around much when he was younger." the moogle offered. "I've never been to the Salikawoods myself. It's really beautiful here."
"Yeah, if you avoid the monsters." Rasler grumbled.
"Yes, that's true." Parfait answered. "But I'm not worried about my well-being. Edward protects me." she smiled at the thought of her companion. The teen would never allow someone or something to hurt her. Even though they hadn't exactly hit it off right when they first met. Edward even tried to shoot her with his bow, because he thought she was something to eat. But they eventually became friends and now they were all they had left.
Rasler watched his savior thoughtfully as the teen swiftly walked across the woods, successfully avoiding every stick and stone seemingly without even noticing. The boy had to admit that the other was graceful and steady in every movement he made, while he himself was just clumsy.
He looked back to the moogle again who herself was studying her surroundings intently.
"Parfait?" he tried to get her attention. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course." the girl replied. Turning around she smiled at him warmly.
"Do you know if Edward would maybe teach me how to fight?"
After hearing his name, said teen halted and eyed the boy suspiciously while Parfait adorably blinked at him.
"Come again?" she asked him after a moment. "Aren't you a bit young to think about such things?"
Rasler frowned at her.
"Why? To be that awesome he must've started much earlier with training." he replied throwing is head in Edwards direction.
"Sure, but like I said, he's special." she answered. "He grew up in a tribe that asks that of their offspring. Your kind on the other hand tends to let their kids at least have a semblance of childhood. Why'd you want to waste precious playtime for combat training?" Parfait asked the boy incredulously.
"Because I already get trained, more or less. Though I have the feeling that my current teacher only uses me as anger management. And if you hadn't rescued me, I would be dead now, because I can't even lift a sword properly." the boy replied heatedly. Was he asking that much? Well maybe, considering the teen just saved his life, seemingly escorted him to Nabudis, too. And now they should sacrifice their time to try to teach a lost cause in fighting?
Parfait on the other hand just stared at him open-mouthed.
"What kind of family are you coming from that you have to learn fighting at such a young age?" she asked him bewildered.
Edward was losing his patience at being apparently talked about but left out, considering he crossed his arms again and a scowl was forming on his features. A development Parfait was most aware of.
"Erm, my father may be the king of Nabradia." he answered embarrassed. Venturing on "He likes his children to be prepared for the future." He looked down now, shuffling with his feet in the dirt.
"What?!" the moogle squeaked, more so than usual.
"Parfait." Edward stated, his voice dangerously low and his gaze scathing.
Said moogle flinched. She wasn't prepared for her companion to snap at that moment of all things. The girl turned to him and began to speak rapidly in this strange tongue again. Apparently she was filling him in on their conversation. The teen let her speak, not interrupting her even once.
But after a while he lifted one eyebrow and eyed Rasler again, looking him up and down. Then he snorted and resumed his way through the forest.
Parfait flew up and towards the boy who stood there gaping at the blond.
"It seems he isn't very fond of the prospect of having a student." the girl said apologetically.
They followed the older both lost in their thoughts. Rasler was disappointed that he still had to put up with Malek and his mood swings while Parfait searched of a way to change her friend's opinion. The more she thought about Rasler's plea the more she liked it, though it would be more for her gain than the boys.
"It is a shame." she said after a while. "That would be a perfect opportunity for Edward to learn the common tongue."
Rasler turned to her listening intently. Though he didn't want to, he was getting his hopes up.
"Maybe if he could actually understand other people, he would get more social, instead of avoiding civilization like the plague." she mused.
"So you're just crossing the countryside, not the cities?" Rasler asked baffled.
"Yes, pretty much." the moogle answered and shrugged her tiny shoulders.
By that time they finally caught up to Edward who was ignoring them like before. Parfait was holding her chin in thought studying her friend. Then she looked at Rasler with glinting eyes and a smile on her lips that told him she was definitely up to something. She flew onto the older boy's shoulder to talk to him again. Edward acknowledged her with a sideway glance but kept walking.
Wondering what that was about, Rasler watched them closely in hopes of following their conversation through reading their body language.
The moogle seemed to be pretty excited, though Edward was apparently barely interested in what she had to say, only answering with a single word that suspiciously was always the same. Whatever Parfait was proposing, the answer was probably 'No'.
Sighing, the girl looked back to Rasler, still talking to the teen. Edward followed her gaze, a doubtful frown adorning his face. Looking back to the fur ball on his shoulder he answered her at last in a full sentence. She took off his shoulder while he was rummaging under his coat, extracting a second sword Rasler hadn't noticed on the teen up until now. Turning fully towards the boy, Edward held out the weapon.
Astonished Rasler took a hesitant step towards the older. But in that moment the teen threw the blade at him, knocking him effectively off his feet.
Edward, who was already unsheathing his claymore, froze mid-movement and stared at the boy. Sighing, he let his blade glide back into its sheath and stepped up to the boy to relieve him of the steel that trapped him to the ground. With a last mumble to Parfait he walked forth in the direction of Nabudis, whose walls came slowly into view.
The boy, still lying on the ground, his upper body propped up by his arms behind him, blinked flabbergasted at the older male. He looked at the girl for an explanation what the teen was on about, but she only shrugged her shoulders.
"'Tomorrow' he says." With that Parfait took flight towards her friend, halting only for a moment to wait for him to follow them. With a grunt Rasler righted himself and walked up to her. Together they resumed their trek back to the capital.
"So, what does that mean?" the boy inquired after a moment. "Will he teach me?"
The moogle studied Edward for some time. "We'll see." she answered after a while, not letting her eyes stray from their target. "I think, first, he will test you. To evaluate, if you are worth his time." Parfait finished cryptically.
While listening to the moogle, Rasler's heart sank. He had to proof himself to them? How should he manage that? He was straight clumsy and unfocused most of the time. They had experienced that first hand.
His thoughts must have showed on his face, because suddenly the moogle filled his whole vision, smiling at him. "Don't worry." she tried to assure him. "He must have seen something in you. Otherwise he never would have given you any chance in the first place." She took off to land on Edward's shoulder again, like she belonged there. And maybe, Rasler mused, that was true. Like the moogle was the teen's conscience, guarding over the well-being of his soul. With a glance over her shoulder and a nod forward she signaled for him to start walking again.
After a moment the boy followed them, even quickened his gait to take the lead, because now they neared the city walls and only Rasler knew where to find the hidden entry to the secret passage.
When it came finally into view, Edward stopped. Rasler mimicked him though he looked rather puzzled, letting his gaze wander back and forth between the teen and the gap in the wall that was nearly completely hidden by a curtain of vines. But after thinking about it, he understood.
"He really won't set foot into a city, will he?" he asked Parfait.
She shook her head. "I tried once. But I don't want to remember that fiasco." she laughed embarrassed, absentmindedly scratching her cheek.
Rasler nodded. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?" the boy inquired hesitantly.
Parfait exchanged a few words with the teen, then she shifted her attention back to the prince.
"'We'll meet here at dawn.' he says. 'Don't be late'" the girl translated for him.
"Okay." the boy replied, now grinning from one ear to the other. "Until tomorrow, then. See you!" With that last parting the boy disappeared into the depths of the tunnel that would led him back home.
Edward turned and took off back into the forest, the moogle close on his heels. With a last flutter of her little wings she took her place on his shoulder again.
"So~" the girl started after a while, snapping the blond out of his thoughts. "Why did you change your mind? I know I can't sway you point of view if you don't want me to." she asked him in his language.
Edward stayed quiet, eyes focused ahead on the path. At last, when Parfait thought he wouldn't answer her, he finally spoke. "He reminds me of myself, when I was younger." he said.
Parfait blinked owlishly at him. "So once you were that clumsy, too?" She couldn't help but snicker at that thought.
The teen on the other hand rolled with his eyes, adopting an irritated frown on his features.
"Shut up." he told her, but it just made her laugh even harder.