This is going to be slow going. Please bear with me.

Feather White
By Neko-chan the Mewse
1/26/10

Allen pondered. Yuki had definitely assigned him a difficult task. How was he supposed to do this?!

"Allen," Yuki called from inside the small cabin they had stayed in for five years. "Stop fooling around and chop the wood already!" Allen made a face. "And stop making faces." He had no idea how his adopted older brother knew what he was doing at all times. It was simply amazing. Allen couldn't even see Yuki from where he was and if he couldn't see Yuki, then Yuki shouldn't be able to see him either.

"How am I supposed to chop the wood without an ax?" Allen yelled back. He went back to staring at the log in front of him. Earlier Yuki had cheerfully destroyed their only ax right before his eyes and then told him to chop wood.

"You still have a weapon, don't you?"

Allen scowled. For the past five years, ever since Yuki had taken him from Mana's grave, he had had to do strange exercises like this. Yuki had shown him how to activate his Innocence and had even goaded him into changing its form. Yuki had worked hard to keep Allen up to date on just about everything, from news around the world to how to take care of a garden, and Allen really was grateful. But when Yuki gave him mundane chores to complete and forced him to use his Innocence to accomplish them, he couldn't help but be irritated. Innocence, activate! His arm went straight to sword form and he began cutting wood rather haphazardly.

"Please cut the wood neatly." Yuki's voice reprimanded.

Allen sighed, anger seeping out of him like water. He couldn't stay mad at Yuki for long. He had no idea why but the older boy had the ability to easily soothe him, no matter what the situation.

Inside the cabin, Yuki bit his lip and glanced outside the cabin. He had to send Allen off to the Order soon. Allen was well synchronized with his Innocence, far more than Yuki was at his age, and Yuki knew that things might go awry if he didn't send Allen off. At the same time, he didn't want to do that to the poor boy. He wanted to hold onto his 'younger brother' and never let him out of his sight. At this rate, he might develop a brother complex. Yuki shook his head, determined to never become that fanatical.

He focused on the vegetables he was chopping before giving up with a sigh. "Allen, come inside please." He said, loud enough for Allen to hear him through the open window. There was a thud and a suspicious silence. "You better not have broken anything!" Yuki raised his voice.

"I-I didn't break anything!" Allen's voice squeaked.

Yuki sighed. Anyone who had raised a child for any amount of time would recognize the muted oh-crap-now-what-do-I-do? tone. It was also surprisingly easy to recall what his own mentality had been at fifteen and predict what Allen was doing from that. Luckily, judging from what he had heard, Allen had done nothing more than swing and hit the ground instead of his intended target. Yuki didn't mind a hole in the ground. "Forget it and get in here."

It didn't take Allen long to get inside the small cabin and into the kitchen. "What is it, Yuki?" Allen asked sulkily.

"I've taught you about Innocence, exorcists, and the Noah." Yuki said softly, looking at his mismatched hands. "I have nothing else to teach you. It's about time you got some hands on experience."

Allen's eyes brightened. He had been begging to go the Black Order for the past year or so, desperate to get out and do something more about the akuma. "You mean—?"

Yuki nodded. "Yes. Pack your things; I'll take you to the Black Order." He wouldn't be like his master and send Allen on his own. Even if he couldn't take Allen to the gate, he could at least accompany him part way.

Allen let out a small cheer and quickly ran to his room to start packing. Behind him, Yuki sighed. He was only twenty four, but after all that he had seen, he felt so old. At least Allen was behaving a little less like an adult. He was still responsible, but not so responsible that he didn't know how to relax. Not like me, Yuki thought with a small amount of relief.

He heard Allen crashing through the hallway before he slammed the kitchen door open. "Come on, Yuki, let's go, let's go!"

Yuki sighed and hefted up the bag he had packed earlier. "Alright, hold on already!" Had he really ever been this excitable? Maybe he was before he had spent time around his master. By now he was so used to being quiet and polite that he did it automatically. It made it all the more shocking when he stopped being so kind.

Allen stared rather warily at the large mountainous cliff the Black Order rested on. It was huge and…and… "I'm supposed to climb that?!" he asked incredulously. He couldn't even see the Black Order from where he was standing.

Yuki nodded in agreement, silently holding in a mischievous snicker and conveniently forgetting to mention the underground canal and elevator. "It'll be good practice. I can't come with you any further—you know why," he said when Allen looked at him pleadingly. "You're on your own now." His stern expression softened and he smiled at his charge. "But you can come back anytime you like. Even if you're in trouble I'll welcome you back."

Allen's eyes got suspiciously watery and he turned his back. "I'll see you later, brother."

Yuki was glad that Allen had turned away at that moment because otherwise Allen would have seen him crying. He really, really didn't want to let Allen go off and get into danger, but he didn't have much choice at this point. The only thing he could do was hope that he had trained the kid well enough and standby with a first aid kit. As he watched the way Allen was climbing the cliff, he thought he might actually need one.

"You can use your Innocence, silly!" He cupped his hands and yelled. He received several swears in response but Allen listened and activated his Innocence, using the giant claws to help drag himself upwards.

There had to be another way up, Allen growled to himself. He refused to believe that all the other exorcists did this every time they came back from a mission. He wouldn't be able to find it though and he knew it. Yuki wouldn't tell him either, not when this could be used as a training exercise for him.

"Oh yeah, watch out, they might not want to let you in!" he heard Yuki shout from below him.

Allen loved Yuki, yes, but sometimes he wanted to strangle his brother/parent/guardian. Yuki could be so absent minded sometimes.

It was almost like that one time Yuki had sent him into a marsh to collect a medicinal flower, forgetting to mention that the marsh was full of poisonous plants that looked almost exactly like the one he was looking for. If he hadn't noticed the poisonous flowers had a slightly different color, he would have never known he grabbed the wrong type. He had spent a week recovering from that incident, Yuki hovering over him apologetically the entire time.

His hand slipped off the cliff, dragging him back to the present, where he was hanging almost three stories off the ground by one hand and, for the sake of his own well being, decided to remain focused on the task at hand. Namely, climbing.

It took him the entire afternoon to scale the cliff. It might have taken longer if he hadn't used his Innocence. With a sigh of relief, he sat down on solid ground for the first time in several hours. He could see the entrance to the Black Order a little ways off and it was with trepidation that he approached it.

Allen glanced up at the intimidating gates and blinked at the height and decor. It was like a picture from a horror story. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. Yuki might welcome him back, but that wouldn't stop his brother from making fun of him. He would never hear the end of it if he turned back now.

"Excuse me," he called, trying to remember everything Yuki told him. Short, simple, and vague, Yuki had said. "Um, this is the Black Order, right? My name is Allen Walker. I was sent here to join you. I'm an exorcist." That was simple enough, right?

There was a brief pause and then a buzz before a voice said, "Let the gatekeeper scan you."

The ugly thing he thought had been a stone decoration turned out to be the gatekeeper. He had been mildly startled (translation: terrified out of his mind) but the scan had proven him human and he was let in with no problem. What had Yuki been worried about?

In the shadows Yuki sighed in relief. He hadn't been sure that Allen would be able to get in without any problems. "Good luck, Allen," he whispered. "You'll need it." He gently bundled his cloak about him and, with a soft swoosh, he jumped back down the cliff.

Allen glanced back and smiled at the telltale signs of his brother's presence. Yuki could be such a mother hen sometimes. That was alright though, because Allen loved him anyway.