Author's note:Hey guys :D I am SO! sorry for not posting anything new on here for the past few months! But between school and my other story I had no time to even think about where I wanted to go with this story! Fortunately I have a rather chill semester, so now I have time and I have decided on what will happen in here :D that is if the characters actually listen to me :/ Am I the only one who has trouble keeping my characters in line? No? Okay good :D No seriously, my characters seem to have a life of their own and just do what they want... Okay I'll admit that what they want to do is usually better than what I had planed, but at the time I didn't see it that way. It's just kind of like "What the heck am I writing? This wasn't in the plans!" Meh, I'll get over it I guess :) So enough stalling cause you guys have a LOT to read :) Please review honestly and enjoy this latest installment!

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty!"

I groaned and forced my eyes to open a little to see who I was going to blame for waking me up at this ungodly hour. A dark green eye stared back at me.

"Holy Avo!" I screamed while quickly sitting up.

The woman chuckled at my reaction. "Better watch that tongue of yours, kid. Not many people 'round here appreciate that kind of language."

I glared at her. "Well what in Avo's name did you think I was going to do Aunty Katharine?"

She rolled her eyes at me before standing up. With a single shake of her head, her jaw length blonde hair fell into place perfectly. She adjusted her light brown corseted top and matching sleeves that started three inches below her shoulders, and I almost didn't count them as sleeves. But as my Aunty pointed out yesterday, they're attached to her shirt and from that I learned to never argue with her logic, because even if you prove her wrong she'll stick by her point. Then Katharine straightens out her purplish blue pants, and dusted off some dirt that was on her knee length leather boots.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Why do you always try to look perfect? I mean, your boots are just going to get dust on them again right?"

Katharine sighed and shook her head at me, almost as if I was a lost cause. "You have a lot to learn, Squirt. Can't say I'm surprised though, considering where you grew up and all."

"You say that like you didn't grow up in the same place." I retorted. I smirked when she shot me a glowering look.

"That's the difference between you and I. When I left that sad little village, I decided to leave it all behind and start new."

"Well in that sense, we aren't so different. The real difference between us is that you left when you were eighteen and you chose to go. I had no other option."

There was a long silence as my words sunk into both of our minds, reminding us of what we lost… Katharine gently kicked my sandal and looked out the arches.

"Come on," she said nodding outside. "Let's go get some food before the Heroes eat it up."

I nodded my agreement and got to my feet. When I looked back up, I saw that Katharine had left me. Honestly I wasn't surprised. I guess you can say I grew a tolerance to her constant leaving. What really surprised me though was when she poked her head around the corner again.

"By the way," she started. "If anyone asks, you're from Knothole Glade. Your skin is dark enough that you'll pass for it. And try to not call me 'Aunty' when people are around. I'm supposed to be from Bowerstone."

I nodded then decided to add my own requirements. "As long as you don't use my name. You can call me 'Squirt', 'Kid', whatever you want. Just don't use my name."

She let out a small laugh. "I was going to do that anyway." With that she disappeared again. However, I still needed to ask her more questions.

"I guess I'll have to ask her later." I thought while stretching. I sighed and headed toward the dining hall.

After breakfast was over, Katharine started to show me what I had to do for chores, which was basically taking care of the rooms. Sweeping and washing the floor, making beds, putting books away, organizing the books, and waiting on the Heroes were one of the many highlights I had to look forward to. When Katharine was done explaining everything I decided to ask her my questions.

"How do I know you?" I asked.

"Your mother and I were very close friends before she moved to Knothole Glade." She replied without batting an eye. Then she continued. "When you were born I was named your God Mother and have tried to see you as often as I could."

"Are we close?"

She shook her head. "I try to act close to you by calling you Squirt, but you only call me Katharine and you also hate being called that."

I scoffed. "I don't know. You seem to know me pretty well Katharine."

She shot me a smirk. "That's what you think Squirt."

I glanced around quickly to make sure no one was listening, but even though I saw no one I still whispered. "How many people know the truth?"

Katharine did a quick glance of her own before she answered. "Only the Guild Master. When I told him the truth about us, he realized how important it was to keep things quiet. He's a man of his word and I'd trust him before that Maze guy any day."

I shivered at the mention of his name. Even though Maze was a well renowned Hero, there was something about him that didn't seem… right. My mother had always said that eyes were the windows to the soul and Maze's eyes held something dark. What that darkness could be, though, I hadn't a clue.

"Well," Katharine said while stretching. As if walking around and pointing at things was a workout. "You better get started. Day isn't getting any younger."

"Wait, you're not going to help me?" I asked in surprise.

Katharine laughed sarcastically. "Sorry, kid, but I have my own chores to do. If I don't get them done, I don't eat." With that she headed for the exit and gave a small wave over her shoulder.

I looked around the room and sighed deeply. I honestly didn't think they would make a little girl like me clean the whole room by myself. The area alone was three times bigger than my old house. I looked around more slowly and started to formulate a plan in my mind. I would start by making beds, putting books away and then organizing them. Then I would sweep the floor and mop before dinner so that the floor would be dry when the Heroes were finished eating. Then the rest of the night I would spend waiting on the Heroes. I nodded to myself and set to work. I had just finished making the last bed when someone grabbed my shoulders roughly.

"Boo!" the voice shouted beside my ear. I screamed at the top of my lungs and fell to the ground, arms over my head. My frantic heart beat was all I heard in my ears, and then I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see Chris doubled over with laughter.

"That wasn't funny!" I yelled at him while straightening. My glare didn't seem to have an effect on his laughing though.

"If you had seen your reaction, you'd be laughing to!" He replied. Unlike yesterday, I managed to keep my glare at full force.

"Is that the way you treat an injured girl? You ought to be ashamed of yourself! The way I see it, that's nothing but a bad deed!"

Chris stopped mid laugh at the words 'Bad deed' and shot me a scared look. "You really think that counts as a bad deed?"

I nodded; glad to see him finally feeling remorse. What I didn't expect was for him to throw himself at my feet, head down and hands together almost as if he were praying.

"Please forgive me," he begged. I glanced around to make sure no one was witnessing this embarrassing turn of events. I sighed in relief to see no one. When I looked down at him again, my mouth went up in a crooked grin. I reached down and grabbed his chin with my finger so I could look into his eyes.

"Okay," I said. "I'll forgive you this one time." I couldn't help but smile at the relief in his eyes.

"Thanks," he said while standing up. "You don't know how much that means to me."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Sure sure."

He smiled teasingly at me. "So is your name, by any chance, Boo?"

I let out a short laugh. "Even if it was, I wouldn't tell you!"

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he replied with a shrug.

"Actually I can," I joked.

He stuck his tongue out at me before saying, "So you want to tell me why you're in my room?"

I smiled sarcastically at him. "Um, my job?"

"That's right!" he exclaimed while snapping his fingers. "You're that mysterious servant girl from yesterday! Karen, wasn't it?"

I rolled my eyes and started picking up books, remembering Katharine's words about not eating if you don't finish.

"Aw come on!" he said while picking up some book of his own. "Can't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Shouldn't you be training?" I asked, trying to shift the topic from me to him.

"Shouldn't you be limping?" he retorted, shifting the topic back to me.

I frowned and looked at my ankle. I didn't notice it wasn't hurting until her pointed it out. I looked back up to see him smiling and I knew something was up.

"What did you do?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

He shrugged. "You didn't want to see the Guild Master so I thought I'd bring him to you."

"Aw, Chris! I told you I didn't want to wake him up!"

"You're welcome," was all he said. Then he started taking the books to the shelves. I followed him in resentment. I hated the fact that I wasn't limping. I hated owing people something; it just didn't come naturally to me. Then a thought crossed my mind and I stopped in my tracks.

"Is that why you're not training today?" I asked, grabbing his shoulder with my free hand so he would look at me. I frantically searched his eyes for the truth. "Did the Guild Master use too much Manna to heal me and now he's too tired to train anyone?"

Chris turned away from my searching eyes and started putting books away. That was all the answer I needed. I dropped the books I was holding and started to run with my eyes down. I didn't know where I was going and I bumped into quite a few people, but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other; fighting tears the whole time. When I finally looked back up, I found myself in the guild woods. I looked for a quiet, out of the way spot and when I found it, I sat down, brought my knees to my face and cried bitterly.

"It's my fault! It's always my fault! Everything bad always happens when I'm around!" I kept saying to myself over and over again. Ever since that night, I had hated myself. I was nothing but a helpless little girl who couldn't save the things she loved most. Albeit, I was only thirteen, but the one time in my life I got the chance to prove myself, I screwed up. Now everything I've ever loved and cared about is gone and I have to move on as if they have never existed. If I didn't, the other option would destroy all the values that I've been taught…

Someone touches my arm gently. Startled, I look up to see Chris sitting beside me. His face is etched with sadness and understanding. I buried my face into my knees again and cried even harder. Chris's hand never left my arm, even when I tried to push him away. After awhile, it stopped bothering me. In fact, I found myself holding onto it like it was a lifeline. I never cried in front of people, but I felt comfortable crying in front of Chris.

"You know," he started after my sobs became little sniffles. "I cried too when I first got here. I used to live in Oakvale before this. My dad was a carpenter and my mom… well I'm not really sure what she did. Maybe trading because she was always going places. Anyway, I also had an older sister and we were pretty close. Everything was great, but then two weeks ago everything went up in flames. Bandits attacked my home town and killed my…" he cleared his throat. "They killed my family. Th-that's when Maze found me and brought me here. I tried to be strong because I was going to become a Hero someday and Heroes don't cry. Whenever I was alone though, I cried my eyes out. Then one day the Guild Master caught me. At first I tried to get a hold of myself, but then the Guild Master said that it takes a certain kind of strength to cry in front of others..."

His voice started to fade out and I felt like I should share something in return with him. I mean, he had told a really personal part of himself! I owed him my name at least. But I wasn't ready for that. So I decided to tell him my and Katharine's story laced with the truth.

"I used to live in Knothole Glade," I said hoarsely. I cleared my throat before going on. "My father was well known and respected through out the village. He wasn't the Chief, but he did have a say on what would and wouldn't happen concerning the village, and usually what he voted on was the thing they would choose. My mother was the caring woman of the village. She always put the need of her family andvillage before her own. Sometimes she went without food because she had given her portion to a widow. I was the eldest of three children and my brother, sister and I were very close. Sometimes we crossed the line between siblings and friends. Everything wasn't perfect, but I was happy where I was and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Then two days ago... Balverines came to the village and killed... lots of people, my family included. My... God-mother is a servant here and she's taken me in, but I hardly know her and she doesn't know anything about me. Everything has happened so fast that I guess I didn't have time to cry. I must have reached my breaking point today..."

We both just sat there after my voice faded, listening to the running water of a near-by stream. Even well after the sun went down and the stars twinkled in the sky, we still sat there. Then Chris cleared his throat.

"Well," he started, removing his hand from my arm. His warmth was replaced with the cold night air. "You think we should be heading back?"

I shook my head and continued to stare at the sky. "You go ahead. I want to look at the stars for awhile..."

He left without a word and to be honest I was surprised. I thought that he would have put up more of a fight for me to leave or have stayed there a little bit longer. Then two minutes later, I realized why he left. He came back with a basket full of bread in one hand, blankets in the other and a canteen of water around his neck. Without a word, we both started to set up for a midnight picnic of some kind. Only when we had finished did I speak.

"How come you freaked out when I said that you scaring me could count as a bad deed?" I didn't look at him and I didn't feel him looking at me. It was like we were mesmerized by the starry night sky.

"The day the bandit came was my sister's birthday," he started. "I had forgotten to get her a present. My father said that he would give me a gold piece fore every good deed I did. The day was winding up and I was on my last good deed, watching these barrels for this one man, and all of a sudden this trouble making kid came and started to taunt me. He dared me to break the guys barrels and I... I did. I got back to the place where I was supposed to stand before the man came back and got the good deed plus the gold piece I found in one of the barrels. I didn't get caught and it seemed like no one knew. Then I saw my dad. He gave me the money for the good deeds like he promised, but it was like he knew what I had done. He said that he was disappointed in me or something like that. That was the last time I saw him alive..."

I nodded and stole a glace at him. "So doing good deeds and keeping from bad ones is like your way of saying 'sorry' to him."

Chris nodded and looked at me. I quickly looked away but not before seeing his sad smile.

"You're never going to tell me your name are you?"

I bit my lip and slowly shook my head. "I don't know. I might someday, but right now it's not something I'm willing to do. You may think it's stupid, but to me my name is important. I'm not going to give it away lightly. I'm sorry..."

"Do you mind if I give you a nickname then?"

I half smiled and looked at him. "Depends on what it is."

"How does 'Night blossom' sound?"

I shot him a questioning look. He blushed slightly and looked away from me.

"We first met eachother at night and our friendship sortof bloomed at night too... If you think it's lame I'll understand."

"No," I replied, looking back to the stars with a soft smile on my face. "I like it. Thank you."

As we sat on the blanket, looking at the sky, I realized how true his words were. Just being around him made me smile more, and it was so easy to share stuff with him, even if it wasn't the complete truth. However, if things kept going the way they did, I'd probably would tell him all about my past and why I couldn't afford to believe my family lived. For now though, like a Night Blossom blooming at the slightest light of the moon, so did our friendship that night under the starry sky.