"Alexander!" A shrill and weathered voice penetrated the wooden doors of the Sanctuary, "What have you done now!?"

Biting his lip, his brow creased with worry, the green haired novice snuck around the building, a spiked club behind his back. He had smacked another one of those pet Orcs, mistaking it for another monster. He was worried that he would get another session with the paddle.

As he rounded the corner, two priests were chatting to each other. As he ducked behind the wall, he could hear their voices over the chirping of the birds.

"So, Alexander did it again, huh?"

"I hear Alexander killed a pet Orc!"

"No way! Father's going to be pissed!"

As he heard the footsteps on the cobbled stones draw closer, he prayed to God that he wouldn't get caught. He still couldn't sit normally from last week's paddling.

As if to answer his prayers, a hand reached down from a small ledge just above him and yanked him up effortlessly. As he was deposited rather roughly onto the ledge, his back pressed against the window and his legs dangling over the side, he grinned at the assassin sitting next to him.

"Thanks, Ter-chan, I thought I was a goner for a second there." He smiled, inwardly squealing when he saw the annoyed expression upon the usually calm exterior of the man.

"I told you not to call me that, Alexander." The assassin's face was all but calm when the thought registered across the novice's mind.

"Hey! It's Sheep to you!" He pouted, and nearly fell off the ledge when he heard a roar coming from the inside of the room they were sitting out of.

"Alexander! There you are, boy, you are in for a whooping!" The deep and angered voice of the "Councilor" rang the window behind them. Sheep let out a small 'eep', and scrambled to jump off the ledge, at least ten feet above ground.

However, the assassin gripped his shirt, and with one hand leapt onto the roof with practiced ease. As he let Sheep hang from his hand, he quickly took up speed and ran towards the edge of the roof.

"Hey! Terrain, stop, you'll kill us!" Ignoring the boy's pleas, he leapt over the edge, landed on a fencepost with the agile of a cat, and proceeded to sprint through the streets. As he broke through a rather nasty crowd, he ran through straight to the west gate. As he quickly ordered a warp portal to the mountainous village of Payon, he shook Sheep to stop his squirming. As the customary blue light covered them, he felt the rising feeling of his body losing the force of gravity, before he felt the weight hit him full and he dropped to the ground again, on his feet. He then quickly sprinted northeast, passing by a number of startled citizens and travelers, as well as merchants trying to sell their rubbish. As he reached the clearing where the entrance to the Payon caves was located, he dropped Sheep onto the ground, and sat panting lightly on a bench. As Sheep dusted himself off, and grimaced at the red mark on his neck caused by the tight grip the assassin had on him, and sat next to Terrain, snorting indignantly.

"I could have walked." He muttered, rubbing his neck.

"No, you would have slowed me down." Without looking at him, he asked the young, pretty girl to register this place as his safe place, hoisting him up again, and dragged him to the entrance to the cave, a nasty formation filled with strange skeletons, giant vicious bats, man-eating abominations, and even odd green balls of jellopy that harvested items. He quickly grabbed his healing clip out of his storage, before booting the boy down the steep entranceway and onto the cold, hard stone ground below. As he himself casually strode down the natural stairs and met the glares coming from the novice, he all but smiled.

"Time for some training."

Four hours and roughly four hundred red potions later, Terrain was feeling the urge to throttle Sheep. The boy had barely been able to kill a familiar, without his help, but now through all this work, he could kill one alone. However, he still needed improvement before he ventured down the class path. The boy constantly needed assistance, especially when he repeatedly stabbed something and went to kill another without finishing the first off; which then resulted in a horde to counterattack.

As Sheep slumped against the rough surface of the rock wall, the slime coating his back and the green blood of zombies soaking through his soft-sole boots, Terrain was crouched, completely clean, on the edge of a rock. He looked bemused towards the panting boy, and sighed before leaning back against the wall.

After a short while of contemplating the next step in the boy's training, the assassin decided to venture deeper into the caves. In life-threatening conditions, people got stronger by learning to adapt.

As they reached the maze of twisted caverns, Terrain turned to the boy and examined his haggard state. The boy's clothes had rips and tears in it, as well as blood, sweat, and unmentionable substances literally sewn into it. He decided he could survive here, for a short while.

So, shoving the boy down the small dip to the next series of walkways, grinning at the burst of angered protests, Terrain slid gracefully down the slope and landed without a sound. However, Sheep slammed into the wall and rumbled the structure, scaring off a few creatures in the process. One familiar was so surprised, it clothes-lined itself on a stalactite.

Hauling the boy to his feet with a grunt, he directed him to kill the stunned familiar. Without a second thought, Sheep pierced its chest and watched as it faded away. Then he went on to kill a few skeletons and another familiar

This could take a long, long time.

"Hungry?" He asked, his dark eyes boring a hole in the smooth rock ceiling. Over the last few days, the boy had made good progress. Soon, he would be able to progress to the acolyte stage. However, first he needed food in his belly, and a good night's rest.

"Yes, very." The raspy voice of the young boy tickled the assassin's sensitive hearing, and he nodded shortly before tossing a small purple wing towards the boy.

"Use it, it should take you back to the entrance." Terrain brought out his own wing, and waited until the boy had crushed the wing, before he himself crushed it.

Sapphire powder came out from the small wing, and as if ushered by an invisible wind, circled around him and created a bright light of shining sapphire. As the wind picked up, he was sent magically towards his last recorded safe point.

As soon as the powder evaporated into the void, Terrain knew something was wrong. Apart from the several mindless novices, few advanced classes laughing at the little ones, and the poor merchants selling overpriced wings, potions, and crude weapons, there was no emerald haired boy. He had forgotten to tell Sheep to save at the clearing

Sheep was not there.

What did you think of this chapter? I've been extremely busy as of late, and due to a lack of time, haven't been able to update. Now if you find any mistakes, review/flame/whatever me and I'll fix them. This chapter was originally going to take place in the Culverts, but I changed my mind and edited it.

Tsukura: Thanks, I didn't think anyone would like this. In response to your comment, I must say, I don't rush relationships. Besides, the boy was just born you know. Give him time, hm?

Fushica: Really? I had no idea there was someone called the Fuhrer in the game. The child is actually a friend of mine, who plays a guy, and she is hopefully doing a counterpart storing of the same pairing. The assassin is mine, too. And the kid would make a horrible assassin; he talks too much.

Let's see to the next chapter, then.