"Hey Gil?" a soft voice asked behind the warrior.
Mumbling nonsense words under his breath, the warrior pulled the soft pillow over his face. The light cotton blanket barely covered his body, leaving his bare feet poking out at the end. His long blonde hair, now untied, lay across the mattress like streamers from beneath the pillow. The fancy clothing he had worn before was carelessly thrown over a bedpost, next to a sheathed sword and a well-crafted knapsack filled with personal belongings.
Natsuka sighed. This was probably the dumbest plan Nella had come up with yet. For the umpteenth time, he wondered what he was doing here in the early morning, peeking at the warrior through the grimy window. The first few rays of sunlight barely reached reached the room, but it was enough to dimly illuminate the dusty broom closet of a room. Natsuka felt a brief pang of jealousy for how comfortable the warrior looked on the bed that rightfully belonged to Natsuka. He shrugged in resignation. He knew all too well that he could not argue with Nella now. The girl had disappeared off to some other corner of the city to buy breakfast. She fully expected him to go through with the ridiculous plan. This plan consisted of waking Gil up and convincing him to go on a random journey with the rude assassin that had dined with him at dinner the night before.
He carefully pushed the window open. Natsuka winced as the rusted hinges of the window creaked loudly, but, thankfully, Gil had not fully awakened yet. Ducking below the window, he groped at the tools he had brought along with him. He carefully lubricated the hinges with a few drops of oil, then edged the windows open a little bit more with a spare throwing star. Then, he took a long metal pole and carefully pushed it through the open window towards the sleeping warrior.
Natsuka stabbed at the empty air above Gil, missing his intended target several times. Finally, after a number of frustrating attempts, he managed to hook Gil's blanket with the bar. Pulling sharply, he dragged the blanket off Gil. He averted his eyes instinctively, staring embarassedly at the ceiling for a few minutes. He looked back at Gil as he realized, to his relief, the warrior was at least wearing boxers. Gil started to shiver without his covers, his breath now short and fast. Irritated, Natsuka wondered if the guy would ever wake up.
He jabbed at Gil's ribs with the metal bar now. "Hey, warrior boy, wake up," he whispered roughly at him.
Gil groaned loudly as he rose from bed. "Why- what the hell-" he muttered sleepily.
"Just get dressed and meet me on the roof," called Natsuka, as he withdrew the metal. He clambered up the telephone pole beside the building, expertly scaling it before jumping onto the roof. The sun was now beginning to rise. Now, he wondered absentmindedly to himself what sort of white lie he was to come up with next...
He nearly fell off the roof as he heard the loud banging noises echoing behind him. The inexperienced climber panted as he strugged onto hte roof, his fingers white from clinging onto the tiles. Natsuka grabbed the hands and, with great effort, pulled the other boy onto the roof. His eyes widened in surprise- he had not expected Gil to come so quickly. The warrior hastily adjusted the blue sash around his waist, his hair still askew from his strenuous climb.
"So," said Gil coldly, "It was you who had to poke me awake in the morning. This better be important, or I'll knock you off the roof." He glared at Natsuka, his hand traveling to the sword hilt at his waist.
Natsuka grimaced. He knew he was not the best liar, that option was probably out of the question now that he did not even prepare a lie to tell. Plus, the warrior looked very serious, his emerald eyes boring a hole into Natsuka's waning confidence. The assassin took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as he could to Gil.
"If I am not mistaken, you are on very friendly terms with Nella's family," he began, using the most polite language he could muster. "However, Nella is still recovering from the tragic loss of her mother a year ago. She felt too nervous to tell you this herself, but... I believe she wants you to keep your distance for now."
His words were met with sullen silence. Gil looked stunned; apparently, he had not heard the news yet. However, his expression hardened immediately once he reached his conclusions. "So, what does she expect me to now? Dally around until she feels better?" he demanded.
Now it was Natsuka's turn to glare at Gil. Why did this kid have to chase so blindly after a girl for whom he seemed to care so little about? Even Natsuka stood by the girl, trying to nurture her fragile happiness and refraining from such harsh criticism. He looked straight into Gil's eyes, preparing to answer. "I am planning to go on a trip to Ossyria... I have a few jobs to accomplish there, and, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you to accompany me on this trip," responded Natsuka smoothly.
The warrior narrowed his eyes in suspicion, scrutinizing Natsuka's face. The assassin boy remained calm. He took comfort in the fact that he had not lied once to Gil; this way, he could avoid any unnecessary confusion that might have been caused by any clumsy, half-baked lies he might have made. The two sat on the roof in silence. Crows cawed ominously above them, and the sounds of the waking city echoed through the alleyways below. After giving the matter some serious thought, the warrior nodded curtly at him.
"I will go with you, as you wish. I assume we'll be taking the taxi?"
"No... I'm sorry, but I cannot afford it. You might be able to, but I will have to walk most of the way, through the Perion route" admitted Natsuka.
"Very well... then, I'll go with you," declared the warrior, much to Natsuka's surprise.
The assassin wanted to laugh and make fun of the warrior. What sort of weak warrior was so easily disgruntled by being awakened in the early morning? Many of the seasoned travelers Natsuka had met took easily to waking up early like that. Some of the more enduring newbies were less easily agitated as this warrior- Natsuka reminded himself that he would probably have to continually appease the warrior's temper if he were to keep him as a traveling companion.
"Alright then... I've already told Nella I decided to go. I don't know about you, but maybe you-"
"It doesn't matter. I'll come along," cut in Gil. His emerald eyes gleamed with anticipation now, and a small smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"Let's go then."
They had set off a decent way from the main streets of Kerning city, now walking through the outskirts of the construction sites. The pair walked together most of the way in silence, although Natsuka occasionally gestured for Gil to follow him across certain obstacles like the metal pipes and wooden planks. Octopi and mushrooms mingled in the tall iron structures above them, making strange noises at each other. Manufacturing plants in the distance belched out gray smoke. The city seemed devoid of people in these abandoned parts only populated by monsters. Gil slashed at the occasional monster passing his way, carelessly leaving the remains behind. Natsuka, on the other hand, refrained from randomly slaughtering the monster if he could help it.
"I'm hungry," complained Gil.
"Didn't you bring food?" asked Natsuka, looking surprised. He began to rummage in the lumpy knapsack on its shoulder. Gil grasped his shoulder suddenly and grinned at Natsuka, shaking his head.
"No, no... It's alright for now, I'll be fine," the warrior said in a confident voice. The growling of his stomach betrayed his act. Gil's cheeks flushed red, and he whistled nervously as if nothing had happened.
"Oy, just remember to bring food next time," scolded Natsuka with a sigh. He withdrew a boiled egg from his pouch and handed it over to Gil. Looking sheepish, the warrior tried to wave the offering off, but Natsuka forcefully pushed it into his hands. The warrior brightened visibly as he took a tentative bite, and he chewed on the egg thoughtfully as the pair continued walking towards Perion.
"You know, I've never actually done this before... Maybe I should do this more often instead of riding the taxi," the warrior commented, looking at the gray skies above.
"Nah, the taxi is way better. I've been there a few times in my life, I should know. Feels much better than out here sometimes, especially when its humid or about to rain," he replied. He looked worriedly at the sky.
"The air's nicer outside," said Gil confidently, taking a deep breath of the city air. Natsuka started laughing at him again, earning him a suspicious look from Gil.
"Kerning's air is nasty compared to the other cities. Perion's slightly better, but it smells like dust. Lith smells like salt, and Henesys smells like manure if you get too close to the farms," responded Natsuka, looking wistfully into the distance. The mountains of Perion seemed to be growing nearer with every step they took. "However, Ellinia's the best. Its really stifling in the undergrowth areas, where there are lots of shrubs and crap, but if you get to the canopy- that's the top area- the air's the freshest thing you can imagine. Cleaner than anything," added the assassin.
Gil nodded, listening intently. "You know... I should do this sort of thing more often," he repeated. "Traveling by taxi's faster, but going slowly like this feels nicer... especially if you're talking to someone along the way." He hesitated a moment, looking apprehensively at Natsuka. "Do you still hate me or something? I swear I'll try not to be a bother."
"No, no, it's fine this way." Natsuka nodded at Gil cheerfully. The trip was not as unbearable as it had been in the beginning, with neither of them talking to each other over the early morning's events. The pair felt more carefree now as they walked together towards the mountains. By now, the late afternoon air felt comfortably cooler than the eariler noon humidity. The glow of the sun could be faintly seen behind the clouds covering the sky.
"Hey, we're almost there. See that ridge?" asked Natsuka, pointing into the distance. The mountain ranges of Perion towered in the distance, like giant sentinels. "That's the-" He was about to finish his sentence when a high-pitched scream of fear suddenly interrupted his words.