Whew, needed some thought on this one. I read over this about three times, so forgive me if I still missed some grammar errors or if some parts didn't feel all that alive to you.


It was a lot for me to take in, so I didn't start the job until two days later. I had a time to gather the nerve to head up there, considering that I had exploded in front of the whole town. It wasn't my fault that I had a quick temper. When I finally got up to the Firestone house, it was bigger than most, but not enough to be called a mansion or anything like that. "Okay, here goes nothing," I breathed as I pressed the doorbell to their house.

It was answered by Renee, still wearing her previous attire. "Oh, hi, Gale. Please, come in." As I stepped in, it was well furnished. I didn't know how it could be kept so clean. Even an inn had some spots that can be seen with some specks of dust. "My father should be here in a few minutes. He had a quick errand to run."

"Right," I replied, not even looking.

"Would you like to meet my mother?" She wasn't hesitant on the question at all.

"Okay, I have to know her one way or another."

Renee gave me another stern glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

My heart started to race again as I looked at her. "Uh, nothing, nothing! It's just that I'll find out sooner or later, so it might as well be now." Renee just sighed. "Didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm like you in some ways." I didn't even have to ask what she meant by that. She valued her mom, I could tell.

As we entered the Living room of the house, I saw a woman on one of the couches. Her hair was silver, like Renee's and mine, and reached down to just below her shoulders. She seemed just a little heavier than her daughter and was currently wearing a red dress. As I looked at her lap, I noticed a scrapbook, of sorts.

"Mom," Renee said, catching her mothers attention.

"Yes, Ren?" she asked, not yet noticing me for I was somewhat behind.

"This is our guardian for the next few months, Gale." As Renee gave me the attention, I noticed that her mother had a look of surprise in her eyes, and they surprised me, for instead of it being purple as I may have imagined, they were red like mine, only a little dimmer.

"Gale Hollow? Siren Hollow's son?" she asked as she shot up, having the book fall to the floor.

"Yes, ma'am, and I was told you were one of her friends?" I replied.

"Yes, and I must say I was surprised that you came up during the time of Siren's old act."

"Old?" My anger was swelling up, but I tried to keep it under control. Renee seemed to see through my cover though.

"Mom," Renee came in, "talking about his mother isn't the best subject."

"Why's that?" She asked.

"I can get real mad easily," I answered. "Considering my mom is my emotional backbone, that can give me an urge to kill if pried at." She got wide eyed at the last statement. "I'm sorry if I'm scaring you, but it's the truth."

She nodded, then the front door slammed open to let in a gust of wind and a man that was all too familiar to me. "Dad!" Renee ran over and helped close the door that wouldn't willingly close due to the wind.

"Thank you, Ren," Marcus said. "The wind is picking up. I better leave as soon as possible or else I'll be confined here for the rest of the day." He then turned his attention towards me and his wife. "So I guess you met Siren's son, Aqua?" Her name escaped me.

"Yes, and I can already tell he has her temper at times," Aqua replied.

"Yes, he shown that last night. Well, Gale, mind if I give you a tour before I go?"

I didn't have much choice in the matter for he already got me behind the back and motioned me to follow. I looked back to see Renee and Aqua giving me a friendly wave, but not one of those helpful ones, more like one of those 'hope you make it' kind.

It took about half an hour to check all the rooms. He didn't even bother to hesitate showing the basement. You could say I knew the whole house like the back of my hand by how he explained it so thoroughly.

"Now, I'm sure you know the house by now," Marcus finished.

"You have no idea," I mumbled.

"Now, just need to warn you about one thing."

That caught my attention. "What's that?"

"The only person here that you can keep a good eye on is my wife. Renee, on the other hand, is hard to keep control of. She takes after her mother when she was young."

A smile formed on my face. "Sounds like me somewhat." After a moment of exchanging glances, a sound of something closing caught my ear. "What was that?"

"Ah, you heard her."

"Renee?"

"Yeah. She likes to sneak out before dusk, but... NO!" The sudden outburst made me jump.

"What is it?!"

"The winds are too strong tonight for her to venture out alone!"

"Marcus!!" Aqua came out of the kitchen area. "Where's Renee?!"

"She went out again. I'll go and- Gale!" That when he finally realized that I was leaving the door. I didn't acknowledge him and went out, feeling a strong wind on my face.

I looked out to the road and noticed the silver haired girl walking along the side. I ran as fast as possible to catch her. There was a variance in the wind which reminded me of the unpredictability of the wind on a ship. I almost lost my scarf through this wind and I had to tighten it around my neck.. As I caught up to her, the winds fell silent.

"Renee!" I called, getting her attention.

"What is it?" She sounded like she went out in this weather everyday.

"Your mom and dad want you back in the house. They say the weather is stronger than usual."

Her face just lit up with a smile. "I don't feel the wind right now, do you?"

"The winds feel familiar to me like that of a ship. If it is what I think it is, then we need to get out of here now!"

"Now who said I take orders?" She reminded me of me when I was 16. I didn't like to follow anyone's orders either. Then I felt movement from the loose ends of my scarf behind me. I knew a sudden gust was coming.

"Renee, just trust me. This doesn't feel right."

"It does to me, so why bother?" I didn't want to let this carry on any farther, so I just took her arm and started running back to the house. "Hey! Let go of me!"

"Not until we get back to shelter!"

"I know you're supposed to be my guardian, but this is-" She was cut off as a insanely strong gale force sent us flying up. Renee shrieked as we went higher. We hovered over some buildings, then I heard a sharp thud beside me. Renee hit her head on one of the buildings and was knocked out cold, and to make matters worse the wind quit and sent us falling to the now open ground.

I didn't have much to work with, so all I could do was pull Renee close to me and see if I can't soften the impact by keeping her above me. As I embraced for a sharp pain after falling, I looked down to see some wagon filled with a substance being pulled underneath us. We hit it to find that it seemed to be a type of cotton and softened out landing.

As I tired to motion myself, I forgot Renee was still on top of me and I ended up hurting myself from not remembering the extra weight. Another man came up and looked in the wagon, probably the one who saved us. "Took some trip there, didn't you?" he asked.

"You have no idea," I answered. "However, could you get us to the Firestone residence, since I can't move and she's knocked out cold?"

"Alright, son. Just make sure she's alright and I'll do the rest."

As he moved, I looked at the knocked out Renee Ashley Firestone at my lap. She seemed defenseless, just lying there. If this was supposed to be a test to see how well I could take care of her, I just failed.


I don't think Gale will let himself live that down. Here he had an obligation to protect her and things took a turn for the worst. I'd probably feel the same way.