Chapter four…..sklee. n.n
You guys got lucky, I just felt like writing this (wink)
Disclaimer: Nope, still own nothing.
…And still have no muse… (scratches head in confusion)
The First Night
"So let me get this straight…"
Kratos sighed and tried to pretend he wasn't there, slouching in posture as he attempted to inch behind his mother, stubbornly ignoring the fact that even while doing that he was still quite obviously there. They dragged Yuan out of the pantry and into the kitchen where- after being scolded quite thoroughly by Mira- Kratos had to once again explain his circumstances. Yuan had stared up at him dumbly the entire time until the now-man finally reached the end of his explanation and glanced away, his cheeks flushing somewhat.
"I was right about the cat-thing, pretty much?"
Mira stared at him while Kratos jolted, seeing the smirk work its way into Yuan's face.
"Why you-!" Kratos started, snarling down at him.
"Wait," Mira cut him off, raising a hand in front of him, "cat-thing? You know about it?"
"What-? No, I just said there were stories about some kinda cat-call from that place-"
"So you did lead him there?"
"Well yeah but-…" he stopped, realizing his mistake, "wait, no-"
But it was too late.
"How dare you take my son somewhere so dangerous!!" she shouted, jabbing a finger into the young thief's face. "I should have you strung up in the square for this you insolent little-!"
"Mom-" Kratos started, attempting to save his friend.
"No! No, Kratos! He is not getting out of it this time! All the time's I've caught him stealing from us…honestly! You should be thankful that I've been this lenient at all!"
"But M-"
"Do not 'but' me, Kratos Aurion! I-!"
She was cut off when a loud whine followed by scratches came from the back-door of the kitchen, effectively drawing their attention. Mira paused in mid-scold before she walked over to the door and opened it up, looking down with an almost irritated glance at the visitor.
"Noishe, what are you doing here?" she scoffed, tapping her foot.
Noishe gave another loud whine as he trotted inside, the gleaming stone on his collar catching the light as he walked in from the darkness. Ever since Kratos had found him with a broken wing in the back-yard, the protozoan had lived with the Aurions. About ten years now; and in that time they had to swap out his perch for a doggie-door, seeing as the protozoan had evolved to its next stage in that time. Kratos and Yuan both looked at Noishe, who was now staring dumbly up at Kratos.
"…Uh-" Kratos went to look away.
"Holy crap, Kratos! What happened to you!?" Noishe gasped.
"H- How could you tell it was-!?" Kratos yelped.
"Oh please, you don't give me enough credit," here he whined, "I am a protozoan and all."
As he ceased talking the 'gem' on his collar dimmed, then began glowing again when he spoke.
"But seriously, why do you look old now?" Noishe asked, his ears straight up as he sniffed the fidgeting Kratos. "I know humans grow fast but this is ridiculous!"
"Noishe, would you mind?" Mira rolled her eyes. "That's exactly what we're trying to figure out. Now, please be quiet or I'll take that stone back."
Noishe whined and scrambled back from her, shaking as bit as he tucked his tail between his legs. The stone she spoke of was the gem on his collar, an extremely rare piece of sediment that allowed its wearer to speak in any language- or simply speak. They were used mainly for protozoa fighting in the war, but due to the Aurion influence Mira managed to secure one for the arshis that her son had found and taken in.
"Do you know how hard it is to speak like that?!" Noishe protested. "Hardly anyone can understand what I'm saying without this thing!"
"Except for Kratos, but he's always been a freak," Yuan smirked, shrugging as he glanced back at his friend.
Kratos glared at the half-elf and the blunette quite suddenly slammed his mouth shut.
For all of two seconds.
"Holy crap, that is scary!" he cried, shuddering. "Geez, Kratos! Like you weren't terrifying enough!"
"Right, so what happened? Huh? Huh?" Noishe pressed, nudging Kratos with his snout.
"I am not explaining again!" Kratos snapped, irritated and tired. "If you want to know, have Yuan tell you."
Noishe went to protest when Mira cut in.
"He ran into a monster in the factory that cast some sort of spell on him, he has to beat it to get back to normal," she explained, "which is why I met him here; so we could discuss our plan. Yuan broke it up when we caught him raiding the pantry-"
She shot the half-elf a murderous glare as she said that part.
"So needless to say we've gotten off-task," she said simply, closing her eyes.
"…So what is the plan?" Kratos asked slowly.
"You're going to have to become a knight," she said simply, her face blank.
There was a moment of silence.
"W- Wait, you mean now?!" Kratos yelped, his face going pale. "I- But-"
"That's the only way you'll be able to get some training in with me without arousing suspicion," she explained, "so you're just going to have to pass the test and become a knight."
"There's a test?" Yuan stared.
Kratos and Mira both looked at him, wearing identical expressions that clearly portrayed they were a mix between offended and disgusted. Noishe stepped in to Yuan's rescue with a nervous whine/laugh.
"Yes, Yuan," the protozoan explained, "to get into the knights there's a written exam and then a basic test of skill. That, and you've gotta have the right paperwork, though I'm pretty safe to say you'll have that covered, Mira?"
"But of course," she smirked lightly, crossing her arms over her torso, "but it'll take a little time…so in the meanwhile, Kratos, just try to blend in here until I can arrange things."
"Hah!" Yuan pointed at his friend. "You gotta be a servant! Oh this is gonna be priceless-!"
"Why you little-"
Mira grabbed his ear again.
"Ack-!"
"That's enough, now listen up all of you," she glared at Yuan and Noishe, "no one is going to know about this, understand? No one."
"O- Of course," Yuan nodded.
"And Yuan? If you decide to blab about this…" she smiled faintly, "I'll see to it that the rest of your existence will be a living, breathing hell; are we clear?"
Yuan's color fled from his face and he nodded, glancing between her and her son as he attempted to hold back the urge to say something stupid.
Which, obviously, didn't happen.
"What if I just told Martel?"
Shortly thereafter Yuan was on the floor groaning in pain as Noishe shook his head over the young thief, wondering how it was it had come to this.
"A knight…" Kratos whispered under his breath, a frown on his face.
Sure, it was what he had been training for all of his life, but he never really put much thought into it being something…that he actually wanted to do. Maybe because he always thought it wasn't something he had to worry about yet- well, this situation totally dashed that thought process. Did he…even want to be a knight? What did he really want to do anyway? Still, to think he had to do this now, and…
"Kratos? Honey, are you all right?" Mira asked, gently shaking his shoulder.
"What-? Oh, yes, I'm fine," he nodded, shaking his thoughts off.
"Oh, all right then," she said, "then you'd better get back. You're going to have to do servant work until I can get everything arranged. I know it's dreary but you'll just have to make do. Now, as for you two…"
The woman rounded on Yuan and Noishe.
"Yuan, you are going to work here starting tomorrow afternoon," she said curtly.
"W- What?! Why-? You don't have a right to-!"
"It's either that or I have you beheaded," she smirked, her eyes narrowed.
Yuan froze.
"I just want you to keep an eye on Kratos, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," she stated.
"And who's going to keep Yuan from doing something stupid?" Noishe laughed.
"You."
Silence.
"Say what-?!" Noishe gasped.
"Don't make that voice with me," she spat, glaring at the protozoan, "you come through here all the time at any rate."
"He does?" Yuan and Kratos asked in unison.
"Of course, the maids love feeding him," Mira smirked, "because he's 'sucha fwuffy cwute dowggie'. Honestly, they know very well he's not a dog but…oh well."
"Wait, Noishe, you sneak in to schmooze with the maids?" Kratos shook his head, gaping at his 'dog'.
"Well…." Noishe rolled his eyes, "…eheh."
"Noishe you sly dog!" Yuan hooted with a grin. "I wish I could do that!"
"All right then," Mira cut in, "everyone go home- or go to sleep. We all need to be up tomorrow. And Kratos."
"Y- Yes?" he looked at his mother.
She examined him briefly, her eyes scanning him up and down before she shook her head.
"It's nothing, get some rest," she stated.
With that she left, dragging Yuan out the door with her as the half-elf protested. Kratos watched them leave and he felt a strange emotion bubbling up inside of him. What it was, he couldn't say. Noishe trotted up beside him, nuzzling his head under Kratos' hand.
"What are you thinking about?" Noishe asked, positioning his ear and Kratos' nails.
"What-? Oh, sorry, Noishe," he sighed, scratching the animal's ear, "I guess…I Just feel a little…"
"Are you scared?" Noishe asked.
"What-? No- I mean, yes- I-" he frowned, "I don't know. I guess I am, but…"
He should be scared, and to some degree he was, but beyond that feeling there was something more akin to…liberation. As he was here, he was free from being 'Lady Aurion's brat', he was free from all the expectations held for him, he was free from the scrutiny, he was free from just waiting around until he had to take over the house.
"It's kind of…" he unknowingly smiled a bit, "great."
"Hm?" Noishe looked up at him.
"I- I- Nothing, it's just I-" he stammered, flushing a bit.
On the other hand, he didn't really know what to do. Not having something waiting for you or some plan drawn up already was terrifying. He didn't know how to be an adult, he didn't know how to make his way as a normal person- much less a grown man. So yes, he was scared.
But…
"I'm going to bed now, Noishe," he said, scratching his ear one more time, "so I'll be seeing you."
Kratos smiled weakly down at the animal before walking off.
"Hm...this might not turn out how we want it to," Noishe mumbled as the man left.
Kratos found his way back to his room easy enough, but he barely noticed or cared about that. He was too busy thinking. He looked down at his hand as he closed the door behind him, just taking it in. His hands were large, sturdy; thick-fingers and an all around masculine appearance. He made a fist and uncurled his fingers again, just to feel the muscles flex. That was another thing; the muscles. His arms were rather robust, weren't they? He had muscles in his younger body, of course, but they weren't this developed because he had yet to fully mature. He hesitated a moment and looked in the simple mirror in the room, looking his reflection up and down. Yeah, he was muscled…broad shouldered…deep-voiced and not to mention a very attractive face. Yes, through it all, he could come to only one conclusion:
"Damn, I'm a chick-magnet," he smirked.
He mentally smacked himself, shaking his head as he backed away from the glass.
No, no! He shouldn't be thinking like that! This was bad! He needed to get back to normal! Right? He couldn't just quit his old life and try to start off as some guy that just came from nowhere! He had a life to get back to-!
…Though…did he really want that life to begin with? Sure, he wouldn't be able to live in the lap of luxury or hang out with his friends the same way…but other than that, what would he be losing? Being the ridicule of the nobility just to take some job he didn't even want, and his friends and the only family he cared about knew anyway, so…?
"…" he frowned, his face down-cast before he shook his head, "ah, I just need sleep."
So he settled himself into the bed, closing his eyes.
And slipped right into oblivion.
It was dark. He was in the middle of some dark abyss where not even sounds reached him. He whirled his head around, attempting to get his bearings- if there were any- when the two red eyes flared open in the darkness. He let out a yelp as the snake-like body seemed to sprout out from the eyes and the head that had formed from nothing, the undulating stretch of fur wrapping around him tightly as a serpent would coil around its prey.
Before he could even shout the huge head was before him.
It spread its jaws wide and closed around him, swallowing him hole.
There was darkness again, all except for a silhouette standing before him. The dress-donned female slowly turned to look at him, her bright green eyes filling with tears.
"Who-?" Kratos started.
Then the creature formed behind her as well.
"Look out-!"
And swallowed her up without a sound.
Kratos jerked upright in his bed, sweat rolling off his forehead as he panted in a desperate attempt to catch his breath. The clock continued to tick uninterrupted, paying no heed to his sudden panic. It wasn't even six a.m. yet…
Kratos groaned and plopped back on the mattress, staring blankly up into the dark ceiling.
"What's going to happen to me?" he whispered as he closed his eyes.
X3
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Hope you liked n.n
