Chapter Nine

"I can't believe you met him!" Black Star yelled. "Oh man, that's amazing. You just stood there and talked to him- you ate with him." Black Star was walking around the tent, excited and happy. "I can't believe you didn't know," he said.

Maka sighed and adjusted a sleeping Eugene in her lap as she pulled on a sweatshirt. She was growing irritated. Her blue-haired friend had been freaking out about her unintentional dinner with the god's son.

"How could you tell he was the god's son?" Maka asked in an exasperated tone. She looked to Tsubaki who was sleeping on her and Black Star's mat. The tall woman had fallen asleep soon after Black Star started talking to Maka about the man with golden eyes. When Maka walked into the tent, Tsubaki was attempting to calm her hyper boyfriend down. He was practically vibrating in excitement.

"I've never seen him before," Black Star said. "I've been here for years and I've never seen him."

"There were these women that Tsubaki and I ran into by the stream," Maka said. "They said they came from another camp." She looked up at Soul. "I'm pretty sure that he just came from another camp like those girls. You don't think he's the god's son do you?"

Soul sighed. "I wouldn't know, but he could be. Did you notice how the adults in the camp looked at him, acted around him?" Soul sat down next to Maka. "It looked as if some recognized him. I'm pretty sure that he's important."

"I just don't think he's the god's son," Maka said. "If he was, wouldn't he be eating dinner with Stein and Sid? Wouldn't he be discussing plans to overthrow the queen?" Maka placed Eugene on his mat.

"Maka, he just got back, I doubt he'd want to jump into battle plans," Black Star said, sitting on his mat. He moved the oil lamp to sit between him and his friends. "At least I wouldn't."

"Yeah, Maka. Maybe he just wanted to relax for his first day back," Soul said.

"I feel like if I were the child of a god that once ruled greatly, I'd start planning as soon as I got here," Maka said surely. "I also think it's a bit weird that you guys don't know what he looked like. If no one heard about the god's son coming to the campground, then you guys wouldn't be saying this."

"Maka, so maybe that's true," Soul admitted, "but we watched you eating dinner with him. I swear his eyes glowed."

"That's just because they're gold," Maka said. "They're an interesting color, they must have caught in the light in a funny way."

"No, Maka I swear," Soul started, "when you weren't looking his eyes glowed."

"Maka I saw it," Black Star said. "When you picked Eugene up, his eyes flashed."

Maka laughed. "Black Star is this another prank? Are you trying to freak me out? I thought you stopped this in middle school." She took the elastics out of her hair. "I just don't believe you." Soul raised an eyebrow. "I won't until I see his hair. Until I see those stripes, I'm going to think of him as the kind man that helped me with my dishes."

"Okay," Black Star said, holding his hands up in fake surrender, "Okay, but when we find out that he's the god's son, I'll do my victory dance."

"Oh, not that," Maka shook her head.

"What the fuck is his victory dance?" Soul asked with a laugh.

"It's this dance that he started to do when we were in middle school. It's terrible and you should never have to witness it," Maka responded.

"Don't worry Soul," Black Star said with a grin, "you'll see it soon enough when we find out that the man she had dinner with is the god's son."

"Have you ever seen the god's son?" Maka asked.

"No-"

"Then how do you know?" Maka snapped. Black Star's eyes widened and Soul looked down and coughed. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. Let's go to sleep."

"Maka we don't know if it's him. We just think it is." Soul patted Maka's shoulder. Black Star nodded. Soul settled into his mat and Black Star turned off the oil lamp. Maka settled Eugene into his mat and then settled into her own mat and whispered a goodnight. The boys whispered their good nights back and the three fell asleep.

Maka felt shaking. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. Soul was sitting in front of her with Eugene standing behind him.

"Eugene needs to pee, but he refuses to go with me alone. You're his sister, let's go." Soul stood, and Maka followed, dragging her blanket with her. She grabbed Eugene's hand and the three exited the tent. Soul had his jacket on and Maka knew that he had at least three knives on him.

"Okay Eugene," Maka said as the three got to one of the outhouses, "I'm going to be waiting out here with Soul. When you're done, we'll wash your hands and then go back to the tent."

Eugene nodded and went into the outhouse. Soul sighed and looked at Maka with raised eyebrows. She tilted her head down and looked up at him with a raised brow. "What?" she asked. "Why are you giving me that look?"

"You're wearing your blanket in a place where you should be prepared to fight at any moment." He shook his head.

"I'm always on alert Soul," she said. "I'm a libero. I have good reflexes in case I need to run or dodge something. Soul, you're here too." She bumped his arm with her blanket-covered hand. "I trust you. And who would attack us on the campground?"

"Thanks Maka. And you may feel like you aren't likely to be attacked but this place tends to surprise people in the worst ways," Soul said as Eugene exited the outhouse. Maka took off her blanket and handed it to Soul. She picked up the small jug of water in the crate by the outhouse and a small bar of soap. "I trust you too," Soul said as Maka helped Eugene wash his hands.

"Thanks Soul," she responded. "Okay," she put the jug and bar back into the crate and stood. "Let's return to the tent." Soul nodded and gave Maka her blanket back. As the three walked back to the tent, they saw Liz and Patty coming out of a tent with a lamp on inside. The three stopped and Soul held his arm out to push Maka behind him. Maka grabbed Eugene's shoulders and moved him closer to her.

"Who are they? They're new," he said.

"That's Liz and Patty. The girls Tsubaki and I ran into by the stream," Maka responded, staying behind him.

Liz was holding a kettle and went to the firepit. Patty lit it and cheered as the flames leaped high only to be shushed by Liz. Liz put the kettle over the fire and sat by as the water warmed. Patty was drawing in the dirt with her finger as Liz watched the moon.

"I can't believe Kid wanted tea this late," she said with a huff.

"I'm a little teapot short and stout," Patty began to sing cheerfully.

"Patty, please be quiet. I don't want to wake anyone up. It's bad enough that we're up this late, no one else should be." Liz sighed and glared at the kettle.

Eugene yanked on Maka's blanked and held up his arms, opening and closing his hands. He blinked tiredly. Maka adjusted her blanket and picked him up, resting him on her hip. Soul peeked over his shoulder to glance at the two. She nodded to assure him that they were okay. Eugene soon fell asleep.

When the kettle began to whistle, Liz grabbed a cloth and huffed, "Finally. Fuck, that took long." She picked up the kettle and put out the fire. "Come on Patty, Kid'll want his stupid water when he gets back."

Soul sighed in relief as the girls went back into the tent. "Wait for a second," he said. He looked around and saw no one. "Okay let's go back to the tent." He saw Maka nod tiredly. He turned to her and held out his arms. "Let me carry him. You look like you're asleep on your feet." Maka shook her head. "Come on Maka."

"No I'm fine," she yawned. "What if someone attacks us? You're the one with the throwing knives. I'm having my second archery lesson at some point today." She looked up at the grinning moon. "Well I assume that it's early in the morning." She yawned again. "Okay let's go."

The two started towards the tent. Soul adjusted his jacket and kept looking back at Maka to make sure she was safe. When they were almost at their tent, he looked back again and was about to offer to carry Eugene again when he saw a flash of black dart behind a tent. "Shit," he said as he wrapped an arm around Maka and Eugene to keep them at his side.

"Soul," Maka whispered holding Eugene closer to her. She was wide awake now. "Soul what happened?"

"I thought I saw something." The white-haired man already had a knife out. He saw a shadow peeking out from behind a tent. "Maka," he said, holding his friend to his side. "Maka do you see that?"

Maka was staring hard at the shadow. It was holding something. "Soul," she started, "Soul, what do I do?" She hugged Eugene close to her body. "I still have Eugene. Should I run to the tent?"

"Maybe if you were alone and in the right clothes, but you're wearing Tsubaki's skirt and a baggy sweatshirt. Plus that blanket. You're also carrying a seven year old boy." Soul kept his eyes on the dark shadow. He squinted to get a better look at the shadow. "Holy shit."

"What?" Maka asked. Soul dropped his arm and grinned. "What? Soul."

He pushed her towards the direction of their tent. "I'll tell you when we get back." He looked back and pushed her lightly. "I don't think he's moving, go." Maka turned and, confused, she ran back to the tent.

When she arrived, Tsubaki and Black Star were curled up together, sleeping in their mat like when they left. She placed Eugene on his mat and put his blanket over him. She sat on her mat, wrapped up in her blanket. When Soul returned, she motioned urgently for him to sit on his mat.

"Soul what happened?" Maka asked.

"That was him," he said. "That was the son."

I think getting angels drunk on rose water sounds cool.

Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors.

-littlecat