Meetings
A small, dark haired figure sat in the garden, looking very, very bored. A short sword, shortened again recently by the looks of things and not much shaper than an eating knife, hung at his belt. A little red dragon was perched on his shoulder. "I'm bored, Fire," he explained in response to the dragon's curious look. "There aren't any demons to kill in this forest," he said, looking around the garden. "Everyone says I gotta be good an' keep clean an' stay out of the kitchen…" he sighed. With the utter abandon of bored youngsters, he launched himself down the hill, rolling and giggling madly as he went, until he stopped suddenly.
There were two almost simultaneous "Ow!"s
He sat up to see that he had knocked someone down. The stranger patted the grass around him, trying to find something. Finally, his hands closed over a funny looking frame with bits of glass on it. This contraption he set on his nose and then he looked at his attacker. "Where did you come from?" he asked curiously, then picked up a book he'd dropped. Then he looked at Fire. "Ah, you're Fire, so you must be…"
"Rath!" the dark haired boy exclaimed. "Who are you?"
"Me?" the newcomer stood and brushed of his clothing. "I'm Kai-Stern. I thought I'd be getting away from things out here, but it seems I haven't succeeded."
"Are they telling you that too? 'Stay outta the kitchen, don't bother now, Rath. Rath, I was trying to think! Rath, look out for that ink bottle!'" Rath perfectly mimicked the older dragon knights and Kai-Stern felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He knew who each and every one was supposed to be.
"Not quite like that, Rath," Kai-Stern admitted. "But I thought I'd take a little break, try to get away from… things." Things. Could he possibly get more vague? Luckily, his new companion was too young to be bothered by such details. Now what was he doing? And who had given him that sword? He was holding it in what Kai-Stern guessed he thought was 'guard' but it was a trifle odd looking. His dragon perched alertly on his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, puzzled.
"Don'tcha hear…hear that?"
Kai-Stern shook his head, then a bundle of white bowled Rath over. The little boy shrieked, an unearthly sound, not realizing that Crewger was close to wagging his magnificent tail and was in a playful mood. Kai-Stern intercepted the blunt weapon with the palm of his hand, wincing slightly, then he jerked the sword clear and pulled Rath away from the confused and hurt looking Crewger. Rath was crying and clutching onto Kai-Stern desperately. Remembering being the one to chase away his younger siblings' nightmares, he held Rath and spoke quietly. "It's all right, Rath. Crewger didn't mean to frighten you, he thought you knew he was playing." Thankfully, Rath was a sensible sort of child, at least in this case. Seeing that Crewger had not attacked them, he timidly stretched out a hand. Crewger sniffed it first, storing that particular scent for future reference, and then, gently licked it. Rath jerked his hand away quickly.
"I-" the little boy hiccoughed. "I thought you said he wouldn't eat me! He tasted me!"
Kai-Stern laughed. "That was just like a kiss," he explained.
"Do I have to lick him back?" Rath asked. "He's all furry."
"No, you don't have to lick him back," Kai-Stern said. "But I'm certain he'd love to have his ears scratched."
"Like this?" Rath asked, timidly beginning to scratch Crewger's ears. Crewger looked appreciative.
"Just like that," Kai-Stern said. In no time, Rath and Crewger had made up and Rath was scratching Crewger's belly.
"Kai? Kai-Stern?" someone called. Kai stood up from the stone bench he had been sitting on. It was Alfeegi.
"Over here," he called back.
Alfeegi looked his usual exasperated, slightly stuffy self when he saw Rath and Crewger. "Ah, I see the resident maniacs have met. Kai, what sort of hells-team have you made here?"
Kai-Stern shrugged. "You wanted to see me?"
"We have a situation," Alfeegi admitted.
"Another one?" Kai-Stern raised an eyebrow.
"It's the Lord," Alfeegi announced, looking very annoyed.
"Not again," Kai-Stern muttered. "And you need me…?"
"Because you're not sitting in the garden while the rest of your peers attempt to keep up appearances."
He sighed. "Well, you heard him," he said to Rath. "Will you look after Crewger for me, while I'm in council?" he asked. Actually, he had a feeling that Crewger would be looking after Rath, or at least he hoped so. The youngest member of the Dragon Knights seemed to be very energetic.
Rath nodded. "We'll hunt demons too! Fire doesn't want to, he's lazy!"
There's that demon hunting again… I don't think I was like that at his age! But outwardly, he only smiled. "Then I'll see you later."
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