A/N Many thanks to schemergirl, my first review (and a very positive one at that! w00t!)
Although the one in the cloak seems to have stopped aging entirely, he is sure that he is the oldest amongst the group. It doesn't bother him-he'll never age the way they do, these fragile beings. He'll never understand the constant nagging fear of untimely death, the fleeting breaths strung together in fleeting life. He is the closest thing they'll ever see to a true immortal, planet willing-as long as they stop that Catastrophe from the Sky. It's comforting and bewildering all at once.
At the age of his species, he is merely a teen, no older than the ninja that constantly flicks water at his tail with a mischievous grin. But he is so much more than a child now-his burdens weigh on him, pressing down on his spirit until he cries out in battle, frustration allowing him to tear apart monsters by the ton. His carefully tended patience and wisdom fall away like dead leaves.
He smiles at this in his mind, this image of leaves fluttering away, because leafy plants do not grow in Cosmo Canyon. Only the spiky, hardened plants survive-the ones that hoard water in the dusty terrain and arm themselves with spikes and poisons. And that is what he has been sworn to protect, as the supposed last of his clan; beautiful, deadly plants tended by scholarly, loving fragile humans in the world's cradle.
There are times when he wishes he were someone else-anyone else-someone who had the ability to wander as they pleased, as carefree as-there it is again. Leaves on the wind.
He smiles to himself, because Cosmo Canyon has no leaves, no wanderers. The Canyon grows sturdy plants that fight to survive, deathly beauties resigned toliving in a world that fears them and misunderstands them. Cosmo Canyon, the cradle of the planet, creates a species that no one may identify but their own withering ranks. Creatures that give their blood and their life to protecting their world. Creatures that are frozen in stone, howling at the moon, dying for love, living for hope.
He reminds himself for the thousandth time that the leaves that blow away are the leaves that have died. But his clan, with their seemingly endless responsibility-they will live forever.
A/N Nanaki feels a little hard to write. no matter. next chapter-Cid. Thanks for all the reviews and please keep coming!