This feels like a filler chapter, so I'm going to call it that. There's just not that much that happens here. :/ New character, Roddy's favoritism and chiz, but not much. Oh, and stubborn!sarcastic!Roddy. Hehe. I miss writing him like this. If I've written him like this. I don't actually remember. I'll have to check my old account later.

The woods were eerie.

Well, eerie in the sense that it didn't feel like we were actually in the woods. In a sense that everything around us was surreal, where the ground was flat as concrete in the town, and the rocks were polished and clean, while towering trees, all the exact measure in hight, shadowed the yellow rays of the morning sun and rainbow beams from the crystal pillars that penetrated the clouds from our heads.

And the shadows of the trees unsettled me.

"Just follow us, Roderich. Ignore everything else."

"Shut up," I snapped, glaring daggers at Gilbert. "You try ignoring something you can constantly see. Because these things follow me around everywhere!"

I heard the faint sound of distant whimpering, and I'm sure the shadows got the picture.

An awkward silence followed, with me still glaring at the two heads in front of me, and I continued to glare harder and harder when I noticed that I probably looked like a baby chick following these two. The image of it got more clear and began to move as we went, and I ended up with a full animation of me with yellow feathers following a white chicken and a grey chicken. At that point my looks could actually kill someone, possibly.

"So..." Frederick coughed into his fist, apparently trying to make friendly talk with me. "You're name is Roderich, is it?"

"I don't remember ever telling you that you could use it," I said, and I made sure to pointedly stare at him when he looked over his shoulder in disdain, just to show off my mean glare.

Gilbert laughed, however, and punched Frederick lightly on the shoulder. "Look at that Frederick! Maybe we do get along! He let me use it earlier!"

Frederick punched Gilbert back, but rougher, glowering down at him. "And he also told you to be quiet earlier. I have to agree with him. Shut up, Gilbert."

Gilbert whined, but did not say anything more. He crossed his arms and went to walk ahead of us. I think there was small, barely noticeable flames at the end of a few tufts of his hair, and that sort of interested me, but I continued to be firm with my eye-daggers. No interest. No kindness. Even if the facial expression was starting to hurt.

"We aren't trying to kidnap you, you know."

I ignored him, and he sighed.

"Listen, I don't know what Gilbert did to make you feel betrayed by this, but please forget it. The boy got orders from a woman who doesn't understand the emotions of someone like you. The reason she's called Duchess is because she acts and thinks like one."

Frederick seemed annoyed, and although I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was giving a stern look towards Gilbert, and I suddenly felt bad for getting mad at the poor guy if he always had these two complete opposites bossing him around.

"Gilbert usually listens to Duchess even though he trusts me more. It annoys the hell out of me. Honestly, he should be more like his brother. That boy needs some discipline once and a while."

We made another sharp turn, and I noticed that Frederick was purposely leaving Gilbert behind, as Gilbert didn't know we were supposed to turn yet. I dropped the glare for a second to look at Gilbert's back, then back at Frederick, and I felt conflicted. Almost as if I was lost in front of a forked road.

I decided that while Frederick rambled on about how mad he was at Gilbert, I'd join the other. It was better than listening to his angry spouts over a woman.

Gilbert had noticed at some point that I was the only person behind him, and he thought it would be better to walk beside me rather than in front of me. We didn't speak, however. And since I was no longer glaring, and Frederick was not struggling to make conversation with me, the trail seemed much more peaceful than eerie. It felt safe, now. And Gilbert seemed to notice it too, as he looked genuinely at ease, his hands tucked into his pockets and his shoulders rolled back, his overall aura relaxed in some way.

He glanced at me, and I looked away.

I suddenly felt embarrassed for noticing such details, and I quickly realized that I had been unconsciously staring at him as we went.

God, how utterly embarrassing.

"Why is it that you call yourself Shadow, by the way?"

His question was sudden, and I jumped when I heard him. I stayed planted in place for a moment, trying to process what he had asked me, then jogged to catch up to him.

"Well, I'm sure you can tell after what you saw at the council house."

"Not what I meant."

I knew that wasn't what he meant.

"No reason in particular."

Gilbert snorted; he obviously didn't believe that shit.

"Right, and the council doesn't know your real name for no reason in particular."

"Exactly."

He laughed, it soft and almost comforting to me. His behavior from before now strikes me as odd. In fact, his very being is odd. Mysterious, if I dare say. Like I never knew his true colors to begin with, and he never showed me a hint throughout the whole time we've been together.

Or, maybe he has. Maybe he's just that good of an actor to mix it in with everything else.

"So, this has been on my mind for a bit."

I refused to look back at him. He was probably showing some teasing smile, and I didn't want to see it.

Why?

...

No reason in particular.

"Why is it that you told me your name? I mean, it doesn't seem like you've ever told anyone it before. And you literally had just met me that day."

My next answer was predictable.

"No reason in particular."

"Are you just going to say that for every question I throw at you?"

I could sense his amusement, and I smiled along with it. He wasn't all that difficult to talk to now.

"Maybe."

"Oh, come on!"

I laughed, loudly and maybe a bit obnoxiously. I don't remember the last time I've had such a conversation, but it felt good to joke around with someone. The town is very serious, and I suppose I grew accustomed to it. Maybe I was a little serious myself, because of it.

"Why does the reason matter, anyway? Do you really need to question it?"

"Well, no. I guess not."

I glanced at him, and he was looking the other way, staring at some fixed point in his mind, but not in reality. His eyes didn't seem to notice the trees we were passing by. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about, but let it go. There was no need for me to know what's going on in his head. It was probably a lot to handle at once.

We were silent again, but this time I didn't feel like I was in the comforting company of someone else. This time it felt like Gilbert wasn't even beside me. He was off in another realm while I continued stuck to this one.

I heard a low mumble, and I turned towards Gilbert. "Did you say something?"

Gilbert immediately snapped from his daze, and I felt slightly guilty. He looked at me in confusion, then looked around us. "I didn't..." He scooted closer to me, moving me behind him. He seemed cautious. "I didn't say a thing."

I heard a mumble again, and Gilbert seemed to as well, as his head snapped in some direction, and his grip on me was suddenly hurtful. I was confused for a moment, before realizing that, in some way, I was technically a refugee, and I remembered that the council would be looking for me by now.

"...snowtop..."

Gilbert's grip loosened, and then he stared blankly at a bush not too far from us. He then smirked and walked over to the bush, crouching down and cupping his hands over his mouth.

"Caterpillar eyebrows."

"WANKER!"

A man with large, dark eyebrows and blonde hair shot up from the bush, and I jumped up and ran to Gilbert when I realized he was hit.

"Damn, Eyebrows, you still hit like a pirate!"

"And you still have the voice of a dog!"

The two glared at each other, and I was sat right next to Gilbert, looking between the two in slight confusion. They knew each other, and although they were doing their best to kill each other mentally, they didn't look like enemies to me. There was no tension in the air. Once again, my gut was telling me something. It was telling me that there is no threat. And I trust my gut.

"So, what's you're real name? And I'm assuming you and Gilbert are those kind of friends that constantly piss each other off and love every second of it, right?"

The man raised an eyebrow— and wow, they really did look like caterpillars— and eyed me up and down. I turned towards Gilbert and noticed that he was doing the same thing.

"This is the kid we've been looking for?"

I turned towards the man with caterpillar eyebrows again, and his eyes haven't left me.

"Well, he seems to live up to the reputation we've given him. How'd you know we were friends, boy?"

"Don't call me 'boy'," I snapped, standing up. "And it's not like it was very hard to figure out. I mean, really, you looked like two children fighting. There was no tension whatsoever! And you also implied that you already knew each other for quite some time."

Gilbert laughed and got up, brushing the dirt from his pants. "I honestly doubt you read that far into it," he said, smirking at me. "Just admit it; you had a feeling."

"Yes, sir. I will do as you demand," I said, sarcastically making a salut. "I had a feeling."

Eyebrows laughed and walked over to pat me hard on the back, making me take a few steps too close to Gilbert. I cringed and put out a hand to gently push him away.

"I like the kid! He's sarcastic and rude to you! It's perfect!"

"Oh shut up, he's not rude to me! He's just plain sarcastic!"

I sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to tune their voices out. I was honestly annoyed of people arguing because of some reason that had to do with me, whether it was jokingly or not.

"Can we just get out of here and go where we're supposed to go?"

I seemed to have interrupted a deep conversation of theirs, as both of them snapped up as if they had totally forgotten I was there. I sighed again, and I noticed that this trip is going to bring me much more aggravation than I had anticipated in the beginning. Great. Just so fucking great. I can hear the damn shadows laughing at my misery. Damn them. I hope they all die in flames.

"Well then..." Eyebrows coughed into his fist, snapping out his shock faster than Gilbert. "My name is Arthur. Arthur Kirkland."

He held a hand out to me, and I ignored it for a second, before coming to a conclusion that there was no reason to be rude. I shook his hand, and he seemed pleased for a moment.

"Anyways, I'm sure you've heard of our-"

"I haven't heard shit, I'm sorry to inform you. Gilbert literally just decided to kidnap me."

Arthur seemed surprised, and he glared at Gilbert. "Don't tell me..." He crossed his arms and leaned forward. "You listened to Duchess! You moron, you know her choices aren't the best when it comes to people!"

And then it spiraled back to conversation we had with Frederick, and I sighed once again.

I was right. This trip was going to cause me much more aggravation than I originally thought.

I think the shadows are laughing harder now.