Arin shivered as he shuffled up the stairs, followed closely by Sora hanging on by pinching his hoodie. Their teeth chattered as the sun began to fall on the cold mountain. Only illuminated by a small flashlight Arin was carrying.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she yelled over the freezing wind.
"It's only a little further see the lights," he held the green mask tightly, pointing at the lanterns.
Shaking rapidly, Arin pressed the doorbell. He prayed desperately that this trip was not for nothing. A few seconds of silence came, and he could feel a ball forming in his stomach. He muttered to himself, realizing it was foolish to come up here.
The door opened and a bright light illuminated the two children. In the doorway was a man wearing a green ninja outfit and shaggy blonde hair. He leaned down in front of them, resting on his knee and smiling as he looked at them.
"I'm sorry I wasn't expecting company, what brings you kids all the way up here?" There was a kindness and warmness to his voice.
"Lloyd, The Green Ninja!" he exclaimed, shaking Sora's shoulder.
"I see, I have a fan," he laughed. "Is that mine?"
He motioned toward the mask, offering to put it into his hand. He looked behind the boy and saw the shivering girl, their skins turning paler by the second, he could feel the cold nip of the air himself and the walk back to wherever they came from would be a long one. A child could not make that walk; in that second, he decided.
"Would you two like to come inside, it is far too cold and dark to walk back to your home," he pulled the door open wider.
Arin was ready to speed right in, yet he turned towards Sora to see if she was okay with it. She nodded slowly and kept her head down. As they walked into the monastery, he saw their shivering bodies start to slowly settle. Luckily, they were not wet, just cold.
"Would you two like something warm to eat?" He began to pull out two more bowls. "Unfortunately, all I have at the moment is Rice."
Sora began to say no, but her stomach rumbled revealing how she truly felt. Her face was bright red as Lloyd laid down the bowl of rice in front of her. He realized they were not used to chopsticks, so he placed spoons in front of them.
They ate quickly, Lloyd had noticed how thin they were, they were most likely scavengers, especially with the grime under their fingernails. Thinking back to when he was their age, he remembered being a tiny bit bigger, but he was taken care of, even at the boarding school. When he takes them home tomorrow maybe he will give them some supplies, it is becoming a difficult world to live in.
Lloyd spent his dinner examining them, noting how skinny they were, their tangled hair, how stained their clothes were. He felt bad for them their family must have it rough. Did they even have a family to go home to?
"You two seem to know my name, but I haven't learned yours," he placed more rice in front of them. After seeing how sad they were the food was gone.
The boy came forward first happily shouting, "I am Arin!"
Arin had been practically shining the entire time. Lloyd could tell he was a Ninja fan. He noted the makeshift dragon symbol in his shoulder,
Barely a whisper left the girls mouth, "Sora."
He nodded and smiled; she had kept her head down the entire time trying to avoid eye contact. Her outfit seemed to be a uniform shrouded by a robe, her pink hair what stood out the most to him.
"Are you two full or would you like some more?"
Bits of rice hung at the edge of their mouths, making him smile. They shook their tiny heads, their bellies practically coming out. Color had come back to their faces; he was worried they would become sick with how long they were out in the cold.
"Good, would you two like to take a shower or bath?"
He motioned towards the two rooms beside them. Sora gave a skeptical look but agreed. He handed them two towels and a fresh set of clothes the Ninja kept in case. He tried to match it to their colors, but they did not have black, so he gave her white and gave Arin a bright yellow.
As Lloyd waited for the two children to come back, he sorted through Kai's room trying to find his hair styling kit. Kai was very particular about it, but Lloyd was sure he would not mind it.
The sound of quiet whispering came from the kitchen, and the tiny patter of Children looking around.
"Arin, Sora would you come here for a second," he wanted to untangle their heads it could not have been comfortable.
"What's that?" Sora whispered.
"It's a hair kit used by my friend Kai; I figured you two would like your hair untangled."
Sora's eyes widened and glistened; he had her approval. Now what about Arin? He turned his head and just as he thought Arin was going to jump to the moon.
He had them sit on the stools once more and stood behind them. He did Arin's first as his curly hair had tangled tightly together. Using Kai's hair gel, he got it into a presentable look.
"Can you make it a ponytail?" asked Sora.
At least she was finally talking to him. He happily agreed and began to work on it, being as gentle as he could. All those lessons with Kai came in handy.
"Their finished," he positioned the mirror to face both.
He saw the amazement on their face and could not help but smile at himself.
It had been a rough couple of months. This is what he needed.
"Lloyd where are the other ninja?" asked Arin.
He flashed a small smile trying to hide his sadness, "Probably on some amazing adventure, after the merge we got separated."
He could see the Sadness on Arin's face; he must have a similar story. He patted the boy's head.
"I think it's time to go to sleep," he helped the two kids down. "I'll show you to the Guest Rooms."
"Can I stay with Arin," Sora said quickly.
"Is that fine with you Arin?" He asked the small boy.
"Of course!" He smiled.
He showed them to a blank spare room. He tucked them into the soft blankets and before he had even left, they were snoring. Smiling, he closed the door as quietly as possible.
He always wondered what it would be like to have kids of his own, but with being a ninja and the world ending threats happening every two months it would not be sustainable. Yet there was no danger currently it has been eerily quiet. He let the thoughts stay in his mind for a few minutes before realizing that they have families of their own to return to in the morning.
