<Gaide's Reign

Episode Nineteen

"...what the hell?"

"What? Would you rather stay here?"

Melody rubbed her rope burnt wrists, and rolled her shoulders around a bit,

"Hell no, but still; after the long smear of silence, you still thought--"

"Yeah, I thought," Kaine hissed heaving an extremely aggrivating sigh,"But I'm really beginning not to care for now. You're more useless than percieved; and getting very annoying."

"Hmpf." The hanyou cleared her throat, and just stood around stupidly, not really sure what to say or do in this type of situation,"Uhhh...thanks for-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, don't even start, kid. He's gonna get you and the pile of crap that you follow anyways. Go away, already. You're wasting my time...let Kuroi find you, or go fuck around with what's his face or something."

A sharp glare came his way, and a hasty comment was about to as well. But both her interrupted by a loud gunshot, aimed at the air,


"Okay, I get it. Go before I rip your hair out."

His obvious irritation brought a smirk upon Melody's face; Kaine's impatience always amused her.

As quick as the bullet when it hit the sky, she was alone in the forest again.

'As content as I am,' Melody thought, ears adjusting to the ambience of the never ending green,"...now what?"

---

And then, morning came.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang!</i>

At the crack of dawn, Fale was out in the vast backyard, doing target practice with his sniper- and making quite the replacement of an alarm clock doing so.

As he continued his shots, someone stormed up behind him and smacked him across the head, hard. Fale yelped, whirling around.

"What the fuck was that for?!"

Dimitri glared viley at him, bags under his bloodshot eyes. He grimaced "Do have any idea what time it is?!" he hissed, fists clenching and unclenching. Fale's nostrils flared indignantly as he slung the sniper over his shoulder.

"Well it's 5:46, buddy and you are waking up this entire forest with your stupid, bloody target practice!" on each of the words he jabbed his finger into Fale's chest. "Fuck!" he smacked him in the head again, and turned around, storming back into the house.

Fale, feeling very dispirited and indignant, pointed his sniper straight to the sky and took many consecutive shots, shouting a filthy remark after each one, before turning back to his targets.

Inside the house, Dimitri collapsed onto a couch and covered his head with a pillow.

"Euuugghhh..." Rayan sprawled out of the door, shoulders slouched towards the floor. He flicked sleep out of his eye, and glanced up at the distraught Dimitri,"...uh...um, Dim, you okay?" he asked, voice coarse and cracky.

"Do you not hear the gunshots?" Dimitri asked, voice very muffled from underneath the fabric.

"Oh. Eheh." Rayan sniffed, that nose of his tinted red from the cold of the morning,"I'm sure he has good reason to be shooting at...uhh..." he glanced to the nearest clock, and his tired eyes widened,"GOOD LORD."

"Yeah, he won't be stopping for a looong time, sturbborn jerk." Dimitri pulled off the pillow and stared up at Rayan, looking terrible. "I think he does that very morning... Dominic's probably in the basement, practicng some other form of combat..."

"Well, at least they're well prepared for anything." Rayan said, voice still wraspy, but now with that optimistic elven touch,"You're right though, it's rather weird...and distracting. I can't comb my hair in these conditions!" he added jokingly, flipping the blue wave of hair.

Dimitri examined him dully, before getting up and trudging to the kitchen "You sound like you ate sand paper, want something to drink...?" he asked, already getting a glass of water for himself.

"Euh, yes, please." Rayan replied politely,"Yeah, my throat gets like this in the morning sometimes...it's been like that since I was a lil' elf kid. Don't know if it's allergies or whatever."

Dimitri shoved a glass of water across the counter towards the elf, turning back to the fridge, blatantly ignoring the gun shots that echoed through the air. "I can't stand this place." he said grudgingly "I'm leaving very soon. Or whenever you guys feel like leaving."

"Okay then!" Rayan smiled before taking a gulp of the long needed water,"You know, you n' you're other friends seem close despite the...uh, 'drama'. We've barely been here and you've barely talk to them, and you wanna leave..."

Dimitri, shutting the fridge door, turned to look at Rayan, then glanced around the kitchen. "They're not like this alot. It's just, uh, one of our friends got killed very recently and they were all really close. So, those two guys are kind of taking it hard." he was looking for something as he poked around the kitchen "They're just not big social people, so they take their anger out by, ya know, target practice and yelling and swearing... and stuff. Just not nice to be around them when they're like this..." he was getting frustrated, not finding what he was looking for as he started out into the hall again.

"...oh." Rayan felt slightly embarassed for asking,"I'm sorry." He apologized humbly,"I kinda get it now."

Dimitri smiled at him "Oh, it's okay. It's not like you knew or anything." he looked around a bit more before lighting up "Ah! There it is." he grabbed a picture off of a table and showed Rayan. "That's him." he pointed to a guy between Fale and Dominic with spiky blue hair and a drunken grin. "That's Thorn. Nice guy. Got killed by wolves."

Rayan peered over to the picture and smiled sadly,"Nyaw, he sure looked nice." he commented,"That's sad."

"Yeah. I miss him." Dimitri stared at the picture for a long moment before placing it gently back on the shelf. "But it's been a few months... so it's a little better now." he shrugged "Life goes on, right? Anyways, let's wake Skylar up. It's not fair that he can sleep throught gunfire and we can't."

"OOH, sounds fun!" Rayan rejoiced suddenly, eyes lighting up with mischief uncharacteristically, "We can dump cold water on his head!!"

Dimitri smirked at him "Prepare the bucket then!"

"Already prepared."

Splat.

Rayan screamed loudly as a wave of cold water encased his and Dimitri's head,"SHIT!"

Skylar stood triumphantly behind them, smirking in satistaction,"And the winner is...SKYLAH!!"

Dimitri's face dropped and he shuddered at the freezing sensation. He whirled around "You little--" but before he could continue his profanity, he gave a small little sneeze. And then another. Then he swore "-sonofabitch."

Rayan sniffed, as his mass of hair plastered onto his face in a cold wet manner,"N-nyaaaw..." he shivered.

"Sorry kids. Nothing gets past me!" Skylar boasted, putting the bucket down,"I'm just too witty!"

Dimitri was wiping his nose, before he sneezed again, more loudly this time. He mumbled under his breath, shaking his wet hair so that it sprayed water everywhere.

Skylar winced, as beads of water were caught in his eyes,"Ooowwwww!" After rubbing them, he sighed,"Heh, guess I deserved that."

Dimitri scowled, starting to feel very grimey. "Alright, well if you're done fooling around, I'm gonna go have a shower." And indeed he did so, turning on his heel down the hall and into the bathroom.

"Bye!" Rayan called down the hall. He looked at strands of hair plastered to his face, and sighed,"You really got us there, Skylar."

"Eheh, it's a gift." Skylar replied cheerfully, hearing the water in the bathroom turn on,"...you do not know how tempted I am to flush to toilet right now." he commented, pouring himself a glass of water.

Rayan sniffed, drew a tea towel off the counter and started drying his hair, careless of any hygene issues; he'd take a shower after,"Nyahah, sounds fun."

"I think Dim's had enough fun for one morning."

A very short amount of minutes later, Dimitri returned, still wet, but very clean, with fresh bandages to boot. He sighed in stasfaction, looking very comfortable in Fale's stolen bathrobe. "Well, now all I have to do is get me some clothes."

"And how do you plan to do that, exactly?" Rayan blinked in question.

He shrugged, scratching his head "Eh... I'll probably steal some of Fale's." he thought for a moment "Or I could always make him wash mine..."

The elf nodded, proceeding to walk into the bathroom to find a towel,"Sounds good." he replied, soon walking out. A laugh came across him,"Eheh, I wouldn't be suprised if you asked him to wash them and he shot holes through 'em."

Dimitri smirked "Ah... he's violent, not stupid." he sniffed, sneezing again "You do have a point though."

Rayan smiled widely,"Glad to be of service, Dim."

Skylar made himself at home, and sat on a nearby couch, and ran his tongue over his teeth, as if in deep thought. His eyes scanned the floor, and he cleared his throat,"Dimitri?"

"Mm? What?" Dimitri was absently scratching his facial hair and wiggling his toes as they were starting to get cold.

For some weird reason, he felt like he needed to apologise to him for something. Skylar shook it off nonetheless, and changed subject,"Uh, well we can leave now if you want."

Dimitri frowned at him- again. "Well, fine. But I need clothes. I am not about to be going around the woods in nothing but a bath robe. It could get chilly," he said firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly at Skylar in annoyance. "I'll be back." and with that he turned into Fale's room, with the intention of stealing some clothes.

As he dissapeared into his room, Rayan sniffed and looked to Skylar "Sky?"

"Hm?"

" ... you really seem familiar with him."

Skylar paused, and grew a smile slowly,"Really? Why is that?"

"Well..." The elf started hesitantly,"When you look at him, your eyes don't look like a stranger; as if you--"

"Ray you're making me sound extremely attracted to him." he laughed.

Rayan turned a bright shade of pink,"Oh, uh, sorry. That wasn't intended. I meant the familiar...ness...and it's not just him. It's with Mel too; sometimes I even feel it on me."

Skylar sighed heavily, still smiling,"Well, that's interesting. I..." he felt a lie coming on,"...really don 't have any link to that 'familiar-ness' that I can recall. But hey, maybe someday we'll know."

Dimitri returned very quickly from Fale's room looking like a homeless person. The sweater was two sizes too big, the pants were two sizes too big and the only thing keeping them from falling to his feet was a very worn old belt. He looked very indignant.

"I forgot that all of Fale's clothes are too big for him..." he sighed, starting to search around for his shoes, feet warm and toasty in very thick, but ugly, wool socks. Upon finding his foot wear he sat against the wall, tying up the laces.

Rayan stared at him for a while, then, burst out into ridiculous laughter,"You look like a homeless Eskimooo!" he teased.

Dimitri turned to look at him, a very dull expression on his face. "You're pathetic Rayan. Ya know, I have many insults for you and your long, lady-like hair..." he glared mildly, continuing to tie his shoe laces "But I have the decency to keep them to myself." he smirked at the elf, standing up, not without some effort.

Pink quickly returned to the elf's face, and his ears drooped again,"Sorry..." he apologised meekly.

Dimitri walked over, and patted him mockingly on the cheek three times, the last one with some intentional force. "Or I could always make fun of the way you succumb to everything I say, either one." he smiled lightly, walking past him to look for a coat.

"Oww." Rayan pouted and scratched his nose,"Grr." He got up, and headed towards the door, pulling his cloak over him. He had a sudden urge, and thus pulled his hood over his head and shoved his hands in Dimitri's face,"Ooooooooooh. . ."

Dimitri blinked at him, in sudden puzzlement "What are you doing...?" he asked, pulling a long, again over-sized, coat on.

"I'm a ghost! Or a reaper or..." He sighed at his own attempt at humour, ears drooping under the hood,"Forget it."

Dimitri continued to stare at him blankly "Are you trying to be scary...?"

"...no..." Further dissapointment towards himself continued.

Dimitri raised his eyebrows, holding back a cruel laugh "Aw, well, Rayan. You're not scary, I mean... I guess elves just aren't intimidating...." he paused, suddenly thinking of Dalamir, who was indeed intimidating. "Uh, nevermind..." he laid rest his hands in the pockets of the coat "I'm just not easily scared that's all." he reached over and pulled the hood off the elf's head "And don't do that either. You remind me of Kaine with your hood up."

"Oops." Rayan felt guilty,"Sorry...again." He frowned at himself for the multiple apologies he had given this morning.

Dimitri sighed, pulling an uncharacteristic, but genuinely warm smile. "Man, Rayan. You're way too hard on yourself. C'mon- chin up." upon saying so, he tapped Rayan's chin up roughly, like some kind of army sargeant. "If you keep your face all sad like that, it'll stay that way forever, you know."

Rayan smiled sheepishly in response,"Heh. Yeah, I know...thanks--"

"Bloody hell, let's leave before you two start kissing." Skylar whined jokingly.

Dimitri wrapped his hand around Rayan's neck like some love-struck idiot, and batted his eyes "But we make such a cute couple, don't we? Don't be jealous Skylar, I'm a real flouncer when it comes to relationships." he grinned stupidly.

"Oh, I do agree, Dimitri, darling." Rayan added in an idiotic tone.

Skylar chuckled,"Well, I'd like to get a piece of both of you outside!"

Dimitri smirked at them both, releasing Rayan with a shove and limping up to Skylar. "I hafta get me some guns first, so you'll have to wait, unfortunately." he winked unaturally, again walking past Skylar with some effort and outside.

Rayan and Skylar shook their heads and followed him suite.

'It's great,' Skylar thought,'...to feel humane again.'