Hurrying Back (Hallows)

[{Kaiji}]

Dai watched as a man, Kiki's father from what he figured, walked in from another part of the home. When he saw Dai it seemed as if he had one of those fatherly moments. He had hurried over and put his arm around his daughter. Dai almost wanted to laugh at the cliche moment. The he dragged her off into another room. Dai didn't really hear anything until Kiki came back. Dai just smiled and laughed a little at what she said. "Most fathers are. That is just something they all do if they see their daughter with a guy around her age." He said. He had known enough people in the past to see that.

[kianne]

Kiki-anne felt her face start to turn red at his comment. She was probably overreacting, but so many things could be implied by that. Once again she slapped a hand over her face and chuckled nervously, beginning to shove Dai out the door. "Well, let's not overcrowd the house! Why don't we step outside..!" Before either of her parents could protest otherwise, she had slammed the door behind them and breathed deeply with relief. She could not imagine what her mother would say if she had seen her daughter's reddening face.

With her back still pressed tightly against the door, she glanced around nonchalantly. "Sooo... um.." She scratched her head, not knowing what to say. "How does.. That whole wizard hotline thing work? What you did was.. pretty spontaneous... and awesome.." She smiled, trying not to seem to awkward, but knowing that she was failing miserably at the same time.

[{Kaiji}]

Suddenly dai found himself being pushed out the door. He walked out himself to rid her of the task of moving him herself. After he went out he turned around and looked at Kiki. She braced herself against the door. Probably so her parents couldn't bother them or something. "It works by magic and a sort of sixth or seventh sense I have. I put a spell on my staff when I became Guardian. So that when a wizard is in danger it glows red and sends an image to my mind of where and why I need to go. And if I don't have it with me, my 6th or 7th sense I gained when becoming a Guardian as well." He explained. He was smiling the whole time. He liked spending time with her, he could tell. He was also very proud of being who and what he was.

[kianne]

Kiki nodded, fascinated. Who knew how complicated being a guardian of a species could be? She was about to reply when suddenly a commotion erupted from the forest a few yards away from the house. There was the sound of weapons being passed, hoarse shouting, and cursing. Kiki only had one thought on her mind. Those boys were back, and they had brought friends. She gasped, putting a hand over her mouth as they began to emerge. The boys weren't alone. They had adults with them now; large, strong adults who knew how to carry a weapon. She pulled her wand from her belt, knowing she was helpless either way. They were all pointing at her and Dai, calling out hateful names and curses. She turned back to the house, yelling out for her father.

Suddenly, they began to charge at both of them, and Kiki shrieked, not knowing how to defeat them. As they began swinging out at them and the house, her father suddenly emerged from the door, holding a large ruby pendant. He threw himself in front of Kiki and held the charm out with both hands. Just as the mob was closing in on them, he yelled, "ENSNARE!" A multitude of red streams poured from the charm's depths, each individual one shooting through a member of the mob, sending them flying back hundreds of feet. Once the deed was completed, the charm fell from her father's hands as he nearly collapsed from the draining of power. Kiki quickly caught and supported her father, staring worriedly at Dai.

[{Kaiji}]

Dai watched as the citizens emerged from the woods around the area. He was about to cast a spell to kill them all. Why should they live, you need to learn from your mistakes. Suddenly Kiki's dad was out and cast a spell that sent mosto f the people flying. There were a couple adults still left that charged at them. The man was worn down by the spell. Dai jumped in front of them and, in the mystic tongue, shouted, "Rock slide!" Just after that a giant wave of rocks made of the ground in front of them rose slightly and surged at the remaining people. After that he cast a spell to bind them in a way so they couldn't move, even the ones tht Kiki's father repelled. "Are you alright,sir?" He asked Kiki's father with a worried look.

[kianne]

As the rocks began slamming into the mens' bodies, Kiki squeezed her eyes shut, and her father held his hands over her ears. She didn't want to witness a moment of it. When the movement finally stopped, she warily opened one eye and glanced around, not daring to look beneath or beyond the rocks. She kneeled down on the ground with her father and buried her face into his shirt. He looked up at Dai and said, "I believe I'll be fine.." He smirked. "I'm an old man, things take alot out of me these days." Kiki giggled and looked up at Dai happily. She helped her father to stand, supporting him on her shoulders.

She guided him inside the house where her mother was waiting right inside the door. She had a look of worry and grief plastered all over her face. She tightly embraced both Kiki and her father then proceeded to make her way outside. She gasped with her hands over her mouth at the sight of huge boulders and some remnants of bodies protruding from beneath the rocks. She shook her head sadly. "Why must such things be done..." she muttered quietly.

[{Kaiji}]

"Yeah. My master's last year or two were pretty bad. He could barely manage spells in his 60's." Dai said. He knew that the older you got, you either become more powerful, or weaker. He hated killing people, but things were sometimes necessary for survival and guarding something. There were very few wizards these days, and those with the ability to become one never realize it. "These things must be done to survive, and to protect those precious few wizards we have left...I'm not proud of what I've done here." He said, the last sentence was more than likely unheard to them.

[kianne]

Kiki guided her father into the rocking chair in the living room, making him as comfortable as possible. She then sat beside him, her face still white from the aftershock. What was it that made them hate wizards so much? Was it just jealousy? Or something far more personal, perhaps? Either way, their actions simply weren't justified. She never felt violence solved anything, especially when it came to the degree of killing others. Some people did deserve to die, that much she recognized.

Kiki's mother crossed her arms. "Well of course we need to protect them! But yet.." She looked sadly again in the direction where the angry men once stood. "I have always wondered where their anger comes from." When Dai said something about his master, Kiki's father perked up. He muttered something to Kiki, who then came walking out the door.

"My father wants to know who your master is," she simply stated.

[{Kaiji}]

Dai turned to Kiki as she came from her home. "My master was Oromis. The greatest wizard in history as far as I'm concerned." He said with a small smile. He was more than likely better, but he still thought of his master as the best. Then his mind wandered to his own question. Why was her father so curious as to who his master was. He twirled his staff in a hand while looking at Kiki. When he did he just got strange feeling in his gut. He smiled at his own stupidity of not knowing what it was.

[kianne]

KIki stiffened at the mention of Oromis. There couldn't have been a worse person to bring up around her father. He had the worst opinion of that man of anyone she had ever known. He was one of the very few wizards that would only use plant-based potions and elixirs. Anything else he considered to be a taboo. Food was a necessity, but killing creatures for unpredictable magic? Not worth it in the slightest. She agreed with him to a degree, not really understanding why animals who are already dead couldn't be used. Perhaps the body parts used didn't work as well..? She wasn't exactly an expert, far from it actually, but she couldn't see any plausible reason why not.

Kiki's father narrowed his eyes and his hand tightened on the arm of the chair. "...Oromis. Oromis the merciless dragon killer." He forced himself out of the chair and breathlessly stood, facing Dai. "Are you truly that proud of a man who went around slaying beautiful, rare creatures for his own selfish, unnecessary purposes? I would consider you a wizard of low standards if you held such a man so high." Kiki cringed. She knew this wouldn't be pretty. Inconspicuously, she began to inch away towards her bedroom.

[{Kaiji}]

"Dragon killer?" Dai said as if it were the worst curse he could think of. His eyes narrowed in anger and his staff's crystls began to glow different shades of blue. The part of his mind that held back his anger just about failed. There were too many spells he could've used, just to kill him. Little bolts and charges of magic had been sparking ang crackling around him after his anger came. This man had no idea what cosmicly immense spells Dai could attempt. Although they would kill both of the men and the two women. He wouldn't try to.

His mind snapped back into focus and remembered something very important. "No. That Oromis, who I held so high in my mind, is anther person than the horrid man you speak of. Although the bad Oromis was family. The dragon slayer was my father, not my master. My master was unlucky enough to have his name shared by that man. Do not insult my master ever again." Dai finished, his eyes flashing a deep red for a moment. The last sentence was meant, not as a threat, but more of a warning.

[kianne]

Kiki's father took a step back at the sudden bursts of crackling magic and the shifting colors of his staff. It appeared that it was true after all; this young child truly was a guardian. It was a shame, the fact that they had to dedicate their lives to something so thankless and endless at a young age. However, someone had to do it. He held his chin up, keeping his head high. "I do hope that nature is not hereditary. You do, however, seem to have quite a bit of anger bundled up inside that frame of yours." He stalked out of the house, wobbling once, before continuing on his way. He walked in the direction of the neighbor's house, continuing far past their modest abode into the taller stalks of grass.

Kiki sighed and watched him march off. That's often where he went whenever he and mother had an argument. She knew he would come back; he always did. There was always just the tiniest bit of childish worry within her whenever she watched him retreat into the fields. It was a feeling of unsurity, one she couldn't fully explain in a way that would make sense to anyone else. She tentatively walked out of the threshold, her hands folded in front of her. She watched as her father disappeared from sight, her handwoven dress buffeting in the breeze. She pushed a hair behind her ear and proceeded to bite on one of her nails. It was a nervous habit of hers, one of many.

[{Kaiji}]

Dai watched Kiki's father walk off into the distance. His anger lifted after a glace to Kiki. He let out a sigh of sadness. He had probably ruined his first possible chance at love, if there was such a thing between Kiki and him. He had made her father leave the house. There was no telling how much he might get yelled at. Hopefully none. He walked over next to her. "I'm sorry for that. But I can't let anyone insult my master. I would understand if you wanted me to go." He said with a sad look in his eyes. He really didn't want to go, he wanted to make sure she would not be harmed because se brought him here. Dai knew fathers who would do such things.

[kianne]

Kiki didn't face him for a few moments. She just stood with her back to him, shivering slightly from the bitter winds. Just after he had finished apologizing, she crossed her arms and shrugged her shawl over her shoulders more. Why had it gotten so cold all of a sudden? Her eyes lingered in the direction of which her father had left in. She felt the welling of tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. This was all just too much. She was scared, upset, and disappointed all at once. She peered back over her shoulder, her eyes glazing over her fretting mother. She could tell she was thoroughly distraught, scuttling here and there, talking to herself, trying to figure out what to do with this whole mess of a situation.

Her eyes then moved over to Dai. She felt such a conflict of emotions when she looked at him. She felt shame for troubling him when they had first met, embarrassment because her father had insulted him, and a small amount of fear. Yet, she still had an impulse to plod over there, still looking down at the ground with the tears dripping down her nose, and embrace him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face into his black shirt. It was like she was a young child again, running up to her daddy after falling and scraping her knee.

She just needed that comfort, that calm reassurance that everything would be alright. Her mother, being in her current state, wasn't the one to provide that now. She wanted something stable that wouldn't dramatically change or be gone in an instant. For her, right now, that was Dai. He was going to be her shoulder to cry on whether he chose to or not.

[{Kaiji}]

Dai saw the tears in her eyes. To him it seemed like it was probably his fault. His mind was telling him it wasn't but he couldn't help but feel that it was. He felt like his eyes might have gotten to the same thing hers were doing. His feet were just about to begin moving when Kiki embraced him, wrapping her arms around him. For a moment had didn't know what to do, just out of pure shock.

A relatively big smile crept across his face. He wrapped his arms around Kiki's upper back. "If this was my fault...I"m really sorry." He said. He leaned his head forward so his mouth was closer to her ear when he said it.