"No hats or scarfs while inside our humble abode!" I exclaimed happily, pulling off the scarf that sat neatly on his head, hiding his face.
“Ow!” he whined, glaring at me.
Maya smacked me upside the head and I just looked at her displeased, but handed the warrior back his scarf. He sighed, letting it hang loose around his neck
“Let’s establish some rules,” Maya went on, completely ignoring my glares.
“First, you will knock before entering the bathroom. Second, don’t go out at night unless you want to get lost or die from whatever is out there at that time,” he seemed displeased with the rule, but Maya continued before he could say anything. “Third, you eat what I feed you. Fourth, you help around the house. And finally, don’t come into our room.”
He sighed.
“Understood,” he agreed with a nod.
“Good,” Maya said. “I guess we should introduce ourselves, my names Maya, NOT witch.”
I looked at Maya confused, but I shook it off and turned to him, curtsying with my skirt.
“And I’m the younger sister named Candace!” I cheered happily, as Neva flew into my face, squeaking a few comments about the new guest in our home.
I laughed at the comments she made and turned back to the warrior with a smile.
“And that’s Neva! She likes you, other then the fact you smell like you haven’t bathed in a long time,” I translated, now placing her on top of my head.
“Neva!” Maya scolded, even though truth be told, she was right.
The warriors face turned a different shade, meaning that the guy was probably blushing. Neva flew off my head, patting his forehead to show she was sorry, though he looked frightened by the touch.
“Oh come on! She’s a freaking butterfly!” Maya yelled and I giggled, Neva sitting on my head again.
“So, what’s your name warrior?” I asked, wanting to finally know the name of the man who would marry my sister... I mean, stay with us.
“Mason,” he paused. “Mason from the fire village over the mountains.”
With that he gave a bow, since I had curtsied for him. I stared at him for an extra few seconds, thinking about how far the fire village actually was from here.
“Mason,” Maya repeated. “That’s a log way to walk.”
He shrugged as if it were nothing and Maya rolled her eyes, walking to the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked as she had her foot out the door.
“Mason reminded me that I need to have a bath,” She looked back at Mason, giving him a cold stare. I was suddenly glad she wasn't shooting it at me. “Don’t follow me.”
Mason seemed more then happy to comply as Maya closed the door behind herself and he let out a long sigh.
"Let me show you to your room," I cheered and skipped toward the bedrooms, him following behind me. He'd get used to us one way or another.
"Here's your room!" I smiled and opened the door to reveal a smaller room than Maya and mine, but it was big enough to hold maybe two people.
"If you need anything, just ask!" I said blissfully as I began walking down the hall to the room.
"Uh, do you know another location that I can, uh, bathe?" I turned to face him, his face turning another shade, blushing.
"Yep!" I said joyfully. "Once you're outside, swing a right and head all the way down the path, and you'll find a waterfall with a lake. Maya probably won't be there," I said as Neva just squeaked once, going with my plan.
Mason left the hut in a hurry, heading towards the lake that we use as a bathing ground, the only lake we have around here. I felt Neva fly onto my hand and I brought her up to my face.
"Looks like I'm going to be in trouble when Maya gets back," I smiled and went outside to begin collecting items for dinner.
~
I took in a breath of fresh air, collecting berries and herb spices for dinner. I looked down at the bandage on my left wrist, imagining the man who saved me from one of the creepy market boys. I felt my face flush at the thought of him standing so close to me, protectively. I could only hope that he didn't tell the Dark Lord that he had found me - and probably Maya, for that matter.
Of course, I had no idea if the Dark Lord was really searching for Maya and I or not, but since they haven't bombarded us yet, I guess the 'L' guy hasn't told his comrades about us yet.
"Hey Neva, are you still meeting Kai?" I asked, resuming to pick some berries.
She squeaked once, which indicated a no.
"How come?" I asked, almost feeling a bit worried.
She explained to me that he wouldn't turn up at their usual meeting spot, for what ever reason.
"Aw, I'm sorry," I pulled her small body into a hug but she squeaked a few times, saying that she was alright.
"Does he know?" She shook her head and I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding.
She then asked me a question I never thought I'd hear her ask, which lead me to drop the basket of ingredients.
"What?! No! I don't like him!" I exclaimed as I felt my face get hot. She seemed to drop the subject however, since she just flew onto my head, burying herself in my hair.
We walked back to the hut in silence, which I was sort of grateful for. I didn't really want to talk about the 'L' guy, but I couldn't help think what the hell his deal was. Even though he's a total jerk and tried to kill me, he was nice to me at the market.. I looked down at my wrist again. What the hell does it mean!
~
I made it back to the hut in one piece, and began cooking dinner for Maya, Mason, and I. I didn't really know exactly what I was cooking, - which is why Maya does all the cooking, but the noodles smelled good enough to me. I gave a bit of it to Neva to taste test it for me, her response being quite a good one, for once. I tried a bit myself and nodded in approval of my strange but good tasting creation.
A few minutes later, Maya and Mason came back to the hut, together. I smiled to Neva happily. Somehow, this plan was going very swell. Maya came into the kitchen and looked as if she was ready to smack my head again, but her eye seemed to have caught onto something else.
“What happened to your arm?” She asked, shocked. I froze on the spot, looking down at it. I totally forgot to hide it!!!
“Oh that! I just um, burned myself a little wile cooking dinner! I tried something new actually, just smell the stuff I made for all of us!” I exclaimed trying to prevent her from grilling me about it.
She just glared at me.
“What’s the L stand for?” She asked and I turned back to my noodles, my face flushing.
“Dunno, I just ripped it off of something, then I threw it in the trash. Must have been a part of the name,” I then threw a smile on my face, pushing her out of the kitchen. “Go sit with Mason, it’s almost ready!”
“Alright,” Maya said, believing my lie, but not before she smacked me on the head. “You’re lucky I didn’t stand up.”
I gave her a confused look, like I had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn't seem to convince her. I giggled to myself, looking down at the bandage as Maya left the kitchen.
I gave the pot a couple more stirs to make sure it was fully cooked and got out three plates from one of the cupboards, placing a decent amount of pasta on each of them. I walked in with all three plates, successfully balancing two onto one arm. I placed a plate in front of them both, then in front of myself as we began to eat in silence.
I finished a couple mouth fulls, then opened my mouth to pursue more information about Mason.
“So Mason, what brings you here of all places?” I paused for a second, then continued. “Was it the thrill of adventure? The mystery of a lost loved one? Was it the need to kill? The wanting to prove yourself to something, or if you’re worth something?” I gushed excitedly.
“It’s not something I share with strangers,” He answered and I looked at him, displeased. I was about to condemn him wrong, but Maya gave me a stern look that made me shut up.
“Well, if you ever want to tell us don’t be afraid to feed our curiosity,” Maya said, that being the end of the topic.
He nodded and went to his noodles. The rest of dinner was filled with slurps and mute silence.
~
“Here you go,” Maya told him as he lay out his futon for him.
“Here is where you keep your cloths, our room is just across the hall and to your left is where the bathroom is to freshen up every morning!”
I lively explained to him.
I leaned so that my mouth was at his ear, whispering quietly.
"Like what you saw?" He gave me a cold stare at my comment that refereed to his meeting Maya at the lake, but I ignored it as I went to stand at the doorway.
“Candace, stop annoying the poor guy,” Maya told me. “Go get ready for bed.”
I did as told, stepping out of the room so Maya couldn't see me trying to listening in on the conversation, Neva flying beside me. It seemed as though those two were already getting a long quite well, even though I couldn't really hear what they were saying. Something was going on between them!
“Were you eaves dropping?” Maya asked after she said goodnight to Mason, with a raised eyebrow.
“No, no, just wanted to know if I’d be hearing kissing noises or something!” I teased and ran to the bathroom, escaping her deadly wrath.
