Echoes of the Past

[laraine]

Echo turned to see him at the door, she turned back, trying to hide her face from him. "Cause I have nowhere else to go." She said softly, then turned back to him. Trying to make a mad face, but failing miserably. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore." She looked down. " I wouldn't want to see me after what I said either." Her face was sad. a kind of sadness that she didn't show often.

She wasn't meeting his eyes, as if trying to sum up the courage to pull away from him again. But a single tear fell from her eye.

[JxSlaughter]

He slowly opened the door entirely."Hey, I said much harsher things to you- I wanted to say I'm sorry." He walked up to the side of her bed removed the object behind his back. It was sponge cake. "I guess you don't want me to be your friend anymore. But I'm here to ask you to trust me, whatever it is-- I don't want you to be sad anymore. I don't care what it is, but lay your burden down already." He set the cake on her lap and put his hand on her head. "Quit worrying okay? Whatever it is I don't care." He ruffled her hair.

"If it makes you feel better then I don't have to take back my sorry, but your still my partner until we kill those monsters. Whether you are my friend or not, I treat strangers all the same. It's a part of my culture." He smiled and stuck his tongue at her.

[laraine]

She looked up at him and blushed softly, turning her head down to stare at the spongecake.

"It's hard to be mad at you when your this nice to me." She managed to say.

"I wanted to push you away, make you hate me because it would be easier for you in the end. That way our parting..." she stopped speaking realizing she said too much. She closed her eyes and put a hand over them. "Wouldn't..hurt as much I guess." she finished lamely.

" I don't want to cause you sadness Jiru.......I lied..I really do like you, as a friend maybe, I'm not sure. But I can't...I'm not supposed to make friends..or comrades. Because I will hurt them." She looked up at his eye.

"Because after all of this...I'll leave forever.."

[JxSlaughter]

When she made eye contact he looked to the side. "That doesn't sound bad. Going on a trip of on your own. Or... what ever it is that might be. Just do what you gotta' do." He obviously didn't know exactly what she truly meant. But he isn't the type to make attachments so quickly. He was feeling curious about what she meant by it, but whatever it is he knew that it was the thing hurting her. Jiru got something new out of her, and wasn't going to continue to get more information out again-- at least for a while. He waited for her to try the cake he made. Hopping that she could like it.

[laraine]

In a way Echo was glad that he didn't fully understand what she meant. She nodded simply to him and gave a comforting smile.

She looked down at the cake and finally felt her hunger get the better of her. She ate it quickly, licking her lips as she finished it in almost record time. Her appetite didn't seem to be diminishing.

"That was very good." She smiled and nodded to him. "Thanks Jiru." Her true smile shone and she looked down at the empty plate, almost in a relief that he wouldn't miss her.

But inside, she was a little sad he wouldn't probably remember her either. But she quickly shook off that feeling, knowing this was how things had to be.

"How are you?" She asked him, now curious about what he had been up to. "are you enjoying being back home? Have you visited your family? You don't have to hang around me all the time y'know." She grinned, saying those lines as if they were a joke. She wanted him to have fun with his own family and relatives.

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru wasn't sure if he would tell her that his first family wasn't here, or if he should lie to her. "I've been around, they don't expect me home yet." He looked at her funny. "It's not like I'm a child." He took her plate and set it on the end table next to her bed.

"Anyways, we are almost ready. There is rumor going on saying that there was an attempted attack already- so we are going to use weapons stocked up in the vault to get things moving faster."

What he didn't tell her is that he knew that she was out by witness of some soldiers. He wondered if he would tell him about that too. If she didn't, it probably would also mean that she didn't want him to know too. They said it was a boy in baggy clothes that fended the strangers off with magic. Jiru knew who that could be.

[laraine]

Echo grinned. "That was me, I stopped those idiots. Somehow I knew they would attack with a small amount of people before the real attack. It won't take long now. Maybe tomorrow they will start to hit this place with everything they've got. And I intend to be out there and blow them to bits!" She laughed a little at this.

"But for today, we should have fun, it is our last day together after all. What do you wish to do Jiru?" She asked him, looking into his eye.

[JxSlaughter]

It felt weird to hear her say our last day. He started to think for a second to go down a list of things he remembered that the village had to offer. It took him a while because it had been a long time since he had even set foot in the village. Then he realized that the town was mainly business oriented. Again he felt stabbed for not bringing her to his real home town. "Other than an over crowded hot springs there really isn't that much to do-- fun wise. "Maybe we could just watch the sunset and sleep under the stars." He laughed, kind of embarrassed that there wasn't much to do here. There was bull riding and other rather violent sports but he assumed that she did not like those things. "Then again, since everyone is working for the war, it would be closed down-- but I can get us in." Because of his relation to his uncle he could do whatever he wanted here. As long as they knew him from when he was a kid, or if he brought some papers signed for permission.

[laraine]

"That all sounds like fun. I'd like that." She stood up, looking over at him. She reached out her hand towards him. "It's a date then...but not a real date if you get my meaning." She smirked.

"Let's have fun before going out to battle. That way we leave no regrets right?"

I will always have many regrets, never being able to fall in love will be one of them...but at least with him I can relax until my time.

[JxSlaughter]

After they agreed on what they were to do with their free time they set out on horse back again. Treading across the town they left the massive dwelling place. Beyond the gate they entered the busy town. The youth of the town practiced their advertising skills and urged people passing by to buy their goods as their parents were busy making and tending to weapons. Some were busy training.

Jiru stopped for a moment when the goods were sweets and bought some for Echo. For some reason Jiru felt very compelled to make sure she enjoyed her time here. Mostly because he knew that she was leaving.

Soon they pasted the busy streets and the buildings disappeared to fields. The fields were gated off by who owned what. The pathways were strangely very smooth. Because the people wanted the towns to work to the best they could they consistently removed garbage, smoothened soil clumps and collected rocks off the road.

The fields were tended by younger people at the time, mostly teens around Echo's age-- and watched over by the elderly because everyone else was preparing for the war. Women too. The workers from the mines were using the main paths in a speedy fashion, so Jiru avoided those roads.

Jiru followed a road toward one of the mountains that surrounded the fields. The horses climbed up one of the pathways made for them. The pathway was also lined with the sakura blossoms from the town, but these trees were smaller- for they did not have healthy roots in the rocky area. Some of the leaves had fallen upon the road, and some were picked up by the wind and passed by the two.

It did not take too long to get to the top of the mountain, even though it was steep the pathway allowed the horses to climb it very fast. Behind the building upon the hill you could see the steam from the heat rise up into the sky. Jiru entered after he secured his horse, with Echo following behind him. Jiru mentioned to Echo- to not say anything.

Inside the building there was no one there. There was a counter across from them with two hallways to their right and left. Past the counter there was a stairway that led to a higher floor. The place was decorated much like the large dwelling place that Jiru and Echo were staying at. But the dragon statues were more varied here. Jiru came to the counter and rung a bell obnoxiously even as he heard the words coming from a room behind the counter. "I'm coming, I'm coming!!"

The door opened and a woman around Jiru's age looked surprised to see him. "Zhi!!" They hugged over the counter. "It's been so long." She started to bombard him with questions. "How are you? What are you doing here? How's your brother?" Jiru cut her short. "I would love to talk, but there is not much time before the battle, me and my friend would like to relax until then." She looked unhappy. "Okay, but don't run off again like last time!"

She lead the two up the stairs with her keys and unlocked the door to the farthest right. "You guys are lucky, theres no one around, so it will be just the two of you. If you need anything just ring the gong." She left the two to go back to the room behind the counter. The two went inside.

Jiru went though one of the shelves and handed Echo shorts, a shirt and a towel with elegant designs of a dragon on it. that was made so that it would not ride up in the water. He pointed across the room. "You change over there." He pointed to the water that could be seen from inside the room. "When your ready I'll meet you there." Jiru rushed off to go change far across from her. He was excited to jump in.

[laraine]

When Jiru gave her the sweets, Echo ate them quickly and gave a smile to Jiru. "Thanks again Jiru!" She said, as they finally made it to their destination, Echo looked around her in awe. This place was magnificent. That it took her a while to process what Jiru was telling her. She blushed softly and then walked over to the area where he told her to change. As she took off her shirt her back showed a long scar across her back from the right shoulder blade down her back at a angle and ending just above her left hip. Her hand rested briefly on her chest where another scar appeared. She quickly put on the shirt he gave her as well as the pants once she removed her own.

Finally when she finished changing she turned around and walked over to where the water was. She awaited him to finish changing as she stared at the water. She sat down, dangling her feet into the nice water. She slipped herself inside and felt the water envelope her.

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru came out with his shorts and slowly came into the steaming water. He made the biggest sigh when he sat inside it. Relaxation swelled inside him. He started to remove the bandages across his forehead, but dared not remove the wrapping around his left eye. It revealed the wound from the battle with the man with the green hair. It was closing up but it didn't heal all the way yet. "These springs have healing properties, so this will be good for the both of us." He put a handfull of water and poured it on his head. "Of course, it isn't instant- but it speeds the healing process up."

[laraine]

Echo eyed the injury and looked away. " I hope that will be okay..I feel bad cause you got that because you were protecting me.."

"It really was my own fault for not being alert enough to see that arrow." She looked down at her side, The wound would take longer to heal than Jiru's forehead but it didn't bother her as much as the scars across her body.

Blue eyes flashed before her mind. She shook her head, trying to get the images out of her mind and just relax. She closed her eyes and let the warm water heal her.

"Jiru, did you always want to be a trader?" She asked. She laughed. "When I was little I always wanted to be a baker..someone who makes sweets. I've loved sweets since before I could remember."

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru went deeper into the water as she spoke, trying to get the water over the wound on his shoulder as well. "I guess I did, but there wasn't much of a choice in my village. I liked the gold and the animals. I looked up to my dad and followed in his footsteps." He thought about her in a bakery. "So, why don't you? Just stop what your doing and let some act of fate finish off those bandits. They can't possibly keep this up forever." After all, she was alive now. Maybe it was possible to run away from it all.

[laraine]

She smiled sadly at that, looking up at the ceiling and trying to figure out how to word what she was going to say.

"I can't. I promised someone I would no matter what. I cannot break that vow. I cant..."

She shook away the unease and turned to him again.

"Besides it was nothing more than a childish dream." She gave him a fake smile.

"So I heard you have a brother? I had one as well. He was always protecting me from the other kids. Believe it or not when I was little I was such a cry baby.." She laughed at the memory.

"Then there came Sterling, standing in front of me and trying to stop the bullies from picking on me. He would get into such trouble with mom and dad..." she trailed off. " I do miss those days. I'd give anything to get them back..."