Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Three - Define Cute

The journey to return to the city was also begun in silence.  They had spent near the entire day clearing and burning the threatening foliage from that which was effectively the protective shelter of their home.  There was the feeling of relief once their mission came to its end for they felt that they were safe once more.  The silent man had not moved while they cleared the remnant plants and saplings, in the end only two soldiers remained by his side.  The others had traipsed back up the mountain's side to ensure the safety of the mage apprentices, who had begun to disappear around the unseen side of the mountain.  There were less plants there for this side dropped deeply before jagged rocks met several other once active volcanoes.  It was said that deeper into this range, the mountains still spewed lava from time to time.

Elyas had remained close to the man and the two soldiers guarding him, but there were no further attacks from the plants.  Alas, neither boy nor man were able to see the face of the one they were desperate for.  The only time the man had struggled was when they forced him into the cavern entrance as it was time to return home.  Elyas sympathised, taking one last long look at the forest, wishing he could defy the orders, but...

*Mission; Follow and protect Five*

The mission gave him pause.  Was it a coincidence that this man and his lover had numbers for names?  Had he not lived through many lives and experienced the darkness lurking within those worlds, he might have latched onto the foolish idea that the two were brothers and that their parents had terrible naming sense.  But in this world, a name meant everything.  A forename was a gift from ones parents.  A surname was a gift from the gods.  So those who had neither and were only designated a number, he wasn't sure what to make of it, but he could be sure that the people who stripped them of their names were not the friendly sort.  Even criminals kept their birth name, even if their surnames were forfeit.

He was snapped out of his musing by the arrogance of his so called rival.  "Did you have fun burning the scorched ground and docile plants?" Patrick sneered.

Were it not fairly dark with only the dim torchlight flickering upon the tunnel's walls, they might have noticed that several students rolled their eyes in unison.  Elyas said nothing.  It was too much effort playing Patrick's game.

"While you were enjoying the sunshine," the irritating boy continued, "we had to deal with a landslide blocking the path.  And then there was this hissing little thorn bush."

"It reminded me of a shadow cat's kit," one of the younger students mused.

"You are crazy, you know that," Jenefer ruffled the boy's bright orange hair.

"Well it was so small and made such big attempted to look threatening," the boy continued.  "It looked a little cute."

"That 'cute' thorn bush would have shredded your skin to shreds had it enough growth to wrap you in its hold," Philip reminded the boy.

"So anyway," Patrick was annoyed by the interuption regarding his greatness.  "I naturally burnt that thing to a cinder before it could cause any damage."

Elyas nodded and simply said; "Well done."

There were a few sniggers from his light reply, enraging the other boy, who grabbed at his robes.  A warning hiss came from the loose sleeve and Patrick leapt back when he saw the small white viper.  "Shit!" He swore vehemently, turning very pale.  "Why the hell do you have a viper?"

"Isn't that the rock viper we saw on the ridge?" Jenefer asked as she noticed the little thing wrapped about Elyas' unmarked wrist.  "And I thought he was crazy!" The girl muttered, mentioning the orange haired youth.

"Boy," the veteran soldier said in gruff tones.  "I think you ought to see if you can get it to slither back onto the ground and then back away real fast."

Elyas shrugged, making a show of following the suggestion and making an attempt not to laugh as Yang appeared to give the soldier a flippant stare, before slithering back into the shelter of the sleeve.  "Um," Elyas said, glancing into the cloth and noticing that the snake had made itself comfortable.  "I don't think it wants to go."  He offered the soldier an unperplexed expression and simply carried on walking.  Patrick gave him a wide berth, which amused him greatly.  As he passed the man known as Five, however, he found that he had gained the man's full attention.  His eyes seemed to stare holes into Elyas' back, making him feel very uncomfortable.

The gate guards did not take kindly to Five's presence, throwing him into the holding cell usually reserved for exiles. On the man and boy's first passing, the guards had fallen unconscious after a sweet scented fog drifted through windows and the cracks of the doors. The guards were angry at themselves for succumbing to the concoction, unhappy that they had failed their primary reason for being there. Five remained silent despite the rough handling.

As they would be staying the night at the guard tower once more, Elyas chose the furthest bed in the guest quarters in order to catch up on his sleep. The mattress was even thinner than the one in his dorm, but he could not say that it was any less uncomfortable that the mattress he had slept on during his last life. He fell into a deep slumber the moment his eyes drifted shut.

*Wake up!*

Elyas was startled from light dreams in which Kyan was smiling at him with soft, shy glances. He groaned slightly, wanting to shut his eyes and revisit the images, however this fleeting thought was soon forgotten as a large shadow leaned over him. The man reached forward for his sleeve. "What are you doing?" Elyas managed to whisper, though his body was strung taught so much so that were he not awakened he would have screamed.

The man was startled, but continued to grab for the cloth of his sleeve. An audible hiss came from the disturbed viper therein, the man finally stepped back cautiously. A slight whimper slipped from his thick throat. Elyas frowned and sat upright, checking on the little snake before glancing at the chastised man. "Were you bitten?"

Five glared at him for a moment, before shaking his head. Elyas saw that there were others asleep in the quarters and could hear that there were others walking past the small room outside. He let loose a soft sigh. "I think we should talk, but not here," Elyas said to the man, whose eyes became deeply untrusting. "I swear I will not speak to the guards about your escape." Five looked at him for a few moments, seeking something possibly in order to fuel his doubts, but finding nothing he eventually nodded in agreement.

Elyas wandered out of the single doored room out into the cavern. The guards and soldiers were patrolling these quarters as well as the guard tower, gates and the other single storied building in which the guards slept. It appeared that they had redoubled their efforts since they fell to the two suspects ploys. Elyas slipped away without too much effort, nodding casually to a few guards as he looked as if he was just taking a light stroll and when their attention came to be elsewhere, he fled to a deeply shadowed area not too far away.

Dawn had not arrived yet, the visible slither of sky was still black with just a smattering of speckled stars, deepening the darkness in this small area of untamed rock spires. Elyas leaned against one, shivering as it sapped away the heat from his body. He did not need to wait too long however, as Five stepped out of the shadows close by. The boy did not question how he followed him so easily, after all, if he could escape the confines of the cell and invading his sleeping space without notice, he clearly would have no trouble following him here.

"You are here," Elyas offered him a slight smile. "My name is Elyas, by the way." The man simply nodded, reinforcing the impression that the man did not speak much. "May I ask what you want from me?"

His eyes fixated upon the sleeve of the robe and he pointed at it. "Viper."  His voice was gruff and raspy, untamed like the wilds above the surface.  "Seven's viper."

"Why?" Elyas pressed.

"Viper find Seven?"  Elyas couldn't help the rising jealousy that seemed to bubble from the pit of his stomach and there was little he could do to settle to sour feeling.

"Even if the little one can help you find your friend," he heavily stressed the word as if doing so would ensure this truth.  "We cannot just traipse into the forest like that.  We would be killed within minutes." Five's eyes widened at the use of the plural, but just managed to appear like a scolded pup as he gazed at the ground.  Elyas sighed.  "They never teach what individual plants will do or how they appear, it is a blanket 'plants are dangerous.' I'm certain that it is never quite so simple.  But that does not solve our dilemma."

"What need?" Five asked him.  Elyas was beginning to gain the impression that the large man needed to be instructed to fully utilise his strengths, as if he had never been allowed to make a decision for himself, therefore no longer knew how.

"Someone who knows about plants would be ideal," Elyas chuckled, knowing this was very unlikely.

Five's eyes suddenly lit up.  "Eight!" He said simply.  Elyas just tilted his head to one side, confused.