what we don't say [p]

[Holly]

xx

Ordeum 13, 1593
11:30 A.M.

Renji was not one for dwelling on the negatives in life. He wasn't one to bring up his past of before he came to be a guard captain to other people. He didn't like to delve into dark or sorrow thought. He didn't like staying on that subject. To him, it only brought everyone down emotional wise and that was the last thing Renji Toshiro wanted to do in any conversation.

However, on days like that day where he had the time off because Sakura was handling things, Renji came to Ashfall. In this time, he actually did think about the days when he lived there. He didn't know his real mom or dad, but the people who raised him at the orphanage were kind. And his siblings were always so close-knit.

Thinking on it now, he wondered if he should go visit the others. Vyper was in Celestial City, that much he knew. And his other sibling, Dimitri, was probably there as well. He had always been ill and needed constant looking after. And Tora... Well, Renji wasn't sure about her.

He halted on the outskirts of the city and gazed at the shack that had once housed him and the other three orphans. It was abandoned now and it was probably only a matter of time before it was torn down or reverted to some other business. "Ah, damn..." Renji ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Why am I getting torn up over this? It was so long ago," He laughed lightly, a sound void of humor.

[Sky]

Max walked alone down the near empty path. What was she to do today? She had to get out of the castle, she knew that, too many memories were there wit Aria, too many that made her want to weep for the now dead mystic. What had happened? Why was Aria now dead anyways? Why was it that fate seemed to always want to take the best people in life before their time should have come?

She shook her head and looked up just in time to see that she was about to run into....Renji? What was he doing out here? She blinked in surprise and followed his gaze to the obviously abandoned shack he was looking at. Why was he just standing there looking at the abandoned place? Did it hold some kind of significant meaning for the Guard Captain?She took a step back and examined it with her eagle vision. It looked to have been used many years ago, maybe it would be used again? Who knew with a building like that could be used for in the future.

She walked up to stand next to Renji, looking at the building curiously before turning to look at the taller man. "What are you looking at Renji?" She asked innocently. She smiled lightly at him, trying hard to keep her own mood as light as possible. Renji looked bothered by something and if she could help him she would.

[Holly]

xx

Renji wasn't startled by Max's voice or her presence beside him, though he wasn't expecting her to be there. Smiling sadly, he shrugged and replied, "I used to live there." He flicked his hand in the direction of the house. "With my siblings and my parents. Well... They were as much as my family as they could be. My real parents..."

He stopped, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walked towards the building. If Max wanted to follow or not was up to her. "They abandoned me. So, I kind of feel a connection to this place." He entered the once was orphanage, immediately finding his way into the living room and sitting on the couch that still happened to be there. The thing was so ratty, who would want to take it?

"I got out of the castle to get away from the bad vibes of everyone," He resumed talking. "Aria's death is taking a toll on mostly everyone in the Castle. Falkor's not showing any signs, but anyone can tell that he's hurting. I haven't seen Roxanna often. Sakura has been more and more quiet everyday. Nuala's just been getting mad at every little thing, which is how she normally copes with everything. And I don't even want to know what Holly's doing now."

Holly was unpredictable when she was depressed. Everyone pretty much knew by now that Holly just made herself seem happy when she was extremely sad. But, Renji was also aware that this time was a little different. The last time Renji checked, Holly had locked herself in her room and hadn't come out. Even Pascal and Flick couldn't get in.

"Are you out for the same reason?" Renji inquired.

[Sky]

Max shook her head and sighed before looking up to see Renji had already started to walk away from her. She quickly followed, curious to hear his story. She had never heard the story of his early life, nor had she expected to. This was something she couldn't pass up. She had to hear what he was going to say. She just had to.

She followed him into the shack, listening intently and started to wonder why Holly wouldn't even talk to anyone. This wasn't like her, she could at least talk to someone about the problems. Max should have done just that long ago....She jumped at Renji's question, her mind snapping back to the present.

"Yeah, I had to get out of there and also I had realized Holly's mint stores were a little low so I figured I would find some for her....." Max looked down in embarrassment, not really wanting to know what Renji would think about this. She then trailed off in thought for a moment again, wondering how Renji seemed to snap her back from her memories with such ease.

Could it be that I trust him more than I thought? Or is it something more...?

[Holly]

"That's strange. Holly's usually pretty good at keeping those filled," He sighed and twiddled his thumbs. Standing up, Renji decided it was probably time to get out of the stuffy, old house. There were a lot of memories wrapped up here and most of them shouldn't have been brought out to Max. It wasn't like she asked.

And she didn't seem like she cared either. No question about what had happened. A normal person might have done that instead of going on with a more casual conversation. He didn't know how he felt about that. Maybe a little annoyed? Or was it okay?

He took one last time to look back at the living room, remembering his three "siblings" be there. Dimitri and Dove had blue hair and while Dimitri was quiet and sickly, Dove was adventurous and loud and would go with him when they went outside. And then there was Chloe with her odd, green hair and clumsy, but adorable personality. "Bye guys," He muttered under his breath so Max couldn't hear.

What Renji didn't know was that outside, someone was sitting on the porch, reliving some of the same memories.

[Sky]

Max sighed and followed Renji back outside slowly, a few steps behind him. Did she do something wrong? She had listened, she really had. Why did he seem....out of it? Maybe he had a past much like her own? Filled with sorrow and grief but he tried to keep an upbeat attitude? She shook her head and continued after him. Whatever it was it she really had no business asking.

She stopped when the stepped outside. She felt as if someone else was there, someone she didn't know. Wait, she felt it? Maybe Holly's auxiliary magic was starting to wear off on her? That was the only explanation she could come to; she had subconsciously started to learn auxiliary magic from Holly. It made sense to Max at least.

She shook off her straying thoughts and turned towards the unknown stranger, looking at the curiously. "Hello there? And who may you be?" She asked cautiously, not really sure how the person would react.

[Holly]

The girl looked up, cimson eyes bright and full of vibrancy. However, due to the pink color of her hair, it didn't stand out as much as others. She blinked at the sight of Max. "Oh! I wasn't aware that anyone was here..." She trailed off as Renji walked outside. A smile brighter than any Deliciaen could manage appeared on her face and her eyes lit up like a candle.

"Renji! How wonderful! I haven't sseen you in a while!" Vyper jumped up and took a step, her foot slipping off the edge and that ended in her falling off the porch all together accompanied by a yelp as she toppled over.

"Vyper! Great gods, you're still not even less clumsy!" Renji's yell was concerned, not angry. He rushed over to the girl and helped her back up onto the porch. "Max, this is my sister, Vyper. And Vyper, that's my friend, Max."

"I-I'm fine," She smiled nervously and nodded to Max. "It'ss ssplendid to meet you, Max. Is that sshort for ssomething?"

[Sky]

Max blinked a few times when Chloe greeted and jumped a little as she fell off the porch. That was graceful, at least she hadn't been on the roof or something, then the other girl really could have gotten hurt. Just when Max was about to step forward and help the girl Renji rushed forward and helped her back onto the porch, leaving Cate standing there awkwardly. She smiled lightly at her, trying to hide, well trying to hide nothing really. This was a good day for Max, nothing really had her sad or anything. She smiled and bowed in greeting.

"Hello Vyper. Max is actually short for Maximum. Yeah, I know it's a little odd for a girls name but I guess that's what my parents wanted to call me." She shrugged a little and looked down shyly, not really sure what to say next. She kicked a few stray pebbles that she figured some bird had dropped onto the porch. She felt awkward standing there when the two obviously were having a cheerful reunion.

Now what? Should I just leave the two alone? I guess I could go looking for that mint again....if only I knew where it is..."

[Holly]

Vyper beamed, her crimson eyes still shining. Her smile looked a bit serpentine, as her vampire fangs poked out some, "I don't believe Maximum iss an unussual name for a girl at all. It'ss... unique," She complimented, knowing very well about unique names. Vyper? Who had a name like that? Yes, she really liked her name as well as other's names who are unique.

"Uhm..." Renji looked between Vyper and Max, debating on what to do. Technically, he had been talking to Max first and it would be rude to ditch her for his adopted sister. And... He really wanted to keep his conversation with Max going. Likewise, he hadn't seen his sister in what seemed like forever. "Vyper, do you know where any mint is around here?"

She nodded her head, "Yess. I believe I do. Abilene ussed to tell me to fetch ssome when we were younger."

"Abilene was our foster mother," Renji explained briefly to Max before letting Vyper continue.

"Well, I could take you and your girlfriend to the patch, if you want," Like always, her voice was sweet, but her smile seemed decieving. She didn't mean for that to happen, the fangs just gave her a snake-ish appearance.

[Sky]

Max blinked a few time in surprise and smiled at the two. "Why thank you, I've never been told that my name is unique." She rocked back and forth on her heels, listening to the two intently. The two didn't look much alike, so were they still related by blood or did they just grow up together? It would be interesting either way.

She smiled and nodded at the mention of mint, she really wanted to find it! Maybe Holly would feel just a little better if she started to help? But then again maybe not. She blinked for a moment in confusion at the name but nodded as Renji cleared up that Abilene was their foster mother.

"Well then, lets go find it? I would love to bring some to Holly." Wait, had Vyper just called MAx Renji's girlfriend? A deep blush came to her face and she quickly turned around, attempting to hide it. Renji? Her boyfriend? That would be too good to be true. They were only friends, if even that! This was the first time they had actually had a chance to talk one on one.

[Holly]

"All right, come with me," Her voice had an interesting sound to it. If one listened hard enough, she drew out her S's a little too long and her voice was a bit air-y. Vyper performed a cartwheel past Max, springing back up the next second and continued to walk like nothing had happened. She spun once and nearly stumbled, then decided she probably had better stop doing that stuff in the case that she got dizzy.

"W-Wait! She's not my... Oh, nevermind," Renji rubbed his temples and followed after the two. It was nothing against Max. No, not that at all. What it was is that Vyper was the one who always assumed that when there was a girl around, that was his girlfriend. Even if there were several girls around! She would think they were ALL his girlfriend. Hell, she even thought that him and Sakura were going out.

"Renji, how iss, uhm... Guarding going? You have finally moved up to watching the King'ss dog and cat?" Vyper teased playfully, knowing full and well that he was a guard captain and that he did much more than that.

"Yeah, and how about you? Still the clumziest of your group?" He teased back, then put his adopted sister in a headlock, giving her a noogie.

Vyper giggled and in one swift, fluid movement, she flipped Renji so he landed on his back on the ground and she was out of the headlock. "Max, you musst ssee uss ssometime! Our group iss in the Celesstial City. Oh, they would love you! We tried to make it to every one of your fightss!"

"Vyper, what are you talking about?" Renji raised an eyebrow at his adopted sister.

"Don't you know, Renji?! Max was an amazing arena fighter. Dimitri and Tora took me to the arena when Abilene let uss or we ssnuck out," Vyper beamed and glanced at Max. "You truly insspired me."

[Sky]

Max blinked in surprise at the comment. People actually went to her fights regularly when she was a fighter? She was so caught off guard by the comment that she tripped over her own feet. She recovered quickly though, letting her momentum carry her forward as she quickly pushed off of the ground with her feet. After her front flip she went into some flashy gymnastic spins and flips before landing perfectly.

"It's true, I was a fighter. Was is the key word though, I don't fight anymore. I think you can guess why Renji." She stated, looking down at the ground fro a moment before looking at Vyper again. "I didn't think I had any followers though..."

She blinked a few times and shook her head. "I feel honored to know that I inspired someone though. I never thought I would have that kind of impact." She looked down at her feet for a moment before spinning around lightly and heading back in the direction that they were headed, not really sure if it was still the right way.

[Holly]

"Yess, I remember that fight. Uhm... You had to be taken off the field by Mysstic Holly. I was sso ssad," Vyper shrugged her shoulders and skipped ahead of the two of them. She didn't even wait for Renji to get off the ground from when she had flipped him. She had thought that Max would help him, but she seemed a little too into the conversation of herself to notice.

Vyper glanced back at Max and shook her head, still smiling. "I think it was only me that you insspired, though. Tora, Dimitri, and Aya were all insspired by different fighterss. That'ss why we went to the arena and that'ss why we sstarted up Quarturro Chimera," The faerie explained, not exactly realizing that Max might know nothing about her family or about the group who resided in the Celestial City.

Renji sighed and placed a hand on Vyper's shoulder. "Hey, blabber-mouth. Maybe you don't know that Max probably has no idea what you're talking about."

Vyper raised an eyebrow at him, stopping and tilting her head as she did so. "Oh!" She chirped, suddenly getting. "Tora, Dimitri, and Aya are our adopted ssiblingss! Dimitri iss a lot like Renji, but he has ssome anger management problemss. And then Tora iss really sseriouss and whatnot, but sshe'ss nice if you're on her good sside. And Aya'ss really creepy and myssteriouss!"

[Sky]

Max was still in shock that she was even still thought of by someone as she listened to Vyper's explanation. She was still surprised that she had inspired someone, anyone actually. If he knew about that she would have probably been targeted a long time ago....She shook her head, knowing that dwelling int he past was not good. She had already experienced too much grief, she needed to move on.

If only to take some pressure off of Holly.

But what was this Quartturo Chimera thing? That sounded, interesting. Maybe they were a small arena fighter group? It was possible, right? She tilted her head to this side a little and followed closely behind the two. So it sounded like Renji was the only one not in their group? Well, what had he given up to be a guard in Acerbus Umbra?

Was it a lot? She sighed and looked up at the two. "I get that you are still with the people you grew up with Vyper, but what is Quartturo Chimera even mean? Is it supposed to symbolize something?" She asked curiously, looking at the taller faerie. Hopefully she would get some straight forward answers and no gibberish. She had a feeling that Vyper didn't really make all to much sense most of the time.

[Holly]

Vyper's eyes shined brightly as Max asked about Quarturro Chimera. She nearly squealed, plenty happy to be able to explain it to someone who used to be so involved with fighting herself. There was a numerous amount of ways to define her group, but she decided to start off with a tease. "We're a fight club!" Vyper joked, punching the air with enthusiasm.

"Aren't you not supposed to talk about fight club?" Renji crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at Vyper before the girl shook her head at him.

"Actually, we preform in team arena matchess. We're a professsional organization who help thosse in need and defend the innoccent. That'ss how Tora desscribess it. Well, sshe ussess bigger words. Sshe's the leader," Vyper explained with a grin. "We all sspecialize in a weapon and a martial artss sstyle. I am fluent in the sstyle of ssnake and dagger fighting. We asked Renji to join uss, but he ssaid he wanted to sstay in Acerbuss Umbra."

Renji shrugged his shoulders and avoided Max's gaze, looking off the side. For a while, he had actually thought about leaving Acerbus Umbra, practicing the fighting style that would complete the group. However, that was when he was trying to figure out what was holding him there. Now he had a reason.