<A Flame In The Darkness>

[Julianna]

Today was not the greatest day to be outside in Notia. Clouds had started to assemble overhead, and not even the normal ones either. These clouds threatened a storm on the citizens of this city by the shore. The clouds had a dark hue, like shale. Wind whipped around anyone who dared to venture out, and the scent of the storm settled like mist in the air. But that did not seem to stop Aki from venturing out onto the grounds, her companion Gabriel fixed closely behind her, his gaze focused on the sky above them.

"Aki, why are we out here today?" He asked, his nose wrinkled slightly as the scent of the storm drifted into his senses. He padded ahead of Aki, and out into the middle of the grounds. "I like the rain and all, but I can smell a storm coming along....and not just the rain we like to play in...."

"We are out here so that we do not disturb Miss Rin when she is working," Aki replied simply, and smiled as the wind lifted her chestnut hair from her shoulders and played with it in the open air like a curious child. "Besides, I have never been out in a storm, so I wanted to see what it was like!" Her smile widened, her slate blue irises alive and dancing as she spun like a ballerina, stopping after a few moments as she sank to the ground. She opened her arms as Gabriel hopped over into her lap, cuddling into her stomach, and stayed silent.

"I wonder what happens with the clouds when a storm comes along. Is it the gods in a fight? Or is the cloud just simply sad?"

[Sky]

Takao pulled his coat tighter as he walked up towards Notia. Hikari, find a place outside of the city to hunker down, this looks like it will be a big one. He leaned into a big gust of wind that buffeted his body to help keep his balance. "This is going to be a big one...

Takao looked up to see a young girl walking through the wind herself, a small bunny close by. He cocked his head because she looked a lot like someone he knew, the lesser angel just couldn't put his finger on it. He sighed and decided he might as well talk to her seeing as he didn't see any inns with vacancies close by. Maybe she would know a place where he could stay.

The lesser angel approached slowly, not really sure how people react in this city to strangers after being away from it for so long. He knew that if he wanted to possibly get some information from his little voyage to this are he would have to use his real last name, Manayoko. Takao smiled at her and held out his hand politely when he got close enough. "Hello there miss. I'm a traveler and a merchant passing through these parts and I'm looking for shelter to find before the storm hits. Do you know of any inns that may have a vacancy? Oh, by the way, my name is Takao Manayoko."

[Julianna]

Aki's eyes narrowed into slits as the wind picked up from the storm, and squealed almost silently when the wind beat against her wings and lifted her up for a few moments before she settled to the ground once more on her feet, hugging Gabriel tightly the entire time. She looked around, her frame trembling lightly as her wings slowly settled back down behind her, now tucked tightly against her back.

"Maybe that is w-w-why pe-people don't travel i-in storms..." the rabbit stammered, his flopped ears settled over his eyes as he shook quite visibly. His nose wrinkled when he began to sense Takao approach, his instincts heightened in habit at the presence of a stranger. He turned around in Aki's arms, and watched Takao with suspicious amber eyes.

"Gabriel?" She spoke with a panicked voice at the rabbit's shaking form, her expression matched to he tone before it slipped to a more confused and wondering look as Gabriel stared intently ahead of him. She raised her head and looked up in the direction Gabriel focused on, and stiffened. Her eyes watched Takao nervously as her hair whipped around her head with the gusts of wind that passed through almost every moment.

What is a stranger doing in this part of Notia... she mused as the man approached with his hand held out to her. I must be welcoming for Miss Rin's sake! She mentally told herself as she smiled hesitantly at the man, and moved Gabriel over into her left arm without Gabriel's glance wavering. "H-hello s-s-sir." her voice trembled a little as she spoke and tried as hard as possible to sustain eye contact with the man in front of her.

"I d-don't think there is much for v-vacant spaces that I a-am aware of. B-but I could try to ask the lady I l-live with if she will t-take you in for the night just to have shelter from the s-storm." she swallowed and straightened her posture, finally filled with enough courage to meet Takao's eye as she shook his hand. "Pleased to meet y-you. My name is Aki Manayoko," she replied a bit easier, proud that she could speak without much of a nervous stammer. She held out her left arm a little as she brought Gabriel into view. "And this is m-my companion, Gabriel."

Strange.....why does this man have the same name as I do?

[Sky]

"I would introduce you to my companion but she is too fat to fit into the city." He smiled and laughed a little, noticing the wings and realizing her name. "A-aki?....." he said barely audibly, his head tilting down as he spoke.

Hikari landed with a thud, keeping one leg lifted just enough as to not crush the unconscious girl in her grip, though the dragon knew that she had cut slightly into the arms of the girl. Takao jumped off and rushed over to his sister and took her gently from the claws of his dragon. He watched as the young lesser angel opened her eyes and spoke the last words he ever heard from her, "T-takao, I have one last request for you. Don't kill Chiyoko, she's sick and doesn't know who she is any more...."

He took in a sharp breath as the impact of the flash back forced him to take a half step back. Can it be her? Is she alive?

He looked back up and smiled a little, giving the small bunny a light, gentle pat on the head. "Nice to meet you Gabriel." He smiled a little as he looked at the girl standing before him. If this is her then she has really grown up...

He looked up when he heard a roar of anger. "Takao! I'm not FAT!" Takao laughed at this, Hikari yelling from the outskirts of town just because he made a simple joke about her size always amused him.

"And that's the closest you'll get to Hikari if unless you want to see the dragon. In that case I would have to bring her near the edge of town to show you."

[Julianna]

"It is alright, I do not h-have to meet your companion if it shall be a hindrance." She replied, her smile faded as Takao's demeanor changed. She took a step forward, caught off guard by his reaction to her name. "Mister....Manayoko....are you alright?" her tone took on an edge of concern for the man, and bewilderment laced into the expression on her face as he had taken a sharp breath and stepped back. It was like someone had dealt Takao a physical blow that had made him recoil slightly as he did.

Gabriel just stared at Takao, but closed his eyes when he reached out and patted him on the head. He didn't answer until after a glance up, and a slightly stern look from Aki, he finally settled a little. "Hello, mister." he replied quietly, still a little on edge but not as much now that Aki seemed to see no harm in this man.

Both Aki and Gabriel visibly jumped in surprise when Hikari's roar echoed across the city and reached their ear drums. Aki retreated back a few feet, Gabriel clutched tightly to her chest as he quivered from the noise of the dragon, her voice carried away with the wind. Aki's frame shook again as she sank to the ground, her knees hitting the earth with a muted thud.

Slowly, as if on cue with the rain that seemed to fall from the dark clouds in a sudden rush, tears brimmed and spilled from her eyes and trailed silently down her cheeks. But her irises were blank, as though not able to trace the source of this sudden emotion. "Aki? Aki, what is the matter?" Gabriel curled into her lap, concern clear on the rabbit's face for her. He looked over at Takao, and wondered if it was something he had said or done that had made Aki react the way she did. "Aki is afraid of dragons Mister Manayoko....I don't think she will go near your companion anytime soon...."

[Sky]

Takao was instantly at his knees, a hand on the girls shoulder. He spoke wit the same, hushed voice he used to speak to his sister in after she had awoken form a nightmare or something had happened that frightened her. "It's okay Aki, there is nothing to fear. As long as I'm within arms length I wont let anything or anyone harm you..."

He trailed off, barely stopping himself from saying Again. He looked down at the angel and continued to coo to her, trying to call her back from whatever memory had troubled her. The lesser angel's hands lightly brushed through her hair as Takao blocked out everything around him.

This has to be her, there is no other way that someone would have the same last name as I do unless they were a child of my fathers brother, but I don't think he had a brother. He stood up and offered Aki his hand kindly.

"Let's go meet this person you said may be able to take me in. I promise you don't have to meet my companion if that is the reason for your reaction."

[Julianna]

I can't....think....why am I crying? Why can't I stop? Where is this coming from? Oh! I wish miss Rin were here with me.....I feel like my limbs are a ghost.....I can't find them..... She just stared blankly at the ground, as not a single thing seemed to register in her mind. Her voice was lost, as was her limbs. She felt like she was caught in between her conscious mind and something dark that laid just beyond her.

"Aki!'' Gabriel spoke, his tone panicked as he repeatedly nuzzled his head into Aki's ribs. "Aki...." He looked up as Takao had fallen to his knees, his hands grasped to her shoulders as he spoke to her. He gazed at him a moment longer before he hopped down from Aki's lap, his feet carrying him to her side. He placed his head against her side, and continued to rub his head against her, trying as well to awaken her from what flashed in her mind.

Aki's irises began to lighten as her senses took in what he did to try and bring her back to the present, like someone had lit a candle, and slowly it began to catch the air and burn, illuminating it's light. She looked up as Takao stood and offered his hand to her.

"Thank you...'' she replied softly as she took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. She let go of his hand, and reached down to Gabriel and scooped him up into her arms before she faced Takao again. "I am sorry. for what just happened.." she bowed her head for a moment, then smiled at him.

"I will surely try and find her to ask her permission, as an apology...if she cannot, then I will find somewhere else for you. Is that alright?"

[Sky]

Takao gently placed his hand on Aki's shoulder and smiled slightly. "It's fine, nothing to apologize about. A breakdown like that has happened to all of us at one point or another for reasons that we can't explain. I know I have before....." He shook his head as if warding off a bad memory stepped back and motioned to Aki.

"We better get going then. Don't really need to stay out in a storm like this, especially with wings. I don't know if you've ever flown in a storm like this or not but a word of advice, never do. It's a pain to get your barrings straight." He hesitated for a moment, not really wanting Aki to go out of her way just to find him a place for the night.

Takao sighed and shook his head, "And if she doesn't take me in for the night then I'll find a place myself. I don't want to make you go out of your way just for the sake of a stranger." He smiled a little at her, hoping she would understand his reasoning.

[Julianna]

Aki looked at the man with wide eyes as she clutched Gabriel close to her chest. She had always thought that she had been alone with these breakdowns, choosing to hide them from Rin whenever she could feel them washing over her, determined to keep it so that the Mystic would not think of her as weak and incapable.

"You have had....?" She began to question what Takao had meant about having a breakdown himself, but paused when he shook his head, his expression that as if he was plagued with a negative memory of something. She took a step forward, her eyes now soft, expression calm, but stopped when he stepped back and motioned for them to head out of the storm. She nodded, and smiled a little more, seeming to be comfortable around the man for some reason, instead of scared or nervous like she usually was.

"I had a dream that I had flown out in a storm." She admitted as she walked past Takao, and took a few soft steps ahead before she stopped and turned to wait for him. "I had wanted to know what it was like to soar with the dark sky, and I thought I could reach the gods, and ask of them why they were so angry that they crashed and send bright flames into the earth, or why they were sad and crying all those tears." Her voice was quiet as she spoke, but something in her tone hinted at that her actual belief in feelings creating the storms they felt. "I was a ways away from here, and was blown into a great tree by a fierce wind, which jammed my wings into the gnarled branches that wouldn't let go. I don't remember how long I was there until I was found by these shadowy figures! It was strange..."

She simply shook her head in return, being uncharacteristically stubborn in her determination to help someone for once. "If she doesn't take you in for at least a night, then I will suggest you can stay in my room with me!" She exclaimed, the thought pouring from her lips as soon as it had entered her conscious thoughts. "I couldn't live with myself to know that someone was out in a storm like this when I had the chance to do something!"

Gabriel tilted his head up, watching Aki with a surprised expression at her sudden desire to help a stranger. It was not like her to trust someone so easily. He then tilted his head back forward, and watched Takao with guarded eyes, deciding that he would be the one to keep an eye on the Lesser Angel.

Aki did not notice this as she walked back to Takao and wrapped her thin fingers around his wrist, turning on her heel quickly and swiftly heading in the direction of Rin's dwelling. "Please let me help you!"