It was dawn. Rather, it was the time of night just before dawn. When the stars were just starting to fade, and the night sky beginning to turn from black to foggy charcoal. Elkan sat in a hole of a corner between two connecting roofs, hugging his dirty, scraped knees to his chest, his chin pinning them down. As he watched the sky slowly lighten from nothing to glorious colors of pinks, golds, and oranges, he couldn't help but feel great. Yes, his pants were more like shorts. Yes, his shirt was more holes than fabric now. Yes, he was cold, and yes, he was very hungry. But, he had a place to sleep, he always had at least one good meal a day, and he was free. Free to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He had the freedom to sit right here, on somebody else's roof, and watch the sun rise in glorious shades of color over the tree tops of the forest just beyond the city walls. Yes, Elkan had to admit it, that despite the difficulties and annoyances of being cold, hungry and sometimes wet, it sure was good to be a gutter boy.

Once the sun was fully risen over the city, and the sky's fiery colors fading to a more normal blue hue, Elkan stood and stretched the chill out of his 14 year old bones. 'Wait...that's not right. I'm fifteen today...' he thought in mid-stretch. Weird. He looked out over the city whose streets were his home. It was a rather ordinary city, nothing really extraordinary to look at. The buildings were typically short and fat, plain white walls with plain wooden beams. Elkan climbed down off of the roof down to street level as the bakeries were opening up, unleashing a torrent of fresh-baked-bread smells out towards Elkan. His stomach gurgled. "I know, I know..." He mumbled to himself. Pulling his black satchel around to his front, he dug through it, looking for the few coins he had 'borrowed' the previous day. Moving to the nearest shop, he looked in through the window, then back over his shoulder. Nobody else was in the street yet. Too early for shoppers. He watched carefully until the baker went back through the door to the main living area, then he struck. Elkan dashed in through the open door, grabbed several pastries, stuffing them into his bag, then grabbing an armful of bread loaves, before rushing back out the door, up the street and around several corners to another one of his secret spots. Minutes later, after his breath caught back up to him, he began to look at what he had gotten. Six meat pastries, three apple turnovers, and four loaves of bread. What a morning! Yep, it sure was good to be a gutter boy.

He waited another few hours happily filling his belly on some of the meat pastries, then packed away the loaves of bread into his bag and headed stealthily down to the river, where he knew some of the other orphans and gutter kids slept. Tapping lightly on the dusted and broken window, he whispered a code word into the crack of the lopsided door. The shabby door opened up on creaking hinges, and with the sudden burst of light into the room, seven pairs of huge, blinking eyes looked at the intruder. Elkan's heart went out to these kids, no matter how many times he saw them. They reminded him so much of those first years as a street urchin. Sitting down next to his favorite, a little blonde girl with bright blue eyes of only four years old they named Angel, he opened up his sack and gave her a whole loaf of bread. Her eyes watered in gratitude as she bit into the soft flesh ravenously. To the other kids, he took another two loaves and broke them in somewhat equal pieces. He knew nobody would begrudge Angel her whole loaf, since she was the cutest, and the youngest of them all. As they sat in silence, munching their munchies, Elkan stood, patted a few of the others on the head, and left. There was no need for words, not even ones of thankfulness. He knew they loved him, and thanked him, and that was all he needed.

As he shut the door behind him, a hand grabbed his shoulder. "You! Hey! Hey! Over here! I've got him!" Elkan whirled around to see a young man, mid twenties maybe, in a blue and white robe shouting to two other men dressed in red and white robes. At the shout, the Red men came running over and Elkan panicked. He twisted, pulled, pushed, but he couldn't get free of the man holding him. Finally, as the Reds came closer, Elkan had enough. He grabbed the mans wrist, and shouted a word he had never known before, "Alkti!" The man was flung backwards, his robes smoldering like coals on the edge of bursting into flames. As he landed on the ground, he began hastily trying to put himself out, finally just jumping into the river. Elkan stood frozen to his spot for a moment, then coming to his senses as one of the Reds shouted at him. He ran. He ran as fast as he could, and as it turns out, he could run a whole hell of a lot faster when he knew he was fleeing for his life.

Around corners, over rooftops, through homes...anywhere he could run, Elkan ran. All at once he enjoying the day, then fleeing for his life. As he came to another intersection of roads, a brilliant thought struck him. Lady Widow. She'd know what to do. With that, Elkan took off running again, but this time, with an actual destination in mind. When he came to her house, he burst through the door, startling her.

"What in heavens name are you doing Elkan?" She asked, her hand to her chest in an attempt to slow down her poor old heart.

"They're after me." Was all he said, his eyes were wild, like a cornered animal.

That was all she needed for her playful manner to disappear. "The forest. Go into the forest. It will protect you like I am unable to." Faster than Elkan thought possible, she was moving around the kitchen grabbing food stuffs of every kind and shoving them none too gently into his pack, along with two new sets of clothing. She shoved it as his chest and shouted, "GO!"

That startled him into action. He clutched at the bag with crushing force as he ran through the still open door and out to the Wall. Thankfully, Lady Widow lived very close to the walls that protected the city. Elkan leaped over her stone fence, through another house, up over two more roofs, and he was there. He stood on the top of the wall, looking over the forest when he heard distant shouting. He didn't have to look to know who it was. Without another thought, he leaped off the wall, falling to the ground with shocking speed. Just before he hit the ground, which would probably broken bones, a great wind rose from the forest and gently cushioned him the last several feet. He didn't even stop to think about that incredible happening though. Instead, he ran further into the woods, not stopping until he tripped over something and landed with a great thud twenty feet away from the shore of a great lake.

((mwahahaha you have a matching avi))

Keshi sat lounged on a high branch in his favourite tree, back braced against the trunk, one leg stretched out before him along the branch and the other dangling down beside him. He loved sitting here and had even fallen asleep here last night. It was safer in the trees than on the ground; on the ground he had the chance of predators finding him like wolves or, worse, humans. At least up here the only thing he had to worry about were spiders and snakes and they left him alone because of his bear-crossed-human scent.

The sunrise was particularly beautiful this morning, he noticed, and he remained where he was, putting off finding food in favour of soaking up some sunlight. His filthy body was lithe and wiry with young muscles beneath his skin. There was very little body fat on him but that wasn't all that surprising considering his diet consisted on what he could forage or hunt, both requiring stamina and strength leaving very little room for fat stores. Especially since it was only just starting to warm after winter when food was scarce. Needless to say he was looking forward to when traders started coming through again. Most ignored him and some even tried to scare or fight him off, but there was one pair who were nice and shared their meal with him if he shared things he picked up with them. It was they who had begun teaching him to speak their language too several years ago.

His quiet relaxation was disturbed when he heard someone crashing foolishly through the forest. He could tell it was a distance away but it still had him sitting upright suddenly. Looking down a little black streak dashed across the ground and up the trunk towards him, climbing onto his shoulder and standing with her fur on end. The streak resolved to be a little kitten, particularly fluffy at the moment in an attempt to make herself look larger than she was while cowering on Keshi's shoulder. The boy smiled and detatched her claws from his shoulder before putting her on a branch next to him. "Stay here," he whispered to her and, leaving her there, ran along the branch and jumped, easily landing on the adjoining tree's branch, long practice making the feat effortless. He kept going from tree to tree, working his way around the lake, all the while careful not to get too close to the water's edge, towards the sound.

It was coming closer and Keshi paused listening. He could hear small animals - lizards, snakes, mice - running away from the sound but he ignored them, instead trying to make out how many people were running towards him. He could hear one that was closer, and another but only one other. He moved a little further but froze when he caught sight of someone bursting through the bushes in a panic. He wasn't a danger, he would be too scared to think to look up especially since he seemed to be running from whatever it was that was chasing. Keshi looked down at the human below, studying him. He looked to be a little older than Keshi was himself, but that didn't mean much since he didn't know how old he was, not being able to count. He was clearly from the city though, just the fact that he didn't know how to run and hide and passed so many hiding places on his way here was proof of that.

Which left the one following him. Keshi turned his attention to that one who, right at that moment, burst through the bushes just as the boy fell. He was wearing robes that made Keshi raise an eyebrow at; wouldn't that get in the way? But whatever. He could see the anger driving the man and, not really caring what the reason the boy was being chased might be, he leapt down on top of the robed man, landing with his knees on his shoulders and attempting to twist as he fell in an attempt to break his neck, finish it quickly and cleanly.

((Lol yes, I thought it was appropriate ^^))

Elkan sat up slowly, his head throbbing, the adrenaline slowly seeping out of his pores. As he came to his senses, he heard a scuffle behind him, a sickening crack, then a damp thud of something heavy hitting the forest floor. Elkan slowly sat up and turned to look at whatever waited behind him, one hand braced against the floor holding himself up, the other clutching at his head, where a deep purple bruise was beginning to form.

As he looked around, he saw the body of the Red who had been chasing him, then his brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing. The Red was dead. Dead! Was that good news, or bad? Before he could ponder it anymore, a motion caught his keen green eyes. A small boy, at least, Elkan believed it to be a boy, was resting casually on top of the body. Before his brain, his body reacted, thrusting his legs underneath him, forcing him to stand. Instantly he hated his body for the reaction, as his head exploded in a thunderclap of pain. Tiny lights danced before his open but generally unseeing eyes. "Uuugh.." He moaned as he sank to his knees, now both hands clutching at his head. After a moment, the lights vanished and Elkan looked up. Slowly. Very, very slowly. The boy was still there. Staring. As much as he knew that this wild boy had just murdered the Robed man chasing him, and probably saving his own life, Elkan couldn't feel any sort of real malice within this kid, and with that, Elkan couldn't fear him.

Now Elkan's mind began to work. Red was dead. That would mean more Robes would come searching for him. But, he was in the forest that was supposed to harbor spirits, beats, and other wild things that killed anything that tried to harm what it protected. Other Robes wouldn't come here...would they? For now anyway, Elkan was as safe as he could be. But he needed to get away. Far and fast. His mind came back to the boy in front of him.

"Thank you. For what you did." Taking one hand from his head, Elkan shrugged his sack to the ground beside him. "Here, I don't know if you want it, but it's the least I can give you." Elkan slowly withdrew one of the loaves of bread, leaving him with just one more. The pain in his head was getting worse, and his vision was melting away like a foggy night. "Take it..." He mumbled before he fell sideways, unconscious, the loaf of bread tumbling from his limp fingers towards the boy who had saved him.

Keshi sat where he landed, a small smile on his face as he rested on the robed man's shoulders, the dead man's head twisted at an unnatural angle. He was rather proud of himself for having completed the move successfully; only really the second time and the first time had been an accident. It seemed a waste; it wasn't as though he could eat the flesh but he supposed the scavengers of the forest would get a good feed tonight. It was his kill though and he deserved first choice of what he wanted from it.

He looked up when the other boy stood suddenly then seemed to waver and sink to his knees again. Keshi just sat there and watched. He wasn't threatened by the other since he had made no aggressive moves towards him and even if he had Keshi knew he was no match for him.

"Thank you. For what you did."

Keshi's head cocked to the side at that; it seemed strange to be hearing human words again after practically no contact all winter. It took a little bit for his mind to process what was being said, but it became clear enough when he held out a loaf of bread. Keshi smiled at that and stood finally; bread, one of the few things humans did well, was something he could use and a good gift worth more than any of the trinkets some people tried to give him or gold pieces or gems - you can't eat them and they are of no use as a tool so what was the point of them? Bread was something he could eat and something he liked the taste of too.

He was about to take the bread when it fell to the ground. Keshi looked up with a frown, expecting to find some kind of mocking look on his face or something but instead he fell to the ground unconscious. It was then that Keshi noticed the bruise darkening on his head. He must have hit it harder than he though.

He sighed and scooped the bread loaf up before looking to the dead man. Working quickly and methodically, Keshi stripped him of everything on his body, his robes, his bag of belongings, everything. After some consideration, he used his knife to cut off most of his hair too. Hair was useful for all kinds of things he had been learning, the last time the friendly traders had come by. All that was left was a naked, shorn body now for the scavengers to eat. He rolled everything in the robes then into a ball to make it easier to carry until he finally looked to the other boy. If he left him here he would likely be attacked while he was unconscious - wolves and other animals had little care if their prey was alive, dead or injured - and he couldn't do that after he had just saved him, and he had given him bread.

Well this was just annoying!

With a sigh he shoved the bundle down the front of his pants; it didn't all fit. Then another idea came to him and he smiled when he thought of it. His pants were being held up by some rope and were as filthy as his skin. He took them off. Humans didn't seem to like him not wearing them for some reason, though he couldn't understand why. Consequently he kept them if only so he would have a better chance at friendly interactions with humans who came by. He added them to the pile and used the rope to tie it all against his chest so he had his hands free.

Turning his attention to the unconscious boy, Keshi slipped his hands under his arms and started dragging him along. He wasn't really sure where to take him since he couldn't take him to the cave with his bear family in it - he stank like a human and that just wouldn't be safe - so he took him to a small grove. It was still near his lake but hidden from sight. His bag of things were there since that was where he had planned to spend the night. At least it wasn't so urgent that he hunt for food now.

Untying his bundle and letting it drop to the ground for now, not worrying about his pants he inspected the wound on the other boy's head. It didn't look too bad and when he pressed it the skull was solid beneath it. It would heal. He took a root from his bag that he would give him to chew once he woke up to help with the pain - another useful trick the traders had taught him - and sat down near by, chewing on the bread and un-knotting and tying the hair in useful clumps.

Elkan awoke groggily, his head thumping in protest as he forced himself to open his eyes. He wasn't where he had been, that was certain. Through squinted eyes, he took in his surroundings. It was dark, or getting there at least. He could see the twilight hues painted across the sky through the leaves and branches overhead, the stars just beginning to come out of their daytime sleep. The forest bustled with critters hurrying to their homes for the night, and others just waking up, ready for the nighttime hunt. Elkan was blown away by how much sound there was in a serene forest like this one, compared to the empty streets of the city at night. Blinking a few times, his eyes slowly opened further, adjusting to the bits of light that filtered down through the trees. He raised a hand to his temple, tenderly feeling the bruise that marred his otherwise handsome, if still boyish, features. After being knocked out for basically an entire day, the bruise wasn't as tender as it had been when he first got it, but still hurt to be touched. So, he brought down his hand and started the process of lifting himself up to a sitting position. Wasn't as bad as it had been before. After successfully reaching that point, he flopped his head forward, a great sigh heaved out as blue-green hair dangled down in front of his eyes, tickling his forehead.

"Alright," He spoke softly to himself, "red is dead, but the other red and blue were in the city. No doubt they are still looking for me." Elkan forced his brain to think logically, while it rallied to continue it's animal lust for escape. "I've been asleep for a full day. I have no broken bones, just a very painful head." He said as he poked and prodded himself. "I had four loaves of bread, six meat pastries, and three apple pastries. I ate two meat pastries, gave two loaves to the kids and Angel, and one to the boy. That leaves me with one loaf, and seven pastries from this morning." Elkan grabbed his bag to check his counting, then remembered about what Lady Widow had given him as he pulled out more food and the spare clothing. He smiled fondly at her kindness. She always made everything for him, she must have spent weeks on these clothes, and now she'd probably never see him in them. "Lady Widow gave me another two loaves of bread, three apples, a large skein of water, two shirts, and two pairs of pants." His mind was beginning to catch up to the task of counting, something he had done with great pleasure when Lady Widow was teaching him to count candies. After the lesson, she had let him eat them if he had done well...perhaps that's why he liked to count! "So that gives me three loaves, seven pastries, three apples, water, and clothing." He had never traveled anywhere before, so he didn't know if travelling needed more food than wandering about the city. "I guess, if I ate one pastry and a tiny part of the bread each day...I could make the food last, about fifteen days. If I had fifteen days, I could make it to Kvatch..." Kvatch, he knew was close to the southern border and almost in the desert sands. "I don't think I'd want to do there...too dusty. Maybe...Leyawiin. Small town, no big Magery..." At this point he was mumbling to himself. From what Lady Widow had told him, Leyawiin was only a nine day trip from the city, and it was where she had grown up. She said that it was a small town, few people, and best of all, it had no Magery, and only two Robes. She said that those Robes were good people, not like here in the city. "I would be safe there." Elkan thought aloud. He began to repack his things on the black satchel when a thought crossed his mind. He had no map. Which way was North West? Geography had not been his strong suit in the studies with Lady Widow. Elkan sat back on his heels with the bag in front of him. Well, he knew where he wanted to go, but how to get there? No idea.

Finally thinking about the forest boy again, Elkan leaned back. Perhaps he knew how to find out. Or maybe he even knew. Either way, it was a better idea than just choosing a direction and start walking. Looking around the little grove he had awakened in, he noticed how well hidden it was. The boy must have dragged him here. How, or why, he did that...well, that wasn't something Elkan wanted to ponder at the moment. For now, he figured, he'd just wait and see if the boy would come to check on him.

Unknown to the other boy, Keshi had infact been there the whole time watching him. He had finished half the bread loaf given him and wa saving the rest for later, tomorrow perhaps. He wandered a little way to a berry bush where he picked a few, some for himself and some for the other boy when he woke. After that he had gone back to the small grove where he had hidden him and stayed there. Granted he had gone back to hiding in the trees; he felt safe there and it provided him with a good view of the area.

As the day grew to afternoon and evening Keshi began to become worried about the other boy who hadn't woken yet; none of the travellers he knocked out stayed unconscious this long. He jumped down from the tree to inspect the bruise and was just prodding it when the boy stirred. Keshi leapt back and scurried up the tree and perched there on one of the lower branches, the black kitten climbing on to his shoulder once more, to watch.

Hearing him start to talk to himself Keshi's head cocked to the side as he tried to work out what he was talking about. He seemed to be talking about places Keshi had occasionally heard travellers mention. Maybe this boy was another trader, though he was the youngest he had seen yet. Figuring he wasnt going to hurt him and, like all humans, he hadn't looked up and seen him there, Keshi jumped down to the side of him, forgetting that he was still naked and that the boy probably wouldn't like that. He went to his bundle of things and took out the root he had found earlier and offered it to the boy, hoping he would know to chew it to help the pain in his head. It didn't taste very nice, Keshi knew, but it did the job.

Elkan fell back onto his butt when the boy landed in front of him. He definitely wasn't used to having other people be able to sneak up on him without his noticing. It took a moment for Elkan to realize that the boy was naked, he figured he probably had been before, but Elkan just hadn't noticed it. Nakedness didn't bother Elkan as much as it bothered most other people...probably because he spent so much time being naked himself. Elkan just looked at the boy across from him, and as he looked, the boy held out something...a twig? No, it was a root. Elkan could still see some dirt on it. He reached his hand out and took the root, guessing, after a moment of contemplation, that he was either supposed to eat it, or chew on it. Elkan couldn't remember much woodcraft that Lady Widow had tried to teach him, but he did recall some leaves and roots could heal. Perhaps this boy was offering him a healing root. Elkan shoved nearly the whole thing into his mouth, chewing. After only a few bites, the bitter taste from the root mixing with his spit formed. His nose scrunched, and his mouth watered even more, intensifying the bitterness. That coupled with the grit from the dirt, well it wasn't a very pleasant thing to chew on. But he gave the boy the best 'thank you' smile he could manage, and after a few minutes, the ache that had set into his skull began to ease a bit.

He took the chewed root from his mouth, unable to make his throat swallow it. "Thank you." He said again, unsure really if the boy understood or not, but figured the general meaning would get across. After a moment of silence, Elkan looked around the clearing, trying to decide what to do next, then made a choice. He laid the tips of his fingers on his chest, trying to indicate himself. "Elkan."

Keshi couldn't resist a smirk when he scared the other boy. It was one of his favourite games, scaring travellers, but this time it hadn't been his intention. He watched long enough to ensure that he was chewing the root like he was supposed to before turning away from him and turning to the small pile of things. He had already gone through what he gathered from the man he killed this morning, tossing aside things like the gold metal pieces and jewellery that he didn't see the point for. They were now just laying on the ground where they landed. The clothes would be useful for keeping warm since his rabbit skin blanket he had made was getting very worn now. And besides which it was in the bear den he usually slept in in this season and he didn't want to leave the other boy just yet in case he ran in to trouble and he could hardly take him with him. Speaking of which, now the sun was setting it was starting to get cold so he took the robe and slipped it over his head, headless of how his dirty, grimy body left streaks on the inside. It was miles to big for him but it was warm at least.

That done he sat down and pulled out his old stone knife and the piece of wood he was working on, carving little slithers away to make an statue of a kitten. He had copied the skill from the friendly traders and they started trading him food and tools in exchange for his statues. He didn't know why, the carvings weren't useful for anything but they seemed to like them. And besides, he enjoyed doing it. As he did so the kitten wandered over to the stranger, sniffing cautiously at him, though darting out of his reach whenever he tried to reach towards her. Keshi paid them no mind; so long as he didn't try to harm the kitten he didn't care.

He looked up when the other boy spoke to him, thanking him and then saying, "Elkan." He was pointing to his chest as he said it. Keshi cocked his head to the side, curious. Was he stupid and couldn't speak properly? Not that Keshi spoke perfectly apparently, but still. It seemed odd for someone who came from a city and no doubt spoke all the time. He looked back down at his carving and continued but then, after a moment or two of silence guessed he should probably reply. "Keshi," he said, imitating the way the other boy, Elkan, had said it to be sure he would understand.

Elkan smiled as the boy slipped the huge robe over his head. It looked like a tent, a big red tent with a small child inside. But, he figured it was his bounty, and as Elkan shivered with the dusk cold, he figured that robe was probably warm. He watched with curious fascination as the boy brought out a chunk of wood and began to carve something from it. Elkan had seen carvings before, being sold by people in the city, but he'd never actually seen anyone make one before. It was something he had always wanted to do, be able to create something with his own hands and really be able to be proud enough of it to sell it.

He watched as the boy carved, then felt a very slight puff of air hit his fingers, he looked over quickly, scaring a small dark shadow back into the bushes. He kept his hand still, turning his head back towards the boy but keeping his eyes on the bushes, as he waited for the shadows return. Finally, a little black head poked out from between the mossy leaves, whiskers twitching in time with it's nose, smelling out everything. Elkan kept very still, wanting to laugh at this little skittish kitty. Every time he made even the slightest movement, the little dark kitten would rush back into the protection of the bushes. He bet it belonged to the boy.

Elkan returned his eyes to the boy in time to see him point at his own chest as Elkan had done and say "Keishi." The boy could talk! Well, it had been rather ignorant of Elkan to believe that Keishi couldn't. Stunned for a moment, it took him a bit to gather what to say next. "You can talk?" Well. That wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but that was what came out. "Sorry, I guess it's stupid of me to assume that you can't, I just assumed..."

Keshi simply grinned at the way Elkan started babbling on about assuming he couldn't talk. It was a common assumption and one Keshi didn't really care enough about in order to correct; if people assumed he couldn't talk the assumed he was stupid and thus underestimated him which was perfectly fine by Keshi. He remained silent and didn't bother responding to Elkan's babbling, simply continuing with his carving and letting the kitten play her game of trying to get close enough to the other boy to sniff him without getting touched herself. He knew that the boy was obviously an alright sort since the kitten didn't show any bad reactions aside from the skittishness which she always showed around humans. Well most humans.

Keshi wasn't one to start conversation, unused to human company as he was but he thought he should at least tell the other boy not to leave. "You should stay at night. Travel in light. Lots of hunters at night." His speech wasn't perfect but it was understandable and considering his upbringing it was really quite good.

Elkan couldn't quite believe that he was talking to the b- Keishi. There had of course been ghost stories and rumors about the things that lived in the forest; tree's that moved on their own to hide paths, roots that lifted up out of the ground to trip you, that sort of thing. But what Keishi said made since. Travel during the day, but...travel where? Sure Elkan wanted, and really needed, to get away from this city, but he had no way of knowing exactly which way to head. He couldn't stay on the main roads, he was sure that once the other Robes discovered Red's body, they'd be on his trail hotter than ever.

"Well, I would travel, but I don't know where to go." He admitted. "I don't have a map." It was harder to admit his inadequacies than he thought it would be, even to a 'wild forest boy'. "I had been intending to leave right away, but I think your right. It might be safer to travel in day light." He paused, a shiver running up his spine. Elkan had no shoes, and his pants were torn into something resembling shorts instead of pants. He was downright cold. Without thinking of it, Elkan rubbed his hands together, conducting just a slight amount of heat, then turning it into a lot of heat. So much, that heat waves could be seen rising from his palms. There was no fire, no great blast of light, just warmth. Wonderful warmth. Elkan rubbed his feet and arms, bringing back sensation. "Ahhh..." He mumbled in pleasure. It'd been a long time since he'd actually taken the time and energy to do that.

Keshi noticed Elkan shiver and figured he would probably have to give him his robe; it was cold but it didn't bother Keshi that much; he usually slept in just his pants or naked if he fell asleep outside the den after all. Maybe he would have to go back to the den and get his furs for him. He would have to make sure that he wasn't too dizzy to be able to stay up in a tree first though. He didn't really listen to him talking aloud since it seemed mostly when he did so it was speaking his thoughts; quite unlike the dark traders who passed through.

He just focused on his carving while there was light enough to do so. He was growing tired so sunset must be nearly here, if the red-streaked sky wasn't indicator enough. Suddenly feeling the heat he looked up to see what Elkan was doing. Seeing the heat waves from his hands with no apparent source, Keshi jumped up with a shout, dropping the carving and his knife in the process. "Stop!" he demanded, a definite note of fear in his voice. "You no do that, stop!" He didn't run but he didn't approach either and it was clear that if Elkan did bring it closer to him he would run. He hated magic and while he wasn't exactly sure what this was since Keshi couldn't see any other way he was creating such heat it had to be magic. Magic was unnatural and he hated it.

Elkan immediately left the heat drop away when Keishi shouted at him. His marbled eyes grew wide with shock. "What's the matter?" Elkan had had no intention of scaring Keishi, he was cold, and doing that, whatever it was that he was doing, helped to keep him alive and warm. For as long as he could remember, Elkan had been doing odd things like that, and it always made him wonder why people stood around shivering when they could just warm themselves up.

Elkan decided it would be best if he didn't move for the time being, at least until he knew Keishi wasn't going to attack him or something. He slowly raised his hands, palms facing out, in a universal sign of submission. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Not scared," Keshi protested, though it was clear that's exactly what it was. He just refused to let himself admit it. At least he had stopped it, that was a good start and the submissive giraffes meant a lot as well to the boy who had been raised and consequentially acted like an animal; it helped calm him. At least a little.

He didnt want the other boy, Elkin to do it again though. "You. Go up tree. Wait," he said, pointing at a nearby tree that he thought was easy to climb, using short sharp sentences and not really speaking as well as he could being somewhat stressed by the magic being used so close to him. He then turned and left the grove, going to the den where the bears were. There was a mother and a cub (though granted the cub was nearly full grown now and would be after replacing the body fat lost over winter) and while the mother bear remained lying in the cave the cub bound out to meet him. Keshi ran his hands through the bear's hair before moving in to the cave and coming out with his worn rabbit fur cloak. Having fetched what he came to get he went back to the grove where he left Elkan.

It was full dark by the time he got back so he moved through the branches though not with as much elegance as he would normally, hindered by the robe. He would cut it in the morning. "Here," he said handing over the cloak. "No unnatural magic ."

Elkan watched the boy leave. How odd. 'Why does he think I can do magic?' He hadn't really thought that others couldn't do what he could, and had certainly never thought that what he did was magic. Magic was what the Robes did, and Elkan was nothing like them. But Elkan climbed the tree as he was told, feeling quite comfortable. It was almost like one of his spots in the city, although, not as stable or wide. But it would do, and if Keishi was telling him to do it, it was probably good advice to follow.

He was nearly asleep when Keishi came back, holding out a patchy fur cloak. Elkan took it hesitantly, understanding that this was meant to keep him warm, so he wouldn't freak Keishi out anymore. He smiled gratefully, the effects of the small warmth he had had were wearing off, and soon his teeth would begin to chatter. He draped the cloak over his legs and feet, curling up into a ball so the rest came up to his chin. Elkan laid his head back against the trunk of the tree and fell asleep.

Elkan was taller than Keshi was so while the cloak reached from shoulders to ankles on Keshi it probably wouldn't reach that long on the older boy. But that hardly mattered, it was warmer than nothing. Keshi climbed the same tree, choosing a branch that forked slightly higher up than Elkan was. He looked down with a small amused smirk on his face at the sleeping boy, wondering if he would wake to a crash some time during the night with him falling off. He had chosen a branch that wasn't forked and they were hard to stay on when asleep. Humans were so stupid sometimes.

The black kitten climbed up the tree as well and curled up in a little tight ball on his lap, a small warm section in the cold air.

*

Keshi woke with habit just as the sun was begining to peak over the horizon. Another fine day at least. The kitten had moved during the night and was now draped across his shoulder and chest slightly, her claws lightly hanging on to the robes to stay there. Keshi found he didn't mind that, it was better than in his skin.

Moving her, ignoring her mew of protest, he climbed down the tree. He was hungry and thirsty but until Elkan went on to where ever he was going, Keshi thought he probably should wait until he was awake to see if he wanted to come.

Elkan awoke as a tiny mew reached his ears, followed by tiny crackles of leavings shifting. Opening his eyes slightly, all he could see was that he was in a tree, and somehow, Keishi was on the ground. As he realized that he has slept all night without falling from the tree, he was thrilled. Elkan supposed it was just like sleeping on roof tops, if you shifted, you lost your balanced and rolled right off onto the cobblestones below. Not a very pleasant way to wake up.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, stretched, and let go a huge yawn. "Good morning Keishi." He called down as he turned himself to dangle his feet down to the branch right below his own. There was a fair distance from this branch to the ground, and Elkan had had to jump to reach it last night, so he let himself dangle by his hands, then dropped, landing pretty well, for a street kid anyway. Some skills are easily transferable from one jungle to the next.

"Would you like to have breakfast with me?" Elkan offered. If his stomach was growling, chances were that so was Keishi's. He pulled out a pastry from his bag and handed it out towards the other boy, while bringing out a second one and taking a bite from it. "They're like bread, just sweeter and filled with soft stuff." He held out his own so Keishi could see the apples in a creamy sauce in the center of the flaky crust.

"Good morning Keishi."

Keshi looked over his shoulder at Elkan as he dropped from the tree, then up at the sky. "Yes," he agreed. "A good morning. Good for hunting."

"Would you like to have breakfast with me?"

Keshi's head cocked to the side at the unfamiliar word: breakfast, but the meaning became clear when he pulled out some food then continued to explain what they were. Keshi took the offered food and cautiously sniffed it before nibbling a little. It tasted nice so, after seeing Elkan eat it, taking in how it was eaten, he copied and took a bite. A second soon followed, and then a third until there was none left except for a small piece. "Good," he replied, licking his fingers. Kneeling down he offered the remaining piece to the kitten who ate it then proceeded to lick his fingers as well. Keshi laughed at that - it tickled! - then stood.

"I'm going dew hunting. Want to come?" he asked. They had to hurry or the dew would dry up.

"Dew hunting? What's that?" Elkan asked as he tied his bag and hung it on a broken branch, figuring they would be coming back to this spot later. Dew hunting...what an odd thing. He couldn't think of what 'dew' might be, and he had certainly never actually hunted before, at least, not for something that could bite him back.

But he followed curiously, wandering what this dew hunting was and why it was so important. "How long have you lived in the forest, Keishi?"

"Dew hunting? What's that?"

Keshi looked over his shoulder at Elkan with an expression that clearly showed he thought he was being stupid. "Dew hunting," he repeated. Then thought maybe he had the words backwards; he did that sometimes. "Hunting dew?" He figured if he still didn't know what it was, or if Keshi wasn't getting the words right, the best way was to show him. As such he started off into the forest, looking for the leaves and forest he knew held water the best, heading away from the lake.

"How long have you lived in the forest, Keishi?"

"Forever," he replied. "Not like humans. I don't change homes all the time."

It was clear by the way that Keshi was moving and the fact that he was willing to talk that what they were hunting for wasn't animals. And it became even more clear when he broke into a grin finding a large palm-like leaf holding a nice amount of dew. "Dew," he said pointing, before carefully curling the leaf and tipping it upwards towards his mouth so that the dew rolled off the leaf into his mouth. He grinned as the sweetness washed over his tongue. Truly, nothing was better than dew hunting in the early morning before the sun stole it all!

When Elkan saw Keishi tilt the leaf to let the water fall into his mouth, he understood. "Oh! Dew is water!" Why he hadn't known that, he couldn't say, but he at least understood now and began looking around for his own dew to collect. This would be helpful information to have when he went out and traveled. He knew that the canteen of water wouldn't last forever.

"Forever? So you've never lived outside of the forest? Who raised you?" Elkan was surprised to hear that Keishi had always lived in the forest. Truth be told, Elkan had always dreamed of living on his own in the forest, but never had the courage to leave Lady Widow and her consistent help.

"Water. Yes, but good water," Keshi replied. To him water was what was in the lake. That was different. It wasn't fresh and it was dangerous and best avoided. This was fresh and sweet and all the better for its limited life. He moved from leaf to leaf to flower, sucking down the dew and quenching his thirst after eating the offered pastries.

"Forever? So you've never lived outside of the forest? Who raised you?"

Keshi nodded to never having left. "No need," he said. "Everything here and some traders are nice. Others not so and throw rocks, so I just throw them back," he said with a proud smile. It turned to a frown of confusion though when Elkan asked who raised him. He shook his head. "Not understand... I got up myself..." Then he remembered something that the traders had said to that effect. "You mean pack? Um..." he paused, seeking for the human word. "Bears. But they don't like humans so you can't come see them. I stop humans from seeing them."

The sun was rising to the point where most of the dew had dried off now. "No more dew," he announced.

"Bears? That's different." Elkan continued searching the leaves for dew. He had never tasted water like this before. It was sweet and more refreshing to him than any of the water he got in the city. As the sun rose further from the horizon, the forest heated up, turning the dew into misty steam. Elkan was just noticing this when Keshi said, "No more dew."

"Do you do this every morning?" He pushed some hair from his face as he looked around. "Every thing looks the same...how do you find your way around?"

"Different how? They pack like human pack," Keshi said. He didn't quite comprehend that he should have been raised by other humans. It was only recently that he was starting to come to terms with the fact that he was a human instead of just a smaller, hairless bear, unusual looking bear.

He started heading back to where they had slept.

"Do you do this every morning? Every thing looks the same...how do you find your way around?"

"Yes," Keshi replied. "Every morning there is dew I hunt. Not in the hot days, no dew then. Have to drink lake water," he said with an almost comical grimace that clearly showed what he thought of that. Not that the lake water tasted bad, it was more his fear of getting close to the lake's edge that tainted it for him. "How do you find your way around in human cities? This home. I know my home."

He looked over his shoulder with a small smile and said. "You're so curious about life here why did you live in human city?"

Reaching the same clump of trees he sat down and, after checking that everything was still there, though he didn't see any sign of any other animals coming by, he started carving again; he wanted to have lots of carvings to give the traders this time.

"Well, I've never met anyone who wasn't raised by people before. That's all, I didn't mean it in a bad way." Elkan followed Keshi back to the grove they had been in all night. It really was a beautiful spot. The sun was in full force now, shining golden beams through the leafy canopy to make sparkling puddles on the thick grass carpet.

"Don't like the lake water huh?" He thought about Keshi's question. When put that way, he supposed it made sense Keshi would know where everything was, and how to get there, just like Elkan could in the city. "I see what you mean. I guess the reason why I didn't leave the city was because of the old woman who raised me. I was afraid that if I left her, I'd always be alone." As memories came flooding back from the past 48 hours, Elkan had to wipe a tear from his eye. "And now I will be." He sat down against a tree trunk with a huff. "All well, not much I can do about that now. I just hope she is safe. What are you making?" He asked when he noticed that Keshi was carving again.