All Aki could do was smile as the two pairs interacted, he was happy for them of course. He was always happy for his friends. Soon he found his eyes wandering back to the darkening sky and memories seemed to be pulled back from his childhood...memories of playing with other children, of catching fireflies with them, of the carefree life that could only ever belong to children. He smiled sadly, how long ago those days seemed, soon he would be ascending the throne and he would never have any time to rest. He returned his gaze to his friends and upon noticing that they were still talking, he quietly slipped away into the dense forest surrounding the area.

((Sorry, my school had this culture fest thing that I was in and I just got home XD))

Nichole smiled, "Well i dont eat lunch but i could keep you company" she suggested. "As for my laces i dont thing anything could keep them from comming undone" she shrugged and then watched curiously as Aki dissappeared, "Woah where did Aki go?" she tipped her head.

Alary fished into one of his pockets and pulled out a pair of clips. "Here put these on the knot and they should help keep it from coming undone. As for Aki I think I have an idea. You can come if want." Alary said handing the clips to Nikki before heading in Aki's drection.

Nichole did what he told her to do and jumped up and followed Alary, "Where are we going?" she asked curiously. She looked ahead and noticed it was the direction Aki dissappeared in. She picked up her pace so she was right behind Alary.

"The forest," Alary said as they approached it. He wasted no time and picked his way through until they were in one of the denser spots. Finally spoting Aki, Alary slowed his pace and called out. "Hey Aki, you alright?"

Nichole looked over alarys shoulder and looked at aki, "Yeah aki are you alright?" she asked

((whoa, did everyone's posts just get exponentially shorter? what happened to the paragraph minimum? XD))

Aki looked down from his branch to his friends below, "Yea, perfectly fine. Just doing some thinking." He looked back up, to one of the patches of sky visible through the tree leaves, "You guys go ahead, I'm sure you're hungry by now Alary. I swear, if someone wasn't around to remind you, you'd go hungry for a week or longer and not notice a thing."

Nichole was confused but stayed quiet, standing behind alary and staring up at Aki. Then she looked around her the forest was dark and she shuddered, suddenly remembering she didnt like the dark. "Oh no, darkness, not cool" she muttered to herself to keep from screaming. Her heart rate increased and she could feel it pounding in her ears, she closed her eyes and tried to think of something else. when she opened her eyes she was still in the forest, but aki and alary suddenly disappeared

(now we get to discover Nicholes issues XD)

Aki's eyes narrowed slightly at Nikki's form, which had suddenly stilled. "Alary...it might be a good idea to back away from Nikki right now." Aki quickly jumped from his branch, landing quietly on his feet, still observing Nikki, though now standing between her and Alary, "Nikki?" he asked calmly.

Alary turned as Aki jumped down between him and Nikki. He watched with concern as she seemed to be acting oddly. He tuck a few steps till he was side by side with Aki. "Nikki, are you alright?" He looked from her to Aki who seemed to have more of a clue as to what was going on than he did. "What's wrong with her?" He asked keeping calm.

Luna watched as her friends walked away. The all drifted into the woods leaving her and Ivan alone. "That's the second time that's happened today." She said quietly and shook her head. "I'd ask if you were hungry but, I spose' not. I need to eat though... " She said sadly. She didn't want to leave and thought it'd be nice if Ivan came with her. Don't get your hopes up... She sighed and released his hand then turned toward the doors of the lunch room.

Ivan frowned when he felt her hand leave his and knew that he didn't way to say goodbye just yet. He went over to the door and opend it for her. "eating luch by yourself isn't fun, I should know since I have eaten by myself for a long time." he said as he looked at her and smiled, showing off his fangs slightly.

Nichole looked around, "Alary? Aki? What the fuck, where did you guys go?" she looked around, the air seemed suddenly colder and it rose goose bumps on her arms. She shuddered and looked around, she thought she saw a figure move and headed over towards it only for it to appear behind her, spinning she came face to face with a lone figure that seemed so familiar. "W-who are you?" she shouted to the figure and slowly walked toward it. It jumped away and she jumped back suprised.

Luna smiled hugely. Yay! Maybe this won't turn out as bad as you thought... She mentally conversed with herself. In a move that surprised her she jumped forward and hugged Ivan. He was cold but she didn't mind. When she pulled away, the same pink blush was on her cheeks as was her smile. "Thanks, and you're definetely right." She glided into the room and quickly through line then headed for the deserted table she usually shared with a book during lunch.

Aki put his arm out, stopping Alary from moving any closer, "Actually, I have no idea. I just think it would be safer if one wasn't close to another whose aura just shifted a whole spectrum over." He blinked his eyes, not in the least fazed when Nikki suddenly jumped forward, rather he pushed Alary out of the way so that Nikki wouldn't collide with him. "huh...that's weird..." he muttered.

Ivan was surprised by the hug but smiled. THat was the first hug he had gotten from someone else in a long time. He also liked the blush on her cheeks, it made her look beautiufll and her blood smelled sweet. Ivan followed her over to the table and realized that he had seen her before. He had watched her sliently for a little while thinking that it was weird that she would always be reading when she could be talking.

Alary stared at the protective arm in front of him but didn't complain. "Her aura changed a full spectrum?" Alary couldn't see auras well but he knew enough about them to know that wasn't good. He stumbled a bit when Aki pushed him back and stared as Nikki continued to move and speak erratically. "Can you think of a way we can help her?"

Nichole looked around for the figure, she turned around and it was standing a few feet away. "Who are you!" she yelled, at the sound of her voice the figure jumped and disappeared again. Nichole blinked and looked over to see the suprised faces of Alary and Aki, "Uhum, what happened?" she asked blinking. i need to find out who that figure was the thought, her eyes narrowing a bit.

"Nikki are you alright now?" Alary said not quite sure she was talking to them or still in the midst of whatever had gone wrong. "What were you reacting to?" He stepped forward pass Aki and reached cautiously for Nikki. "We didn't see anything you just suddenly started acting oddly and Aki said your aura shifted." Concern was evident in his voice.

Nichole tipped her head, her golden-green eyes suddenly widening, great now he thinks im a freak she thought. "Yeah im fine" she lied quickly. Her heart was still racing and her head was spinning. "My what did what?" she asked, my aura? what in the sam hell is that? she thought. She heard the concern in alary's voice and a faint pink tint appeared on her cheeks, great now hes going to worry about me she thought with a slight frown.

Alary wasn't so sure if she was actually fine and thought it best she'd get out of the forest. "Just in case maybe you should go see the nurse?It might be nothing or it could be something serious." Alary said thinking back on all the different ailments and curses he'd seen in his life. "Do you think you can make it back on your own or do you need an escort? If you need one I'm sure Aki and I can walk you." Alary said looking from Nikki to Aki and back again.

Nichole looked at alary and was going to argue about going to the nurse, "I dont think the nurse is necessary" she said quickly but then looked back at the dark forest, "but could you help me get out of here, i dont like the dark" she said blushing. i am such a baby she thought shaking her head. She shifted her weight to her other foot, she hoped she didnt go into that terrible daydream again. She shivered, her heart rate was finally back to normal and she wasnt feeling as dizzy, but she was so cold. She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered again. "is it suddenly cold out or is just me?" she muttered.

Alary frowned as she complained that she was cold. "It's just you. Are you sure that you don't want to go to the nurse?" Alary sighed. He looked at Aki and himself neither of them were wearing jackets at the moment, so they couldn't give her anything warm. "Come on let's get out of here. The quicker the better." He said patting her on the shoulder.

Nichole sighed, "Wow im a freak then" she muttered and shivered again. She nodded and looked at alary, "Lead the way" she chuckled and then shuddered, "and we might want to go soon, i feel as if someones following us" she looked around her, seriously freaked right now she thought

"You're not a freak. Don't call yourself things like that. You'll start believing a lie." Alary said before taking the lead. He looked behind him occasionally to make sure she was keeping up. "Are you sure you feel like someone's following us?" He couldn't sense anyone and it unsettled him that there could be someone out there and he didn't know.