"I know." Hikari answered with a grin. She smiled as he told her a bit about his sister. "Hehe...well she sounds nice. I think I could come to like her." she said brightly. She paused suddenly when he heard the echoing voice behind them calling Celestine's name and then turned quickly to see Aamori knelt with his head in her lap. She grabbed Kyran's hand and pulled him to a stop before turning around quickly to head back. "What happened!?"

Nanashi looked at her, furrowing his brow a little when he saw her eyes widen. He sighed softly and put his hand to her cheek lightly, "I see...I'm sorry..." he said quietly, "..you really do have the worst luck..." he said with a ghost of a smile. He blinked and looked away when he heard the commotion off to he side of them and craned his head to see around LaRae to tell what was going on. All he could see was Aamori's back and Celestine's feet. He stopped walking and continued to look, debating on whether or not he should go over there.

Celestine just lay there, completely expressionless and unmoving. He wasn't that bad off, at least not compared to the first time he'd been unconscious while in this group's company. He'd wake up soon...he just needed a few minutes to recuperate.

Kyran was a little surprised by her stopping him so suddenly. He hadn't been paying any attention to anything that was going on behind them, specially since he had been busy talking about his sister. He turned around just as she had let go of him to see why she'd stopped him. It took him a moment to look back and see Aamori and Celestine on the ground. He quirked a brow then slipped both of his hands into his pockets and started to walk over to them; Not quite in as big a hurry as Hikari. He stopped a couple feet away from them and looked down, waiting for Aamori to answer the question Hikari had asked.

LaRae sighed softly, nodding in agreement. "...Yes... My luck sucks..." She mumbled just before she stopped walking, turning to look at where Kyran and Hikari had headed off to. When she noticed Aamori and Celestine she shook her head, wondering why she hadn't noticed that sooner. She glanced over at Nanashi, apparently he'd noticed it before she had too. She sighed again and started to wander a bit closer to everyone else; At least to see what was going on.

Nero stopped walking when he caught sight if everyone starting to crowd around the two. He sighed heavy and turned to the side slightly, still a decent distance away. He was probably the only one unwilling to even get close enough to hear what happened; Let alone it was none of his business.

Aamori just sat staring down at him as the others started to notice what was going on. She had lifted her hand and gently started to stroke the top of his head. She'd began to worry a bit more since he had not responded either time that she said his name. She glanced up and looked at Hikari as soon as she asked what happened, she hesitated saying anything for a moment but quickly let that go; This was a situation where she couldn't avoid speaking. "...He just collapsed..." She mumbled shifting her dark eyes back down to look at Celestine.

Hikari glanced back to Kyran once before she got there and looked at Aamori as she waited for an answer. She was a little surprised by Aamori's voice, but she wasn't thinking about that much right this minute. Her attention quickly went to Celestine as she put her hand to his forehead and swept his bangs back, holding her pal on his head as if feeling for a fever. She blinked, staring down at the area over his left eye were a rather interesting looking scar was visible just under the hair line. His bangs covered it well, you'd never know it was there if they weren't swept back. She diverted her attention from that as well, not bothering to fix his hair before gently pulling one of his eyes open to see what they were doing. They only looked glassy and dazed behind their lids. She let his eye close and looked down at him, seeming both worried and perplexed, "I...don't know what's wrong with him..." she gently felt his side where he'd been hit to see if there was something more wrong than he let on and was almost surprised to feel his ribs under his shirt. She knew he was thin but not quite that thin..."How much did he eat last night?" she asked, looking back to Aamori again. That was about all that she could think of.

Nanashi followed as soon as LaRae started in that direction, though he never passed her. He noticed the strange echo in Aamori's voice but he didn't comment on it. It struck something in his memory but he didn't feel like trying to recall it right now. He just kept his eyes on Celestine, trying to figure out what was going on.

Celestine just lay there limply, and only cringed very slightly when Hikari touched his side. At least pain still registered if nothing else did, though the way that the very tip of his tail twitched it didn't seem that he was very thrilled about having his eye pried open, either.

Kyran stood silently a bit taken back by the echo of Aamori's voice. He quirked a brow, curious to know why he'd never noticed it before now; It was more then a little noticeable. But he could have sworn her voice sounded different not that long ago. It took him a few minutes to sort through everything he'd learned first hand by being in the water territory. He'd only been there once before on business. He remembered meeting one of the water Elders; They had an echo to their voice as well. He only remembered because of how annoying it got after awhile. He tried to push the thought from his mind though, it clearly wasn't as important as what was going on with Celestine at the moment.

LaRae stopped a couple feet away, just as Kyran had done and watched as Hikari went to work checking Celestine out. Of all the things she could have been thinking about, she thought how embarrassed was Celestine going to be when he finally came to and everyone was hovering around him. She too had noticed, briefly the echo of Aamori's voice but as most had done she brushed the thought aside and stood quietly.

Aamori had pulled her hand away when Hikari moved his hair and continued checking a few different areas. As soon as Hikari had moved her hand away from Celestine's head, she gently set her hand back to stroking his head softly; Of course after moving his hair back into place. She glanced back up at Hikari after she asked another question. "...I'm not sure. After he ate the herbs I left because he was a little... well... grumpy." She paused, sighing heavily. "...So I've got no clue if he's even eaten any of what I gave him." She had a pretty good idea of what happened to him. She figured, considering how he was acting right at the end of their thought conversation; That it must have put a strain on his mind. He had mentioned that he'd never tried that before. She sighed heavily as she looked back down at him, feeling like she should've stopped sooner then she had. She hoped that he'd come to soon that way she wouldn't have to go and say anything about what they were doing that caused him to collapse. She'd practically promised him that she wouldn't tell anyone else about the things he could do; Mostly about the dreams and such, but she thought he might be upset if she were to go telling everyone about his powers.

Hikari nodded slightly to Aamori and then sighed. Judging by his ribs, it felt like he never ate. She could half see him fainting from lack of food. "Well...I suppose we'll just have to wait...unless someone wants to carry him." I'd hate to be the one with him when he wakes up, though... She placed her hand on his chest and felt something shift under his shirt. She pulled her hand back quickly, tilting her head slightly. She guessed he was wearing a necklace, but it was hard to tell with the collar on his shirt.

Nanashi tilted his head slightly. He guessed he wouldn't mind carrying him if no one else wanted to...if he even needed it. Aamori's voice was distracting him. He was still trying to figure out where he'd heard it before.

After another minute or so, Celestine groaned quietly and slowly stared to open his eyes. He blinked a couple of times, squinting up at Hikari, though right that second she just looked like one huge glare. He blinked again and then slowly started to realize that he was laying down and the others were gathered around him. Oh damn it... He looked at Aamori for a second and then started to push himself up onto his elbows and out of her lap quickly. He didn't say a word to any of them, just leaned forward with his head in his hand. His pale jade hair fell over his face, curtaining his red cheeks from view. He couldn't believe this...right in front of everyone and he had to go and pass out. His head still ached a bit but that was the least of what was bothering him.

Kyran of course still wasn't paying very much attention to anything that was going on; He was far to interested in why Aamori would keep such an interesting part of her life hidden away like that. Not to mention why she even bothered to hide her voice before, and what had changed that she was willing to use her natural voice now? He was practically overflowing with questions he would have loved to ask her but his thoughts were briefly interrupted when he heard Hikari say something about carrying the boy. He shifted a little and looked down at Hikari, he was just about to finally say something when he noticed that Celestine had started to move around. He watched how the boy sat up and shook his head slightly before starting to turn around to walk away a bit. "Well he's up and moving, how about we give him some space before we all get going again?" He figured by the way that Celestine was acting, hiding his face and all that he'd want a to be left alone. He had already made a good distance between himself and everyone else when he finally stopped.

LaRae sighed slightly when she heard Kyran say that they should give him some space. Sure, she agreed with that; She wouldn't want to be crowded like this if she was him. Not to mention she was pretty sure he was embarrassed. "Come on Nanashi." She said quietly as she turned around and started to walk back over to where she had previously stopped.

Aamori smiled very lightly seeing Celestine moving around. She was a bit surprised to hear what Kyran had said, but was glad that he had said something to try and disperse the crowd of everyone. She sat quietly for a few minutes before standing back up and adjusting her skort. She took a moment and reached down to the holster of her staff and unbuckled it, the staff dropped right into her hand. She looked at it for a moment before turning it upright and moving over to Celestine's side. She knelt down and held her staff out to him, there was still some of the water inside the shaft. "Here, you should drink some of this..." She said quietly waiting for him to take her staff from her.

Hikari looked up to Kyran again and then back to Celestine when he moved. She smiled and reached over, placing her hand on his shoulder for a moment until Kyran mentioned everyone leaving him alone. She pulled back her hand and glanced to Kyran as he walked away and then looked back to Celestine again. "Are you alright?" she asked softly.
He nodded.
"Alright..." she said softly, starting to get up. She looked down at Aamori when she pulled out her staff and tilted her head slightly. She watched as Aamori offered the staff to Celestine and then slowly started to turn to go after Kyran. She knew that Aamori had shown her that staff before, but it seemed familiar now...and not from where she'd showed it to her. Hikari did a whole lot of reading in her spare time, so she spent most of it in the library when she wasn't dodging Ishta or secretly getting Ishta to show her hoe to use a bow. Her territory had one of the biggest libraries and it was full of very old records; many dating as far back as before the clans were at war with one another, so there were records from more than just her own clan, though of course only the elders and royals had access to those specifically. She was fascinated with learning about other clans and tended to read just about anything that she could get her mitts on. She remembered that staff from a drawing on one of those old parchments; it was something passed down through the water clan's elders. It even explained how it worked on that sheet. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it before...maybe it was only because she'd just now heard the echo to Aamori's voice and the two finally clicked together. She guessed she wasn't the only one trying to hide her position among her people the best that she could.

Nanashi looked back to LaRae and then nodded as he turned to follow her though he cast one still slightly concerned glance back to Celestine as he followed her. He really didn't need prompting to do as Kyran had told them. He'd probably roll over and play dead if the guy told him to just because he was still slightly afraid of him.

Celestine looked up slightly and then glanced over to Aamori slowly, his hair parted just enough that you could see one emerald orb with a vertical golden slit in the center. "...Isn't that for emergencies?..." he asked dully, his voice quiet and near emotionless. "...They're going to hear you..." he said in an even quieter voice, glancing away and slowly raising his eyes to watch LaRae and Nanashi walk back to where they were. He wasn't fond of LaRae getting anywhere near him when he wasn't able to keep an eye on her and defend himself if need be. Given he knew she probably wouldn't bother him, but if there was a 99.99% that she wouldn't he would always be wary of that .01%.
After a moment he turned his attention back to Aamori as he started to draw his legs up, apparently getting ready to stand.

Kyran turned to the side and looked back to see Hikari walking up to him. He smiled slightly. "Is he going to be okay?" He was almost sure he would be, but it never hurt to ask. He stood quietly again, for a few minutes thinking about Aamori of course. He sighed softly unwilling to refrain from that topic any longer. "...So..." He paused. "...Did you pick up on what I did about Aamori?" He was being very vague of course just because he didn't want to say too much if she really had no clue what he was hinting at.

LaRae looked to Nanashi once she stopped walking and smiled softly. "You don't have to worry about Celestine, Aamori will take care of him." She stated speaking from experience with Aamori. She shifted slightly and looked down at the ground for a moment. Now stuck on the thought of Aamori and her voice. She was pretty sure everyone who heard it was now questioning it too; Well, everyone except Nero. He'd been too far away, like usual, to hear anything.

Aamori continued to hold the staff out for him, shaking her hand a little; Clearly tired of holding it. "I would consider this an emergency. Not to mention I feel a little to blame for what happened." She sighed softly, giving a weak smile. "...And unfortunately for me..." She paused. "They've all already heard me. I had to tell them what happened... They all came over when you collapsed." She looked away slightly, her eyes shifting to the side. "...I guess you could say the cat is out of the bag..."

Hikari nodded when he asked if he was going to be alright. "Yes...I think so. I think he only fainted...my guess would be from not eating enough...he feels like skin stretched over bone under all of that cloth." When he posed the second question she looked back to him in and stared, looking almost surprised that he'd picked up on it. She nodded again. "Yes... I read too much." she said simply. She sighed and rubbed the side of her head lightly.

Nanashi smiled weakly to LaRae, wondering if he was really that readable. "...I'm sure... she took care of you." he pointed out. He wasn't too worried now, Celestine seemed alright. He just wondered why he'd fainted all of a sudden. He was also a little curious about he change in Aamori's voice, but he didn't want to ask. He'd heard one like it before once...a long time ago, but he couldn't remember where exactly, or who was speaking.

Celestine looked at her staff and sighed softly, taking it from her since she wouldn't take it away. "...In more ways than one..." he said quietly, opening the shaft the way he had before and taking a small swallow. Surprisingly it did help....a little. "...I heard you complaining." He said simply as he closed the shaft again and handed it back to her before getting to his feet. He held his hand out to her again and then sighed, "...and don't worry about it... I should have known better that to try something like that out here." He was actually surprised with himself. Not that he'd tried doing it, but that he'd actually succeeded.

Kyran laughed softly. "Yes well, I just happened to meet someone else once who sounded just like her." He wasn't as cautious with his wording now, since she'd apparently known what he was meaning before. He slid his hands from his pockets and gently crossed them in front of his chest as he looked at her, quirking a brow when she started rubbing the side of her head. "...You alright? Not going to go fainting on me now are you?"

LaRae smiled lightly. "She has always had a little talent in taking care of others though, not necessarily in healing like Hikari. When we were little she wanted to be like Hikari actually. Sometime after I got my mark, that all changed for her and she started to be less and less interested in learning any major healing magic." She paused sighing softly. "I could tell she was still interested in it, but something or someone was keeping her from learning what she wanted to. Like all of sudden she had to study only one thing. So in her spare time she practiced the basics, like how to wrap my wings. Then a little while after that we stopped being allowed to see each other on a regular basis. It was a little weird, it was like suddenly I wasn't good enough to be around her." She shook her head slightly. "I never really got a good answer to why everything changed so suddenly. Though, I doubt it really matters now."

Aamori took her staff back when he handed it to her and started to place it back in her holster. She looked up at Celestine after he got to his feet and stared at his out stretched hand. "...Complaining? About what?" She honestly couldn't remember anything that she had thought about that could be considered 'complaining'. She sighed softly, shaking her head and climbing to her feet. "You don't need to go over exerting yourself so soon... Thank you though." Once to her feet she dusted herself off a bit. She would have said something about his last comment, how he should have known better but kept her mouth shut.

Hikari blinked and looked back at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean? Of course not." she glanced at her hand and lowered it, "It's a bit on a nervous habit." she said simply, "Don't worry about it." she sighed and glanced ahead of them again. "This is turning out to be quite the little group we have here..."

Nanashi smiled at first, though it faded quickly. "...Hmm..." he sighed softly, "...I don't know..." he said quietly, taking her hand again in his gently. "...I'm sure there's a reason...and I doubt it has to do with you..." he said softly. He gave her hand a squeeze and offered her a weak smile. "...Have you ever asked her?" he asked softly.

Celestine sighed quietly and shook his head. "I'm going to stop offering." he said simply, "...and I meant...about the echo...and who else has it." he said without coming right out and saying she was an elder...or going to be. "...Kind of surprising...you're not much older than I am." He glanced away again and rubbed his head one more time. "...I doubt I will ever be doing that again...Your thoughts are safe..." He had no cares to knock himself out to get inside Aamori's head. It was too confusing.

Kyran nodded slightly, giving a small sigh. "Alright, if you say so." He looked away from Hikari and stared off into the distance. "We do have an interesting group don't we?" He paused. "So far we've got a Royal, an Elder and a Dragon Half. I'm not sure if it can get any more diverse then that..." He shook his head softly before looking up at the sky, seeing how late it was starting to get. The sun was still high, but it would start to fall soon. They'd been walking so much, and talking that he hadn't realised until now what time it was. As he saw it, if they got going again in the next few minutes and walked a little faster then before they might just make it to the forest before night fall. They weren't really all that far away at the moment. He brought his eyes back down and glanced over at Hikari, smiling softly. "We don't have a whole lot more to go before we arrive at the Northern forest."

LaRae smiled and looked over at Nanashi when she felt him take her hand again. "This is the first I've seen Aamori in nearly six years... I haven't had a chance to talk to her about anything from our childhood." She paused letting her eyes trail off to the side. "I don't really want to ask her about it... I guess I'm a little afraid to hear the answer." She thought for a moment and then started to look back up at him, with a faint hint of a smirk on her face. "You know what Nanashi... I've been talking about myself for nearly a day. How come you don't really talk about yourself?" She questioned, having realized that she didn't know a whole lot about him. Whereas he knew almost everything about her already.

Aamori looked away, her eyes practically glued to the ground after realizing what he was talking about. "Oh..." She paused, with a small sigh. "...Then I take it I was thinking about my secret. Well... I suppose it isn't much of a secret anymore." She forced a weak smile while staying quiet for a moment. "I won't even technically be an Elder for awhile. I've got years of training to go through still." She shifted her glance and started to lift her eyes, but stopped. "I created that other persona I have, to try and lead a normal life. What ever normal is... It's kind of hard making it through everyday when you're told the rest of your life is all planned out for you... and that your whole existence was planned from square one by breeding the best of the best until there was a success; In others words a child who had the Elder attributes." She finally stopped talking, having realised that she didn't need to go into all that detail. She sighed heavily and looked up at Celestine, rather sheepishly for the first time ever. "...Sorry... I guess you didn't need to listen to all of that..."

Hikari smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Indeed..." she said when he referred to their mix-matched group. She was quiet for a moment, glancing back toward Celestine and Aamori again for a moment before looking away again. She turned her attention back to Kyran again when he spoke and laughed softly, "Good...I'm beat." she said simply. "I really hope we find it there... I just want to see what the thing looks like."

Nanashi smiled weakly. "Understandable." he said quietly when she said she was afraid of the answer. He blinked when she asked why he didn't talk about himself and then looked away shyly. "...What is there to day? I'm...fairly self explanatory. I'm half fire dragon, half human...I wander wherever I want. I can't do magic for the life of me, I have absolutely no idea why I am on this trip with all of you..." He offered her a weak smile, "...What else is there to tell?" He hadn't told her anything that she didn't already know. "...That's basically my life story...in simple words..." He said simply as he glanced away once more.

Celestine just looked at her as he listened and shook his head slightly. "...It's fine... I told you before...if you needed to talk, I'll listen." Or at least he thought he's said that before. He couldn't quite remember exactly. He glanced away, crossing his arms over his chest. "...Who is the judge of normality? I think a normal life is...whatever comes natural." he said simply. He glanced toward her again and then sighed, "Though you are slightly easier to talk to when you don't sound as if you're in a cave."

Kyran took a moment to look back and see what everyone else was doing. Seeing that Celestine and Aamori were both on their feet now, he figured they could go ahead and start walking again. He wasn't one to yell unless he had to, he didn't care too much for raising his voice. But considering the distance between everyone and rather then walk up to each and every last one of them he resorted to speaking up. "Hey! We're going to start walking again!" He yelled out loud enough for everyone to hear him. He coughed a bit once he stopped and turned back around. He hadn't had to use his voice like that in awhile. He started to walk again, at a slightly faster pace then before. He sighed softly and continued on with what conversation he and Hikari were having. "I hope we find the relic there too. I'm ready to pass this off to someone else more then I am curious to know what the damn thing looks like..."

LaRae listened to everything that he said and simply sighed heavily. She was about to open her mouth but was cut off by what Kyran yelled out. She shook her head lightly and started to walk. After a few moments she went to open her mouth again. "If I'd known you were going to give me the readers digest version then I could've shortened everything I've told you about me..." She said quietly coming to the conclusion that she'd probably have to ask him specific questions to get proper answers.

Aamori looked up at him with a weak smile. "I can't very well help the way my voice sounds at the moment... I still have not regained enough energy to change my voice back." She sighed softly shifting her glance towards Kyran and Hikari when she heard what he said. "Well, it looks like we're going already. Are you going to be alright?" She asked waiting on him before she'd start walking again. "...I didn't want to be an Elder, or rather become one. It wasn't something that interested me. Though, when you're born with the attributes you don't really have a choice. Unfortunately only so many of us are born every so often. So if one of us rejected our so called 'Destiny' the Clan would go without an Elder until another one was born and trained. It would put every single generation of our Clan's Elders out of whack." She paused looking away again. "...So if I were to deny my 'Destiny' they would have to replace me with someone from the next generation. Which would in turn leave a gap in that following generation, so on and so forth. Another reason why the Elders in training are told to protect their identity at all costs when outside of the clan. If a rivaling clan found out about one of us, and killed us... they'd be ruining a generation of Elders." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Unfortunately, I've screwed myself terribly. Too many people know now... or have an idea rather."

Hikari rubbed one ear after Kyran yelled back to the others and looked back to him again. Once they started walking again and he resumed the conversation she smiled weakly. "...Yes, yes, I know." she said softly, "I am sure we'll each feel the same way when it's our turn..." She reached over to him and patted his arm gently before letting her hand drop back to her side.

Nanashi glanced off toward Kyran when he heard him yell and then sighed as he started moving obediently, still clinging to LaRae's hand. His ears laid back a little at her comment and his eyes fell to the ground. "...I don't know...what yo want to know." he said quietly, "...No one's ever asked before... where do I start?" He sighed quietly and glanced back to her for just a moment before looking away again. "...I can't remember...a lot of things..."

Celestine nodded to her to let her know that he was fine and then turned to start walking, quickening his pace a little to match the new speed as he listened to Aamori talk. "Hmm...I see..." he said. He was silent for a moment and then shook his head. "...I think you'll be fine..." he tried to assure her after her last comment. "...I have no cares to bring up the subject to anyone if nothing else for lack of desire explaining all of this." he glanced over to her. "...I honestly don't even see why the clans depend on the elders so much... I know they're there for guidance, but..." he shook his head again. It was clear that Celestine thought fairly differently from most dragons. Unlike almost anyone else..he had little respect at all for the Elders. To him they were just old people that rose to power for some silly reason. Then again, Celestine didn't have a whole lot of respect for anyone, not even himself.

Kyran looked over at her when she patted his arm and smiled softly. "If anything, I am at least a little curious to know what the thing looks like. Let alone how I'm supposed to know what it is, when I find it." He turned his head and looked back in front of him. "Do you have any ideas since you've done so much reading?"

LaRae didn't look at him right away, not quite sure how to respond to what he said. She finally gave a small sigh and brought her eyes up to look at him. "...If you can't remember anything then I guess it's alright. You don't have to tell me what you don't know." She paused gently squeezing his hand. "You know... Just because I'm a little open with the things that happened to me in my life, doesn't mean you have to be... So if you don't want to talk about anything you don't have to." She really wasn't even sure what to ask him, or where to have him start. She just randomly chose somewhere to start when she was talking about her life and it all kind of unraveled from there until she'd spoken about nearly everything.

Aamori smiled softly after hearing him say she'd be fine. Oddly enough just hearing that made her feel a little better about everything that had been found out. She looked over at him, and shook her head slightly. "In my Clan the Elders aren't just there for guidance. That's only one facet of what they can do. Hence the years and years of training." She paused. "Since I'm in training, I won't actually become an Elder until I've finished the training. The training is only over when a previous Elder declares it." She sighed lightly. "It's a little annoying, but the way things work within my Clan an Elder can't just 'rise to power for some silly reason' We've actually got to work for it and earn it. If the previous Elder never declares that we're good enough then we stay in training until we've pleased the Elder."

Hikari glanced at him, a little surprised at the question. "Well..." she thought for a few moments, "I was reading one document a long time ago...but part of it had been scratched out so it was hard to finish. It was an account of the battle between the dragons and Vahagn. I know the popular story today is that the clans joined together...which may be so, I'm not sure how much of that could be taken literally, but that document made it sound as if there were only seven." She furrowed her brow slightly, trying to remember exactly what else it had said. "It said something along the lines of 'the seven elements of dragons were sealed inside seven...' I'm not sure what the next word was...it looked like it might have said spheres, but it was really hard to tell; someone had scribbled over it." she gave him a weak smile, her ears laying back slightly. "...Sorry...that's not too helpful."

Nanashi glanced back over to her shyly. "...I know..." he said quietly. Really though...it was only fair that he tell her something after everything she'd told him. Finally, he slipped his hand into his pocket again and slowly pulled out the beautiful crimson and amethyst scale. For a moment he just held it in his closed fist before slowly holding it over toward LaRae and uncurling his fingers for her to see. "...It...is my mother's." he said quietly, glancing away. "...When I was little...I was always fascinated by...well everything about her. I especially loved her scales." he smiled weakly, "I guess I must have kept on about them...until she gave me one. I've kept it with me ever since then." He ran his thumb over the top of the scale, "...It's still warm...it never gets cold." After a moment he started to lower his hand, looking away from her shyly. "...I know...it's kind of silly that I've kept the thing all these years... I guess it's not hat special, just...well...it is to me."

Celestine simply nodded as he listened. "...I'm not even sure how the elders are chosen in my clan...or what they do. I've never even seen one of them before to venture a guess." In general his people tended to be some of the most frivolous of any, but they were also seclusive and pretty mysterious. They would much rather play as fight, which was probably why most of them were so easily overtaken by the Earth clan when attacked; they hadn't even expected something like that. "...I will never understand my clan... and I don't even want to try. They're...senseless." Or at least they were the complete opposite of him.

Kyran listened quietly to everything Hikari had said and nodded his head slightly. He was starting to believe that she may have read nearly everything, about anything. He hadn't been expecting her to know anything that could possibly answer his question. He just thought he'd ask and see where it went from there. He looked over at her and smiled softly. "That's pretty amazing, ya' know; How you can remember these things you've read." He said quietly before going silent again for a few moments while he thought. He wasn't all too sure on exactly how the child's story went anymore but he found it hard to believe that it could actually be true, at least in some instances. If he remembered correctly, the child's story was pretty vague on the exact number of dragons that defeated the God named Vahagn, but it did state that they joined together. So at least the fact that this tiny group was so diverse matched the story a bit. There was one member of every clan, which made seven. Which then matched the document that Hikari had read. He finally sighed heavily and brought his hand up from his pocket and rubbed the side of his head slightly. "It is helpful, just not necessarily in the way I was hoping." He paused lowering his hand back down into his pocket. "It may not give any major descriptions into what we're looking for exactly, but it does show some similarities to the child's story... Which might help to better explain why we have one member of each clan in this group. Rather then a random selection of dragons from certain clans." He paused, starting to confuse himself a little. Did everything he thought really make sense to him? Or was he just linking everything together in hopes that it would eventually make sense? He gave a heavy sigh and lowered his eyes.

LaRae glanced over at his hand as he started to lift it up and show her something. Her eyes just kind of stared at the scale for a few moments until he started to pull his hand back. She remembered catching sight of that the night before, but she hadn't put two and two together and figured out exactly what it was. Well she knew it was a dragons scale, she had them too after all but she hadn't realised who it belonged to. She started to look back up at him and smiled softly. "...It's beautiful." She said simply. She'd never really seen a fire dragon scale up close like that, the colors; She thought were pretty. Far nicer then her golden brown ones. She still looked at him and shook her head lightly. "No, it isn't silly." She paused. "It's nice that you have something special like that to remember your mother. Something that holds a special meaning to you." She continued to look away, keeping her mouth shut this time; Not wanting to talk about herself any longer. Though, she wished she had something to remember her real birth parents by. Even just a fond memory would be nice, but she couldn't even manage that. She couldn't remember anything about them, not even what they looked like or how their voices sounded. The whole thought was a little depressing and she didn't think it should be brought up.

Aamori glanced over at him. "I wouldn't know anything about the Elders of my Clan either, except for well... I am going to be one and it's required that I learn everything about them." She shifted her glance back out in front of her and smiled softly. "I bet you wouldn't guess that the Elders in my Clan are trained in hand to hand combat, along with weapons..." She paused, nearly choking on her words; Again she was giving information that she shouldn't. Though, she felt like he wouldn't tell. He said he wouldn't. She shrugged lightly. "Every single one of our Elders, including the ones in training are incredibly strong. Not many other Clans know of that, so our Elders are like the secret weapon against everyone else. It's kind of weird in a way and I'm not sure I understand it. You know, why we're trained to be so special. But it's not my job to understand it at this point, I'm just supposed to do as I'm told." She slowly started to look back over at him. "...You don't have to understand your own Clan. I doubt any of us really do. You just accept them for the way they are, and live to the best of your ability."

Hikari smiled weakly, "Well, I read it because I am interested... I don't usually forget things that I'm interested in. Now if that were a cook book I couldn't tell you a single thing that it said." she laughed weakly, "Reading is about all I do in my spare time...when I'm being good." she said with another quiet laugh. She sighed and looked over to him again with a weak smile. "...I somehow believe...that the relics would not be able to be obtained if the group were not like this. Most of the rest of that document was scratched out, I believe it was talking more about the relics, but I couldn't make any of it out at all."

Nanashi smiled when she said that the scale was beautiful. He was glad that someone agreed with that. He slowly brought his eyes back to her again as he closed the scale in his hand again and tucked it back into his pocket again. "...Yeah... It's about all I have..." he said quietly, glancing away again. He could very vaguely remember his mother's face and voice, but even day the memories seemed to get dimmer and dimmer. "...I can't even remember her name... she was always just 'mother.'" He sighed, "...Niamh never referred to her by name, she only called her 'my mother.' She wouldn't even acknowledge her as her own sister anymore...but she still took me in after...after she was killed." he scoffed and glared at the ground, "It was 'the only civil thing she could do.'" he said simply, obviously repeating what he'd been told. The woman obviously hadn't wanted him.

Celestine nodded again as she spoke about her elders again. "I see...interesting." he said quietly, "I suppose I will have to remember that." He'd like to keep in mind that she could fight decently just in case he really pissed her off again. He sighed when she said that you had to live to the best of your abilities. "I suppose... for me that is as far away from most as them as possible." He shook his head, "...I can't live around them anymore."

Kyran laughed softly. "Cook books don't make you a good cook. So it's nearly pointless to remember what's in the books." He spoke from experience, surprisingly. He actually knew how to cook, and it was a hobby of his. Not to mention his little sister always asked him to cook for her. "Well, reading is a good hobby to have. At least you're very knowledgeable." He sighed softly half nodding in agreement to her comment about not being able to obtain the relics without this group like this. "I'm a bit curious to know what happened to the document, if so much of it's scratched out." He paused and glanced over at her. "But at least we know a little more now then we did before, I'm really glad you've read parts of that document." He stated, giving her a warm smile.

LaRae sighed softly after hearing a bit more about his mother. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to him. In her eyes he was lucky to at least have known his mother, and aunt; Even if she didn't want to take care of him. That was a lot more then she ever had. She was handed off to a family she didn't even know who practically treated her like cattle. She had no memories of anything before her adopted family and wished she had. Even just a name or face would have been enough for her. She stared off to the side. "...I'm sorry..." She gave a small sigh, still unsure of what to say to him. Even saying sorry felt a bit pointless to her, but she couldn't think of anything else.

Aamori chuckled lightly and looked over at him. "You won't have to worry about remembering it, so long as you don't go calling me a 'demented water snake' again." If anything she had a pretty good memory, not to mention being called something like that wasn't exactly going to just fade from her memory quickly. It was just about the first negative name she'd been called by someone outside of her Clan. Though at the moment she didn't really hold it against him, she clearly wasn't upset about it anymore either. She shifted her eyes back in front of her. "...So, why can't you live around them anymore? They are your clan after all..." She asked quietly, a bit curious to know the answer.

Hikari smiled slightly as she looked back to him again. "...Sometimes it pays to be knowledgeable... other times it's a pain." she said with a slight laugh. "...As I said, the document was very old... I'm sure someone scratched out the majority of the parts about the relics to avoid the possibility that they might be found by someone else... That is the best answer that I could come up with at least.

Nanashi looked over to her when she apologized and then shook his head. "...It...doesn't matter." he stared at her for a moment. "...I know...you lost your parents as well... That's why I preferred to...stay away from the topic." he tried to smile and failed as he put a finger under her chin. "...You wouldn't look that way if the subject didn't make you think of it..." He knew she wouldn't look so downcast over the death of his mother.

Celestine almost smiled at that, "Then don't act like one." he said simply. It really wasn't that horrible of an insult he knew, so he could tell by her initial reaction that she was not used to being insulted. "Don't expect special treatment just because you're higher on the social ladder than I am. If you get on my nerves again I may come up with a better one." His voice was not spiteful...he almost sounded humored. When she asked why he couldn't live around there anymore he just sighed. "...Because...I just can't stand to be around them..." he was quiet for just a moment. "...It's all a mask... they rebuilt everything just the way it was before... only now there is a massive cemetery nearby... That ground is stained...all I see there is blood and bodies everywhere... They all want to just forget...and I can't... I can never forget what they did to us..." H closed his eyes for a second as he added, "...I am not as forgiving as they try to be... They'll just ignore it and wait until they try it again... They never learn."

Kyran nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. Though I'm not entirely sure why there was even such a document to begin with if these relics were to be hidden and kept safe until a time like now." He looked up and smiled slightly. The Northern forest was finally starting to come into view. He lifted his hand and pointed towards it. "It's been quite a long time since I've been out this far, I'd nearly forgotten exactly how big this one forest was." He laughed softly as he started to lower his hand. "It won't take us too much longer to get there, thankfully."

LaRae sighed heavily and slowly looked at him when he placed his finger under her chin. "...I doubt you can considering it losing your parents when you don't remember ever having them..." She mumbled shifting her eyes away again. She was quiet for a moment longer before opening her mouth to speak. "...But I am sorry about her death Nanashi. I can't even begin to imagine how it must have felt to lose possibly the only person in your life to fully accept you for who you are..."

Aamori shook her head laughing softly. "Tell me Celestine, if I expected 'special treatment' Do you really think I'd have kept my identity a secret?" She smirked a little. "As I'm sure I stated once before, I didn't want to be an Elder in training. I'd be much happier being a commoner, at least then I could've followed my original course of study." She glanced over at him with the same smirk still on her face. "But don't worry little boy, I know how to play nice. I'll be on my best behavior and try not to act like a water snake." She laughed softly again, looking away. "And it sounds to me like you hold a grudge against both Clan's..." She paused. "I couldn't blame your clan for wanting to piece everything back together and go on like nothing ever happened. It must be hard on them, either way."

Hikari laughed weakly, "I think my people have a weakness for trying to document everything. Someone probably went back and edited it later so that it didn't give too much away." She looked ahead of them and her jaw dropped slightly. "Wow...this place is...huge." she said as she glanced around. She smiled slightly when he said that it wouldn't be much longer. "That's a relief..."

Nanashi nodded weakly, but still tried to offer her a weak smile. "...I only lost one...the other made a run for it before I even hatched." he sighed and looked away. "...I was there...when it happened. I was too young to remember much, but...I remember it was storming badly..." He shivered slightly as he stared off at the ground with a haunted look on his face. After a second he snapped out of it and sighed. He guessed that was why he still hated storms. He thought about that every single time he heard a loud roll of thunder. "...That's about it." he said shortly. He remembered other things apparently, though not many... He remembered enough to scar him for life.

Celestine shrugged at her comments though he growled quietly when she called him 'little' at least she used boy after it unlike most idiots. He knew he was small, so the effect of that insult was lessening the more it was used, though it was still annoying. He let it go and looked back to her. "...I could see that...but in doing that they're only asking for them to try again..." he looked away, growling quietly. "...What I feel toward those murdering bastards goes way beyond a grudge..." he grumbled quietly as he glared at the ground, an expression of open hatred on his face. He was trying his best not to look over at LaRae when he said that. He knew that LaRae was too young to have been involved...but she'd get older and she could turn on any of them just as easily as she could summon one of those godforsaken roots.

Kyran laughed a bit seeing her reaction to the forest. "This is nothing compared to the ones in the Earth Clan Territory." He commented before looking back ahead of him. "I take it you're getting tired Hikari?" He asked after hearing her say it was relief. He was rather tired himself, though a full day or walking could do that to you. After all the walking he was ready to sit down and actually take his boots off; He'd yet to really relax that much any of the times they'd stopped previously.

LaRae looked over at him while he continued mentioning a few more things. She looked away briefly when he looked at the ground, his expression saying more then words every could. Once he spoke again she looked back over at him. She sighed softly, half wondering what was better; Remembering how your parent(s) died or not even knowing if they died or not. She'd never even been told if her mother and father had died, so she always held a small sliver of hope that they might be alive. Though, her adopted family loved to step all over that hope when ever they had the chance. She sighed once more before taking a deep breath. She reached over and latched onto his arm, nuzzling her head against it. "Well, thank you for telling me. Sorry if that brought back bad memories..."

Aamori looked at him and shook her head. "All that hate will be the death of you someday." She stated simply. Unfortunately she could completely understand why he hated the Earth clan, so there wasn't very much she could say to argue against him. "I know you don't care but not every single Earth dragon is like the ones from that dream. Just like I know that not every Fire dragon or Thunder dragon is going to attack a Water dragon. Not everyone is bad..." She paused, sighing heavily. "Not to mention the individuals that attacked, a few of them probably didn't want to... It was probably an order from higher up and when you're a warrior you don't disobey an order no matter how you feel about it." She finally stopped talking and went quiet, avoiding eye contact with him. She wasn't trying to make sense of what the Earth clan did, and in no way did she approve of it but she didn't believe that every Earth dragon was deserving of his hatred; At least not without a good reason and just because they're from that clan wasn't a good enough reason in her eyes.

Hiakri smiled weakly, "Yes...My feet are killing me." she said simply. She sighed and looked back to the forests. "Yes...well I meant it was huge for this area... Oh...I almost dread the Earth territory... I hope I don't get lost in there." That seemed to be all she was ever afraid of; getting lost. "There is a large forest in my territory, but it's nothing like these." she smiled slightly, glancing over toward him, "I think you will be surprised when you see it." She seemed pretty sure they would be going that way.

Nanashi looked back over to LaRae when she latched onto his arm and offered her a very small smile. "...I owed you at least one story..." he said softly, "...It's alright." He raised his free hand and gently ran his fingers across her cheek before looking ahead again briefly. "Oh.... Looks like we're almost there."

Celestine sighed and lowered his eyes to the ground. "...It may be the death of me someday..." he agreed, "...Not that that would matter... I would only be one more." He looked back to Aamori for a moment, "...Someone who blindly follows orders is no better than the one issuing them. ...Someone's word is not worth someone else's life. I don't care if they wanted to do what they were doing or not....they took everything that I cared for, even some of my memories." He just looked away again and finally did look over in LaRae's direction. "...When one proves me wrong...I may change my mind."