Their Beginning

They made their way up with ease, Kaida flying Lia up to the plateau of the tree house. A charming little home made from different wooden planks and panels. Ray appeared from inside the house by opening one of those wooden screen doors.

"What— how did you get in there?" Lia pointed past the doorway. Ray couldn't fly... right?

His smug looking mug sure didn't help any. He said nothing, letting her guess how he got up here faster than them.

"That wolfking spirit of yours, it doesn't give you the power to fly or sprout wings does it?" She questioned, "'Cause I'm almost fully certain wolves don't come with flying appendages."

Ray's teasing expression caved a little with a chocked laugh before a more sincere smile formed on his face, "No, I can't fly and most certainly can't make wings sprout from my back like Kaida does." He moved aside so the two standing on the deck could come in.

Lia made her way inside first, it was a wonderfully cozy home, though a tad dusty and dirty. Ray took a seat on an old green armchair while Kaida just planted herself on the ground.

Even if Lia now knows the wolf didn't have wings, that still hadn't answered her initial question, "Then how–"

"Oh, we got a crystal," Kaida jumped in, "one that can teleport you a small distance. We didn't want people to have easy access to our home so there's no stairs or ladders– as I'm sure you've noticed."

She actually hadn't noticed, being too busy freaking out about the cliff to really take in the big tree. Then when Kaida started flying her up she only focused on holding onto the girl that was carelessly dangling her high above solid ground.

One thing the dragon mage just said didn't make much sense to her though. "You didn't want people to have easy access so instead of a rough climb up a massive tree or endless steps of stairs you gave them a straight and effortless way to get in here?"

Maybe she shouldn't try calling out the people offering her help, they could get agitated or—

A wicked grin graced Kaida's features, "Only if they know the right spell and of course–" she held up her pointer finger before directing it toward Lia– "that's only useful if they know there is a ZuZum crystal at all."

"I see." There are different crystals for different problems then.

Talking about a problem, "Now—" Lia gestured at the small levitating creature that had slowly made it's way towards Kaida's side— "What in the name of Orion is that?"

Pointing at the thing seemed like a bad move since the small black– whatever it was– suddenly shot towards Lia, stopping right before her face.

"Oh, meet Ipo, my little buddy from the shadows," Kaida introduced.

'Little buddy' would be accurate enough, the ash black creature before her surely wasn't a normal animal, nor magical creature. Two big eyes stared back at her, the white spots, if it even were eyes, looked excited to meet her.

"Eh, right." Let's not be rude, "Nice to meet you Ipo," she smiled, still a bit perplexed. Ipo didn't seem to mind, instead taking interest in her long locks of hair, regarding it unsuspectingly gentle.

Ipo was about the size of her hand, shaped like a raindrop with tiny limbs she could only describe as 'if someone would've hastily drawn arms and legs on the floating thing'. Despite the odd looks of Ipo, she somehow found the small shadow creature quite adorable.

It didn't mean any harm, a curious creature, sure, but no evil seemed to radiate from this 'Ipo'.

And Ipo seemed to be their pet... friend? "Did you take good care of the house while we were gone?" Kaida asked, Ipo immediately turned and flew straight into the fluffy white streak of Kaida's Hair.

So it was a usual thing, Ipo messing with her hair wasn't weird then, maybe he liked how it was longer than Kaida's wild sidecut...

They weren't talking about hair though, "Normally Ipo follows Kaida everywhere," Ray started, "but the rascal doesn't get along with Bartholomew and avoids Alveena's shop like it's on cursed land."

The tiny frog facing off against Kaida's companion is a pretty funny thought...

Her eyes followed Kaida as she got up from the ground, walking towards what looked like an open kitchen, "So Lia, you wouldn't happen to remember if you knew how to cook anything?"

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Ray was uneasy, the girl they ever so casually brought home was acting very different from when she'd just woken up.

Granted, he was glad she wasn't so panicked she felt like decking him in the face in an attempt to escape the situation, but he can't say he felt as easy as his sister seemingly did.

But then of course Kaida would ask the traumatized stranger if she knew how to cook.

Vlekim numskull.

Lia didn't seem to be offended in the slightest, which was a good thing right?

"I can't say I remember any previous cooking skills, but I guess I can try?" The girl answered, getting Ipo all too happy. The little creature shot itself through the air to quickly grab a ladle and give it to the now pretty flustered girl.

She didn't know this, but Ipo loved to watch and help people prepare food. Since it was not his, nor his sister's favorite task a tiny joyful assistant in the kitchen actually helped quite a bit.

Lia politely took the ladle even if she seems a bit confused as to why Ipo had even given it to her, if Ray thought she was just going to handle it like a normal human he'd be very wrong.

Because she started wielding the thing like it was some kind of weapon!

Not even jokingly either, not from the serious look on her face or the actual skill she handled the improvised weapon with.

What the—

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Kaida knew it!

She knew this was a good idea!

The girl had some kind of air about her, there was more to this forgetful pretty missy then she let on.

Jay's surprise about them helping a complete stranger was justified, it was very unusual for her and her idiot brother to bother with other people's problems. But this random girl— there was something pulling her in.

And Kaida's gut was even proven right when Alvee revealed her spirit, along with the failed prophecy she could still turn out to be a part of. Something bigger Kaida could also play a part in, íf Lia needed the support.

Earlier today she thought Lia was a confused and shy girl with a strong punch, now however...

"You're handling that thing like a seasoned warrior," she observed, "Any chance you were some pro weapon expert so skilled anything they touched could be deadly?" She couldn't even hide the excitement in her voice.

It was a bit shocking to say the least, but it also seemed just as startling to Lia.

She snapped out of whatever concentration she had and looked at the ladle without moving it around like it was a dangerous sword.

Should Kaida be disappointed Ipo didn't hand her the cleaver?

"Sorry, I just—" Lia said, though the sentence broke off in thought, "Actually I don't know what that was."

Ray finally found his words, "Well we were already aware you have some kind of natural instinct to fight."

The girl gasped, "Oh I forgot!" Lia exclaimed rather loudly, "I'm sorry for punching you Ray, earlier I said I was glad that I didn't hurt any of the others as well but forgot to actually apologize to you."

Kaida had to hold in a chuckle.

Ray wasn't handling the sudden apology much better, looking pretty awkward already.

"'S fine," He mumbled, clearly a tad uncomfortable, oh such a poor soul.

Eager to change the attention to a different topic Ray asked if Lia did actually want to try prepare a meal.

The girl almost looked confident when she told him she'd see what she can do.

Sweet, no time in the kitchen for Kaida!

"So long as you don't burn the house down anything you make should probably be fine, use whatever you can scavenge from the pantry." Kaida dismissed her and Ipo to the other side of the room, where the modest kitchen was located.

Yeah their home was pretty small, they'd been living there since before she was even 11 years old. When they arrived in Miklion without a home or caretakers the guild in town decided to help them onto their feet.

Even now the Blue Ficus was a place of familiarity and rough kindness.

They didn't know every member since they liked to keep to themselves more, but most of the regular mages and heads of the guild knew them well.

Wonder if we should bring Lia sometime...

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Even if the dragon girl hadn't stayed inside while she tried to cook dinner, Ray did stay around.

And the guy kept staring at her work, which was kind of getting on her nerves.

What did he expect? For her to toss a ladle at his face and bolt out of here proving she was playing into their misplaced trust all along?

Yeah, she knew distrust when she saw it, the wolfking spirited seated a little ways away was suspicious of her.

Guess she couldn't really blame him, but somehow it still hurt.

What didn't hurt was this little shadow-something helping her around the kitchen.

Ipo knew where everything was and brought different ingredients together for her to use, as well as tools and what she guesses are spices. Ipo was a kind creature, much to her delight.

It didn't even take that long to put something together that looked as good as it smelled.

So she could cook, great.

After awkwardly announcing whatever she just made should be ready soon Ray got off his seat from across the room and headed towards her. He must have been curious because instead of saying anything as a reply he just stared at the food and sniffed the air.

"I'll get the plates," he announced without commenting on the food.

So she was a bad cook, great.

Well, their fault for trusting an empty brained stranger with their kitchen.

A shrill whistle sounded through the house and beyond, Ray being a likely source, probably calling Kaida back in.

Even if she was right thinking about Kaida returning she still jumped when the girl half-crashed through the house– not actually taking anything down with her, but it scared the spirits right out of her.

However Ray looked painfully unimpressed, "You can never just come in like a normal person, now can you idiot." That wasn't even a question, she must always be like this then.

Totally ignored by his sister, Kaida walked up to her instead, wearing a bright grin.

"Something smells good," she excitedly remarked.

"Right, I think dinner is ready." Lia wouldn't even comment on her entrance, she just wanted to get to eating what she just made– she was really hungry after preparing the meal and it was already getting dark.

Something in the way she worded it must have raised some doubt though, "You think?" The shorter girl repeated.

Right... well, how should she know. For all she knew she'd never actually cooked before, though this seemed too easy for her to be the first time.

"Yes I think so, can't say I know for sure but it looks done–" she glanced over at the food, "–ish..."

Kaida walked up to investigate before letting out a pretty pleased sound, "Looks fine to me, let's eat!"

Now came the kicker, once everything was set up who would take the first bite?

Kaida being the brave– apparently very hungry– soul she was dug into the food on her plate almost immediately. Lia got nowhere studying her expression, so was it good or not?

"Ray," the dragon girl began, "I don't think you'll be able to eat this, it's pretty bad."

Okay well that was harsh.

She continued, "So how about you give me your portion and you ca—" she started grabbing for his plate and Ray called Merpshit— "Okay I see how it is," he grumbled, looking Kaida straight in the eyes before taking a massive bite.

"Wow that's actually really good," Ray marveled after swallowing the food.

So that was Kaida's plan, that's a pretty big compliment. Then— maybe his nose picked up on something he thought he wouldn't like when he smelled what she made earlier? That must be why he was still a bit surprised even after seeing through Kaida's ruse.

Now much to her own surprise this dinner was not turning out to be the very quiet or awkward affair she thought it'd be.

They talked about the sky island that had crashed down just days ago, some suspected an angry spiritcreature or a blighted one to be the cause. Lia thought that may have been what her shattered thoughts warned her about when approaching the cliff earlier today. Had she been on there?

That had proven to be very likely when the two others said that was where they initially found her.

Getting an uncomfortable feeling she moved on to ask about something else.

First thing coming to mind was Ray's spirit, to which Kaida started explaining while the rest kept eating, "Believe it or not, a spirit like Ray's is actually really rare. Wolves aren't magical beasts, but some of their kings were. When one died, it turned into a star that then plummeted back to earth to this idiot. So gifting him its magic, but since– like I said– wolves don't have any magic, he's able to transform into one instead."

"That sounds complicated," Lia wondered out loud.

Across from her Ray gave a sharp but amused scoff, "Says the girl with the 13th spirit of the zodiac mages."

She hums, not really wanting to delve into that right now so a new thought appeared, "Where do his clothes go?" she directed at Kaida.

The girl chuckled and gestured towards her brother instead of answering, he took the hint and reached into his shirt, pulling out a simple but pretty necklace. "This old thing, my own magic sets it off and it somehow makes my clothes disappear whilst I'm a wolf and thankfully reappear once I'm human."

"But how?" Lia demanded eagerly and maybe a bit too loud.

Kaida huffed a laugh, "Chalk it up to magic or whatever."

"Kaida I've told you— you know, never mind, you never listen anyway," Ray exasperated.

Talking about magic...

"What kind of magic does Ophiuchus give me anyway? I don't have much to go on."

They both seemed to consider the question for a bit before Kaida started talking, "Well I dunno, maybe something snakey?" she obviously joked with a teasing edge to her tone.

"Kaida—!" Still managed to get on Ray's nerves though.

At least it made her smile throughout dinner.

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Thank you so much for reading, I am aware of my slow pace but I hope you'll stick around.

I also try not to describe the looks of my characters too much, I would like to give people the chance to fill that in a bit for themselves but if you are curious you can see some of them illustrated on my instagram: ipo_artist