Garren snatched his hand back from his apprentice, giving him a dirty look. The Leo sat back down that the table, gesturing at the seat next to him. The deep stone bowls had been mysteriously refilled with the steaming broth. Ash, trying to look inconspicuous picked up the bowl in front of him and started slurping noisily.

Garren looked back down the hallway Ash had come dashing out of and paced in a circle, taking a deep breath. Suddenly he charged forward, slamming his hands on the table in front of Ash, splashing hot broth onto the table from the other bowl.

“What’s going on, Ash? What did you do down there?” Garren's face was less than a foot away from Ash’s. Ash leaned forward until his whiskers brushed Garren's pale cheek.

“Please, I will tell you about it later,” Ash whispered, his yellow eyes still wide. Garren looked into his tense furry face, confusion overcoming his anger.

Garren pushed back from the table and started off toward the hallway

“No, please! Just- just sit down.” Ash pleaded with his Master, the desperation making him stop.

Garren groaned, not wanting to give up on this mystery just yet, but Ash’s strange behavior caught him off guard. With a final angry glare at his young companion, Garren crossed back over to the sturdy table, huffing down into the chair with a snort.

Garren and Ash both picked up their bowls, and drank deeply of the broth.

“I hope the bad attitude isn’t intended for me…” The voice was deep and raspy, but soothing and her black eyes shimmered and shone as she stepped into the round room now ablaze with two of the orbs.