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The Four Cities

If ever you had a conversation with a citizen of Arlithian they would probably give you the impression that the four cities of Arlithian was a massive place. And if ever you were to visit you would perhaps still be surprised with the cities massive size no matter what tall tales they had told you for Arlithian had quite a few things to be proud of and its size was only one of them.

Besides its size and population Arlithian also lacked crime. While a lot of men and women were hanged daily in Kirathain criminals in Arlithian were far less. Which was perhaps due to criminals in Kirathain being punished the same way regardless of crime while Arlithians law was far more complex and brutal with five different ways of capital punishment.

And then there were the two things which Arlithian peasants were most proud of, the first being religion. Nearly everyone in the city of Arlithian followed the same religion and to that religion they were loyal with their very lives. And despite such an amazing amount of loyalty none of the policies or political decrees ever had any religion involved in even the least.

The final thing which Arlithian was proud of was perhaps what they were most known for besides there cities size, the white riders. In Arlithian they are boasted as the greatest knights in the land riding the greatest horses using the greatest weapons whilst wearing the greatest armors. Perhaps it was all a massive exaggeration but still none the less, the white riders were a foe very few men nor women would stand against.

Of course that wasn't to say Arlithian was perfect though. The place still had it's numerous flaws. With the city's size came the burden of higher maintenance, Nobles were aggressive and a lot of politicians were corrupt.

And always it had honored and amazed Nathan to know a girl like Aiva, she was unlike all the other nobles. While most of them_acted_ kind, civilized, etiquette, and intelligent they were really aggressive, vicious, and backstabbing. Aiva was kind to everyone in Arlithian and in return nearly everyone was kind towards her. There were some civilians and nobles who believed she did those kind things just to be more liked for the sake of her own benefit but unlike Nathan they never really knew Aiva like he did. After all, being a good person doesn't need an ulterior motive.

It was a fairly normal day in Arlithian. The numerous buildings were just as gray as the cloudy sky, peasants filled the streets and Reliath was inside his home reading, for he was too afraid to go outside. Ever since he had left his tribe Reliath had spent most of his time reading in this well decorated room with dark red walls, a brown rug, and a window with dark red curtains hung in front of it.

The house was well decorated and had luxuries many could only dream of owning, but Reliath preferred his tribe and his friends. He preferred the cost free fields of grass and a clear blue sky over a closed in home that was well decorated. To be honest, sometimes Reliath would wake up scared when he saw the ceiling because he felt the walls were closing in on him.

And ever since he moved here Reliath's life lacked meaning. He never worked and he barely left the house. In this city he was only one thing, Aiva's handsome but silent husband. Any conversation about Aiva included him and all the time the same things were said.

He was handsome, he spent all his time inside a house, he was mute, and both him and Aiva were lucky to have each other. And Reliath supposed he was lucky to be arranged with a wife as kind as Aiva. For the most part there relationship was very quiet and it wasn't too often they spoke to each other. Aiva loved reading books and Reliath loved reading books, often times there conversations would be about books, Nathan, them, and time after time the orphans, and how Aiva wanted to adopt one of them.

The one conversation which popped up the most besides books though was probably about having a child and what age they should have one. The two of them were both in complete agreement with having a child and back then it was the thing Reliath wanted most in the world second to going back home. And they didn't just want a child, they wanted one soon for neither of them wanted to wait until they were in their twenties or thirties.

After all, Reliath's life had no real purpose besides being 'Aiva's husband' and Aiva's life had no real purpose besides being a kind wealthy girl. The truth was she wanted to work but she couldn't because she didn't have a dick meanwhile Reliath couldn't because his English was limited. Aiva and Nathan both spent time to teach him but it was probably going to take awhile.

And so one night Reliath didn't wear a condom. He wanted a son and Aiva wanted a daughter. They were only sixteen but still they wanted a child more than anything, in the end they hadn't, Aiva wasn't pregnant. They agreed that maybe it was for the better, having a child at that age would shame Aiva's entire family and ruin her reputation. But it still remained that they needed something in their lives. Today Reliath promised that once Aiva came home he'd join her in visiting the orphans.

And for the time being Reliath was perfectly happy with reading a book up until a knock was heard on the door. Reliath got up and carried the book in his paw as he walked to the door soon to greet Nathan in.

'Good afternoon Reliath.' Nathan greeted in his usual polite manner.

'Hi.' Reliath replied smiling as his tail wagged back and fourth at a fair pace.

'Now why doesn't Aiva ever get that reaction?'

'I see Aiva all the time.' Reliath wanted to say a bit more but due to his very limited English he couldn't.

'If you say so. Think we can go to the living room?'

'Yes.' The two of them stepped in the living room and sat down on the floor. It was Reliath who first had this idea because he found sitting on the floor near a friend was better then sitting on furniture and away from them.

Nathan had his legs spread out on the rug as he sat on the floor meanwhile Reliath sat cross legged.

'It must be great having a house.' Nathan commented as they sat down on the floor. Unlike Reliath he still lived with his parents because he wasn't considered 'of age' to have his own home; he wasn't yet married nor was he eighteen.

'I guess.' Reliath replied and scratched his head before asking another question.

'Would you like anything to eat or drink?'

'I guess if you're offering I could use a glass of wine.'

Reliath got up and went to the kitchen meanwhile Nathan scanned the room. While some aged commoners barely had a place they could call home Reliath and Aiva at just the age of sixteen had a very luxurious and well decorated house with two floors. It's sad that quite a few people judged Aiva and Reliath on what they had and not who they were.

And then Nathan heard a loud bang just a room or two away. His head shot up and he stared at the kitchen for at least half a minute.

'Reliath?' Nathan called out.

There was no reply and Nathan had an unsettling feeling wash over him suddenly. What just happened? Nathan's imagination was running rampant and in his minds eye he saw Reliath lying down on the floor with a cracked skull.

'Reliath?' He called again and then it finally came to him that maybe Reliath was in the cellar getting a bottle of wine. Yeah, that loud bang could have been him slamming the cellar door. Hopefully it was just him slamming the cellar door.

Finally Nathan stood up and walked over to the kitchen to investigate what had happened. Luckily Reliath wasn't lying unconscious or dead on the floor so that was cleared up.

Nathan opened the cellar door and gazed down the staircase.

'Reliath?'

'Wine!' Reliath replied and Nathan sat down at the kitchen table, he decided to leave the cellar door open if only to make Reliath's life easier when he came upstairs. Nathan tapped his paws on the table as he waited for Reliath to return.

About a minute later Reliath came up the staircase with an expensive bottle of wine, entered the kitchen, and he slammed the cellar door behind him with a very loud bang following.

'I was actually getting a bit worried about you.' Nathan said as he watched Reliath dig through the cabinets for a wine glass.

'You were?' Reliath asked as he continued digging through the cabinets. Nathan was a bit amused on how Reliath had troubles finding a bottle of wine and a few wine glasses in his own home.

'Yes. You were taking awhile down there and you really slammed that door hard, I thought something bad happened to you.'

Reliath finally found two wine glasses. He set both of them down on the counter and poured the contents of the bottle into the wine glasses.

'I don't drink wine too often, so I wasn't sure what I wanted. This brand had a fancy name so I picked it.'

'So you don't even know if it tastes good?' Nathan asked as Reliath sat the glasses down on the table.

'Not a clue.' Reliath replied as he walked out of the kitchen. Nathan got up off the seat and followed Reliath.

'Where are you going?' Just as Nathan asked Reliath sat down on the living room floor, he had his answer.

'The floor.' Reliath unnecessarily explained three seconds late. Nathan as well sat down on the floor and now the two of them were pretty much in the same positions sitting down the same way they had been before Reliath went down the cellar.

Nathan took his first taste of the wine and soon following Reliath as well took a modest sip from his wine glass. It tasted rather sweet for liquor and Reliath very much liked the taste, Nathan however didn't seem too impressed.

'So where is Aiva anyway?'

'She's out visiting the orphanage.

'Of course she is, I should have known. She's a wonderful woman isn't she?' Nathan took another drink of the wine, he seemed to like it a bit more in his second tasting.

'Uh . . . I guess?'

Nathan chuckled lightly. 'There's no need to be modest.'

Reliath just nodded not really finding Nathans advice useful. He was married to Aiva but he didn't quite know how he felt about her.

'What do you think of I?' Reliath asked.

'I think you're the shyest guy I ever met, but you're nice. I guess if Aiva were a guy she would be you.'

Reliath blushed slightly. 'You really think that?'

Nathan didn't quite expect Reliath to react that way. Funny how a Fox with such blue fur could be so red Nathan thought to himself as he took yet another sip of wine and thought how he could best answer Reliath's question as the sunlight reflected off his wine glass.

'Well, you're kind and . . . why are you blushing?'

Reliath's blushing became even more apparent.

'Do you like me?'

Nathan shot Reliath a queer look.

'Yes, of course I do. You're my brother, right?'

Nathan figured Reliath meant something else, it was quite common for him to make mistakes in the English language. Meanwhile Reliath stopped blushing and he was completely baffled how such an obvious question flew over Nathans head. Reliath finished his glass of wine and got up on his feet.

'Would you like to join I in vis . . . seeing Aiva?'

'Of course I would.' Nathan too finished his wine and placed it on the floor.

'What should I do with the wine glasses?' Nathan asked.

'Just leave them on the floor, I'll clean up the mess later.'

Together the two of them left Reliaths home and walked through the very clustered streets of Arlithian. The buildings for the most part were constructed by granite and all throughout Arlithian they were either grey, dark grey, or black.

Arlithian wasn't the most colourful or happiest of places, but it was certainly impressive. This quarter of the city consisted heavily of canals, towers, and quite a few churches compared to the rest of Arlithian. Oh, and this was the most richest part of the four cities.

'So, which church is Aiva in anyway?' Nathan asked.

'Orphanage.'

'What are you talking about? All the orphans here stay in churches.'

'We're not going to see any orphans here, Aiva is in Alvira.'

'Alvira? What part of Alvira?'

To that Reliath remained silent.

'You don't really know where we're going do you?' Nathan asked after a short pause.

'Besides directions? No clue.'

For a fair amount of time they continued walking having conversations about whether Reliath was actually going the right way, a few lectures on the english language, and how the both of them could use something to eat right about now.

It was when their destination turned out to be some battered and old building that Nathan had fell silent.

'Reliath, there's no way this is the place. Lets go back.' Nathan said in an unusual demanding voice, mostly he gave suggestions, not demands.

'No, this is the place.' Nathan stood still as Reliath walked to the door of the destroyed building. Windows were shattered, bricks were missing, but inside there was the scent of a lot of fellow beasts, something which Nathan was probably trying his best to ignore for reasons perhaps unknown.

'What makes you think that?' Nathan asked.

'I hear kids playing. ' Reliath replied and instead of politely knocking on the door he opened it and stepped in. A few girl cubs were chasing a boy cub, one was on the floor playing around with a few toys, and there was a little Wolf cub sleeping down on the floor collecting quite an interesting amount of dust.

The room was loud and along with the cheerful voices came a headache. Reliath was used to the silent tranquilty of his own home and he wasn't used to hearing such a great deal of loud noises happening all at once.

'Hi Reliath.' Aiva greeted with a smile. She had a lot of the same features as Reliath except unlike him she had a black mark on each side of her muzzle while he had only one on the right side.

It cheered Aiva up to see Reliath outside the house for once. Little by little he was going to adjust to this place,in time maybe he'll not even fear the outdoors anymore.

'Hi Aiva.' Reliath greeted back seemingly calm and collected but his eyes clearly showed that he regretted in coming here. Reliath turned his head behind him and Aiva slightly curious looked in the direction he was looking, it was Nathan. He too looked back at them and stepped inside the building if only because Aiva was there.

'Why did you bring Nathan here?' Aiva asked in low disapproving whisper. Reliath didn't understand why she was upset, and he also did not reply. Instead he waved his paw to Nathan and Nathan waved back.

'Hi Aiva.'

'Hi Nathan,' Aiva replied in her casual voice. 'You don't have to stay here if you don't want to.'

'No, it's all right. I'll be here until Reliath leaves.'

'All right then. Do you think you could sweep the dust off Laurik without waking him up? He's the sleeping Wolf.'

'Laurik is an odd name, but okay, I'll see what I can do.'

_Aiva is an odd name too._Reliath thought to himself.

Reliath is an odd name too. Aiva thought to herself before turning around to face her husband.

'Do you think you could leave in an hour or maybe thirty minutes? I'm really sorry for making you come here but I'll explain all of this later.'

Reliath kissed her on the cheek. 'It's all right, you're kind of cute when you're stressed.'

'Sorry . . . ' Aiva blushed and Reliath smiled.

Nathan however was sweeping the dust off Laurik only slightly surprised that the sleeping Wolf had so much dust on him. And then he heard a tortured groan elecit from the Wolf.

'Are you all right?' Nathan asked with concern afraid he might have somehow hurt the Wolf. Laurik turned his head to Nathan and blinked once or twice.

'Why did you wake me up . . . ?'

'It was an accident.'

The Wolf then laid down on his side and closed his eyes once more.

'Can I at least wipe the dust off you while you're awake?' Nathan asked twice if only because a bang was heard mid sentence.

'Don't bother, the dust has become a part of me. And soon enough I too will become dust. When that time comes I just hope whoever I rest on is as kind and gentle as me.'

Nathan gave the Wolf a confused look. He certainly didn't expect that as a response. He looked back at Aiva for a moment and saw that she was talking to a child with her legs crouched down. Maybe it was about whatever that bang sound was.

'What age are you anyway, twelve? You seem older then most of the kids here.'

'Eleven. I like sleeping and I don't mind dust. What's your name?' The Wolf asked still with his eyes closed.

'I'm Aiva's friend Nathan.'

'And that other visitor I smell is?'

'Reliath, her husband.'

'You smell nicer then he does.'

'Thanks, I guess. . .' Nathan Said awkwardly and got up on his feet to walked over to Aiva and a young vixen, she looked up at him and appeared at the age of seven or eight.

'Who are you mister?' The vixen asked.

'I'm Aiva's friend.' Nathan replied. The vixen turned her head to Aiva.

'Is he really your friend?'

Aiva chuckled a bit.

'Yes, he is. Actually, he's that boy I told you about.'

The vixen then looked at Nathan once more and smiled meanwhile Nathan returned an awkward smile.

'I wish most boys were like you.' The girl said and elsewhere in the room there was a crash. Both Aiva and Nathan turned there heads and saw a few of the girls were trying to put make up on one of the boys.

'Come here Julie! We're going to make Adam look beautiful!'

'Bye!' The Vixen named Julie ran off to join in the raping of Adam's dignity.

'No! Help me!' Adam screamed dramatically.

Nathan turned his head back to Aiva who was still just watching.

'Aren't you going to stop this?' Nathan asked. Aiva shook her head before replying.

'He's been wiping snot on the girls, even after I told him to stop doing it. I figure actions will speak louder then words.' Aiva smiled.

'You're a sadist. Now, what have you been telling that girl about me?'

'How you were nice, energetic, and really polite.' Aiva said in a dreamy tone. Somewhere in the back of her head she was seeing her youth unfold once more.

'So you've been telling her lies?'

'Um . . . not exactly. Do you know where Reliath is?'

'Not a clue.'

The two of them looked at each other in the eyes for a moment and without saying a word they both began there search for Reliath. This broken wreck had two floors and six rooms so it couldn't have been too hard to find him.

'All right girls, break it up and leave Adam alone. Make up doesn't go on boys.' Adam said and the girls got off of Adam showing what magnificent improvements they had done to his face. His eye lids were completely black from eye shadow, his cheeks had too much blush added, and above his eyebrows were pink lines. In short he looked horrific, especially to Nathan who had a fear of clowns.

'Do any of you know where Reliath might be? He looks sort of like Aiva.' Nathan asked.

'He's upstairs with Liz.'

Both Aiva and Nathan went up the steep stair case and once they reached the second floor there was a hall way which lead to a closed door. This room was incredibly dark for there were no windows nor any sources of light.

Aiva approached the door and knocked on it three times.

'Liz?' Aiva called out.

'Come in.' The voice replied from the other side of the door. Aiva opened the door andboth her and Nathan took notice to Liz painting a crescent moon beneath Reliaths right eye.

'Hi Aiva.' Reliath greeted with a cute smile.

'Hi Reliath.' Aiva replied, she seemed worried. Both Reliath and Nathan noticed something odd in how she was acting and then she mouthed the words 'Go home.' To Reliath.

Reliath didn't understand why but he agreed. Aiva was his mate and as strange as her sudden request was he knew it was going to make sense later.

'Nathan, you came here to bring I back?' Reliath asked. Aiva wasn't sure if she would go as far as to say he was a good actor, but due to his odd speech patterns and fast pronunciation his motives were left unclear.

Nathan however didn't bother to act and he was far more straight forward.

'Lets just go home. Aiva, we'll both make sure there's supper for you when you go home.'

'A lady that has men cooking for her? That's really kind of you two.'

Reliath stood up and kissed Aiva on the cheek and the three of them said there good byes while Liz said nothing. Reliath and Nathan left the building and once they were far enough they both shared there thoughts on what had happened inside the orphanage.

'Please tell me you noticed that was strange too.' Nathan said perhaps equally unsetteled as Reliath.

'Something strange definitely happened in there.'

And just like that the conversation ended and the two of them walked home in silence. Once they reached Reliath's home they both stepped in and Reliath made his way to the kitchen.

'I'se preparing supper for Aiva and I. Would you like something as well Nathan?'

'Um . . . I guess if you wouldn't mind.'

'K'ay. Just find something to occupy your time.'

Nathan sat down on the table and tapped his paws against it while Reliath gathered all the ingrediants. Quite a few times Nathan was a guest for dinner and from experience he knew that Aiva and Reliath were both decent cooks, different and unique in their own ways. Reliath used a lot more herbs, spices, and foreign vegetables then Aiva.

Really, for the duration which Reliath cooked nothing happened besides Nathan getting up off the chair, taking the bottle of whine and finding another glass, for the ones which were on the floor were no longer there.

After cooking their meals Reliath sat them down on the table, poured him self a second glass of wine and Nathan a third, and he sat down on the chair soon to eat.

'What is this anyway?' Nathan asked curiously as he poked the food.

'Ulijah.' Reliath replied. The name didn't really help Nathan's understanding of the strange food. After one minute of doing nothing more but basically playing around with it he finally took a curious bite and downed it with wine. The food had a bizarre blend of tastes, but all in all it was decent.

'So, did you ever eat this back where you're from?'

'Something sort of like this. What do you think of it?' Reliath asked as he ate.

'It's good.' Nathan replied not too convincingly. He wasn't actually sure what he thought about this dish. Nathan downed the food with some wine and Reliath chuckled.

'What's so funny?' Nathan asked.

'You seem to have a taste for whine today.'

'I guess I do.'

** ** ** ** **

After and during supper the two of them talked and really, that's all that happened. One topic which Nathan wouldn't drop was on how he found Reliath should come outside and explore the town once and awhile. And actually, Nathan had a point, they never did anything. When he'd visit the two of them would often just stay inside and talk because Reliath hated going outside.

'Twas at around seven when the western world began to darken and the shadows of the numerous buildings enveloped the streets of Arlithian in an fearsome blackness. Nathan left and so the two of them said their good byes after yet another remarkless visit.

Reliath felt partially relieved that Nathan was gone. At last he could finally sit down and read. Reliath supposed though that in the back of his mind he also felt hollow. Boring or not he hated being the quiet unspectacular husband of Aiva, and at times he just wanted to make Nathan or Aiva happy.

Alone in his home Reliath traveled through room after room and lit the candles. He sat down in the living room and for a fair amount of time he tried to read but again and again he wasted his time with the same paragraph.

Back home no matter which direction he looked Reliath would see the moon light, even on a cloudy evening the skies would seem kind. In Arlithian however things were a lot different. No matter which direction you looked you'd see buildings and in the evening the streets of Arlithian would look like a black chasm. and it only got worse if the skies were cloudy.

Reliath finally took his eyes off the book completely and looked out the window of his home wondering how long it would take before Aiva was here. About five times Reliath tried to just forget about his wife and read but he couldn't. If anything he should have been out there walking her home instead of sitting down reading a book.

And of course Reliath concluded that there's no way he was going out there. He'd have troubles walking there alone in the day time never mind in the dark. . . how did Aiva and Nathan muster the courage to do such things?

** ** ** ** **

After a full day of volunteering in the orphanage Aiva was anxious to return home and spend the remainder of her day relaxing. She said good bye to both the children and workers as she left the orphanage and stepped into the dark streets of Arlithian.

And in the dark city streets she instantly acquired Nathans scent before he walked up to her.

'Hi Aiva.' Nathan greeted kindly.

'Good evening, Nathan.' She greeted back. Nathan offered her his paw and she shook her head.

'Thanks for the offer, Nathan, but I don't believe brothers and sisters hold paws.'

'Yes, of course, sorry'

The two of them walked in silence for awhile as Aiva looked straight ahead and Nathan looked up at the sky seeing but only a few stars.

'Thanks for walking me home though.' Aiva finally added and gave Nathan a warm smile.

'You're welcome, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if you walked these streets alone anyway.' He smiled back. They both walked in silence and after a short pause Aiva looked at Nathan again.

'You're mad aren't you?' She asked.

'Just upset. Why didn't you tell me you were going to that orphanage?'

'Because you hate this place.' Aiva replied.

'Yeah, I guess I do. There are at least five churches in the section we live in so why do you come all the way here? This is the worst part of Arlithian!'

'You know the answer to that.'

'And I wish I didn't. From now on I'm walking you home.' Nathan said in a strict voice.

'I wouldn't mind that. Sometimes the streets can be intimidating without having someone around.

'Good. Who knows what kind of nut jobs live around here.'

The two of them walked through Arlithian in a fair silence and enjoyed the cities peaceful environment. The walk back home was fairly long and the length reinforced Nathan's disapproval of Aiva going to the orphanage.

When the two of them reached Aiva's and Reliaths home Nathan gave her a small peck on the cheek.

'Will you be going to the orphanage tomorrow?' Nathan asked.

Aiva nodded. 'Yes, I go on Fridays.'

'All right. And will you be leaving around the same time?'

'Can't quite say.'

'Well, I'll be waiting for you outside the orphanage. And if there are any other far places you travel to I want you to tell me now.'

'Don't worry Nathan, that orphanage is the furthest I go.

'Good, I'll see yo tomorrow.'

'Bye.'

As Nathan walked off into the night Aiva knocked on the door and waited about fifteen seconds before Reliath greeted her in.

'Hi Aiva!' Reliath greeted excitedly.

'Hi Reliath.' Aiva smiled, the crescent was still painted on Reliath's face.

'I'se got you dinner.'

'Thanks, I could use something to eat.' She made her way to the kitchen and Reliath went back to the living room to finally start reading. While most couples did everything together Reliath and Aiva were both pretty independent. Alone in the dinner Aiva was enjoying a meal and alone in the living room Reliath was reading a book.

After eating Aiva too entered the living room and she examined the book shelf for something to read. She then took out one book and sat down on a chair not to far from Reliaths and grabbed a pair of glasses on the island table right next to her. No one in the world besides Reliath knew about her failing eye site. She could see decently, but she just couldn't read, the text was far too small.

She was a good person, but she felt ugly when she had to put the glasses on. And there probably was a bit of truth behind that, she did tend to look older with the glasses on, not that Reliath ever minded. Glasses or not she was Aiva.

For about twenty minutes the two of them read and only the sound of pages flipping were heard up until Reliath looked at Aiva.

'Um . . . . '

Aiva turned her attention away from the book. 'Yes Reliath?'

'Why were you acting so strange earlier? It seemed like you didn't want nathan around, you two get into a fight?' Reliath asked.

'NoWell, the reasons for downstairs and Liz were seperate I didn't want you upstairs because . . . . Liz has her own room for a reason, She's violent.'

'She didn't seem violent.'

'For the most part she's quiet but if you were to step into her world while she didn't want anyone around she might have hurt you.'

'So she could have stabbed I'se eye with the paintbrush?'

'Eyes ey- Oh! Well, probably not but who knows. And to answer your question no, me and Nathan did not get into a fight, but you're correct, I didn't want him around.'

'Why not?'

'We're not the same species, so you probably caught on that we're not related by blood.'

'I was wondering about that, actually.'

'And now you know, he's my adopted brother. And that was the orphanage he used to live in. . . it's a bit of a long story so are you sure you want to hear about it?'

'I like stories, especially the long ones.'

'Very well, but this is a pretty dark one. Just keep your mind open and understand that what I'm telling you isn't fiction. First,don't tell Nathan I told you but his parents were both murderers sentenced to death. None of the churches would accept him because they saw him as the devil, he was the son of not one but two killers and they believed that corrupted his soul. That orphanage was the only place that would take him in.'

'So how did he become your brother?'

'As a kid Nathan was a total brat. He'd push the kids around and torment everyone up to a point where even the adults couldn't stand him. Back then I never liked him either but he would always try and talk to me. Eventually everyone got fed up of him and his tricks so they decided to pay him back. . . they dared him to go inside one of the mine shafts outside of town and explore it.'

'Doesn't sound like a way of getting back at someone.'

'That's because there's more. Nathan accepted the dare and so one tuesday night all of us made our way to the mine shaft. Nathan entered it alone and about eight of the boys blocked him in. It was a cruel joke and I along with only two others spoke out against it.

When they wouldn't let him back out Nathan went in the mine and not too long afterwards we heard Nathan scream. We went in to investigate and we called out his name, moments later we heard him sobbing and found out that he fell down a hole. Or according to Nathan, the ground collapsed beneath him. None of us knew what to do. We were too afraid to try and climb down and we were too afraid to go back in town and call for help.

All of us left the mine to think the situation over and just like that we saw Nathan practically crawling out of the mine with a broken leg. That's how he got the nick name 'Escape Artist' and since then he wasn't as much of a brat. Actually, some of us were even treating him like a hero because of it. Whenever he'd brag about what happen we would take it as if it were a great tale of lore.

The thing was, a lot of us still didn't like him and some of us hated him even more. When my mom found out about the mine incident she went hysterical and adopted him out of 'protection' because she thought me and Nathan were best friends since we were always together.'

'And really you didn't like him but he liked you?'

Aiva looked at her husband for an entire minute before she replied and her face turned to one of complete guilt.

'I think I hated him just as much as everyone else.' Aiva confessed, 'I never liked how he treated everyone and I was just trying to be nice to him. Up until we made that false dare a part of me wanted him to get what he deserved just so he would leave everyone else alone. . .'

Reliath listened to every word and with interest he learned forward at he sat down. Aiva on the other paw felt uncomfortable sharing this and there was a bit of a pause before she continued.

'After Nathan broke his leg I felt sorry for him and we sort of became friends, I was more open with him and from then on he changed for the better. The reason I didn't want Nathan in the orphanage today was because of all the memories that came along with it. Basically everyone there hated him.'

'Do you really think your mother adopted Nathan to 'protect' him?'

'Nathan always believed mom adopted him because she was afraid the two of us would get married. According to Nathan she always saw me and him together so she figured we liked each other. . . and the more I think about it the more I think my mother's been lying to me and that Nathan is right. He wasn't the greatest of kids after all and she would probably go senile if she saw us even holding paws.'

Reliath looked at her in his seemingly usual calm manner and went back to reading without a reply. He seemed and looked all right but she felt something was wrong and found it just a bit odd on how he completely dropped the conversation.

Regardless she too went back to reading and the two of them spent the remainder of the evening not saying anymore then four words to each other. Aiva was the first to get up off the chair and kissed Reliath on the forehead before she went to bed. Reliath on the other paw stayed up thirty minutes later and joined her after slipping into some nightwear. The bedroom was already dark with only the moonlight from outside to shed a bit of light into the room. Reliath crawled into bed and let and gazed up at the ceiling, feeling the same claustrophobic stress he felt every night under this roof. He shifted to his side and saw the back of Aiva's head and had a certain unpleasant thought return to his mind.

'Aiva.' He called out softly.

'Yes, Reliath?'

'Nevermind.'

Aiva turned to face Reliath and even in the dark it was quite easy to tell he was upset over something.

'What's wrong Reliath? Please tell me.'

'Do you like Nathan?'

'I love him like a sister loves her brother.' Aiva replied awkwardly.

'Does Nathan like you?'

To that Aiva did not reply and Reliath had his answer.

'He does, but I don't understand why you're upset. Nathan's not my husband, you are. He's my brother, and that's how things will stay.'

'And do you wish he was your husband?'

'No, of course not. Why are you so upset?'

'Nathan came over and I'se left him bored as always.' Reliath had a lot more to say but he had no way of saying it. He hated being so boring and dull towards everyone around him. Everything would probably be better if it were just Aiva and Nathan.

'And I guess Nathan insisted that you go out more often?'

Reliath nodded.

'Well, maybe you should just for one day. It's no wonder you're upset, you really need to get out more and explore, you'll feel a lot better.'

Reliath smiled and hugged Aiva. 'Yeah, maybe you're right. Who knows, maybe we'll go out together some time.

'Maybe' Aiva too smiled and not too long afterwards the two of them fell asleep.

** ** ** ** **

Twenty two pages. This chapter was a long one but I'm sure that it's size makes up for the time it took to write. I don't really have much to say besides Nathan and Reliath being in my own personal top five characters created and imagined by me.

P.S The last four last pages were done right after I got high off a permanent marker. Don't ask, I was just bored and saw it lying right next to my computer. Strangely I just like the smell it has, even if it can lead to brain damage.

Let this chapter forever be known as the one that I wrote after getting high off a marker. Which yes, will be taking a high place in my 'weirdest shit I've ever done' list, right next to accidently getting coke in my eyes. (I mean Coca cola!)