1. A companion found in the darkness of the night.

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Gusion's eyes suddenly opened, sensing that something was different in the air. He was resting on top of a tree branch, but then, his rest got interrupted by this specific scent of danger, like someone is around him.

He slowly stood up, then jumped down from the tree, making sure not to make much noise.

"Don't tell me...my relatives are still after me..." He said to himself in a whisper while taking out one of his family's ceremonial daggers from his back pocket.

The dagger shone a bright blue light, gleaming in the darkness of the night. It was by Gusion's magic that the dagger gave off light, for Gusion's magic arts is to enfuse daggers with light energy and use them as his weapons.

The leaves rustled slowly, flowing with the evening breeze. The light of the distant crescent moon gave a pale yellow toning to the dark color of the forest's foliage.

It was considerably dark, but Gusion's senses were on high alert. He had been on the run for several days after he escaped from his household, and those days of surviving in the wild alone taught him to be more alert and sensitive about his surroundings.

"Why can't they just... Why can't they accept my own usage of magic..." Gusion gave off a small sigh before resting his back against the trunk of the tree where he rested. His grip on his dagger tightened, and unconsciously, he channeled more magic into it, making it shine brighter.

Just then, a whiff of danger got caught in the wind.

Gusion tensed and hid his dagger, realizing that it was what was giving off his location.

Some leaves on the forest floor crackled, signaling that something or someone stepped on them.

As soon as he heard it, Gusion threw the dagger that he was hiding towards the area where the leaves crackled. It gleamed in the dark, and as it passed through where he wanted it to go, Gusion caught sight of long red-velvet hair, gracefully flowing in the wind, only for it to disappear a moment after.

"An enemy." Gusion's expression darkened. Using one of the skills he learned while practicing his own magic arts, he teleported to the dagger he threw, then, took it out of the tree trunk where it got stuck.

He gave chase, trusting his senses and the blue light his dagger gave off. The dagger lit the way, and he can see tracks of shoeprints, though they were hardly visible.

Following the tracks, he went further into the heart of the forest, then, the shoeprints suddenly stopped in front of a tall tree, which somewhat looked bigger than the rest around it.

"She's only got one way to go." Gusion concluded that the so called "enemy" was a girl, since the shoeprints looked like it came from boots made for girls, and also, the graceful red-velvet hair that he saw was a huge evidence that suggested the "enemy" was a woman.

"Crosshairs lock you down... Death kisses you on the forehead..." He heard a woman's voice singing, then what came after it, was a small chuckle. Then, the leaves on the tree in front of him made a small rustle.

Gusion looked up, only to see an old-fashioned hunting rifle aimed towards him. There was a shadowed figure that was holding it, but the figure's gloved hands were visible in the moonlight, and they were holding the hunting rifle with grace and skill.

His right hand reached for a dagger in his back pocket. However, Gusion's hand stopped at his right side, because as he tried to reach for one of his daggers, the rifle made a sound, signaling that it was now locked and loaded.

The evening breeze swept the leaves of the tree in a small gust, and the crescent moon's yellow light reached the figure, revealing its features.

She had long red-velvet hair with its end tied with a long black ribbon. She had an eye patch on her right eye, while her left eye revealed a stunning brown color. Her lips were as red as cherries, and the smile on her face was quite, soothing, yet dangerous.

She wore a dark blue long-sleeved army jacket, the one that generals would wear, except that it seems that the jacket was tailor-made for her, since it fitted her just right.

She wore fitting pants that was a shade darker than her jacket, and for her footwear, she had brown slender boots. The left side of her hair revealed blue feathers fastened onto a metal badge fixed up on her eye patch's strap.

She was sitting down on a big tree branch, looking like she was full of openings, but her posture and the way she was holding her gun deemed that she wasn't.

Gusion can't say anything else about her, but he was sure that he saw her as someone, beautiful.

"Who are you?" The girl who was holding the hunting rifle asked Gusion.

"Gusion, I am Gusion from the Paxley Household." Gusion hid his bitter contempt under a serious and cold expression, knowing that he isn't anymore a part of a family he has abandoned in order to keep his magic.

"Haven't heard of that, but, you're not against Harley Vance, are you?" The girl lowered her rifle, but her left hand's index finger was still tight on the trigger, enabling her to shoot anytime she wants.

"I haven't heard of someone with that name, and I am against no one as of now." 'Except for my own blood...' Gusion added in his thoughts.

"That's good then." The girl eased down and put on a friendly smile, which Gusion hardly caught, as the gust died down right after their conversation. The leaves of the tree went down and became still.

Then, Gusion saw the girl's figure jump down in a somersault to the ground, and amazingly, she stood straight on her feet after landing. She put her rifle on her back, and Gusion assumed that she has a strap or a rifle holder behind her.

"I am Lesley, from the Vance Household." The girl who was named Lesley held out her hand after reaching within two feet of Gusion.

"Pleased to meet you." Gusion replied in a polite manner and shook Lesley's hand gently. However, in contrast to Lesley's smile, Gusion's expression was still serious... which changed, because as soon as they looked eye to eye, Lesley disappeared.

Gusion got appalled by this and the expression on his face slightly changed. His eyebrows raised up, as he noticed that the feeling of Lesley's hand also disappeared.

"Ease down, dagger boy." Gusion felt a small tap on his left shoulder. He turned back and saw Lesley already behind him.

"Oops, wrong way." Lesley chuckled and disappeared again, only to appear in front of Gusion.

"Well then, let us go, Gusion of the Paxley Household." The blue feathers on Lesley's eye patch swayed gently in the evening wind.

-

This is the point were their journey began.