AFIRE: fight for the Earth begins✓

2 LUKA

The story so far: 

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija has a crush on Ze.

---- Aija catches a man – a possible kidnapper looking at her from the Apartments opposite her school. She decides to complain to the Principal, but he isn't at school.

---- On her way home Aija runs into the man who'd been staring at her. Later, that day she runs into him again at the rooftop of her apartments, where she, Zuri, and Ze had gathered to watch the rain.

✽✽✽

****2 - LUKA****

Knowing his sole purpose in life didn't make things easier for him.

Knowing one's reason for existence should have made everything easier to endure, it ought to have given him some sense of tranquility. But, it only made things worse for him because it tended to make him run from things he liked; things he desired – like love. Or even the simple things in life like friendship.

Luka removed the glass jars from his blue-brown satchel and placed them on the table. He remembered her fingers as they moved across the glass jars; her slender fingers, her hair. Was her hair straight or wavy? He couldn't remember it well. He had been too out of his element at that moment just seeing her. He hadn't expected to see her there; he hadn't expected to see her anywhere at all.

The lights in the jars bobbed as he ran his fingers across them. They'd done the same when she had done it too. Did it mean anything? Could she be like him, perhaps? The thought surprisingly scared him. No, she couldn't be like him. Please let her not be, he thought.

"Are there fifteen of them?"

Luka looked at Thieron, who marched into the room all ready to go out. 

Luka nodded answering in the same language Thieron had spoken in. "You can give them to him."

"I've wondered for a very long time – why do you carry them around?" Thieron asked taking a glass and filling it with water."You can just leave them here."

"It's just that I feel they are safer with me. What if someone finds this place?"

Thieron thought about it and nodded in agreement.

The three of them shared the rather small house. Luka, Thieron, and Lalana were always together.

"I'm going out to meet Var-Inu. I need you to scout that apartment again, just to make sure everything's on track."

"Sure..." said Luka.

"See you later, Luka." Thieron gave one of his rare smiles. "I'll take those to him tomorrow. Hold on to them."

Luka nodded.

Thieron drank the water, tied his long hair up in a bun and headed out dressed in full gear. Luka knew he had his weapons on him even though it didn't really look like it. They all knew how to hide them in seemingly normal clothes. Meeting Var-Inu warranted carrying all weapons one owned. Var-Inu was neither friend nor foe. One gave him what he wanted, got what they wanted from him and walked out. His eccentricity was well known. Some even claimed he owned ancient creatures – the Messengers of the Old World, even though everyone knew the Gods, Spirits, and Messengers didn't exist in the world anymore. But, Luka hadn't seen Var-Inu before. Thieron never took him or Lalana to meet him. So Luka didn't know what to think of the man.

Luka put back the jars into his satchel, stood up and stretched. Black and Mr. White Tail mewed approaching him. He patted them on their heads and looked at the time. It was time to feed the cats.