In less time than it took to blink, he stepped forward. He'd moved so fast that I'd barely been able to register the movement at all.
I jerked as he stopped in front of me, barely a foot away. That's when I noticed Konai's arm braced straight out, his hand gripping Teddy's arm tightly. But Teddy gave no reaction, as though Konai wasn't touching him at all.
I glanced nervously towards the other guardians. Tins face was ghostly pale, Miki looked furious, and the other five boys glanced nervously between Teddy and Konai. I looked up into Konai's face, trying to gauge the situation, but his eyes were focused only on Teddy's profile, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
"I'm fine..." Teddy whispered, but his eyes never left mine.
I looked to Konai again, his knuckles turning white with the effort he was using to grasp Teddy's bicep. "Konai, you're hurting him..." I reached out and placed my hand gently on Konai's arm. He exhaled slowly and turned to look at me.
"What?" He sounded confused.
"What?" Teddy echoed.
I pulled on his sleeve, "Let go, you're hurting him." I said calmly, and I tugged again, "Let go of Teddy."
He stared at me a moment, but his hand only relaxed on Teddy's arm. Teddy shifted and tilted his head, "You're worried about him hurting me?" He sounded surprised.
I shrugged and nodded, "Yeah..... I guess so."
He threw back his head and barked out a laugh, so loudly that I jumped. He snapped forward, Konai's arm falling away, and picked me up, my feet dangling in the air. He laughed into my ear and hugged me tightly for a moment, then sat me back on my feet. I gasped for lack of air, then stared at him, eyes wide, "What was that about?"
He chuckled again and stepped back, the nervous laughter of the other guardians echoing behind him. Tin made a hacking sound and fell backwards onto the grass and the others laughed. Konai shook his head, "It wasn't that bad...."
Tin gasped, "You guys are gonna kill me with the dramatics."
Teddy snorted and shook his head, then smiled at me, "Wow, you really are beautiful."
It was my turn to make a hacking sound, "Wha-what?"
Konai crossed his arms, smiling. "Told you so."
Teddy rolled his eyes and looked back at him, "Yeah, shut up. I just didn't realize she was gorgeous."
I took a small step back, "Oh crap, you really did get hit by lightening, didn't you?"
Konai burst out laughing while Teddy looked thoroughly confused, "Uh, what is she talking about?"
But he didn't answer, he just kept laughing. I crossed my arms and glared at both of them, "He acted crazy the day after his birthday too, I just figure you both got hit by lightening during the storm."
Teddy's mouth lifted up in a smirk, and even the other boys snickered. "No, no lightening, though it may feel like that..."
Konai put his hand on Teddy's shoulder and he moved to the side so that Konai could stand in front of me. "Sorry, he's just seeing something he hadn't noticed before."
I looked down at myself and back up, "Um, I'm still me. He's the one that's different." I pointed a finger over Konai's shoulder at Teddy. He winked at me.
"Well.... that's it exactly." Miki pushed his glasses to the top of his head.
I tossed my arms up, "I don't get it." I said, frustrated.
Konai moved to stand by Teddy, who was still looking at me strangely, his head tilted to one side. "I mentioned all our senses are different. Heightened. But there are also things that are a little more.... acute than that." He walked slowly towards me and stopped, looking me up and down. "As a guardian we can see, well..... it's basically an aura."
He glanced back to Teddy and he nodded, "Yeah, that's what I would call it, and we use it to gauge how someone is feeling. We can see an issue before it becomes one."
"An aura?"
Teddy rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, kind of. When we're looking at someone, we can focus on them and see their... I'm not sure, maybe it's their energy or something."
They both looked at Miki, but he shrugged, "Don't ask me, I don't know. And I won't for a few weeks." He looked down and started flipping through his book.
Tin sat up on the grass, propping his elbows on his knees. "So, what does it look like?" He reached down and tossed a chunk of dirt at Teddy.
Teddy blushed and looked at me again, then down at the ground.
I was getting self-conscious, "So what did it look like? Are there different colors or textures? If there are, do they mean different things?" I got nervous again, wondering exactly what they could read into me. Was I random, like pink with purple polka dots? I held my arms out and looked closely at my skin.
"You can't see it," Konai reached out and tugged my hand down. "And it's nothing bad."
"Bad? Did you think it was going to be?" I tried not to sound panicked.
Konai glanced down at his feet, stubbing the tip of his shoe into the grass, "Well, no. I knew it was fine. But I really wasn't sure what your reaction was going to be."
"MY reaction? To what?" Why would I have a reaction to anything?
He sighed, "Look, you know what I am, and you've been really accepting of it. Even though I'm sure, on a different level, you can tell I'm not the same. You haven't told anyone about me and..."
"You asked me not to." I interrupted.
"Yes, but... we're ALL different, special. It's obvious we're not just ordinary humans."
Dasan crossed his arms, "You don't see him as a threat." He looked me over and smiled. "But, then again, he is special to you."
I leaned into Konai. "You mean because he's my boyfriend?"
Teddy smiled, "Yeah, something like that."
Konai turned and looked down at me, "We weren't sure if, sensing that there was something different in Teddy, that you would still be okay with what we are." He ran his fingers through my ponytail, straightening it out, "You have no connection to him, so the need to accept him as he is, wouldn't be as strong. We weren't all that sure if you would be calm, seeing another guardian, or want to go tell someone about us."
"No, I wouldn't. Never." I looked around at the boys. "I'd never say anything to anyone. I know how important you are to the tribe, besides the fact that I'm sure I'd be locked up for saying something like that to anyone." I laughed lightly and Konai squeezed me against him. Some of the boys took a seat on the grass, the rest of them sat across from us on the other fallen trees.
Something still bothered me. "But why was Teddy so... weird?"
Tin laughed. "Weird? Oh, I like her. Can we keep her?"
Cailan and Nalu laughed too. Dasan rolled his eyes, "You are hilarious Tin, really." He walked over and sat on the edge of the log, "He was weird, because he might have been a bit sensitive to you being here. No one knows about us, and having an outsider here with us might have triggered a reaction, like protective. He might have asked you to leave, or confronted you about being here and forced you to leave."
I looked up at Teddy, who looked a bit ashamed. "Sorry." He murmured and looked away.
"That's okay. Do I threaten you?" I asked, wanting an honest answer.
His face lit up and he smiled, "Hardly. Besides, your aura was really kinda pretty."
I knew I was blushing, "Um, thank you." I fidgeted with the zipper on my jacket, "Okay, so what do the auras look like?"
Konai stared off into the sky, "It's really close to the skin, like a glow, but fluffy, a bit like a cloud. But only if the person is neutral."
"Neutral?"
He looked back to me, "Not overly emotional on either end of the spectrum." He sat back on one of the logs and I walked over and sat next to him, "It's pretty plain if the person is just basically happy. It wavers if the person is really happy, like pure joy, it kind of bounces around them. It's also completely flat if the person is sad or severely depressed. But if the person is scared, or anxious, it's a bit spiky and flickers in and out."
"So that's the tone?"
Both boys nodded.
Teddy grinned, "It's usually a pale iridescent color, maybe off-white or peach. But if the person is thinking about something really happy, it gets a yellow tint to it. My mom was pretty ecstatic this morning." He laughed. "She was just happy that everything turned out okay, and that my dad was happy too."
Konai smiled, then the smile faded a bit, "It's grey when someone is overly sad, or a bit fuzzy if they're disappointed." He kicked a rock and it skittered across the grass. I reached over and slipped my hand into his, knowing he was probably talking about his father. "It's also a bright pink when people are... uh," His eyes met mine and his cheeks turned a dull bronze.
"When you're thinking about someone special...." Teddy finished for him.
I smiled and looked down, wondering if Konai had an aura like that, and what it might look like.
"Yeah, just like that!" Teddy pointed to me and I scowled at him.
"Stop checking out my aura!" I snapped.
He laughed, so did the rest of them.
"So, what did it look like before? My aura?" I pulled my ponytail over my shoulder and played with the end.
Teddy smiled, "Bright and a slightly multicolored, like a rainbow."
Rainbow? "Well, what does that mean?" I hoped it wasn't something bad.
Teddy leaned forward, brushing a piece of grass off his jeans, "Not sure, don't care really." He tilted his head again, "But it's very pretty."
"Is that what I look like now?" I looked at my hands, then back to him.
He focused on me again, then grinned, "Yeah, rainbow. With a little pink laced through it."
I crossed my arms and sighed. "Fine, I'm like a rainbow."
Miki sat down next to me and touched my arm. "It's okay, rainbow can't be all that bad."
"Thanks," I patted his hand and scooted forward, clapping my hands together. "Okay everyone, now that everything is okay, what are you guys doing now?" I was embarrassed and wanted to change the subject. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
{{Is she dangerous?}}
I turned, ready to glare at whichever boy was teasing me. They were all smiling though, and I couldn't tell who'd spoken.
{{I watched her interact with them yesterday, it's safe}}
{{I hope your right}}
I looked over my shoulder, through the trees, and frowned. Who was talking? But no one was there, my mind obviously playing tricks with me again. I looked back at the guys, who were watching Teddy with rapt interest.
Konai stood and pulled me up, "If it's okay with you, I'd like to go talk to Teddy some more. I was able to talk to him for a while last night, but there are a few things I'd like to go over with him. If that's okay?"
"Sure, are you going to be a while?" I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Not really. A half hour at the most." He smiled and rubbed the tip of his nose against mine.
"That's not very long, I guess I can watch the boys run amuck for a while." My fingers played at the edge of his braid.
He laughed and tugged me close, kissing me quickly on the lips. But when he pulled back, he was frowning. I was going to ask him what was wrong, but he turned and looked back towards the other end of the clearing. I moved to look around him, and two boys I didn't recognize were walking slowly towards us, and they both looked unhappy. Konai pivoted until he was standing just in front of me.
One boy was tall and skinny, with short black hair that curled just behind his ears. The other was the same size and build as Konai, with his hair back in a long braid. They were clearly tribal, though I'd never seen them before.
"What do you want?" Konai's posture was stiff and his hands were clenched into fists.
Teddy moved to stand beside Konai as the rest of the boys stood too.
Neither of the boys said anything as they closed the distance between us. Teddy crossed his arms and glared at them, obviously irritated that they hadn't answered Konai. "Is there a problem?"
The two boys stopped about twenty feet away, "Should there be?" The skinny one crossed his arms and glared at Teddy. Then at me.
"What do you want Kip?" Konai directed this towards the larger of the two.
The larger one frowned at me, then looked at Konai. "There are some poachers in our area, just over the mountain, we wanted to know if you were having any issues." His eyes went back to me.
Konai's stance relaxed, but he glanced at Teddy, worry on his face. "No, no issues here. Are there any hunters involved?"
His emphasis on the last two words was strained. I reached up and wound my hand around his arm, unsure of what was bothering him more, the boys appearance, or the conversation.
"No, just some poachers, we tracked them from just north of Whale Bay." The skinny one crossed his arms and looked around nervously.
Konai walked up and put his hand on Kip's shoulder, "Do you need any help? There are plenty here, and I can tell the rest as soon as we get back to town."
"Thank you, but that's not necessary. We think it's under control, we just wanted to make sure you weren't having the same problem." Kip glanced around the clearing at the other boys.
Konai backed up, "Even though, I'll have the guys check the area again, after their training session is done, just to be sure."
"If that's what you want, fine." Kip turned, but glared at me once more. The other boy glared too, and I frowned. What was their problem?
The other boy took a quick step in my direction, and my stomach lurched. I panicked, but he never took more than the one step. A breeze kicked up and blew past me, whipping my hair around my face. The two boys gasped and backed away. It gained speed and momentum, throwing dirt and leaves through the air. Debris scattered around the two boys and they covered their eyes, turning away.
Just as quickly as the wind had started, it died.
I turned to Konai, to ask him if he was okay, but he was looking over my head, smirking. I turned and looked across the clearing, and another figure was walking towards us.
Sky sauntered onto the field. He walked easily through the tall grass and melting snow, like there was no effort involved. He was silent as he walked past our group and towards the others. His eyes stayed on the two boys, and he moved almost.... predatorily. The two flinched and took a step back and Sky paused a few feet in front of us.
The thin one's skin had gone a bit sallow, and he cleared his throat, "Sky."
Kip took a hesitant step to the side, "You're here?"
Sky tilted his head, but I was unable to see the expression on his face. His chin was down, his hair falling forward over his eyes. But if I had to guess, I was sure he would have been glaring at the two boys. He looked towards one, then the other.
"Yes. I am."
The two boys shifted nervously at his tone, which was unfriendly at best. Tin walked over and stood on one side of Sky, and Nalu stepped on the other. Sky's lipped twitched, in what could only be described as an involuntary smirk.
Nalu smiled and crossed his arms, "You guys were just leaving, right Puck?"
The one called Puck frowned, and the two of them hesitated. Kip glanced back at me, then towards Sky. Sky frowned, and the wind picked up again, only this time it twisted around us and slammed into the two boys, almost knocking them down. It whipped across them, their shirts flapping wildly, then died down to a faint breeze. Sky tilted his head and stated flatly, "Yes. They were."
Kips cheeks were red, and his fists were clenched. Tin smirked, and Konai moved in front of him, possibly to keep him from saying anything to the two boys. Kip and Puck moved to walk past the two of them, and Kip stopped, tapping Konai in the chest with a finger, "She's YOUR responsibility," he snarled. Then glared back at me, and walked with Puck off the field.
Konai stood there, watching them leave. My chest hurt and I suddenly wished I was invisible. They were most likely guardians from another tribe, and I'd probably offended them by being here. After a moment, Konai turned around, his eyes weary and sad.
He walked up and put his hands on my shoulders, "I am SO sorry, that was my fault."
I pulled back and shrugged off his touch, "No it wasn't. I'm not supposed to be here, I'll leave." I turned to hurry back to the car, but he grabbed my arm and forced me to turn around.
"No, you ARE supposed to be here. And it is my fault they're...."
"Jerks?" Cailan offered.
"Morons?" Joe added.
Konai looked at the ground and shook his head, "Not helping guys."
"They're dumb a-"
"TIN!" Konai turned, scowling, and the boys laughed.
"But they're that too." Dasan grinned and Tin actually gave him a high-five.
Konai sighed and rubbed his forehead. "There's certain protocol, when a...." He looked at me, then back at the guys, "For people knowing what we are," His hands dropped to his sides and he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, "and I haven't been following it."
"So it IS my fault."
His eyes opened and he stared at me, "What?"
"I asked you to take all of this slow, because it was all too much to comprehend. But you wanted to tell me more, and you put it off because I asked you to." I put my hand on his chest, "Have I gotten you in trouble or something? Because I'm fine with what you are." I moved to look at the other boys, "I've warmed up to the idea that you're all.... different. It doesn't bother me at all. Unless my knowing bothers you...."
He twisted me around and yanked me up, kissing me hard. Air rushed out of my lungs and I grabbed his arms for support. He released me just as quickly. "No, you knowing doesn't bother me at all." His voice was low, his eyes dark and swirling, then they softened to their warm brown. The other boys laughed behind me.
"Okay." I smiled, a bit off balance.
He smiled too, then hugged me gently, "When I get back, I'll explain everything. I wish I could take longer, but there are things you really need to know before anything else happens." He glared in the direction that the two boys had disappeared.
Teddy smiled at me and started walking towards the tree line, "Come on Konai, we'll make this as quick as possible, and be back in a few minutes."
Konai turned to follow him, and stopped just in front of Sky. He reached up, as though he was going to put a hand on Sky's shoulder, then dropped it. "Thank you." He looked back at me and smiled, then leaned closer to him, "Keep an eye on them?" Sky hesitated, then gave a stiff nod. Konai said nothing else, and he and Teddy walked off the field and up to the hillside just past the trees.
I watched them vanish through the branches and leaves, wishing my heart would slow down. Okay, so in a few minutes, Konai would come back and tell me everything. Super. I knew I was ready for it, nothing about the conversation was going to change how I felt. He was Konai, and these were the guardians. They were important and I knew that. The fact that they thought me freaking out was even a possibility was kind of irritating, but then again, I didn't know what they had been through personally. And to be honest, part of me was kind of worried. Knowing that, by the end of today, I would know everything Konai had been wanting to tell me for the last few days.
Although it didn't really feel like it had been a few days, it felt like weeks had passed since the spring festival. Time had somehow slowed down, and things had changed. Konai trusted me with everything, and right now I had secrets, secrets I didn't fully understand. But when Konai came back, I would know everything. And I was ready. I had to be.