Back to the forest.
Lark was relieved, a huge pressure was lifted from his shoulders. As he lumbered towards the forest in search of Alban, his right hand ached. The wrinkles that enfolded his hands were gradually fading away, their visibility waning into a much awaited absence.
Lark felt much better, the difference between his state now and a few seconds earlier akin to the sky and the ground. His steps quickened a bit, his feet ferrying him to his destination at a nice and steady pace. It wasn't long until he reached where the whispers told him to go, knowing he would find his friend.
His eyes were secure and still, reflecting a peaceful amber lake. Lark's gaze took in the sight the sleeping Alban and a monoya woman nodding off whilst leaning the boy's shoulders. He inwardly laughed, trying hard not to let the chortle he was suppressing to slip out of his mouth. He sat against a tree very near the two before plucking at the harp that never left his side.
The strumming roused Chiyo out of her drowsiness. A long yawn tugged at her lips, while her arms pulled at each other in an attempt to wake one another. Activating the mana that coursed lazily throughout her body, she saw the world around her once again. Her sight caught on to the appearance of the young nimm that languidly picked at the strings of his harp, the occasional tune produced from it seeping into the very air itself.
"Un, I don't know why you're here. Wouldn't all the nimms hate Alban by now?"
"They should, but they hate me too anyway. I'm a bit of an outlier in that respect, so I'd be willing to hear what happened, that guy over there is my friend, after all."
A long pause. The strings of the harp prevented the place to fall into silence, but Chiyo's mouth was stilled. She thought for a bit in the quiet, wondering why she decided to stay with Alban instead of leaving back to Nimrod. It was almost like her dream home...but she couldn't ignore the pupil she was willing to raise. Maybe her loneliness didn't have to be fulfilled by a crowd, perhaps only one person she cared about was enough. Biting at her luscious lips, she unhesitatingly made her decision and opened her mouth.
"Well...Alban freaked out and almost killed Nimral. It wasn't his fault...Nimral was like a raging bull. I don't know how he even survived throughout that gorilla's barrages, I was sure he would have died several times over. I think that the constant threat of death was what triggered...whatever happened. Nimra showed up and stopped the fight before Alban could finish off Nimral. He forgot the whole thing, though..." A summarization of the events was carried by Chiyo's pleasant, husky voice. She thought that the young nimm would find the explanation dubious at best...but to her surprise, he didn't seem suspicious at all.
"Are you worried about him?" The only question that left Lark's mouth, and it was all he wanted to know. He wanted to know if he was looking at someone who could care about people like Alban and he.
"Isn't it obvious?" An unwavering answer.
"Don't worry. What happened was only the best possible outcome." Lark felt gave voice to his relief, assuring that nothing else would happen.
Chiyo considered his words...were they words of placation or assertion? It didn't really matter how he knew it or not to her, but it was a bit bothering that his claim was so firm. So resolute. She disregarded the doubts that started to plague her thoughts, focusing on what she found a lot more important.
"Okay. Can you help me keep Alban company? I don't think he can return to Nimrod...and I'd like to avoid him coming into contact with Nimral."
"Sure, I wouldn't abandon my one and only friend. I don't really like those people in that stuffy village at all, anyways." It was time for Lark to take a break. He wouldn't protect Nimrod for a long, long time...not even if those stupid voices told him he must. He shouted out his convictions inside his mind, daring those whispers to try and order him around.
Hearing nothing, his face beamed into a brilliant smile. He was on the right track, so those voices wouldn't annoy him for now. "I know who you are, so you don't have to take the trouble to introduce yourself. My name is Lark."
—-
The next day.
Lark and Chiyo kept Alban company in the forest, the nimm and monoya both keeping him away from Nimrod. Lark wasn't interested at all in the safety of that village, but instead did it so he could keep doing whatever he wanted. Alban seeing Nimral and madly frenzying would be really counterproductive to his freedom, and he'd be lying if he didn't care about Alban's whole predicament. It was tough to be a star.
"Hey. If you've got time to look all leisurely and make weird poses over there, you can spare some time to spar with me." A deep utterance rudely greeted Lark's ears, pulling him out of his reverie. The savage was awake and as wild as usual. Small indents in the shape of his fists dotted the tree directly in front of him, his frame exuding an aura of liveliness.
"I would, but right now I'm lamer than a sack of potatoes. Still tired, you see?"
"Fine, fine. It's not like you've been emphasizing that for hours." It was true, Lark had been saying that ever since he saw Alban woke up. Not dwelling on that fact for long, he felt eyes scanning him from head to toe.
Chiyo intently stared at Alban, her fair nose slightly scrunched in expectation. It wasn't hard at all to figure out what the woman wanted...at least for anyone that wasn't Alban. The young man in question asked literally anything other than her to spar. He even started patting at the tree! She waited and waited, but Alban didn't ask her at all. Chiyo was getting a bit pissed off.
And so she sidled right up to Alban's side, before suddenly patting him on the back so hard that the young man in question almost toppled over. He turned his eyes to her in a bid to figure out if she was mad or not, when his ears were met by a singsongy tone. "That's okay, it can't be helped...this teacher will have to guide you both in physical and magical combat~"
"That's okay, you're already doing enough with teaching me magic." Alban offered a sheepish smile, a bit apologetic that he always had to bother her. He could feel the annoyance that radiated permeated her bearing, figuring his conjecture was right.
"No, I don't mind. In fact, I'll be hurt if you keep refusing me..." Chiyo changed her approach rather quickly, adopting a despairing countenance before turning away in dejection. Her dastardly plot was, suffice to say, very effective.
"Okay. Thank you for doing this, I'm really sorry to trouble you. I'm ready whenever you are, Master Chiyo."
His response was met by the woman quickly getting up and position herself into a composed stance. Alban mirrored her movements, intently staring at her every maneuver in an attempt to incorporate them.
A week of extensive training would soon follow.