Farewell at Dawn

"Waaah, Andria will miss brother so much!" Andria's sweet crying rang in the air as she rubbed her reddening eyes. Her tears covered her little fingers and dripped onto the dirt beneath, staining it a darker colour.

Jonathan put on a warm smile and sat down on his knees so he was on her level before cupping his hands on her round cheeks. He spoke softly in her ear as he leaned his warm forehead against hers. "Don't cry little An, I'll only be gone for a few more months. You've already been such a good girl this year, do you want to spoil that now?"

Andria's sniffing and crying came to a stop when she felt the warm sensation on her forehead and heard those words. Sniffling back her final tears, she croaked in response. "A-Andria will be g-good girl, will wait for B-Big Brother's r-return! No c-cry... N-no more."

"Good girl!" Jonathan laughed brightly and shook her hair into a mess playfully, causing Andria to pout and stick out her tongue resentfully.

Her cheeks were now dry.

"Be careful out there son. I don't know much about whats happening in Claw Reverence, so keep a close watch on your surroundings and don't act too foolishly." Alexander stepped forward, placing his veined hand on Jonathan's shoulder. His lips were curved into a warm smile while his eyes showed a trace of worry as he looked deeply in Jonathan's eyes, which were identical to his black ones.

"I will, father!" Jonathan responded seriously.

"Big Brother, take care of my son well. Make sure to keep his true rank secret, I agree that something of this magnitude should not be revealed carelessly." Alexander turned to face his brother, Kil as he spoke solemnly, referring to Jonathan's breakthrough into the Spirit Rank. Uncle Kil had obviously told him the news during their talk the week before.

"Haha, don't worry little bro, if the fool even dares to show off a hint of his true rank, I'll beat him up till people think he could be nothing but a Foundation Rank Magician!" Uncle KIl quipped as he cracked his knuckles, a playful and excited grin gracing his bald head.

"Teh!" Jonathan clicked his tongue but didn't say anything, only looked at his uncle with a scornful gaze.

"Alright, enough with your bickering. Its more like you two are a pair of infantile brothers rather than Uncle and Nephew." Alexander sighed helplessly while rolling his eyes.

Jonathan and Uncle Kil let out a harrumph in sync, only angering each other more. But for the sake of the moment, they held back their growing need to spar.

Finally, Jonathan's gaze turned to the kitten's Greenish-Red one's. With a deep sigh he walked up to her who was sitting on the floor next to Andria, eyes staring dully at the ground.

Hearing footsteps walking up to her and eventually the outline of the tip of a shoe in her periphery vision, Lexa looked up to find the maximised view of Jonathan kneeling right their in front of her. He was so close the kitten got a big fright and toppled backwards to the laugh of those around her.

"Hehehe, silly little fang!" Andria giggled through her tiny hands.

"I told you to not call me that." Little Fa- I mean Lexa grumbled before turning towards the laughing face of Jonathan, a sinister gleam shining in her feline eyes.

Swish!

"Gah!" Jonathan cried out as Lexa's claws struck his cheek, cutting it shallowly. He could only let out a wry laugh. "I guess I deserved that..."

"Its been long awaited with all the antics you've pulled, hmpth!" Lexa harrumphed.

"Alright, alright. This young master apologises to the great Lexa!" Jonathan laughed with a grin as he petted the kitten's small head softly.

"Hmm, that's much better." Lexa nodded, her eyes slanting and her head nodding in satisfaction.

"This is going to be our farewell for now, little lass..." Jonathan's voice suddenly turned solemn and his petting of the kitten paused as he looked at her with a sad smile.

"I guess so..." Lexa mumbled halfheartedly, her eyes also turning solemn. "Jonathan, no matter what, you were my first friend in this world..." Lexa declared.

"Haha, what are you getting all depressed about. We'll see each other at the end of the year, on new year's eve." Jonathan chuckled as prodded her forehead with his index finger before retreating his hand as he stood from his crouched position. Lexa only grumbled as she pawed at her forehead.

"Yeah, Andria and Lexa will cook up some new year's food for you when you come back!!" Andria pumped her clenched fists and declared, stars of determination in her violet eyes.

"Eh, how am I going to cook?..." Lexa asked, dumbfounded.

"You'll work it out, I'm looking forward to it!" Jonathan said with a smile as he turned around and began to walk towards one of the two White Furred Mountain Dogs, the same ones from before. They had chosen to loan them once more, as they were one of the best beast's to travel the Northern Region in a swift manner on the ground. His head looked over his shoulder for a few seconds as his eyes lingered on his father, sister and Lexa until he finally looked away, a slight smile on his lips. 'Good luck sis and little lass. Times might be a little difficult with that unknown party assaulting us, but I have confidence that you two will grow up to do great things. As the future head of the family, I'll try to learn as much as I can in the meantime so that I can protect all of you and everyone else important to me.'

With renewed determination, Jonathan leapt upon one of the White Furred Mountain Dogs, closely followed by Uncle Kil and the servant and soldier's.

With a final farewell, hands waving, Jonathan and Uncle Kil set off into the distance to the sight of a bright horizon ahead, and the enthusiastic waving of Andria, the solemn eyes of Lexa and the sigh of Alexander behind them...

★★★

"Now its onto our next order of business." Alexander's words broke Andria and Lexa out of their sombre atmosphere and Andria looked at her dad inquisitively.

"Whats that, Daddy?" Andria asked with a tilt of her head.

"Its about time we settle the contract between you and Lexa, isn't it." Alexander smiled.

Andria's eyes lit up and she waved her hands enthusiastically. "Yay, then Andria and Little Fang will finally be partners!"

"..." Lexa chose to ignore Andria's slip of the tongue as she concentrated on the matter at hand. 'With this, my future path will be set.'

The little kitten looked up at the awakening sky that burned in the red glow of the mornings dawn and felt it was quite appropriate to her feelings right now. Looking down from the sky, the kitten looked at the innocence projected from Andria's eyes as she laughed and smiled while talking with her father, who spoke warmly back at her. Those violet eyes called to the deepest parts of her heart and she felt a strong feeling of wanting to protect the innocence in those eyes.

She understood now. When this contract was completed, she wouldn't be walking the path towards her dreams alone anymore, and neither would she, whatever dreams she would grow up to have. As she would protect her, she would do much the same for her. This was to be something beyond the words partnership or friends.

That frightened Lexa a little. To share your burden with someone else and share their burden as well; like a marriage between lovers, the responsibility weighing on her would not be small. But as she continued to look into those violet eyes, she felt like that those were the kind of eyes that deserved to be protected.

'I don't ever want to see those eyes darken and lose their shining lustre...' Lexa thought determinedly.

Seemingly noticing her gaze on her, Andria turned to the kitten with a wide smile. "What is it Lexa, are you excited like Andria?"

The kitten laughed. "Hehe... Yeah, lets do this."

"Yay, with Andria by your side, all evil will fall at this girls might!" Andria boldly declared, posing in a soldier like posture, right fist pressed against her chest.

"Yeah, when they hear your constant crying, they'll plug their ears and run in distress." Lexa quipped, a playful curve to her feline lips.

"Wah, are you calling Andria a cry baby? I never cry!" Andria pouted, her eyes reddening.

"Oh, you so do." Lexa laughed. "Look at you, your already on the verge of tears!"

"Nuhuh!" Andria shook her head and bit her inner gums as she held her tears back with all of her might.

"Hmm." Lexa let the matter drop, but a mischievous glint shun in her eyes.

The two continued to bicker as they followed behind Alexander, the Wilderwolf soldier's not far behind keeping a close watch on the immediate surroundings. Alexander smiled as the voice of two young girls bickered playfully behind him entered his ears and he couldn't help but think with wryly. 'They're a perfect match, haha.'