The End of the Begining

Ran neared Flea and Powan�s house, carrying his new pair of boots tucked under his left arm. In his right hand was firmly gripped the reigns of his new Kifukuya, and traveling companion. He was going to leave as soon as he possibly could. Sure, the stay had been nice, but he had a longing for home and a thirst to find out more about his arrival in this place.

Tying the reigns tightly to a post near the back door of the house, Ran eased the doorknob to the side and pulled the door open. He sank into the room as quietly as possible.

The door was ajar, allowing the sweet scent of the outdoors to waft inside. It was soothing, and Ran was nearly tempted by it to lay down on the circular bed and leave all his worries in the world of the wake. His willpower, however, kept him conscious. He began to gather up the few things he�d brought with him. Lifting his large, thick trenchcoat, he folded it and rested it on the edge of the bed. Next to it, he put the neatly folded pants and shirt from then, too. Just as he sat down and began tugging on his leather boots, the inside door opened. Ran sighed.

Flea just stood there in the doorway, not caring to fully enter the room. Growling, she had to inquire: "What ARE you doing?"

The redhead�s eyes went back to his work as he started lacing up the first boot. He didn�t respond.

Irritated by this, Flea entered the room now and stood near him. She saw the back door open and went to have a peak outside. Upon seeing the Kifukuya, she spun around, even angrier than she�d been before. "You�re leaving?!"

Ran nodded his head, now starting to lace up his second boot. "You know how much you piss me off, Human?" Flea shouted, turning back to face him. "We took care of you, told you our secrets, accepted you, and now you leave?"

He finished with his boots and stood, looking at Flea with defiant violet eyes. "You never did any of that, the other Elves did. And why would you care if I left anyway?" Flea huffed at the comment, but Ran kept talking. "I thought you hated humans." Lifting the clothes he�d put on his bed as well as his old shoes, he walked outside. Ran withdrew a sinew rope from a pocket and began to now tie his few possessions to the back of the Kifukuya.

"By the way," Flea started up again, "your bird�s name is Sulhin."

Ran finished fastening his things to the Kifukuya and looked at her with questioning eyes. "How would you know?"

She smirked. "He told me. That�s one of the powers of an Alder Elf; we can speak with most creatures, no matter what their language." She stepped over to Sulhin and ran her fingers along his beak. "Now he says that he can�t wait to stretch his legs�"

Ran nodded and climbed onto the odd bird�s back. "Neither can I."

Flea was still growing more and more unpleasant by the second. "Damnit! Aya! I swear I�ll hunt you down, for my people! You just wait� I�ll find you!"

He sighed and turned Sulhin as to start his traveling. Shaking his head at her words, he gripped the reigns carefully in his palms and gave them a tug, signaling his companion to go. They immediately were off in a blaze, tearing through the village, and then, into the deep forest.

It wasn�t long before Ran grew tired. He could tell that they were nearing the end of the forest�the trees were progressively smaller in size as they moved. Dismounting Sulhin, he gave the Kifukuya a pat on the beak and looked around. He smelled the misty air. "It�ll be a cold night," he said sullenly.

He shook his head at his thoughts because� he was almost tempted to go back� back to Flea and back to shelter. There was a longing in him for the nice fireplace in the main room of the house. He wanted to hear Powan�s interesting tales and to drink her Cinnamon or Chestnut Teas. Just in the middle of his world of bliss, something hit him hard on the back of the head. Ran could hear many laughing, jeering voices behind him before he hit the ground face-first, blacking out. What a day�