candleburn

[Hezekiah Finch]

[html]

For as unnerving as it was, the borders of Inferni were quiet. Where the quiet had not bothered Hezekiah, it did now. While others probably spent their time sparring in preparation to actually see bloodshed, he found himself doing what his rank really was — watching. Though he had much interest in sparring and learning what he could for himself, there was an unresolved shyness about him that delayed his ability to ask. He felt most comfortable in Kaena’s presence (and recently, Halo’s) and had learnt things from her, but there was an itch to do more than just watch.



But at least today, the watching wasn’t necessarily as boring as it usually was. No news was certainly good news, but his idles thoughts had distracted him long enough from the hybrid that had come to their borders. It was the sound of his voice that had pulled Hezekiah back from a tired lull; his relaxed posture in the curve of an old tree suddenly went rigid. The boy listened to the faint words, leaving the wood behind him to creep close, though the distance was not far at all. It was unnerving just how quiet things really were, snow or no snow on the ground.



Inwardly, he cursed himself for not having paid more attention, though he was stopped in his tracks at a peculiar smell. Alcohol. Resolve wavering for a moment, his pause over that smell was only long enough to recall his father and shake the thought away. Apprehension would not serve him well here. So with his jaw set and nothing more than the thin border of pikes between them (which Hezekiah considered space enough if things went bad from the start), the woodsy adolescent regarded the taller man with interest.



“That’s the one I found to put up,” he told him, his pale blue eyes trying to find the stranger’s.

[/html]