The Unwitting Guardian Ch. 12

Author's Note-

Instead of writing out that they packed, and then they went to bed, I'm just gonna say it here... Lazy as fuck, I know, but hey, what's boring for you is boring for me too... Anyway...

Early next morning, the two of them were up, sluggishly getting ready for the trip. On the way out of their dorm building, they were directed by someone Ryna vaguely remembered to have been the Dorm Manager toward one of several large large hoverbus'. They settled into a vacant cabin together near the middle of the bus.

"This is gonna be the first time I've ever been to a beach," Ryna remarked. Sensara was leaning her head on his shoulder, slowly entwining and then extracting her hand from his.

"Really? How have you never been to the beach before?" she asked.

"Well, there wasn't really all that much opportunity for me to go, being an orphan trying to survive on the city's airwalks. I wasn't doing that badly, all things considered, but I never had enough money saved up to take a vacation anywhere," Ryna explained. There was a note of sadness in his voice, but Sensara picked up on it immediately.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling, I didn't mean to ask about anything painful," she said, shifting so that she was sitting cross-legged and facing him. She reached up and caressed his face, forcing him to look at her.

"No, it's alright, really," Ryna replied, grinning before he could stop himself. She smiled too, and there was a brief silence.

"Would you–if it's alright with you of course–tell me about your childhood? I want to know all about Little Ryna," she asked, pouting just a little for added effect. Ryna sighed.

"I mean, it's not that interesting. Just your everyday kid-on-the-block story." Ryna said, trying to play it off.

"I wanna hear it! Please, for me?" she asked in a cutesy way, completing the puppy dog face.

"Only if you give me a muffin," Ryna said, grinning. She gave an exaggerated sigh and reached into her bag. She produced one of the cinnamon streusel muffins she had baked the day before.

"There, now can I hear?" she asked again, holding the muffin just out of his reach until he agreed.

"Jeez, just give me the damn muffin woman, I'll tell you about my childhood already," Ryna exclaimed. She smiled and handed it to him. He took a bite and leaned back against the wall of the cabin, getting comfortable.

"Alright. When I was a really little kid, my mother abandoned me on the streets of the worst part of Zyloth," Ryna began, looking over at Sensara. She was staring at him in rapt attention and he continued," Normally, my life expectancy would have been close to 0 at that point. But I managed to wander into the care of a kindly old human woman. She raised me and sent me to primary school and those sorts of things. But from a really early age, I realized that I needed to get much stronger in order to survive where I was. I don't even know how much time I spent fighting other kids, but it was enough that I was expelled more than a few times. That old lady, she never put up a fuss, she'd just say 'I'm just glad you aren't hurt sweetie'. She really was like my mother figure,"

"Why did she take you in?" Sensara asked.

"She said that I had this look in my eye the first time she saw me, and she knew I was the right kid for her. Which, admittedly, is a little strange. I think it was because her own son died in a shooting years before I was born, and she needed someone to help ease the pain away," Ryna explained, looking down sadly.

"She sounds like a wonderful person... I didn't even think, when I whisked you off after we first met, did you get the chance to say goodbye?" she asked, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Yeah, I had been at her grave the day before, paying respects," Ryna said, tears starting to well up.

"What? She's dead? I'm so sorry, how–"

"She ran a bookstore in the neighborhood. She used to give out free books to kids who could read, and teach kids how to read if they couldn't. One night, when I was 12, she was there with a class, and a man came in, trying to rob the place. He was desperate, and he grabbed a kid as a hostage. He grabbed me," Ryna replied, tears rolling down his cheeks, but his face oddly calm.

"What did she do?"

"She tried to talk him into releasing me. Tried to bargain my safety for the money, but the man wasn't having it. That stupid old lady! If only she'd given him the money first, she'd still be here. But, she didn't she was too worried about me. And he shot her," Ryna said, taking a moment to breathe. Sensara settled in between his legs, and brushed the tears away from his face.

"Shhh, its alright Ryna, there wasn't anything you could have done," she said, trying to soothe him. She looked into his eyes, trying to somehow take a little of the pain he was feeling.

"But there was! I easily could have taken him down, but she had forbade me from fighting anywhere near the store. So I froze, and I didn't realize the consequences until it was too late. After that, I dropped out of school, almost died a few times, and eventually I was picked up by this down and out swordsmaster who ran a dojo in one of the sublevels of the city. I trained under him for 6 years before he pushed me to apply for Van-cademy, and put up the money to pay for my first trip to Ulodny," Ryna continued.

"I'm so sorry Ryna, I never realized you had been through so much," Sensara said, wrapping her arms around him and cuddling into his chest.

"Its alright, my time at Grandmaster Flash's dojo was rewarding, and it let me meet you, right?" Ryna said, pushing his troubled past to the back of his mind once again.

"And I'm so grateful it did," Sensara replied, oozing warmth and love.

"Ew, so mushy..." Ryna joked, pretending to try and push her away. She gave him look telling him she was serious. He sighed and leaned his head onto hers. "So tell me about your childhood,"

"I don't think it would be appropriate after what you just told me, would it?" she asked.

"But I want to hear it anyway. And it will help me take my mind off the old lady.." Ryna trailed off.

"Alright, if you really want to. I'm kind of similar to you, though I was never dumped in the streets. My parents were always busy, so it always felt like I was alone. No matter how much I excelled, they never seemed to notice. Grandfather saw it too, and personally took it upon himself to keep me happy and loved. He was with me all the time, often skipping work that he 'had to do'," Sensara said, smiling.

"Sounds just like Gramps to skip work. He's a great old man, he really is," Ryna remarked.

"Of course, the fact that he never did any work caused friction between him and my father, and their fights were often and loud. Four years ago my father persuaded the board to reassign Grandfather to Van-Cademy, where the headmaster had just retired. Normally, being assigned as the head of the most prominent military academy in the galaxy wouldn't be considered a bad thing, but the context it was in left a foul taste with everyone," she explained.

"He's certainly doing alright over here though. And you did end up coming here, so you see him all the time," Ryna replied. She smiled and nuzzled against his chest.

"Yeah, thats true. I don't know if thats a good thing though," she said.

"Haha really? Why is that?" Ryna asked.

"Because between his perverted antics and your idiotic fights, its just too much for me sometimes," she sighed.

"Hey, I've been good! I haven't gone on an adventure with Gramps in months. Nor have I been in any fights since like last month," Ryna claimed defensively.

"You had a fight last week!" Sensara cried.

"I did? OH! That was an officially sanctioned practice fight in the gym, no way that counts," Ryna said.

"You were still in danger of getting hurt," Sensara insisted.

"Psh, no way. I've got to be the most overpowered 18 year old in history. Time, walking on air, just general amazingness, no way I'd get hurt," Ryna said, grinning cockily. She just shook her head and locked her fingers with his.

"You know, you would have thought we would have talked about our pasts sooner. Its kinda weird that it took us until winter break to get it all out," Sensara remarked, laughing a little.

"Yeah it is kinda strange. Maybe the author is just lazy?" Ryna mused.

"Author? What are you talking about?" Sensara asked, confused.

"I read this old comic book where the main character was aware of the 4th Dimension. Deadpool, I think. Now I'm convinced we're in a story or a comic book. Wouldn't that be cool?" Ryna asked, enthusiasm oozing.

"You sound like a 10-year old kid talking about his Pocket Monsters. No way we're in a story, you're crazy," she smirked. Somewhere off in the back of Ryna's mind, Carl chuckled.

The hoverbus convoy arrived in Altacun a couple hours later. In the mean time, Ryna had been oooh-ing and aah-ing over various things he had never seen before: mountains, huge forests, a desert. When they finally touched down, Sensara was a hairsbreadth away from beating Ryna to a pulp she was so fed up with answering odd questions about the geography. Ryna, on the other hand, was happily bouncing as he descended the ramp.

They were directed toward separate buildings: "just to get everyone organized," they were told. Ryna spotted Raas and Ulgo and made his way over to them, thinking.

"Sensara has never introduced me to any of her friends, has she? I wonder why?" he thought-asked himself.

Because she doesn't have any Carl boomed.

"Carl that's awful, she's so cool, no way she has no friends." Ryna declared defensively.

I have sensed the way they feel toward her. Jealousy and anger. She doesn't have any friends. Carl stated matter-of-factly.

"Man, fuck you Carl, did I even ask you?" Ryna thought angrily.

I can read your thoughts, of course you asked me, Carl announced in a victorious tone.

"I'm gonna make her some friends then. And screw off..." Ryna trailed off, picturing a blue waffle. He immediately regretted it, but he felt Carl recoil in disgust. Satisfied, he smiled at Raas.

"You were making some strange faces over there, you alright mon?" Raas asked, concerned.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine, you're imagining things. Anyway, lets get going, we're finally here!" Ryna exclaimed. There was a collective cheer from the guys around him, and they set off for their hotel, minds racing at the thought of a week of Bikini Paradise.