Hi everyone! Two weeks... Jeez I'm slow in updates these days :o But don't worry, I finish my big contract at work this week and I'll have more free time after it! Love you all!

Elfman was brutally woken up by the soldiers' calls. He sighed. The sun was barely up and they already had to start walking. His life would be more difficult from now on, but as a real man, and to protect the kingdom and his sister, he had to get used to it. By his side, he saw Evergreen waking up, a grumpy look on her face. As for the man on his other side, he was glaring at him.

Ignoring his surroundings, he did as he was told and got out of the tent, starting undoing the campsite. At least, he tried his best, focussing on not breaking stuff, not being used yet to his strength. Then they started to walk. Strangely, his eyes couldn't stop looking for the young woman. Maybe was it due to the fact that, despite her impressive temper, she was the only person that knew at least his name? The young man however didn't think about it for too long and started to slow down, once he had located her behind him, so they could walk next to each other.

"What?" she asked after a moment.

"You still didn't tell me since when you have your ring".

"I thought I told you it wasn't of your business!"

"In my case, I only had it for a couple of days" he continued, not considering her answer.

To this, the young woman rose an eyebrow in surprise.

"In that case, luck isn't on your side" she concluded. "A couple of days later and you wouldn't be here".

"A couple of days later and Mira would be here in my place" he said, holding on to the thought that this unpleasant future wouldn't be in vain.

"Your sister's a bearer too?" Asked Evergreen, her expression softening to the young man's last words.

"For years" he confirmed after scanning the surroundings, making sure no one was eavesdropping.

"In a way, it isn't surprising that family members are bearers".

"Your brother must be a bearer too" concluded Elfman.

"It has nothing to do with it, you idiot! I was adopted... But yes, both of us are bearers, myself for the past five years" she finally revealed.

The young man's eyes widened, indicating he finally got her point. That only made Ever sigh from exasperation.

"You really are a lost cause" she said, without however getting away from him.

They simply walked side by side across the numerous miles they had to, once more, pass through during the day. Then, a couple of hours later, they took a lunch break. A bowl containing some sort of weird stew was served to them. After tasting with hesitation, the so-called meal, the young woman had a disgusted frown: it tasted even worst than what it looked like!

"Ew! How dare they serve us something this bad!" She complained.

"Hum?"

Elfman rose his eyes on the young woman, not seeming to understand what was her problem, his bowl already empty.

"Don't tell me you actually like this?" said Evergreen with a mixture of surprise and disgust.

The later shook his shoulders, not understanding why she was complaining.

"Real men have to eat!" He simply said, much to Evergreen's annoyance.

"Well, I'm not a man." She said, handing him her practically full bowl.

"You'll be hungry!" Replied Elfman, surprised of seeing someone declining a meal, pushing back the bowl she offered him even though he wasn't replete yet.

"Do as you wish but I wont eat it!"

To her insistence, he accepted the food, emptying the bowl in only a couple of bites. Then came the time to leave again. After a couple of hours of walking, Evergreen felt her stomach tightening. She was hungry. The young woman was expecting this to happen sooner or later, but she had hoped it would be a little closer to dinner time. Resigning, she tried to ignore her stomach's complaints as she was going on against her will.

Then, the movement of something huge jumping next to her startled here, bringing all her attention back to her left side. It didn't take long to realise that it was Elfman who just propelled himself, landing in a loud thud on the ground.

"What's wrong with you!" She tempested. "You almost made me have an heart attack!"

She stopped yelling as soon as she saw in his hand a branch he just teared off the cherry tree. The later handed the said branch to her, ignoring her new burst of anger.

"Stop complaining" he said. "I know you're hungry" he added, pointing at her belly from which he most certainly had heard the growls.

The young woman quickly grabbed her stomach, a reddish tint now on her cheeks, before finally accepting the branch filled with cherries he was handing to her. They really looked delicious!

"Thank you" she said with hesitation.

"No problem! A man cannot let his partner starving".

She was tempted to reprimand him once more for his annoying obsession with the word "man", but she didn't. What intrigued her the most was the way he just called her.

"Partner?" she repeated in surprise.

"Of course! We're going to protect the kingdom together" he said before showing a more serious face. "I don't really want to and I'm scared of what's ahead of us, but having a partner as fierce as you is encouraging".

"Who are you calling fierce? You make it sound like I'm some kind of amazon!" Tried to look angry Evergreen despite that renewed blush on her cheeks, ruining her credibility.

How could a big guy such as Elfman could talk this openly about his fears? He simply said what was on his mind, not considering what others would think about him.

Then she started to eat the cherries in silence. The road ahead was still a long one and, as the sun was turning red, indicating the upcoming dusk, Evergreen wondered why they haven't establish a basecamp yet. She then saw an enormous wall between the trees. They were almost there! This realisation filled her with relief. However, the consolation of ending that long journey was soon replaced by worry. This wall would be, until further notice, her new home, her new lifestyle.

All around her, she could feel the same tension in the other DFA recruits. Her legs seeming to have less tonus than a few minutes earlier, she walked the distance separating her from the wall. It was gigantic and built in rocks. Evergreen had of course heard rumors about it, but she never imagined it would be this impressive. The part of the wall standing in from of them was even larger and equipped with two grand doors. It didn't take more to the young woman to understand that this enlarged part of the wall was what served as the DFA's head quarters and that this was where they where heading.

Following a sign from the commander, the doors opened and the group proceeded their way. The first thing that hit her was the lack of light. The atmosphere was simply gloomy and sent shivers to her spine.

They then entered a big room where two other groups like theirs, probably bearers from other villages, she thought. Apparently, they were the last ones to arrive because the doors closed behind them as soon as they where all inside. Then a man, that seemed to have a higher rank, addressed himself to all of them, barely letting them time to adapt or even take a breath.

"Welcome, dear bearers, inside these walls. My name is captain Thompson, responsible of integration of our new recruits within our great organisation. Know that your presence today is essential to the kingdom's survival and highly appreciated.

He smiled to the assembly before letting another man take his place, a list in his hands.

"Those who are named will be the first to be showed their apartments and will be invited to follow me."

And so, he started to enumerate a series of names until pronouncing Evergreen's. Elfman waited a little more, hoping to hear his. After his separation from his sister, barely two days ago, he inwardly wished he could stay with the beautiful brunette, and that, despite the numerous times he had found her scary in the past. But his own name wasn't pronounced and, after giving him a worried look, Evergreen walked to the stage where she waited for the other chosen ones, before disappearing behind the door, following the representative.

A feeling of solitude filled Elfman once more. He even thought he saw his sister within the mass of bearers. The young man shook his head. Could the situation perturbate him to the point of imagining Mira's presence? No, despite their impressive similarities including her white hair, her large blue eyes or the shape of her face, she was younger and moved differently then his sister. As if she felt a look on her, the girl walked to him, a worried look on her face and a hand to her forehead.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Asked Elfman as she reached him.

"Your friend" she said. "She... she shouldn't go..."

"What? What are you talking about?" Said the confused young man. "How..."

"I have premonitions" she said, pointing at her ring. "They're only feelings, but what I felt when the group made me feel bad.

The young man nodded, looking with worry at the door that just closed on Evergreen.

"We could explore a little bit" said the young woman with a blink. "We could wander around and "happen" to find her".

The girl smiled to him. Maybe was it due to her resemblances with Mira, but he already liked her. Putting on the side his fears of getting caught by the guards, both managed to sneak out while the rest of the group was dragged to what seemed to be a dormitory.

"By the way" she whispered, turning to him. "My name is Lisanna. Nice to meet you!"

Admit it, you believed I had simply neglected Lisanna in this story Mouhahaha ! Anyways, I hope you did ;) I also guess that you have a lot of questions and, don't worry, each and everyone of them will be answered in due time :) Don't forget to leave me a little comment :D

Have a nice day !

Lily xxx