I didn't sign up for that shit

There is something between them

Frezh followed Hover while making sure his rattlings were all close by. Even if this guardian was supposedly kind, Frezh would not trust him until he proved that he was safe to be around his children.

The path ended at the big tree, which each of his rattlings had looked at at least once. Now that Frezh could see the tree better, he noticed nothing special about it. Sure, the apples were strange colors, but he'd seen stranger things. And yet,seeing how his rattlings went straight for the winged skeleton, Frezh thought that maybe it was more the skeleton than the tree itself. In fact, Frezh recognized the smell of that skeleton. It was very similar to the scent that had mingled more and more with the natural scent of his rattles since he'd met them.

"What did you want to talk about?", Cross asked and each of the rattlings turned to the horned guardian. Frezh was watching him closely, after all he wanted to know what this was about. Because he had the bad feeling that his rattlings were involved.

"Killer, you surely remember how you and your friends called yourself and your friends guardian scions, don't you?" Hover asked, standing next to the winged guardian. Frezh could see the tails of the two guards intertwined. It reminded Frezh of the other Lamias crossing tails with their mates.

"Yes." Killer nodded, "It should just keep people from asking too many questions."

Hover sighed and seemed to lean slightly towards the winged guardian so that their shoulders almost touched. He rubbed the bone of his nose like he was trying to stave off headaches. “Killer, this multiverse is very sensitive to intent. And your testimony was full of it. It may not be over yet, but the Multiverse has chosen you, Error, Horror, Dust, Cross and Love as its new Guardians. It is not yet clear what kind of guardian you will be, but it will not be long before the process is complete."

"Great. Another thing I wanted to avoid.", Error grumbled and Frezh was ready to agree. His rattlings were too young to do any guard work.

“It's not yet written in stone, Error. If you refuse with the right amount of intent, then you may be taken off the list again.", The horned guard explained to his second oldest rattling gently and Frezh watched how Hover grabbed the hand of the other guard and crossed their fingers together.

"I mean, I understand the children, but why am I on the list?" Love looked at the two guards in confusion and Frezh wanted to go to his side and offer his elders support if he needed it. But Frezh couldn't move away without having his good field of vision of all the actions of the two guards. He hoped Love would forgive him.

“I just guess that at least one of them had an underlying desire to protect you, which is why you were included in the circle of the chosen. A position as a guardian gives you a certain amount of protection in the entire multiverse, but especially in the village.” The winged one glanced briefly at Hover, who just smiled at him encouragingly and pressed his hand soft in confirmation. “You will need protection, especially in the village. And if they continue to bother you, please tell us. They'll have to listen to us if they ever want Hover to come back to the village."

"If it bothers you so much that the villagers are harassing you, why don't you just lock them out?" The curiosity and confusion that was on Dust's face was also reflected on the faces of the other rattlings. And Frezh admitted to being a little curious himself. If this were his territory, he would have tried to do something about this plague a long time ago.

“Because”, Hover began, “if we locked them out now, they'd keep trying to get back in. The villagers are like devoted ex-friends that you will never get rid of."

“Besides”, the horned guard continued with a grin that screamed for Frezh for danger, “the villagers have become gullible and cocky. They think they are in control of us. We're just waiting for the right moment when we can turn your whole world into rubble and ashes."

An excited cheer came from Killer and Frezh would almost think that his smallest ratter would start dancing for joy. "Finally! We can kill these damn villagers! Best day of my life."

Killer's words made the horned guard laugh, and the guard's laughter alone brightened the faces of his rattlings. “I will definitely come to your help when the time comes. But thanks for the offer."

Frezh could watch the horned guardian look at the winged one when he thought no one else would see it. Hover's gaze was full of love and devotion. It looked strange to see the Guardian throwing such a look at his so-called brother. He would keep watching.

Something was definitely going on between the two guardians and he would have to keep an eye on them, just in case.