Protected by a Dark Guardian.

Chapter 9

        “Hello......Eclipse?  Are you in there?” A muffled voice called out.

        Eclipse growled softly.  He wanted to keep sleeping a little longer.  A sharp jab to his nose caused him to open his eyes.  The world seemed blurry at first, but it quickly came back into focus.  Ren was sitting in front of him, and it looked like he was waiting for something.

        “What?” Eclipse asked as he yawned, which sounded more like a growl.

        “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up, that’s what.”

Eclipse looked down at him.  His friend was wearing the clothes that had been on the cavern floor.  The shirt was simply a plain, loose, short sleeved, and light black in color.  The pants matched the shirt and the shoes seemed to come up to the middle Ren’s shin and they looked like they were made out of a kind of sturdy, flexible leather.

        “Nice clothes, Ren.”

        “Thanks.  I like the way they feel.  They’re thick enough to hold in heat, but thin enough to be able to breathe.”

        “Glad to hear it, Ren.  Now why did you wake me up from my nap?”

Ren looked up at him.

        “A nap?!  I’ve never seen someone who’s slept for nearly twenty-four hours call that a nap!”

        “What?!  I haven’t been asleep THAT long!”

        “Uh, yeah you HAVE.”

Eclipse looked up at the sky.  The sun wasn’t directly overhead yet.  Eclipse couldn’t believe it, he’d slept since noon to the next morning!

        “You looked tired, so I didn’t wake you up.” Ren said as he stood up and stretched.

Eclipse slowly stood up and flexed his wings.  He head them give a quiet ‘pop’.

        “There.  Now how about you and I go see my friends?”

        “Sounds good to me!”

Eclipse started walking into the forest.

        “Come on, Ren!  They should be in town!” He called over his shoulder.

        “Okay, but wait for me!” Ren said as he dash over to him.

Eclipse turned to start walking again, but stopped.

        “Oh!  Wait here a minute, Ren!  I forgot something back in the cavern!” He said as he spun around and walked back.

        “What’d you forget?” Ren asked.

        “I’ll show you when I come back!”

Ren sat down at the base of a tree.  It was peaceful here.  The birds were singing, he could he the fish jumping in the lake, he could also hear the sounds of the forest animals.  Ren smiled.  After about a minute, Eclipse came back out with something in his jaws.

        “What do you have?” Ren asked as Eclipse walked up to him.

Eclipse opened his mouth and a sword dropped into Ren’s lap.

        “What’s this for?”

        “It’s a present from me, Ren.  I hope you like it!”

Ren slowly pulled the blade from its sheath.  It came out smoothly and the blade glinted in the morning light.  The handle of the weapon was black with a fabric of the same color wrapped around it.  The guard had a burnish gold color to it and two dragons were stamped on the top.

        “Wow!  Eclipse, how in the world did you get your paws on something like this?!”

Ren heard Eclipse chuckle.

        “Well, it was a special favor from an old friend of mine.  He’s a weapon maker and a very wise and kind man.  He forged the sword for the person who was to be my human companion.  He even gave the sword a name to.”

        “Well, what was it?!  Aren’t you going to tell me?!”

         Ren saw Eclipse fidget a bit.

        “Well, he called the sword.......he called it the ‘Eclipse Blade’.  It’s a katana he made from one of my fangs that I’d lost.”

        “What’s a katana?” Ren asked curiously.

        “Well, the katana is a sword with a single-edged blade.  It’s made for speed and stealth rather than brute force and slashing.”

        “Thank you so much, Eclipse!  You’re truly the greatest friend anyone could ever wish for!” Ren said as he jumped up and hugged his friend’s foreleg.

        Eclipse smiled.  He loved seeing Ren so happy.  It helped him feel at ease.

        “You’re welcome, Ren.  You can change the sword’s name if you want to.”

        “And why would I do that?!  The sword’s name is PERFECT!”

Eclipse laughed.  Ren was really cute when he was so happy.

        “Well Ren, now lets go and meet my friends.”

        “Alright!” Ren said as he jumped up.

        Ren liked how this sword felt in his hands.  It felt so...natural!  He noticed that the sword had a small chain around the sheath.

        “Hey, Eclipse.  What is this chain on the sheath for?” Ren asked as he walked along side his friend.

        “Oh that?  It’s to put around your waist so you don’t have to carry the sword all the time.”

Ren slipped the chain around his waist and tightened it so that it wouldn’t fall off.  After about five or so more minutes of walking, Ren and Eclipse arrived at a deep gash in the ground.  It look almost like someone had been swinging a huge blade around!

        “It’s been awhile since this happened.” Ren said as he kneeled down to look.

        “How do you know, Ren?” Eclipse asked curiously.

Ren looked up at him.

        “Well, first of all, the dirt in the gash is dry and crumbling.” Ren said as he grabbed a handful of dirt from the gash, which crumbled to dust as he did, “See?  This means that the dirt has had time to dry out, and it takes awhile for dirt to do that.  Second of all, the bare ground next to the gash has already began to grow grass again.”

        Eclipse looked at the small blades of grass poking up through the ground.

        “Wow, you’re pretty observant Ren!”

        “Well, when you’ve got a gang of morons hunting you all the time you learn to keep your eyes peeled.” Ren chuckled.