The Path of Four Magi

Solid Ground

You were once again on solid ground. You and Judal had flown to the outskirts of the city before continuing your journey on the ground. You felt glad that you could once again walk, yet sad that Judal's comforting arms let go of you.

It was now almost night time. The whole day had been spent walking along the paths. Judal and you hadn't once spoken since you had been in the air. You had been left alone with your thoughts. (A/N: That's pretty dangerous, don't you think?)

Most of the time you had spent wondering what you would do when you got to the next town or city, which would take a while, but from time to time you couldn't help but let your mind wander to the man walking next to you. Of course, your eyes wandered to. You had taken in even more about his physical appearance by the time you settled down for the night. You saw what he looked like a little clearer, but could also picked up a few traits about him.

Your mother had always said it was a gift. You were able to learn things about someone just by observing them. It was the small things, like how they walked, how they held themselves, the facial expressions they made, and the look in their eyes that helped you learn about them.

Judal had started to lay out his sleeping gear as you started lighting the fire. He had finished long before you got the fire started, so he just sat back and looked at you. You were struggling to light the fire, but tried nonetheless. You were to busy focusing on lighting the fire to notice him looking at you.

You sat back on your heels as you finally managed to start the fire. You sighed in relief and wiped your forehead clean of the sweat that had rested there. As you did so, you caught Judal staring at you from the corner of your eye. Has he been looking at me the whole time? You thought as you looked over to him. You hoped that would make him look away from you, but he continued to stare. You quickly turned your head away from him to hide the pink that had crept onto your cheeks. Well that backfired. You cursed in your head.

You heard shuffling behind you as Judal came and sat next to you. You still had your head turned away from him because your cheeks decided to stay pink. Normally it wouldn't matter because it was night, but because the fire lit up the dark sky, it would be visable. Once your cheeks returned to their normal color, which didn't take very long, you heard Judal sigh.

"It was about time you started the fire, I was getting cold," the dark haired man teased.

"Since you don't appreciate my hard work you can light the fire next time." You playfully stuck out your tongue and crossed your arms. You were getting used to his jokes and were actually starting to like them. In fact, you were starting to also like him.

He laughed. He seemed to be liking you more too. After he finished laughing, he smiled at you. It is said that smiles are contagious, that when somebody smiles you it is almost impossible to not smile back. This is very true, and when Judal smiled that is exactly what happened, you smiled back.

--Time Skip--

You and Judal had been traveling together for a few weeks now, growing closer and closer. You knew each other better by the day. While you both knew tons about each other, you could tell he wasn't telling you some things. You just shook it off because there were things you hadn't told him either. He was such an easy man to talk to that you automatically told him tons about you. The only things you left out were your family, why you left, and why you were being chased after. He too didn't tell you about his family, where he came from, what he did for a living, and his magic. You smiled remembering when you had first learned he knew magic. It was a few days after you first met.

--Flashback--

You two had settled down for the night once again. It had been a few days since you met him and you had learned even more about his character. He was arrogant, self-centered, and easy going. He usually made you do all the work while he sat back and relaxed. Despite this, you still enjoyed his company.

I don't know what kind of life he has to make him think that he doesn't have to do any work but it sure must be nice. You thought.

Even when you were living with your family, life wasn't that easy. Even with maids and slaves to do your bidding you still had to do many things on your own.

You shook your head clear of these thoughts and turned back to the fire. You had just finished placing the logs in an A formation and adding the kindling and tinder. Now for the hard part. You mentally sighed. You had always been good at setting up the fire but never good at lighting it. You were just about to start atteptimg to lighting it when a strong hand grabbed your wrist. You recognized the hand, it was Judal's.

"It's okay, (y/n), I can start the fire today," he offered.

You were startled. Not only did he never offer to help, but he had never called you (y/n) before. He would usually call you the stupid nickname he made up for you, damsel, and occasionally called you idiot or brat, but never (y/n).

"O-okay," you stuttered.

You turned to him and held out the flint and knife to start the fire with, but he just ignored it and reached down his choli to reveal what looked like a magical wand. With a simple spell, he lit the wood you had set up just seconds ago.

After he lit it, he turned to you, smirking. He was obviously proud of his work, and seemed to be looking for your approval and admiration for what he did.

"Wow, that was amazing. I only wonder why you didn't do it earlier if it was so amazing and simple," you playfully stuck out your tongue and crossed your arms.

Even though you were acting cold towards him, you really were amazed at his magic, and happy that he had helped. Judal sat down next to you and shrugged at your words.

"Well, you seemed so content with doing everything so I just decided to sit back, relax, and watch you do your thing," He explained, resting his hands behind his head and leaned back against the log behind you.

"Sure, I bet that's exactly why you didn't help me before," you sarcastically said.

--Present Time--

You smiled, looking over at Judal who was looking away from you, eating an apple. I am so glad I met this man. You thought as you looked up at the sky. I am keeping my promise I made to you mom. I think I am finally happy, I am finally smiling. This journey is great.

If only you knew the troubles that the near future held for you.

___________ ___________ ___________

Yay! This chapter is done!!! It took me forever to finish this because I suck at writing filler chapters. Sorry there wasn't a whole lot of background between you and Judal, but I did say I suck at filler chapters.

NEXT TIME:

"No, don't do it!" You screamed. "Don't do it!"

It didn't work. It was too late. He had already fired his beam of purple lightning, and there was nothing you could do to help him. Nothing you could do to save the man who had helped you, made you smile, and saved you multiple times. There was nothing you could do but scream his name and hope, just hope that he would somehow be fine, but you knew deep down that he was a goner.

"Judal!"

Wow! Our reader and Judal have gotten themselves in a pickle. You'll find out in the next chapter, The Calm Before the Storm.