The Starkeeper

Chapter 3

I followed him back to my shack. My shack. We were quite a way away so I wasn't sure how he knew the route to get back but somehow he did.

"Why are you back?" I asked with a hint of annoyance in my tone.

He looked back at me with a teasing smirk.

"Why you don't like me?"

"Not particularly, no." I said with confidence in my voice.

His smirk faltered before he looked at the ground and continued ahead.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a while until we got to my shack. He was reaching for the door knob before I ran and got ahead of him.

He looked me up and down with a look of surprise on his face. He looked like an idiot with the dazed look and his arm still half stretched out.

"Aren't we going inside?" He questioned.

"No. You don't need to be inside my house, whatever you need to tell me you can tell me out here." I said with my arms folded over my chest.

His eyes got cold and his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. His jaw was tight and his nostrils were flaring. From what I can remember, he came off as more of the mischievous type, not an 'I'm-going-to-rip-your-face-off' type. Though he definitely had the look.

But right now, I was generally scared for my life, I've never seen him so mad and it was very intimidating.

He bent down really close to the side of my face. His breath fanned over my cheek and my eyes widened, I was never one to show self weakness. His scent filled my nostrils, pine.

"I suggest you let me inside." He said lowly.

My breath hitched in my throat and I nodded and moved aside.

He smiled a friendly smile in my direction and went inside. That was weird. He's got to be bipolar or something.

He jumped sideways onto my bed and put is arms behind his head.

"Why don't you make yourself comfortable?" I said sarcastically.

"Thanks," he said, "so I bet you have a few questions. And i'd like to answer them all so we may begin."

So many thought raced through my head but they were all so jumbled that I couldn't choose what question to ask first. I didn't know what to say so I found myself asking all the wrong questions.

"How did you know where I lived?" I asked stupidly.

He sighed and sat up, running a hand through his tousled hair. He stood up and rubbed the back if his neck. He didn't look so intimidating now, just almost innocent.

"W-Well as you already know, My name is Jace E-Ember and I'm a fire-keeper. I have the ability to control fire, kind of like your ability to-uh-control the stars and Aline them the way you like." His voice was shaking but not like he was about to cry, like he was nervous about something.

"There aren't as many 'keepers' as you would think. Before you were born there was only two-myself and another named Hunter Spruce. He controls the wind and waters, in other words - he creates storms. He was in his late twenties when he was reborn. For centuries it was just me and him, we were the only company we could have, until you that is..."

He trailed off, almost as if he was remembering something. Then his nervousness seemed to melt away and by the looks of it he started to become angry again. He closed his eyes and his breathing got heavier. My eyes widened and i slowly backed away from him. It started to get hotter in the small hut and i didnt know what I was supposed to do at this point.

"Why?" His voice sounded to loud for the small space we were in.

"W-What?" I asked, shaking.

"Why did you leave all those years ago?"

I had no idea what he was going on about! He was crazy!

"When I found you that day I told you to stay where you were. Why did you leave?"

He started out sounding mad but near the end he sounded almost desperate.

"I-I was scared. I didn't know you and I had just figured out i had been reborn. Everything was rushing through my head and - and... I don't know I knew I couldn't wait for you to come back..." I managed to stutter out.

He sighed and nodded while running a hand through his messy hair.

"Anyway I was so happy that someone else had been reborn, especially if it's a girl! I haven't talked to a girl since my days as a human. I was so excited that I flew as fast as I could back to Hunter to tell him. He didn't believe me at first so I led him back to where I had told you to stay but you weren't there! I didn't know what to say and I didn't want him to make fun of me so we tried to find you. We searched everywhere! Then we heard someone running and we followed them from above so if it was you, we wouldn't be seen."

I hung on to every word he was saying trying to comprehend them. He looked at me with a look that almost asked permission if he could go on with the story. I nodded to show him I was listening and that I wouldn't interrupt.

''Okay, so then we found you! And Hunter was amazed. We had never seen someone so bad at flying in our lives."

He started to crack up laughing. His laugh was contagious and deep but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of a smile so instead I sent him a glare.

"Well sorry," I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

"But I was never taught how to properly take off so I was forced to run." I said with sass.

"I never needed to be taught, neither did Hunter." He said with a smug grin on his stupid little annoying face of his.

This was going to be a long story.