DON'T READ THIS

The air was cool and crisp in the morning at the top of the Dialga Mountains. It was a nice quiet place to sit and, well, do pretty much anything. One could relax, sleep, train, play...For the record, Rowan was sketching the view from the top of the mountain. It was a hobby of his, something he did on those rare occasions he got bored.

The view was spectacular, miles of Amelia were visible from this height. It was an almost cloudless day so the lighting was perfect, and up on the secluded mountaintop there were almost no distractions.

Nym yawned and laid down, closing her eyes, presumably to take a nap. 'G'night,' she said, even though it was early in the morning.

Rowan put away all the sketches and stared out into the distance. A single cloud passed in front of the sun, casting an ominous shadow across Amelia. Rowan couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, but he tried to push those unhappy thoughts away for the time being and just enjoy the view.

Alecis was drifting on a cloud, looking down over the Dialga Mountains.

It was such a peaceful morning, something that Alecis was thankful for.

But as she looked down at the rocky cliffs of the mountains she saw something that could very easily ruin that peace. Rowan Eligius was sitting, his dæmon laying down beside him.

Wonderful...

"Hey there, Rowan!" Alecis called. Maybe some taunting would be good for her.

"Long time no see!" Haha, she wished.

Rowan was snapped out of his semi-zoned-out state by the grating voice of Alecis, causing him to cringe. He wasn't sure if it was her voice or her personality that gave him a headache every time he saw her.

He looked up in annoyance to see Alecis sitting on a cloud practically leering at him.

"Alecis," he replied in a deadpan tone. "Fancy seeing you here."

He barley resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I thought the exact same when I saw your pretty face," Alecis smiled and then rolled her eyes.

"We should stop meeting up like this, Charlie might start to suspect something is up." She laughed, and then teetered of the cloud, landing gracefully on a boulder next to Rowan.

"Watcha doin' out here anyway? Are you... drawing? Oh, lemme see!" Quickly, Alecis blew a bunch of air upwards, and snatched the drawing from his hands. It floated to her, and she smiled.

"Careful with that!" Rowan exclaimed, annoyed at Alecis's rudeness. He got to his feet. He would have tried to grab his sketches back from Alecis, but he didn't want to risk tearing them or anything. "Would it kill you to ask me first? I swear you're the rudest person I know."

Nym rolled over and muttered something in her sleep, completely unaware that Alecis had just shown up.

As Alecis looked at the paper in her hands she realized that this guy had... oh God... talent.

She shuddered at the thought and then threw it back down to him, taking care to move the air around it so it would go straight into his hand.

"Whatever," Alecis rolled her eyes. He was so lame.

"Wanna go to the Battle Thing?" She asked absentmindedly, not caring what his answer was.

Rowan rolled his eyes. She asked him this practically every time they met. And the answer was always the same. "No, Alecis, I don't," he said exasperatedly. "And I probably never will, with anyone, ever, unless I have a good reason to."

He put the thankfully un-ruined drawings back away, not caring if Alecis thought he was boring, or whatever she thought. She could think what she wanted.

"Eh, I thought you might feel that way. But you know, it's nice to get out your frustration sometimes. You know? I mean, if my parents hated me for being a traitor, I would want to get out some of my frustration... In fact, if I was a traitor at all, I would want to get out some frustration."

Alecis smiled sweetly as she stared Rowan in the eyes.

Rowan's eyes widened into a glare, and he felt his pulse quicken as anger coursed through him. He clenched his hands into fists, but reminded himself that Alecis was trying to provoke him so that he would fight her. He couldn't let her win.

He forced himself to look away from her. "You're not going to bait me into a fight, Alecis," he managed through clenched teeth. "And you don't know a thing about my parents."

His parents did not HATE him.

Nym felt her clio's strong emotions and woke up. 'What's going on!?'

"Everyone knows, Rowan. Really, it's nothing to be ashamed of." Her smile grew wider.

"I mean, it isn't your fault they hate you. Being a traitor just comes naturally to you. It's just who Rowan is. It's actually a wonder Charlie can even stand to look at you."

The 'close your eyes and count to ten' method didn't seem like it would work after that comment. Rowan was shaking with anger at this point. A piece of him was dying to throttle Alecis right then and there, but her mention of Charlie actually helped him start thinking straight again. It calmed him down to think of her.

"I know what you're trying to do, and it isn't going to work," he snapped, still refusing to look at Alecis. "And for the record, at least someone can stand to look at me, which is more than what can be said for you."

"Oh, that was inclioly[?] cruel, Rowan. I think I might die of a broken heart. Are you serious? I have tons of friends!" Alecis huffed.

But in her mind, she counted them off. 1.Eva, 2.Lorrik, 3.Charlie?, 4...

Alecis turned, she was done with Rowan for today. She would get him to fight her sooner or later, though.

"I'll see you later, Rowan dear, I better be off now. I have children at home. Toodles!"

She waved, grabbed her dæmon, and then jumped off the cliff they had been on.