The avatar grinned as he watched the youth enter the establishment. The scar around the eye was enough to confirm Kaien’s identity. But what to do? Kenjin continued to remain where he was, rather then introduce himself to his query. That would be boring, no, extremely dull, and that was simply not how the mystic conducted himself. He had eternity to himself, after all. If he began to get dull, the years were going to pass by very slowly. He watched the man scan the tavern, unable to locate the mystic. His grin widened slowly as a frustrated look came over the lad’s face. Disgruntled, the boy finally sat down on a barstool, and hailed a drink from the barkeep, content to wait until Kenjin made himself known.

At this, Kenjin’s smile faded. Kaien was being rather boring. After a few minutes of watching the boy, the mystic decided that it could not be helped. He would have to intervene just a tiny bit. The ancient man focused, and the door to the tavern flung open by a tiny girl, one Kenjin was certain that Kaien might remember. Rosy seemed flustered by the slight cold outside, so she headed to the fireplace. Kaien’s eyes followed her, especially when she took a seat next to the hooded avatar. Kaien glanced at Kenjin, as if uncertain as to whether he had noticed the mystic before. Kenjin grinned. “Thank you, Rosy,” he whispered to the girl. “You may go back now.” Rosy nodded and, as if she had never been there, simply faded into nothingness. No one in the tavern noticed, but the boy sure did.

Abandoning his drink, the young rouge boldly made his way through the crowded tavern towards the mysterious man by the fire. Without a word, he sat down in the empty seat that had only a few seconds ago been occupied by the girl Rosy. “Who are you?” Kaien asked, with a sudden focused look on his face.

Kenjin tilted his head in the boy’s direction. “What’s wrong, Kaien?” he answered, and his grin widened. “Can’t you just pick it out of my brain? I was told you could find out even the most insignificant things about a person just from a glance.” The mystic lifted his gloved hand and, ever so slightly, tapped his head. “But I don’t think you want to do that, Kaien. Do you?” He chuckled slightly.

Kaien, as if to prove the mystic wrong, began to strain his powers in an attempt to discover the secrets of the mystic’s life. After a minute of this, Kenjin waved his hand to break the boy’s concentration. “It looks like you have much to learn yet, Kaien.” He snickered at the irony of that statement, then held out his hand. “I am Kenjin,” he said in greeting. “Do you know that name, boy?”

Kaien’s eyes widened. “Y-yes,” he replied, and became coy. “You are the great mystic.”

Kenjin nodded. “I am glad you know of the name, Kaien. It is so boring when others don’t know it, and are thus unimpressed by the meaning of the name. Meaning is very important.” The avatar shifted itself in its seat, so that it would now face the boy, who’s eyes it could see were aglow with wonder. “I am wondering, Kaien, whether you would be interested in going on a little journey with me. It isn’t quite so far… Well, I should rephrase that. It is not so far to someone like me, but I measure journeys in their meaning, not their distance. This journey means little to me, but it is important that I go on it, so it shall be a long journey for us.” He smiled, and Kaien could just barely see the shiny teeth of the avatar. “We are going hunting.”

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Signature by the Sinfully Delicious Lady Knives