The white-haired girl collapsed against the dark trunk of a tree. Blood trickled down her forehead and down the side of her cheek. Blood stained her tattered dark hoodie and black leggings. Her weapon belt was ripped and barely holding on.

"This should be far enough from the city...but we're not in bug's territory yet so we should be safe here. We just need to keep an eye out for guards." The young girl explained crouching down. "Are you alright?"

"Just peachy, thanks." Snapped the teenager. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

The girl pursed her lips and very hesitantly pulled her hoodie down. The girl had very short messy pink hair and vibrant yellow eyes. Her pale face was scattered with freckles and she looked rather thin. "I don't want anything from you. I saved your life so I'm trusting you won't tell anyone I was here if I tell you who I am."

The teenager sighed, clutching her stomach. "You didn't save my-....Alright, alright. You tell me I don't tell anyone, Got it."

The girl sat there for a moment, with the back of her hand against her mouth . "Ok..." she said finally, "I'm Maximilian Ascil. Call me Max."

The white-haired teenager's eyes grew wide, her face grew paler. Then she sighed lowly and leaned her head back against the tree with her eyes closed. "You're kidding, right? What's an Ascil doing down here?"

The girl didn't reply, she just settled herself next to the tree and pulled out a rag, handing it to the other.

"Thanks. Uh...I'm Maya. Call me May."

Maximilian smiled and stuck her hand out for a proper greeting. "Nice to meet you May!"

"And she smiles!" Maya announced with a smirk, shaking her hand, "You should smile more often."

Max pulled away, pursing her lips while mumbling an awkward 'thanks'.

The young girl looked up at the half moon in the sky with a small frown. "Well I've still got three hours or so...would you like to tell me how you wound up in that situation?"

Maya sighed and turned away. "Well-.." 'why should I tell her anything? Why does she care? She's an Ascil!' Maya shook the thoughts from her head, and after one more glance, continued. "I had heard about these expensive jewels being shipped to the woods. They'd be passing through Red, so I thought I'd sneak in and steal em' while I had the chance." She seemed to grin at the thought of her own plan, "You know, so I could trade them for something really good. But..someone saw me, so I ran. I guess while they were distracted with me, someone else stole all the jewels. So, of course, they blamed it on me. They found me and-" she glanced at Max's worried expression. "...You know the rest. Why do you even care, Ascil?!"

Max shrugged, frowning. "I don't know. I couldn't just leave you there-b-but why didn't you just use your psychic abilities to defend yourself?" She pointed to Maya's one brilliant red eye.

"I'm a halfbreed." Maya said with a hint of disgust on her tongue, motioning to her faded blue eye. "Half of me is human, the other half is psychic. Halfbreeds can't use their abilities on their own elementals. Plus I was already hurt, I would have totally beat their asses if it weren't for the fact they decided it'd be fun to shank me." Maya seemed to laugh through the stress, then clutched the rag to her stomach.

Max tilted her head, "Well how'd you become a halfb-"

"So you have to tell me why you were down here." Maya said quickly, strands of white hair falling over her red eye. "What's a special little snowflake like you doing in a dump like this?"

Max tucked her knees up to her chest and covered her mouth. It was quiet besides the breeze and the sirens in the distance. A shuffle. Then a pink flash appeared in a bush. Neither of them noticed.

"...Fine, if you don't want to tell me I'll just-" Maya began to get up but was interrupted by the other.

"Alright, I'll tell you. I'm seriously trusting you though, ok?"

"Bad decision, honestly."

Max pursed her lips, her cheeks growing a bit hot. "I'm sure you know, us Ascil's are known for being the most high-class, powerful wind elementals."

Maya nodded and listened with interest.

"Well every day I have to look, act, stand, eat, drink, even sleep perfectly! And if I don't-" her voice broke and she cleared her throat. "If I don't, nobody's happy. I'm held to such high standards up there." She glanced up at the mountains behind the small city, faded towers looming into the night sky. "So...every once and a while, to relax a bit, I come here, to Red, so I can let a load off. I usually just go to a bar and-"

"You drink?! You're like twelve!" Maya exclaimed.

"I'm fifteen!" Max snapped, her face hot.

"Oh."

Max sighed. "Listen, I have to get going. If I don't get home before sunrise I'll be in deep trouble." She stood up, a bit wobbly.

"You didn't have to help me, you know." Maya said, "Everything would've been just fine. You could've just snuck off to the bar, and then gone home."

"I know that."

"So why did y-."

"Sorry I couldn't help more."

"Shut the hell your mouth, you helped me quite enough." Maya forced herself up, her blue and red eyes dancing with amusement. "A wind elemental like you shouldn't even be helping a psychic like me anyways....but you're right. You should leave."

"I hope I see you again, Maya. Good luck with everything."

She pulled her hood up and began walking away.

"And seriously, please don't tell anybody I was here...."

Maya squinted her eyes for moment, then said "I won't."

Max glanced back for a moment, then disappeared into the trees.

A pair of bright pink eyes watched from the bushes as Max crept away, leaving Maya to limp home.