He hadn't wanted to leave Harper. Really, even having just awoken from a lengthy bit of slumber, he'd have preferred to simply head back to her room where he could curl up with her under the covers. Not necessarily to sleep. He was tired, yes, but not in the traditional sense of the word. It was a different kind of weariness, one that was hard to describe.

Regardless, it had been hard leaving Harper at the top of the stone stairs. Harder making himself continue down them into the dark. Liam wasn't afraid of the dark, at least not acutely, but there was an ingrained, instinctual caution that made him nervous as he made his slow way downward, towards the soft, multicolored glow of the room below. Or rather, not a room, but what looked to be a cavern. A large opening carved into the bedrock beneath the cold floor of the pod room up above. Nervously the young man looked up, as if he could see them still standing there, Harper and Mimsy both.

~Probably not there,~ came a voice in the darkness. Smooth and deep, carrying with it a soft edge of humor and something subtly unkind in a familiar way.

"Who's there?" There wasn't anywhere to hide. The room he stood in the entrance two was wide and open, walls covered by rows upon rows of stone tablets with glowing runes etched across the faces of them. Liam bit his lip as he stared around him, searching, but finding nothing.

~Who indeed. You'll know, in time.~ Again that masculine chuckle, and Liam's brows drew in over the bridge of his nose. His own voice had echoed faintly against the stone. This one did not. ~Not the brightest, are you?~ It was softly chastising. Affectionate, but just a little cruel.

Harper had told him about this, a voice in his head, an unbreakable bond. Still frowning, he directed his thoughts towards the voice. Trying to communicate in his own head, rather than out loud.

You're my partner.

~That's right. Give the kid a prize.~ Laughter, that faded off into thoughtfully amused hum. ~What's your name?~

Liam had been standing only a step or two into the large room, and only just now began moving again. He didn't have an aim, not a conscious one, and instead just went. Just moved. Headed in whatever direction felt right. or at least not wrong.

I'm Liam. A pause, dark eyes taking in the rows or tablets, taking them in one at a time, but not lingering. Yet. How about you?

Without knowing why, he reached out touch the tips of his fingers against tablet with blue runes. They flared at his touch, changed as he drew his hands away, runes becoming an image of two long shapes crossed over one another.

Then the tablet was gone, becoming the weapon that materialized in Liam's hands. Tonfa; long and slender, with handle sticking out of each at odd angles. They were heavy, but a comfortable weight.

~I'm Rhenwick, and I think we'll get along just fine, Liam.~

Goosebumps trailed up Liam's arms. In a soft flash of blue light the tonfa were gone, replaced by a thick, leather cuff on his left wrist.