When Jace held the piece of metal up in the light, squinting at the way the candlelight gleamed in the black stone in the center. It was large, almost the size of his thumb, though he was certain it would seem much smaller once he was older, but it seemed massive when his guardian had placed it in his small palm. It was oddly intricate considering it was a pendant commemorating military service, the pendant being silver with flowing vines encircling a large black, stone that had been polished smooth. The leaves of the vines were spades, made of the same black stone, and there were words that he couldn't make out around the edges, words that the Hirayama seemed to have conveniently forgotten.

It was strange for the man to give Jace anything, let alone something quite as... Meaningful as this, especially when the Poochyena was still in the middle of training. In fact it was so odd that the boy had been staring at it for hours, turning it over in his hands, feeling the way that the metal had been worn away, the jagged or sharp edges where the edges had been chipped. For something so beautiful, it was so careworn, so obviously loved, that he had felt strange accepting it, staring up at the man in silent question. He'd simply smiled and ruffled the Poochyena's hair, holding up another pendant that was nearly identical, except the name on the back wasn't Edgar's.

Jace was unfamiliar with things like romance or... Really trusting anyone so much that he would give them something like that. However that was the only conclusion that he could come to as to why Edgar would have someone else's pendant to wear instead of his own. Edgar had simply said that one day he might not be able to come back to him, so he liked to have a way to constantly remind Jace of his roots. That had earned the Hirayama a rather suspicious look, but the Poochyena knew better than to question such things when it came to his guardian; they bickered on occassion, but Jace never seriously pushed the other man, not anymore. He respected Edgar too much to actually be unkind or disrespectful.

"Are you going away?" Jace questioned the pendant softly, his brows furrowing a little; it wasn't really his business, but if the Hirayama did leave... He might miss him... Just a little.

Swallowing thickly the Poochyena took the pendant, it's chain thick and almost too heavy for his neck, and pulled it over his head so the metal rested, solid, cold and heavy against his chest. Jace stared down at it for a long moment, his red eyes hooded as he watched the light reflect off its surface. If his guardian did leave, if he disappeared and made it so he could not be found, possibly to find the owner of his pendant, then cold metal would be a poor replacement. With a small sniff that he told himself was disdain, Jace shifted and blew out his candle, curling up in bed and staring into the darkness; he was still young now, but he couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be long before he was on his own and very much alone.