Welcome to Gaia! ::

Though Caedus was already responding to 'cloaked dude'—if only because it was a voice, on his hill, calling out for someone. When the voice corrected 'Caedus', he relaxed a bit.

It was not some stranger; it was someone from the meeting. Probably.

Slowly, he worked his way around the grove of trees he'd settled into, and carefully meandered into plain sight. "I am here," he assured. "…It is all right to talk. Company is appreciated. What have you come to talk about?"

"I have nowhere else to go. I intend to remain here until I am able to go home."

He blinked when the crystal was thrust towards him, and glanced from it to Cadmus' face. "You do not need to thank me. You are doing me more help, I assume." While the offer of a snack was tempting, Caedus seemed more interested to know what this child could have done to find such a great use for the crystal.

"Many were worried that my crystals were bad. But it has…helped you? What have you used it for?"

Caedus nodded absentmindedly as he listened to Cadmus talk about his father, as if he understood. In truth, he still probably didn't, but he was sympathetic all the same.

"Sometimes we have issues sleeping. It is very hard to turn out brains off. Once, we used to sleep for many years at a time. Nothing could wake us. But this was dangerous, and left us open to attack. We had to modify ourselves. By regularly sleeping, we avoid that situation entirely. It was the safest route."

It did not seem like information that could harm him, so he did not mind sharing. Besides; this one was so…small, and young. It was difficult to see him as a threat.

"I miss my home. But I am not unused to traveling to other worlds. I am unused to being trapped on them, though," he sighed.

Caedus seemed surprised with the cranberries. He did not attempt to eat one; instead he picked on up an examined it. "We have very good food from where I am from. But I have found that I have come to enjoy Earth food substantially."

But food was not important right now. He answered the other easy question quickly—"To change appearance, such as height? "That is not so easy—to change physical appearance? I suppose if absolutely desperate you could undergo modification. But it would probably be painful and taxing. I would not encourage it."

He sighed and lowered the berry.

"I am sorry to hear about your home. I know it is not easy to leave behind a place you love. I hope you get to visit it again soon. You seem very nice, though. I am sure you will make friends. Perhaps I was wrong about this planet. It is not so miserable a rock as I had come to believe. I forgive those who yelled. People are emotional when they do not understand. It is hard to not have answers. It is hard to be met with something that challenges your beliefs." He shrugged. "I hope you make new friends. How long have you been a Senshi?"

"Mm," the man mused thoughtfully, glancing up to the sky. "If I thought hard enough, I might. But that was a long time ago. Childhood is not the same on your planet as it is mine, I do not think." He shrugged. "You are young. You should not be fighting. There is a time for fighting, but it should not be when you still have such youth. But."

He looked back to him. "You have to fight for what you believe in, and you must never forget that. I am not used to seeing senshi so young. You must take care of yourself. Always make the right choices. I know it will be difficult, but you are a senshi. You have a difficult task. Does it scare you?"

A shiver ran down Caedus' spine at the mention of youma; he seemed disgusted by them, at the very least. But the action was fleeting, and Cadmus had his full attention at all times.

"I have faith in you," he said, and sounded like he meant it. "In all of the Senshi and Knight. You were chosen for a reason. No matter your age. The reason is not always clear, but I know that you must have been chosen for a higher calling. But with the power you were given, you will always be met with obstacles. Power goes to good and bad. And if there is no good to oppose it, the bad will always win out. That is why you must fight. I am sorry. It is not so glorious a fate when you think of it."

Caedus watched as the boy left. When Cadmus raised a hand to wave to him, awkwardly and without much thought, Caedus reciprocated the action. A thousand years later and Earth still meant the same thing. He contemplated their words and poked at the cranberries the senshi had left behind.

There was no one there to see it, but he smiled.