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Ekanite was not sure he liked this feeling.

There was something creeping in the back of his head, as if trying to worm its way down his neck without leaving the safety of his skin. He shuddered, looking around, and realized he could almost see the direction it was coming from. Or was he feeling it? It was sort of like that sense Painite was explaining to him, like how certain characters in his favorite shonen shows could sense power levels, except this one did not feel like Painite's powerful, dark, but comforting one. No, this one made him feel a little nauseous.

Was this what Painite called the White Moon? She told him to stay away from them, and to never try to fight or talk to them unless she was present and could make sure he was safe. She did not want him having anything to do with them at all, and he knew that.

So of course, his first instinct was to walk toward the sensation. It grew stronger, so he knew he was headed in the right direction. Maybe it would be really good for him to at least SEE one of these guys, so he knew what he was running away from, and why she seemed to think they were so scary? Or not scary, as nothing seemed to frighten the rather jaded General, but she definitely told him not to go near them for a reason.

Even without expressly voicing what that reason was.

He rounded a corner and stepped into the greens of one of the larger parks, though it was dark and decidedly less pretty than in the day time.

Ekanite stopped dead in his tracks, not realizing just now close he had gotten to the source of the strange feeling. It did feel a lot stronger now that he was closer to it, which made sense... he just had not been paying attention to it. Painite told him it would become second nature in due time, but at the moment he felt very silly for not knowing how to properly read his senses.

Ofcourse, being given a brand new one did not happen every day, so maybe the confusion was understandable.

"Uh. Er. Yeah. I mean. It is a nice night!" He straightened up, jumping a bit to don his best fight pose, just in case. He had seen more than enough action anime to know how cool one could look at the start of a fight by stricking the right pose. Unfortunately, he had not quite mastered the art, and looked like he had no idea what he was doing. At least it was an honest representation of himself.

His general told him he was not supposed to engage a senshi or knight without her under any circumstances.... but technically, she had engaged him, so it probably did not count.

"You're one of those White Moon things, right? People! I meant people. I know you're people, too, just on the wrong side. Or other side! Errrr. A-anyway, if you're looking for a fight, I'm not really a good choice! Because... eh.... I'm too good. Yeah. So! Be warned!"

Ekans could see that he was not getting his point across quite as threateningly as he would have liked. Probably because he was a very sweet kid at heart, and was still adjusting to this whole 'be scary so they don't mess with you' policy his General was trying to instill in him. He wanted to earn his stripes, so to speak: if that meant fighting and winning, or losing, then wasn't that the best way to gain levels?

The more practice he got, the stronger he would be. That was the basic rule of training.

Swallowing his embarrassment down, imagining that was what the lump in his throat was, he tried to don a more confident air. At her question, though, his face did get a little darker and more serious. But it was still not in threat: no, this sudden change in attitude was almost sorrow, rather than anger.

"I would have died if my General hadn't taken me under her wing," he said seriously, holding up his fist and gripping his fingers together tightly, "I will do everything I can to pay her back for what she did, no matter what. Even if we have to do bad things, she is my hero. That means I'm on the right side."

"Boss is General Painite," he said proudly, putting his hands on his hips as if that information meant something important. It did to him, of course, as she was the one he owed his life to. And sure, she had not managed to save his mom, but she did do something amazing. She told him about it once he was feeling better, about seeing her spirit off.

Her last words before she joined the stars.

Frowning as she got closer, he hesitated. Was he supposed to attack her? Technically, she was the one fronting him, and he had a right to defend himself, but he also had some very strong reservations about hitting a girl. Painite, of course, told him to throw out that mentality because a lot of senshi were girls, and they were kick his teeth in if he let them.

But.

It was a really hard habit to break. He was a good kid! He'd been raised right! But now he had drumsticks, a quota, and a hauty girl in his face. Shutting his eyes tightly, he lifted one of his weapons and sort of...

lightly bapped her on the nose.

Ekanite heaved a sigh as his 'attack' was deftly blocked and deflected, taking a step or two backwards to keep his distance and holding his drumsticks up between himself and his target as defensively as he could manage. With two small sticks made of a very pliable and giving wood.

"I wouldn't bleed on you," he said, with a huff. Wait. That was not what he meant to say. Well, in a way it was: he was very well mannered and would likely keep his blood to himself, but he did not want to tell her that. He meant he would not get hit and thus would not bleed at all.

It was easy to see he was not really going to leave up to such grandiose promises, so he opted out of correcting himself to save further embarrassment. He would have to get better at this at some point, right? Clearly tonight was not that time.

He could at least tell his General he landed a hit.

"So... then... what do I do now? I thought we would uhm... fight. So... uh."

Ekanite thought about the offer, then smiled brightly and nodded his head. He turned to start to run away, except he stopped and turned back.

"Youma? Uhm... I don't really like those. One killed my mom, before my General saved me. But that's all I know about them. Boss says to stay away from them, and I agree. So I'm gonna... uh... take that other option and get my butt out of here. Thank you for not beating my face in though. I really appreciate that!"

And he was being very honest. He wanted to shake her hand, really, though he doubted he could get away with that and continue to not have his face beaten in. So he bowed politely, if not a bit stiffly and awkwardly, as if practiced in a mirror but never in person, and then turned to high tail it out of there.

He had a lot to think about all of a sudden, and he was not exactly sure he liked that.