[h2]Xander[/h2]
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"[b]Sass you off?  Is she crazy?[/b]" Xander replied with disbelief and yelled over the laughter, "[b]What an ungrateful little brat! I'll beat her.[/b]" He stormed over to Amelia while she was cooking, nodding to Perenelle's invitation distractedly. "[b]I'll be the one to whip you if you keep being a smart-ass. We've given you a roof, safety and usually even let you eat. That's more than most people have nowadays. Hell, you live in a [i]mansion.[/i] What is your fucking problem?[/b]" Xander had been consumed with the anger of someone disrespecting Perenelle. She gave everyone so much and barely asked for anything.

However, the more he glanced down at her, the more her youth became more obvious to him. She seemed to morph into a tiny little girl with short blonde hair in his mind for a short moment. [i]Tia[/i]He thought with a heart lurch. This girl was as old as Tia probably would be now if she was alive. He softened a bit and glanced over his shoulder to see Perenelle and the others had gone to the dining room. Looking back at Amelia, he gently put his hand over her shoulder. "[b]Look, kid. I get it. There's probably other people you rather be with right now and you must think we're the bad guys but that's just not true. The White Wolf took me in when I had no one like she did for so many others. I don't know how you ended up here but I'm sure she helped you too. Just try to cut the crap and show some respect okay? I'll make sure she lets you eat tonight if you show her respect.[/b]" He let go of her shoulder and moved into the dining room to sit with Perenelle, grinning at her. 

Amelia brought his and Perenelle's plates out first. He glanced down at his then over at hers. The food looked pretty good. She had done a pretty good job for a kid. However, there was one thing wrong. She had noticeably given Perenelle less food than him. He watched her serve the rest of the table, noticing everyone else had more food too. [i]This kid really does have a death wish. [/i]He thought to himself. He considered putting some of his food on her plate when she wasn't looking but they were sitting right next to each other. It would never work. 


[h2]Adelaide[/h2]
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"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."

[i]There it is.[/i] Adelaide thought with annoyance as she pressed herself up against a tree. The bark was digging in through her thin jacket uncomfortably and she was fighting not to reposition herself. She had to stay as still as possible. There were at least three male voices in the area, trying to draw her out with stupid lines that wouldn't work on a five year old. She supposed these were the people who set the hut on fire. They were too close to pick off with a bow without giving away her location. Guns were not an option obviously. She took out a dagger and stole a glance behind the tree, managing to catch one of them in sight. It was a relatively young man with a gun. She wasn't savvy enough with guns to pick out what kind of gun it was.

"What's she look like, mate?" A voice coming from the right questioned. She glanced in the direction and inched more behind hte tree. 

"Little girl or something. She looked maybe sixteen or so. Should be an easy kill. Looked like she had a lot of shit in her bag.  " A voice from the left direction answered.

Adelaide grabbed the dagger and positioned it facing outward. There was a clear path to the left and he sounded the closest. This was her chance. She waited until he was in her line of vision to suddenly dart out from hiding. She slashed him hard and deep into his side as she passed, making him yell out in shock. She kept running, leaves noisily crunching under her. Gunshots reverberated through the air as bullets whizzed passed her. The three males were yelling now but she was too focused on running to try to figure out what they were saying. She heard distant footsteps from another direction. Adelaide had no idea if they were with the males but it was quite possible the fire could have attracted others.