"Since I'm already here could I show you something?" He asked. He was crouched down on the thin rim of the structure. "How are you balancing on that?" Serenity asked, in awe at his the ability to be stable on such a thin rail. It seemed to be about three or four inches wide. Xander shrugged. "While your kind is busy balancing books on your head. We learned how to balance and somewhat deny the rules of gravity a bit." He said. Suddenly a gush of wind blew against them. This caused Xander to lose his balance. Serenity gasped sharply as he fell off the thin rail, quickly grasping onto a small ledge in the wall. He kicked off the ledge and scrambled onto the railing again. He apologized for the ruckus and rubbed the back of his neck. "How did you not fall?" She asked. "As I said, we're good at balance. Plus we think fast." Serenity nodded and looked off in the sky. "Looks like another bad rainstorm is coming," She said, worryingly.

"You guys are so lucky to have rain, we never get it. Yesterday was the only time I've seen actual water," Xander said. Serenity shook her head "We get terrible rainstorms that can tear down buildings. We've learned to reinforce our walls to resist the storm's fury." She said, she then looked at Xander and sighed. Xander looked confused. Serenity backed up from the window and gestured him to come inside. "I know water is bad for you. Come in." She said reluctantly. A joyful smile spread across his face as he crawled in through the window. He lowered his hood off of his head and took off his gloves, where he put them in his pocket. He stood in astonishment as he looked around her colorful room.

"You seem overwhelmed," "This room is just colorful, that's all," He said "Do you not have colorful buildings where you live?" Xander shook his head. "Our buildings aren't as interesting as yours. Our buildings and houses are small and homely." He said with a shrug "You said you wanted to show me something, right?" She asked, changing the subject. "Oh yeah!" Xander said as he reached into his pocket. "Do you like music?" He asked. Serenity nodded. "I play a few instruments," "Great!" He smiled, then pulled out a shell-like instrument. He handed it to her. "What is it?"

"It's an air pipe, we use them for music. Thought I'd show it to you. Just a small example of what my world is like" "Interesting" Serenity said as she gestured to take it back. "You can keep it if you like. I could even show you how to use it if you want" He said with a smile, hoping she'd say yes. "No, it's improper. I can't believe I'm breaking the most forbidden rule in the world. This whole thing is crazy!" She said. "You aren't supposed to be a robot for those around you. You're your person, you make your own decisions." He said, eventually he had to take back the shell-like object as he set it in his pocket. She refused to take it. There was a long silence. "As a member of the court and even a princess, I don't have the daily choices a normal citizen would have." She said with a slight shrug. "It's different" Xander took a step back. Those words were baffling to him. She never mentioned she was a princess. "Hold on... You never told me that you were a princess!" He said

"Yes, I did yesterday," Serenity stated confused. "No, no-no-no. You said you were a member of the court, you never stated that you were a... the official daughter..." Xander said. He had no words. "Oh for heaven's sake," She said, rolling her eyes. "This is insane!" Xander said with a chuckle "But it makes so much more sense! Now I get why you're such a rule follower!" "Indeed." She said, slightly irritated "Now can we change the subject before you fall over?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, sorry," He said, chuckling rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd like to know about your familial situation, if you have a mind to tell me," Serenity said she was generally curious about his kind. If they were supposed to have large or small families. If there was a limit on children. "Well, I have two little brothers and a sister. I'm the eldest, and I often look after my younger siblings when my father is away. My mother works on the farm, and my father hunts along with most men.

Though, he's also a member of the court, like you. I'm getting trained to hunt, but I'm terrible at aiming." He said, laughing at his statement. "Is that why you wore a trident on your back?" "Yeah, it's been in my family for generations. Often handed down to the eldest son. I'm not too sure about it, I have a bad eye, and it doesn't go well when I have to aim" He said. He was insecure about his blue eye. Others found it fascinating but it was a torment for him, it was blurry on that end. Nothing fixed it so he learned to live with it, but with training. It was a punishment of the highest torture to him. His eye is a dark blue, with a bright white ring circling the outer rim of his blue iris. "And that's why you needed my help to leave the city? You couldn't keep track of where you were?" Serenity asked, feeling sorry for him. Xander nodded and sighed. "What about your family?"

"Well, I am the eldest as well. I had an older sister, but she, unfortunately, passed away when she got caught in a rainstorm. Much like this one," She said, looking at the window. "I'm sorry," Xander said, feeling guilty for asking "Don't be. But besides her, I have two younger sisters who both are twins. My father is the king of Xiven he works on social issues such as poverty. And my mother, the queen, works with building ideas for the greater good of our city" "Neat," Xander said. "What's your lifestyle like? I hear it's fancier anyways" "We're more civilized, we don't hunt, we breed our livestock and work from there. It's just regular civilized life, as a princess, it's not too different than regular folk's lives." "So you're saying that my kind isn't civilized?" Xander stated, feeling offended "From what I hear, it's primitive" "There's a difference between what you hear and what you witness. Do I look or act like some primitive savage to you?!" He said, getting worked up

"You've broken multiple rules which have ended in forcing myself to break rules. You act insane! You know the rules, why don't you follow them?!" Serenity said, raising her voice "Here we go with the rule thing again! Stop acting like who everyone wants you to be!! You're your own person. Why don't you understand that?!" He yelled, getting more mad at how she acted instead of specifically at her. He didn't want her to just be a clone for the community. But what does he know? He didn't live the life she did, he didn't know how it worked and what was expected of here. "Answer my question!" Serenity said harshly "I'm not like you! We aren't like your 'civilized' society!" Xander said. "I can have you arrested and slaughtered with the snap of my finger. Don't you start an argument with me" Serenity threatened him, she didn't want to but if that's what it took then that's what it took? He was just one of them. They only had one true conversation. He wasn't a friend, he was practically a criminal to her.

"Then do it!! I don't understand why you hesitated so long to do it if this whole time you wanted to!!" Serenity didn't say anything. Xander sighed "Why are we fighting? There's no reason to do this." Serenity stayed silent. "I'm sorry for yelling, I just don't like prejudice. No hard feelings?" He asked, holding his hand out. She shook his hand but pulled away quickly, noticing the clutters of sand that transferred from his hand to hers. She groaned in disgust, and shook her hand, making the sand fly off of her hand. "Sorry," Xander said, embarrassed. "It's fine," She said reluctantly. "So are you made out of sand?" Xander shook his head "We have small scales all over our body and we often have sand stick to it, It helps us from getting burnt from the blazing suns," He said.

Serenity nodded. "Hey, would it be possible if I could see the instruments you play? I enjoy music. I think it'd be cool to see the types of music you have and the instruments you use." He asked, hoping she'd say yes. Serenity thought about it for a moment. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do so," She said heading to a corner of the room. A keyboard type of instrument stood on a stand. She gestured for Xander to come over, he did. "What is it?" He asked curiously. "We call it a touch link. We touch a certain spot. Then it'll create a symphony of music." She said. Xander started to get excited. "Could you play something?" He asked, practically jumping in his place. Serenity nodded and sat down on the seat in front of the instrument. She took a deep breath and started to play. The tone was low and soft at first but soon sped up. Soon she was playing a frantic tone. Xander's eyes lit up. He felt his breath hitch. He was truly speechless at her performance.

It was a short melody though so it didn't last long. Once she stopped playing she looked at Xander. His face was lit up, with excitement. "That was amazing!!" He said. A small smile implanted onto her face. That was the first time Xander had seen her smile. "Thank you," "You have such cool ways of playing music!" Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. A voice spoke. "Serenity? What are you doing up so late? And who are you talking to?" Serenity panicked. This was the voice of her mother. Serenity quickly pushed Xander towards a clutter of things near a corner of the room. Xander's heart was beating faster by the second, he was panicking as well. He could be arrested now. Especially since she was such a rule follower, he was sure she would tell whoever was outside. He made up his mind to the window and leave there. Serenity headed to the door and opened it blocking most of the doorway.

"It's nothing. I'm just talking to myself," She said nervously "I could have sworn I heard another voice." Her mother said suspiciously. "You're tired. You woke up because of me. I'll stop playing so you can rest now." Her mother nodded and bid her goodnight before leaving. Serenity closed the door and sighed in relief. Xander took a step out from the clutter. "We must be quieter!" Serenity said looking at him. Xander was baffled. "You just saved my life right there." "I never looked at it like that, but yes. I supposed I did. She said in a low voice to keep quiet. "Thank you," He said with a smile. She nodded and walked away from the door. She sat on her bed and looked at the raging storm outside. A worried expression crawled onto her face. Xander stepped towards her. He sat next to her and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about the storm," He said reassuringly. For a moment, she enjoyed the comfort but quickly moved away from his touch.

"Sand," She said, reminding him of the effects of his scaley skin being set upon her. "Sorry," He said pulling his hand back. Serenity brushed off her shoulder. The two sat in silence for a while. They listened to the rain pour along with the harsh wind slam outside the walls. "I wish I could say I'll be leaving but it isn't much of a choice for me," He said with a sigh. Serenity enjoyed his company, she liked staying with him in the storm. Her family wasn't like him. He was extroverted, cheerful, exciting. He wasn't too judgemental about anything. The storm wasn't so hard to deal with when he was around. But they both knew this was a one-time thing. Xander liked her, a lot but he didn't think she felt the same. Which she didn't. Despite her enjoying his company, she knew this was a secret she'd take to the grave and nothing like this should happen again. The two started another conversation about their hobbies and their lifestyles. That hobby lasted the whole night, once the storm had past Xander stood up

"I guess I should leave?" He asked, a little disappointed. Serenity nodded. The suns haven't risen yet, so no one was awake beside them. Xander started walking to the window before being stopped by Serenity. "For goodness sake, come with me downstairs. You don't need to jump out of a window" She said standing up as well. He chuckled and followed her downstairs. The palace was filled with pretty, colorful things. Xander admired the decor of the place as they walked. They got to the front doors and Serenity sighed. "You don't know how to get home do you?" She asked. "Barely" Serenity groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Put your gloves on along with your hood and let's go," She said reluctantly. "You really don't have to-" Xander said but got cut off by her "I will not hear protest. You'll get lost and probably arrested going alone. It's best I lead you to Tsandar" She said. He couldn't argue with that. He put his gloves on and flipped his hood over his head.

They both headed outside. They didn't say anything as to not draw attention to themselves. Once they got to Tsandar, Serenity turned to him. The two said goodbye and Xander thanked her for leading him back. She nodded and left. Xander sighed and headed home. When he got back he entered his room he saw his sister laying on his bed, asleep. She often slept with him since she was scared of the dark. A small smile grew on his face. He gently moved some of her hair out of her face. "Delly..." He said quietly. This woke her up and she turned to him. She immediately hugged him around his neck. "Where were you last night?" She asked upsettingly. "It doesn't matter, did you sleep well?" He asked, gently hugging her back. She stopped hugging him and sat on her knees. She nodded. "It was hard to sleep though." "I'm sorry I was gone, You can sleep with me tonight okay?" He said with a smile. Delphine smiled back and nodded.

The suns wouldn't rise for a while and Xander needed his rest as well. They both got back into bed and Xander wrapped his arms around Delphine like he always did. "G'night Delly," He said softly quickly drifting to sleep