Ultimately, the dark hunter knew that there would come a time in his little sister's life where she would want to be on her own. It was the natural way of things. Lazarus himself had once felt that feverish itch the get out from under their parents so that he could be his own person and make his own future however he so chose. Not that it would have amounted to anything much different than it was now, really. Truthfully, what his father had wanted for Lazarus had been the best thing possible that could have simply fallen into his hands, that family business handed down to the young man and the only son that his father had. Perhaps if things had been bad enough and Lazarus had disappeared without a trace, Tal might have tried to prepare Elain for that place at the head of the Daray council that was built and intentionally dedicated on keeping the neighboring cities and rural villages safe and out of that danger of potential becoming overrun by weres, undead, or beings of magic. Would she have taken up that life, though? The man simply couldn't see such a future for the honey-blonde woman too sweet and gentle that she likely couldn't bring herself to harm a damn fly. But despite her sweet nature, Lazarus knew that there was a fire in her, and if it meant making their father proud by breaking tradition and being the first woman to head the family business, she would have readily embraced it and the challenges that would have followed. But now, with the death of their parents and the disbanding of the council that had been his father and grandfather's pride and joy aside from family, that wasn't in the future for either of the last remaining pieces of that once great and respected lineage.

Now, all the man had to worry about was keeping that promise he'd made to his mother and father. Keeping Ellie safe came before everything else in Lazarus' life, the young woman's health and happiness now seeming to be the only real purpose from the dark hunter now. And what a miserable existence it was. That did not mean that he did not take his responsibility to act as her guardian and defender of that innocence the world would quickly take and shatter if given the chance seriously, because he very much did. In fact, he took that promise of his to a level that was almost considered possessive rather than just protective. There'd been a number of dumb young bucks he'd beaten to a pulp for looking at her the wrong way, for trying to drop hints on what they wanted from her - none of which were ever good intentions - whether it be on the streets of their old stomping grounds or if he just so happened to be waiting for her after school to catch some jock or wanna-be bad boy walk up to her like he was the best thing since the invention of rope. Lazarus had never been worried about getting his own ass handed to him, if anything having had a less than savory reputation of being unbeaten in the place they'd grown up knowing like the back of their hand. Then, they came here and ran into her. The "undefeated" suddenly became lost that title when he'd decided to make a snide remark she'd been far from fond of. That unpleasant mention aside, the man wasted no time in making it known that Elain was off limits to everyone and that any idiot brave enough to pursue her despite Lazarus' displays that acted like wordless warning would wish they'd never looked her way for even a second.

Inevitably though, he was certain that she would manage to find someone that made her happy, someone that wanted to protect just as much - if not more - than the dark hunter. And when that day came, what then? Would he be able to deny her a full life? There would come a day, in the end, that they wouldn't be so close and while he would never admit it even to her, the man dreaded that day when he would have to learn to let her go... He couldn't keep her away from the entire world forever. She deserved everything the world could have to offer her, deserved everything that Lazarus could never in a million lifetimes ever give her. He would never be ready for that day, and he entirely expected himself to struggle immensely with it, but something also told the man that today was not the day where everything between the siblings would change. Once he figured out if this "Beylani" individual in his sister's life was male or female and what part they might play in Ellie's happiness, he'd decide from there what his next step would be. But as life so often seemed to enjoy doing, his plans are diverted, for the time being, away from tracking down his little sister when the all too familiar scent of the witch found those heightened senses of his and led him down that less traveled path deep into the trees. Why the hell do I even care why she was all pissy that day? It was a question that the dark hunter didn't even know or have the answer to, and he hated that for some damn reason he couldn't ignore how she'd stormed out of the townhouse that afternoon after having just let herself in. Just like how he couldn't get the images, the feelings he'd felt, those goddamn memories out of his mind and so far away from him that he could finally pretend that he didn't become instantly infuriated when she decided to come around looking for his little sister.

Much to his surprise, especially considering her "line of work", she doesn't notice him right away. He watches her suddenly disappear from sight only to appear in the air before falling back down to the snow-covered ground in an attempt to teleport or something. He already knew all too well that she wielded, that gnarled and scarred tissue at the center of his toned chest proving an eternal reminder of that little fact he'd quickly discovered about the white-haired woman. What he didn't know was that she was capable of morning than both physically and verbally burning others. He watches with that wicked and wolfish grin as she picks herself up off the ground, tenor tones finally announcing his presence. She turns suddenly then, her figure instantaneously becoming swallowed by fire as those brilliant blue eyes ignite with something he hadn't seen before. It was wild and unrestrained as she hardly seemed to see him, almost reflecting the look that had found her frustratingly beautiful face when she'd gutted that guy in the alleyway on the west side of Sacrosanct. It has Lazarus reacting on instinct as well, his own frame automatically tensing as dark forest eyes narrow sharply onto her as she's suddenly hurling a ball of fire at him at a speed that had him second-guessing his ability to move out of its way. He takes on a defensive stands as he moves away from the tree and seconds later, he hears the seating flames colliding with the tree much too close to the dark hunter, crackling and sparking as the fire swallowed the damp, cold bark of the tree. In lighting-fast time, Lazarus lifts his arm to protect his face as he turns away at the same moment, hardly feeling the wood splinters that peirce his skin like daggers as they are catapulted from their place on the trunk and towards him.

As quickly as the fireball had come, it was gone though when Lazarus lowers his arm to look at the tree, it's clear that he hadn't been imagining things. Holy shit. His gaze snaps back over the where the witch stood in vague surprise and mild agitation, the woman now standing in that usual stance as she looked back at him, obviously realizing now who it was that she'd practically burned to a crisp. Not that he didn't deserve it for sneaking up on her like he had. But he'd never be caught dead admitting that it was his fault she decided to react the way she had - even if it made sense, all things considered. Before when can say anything, she's moving over to the dark hunter with thay frown on her face and brilliant blues still burning as she snaps at him. With the moment gone, his frame returns to its relaxed posture as he shoves his hand into the pocket of his jacket, only just need feeling the twinge of pain in his arm and removing the splinters with his other hand before also putting it in its respective pocket. He gives a shrug as she arches a brow at him as she suggests that he was lucky she realized his identity."It's not my fault you weren't keeping your senses on alert", he snaps back, though there is little malice in his tenor tones, if anything only betraying that slight aggravation that she blamed him for her sudden reaction. Even if it was entirely justified, he wasn't about to admit it. Her next string of words has Lazarus rolling those dark forest eyes now before they settle back over her."How many times are you going to keep bringing that up? It was a cheap shot, woman. And the sparring thing doesn't even count", he says then to the witch. Was she never going to let thay night go? And it wasn't entirely his fault that he was out of practice... at least, he refused to believe anything else.

He doesn't expect what happens next though, taking the dark hunter entirely off guard so much a that the surprise flashes quickly over his dark forest gaze. In all their less than desirable encounters - save for that night he fiercely wished he has been drunk enough to just black out altogether so he couldn't remember it - she had never asked him if he was okay. It takes him a moment longer than he cared for to recover from that surprise that flickered across her own brilliant blue gaze, giving another shrug as he shifted his arm to see the blood soaking through the black fabric of his jacket. The bleeding had stopped by now though, so he had nothing to worry about."Yeah", is all he offers her in reply as he brushes that unsettling note of concern she'd shown him. Maybe it was just guilt or something instead of concern. Then again, was guilt any better? He'd have rather she just continued to look at him like he was some dumbass kid that did something he should have known better than to do, but he'd hardly anticipated that she would have not heard him coming, even if he'd approaches almost entirely silent. That moment is also forgotten by the two standing in that clearing though as she makes yet another demand on the dark hunter as she seemed so fond of doing, giving Lazarus a coy smile that has him lifting a brow of his own."And risk getting punched or burned in the process again?", he queries stubbornly and in full skeptism before dark forest eyes narrow ever so slightly."Maybe you should try oh, I don't know, maybe asking? I'm not some mutt, you know. But, if you ask me nicely, I might humor you", he continues in those smooth tenor tones as he sneers at the witch, that wolfish grin finding his features once again for a moment. It fades as he gives her a curious look when she speaks on not leaving the clearing until she accomplished what she was set on doing, that determination in her gaze something that was entirely like the white-haired woman... and something he found himself considering to be pretty hot on her, but he's quick to shove it away when she distracts him, suddenly asking him what he was doing here."I was looking for Ellie", he replies nonchalantly. It was the truth, but what he doesn't say is that he'd been distracted by her. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that he couldn't get the thought of her to leave him the hell alone, deeming such a thing entirely unnecessary to mention now or ever.